Spectator 2595 -"Three Of A Kind" By Devious Doc

[Matakari]

Good morning, a real teaser from Doc this week! Very straightforward anagrams as usual, but the Unclueds appear to be quite tricky, indeed, not to say daunting. A confirmation for the following Unclueds would be appreciated. Hope you have not given up, Klazo! Thanks in advance!
16a TIRG?E
17d ?OW?O?
29d ?IB?ED
30d ?I?ROR
31d ?I?G?E

[klazomaniac]

Morning mate. I finished it yesterday. So here to help pal.

16 T?R??E
17 All correct
29 All correct
30 All correct
31 All correct

[FreyaBee]

16a. No
17d No
the others look correct

[teacher1]

I think 16a is incorrect, but think the others are right.

[klazomaniac]

Freyabee 17 are the correct letters

[FreyaBee]

Oh dear. I have premier for 22a

[Boethius]

I’m struggling too despite getting all but one of the clued. Could it be to do with the word pattern - double consonants (e.g. mirror, pippin?). Actually those examples have the doubled consonant plus a third instance of the same letter. By the way, ‘Kowtow’ would fit 17D - another kind of repetition. Just floundering around.

[Neveracrossword]

Matakari, a 'real teaser' isn''t the phrase most regulars would have used for Doc's offering! There was a lot of discussion on the puzzle yesterday, but on your previous thread, last week's epic battle.

[Neveracrossword]

Boethius, Kowtow doesn't have three of any letter...

[klazomaniac]

Freyabee You need to rethink that one

[klazomaniac]

Boethius think three of a kind

[klazomaniac]

Morning NAC :-)

[FreyaBee]

Thanks Klazo. I have now changed 22a. Whar a mess :-(

[Boethius]

FreyaBee - 22A Not ‘Premier’ but the first 3 letters are correct. Detach the first letter P and find a word for ‘critique’

[Boethius]

NAC re ‘Kowtow’ at that point I was thinking straight repetition. The triple consonant idea occurred after, but not sure if that’s on the right lines anyway. Thanks for yours and other comments.

[klazomaniac]

Boethius, Your train is going in the right direction !

[FreyaBee]

I do hope 17d begins with P ?

[klazomaniac]

Yes Freyabee.

But Doc hasn't done his homework.
So two possibilities for each of :
2d, 3d, 17d, 18d

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Boethius. I think this crossword, the theme, could be best described as ... good in theory!
Morning, Klazo. Glad you got this out of the way yesterday.

[FreyaBee]

Thanks again Klazo. This is quite the worst Doc I have tried

[klazomaniac]

Thanks NAC. I'm still perplexed at what Doc was thinking. Ho hum, Only another 7 days to maybe Pabolum ;-)