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Just gobsmacked to find myself the starter of this thread. Where are you, Brendan, Geeker and Jono?

Am I really the first to complete this?

It is an odd sensation. I think I started one once. Somewhat unnerving. Really struggled through this for ages but some good clues. 9a has that neat surprise we have seen recently. Not sure how to describe it. No rhyming pair. Cannot parse a couple, 14d and 20a and 8d. Enjoyed 4d and 24a. I'll give COD to 4d.

Hi Yevrah. 14d and 20a are anagrams. 8d is just not a very good clue, but sort of works in a laborious kind of way...

Correction. 14d is part anagram and part shortened word. All best.

Hmm, I'm not a fan of 8D either ... plural answer for singular definition - not great. Also, struggled to parse 14D for ages, so thanks to Lucertola for the help, which made me realise I had the penultimate letter wrong. But I reckon my original solution is far more 'summer clothing' than the one that parses. Google suggests the 'correct' answer is actually something you're more likely to wear in winter!

Well I got the green tick but only by filling in 4d with the only word that would fit... Of course while writing this the wordplay has suddenly revealed itself to me! One of the harder Everyman puzzles of late I would say - 9a had me scratching my head for a while, although it's not the first time I have seen this type of clue. Thank you Everyman.

Morning all.
Almost done. 4D made me smile. Any hints appreciated for 13 & 23.
Thanks

Agree this was on the trickier side.
For 8d I read “flowery language suggesting” to mean “suggestive of flowery language”, then it works I think.

Following the making/breaking pairing last week I see another antonym (of sorts) pairing at the beginning of two across clues.

22d is timely.

13 anagram (badly)
23 = 1 letter “Everymans beginning” + 3 “dingy venue”