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Thanks bowergirl. I did have it wrong - I had HOAGIE.
I wouldn't ever use the answer though - can't stand it.

I found it easier than usual this morning, maybe because the theme is close to my heart, or should I say stomach :-)

The exception is 14d, which I still can't get despite the hint below.

Hi Warden, I also took ages to get 14d (it was my LOI) but it wasn't helped by the fact that I got the wrong tense (and hence the wrong letter) for 22a. I got it, once I realised my mistake, but still couldn't parse it. Jono's hints solved it for me. The 'fling' is of the throwing kind, that you might do at a fairground, if that helps.

I thought this was a fun, seasonal offering! Agree about 'greens' in 17a being a bit loose and tenuous. To use an American slang for cash to stand in for a British slang for cash, with no reference to the US? Bit odd. But overall, I thought it was very clever.

Happy Christmas all!

Thanks Julesvern, I've now got 14d and with all the discussion of food and drink I can't wait for my Xmas food delivery due soon.

Happy Xmas to you all

Thank you Jono. Got there in the end! I found the fling synonym a bit obscure, but probably that’s a result of my linguistic limitations. 😊

Hi there from a hitherto lurker. Still scratching my head over 6D and 8A already mentioned, but 3D has me stumped!

A traditional ingrediant of YPs .... and what you might be outside.

8a depends on a type of cabbage that I didn't know and had to look up. Parses as 2 (alternating letters from QUARK) inside 5.

Although I've complimented the puzzle, 6 is somewhat of a clinker. The last 6 letters are (leading letter dropped from) a word for what a cake (or anything) would be doing for a time after being removed from the oven. I had to run through the alphabet for that first letter, but fortunately it came up pretty early. ;-)

…I think “first slice of cake” tells you the first letter to be removed.

Thanks, jono. That's subtle, credit to Everyman though I still don't love the clue. One of the few: my long list for COD got up to 13 clues before I abandoned.