Cryptic crossword No 1,193

Thanks BD, good fun and an excellent debut with lots of inventive and witty clues. Favourites include 10a, 11a, 12a, 22a, 24a, 3d, 4d, 19d and 23d. As you've asked for feedback, also a few little quibbles - spoilers follow ...

Hello & welcome BD! Like Fez I found a lot to like here, including 10a, 4d, 5d (I think it's a fair entry, if tricky). Some suggestions to follow...

My first visit back here for a while, and a good one to choose; a first-class debut with, as others have said, a lot of fine clues, and thoroughly enjoyable. My favourites were 24a and 6d (which I think any professional would be happy to come up with). And with some of us, you get extra brownie points for the surface of 9d! Turning on Annotated Solutions is a good discipline (because you have to explain how the clue works) and helpful for those commenting. Spoilers in reply.

Hi. Compared to my early efforts this is excellent. I ticked 11a, 12a, 22a, 24a, 1d and 4d. 14d is a great spot. I only persevere with a puzzle if I’m enjoying it so I hope what follows doesn’t seem too critical. I agree with many of Fez’s wise words, especially about including annotations. As a weak solver there are quite a few I cannot parse or understand. 16a, no idea how this works. 5d, cannot parse, and Rioja is the only Spanish I know. 6d, no idea what the definition is.

Welcome to MyCrossword, BD. An excellent debut - like Starhorse, I wish my first puzzles had been this good. Nothing really to add to all the great feedback you have already received, so I can just pick some favourites: 10a, 11a, 3d, 5d, 6d and 14d. Thanks!

Well done on your debut, BD. Some fun ideas here - I particularly liked 10a, 24a, 5d, 14d. Others have given you lots of detailed notes already, I’ll just add as a general point that you should aim to tighten up your grammar and definitions to make sure your clues really say what you want them to say - simply because otherwise solvers will get frustrated and turned off your puzzles.