Cryptic crossword No 1,376

Thanks Leucine, good fun with some terrifically inventive and amusing stuff. Favourite maybe 1a (also my LOI), other highlights include the similarly whimsical 9a & 10a, 11a, 22a & 4d. Spoilers ...

A super puzzle Leucine, thanks. As Fez says, loads of wit and invention. I found it pretty tough, with very little of the top half in place when the bottom half was complete. But it all unfolded in the end although I needed your notes to fully understand 1a. Favourites: 5a, 11a, 12a, 17a, 26a, 7d and 14d.

Hi Leucine, a little late to this but worth the wait. I particularly enjoyed 5a, 17a, 25a, 6d (showing our age…), 18d, 20d among others. Some gentle wit in several of the clues that added to the enjoyment. By no means a pushover, so a good level of challenge. A couple of solutions beyond my GK, so as they say ‘you learn something new every day’. A couple of very minor reservations in reply to avoid spoilers.

This was right in my sweet spot, and provided a good few chuckles over a couple of goes. I particularly enjoyed 11a, 16a while enjoying a cup, 7d and 14d

Another late arrival, Leucine, but I'm very glad I gave this one a go. I am 100% with Fez - the wit and imagination more than compensated for the odd rough edge. Some of your substitutions were great fun and I liked the devices in 1a, 3d, 4d (really made me smile), 7d (which was well enough indicated for me) and 20d (no idea whether it's in the 'rules' but NE was the first thing I thought of when I saw 45 degrees). Really good fun. Thanks. PM

This was a real laugh Leucine. I’m glad I caught up with this one. Very funny and lighthearted throughout. Cheers. Thoroughly enjoyable… biggest smiles for the totally whacky 19d, inventive 12a, the neat spot in 19a and loads of other chuckles like 27a 22a and 4d for example, but could have picked more. Cheers for the cheeriness!

My apologies Leucine, I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle a fortnight ago on a train journey and heinously forgot to show my appreciation via comment! I'm glad I was given a nudge towards this by Guava as I'm most pleased to share what I particularly enjoyed: 1a (delightful surface and cute WP), 11a (neat and fun), 12a (cute), 16a (very neat), 21a (nice), 26a (very smooth), 27a (fun fodder), 4d (very fun), 19d (cute) and 24d (very clean) - lovely stuff!