Cryptic crossword No 1,091

Well that crossword was probably as close to perfect as I've done so far on this site - ticks the whole way through so it feels wrong to highlight favourites but I'll go for 12a, 13a, 19a, 29a, and 4d. Particularly wonderful definitions throughout - thanks PM!

Super stuff, thanks PM. Great throughout, favourites include 1a, 12a, 13a, 14a, 29a, 1d, 2d, 4d, 7d, 9d, 18d & 25d. Spoilers ...

That was top notch, thanks PM. Started off fun and creative, and you carried that throughout. Tons to like: 1a (nice symmetry), 6a (cheeky, fun and smooth), 10a (very neat), 12a (smooth), 13a (fun def), 14a (lol), 16a (cute), 25a (smooth), 26a (neat) and with 27a (great linked surface), 29a (very neat), 2d (fun), 5d (neat), 7d (delightful), 9d (tricksy and neat), 17d (very clean), 22d (neat), 24d (lovely indicator) and 25d (great def, very smooth) - lovely stuff :D

Really lovely stuff PM. 13a made me laugh out loud as did 14a. Other faves were 6a, 19a, 7d, 9d, 17d. But, though I love your definitions, I thought 5d was perhaps too stretchy.

Fabulous stuff. A bit tough to start with (first pass yielded worryingly little!) but it gradually unfurled nicely. A few I didn’t parse, as ever. My favourites: 24d, 9d, 2d, 6a, 13a and 14a. Thank you!

Super stuff, PM - thanks! Lots of fun, some of which I only appreciated on reading your notes (13A and 2D, I’m looking at you in particular)! Re difficulty, I felt slightly easier than average PM fare although once I got to 80% in I found myself searching for words that fitted quite a bit. In the end, defeated by 6A (suspected the answer but couldn’t understand the def) and 7D (see reply for irony). Other favourites included: 12A, 14A, 19A, 4D, 8D and 17D. Spoiler...

Very nice PM, thanks - and some lovely bits of blue in there as well (I remember well the fear of being called upon to give an answer that included 2d at school...). 12a, 2a, and 17a were my picks.

I agree with all the favourable comments that have been made. Particular favourites were 13a, 14a and 2d (which probably says something about me!) but I don't disagree with the comment that the puzzle as a whole was close to perfect. Came back to it two or three times, each time seeing clearly things which I had found obscure previously. Which is really what you want.

Nicely done, PM. Enjoyed the inventive definitions in particular - eg in 14a, 29a - but top favourites for overall wordplay cleverness were 23a, 27a, 29a, 7d.