Cryptic crossword No 1,580

Very nicely done PM - thanks. Lots of great clues in here. I thought it was going to be easier than normal but then slowed down, as per. Favourites: 1a, 11a, 14a, 23a, 29a (COTD), 1d, 4d and 19d.

Thanks PostMark. Some of this was beyond me e.g. 1a, 29a, 7d, and 3d but I found a good bit to like including 19a, 26a, 1d, 5d, 18d, 19d, and 25d.

Defeated a bit by the fact that I couldn't spell 17d properly but I got there in the end. As opposed to your annotations I didn't give 25a a second thought. It was a neat clue. I got 29a from the def and thought that there must be a judge I hadn't heard of as I foolishly didn't register the full name. Similarly with 21d, I got from the def and can't believe I missed the wordplay. Other favourites were 11a (great def!) and 12a (neat).

A struggle for me, only managed a few and needed annotated solutions for a lot of the reveals. Of the handful I did get without cheating, 28a, 2d and 17d my favourites.

A lovely Sunday morning solve, with enough attainable stuff to get me going on the first pass and some tasty morsels to chew over at the end. Bested by a handful of parsings but inevitably very clever and satisfying, the tightness of clueing is matched by the quality of the surfaces and inventiveness of constructions. Particular favourites were 6a (very smooth), 11a (clever and satisfying), 13a (very neat), 14a (likewise), 19a (simple and effective), 25a (cute), 27a (fun), 28a (satisfying)...

Unlike a few other commenters here I found this more on your accessible end! Had about 75% done within a couple of passes and was only held up long by a handful of holdouts. Wavelength thing, as the cliché goes. Loved 1a, 11a, 14a, 29a, 17d, 18d and 21d (def made me smile 😁). Thanks!

The sort of thing that shows why you are the most-liked setter on this site. It would almost be quicker to list the clues against which I didn't have a tick - favourites were 1a, 10a, 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a, 16a, 19a, 23a, 28a (immaculately constructed with a brilliant surface), 29a, 1d, 4d, 7d, 8d, 15d, 19d, 22d. I thought 3d was a bit of a stretch, but even that one is perfectly fair and sound. Superbly done.

This was a challenge for me, with some synonyms stretching beyond my knowledge as a solver, but incredibly enjoyable to wrestle with. 11a and 23a were my favourites. Thank you PM :)

Super clueing and surfaces as ever, PM, with 1a, 12a, 23a, 25a, 5d, 19d my favourite faves. Obviously it’s forbidden (and ridiculous) to point out that Miss P, left to her own devices, just sits in a cupboard incapable of doing anything to fulfil our expectations of the definition (I hope that’s not a Santa-doesn’t-exist moment for you PM 😮), but I had a couple of other comments. Spoilers…

Hi PM, I’m rather late to this. Found it quite accessible in parts, and others just that bit too much of a stretch for me. I particularly enjoyed 13a, 27a, 5d, 18d, 21d & 25d among others. No quibbles, but then I’m mindful of your annotation for 21d. Certainly not enamoured of any suggestion that this site hosts a popularity contest and I’ve always appreciated your helpful feedback on my efforts.

Thanks PM, top stuff, sorry to be late to the comments Favourites include 11a, 14a, 23a, 28a, 29a, 1d, 19d & 21d. Quibbles ...

Excellent puzzle PM. Some very neat examples of different devices: particularly liked 1a 5d 8d 11a 12a 6a and my personal favourite 25a. Thanks