Cryptic crossword No 1,710

Thanks PostMark for a nicely crafted crossword. I liked 10a (good tight construction), 17a, 22a, 27a, 1d (quite clever), and 18d. Spoilers in reply.

Lovely, PM. Quite a challenge, with a lot of clues either tricky to parse or hard to solve even once I understood the construction. Particularly enjoyed 1a, 11a (both great surfaces), 17a, 25a, 1d (funny and clever) and 6d. But I could name any number of clues here. Spoilers:

Very nice indeed PM, thanks for a very fun solve. Podium goes to 10a (lovely alliteration and tight construction), 12a (creatively done) and 13d (very smooth), but I also thoroughly enjoyed 1a (LOI but lovely when the PD'd), 6a (very neat), 17a (likewise), 28a (fun and smooth), 1d (fun and neat), 6d (neat), 18d (smooth) and 21d (fun) - lovely stuff all over and a satisfying mix of indicators and difficulties across the grid.

Very good, PM. My usual wrestling match, stumbling halfway, speeding up after a break and then needing a few reveals at the end. Completely missed what was going on with 1a and 12a, and failed to twig 3d. I’ll reveal the other reveal in the reply. Lots to like, though, as per. Favourites: 10a, 11a, 15a, 22a (COTD), 25a, 8d, 13d and 18d. Spoiler …

This was a real challenge! Which I like. My favourites were 1D for the groan and 8D for the neatness of the surface. I had to squint to see many of the anagram indicators, but once I knew to look sideways for the I could find them.

Very enjoyable with a classic PM difficulty arc (ie i started off well then hit a slightly chewier patch, then eventually ground out a finish with a few holdouts!) and some lovely surfaces. 1a and 8d are superb spots. Also liked 10a, 28a, 3d and 13d. 21d got a smile for its sirdakka tribute act 😆 extra comment in reply

Took a few returns to finish this one off PM, although mostly due to my own deficiencies as a solver... of those that I did parse fully by myself, 6a, 3d, 14d and 18d stood out. Thanks!

This made me work hard to get a toehold, that’s for sure, but crikey, it was good. Surfaces to die for and some very sweet misdirection. Really enjoyed this, even the acrostic which I don’t normally love. Wonderful disguise at 1a to kick off. 14a reads beautifully and 17a is just brilliant. So too 1d. 3d’s nicely cheeky and 6d’s clever. I did think 21d was a tad mean and I wanted to like 24d more. But this was exceptional. I’ll certainly be back for more. Huge thanks PostMark.

Beautifully constructed PM and I needed quite a bit of help so felt you were staring into my soul with 1d! 😆

A good challenge: thanks.

Nice puzzle this, PM. I especially liked the traditionally “easy” type of clues that you have really neatly disguised to make this a slower unraveling than it ought to have been! I’d put 12a and 20a in that category for example, as well as, for different reasons the lovely 2d and 11a. I loved 8d and the very neat 18d. Final thanks for the trio at 21d 23d 24d

Sorry to be so late PM, but this is a fabulous puzzle for those with greater solving skills that I. I required a good amount of help, but enjoyed parsing. I thought 1a, 10a, 17a, 6d, 8d, 14a were especially good.