Cryptic crossword No 175

Wow, Conto — what a fun, unique(!) idea! I can't pretend I didn't need a little help, but big ticks for 5, 22, and 19. I have a feeling I'll be racking my brains for more candidates for the theme for the rest of the day...

Crikey! Some of the parsing went over my head, but I finished it in the end. ... "Ball-bearing", LOL

Wow. Just... wow.

Really imaginative clues and great to do a crossword that is different from the norm. Love all the reverse double definitions and particularly enjoyed 7 down. But calling 9 across a DD is a bit of a stretch!!

I didn't get 1d; I didn't succeed in parsing 3d or 17d (a reminder of why the things are thought to be a bad idea!), and the GK required to parse 6d fully really is a bit obscure. But getting so many sound themed clues was brilliant. I really liked 11a, 13a (worthy of Paul) and the beautifully simple and sound 18d, and 2d raised a big smile ("Say what you really think, why don't you...?). Thank you for taking the trouble to provide annotated solutions, which something like this really needs.

Thanks and appreciation to those who’ve already commented so far. I’m delighted that people have taken this in the same spirit with which it was created - I guess you could call it a liberty-taking exercise! The leash will be back on for my next one!

I don't mind the liberty-taking at all, it's all good fun. Also being utterly puerile, I enjoyed "layman" and "ball-bearing". To pick out some favourites: 5d is excellent, 11a is very clever, 3d was too clever for me but it's a sound clue. And given that you've got so much liberty-taking going on here, 7d is a lovely "straight" clue! On 12a, I once had a girlfriend called Imogen whose nickname was Moggy, and I so wanted that to be the answer... Agree with Gollum on 6d.

Ticks from me for 11a, 1d, 3d, 7d - though lots of other honourable mentions too. I'm jumping on the 6d bandwagon, not sure it's direct enough (similarly, 9a), especially compared to other one-word clues which were superb (1d, 12a, 14a, 16a and my personal favourite 24a). Quite a few weren't gettable for me, but that is down to the solver rather than the setter! Nonetheless, thoroughly enjoyable, thanks Conto

My Head is spinning! Really clever and very interesting exercise given how easy it can be to stray into over- long clues. I would never have finished this, but can follow your notes clearly and see where you are going with all of them. I'm afraid I have to pick out ball-bearing too! Very good.

This is great. Lots to admire, especially 13a (ha), 27a, 3d (love the def!) and 18d. I agree with some of the quibbles re: loose definitions but I guess that's to be expected with such a difficult exercise. Well done, Conto.

Great stuff, Conto - good to see that 18D inspired you with the theme. Lots of great clues. I agree with other comments about those that maybe crossed the line - but given that the line had basically been rubbed out, so what! 13A, 3D and 7D my favourites.

Fantastic!