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Hi Roof
Someone (jono?) explained 13d earlier - I needed the explanation too!
5a is a bit controversial - see earlier. It's made up from "used to", "time", then "grow old".
16d the definition is "fought". 4 letter word inside a slightly surprising 4 letter word for "bob".
25 I had never heard of. It's also clued in the wrong order - record before gambler.

Thanks Chris

I'd managed to get 16d and 15ac myself. It helped getting 24d. Like you I wasn't aware of 25ac as a sport. I think I've got 5ac though I can't see how it meets the grammar of the definition. This just leaves me with 7d, 8d and 12ac. For 7d I have A?A???C?. Are my letters correct.

Lovely day here and I keep (exageration) having to rush into the garden to wave to the red arrows. They have just come into Exeter airport. (My husband complains about the noise) I'm not sure where they are displaying today - Rocky do you know?

Your letters are correct. It's one of those intricate anagrams that Jono alluded to earlier. Quite clever.

Thanks Rainman

I've found a resort that fits, but I cannot see the intricate anagram. I've also guessed at the answer to 8d based on a definition for the first four words, but again I can't parse it, but at least it enabled me to get 12ac. I can't even see seven references to the hidden word, which I think I've found, but maybe I got the wrong three letter word.

So on the whole, I don't think I enjoyed this crossword. FOI was 14ac, LOI was 12ac and CODs were 11ac and 22ac because I like those words.

Hi roof
I would describe 7d as a subtractive anagram rather than "intricate". It was my favourite.
The 3 letter word could precede several answers in the grid.

Re 5a - nope.
A word ending in "ing" can be a noun, as in The Taming of The Shrew.

Hi ChrisE, 25 isn’t in the wrong order: you need to take an expression meaning ‘extravagant gambler’ then replace the letters that mean ‘trip’ with a synonym for ‘record’.

Hi roof, for 8d there’s a 5-letter word meaning ‘pick’ (as in ‘of the bunch’) that’s reversed with a three-letter word meaning ‘ground’ inside it. (More precisely it’s a three-letter abbreviation, the first syllable of a term consisting of two words, the second of which is ground.)

Thanks to Kite for a testy puzzle and for reminding me of a sport I used to watch on the World of Sport back in the 70’s. I didn’t know that it had stood the test of time. Intriguingly the solution to 25a is also only one letter away from describing a gambler somewhat lacking in extravagance.

Thanks to Kite for a testy puzzle and for reminding me of a sport I used to watch on the World of Sport back in the 70’s. I didn’t know that it had stood the test of time. Intriguingly the solution to 25a is also only one letter away from describing a gambler somewhat lacking in extravagance.