Cryptic crossword No 689

An excellent puzzle, Leucine - well done! This is so different from the gentle fare you offered up until relatively recently (which I also liked, by the way). Really quite challenging in places and a number of rather obscure solutions, but packed with invention and cunning. Ill pick out the following for special mention: 9A (well-disguised); 28A (great spot!); 29A (brilliant); 5D, 14D, 18D (extraordinary!) and 23D. A couple of spoilers in reply.

Thanks Leucine, very enjoyable indeed. Favourites 10a, 11a, 15a, 26a, 28a, 1d, 2d, 6d, 7d (though see spoilers) and COTD for me 22d. Spoilers follow ...

A most enjoyable puzzle, thank you! An interesting mix of write-ins and headscratchers! It started off quite gentle then I hit a bumpy patch that took some navigating... Lots of clues made me smile: 26a, 29a, 1d, 24d, 6d, 5d, 17d and best of all 18d, very clever!

Hi Leucine and thanks for this. I agree with Coot that there is a step up in complexity in quite a number of the clues. Definitions remain quite straightforward which is a relief as it meant I was often back parsing wordplay rather than solving from it. Favourites include: 21a (cleanly done), 29a (very witty - some might object to an element of indirectness but it worked for me), 3d (nice surface link to solution), 4d (one of my tops), 5d (and another - ridiculous surface but who cares?) Cont...