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12 is an anagram of another solution
13 does begin with L (my FOI!)
14 is thematic. Not Adele - much older
20 is probably my favourite. An insect around H, then another insect, meaning (as with mammoth) an enormous creature.

Hi Roof,

Surely you mean 22d not 22a - you being a cook must know this D????? PASTRY?

12a - Definition is "in the kitchen moistens" (as in how you might keep a joint from drying up while cooking) but you need to have solved 9,3 to understand the parsing. - your letters are correct.

13a - Does begin with L

14a - 4 letter "pop diva", she's American (she's also an actress who's had a lot of plastic surgery, if that helps) around 2 letter "setter's" and finally single letter "adult" - theme word

roof, I drew a blank on the water sport for a long time. The sport uses a board and is not surfing. :-)

Like many of you I found this hard -- couldn't have got far without the excellent help from the Forum -- but really fun. Parsing 13ac was an achievement.
I'm left with one unsure. It's 10ac. Does it start with S or G?
Crikey? Why?

Hi Ethereal,

10a - 3 letter "in the main" + 2 letter "crikey!" as an exclamation - definition is "sordid" and it begins with an S

Thanks brendan for the help with my LOI - 12. But I don't share geeker's appproval of the clue. Too "look at me, aren't I clever".

10a - actually, I think the first 3 letters are "the main" not 'in the main'.

Thanks David.

Many thanks to Chris and Brendan for their help. I had to stop at 7.30pm to eat my dinner, do my ironing and then watch Beck. But after that break and looking aginat the hints, I've got 12ac and 20ac. And I've just got 14ac. When I was a very slim 17 year old I was told I looked like the diva. (Needless to say this much older much fatter person is nowhere like her.) I got 27ac once I decided that schist wasn't right for 23d. So geeker, I got the water sport.

I've just two left now, 15d and 19d. I will tackle them when I've done the washing up and sorted out the cat, who isn't happy.

Thank you everybody

I think I've got the last two, though as is common with this setter, I can't parse one of them. I think 15d should be hyphenated, but maybe I've got it wrong.

It's good to finish, though I do think it was very hard and sometimes very opaque. My FOI was 10ac. I think my COI was 20ac and my LOI was 19d. I look forward to discussing it with my friend tomorrow to see if she can explain some of the answers.

I'm off to much needed sleep now. It's been exhausting.

A lovely puzzle! I needed a bit of help (thanks once again to correspondents here) but enjoyed this one very much, with many excellent clues and some wonderful misdirection. FOI 8a, soon followed by 24a and 26a which pointed me to 9,3 and told me the 9,3 were not from the books (I think I'd have given up if they were!). Slow to spot some of the unlinked 9,3 so LOI 23d and POI (Penultimate OI) 19d. Many COD candidates

Happy with almost all of the parsing but a couple of queries:
- not sure about the abbreviation for 'hospital' in 11d. I don't think I've ever met it, although I grew up near to an institution (Threlkeld) that used the full word. Is this N American usage?
- why is 22d female? The criminal certainly isn't but I think the answer can be either sex

Quibbles aside, many thanks to Picaroon for a very enjoyable puzzle and best wishes to all. Hoping we get a themed giant for the special double public holiday (but, as a socialist, hoping the theme is not the obvious one!)