Cryptic crossword No 1,790

Really, really great stuff, Fez. Brilliant surfaces and such fluent clueing, albeit that Blancheflower showed his meaner streak in clues like 11a! A long list of favourites doesn't even do justice to how good this is: 1a, 13a, 19a, 25a (lol), 26a, 27a, 3d (clever def), 4d, 8d, 15d, 16d, 21d. Bravo!!!

Polished as always, Fez. And yes the surfaces are lovely. And it is pitched at Blancheflower rather than Fez to me. Not sure 11a deserves picking out as mean; it was one I enjoyed, particularly having clued the word myself of late. 1a, 10a, 12a, 19a, 27a, 1d, 4d, 7d, 15d and 16d are my other faves though I could easily have ticked more. Thanks. PM

Thanks Fez, this Blancheflower character is a bit quirky I find. Some dropped out easily enough, but others were quite a struggle for me - one or two nhos (e.g. 17d), but a few others with cluing just that bit too devious for me at the time of solving. Still, I felt quite satisfied when the last one fell into place, so thanks for that. I particularly appreciated 10a, 14a, 25a, 27a, 7d, 16d & 24d. A little more specific discussion in reply, spoilers…

Thanks Fez for the challenge. I eventually revealed 1a and 5d and there were scattered bits throughout I couldn't parse but on the whole this was fun. Favs included 13a, 26a, 2d, 4d, and 7d.

Great stuff Fez, thanks. At the Fezzy end of Blancheflower from where I was solving with some rather devious constructions. All the usual creativity and fun though. Favourites: 1a, 12a, 19a, 1d, 4d (COTD), 8d, 15d, 16d and 22d. Spoilers …

A game of two halves, that - the top half went in much more easily than the bottom half. Liked 1a, 11a, 13a, 25a, 16d and 18d. Additional comments in the reply. Thanks!

Very enjoyable - felt Blancheflower in its construction, but for some reason took me a much Fezzier time to solve! Nho 17d and while the cluing is perfectly kind, the answer evaded me for ages. 1a, 17a, 6d, 4d, and 21d were my picks.