Cryptic crossword No 2,573

Thanks Henri, very clever!

A really stretching challenge for me but got there in the end! NE corner went in last. It’s all clever, 10a especially. Thank you.

Interesting idea and a crossover between two puzzle formats. Once the first quarter had fallen, the others followed quite rapidly as I knew what to look for so the format makes it easy on the solver. Nice idea to include the tricks in the downs. Well done. PM

I gave this one a go but a bit tricksy for me. I got a few down clues and one or two acrosses but had to reveal some in the end. I enjoyed the struggle though, clever stuff. My faves were 5a (I particularly like the use of 'discovered', I've logged that for use later!) and 26a, thank you.

Thanks Henri for a very clever idea implemented very well. Once I got the 4 devices it was smooth sailing. I couldn't parse 8d & 20d but I did make correct guesses. Favourites were 27a, 1d, 4d, 17d, and 25d, and of course, the grid itself. More in reply.

Wow, a brain breaker! Totally failed to understand the fourth indicator (one of the toughest on offer imo), so I stumbled to those solutions. Your trademark clever surfaces add to the pleasure, as always, and tricky defs up the challenge. Faves include 12a,27a,30a,31a and 1d,3d,7d,19d,21d

Thanks Henri, an inventive idea well executed (as we've come to expect 🙂). I found this a bit tricky but enjoyed the experience of gradually finding the devices to make sense of the across clues. Favourites were 27a, 31a, 19d and 20d.

Very good Henri, thanks. Took me a while. I thought my cold-solving wouldn't be good enough but I managed just enough to spot all the tricks. The construction is most certainly the star but I'll also pick out 18d for special mention