They consider crossword clues to be a set of building stones in which the surface is of no importance, perhaps even non-existent.
For them “Tory leader” does not mean “leader of Tories”, but the leader (first letter) of the building stone “Tory” (which could have been any other word starting with a T). While I am generally on the same wavelength (meaning: cryptic grammar comes first and the surface is an (albeit substantial) bonus), they go one step further and say that it eventually should be “Tory’s leader”. The leader of the building stone called “Tory”. See what I mean?
They would prefer to see “Abba’s finish” instead of “Abba finish” (which wouldn’t make sense within the surface – bad luck then)

I belong to those who find “Tory leader” and “Abba finish” acceptable, even within the limits of cryptic grammar. And I am not alone, given the fact that a lot of renowned crossword setters are doing it, day in day out.

Therefore, I am also happy with “photo finish” for O – even if I am not sure whether I would use it myself. Although I am not against it, I am also someone who would like to avoid it if possible. Ambiguous, isn’t it?
However, I am not happy with people who accept “photo finish” on the basis of its surface, ie like they accept “Tory leader” because of being a “leader of Tories”, as in real life it does not mean the finish of a photo.

BTW, within the context of the above, the fact that I did not like the Abba clue is completely irrelevant. What is my personal taste should not be confused with cryptic correctness.

I think it’s now safe to assume nobody’s ever going to explain what the grounds for the objection are. I did have a theory that Latinists might not like it because constructions that turn nouns into adjectives by juxtaposition are probably, like half of our language, Germanic in origin – e.g. Germans, like us, can say “Hausfrau” etc., where the French would have to say “Femme DE maison” etc. (not actually what they say for housewife but you get the picture).

Yes, Thomas99, in my opinion Alchemi shouldn’t have been nailed down for this from a cryptic PoV.
But I didn’t like the clue because of its poor surface.
In an otherwise excellent crossword!

Excellent?
This one was too, with the NE clearly the most tricky.
Many thanks Peter O.

An excellent puzzle. I ticked 12a, 14a, 24a and d, 5d, and 18d but could easily add more.

I had to check goatsucker and certes to confirm vague memories of both.

4d had to be ‘passable’ but I missed the Nancy idea despite having come across it before. I eventually googled Nancy Pa, and there she was of course, the latest thing in Nigerian music! I have no self esteem re my knowledge/ignorance of modern music fashion, and assumed she must be better known than I realised.

Thanks for the parsing of that one and also 4d and the final O in 23 which I forgot to reckon with.

I recently sparred a little with RCW re ambiguous reversals. As a firm believer in the importance of crossing letters I have nothing much against these clues. But I’m not convinced, a la RCW, that their ambiguity actually enhances them, though it is an interesting idea.

Thanks for responding, and as I have said before: each to his or her own! Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we all liked the same things? Just one final thought from me on the subject: perhaps “clumsy” is an apt description if the ambiguity is unintentional, but what if the setter has constructed the clue that way on purpose? They could be clearly indicating that the answer is one of two things, making it up to you to sort out which is required by filling in some crossing letters.