Cryptic crossword No 2,604

So gentle, Henri, are you ok? I had a great time solving, other than guessing one answer, thereby skipping over the fab wordplay (I feel I kind of cheated myself!). Very hard to pick faves, but here are a few: 10a,18a,23a,24a and 6d,8d,11d,19d

Thanks Henri for the fun. This was a quick solve with my top picks being 12a, 17a, 23a, 6d 18d, & 19d. I couldn't parse 24a without your notes but all else made sense. I didn't find any strange twists or themes this time around but I seldom see themes anyway. More in reply.

No shenanigans certainly makes for a quicker solve, Henri. Nice and gentle but still plenty of fun. Faves inc 13a, 26a, 3d (COTD), 7d (also COTD), 15d, 22d. Thanks. PM

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Very good Henri, thanks. Shenanigan-free works for me! I didn’t find it as gentle as others, though - had to reveal 1a and 4d in the end. The former is very clever but too much so for me without your notes. Favourites: 12a, 24a, 7d, 11d and 19d. Spoiler …

Just had to drop in to say 1a is inspired! Thanks for the puzzle Henri :)

Some gentle ones to get started on but I found a lot of these quite hard! Good fun though, enjoyed 1a (laughed when the penny dropped, I heard this observation on the radio), 16a, 15a (clever), 5a, 15d, 7d, and 13a (for the unusual image of the surface). Thanks!