I had to attempt this puzzle in 2 parts – once at the start of the day and again, after I had finished at work. Unfortunately, I still havent been able to successfully get around a couple of clues, the answers for which I am sure are quite easy to crack. Nevertheless, what I indeed managed to solve was very enjoyable and was taxing just to the right extent. 18ac and 17d are to be finished.
Apologies for not finishing this before putting it up (would love to have been able to spend more time on this before blogging the complete puzzle but wont be near a computer for another three hours).