Fun puzzle! Not at all related to the theme, but something about SQUAREPEG was just really satisfying. And I always enjoy a good pair of repetitive clues, so 8A and 15A were very clever.
thanks! i really liked square peg too... first version of the puzzle had "courtesan" in that spot... then "square rod" but i deemed them too obscure/kinda boring... a shame that LEWES is pretty obscure too but hopefully not a natick in that spot... i planted the LOAN/LIEN trap with "mortgage" just to be extra evil