Cryptic crossword No 1,980

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Thanks Cigogne, that was *very* tough! Only heard of maybe just over half of the themed Acrosses, but got there from clear clues for one unknown (17a) and one known (18a). The nho 15a beat me in the end. Faves 1d & 5d, and from the themers 10a & 27a. Spoilers ...

Oof! Tough puzzle. Almost all my comments are spoilery so in the reply 😁

Love a duck, that was tough. Even the grown-ups thought so! I knew I was in a big trouble as soon as I clocked 6a. That's quite the kick-off! If Henri's a philistine for only knowing six, I'm positively protozoan. This was very smart. I got there in the end, but it was a struggle and I did have to check a fair few. Fun though. Lovely Spooner and 19a made me smile. Etc. Hats off, fella.

Its an impressive feat getting a theme into all across clues for sure, and that deserves a lot of credit...spoilers...

Ain't it funny how things can have different effects on solvers. Lord knows, I am no musician but I knew all of the themers bar 15a which I got from wordplay and 7a which I did not. (Unfortunately I confused the latter with an American artist so always had the wrong starting letter.) as for the downs, everything was straightforward bar 4d (which I should have got but see previous comment) and the nho 2d which I had no hope of getting. So I enjoyed this and even found it breezy! Thanks. PM

I was ultimately defeated by a handful for reasons other's have said, but I hugely admire the excellent themed grid with only 1 NHO for me. Faves were 7a, 13a and 19a for the themed clues, with 3d, 4d and 22d earning clicks elsewhere. In 4d I saw straight away what needed doing but it took crossers to get there! Bravo!