this was fun! some very pleasing clues (e.g. 11D, 30D), and some of the early across entries had me making too-early guesses at what the theme might be, but then when I got 28A and reconsidered the starred entries I was like ah! excellent!! really clever and satisfyingly executed theme. thumbs up!
thank you! i'm worried the theme might be a little too cute for its own good, since it seems like a few people struggled with it until after the puzzle was basically (or completely) over, but i'm glad that at least sometimes it's fun for people haha