Cryptic crossword No 1,074

Good evening. If this is your first ever puzzle it's pretty impressive. What immediately struck me looking at the clues is they are generally fairly short and succinct. 2d is very neat. I also liked 15a, 6d, 18d, 22d and one or two others. 24d, the definition isn’t wrong as such (though is subjective) but there might be more interesting options. Something based involving “plucky” perhaps? Most of the surfaces are very good – something that’s not always the case in rookie puzzles.

Thanks HA (you're not Coot's luckier twin by any chance?) - enjoyed this, with favourites including 10a, 11a, 16a, 8d, 18d & 22d. Spoilers ...

Well I clearly have no intelligence worth insulting as I can see nothing wrong in 1d at all and it's on my list of favourites. It's nice to see you back, HA, and with lots to like in your latest. 12a, 14a, 16a, 19a, 26a, 1d, 2d, 8d, 18d and 22d. Thanks. PM

Thanks for the puzzle HA, nice to see you around again as PM said. Lots of lovely stuff in here, particularly 10a (smooth and neat), 11a (neat), 12a (clean), 16a (neat), 19a (very clean), 23a (likewise, nice fodder), 24a (neat), 26a (neat and smooth), 1d (worked for me, smooth), 2d (cute device), 6d (cheeky use of a partial when the fodder lined up for a full!), 13d (nice), 15d (smooth surface), 18d (neat) and 24d (neat) - nice one :)