Cryptic crossword No 2,423

Thanks for some good fun there Gennaro! Your signature device and a bit of transatlantic jiggery-pokery added to the shake-up. I particularly appreciated 6a, 24a, 25a, 3d, 15d, 18d among others. A couple of nhos or 'alternative facts' (e.g. 22a, 1d, 2d) gave me pause, but all gettable in the end. A little extra spoilery comment in reply, but nothing unduly critical - so thanks again!

I found this more challenging than some of yours, perhaps due to some American spellings? As usual, Nina was a help but only near the very end, despite the hint word emerging early. For me, best surface = 19a. Among other faves are 6a, 7a, 4d, 17d, 20d, 21d. Any day with a Gennaro puzzle is a good day!

Fabulous - if slightly trickier for me than your last, with some clever misdirection here and there. I got the key clue as my FOI but it still took a while for the other thing to drop, but when it did it helped accelerate my progress! Liked: 6a, 10a, 14a (lovely apt surface), 9d (great spot) and 21d. Minor additional comment in the Reply -> Thanks!

Nice one, again. A few that were quite tricky and a few rather complex surfaces (one or two of which were not as smooth as you have been doing of late if I'm honest. Soz!) My podium was 22a, 25a and 21d. Thanks. PM

Thanks, Gennaro -- this was tougher for me but that made it satisfying, especially as I earned more checking letters to help me along the way. And yes, as mentioned elsewhere, the special instructions were particularly appealing (and also timely with the recent re-release of Eddie Muller's fine Dark City Dames book : ) Some favorite clues include: 17d, 10a (tricky bc I didn't know that word), 9d, 12a, 25a, 13a (skillful & fun), and the story evoked by 15a. I hope you have a great week, thank you

Sorry about the delay in commenting Gennaro - I was on hols when I solved this earlier in the week. Typically fun fare, though, albeit rather trickier for me than normal, partly because I didn't fully decode the Nina until relatively late in the piece. I struggled particularly in the SE, with 24a being an unfamiliar word, as was the US punter. Favourites: 11a, 1d, 4d, 9d and 21d. Spoilers ...