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11a - think of fashion firms

Thanks ianwil for parsing 13d for me.

Thanks to Everyman, but I found this difficult. Took far to longer to solve than the previous Prize, for the second week in a row. Everymans have been running very tough, and the last 2 Prizes super gentle, but this Everyman still stood out as challenging.

I thought for a long time the Spoonerism was incorrect, but after long consideration it parses OK, provided one allows hybrid Spooner-homophone elements. I still consider the clue iffy.

Everyone’s postings have been comforting and really helpful. I thought it was harder than in recent weeks but interesting. Thanks Everyman. Thanks everyone.

Hi, all. Agree with many of comments - definitely on the harder side.
Imagine first discovering the anagram in 8D - how satisfying that must’ve been!
Also (contrary to others) I thought 27A was quite a good clue.
Enjoy your Sundays

BarryC, you make a good observation about the 8d anagram. I believe Everyman puts a great deal of effort into anagrams. I’ve kept a list of all the single word anagrams he’s used over the last year or so and it’s rather impressive. You can only achieve such a thing deliberately. I could post it if anyone is remotely interested :-)

What is the spoonerism in 18d?

I’ve got the answer from another contributor’s help.

Spoonerism (18).

Definition is "type of tree (in hot places)".
Non-Spooner phrase: first word (3) means "to criticise" (verb); second word (4) means "location for growing" (noun, agricultural).

Problem for me was that the second word needs to be pronounced with a British accent (I'm American). If you merely interchange the first letters of the two words, the solution appears to be spelled incorrectly.

But after due deliberation, I decided that the hybrid Spooner-homophone device is OK, since the Reverend was speaking when he made his eponymous blunders. 🤣

Geeker @31
I wasn't impressed by that one. I wonder why non-rhotic speakers ever wonder why the Rs are there?

Chris, to be honest I disliked the clue (18), and for a long time was convinced it was incorrect. Nearly posted a query online. Only grudgingly did I concede it worked.

As an American I'm used to struggling with homophones in cryptic crosswords, though I don't always remember to pronounce them "correctly".