Cryptic crossword No 1,381

I think this is the first of yours I’ve done Astrohorse. Some *very* clever stuff here, offering the satisfaction of pennies dropping aplenty when resolving the misdirections. I particularly enjoyed and admired 8a, 9a, 15a, 18a, 26a, 1d, 2d, 6d, 12d & 16d. Some references were beyond the sphere of my GK, hopefully no longer though! A few more detailed spoilery comments in reply… Thanks for a very enjoyable solve!

Fun puzzle with just the right level of difficulty to keep me engaged throughout. Favourites: 8a, 10a, 24a, 4d and 21d. I got 22a from def but the parsing eluded me! Very clever 😁

Lovely stuff Starhorse, thanks. I don’t know how many edits you made but if I had to edit my first Rookie Corner submission to make it publishable here, I’d be rewriting every clue! Favourites: 9a, 11a, 13a, 22a, 5d and 12d.

Thanks Starhorse, very enjoyable to solve. Really concise clues but with satisfying wordplay. Particular favourites were 1a, 11a, 23a, 5d, 12d and 17d.

Very late to this, Starhorse, having been distracted by other things. But I am glad I gave it a go. On the tougher side and I was short of a bit of GK which meant I failed on 24a. If this is essentially what you put out on RC, I'd imagine they were suitably impressed. 26a, 4d and 6d my podium. Thanks. PM