Cryptic crossword No 1,849

Hi all. This was intended to be Ladybird gentle but ... I clearly missed that boat! It really split my testers, whose take ranged from "impossible and ridiculous" (and that was the wife!) to "loved it". And plenty in between. If anyone is up for it, I'd certainly love some feedback. I have made some tweaks but I've defiantly clung to a couple. I fully expect (and probably deserve) to get battered for 12a and 23a in particular. Et al.

Thanks ALP, super stuff. Certainly tough, with some stretchiness and tricky constructions, but enough to get a foothold on first pass and then crossers gradually and steadily opened up those that seemed initially impenetrable. Faves include 10a, 18a, 28a, 1d, 2d, 3d, 15d & 23d. As you've asked for feedback, spoliers follow :-) ...

Thanks ALP. Much of this was way beyond my orbit and I revealed quite a few that I could not crack. I did enjoy a fair bit including 6a, 10a, 20a, 26a, 3d, and 4d.

This one did get the better of me a few times, needing some repeated checks to reach the end. Mostly I felt fairly grilled, but there were some points where I felt the toughness was unearned — in the reply.

I too found this a slog, needing to reveal a couple at the end to get to the finish line. But some relief in clever/fun clues. I enjoyed 12a, 14a, 18a, 7d, 8d, 16d among others. Spoilers…

That was tough for me, didn't quite make it halfway before I resorted to some help. Liked 1a, 6a, 10a (very neat), 14a, 3d, 8d, 24d...

Ha! Great fun though quite the workout! Needed quite a lot of checks in the second half and notes to fully parse some. Favourites included 1a, 6a, 10a, 12a, 2d, 6d, 8d, 21d ...

Got about half the way through, ALP, but suspect some of these clues were more fun to write than to solve. You've had exhaustive feedback from others so don't really need more from me but, as your 1a says, there is a fine line between challenging your solvers and leaving them bemused and dissatisfied. I'm not one to sit in a glass house: I have often been accused of making it too tough; no idea how one draws the line in the right place! Thanks. PM

Cheers ALP, I thought there were some really good clues in here but probably half of it was beyond my solving ability. Of what I did manage, favourites were 6a, 10a, 14a, 23a, 27a (COTD), 7d, 8d, 16d.