Quick crossword No 44

I rarely venture to the Quick section because I'm expecting a quick (i.e. definitional) rather than a quick cryptic, but this was a really fine example of the art. Not a duff clue among them, and all eminently solvable for someone who knows the basics. And plenty, including but not limited to 11d, 12d, and 22d that are just lovely. Bravo!

Very crisp widders. I'm not really a quiptic person in terms of either experience or inclination - which is not a criticism of the form! From that limited standpoint, imo this is a little gem. I wasn't particularly trying to but I don't think I can fault any of the clueing. 5d and 6d my favourites though I also liked 1a, 8a, 11d, 12d and 14d.

This is very good. Nice, generally easy level with a few clues to pause a little longer over, which I think is ideal for the quiptic style. The grid construction is friendly too, which helped me see 19d. My LOI was 23d which I found quite funny as it’s really simple when you know the answer but for some reason it just didn’t pop into my head till the end. Lots of neat clues like 17a 19a 20a 21a and 3d.

What a quiptic widdersbel - a masterclass in setting, starting with a wonderfully inviting grid layout (it really resonated with me for some reason, I hope you don't mind if I pilfered it for my next quiptic?), impressively succinct and inventive surfaces, and a great range of wordplay and difficulty. All clues were a pleasure to solve, but particularly liked 15a, 17a, 3d, 5d, 12d