Cryptic crossword No 1,002

This took a while to finish - I kept coming back to it hoping for inspiration - but it was lots of fun and most rewarding in the end. Had lots of laughs and it’s a pleasure to see a creative mind at work! Thank you! Loved 15a. Hard to pick favourites as it was all enjoyable, but the 25a 28a combo gave a good laugh, 2d too (hoho) and there was plenty of neat wordplay: 9a strong start, nice disguise; 1d especially liked arthouse, 3d! Neat, with precise and helpful punctuation. And among others…

Thanks, Char. I also found this quite tricky, but highly enjoyable. Especially the naughty clues, but also devices like those in 4D, 6D and 18D. Minor quibbles/spoilers follow...

That was a bit of a toughie but glad I persevered, char - some very adventurous ideas and curious what other's thoughts are, but I enjoyed the challenge! I particularly liked 12a (fun surface), 14a (neat), 15a (not 100% about this but it's fun), 27a (lovely surface), 28a (fun), 4d (interesting), 6d (likewise), 17d (fun) and 22d (similar to a trick I used and a cute execution - perhaps a little indirect but I get there in the end!) - thanks for the puzzle.

I'm sorry to have taken a while to get around to this, Char; there has been a deluge of post-Platypus puzzles and I have been distracted. But I'm really pleased I did it - love your imagination and there were some splendid devices throughout. Yes, I agree with the queries raised by Guava and Lamppost but none of them prevented solve, I could see what you were aiming for and I found myself applauding the idea more than groaning about bending the rules. Cont ...

I wanted to thank those that have solved my puzzle so far and especially those that have taken the time to offer feedback. It’s warmly received and I’m grateful. And what a relief that you’ve had fun solving. It was a nervous wait! I’ve provided a few thoughts on your collective observations so far...