Quick crossword No 416

Hello MyCrossword. We are a small group of novice setters meeting monthly since the start of the year. This is our first attempt at collaborating on a Quick Crossword. We hope you enjoy it and we hope to benefit from any constructive criticism.

Great work Sextant! Particularly enjoyed 1d, 14a, 19d, 13d, 23a. In the interest of constructive feedback, I think 8a is a bit "same-sidey" - the message found in a bottle IS a dispatch, after all. But in general all clues very clean and concise, a sign of great things to come :) Thanks for the puzzle!

Welcome Sextant, and thanks for an excellent first puzzle! Hard to pick favourites but if I had to: 10a, 18a, 23a and 5d. Hardly anything to say by way of constructive feedback, but the little I can muster follows ... spoilers ...

Thanks Sextant (and welcome!) Highlights for me included 10a, 22a, 23a, 13d & 21d, but really there's good stuff all the way through. Spoilers ...

Hello and welcome Sextant people! A very nice debut indeed, I only wish mine had been so polished. Loved 13d, 18a, 9d and 19d. Now do another! 😁

Excellent "Quiptic" Sextant with a good mix of devices and indicators. Lovely succinct surfaces - I particularly like 5d (nice misdirection), 9d and 20a for the fun surfaces, 1d, 1a, 18a, 21d...

Hello and welcome Sextant! I agree with other that this was a very nice debut. I won't repeat what others have said (which I agree with), but will add one more point...

Thanks Sextant for an impressive debut on MyC. I thoroughly enjoyed this with my top picks being 1a, 10a, 11a, 22a, 25a, 13d, 15d, and 19d. I liked the large number of succinct, readable surfaces. More in reply

Thank you, Sextant, for this excellent grid. I only started solving cryptics this year and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.