Cryptic crossword No 159

Well done, Quince. I loved this. 27a - très magnifique!!

Very good fun. Thank you. Needed a little help but very enjoyable. Loved 10d (was staring at it for ages and just mystified as to what it could be) 1a 20a 25a and 27a

Lovely stuff Quince, thanks! Some really good, innovative clues - favourites include 1A, 9A, 27A, 7D, 18D. Nice Nina and worthy winner.

Every time I do one of your grids, my mind is blown in astonishment, thinking "How on earth can he top that next time?" I am dumbfounded. 22d - not sure about that abbreviation. But I love 7d, 18d, 1a, 9a, 10d, 1d and 27a so so much. And of course, 5d - HOW??? Amazing. Well done.

Well, I for one think this is fantastic!

Thanks Quince, a great crossword with plenty of fun clues. I particularly liked 11a (not a word I knew but the cluing was clear), 20a, 27a and 5d.

5d is superb. I’m not familiar with the definition but I loved the wordplay. Very clever.

This really is a superb piece of work. 27a is as clever as anything I've seen for ages. 5d shows the virtue of annotated solutions - I missed both the symmetry and the ingenious second use of "cutter". The same is true of 19d, which I failed to get but which your explanation shows to be quite fair. Especially liked 9a, 20a, 1d, 4d and 10d. And 16d is a reminder of happier times when we worried about things other than COVID (though we had know-it-alls even then)