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Hi Chrise, I think the state in 21A is two letters and the abbreviated program (last letter cut off) is two letters.

Moonjets, I agree.

I can only see the fourth row Nina, a few other words appear here and there but they don’t fit
the theme (which I failed to spot despite completing the puzzle sitting next to one)

Possibly a word spanning solutions in the 3rd row, and some unchecked letters in the 4th and 10th columns? These items might be of interest to the main theme word.

moonjets
That works better. I was taking the state according to Lou Reed!

Kite says to look at 3d and 11a… anyone?

Jono, is it just that you can see the theme word going round the bend at the intersection of the two clues?

Just thought I'd point out that "du" doesn't mean "of" in French. It means "of the".
That's just the least of my irritations with this clumsy crossword.

quocunque, you're right, of course, but languages are often inconsistent in how they use definite articles. For example, "Les Fleurs du Mal" is usually translated as "The Flowers of Evil."

Hello everyone

Started at about 2.00pm as usual. It may have been later as I was struggling to finish the quick cryptic today over lunch. But I did.
I've done about two thirds with several not fully parsed including 13d. I think some hints would help with making progress, especially 5ac where I only have the first letter and either 16d or 25ac. I cannot identify the definition for 16d and I'm not sure of the definition for 25ac. I'm short in bothe north east and southwest quadrants.

I haven't yet identified a theme and have no idea why I should look at 3d and 11ac.

I'll be back