Cryptic crossword No 179

5D - very clever; 8d - ha ha :-) ... Had to reveal 28D in the end (though given the theme I should have expected to find it somewhere): not entirely sure that one works.

Thanks Madryn, this was a fun solve. I liked 16a, 24a, 1d and 8d (once I checked the annotations and saw how clever it was!). 13a was my favourite, really nice cryptic def. Spoilers below...

Several clues are quite superb. I particularly liked 10a, 11a, 13a, the beautifully concise 22a, 29a, 5d (though I needed the explanation to appreciate the full subtlety of the clue), 8d, 18d, 23d. Not entirely convinced by the parsing of 30a, the pedantic lawyer in me isn't terribly happy with the definition in 31a, and I agree with Skirwingle about 28d. A few surfaces are a bit Yoda, 15a being the worst offender, and 32a... really?? But overall, a lovely piece of work.

Nice one, enjoyable. Ticks for 13a, 22a, 5d (“unconventionally” is a bit sneaky but I like it), 17d (I’m always a fan of good two-word double-definition clues), 23d (“big” made me laugh), 25d (simple but effective), 26d.

Just wanted to echo lots of the positive comments here, really enjoyed it. Thanks!

Nice job and I thought 22ac was particularly good, but the theme is lost on me I’m afraid.

Thanks for the puzzle Madryn. Lots to like, including 1a, 12a/11d, 22a, 8d, 17d. Special mention too for the definition of 4a, albeit it suggests the answer is an adjective.