Iq 1807

[hankir]

Cannot figure out how to get a start.
Are the clues mentioned in preamble (except 22A) all normal or are all of them clued by wordplay?

Hints on
17d Be visiting mountain (Sugarloaf?) (8)
25a Church’s newest members in schism to split with Crown (9)

Thanks.

[ProfessorMaisie]

Five thematic clues are wordplay only, all of the others are normal (wordplay/def).
17d is thematic - a 'sugarloaf' is a type of headgear (3 letters) which goes around BE ['mountain' comes first, 3 letters].
25a First three words for the def - anag 'schism to' around R*

[ProfessorMaisie]

*You'll probably be wondering where the 'R' comes from (as did I, hankir). That's the thematic gimmick, and every clue features one (but a different word can give the same letter - and often does).
The 'R' in this case comes from a Londoner saying - 'alf a crown, which sounds like ''R for crown'' [so 'crown' is the special word in this clue].

[ProfessorMaisie]

...by the way, 'in' (meaning drunk) is the anagram indicator in 25a - 'split' inserts the 'R'.

[ProfessorMaisie]

No - forget the 'drunk' nonsense - 'split' is the anagram indicator (sorry).

[hankir]

Thanks ProfessorM.
This one will be difficult for people here to solve since East London argot is unknown.
I did figure out 10a where F is the letter for after. How that works, I don't know.

11d, the answer is obvious. But why leather becomes L was less clear until I thought 'ell for leather.

Will be back.

[ProfessorMaisie]

...and only the 'normal' clues have the weird word/letter gimmicks, those without defs have normal wordplay [sorry this rambled on and on and...}.

[ProfessorMaisie]

Yes, 'ell for leather - looks like you'll find this easier than you think, hankir.
And yes, there's an 'F' in 10a coming from what very loosely sounds like 'ever after' - ''F for after'' [there's a very old source for the theme (1940's) but some have been modernised - eg I think the Spice Girls feature in one of them].

[hankir]

I doubt if this will be easy, ProfessorM.
5D, the last letter could be C or X. But not sure how breakfst gets me there.
Man having beer before breakfast (4).

Also hints on 18a and 38a.

[ProfessorMaisie]

X = eggs (for breakfast).
18a SCRUM(p) is 'dwarf' - then 4 letters for 'wizard'.
38a 'chief of staff' = 'G for staff' - someone who scans the heavens follows.

[hankir]

ProfessorM, I have a few more including 18a.
Not sure how station becomes D in 12a.
or how sis becomes M in 6d
A few more like them. Is there a dictionary I can go to?

[ProfessorMaisie]

12a is 'a station' ('deforestation' = ''D for a station'').
6d 'emphasis' - ''M for sis''.
There's an old recording of the performance but it's a bit of a struggle to decipher what's being said and very few of the letters are repeated verbatim in the crossword, so I'd give it a miss (unless you're desperate}.

[ProfessorMaisie]

I haven't found a text as such, and this isn't anything like rhyming slang, so I just treated them as homophones (it helps if you can fake the accent}.

[ProfessorMaisie]

Ever see Dick Van Dyke in 'Mary Poppins'? Go for that... with a touch more subtlety.