Cryptic crossword No 2,160

Please nitpick!

Well I found this quite difficult and to save time I revealed a few. There were some good clues e.g. and especially 27a and also 6a, 22a, 17a and 25a. And who am I to say but I just felt some of the definitions were a little offbeat, even obscure and spoilt what otherwise were good clues. I’m thinking 28a maybe where the confusion was in the word ‘blocks’. I get your meaning now but perhaps the surface could have been smoother. Similar thing with 1a which is a good enough clue but if the surface

Welcome to the site, Chissip. It can take a few days for a debut to attract attention and I'm sure others will pop in soon to acknowledge a solid first effort. Some of the clues herein are very neat indeed. I liked 6a, 13a, 19a, 22a, 1d, 5d, 6d, 12d (COTD) and 26d. Thanks. PM