Cryptic crossword No 1,429

Thanks chracol - good fun! I found this to be a very variable difficulty - not a bad thing but it meant that the first half went in rapidly and the second half didn't (!) with the NE particularly tricky (and 12a ultimately revealed). I enjoyed the creativity and interesting surfaces. My pick of the clues: 7a, 24a, 3d, 15d and 19d. Spoilers...

Thanks chracol, another fun solve ... and I think a great improvement in your surface readings too. Faves include 7a, 23a, 24a, 3d, 15d & 16d (those last two might even have worked with linking ellipses?) Spoilers ...

Got about half way through this chracol and ran out of energy which is when I turned to your annotations. Some of your imaginative leaps are beyond my pay grade, I'm afraid. As that included the two important central crossers, it meant I made little headway and none whatsoever in the NE. I still do not understand the def in 4d, share Coot's challenges with 13a and have no idea how one is meant to recognise the definition for 14d. Thanks for the workout but a tad easier next time please. PM