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Kawhi
In fact it’s a triple anagram I think. Very clever, but it’s not my favourite clue for reasons I’ve given above.

There are two anagrams of the solution in that very long clue

*Theme was fun…

…apologies three!

Finished, but it was more a relief than a pleasure. Guessed 26, 27 from the structure of the other clues as my FOI and then saw the anagram(s) to confirm. Definitely some very slippery surfaces!

I get why some don't go for this type of Paul puzzle. There are some very bumpy surfaces along the way but I thoroughly enjoyed this, especially the theme. Amazed Paul didn't use 25a to weave in one of his trademark clues.

FOI first hit 7a. LOI 6d. I am going to pick 26, 27 as COD. Ridiculous clue but clever the way he did it. Thanks Paul.

rogissimo@12 re. (26,27): Once the solution became apparent, I didn't take the time to find the exact anagram fodder(s), admittedly because I found the clue somewhat irritating due to length/convoluted nature.

I seem to be in the minority here based on reading the comments. I filled this all out pretty quickly (with the exception of the SE corner which took me a while) … the solution for 26/27 evaded me right til the end - I guessed the answer was names that these people are usually known by (hence mistakenly putting ‘usual’ for 26) but even with this error I found the solutions came pretty quickly. COD was 11/12 for me. Not a huge amount of satisfaction on finishing (sorry Paul) and I’m fairly glad it’s not something I need to go back to and grind out on my Sunday off work.

1d eludes. Any hints would be appreciated.

@ Minno

You might do this to the finish for an easy win.