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ok, finished now. brummie isn't one of my favourite compilers.

no idea on the parsing of 17a (I have the definiyion). any pointers?

I see what you mean about 22a, I completely overlooked that when solving.

17a dd. “If switched around” refers to the clue, not the solution.

thanks jono. that seems being clever for the sake of it.

I enjoyed this. Was a bit nervous when I saw it was by Brummie, a setter who often gives me trouble, but it turned out to be a good steady solve. Totally missed the issue with 22a. Also missed the theme, but that’s nothing unusual.
FOI 8, LOI 3, COD a toss up between (11, 27) and 25.
Thanks to Brummie.

I actually found this I bit easier than recent weeks (when I came back to then late and finished in bed at night rather than in the morning). Agree something wrong in 22. Completely missed the theme too.

I haven't finished yet but have counted 7 solutions that seem to be related to the theme so far!

Searching in vain for the hidden in the acrosses alluded to by Brendan.

I can't see the US terms either, finding the NW very tough, can anyone give me a nudge for 9a? I assume Def is "exploiter"?

JustSolve,
You are correct about the def in 9a. Academic is a four letter abbreviation, two letters ‘special quality’ and three letters a poet interpretation of ‘always’.

I got to about 10 theme words, but as Geeker said earlier it rather depends if you count certain words as hints towards the more controversial aspects of the theme or not.

*poetic

Thanks Jono, as usual I feel a bit of a chump now, I was way overthinking 9a!

Never come across 21a but a combination of the crossers, seeing the wordplay and confirmation from Google made it get-able.

Tough but enjoyable puzzle from Brummie who I always find pleasantly challenging.