Cryptic crossword No 59

Well-themed crossword Conto! I also liked 4d and 16d.

Oh wow, what a clever grid! Favourites were 4d, 5d, 14d with a special mention to the rather brilliant 21a. I felt the first part of 11a might have been better with a synonym as it's quite a lot of the solution to give away, but that's a fairly minor quibble in a very strong puzzle. Thanks Conto.

Thanks for this Conto, quite a challenge! - but alas! I don't often have to confess to throwing in the towel, but I did on this occasion. Perhaps this puzzle is worthy of 1across mag.?! Anyway, some clues - the easier ones amongst the toughies! - I really liked. 10a for instance, once I realised which .... (cont. - SPOILERS)

Thanks Conto! There were some really clever clues in here but I found it pretty tough. Maybe a little too much misdirection (e.g. the hyphenated clue words)? I agree that the grid was very clever and impressive. think 10a and 18a were my favourites.

This is clearly an extremely well set puzzle, but unfortunately it was beyond my limited ability to solve it, despite several attempts over a number of days! I just couldn't get enough of a foothold in the left side of the grid to give me enough connecting letters to make progress. I eventually admitted defeat and spent some time working through your annotated solutions to see what I could learn...

This was difficult! I nearly made it, though had to reveal a couple at the end. On the plus side, many of the clues were very imaginative and you avoided all the usual crossword cliches. 4d was the standout clue, and I also liked 9a, 22a, 29a, and 8d. I also liked 14d but people lacking the required knowledge would probably not agree. A few clues, such as 15a and 16d seemed so difficult as to be almost unfair, but maybe that was just me being slow. Theme was cleverly done.

Great grid and lots of inventive clues. I especially liked 4d and 14d. Tough enough challenge, though - a lot of intricacies. It took a few visits and had to check 17a and 13a. Thanks a lot Conto.