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Thanks all. I had a completely different word for 5d (a word that could equally apply to Paul, Picaroon, etc) and the wordplay seemed to confirm the first 3 letters but I couldn't see the last three. Goodness knows why I couldn't see 15a just from the definition and the crossing letters. A bad morning!

Thanks Griffin,

I had pretty much the same experience - perhaps next week I'll follow the example of Neko @45 and Rogissimo @46 🍷🍺

Belated thanks to Boatman and to jono for conveying his message re 25a - I can fully relax now!

Definitely Rogissimo, makes my @50 look even sillier now 😥

Not at all, brendan - a noble effort to make sense of something that turned out to be senseless!

I have had three goes at this with shopping in between and completely lost ........cannot see any theme or connections.
So giving up, sad to say 😢

Last in 5d. Had it previous to getting the correct (theme). Thought 8d boater was an example of incorrect theme at first. So thanks to all. Bit of an Easter egg hunt. After finding one it's quite human to look for more and in this case more were indeed hidden.

I asked Boatman about the juxtaposition of 9 and 10 and also whether 4d was intended as a nod to the theme. Here is his reply…

“9 and 10 - Sometimes a grid just gives you these things!
4 - Happy coincidence, and well spotted on your part. It's not quite close enough to claim it as a theme word, but I very much like the idea that I may have been subconsciously influenced into using it.”

When asked about whether the absence of special instructions was deliberate he said this…
“I can neither confirm nor deny ... It'll be interesting to see how many people preferred it that way!”

I wondered about 4d too - interesting to read that it was at most subconscious!

I considered 4 at least semi-thematic.

On reflection, I want to amplify my previous thanks to Boatman. A number of clues nothing short of brilliant. I neglected to praise clue 2 earlier.

Absence of special instructions is OK by me. I was able to deduce the theme within a reasonable amount of time, and it is a Prize puzzle after all. :-)

I generally am not overly fond of having to consult Google-generated lists, but that is a not infrequent feature/side effect of themed crosswords. And sometimes educational or entertaining.