Cryptic crossword No 991

Nice puzzle, Henri (though i did wonder if it was Jaspa-influenced). Reasonably straightforward but with plenty of your usual nice touches. Lots to like but favourites include 8s, 14a, 19a, 1d, 11d, 12d (COTD), 15d and 18d. Spoiler in Reply. Thanks. PM

Lovely stuff Henri, some really nice ideas for the grid fill and a fun challenge from start to finish. I particularly liked 1a (smooth), 9a (fun), 16a (smooth), 17a (clever), 19a (very neat), 23a (lovely but too clever for me during the solve), 1d (smooth), 2d (simple and effective), 7d (neat), 11d (neat), 12d (very smooth), 20d (neat) and 22d (neat) - thanks for the puzzle :)

Very nice puzzle Henri - original, creative ideas that were individually well clued, though heavy, I felt, on the accrostic/letter selection variety. 23a is fab, but proved beyond my two brain cells. 5d, while correct in every detail, is not, I'd say, a commonly known term (new to me anyway) so was unresolvable in my case at least. 9a seems incorrect as the combo referred to formed in 1960. Or have I misunderstood it?

Good stuff Henri - I 'knew' the 1a / 23a combo so had a good framework early on. 5d got a bit of a hmmm but I guess forgivable for linking those two! Other faves include 13a, 16a, 17a, 18a (very clever wordplay - though not sure about the part of speech in definition?), 21a, 7d, 15d & 17d. Thanks!

Hi Henri, the surface for 1a made me smile. My other favourites were 10a 16a 17a and 7d. Cheers