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3d parses as 5,1,1, the 5 being a slang (I think) term for a ‘man who takes pawns’.

14d I liked. It parses as 5 (a court(yard) minus the first letter) and then 3 (7 in Roman numerals) around 1 (run).

Yep, my mistake - it is 6 letters.

Excuse time: I was watching a YouTube video on paradoxes while typing the post - Yeah, of course you were Bren🥱

Haha, nice multi-tasking, Bren!

To complete roof’s questions:
18d: def is first three words of clue. Parses as 2,1,4, the river being the standard Italian one.

Oh and I’d only heard 25 from the mouth of Margaret Thatcher, in a completely different sense. A meaning I’ve learned today (and will have forgotten by tomorrow, knowing me).

Many thanks Rogissimo, Geeker and Brendan. I can see why I didn't get 1d as I don't think of them as fare collectors. I did think of the jump at 9ac but couldn't see the "cast out line". I never can remember anything about Rugby, despite living in Exeter, where it is very big. I've got an answer for 11ac that fits the definition, but cannot fully parse the last four letters. Perhaps I have 3d wrong?

I have been to quite a few funerals this year, but this was the first memorial in a methodist church and we had lots of hymns I don't know and psalms - very religious - but not much about the person. I must write my own eulogy!!

LOI 11ac and COD 13ac

roof: 11 is a complete reversal of ‘say’ (2, or 1.1), ‘about’ (2) and Brendan (the setter) (2).
Odd thing about memorials and funerals: I’m strangely averse to eulogies, and won’t want for myself (even assuming that anyone can find anything nice to say about me…)!

Some of you may remember that a few months ago, I was looking after my friend's dog Bailey while he went into hospital. Well, he never came out and actually died after just 3 weeks! It's weird because he was supposed to check himself in on a Tuesday but he'd promised to put his sister's lottery tickets on for her, plus he wanted to make sure Bailey was settled in with me so didn't go in until Wednesday - this shows that it didn't seem like he was on deaths door!

Anyway, my point is that, even though he was raised Catholic, his sisters decided to have a "humanist celebrant" oversee the funeral - I'd never heard the term before but it was actually a good idea because he asked us all to write stories about Danny which he then put altogether into a cogent narrative that was truly about his life and friends rather than the afterlife et al.

Even the music was unique. Suspecting he might not make it he asked if I'd make sure his favourite song was played - Beasley Street by John Cooper Clarke:-)

Brendan @78
Cooool, the Salford bard!

Like some others, I started out very easily with 1a as FOI & several other across clues as write-ins, but then found it more difficult. Nevertheless, on balance easier than usual, but very enjoyable. There are several clues I liked, but COD is definitely 3a; I like the way that the same theme is applied four times in four different ways. I've found only 5 theme words: 1a/4, 26/27, 1d/16, 24/25, & 6d. If anyone feels like pointing me towards any more they are welcome to do so.