Cryptic crossword No 626

Kinksfan, welcome: great username, and nice to see another contributor in the US of A (I’m sure there are a few more). Nice start with some ace clues: my favourites were 1a, 12a, 17a, 6d and 16d. Spoilers follow……

#626 makes heavy use of anagrams (11) and hidden words (6). It’s your puzzle to set as you like - solvers can take it or leave it - but standard coaching limits anagrams in a 32-word puzzle to no more than 6. I haven't seen guidance on hidden words, but 2-3 might be enough. This is something to work on, if you wish. With anagrams, I like to (i) see if there is an especially apt one for the solution, and use it if so; (ii) otherwise save them as a get-out-of-jail card for when I am stuck….

Hi Kinksfan. There's some promising material here. For a first puzzle many of the surfaces are pretty good - that's not easy to achieve. Liked in particular 5a, 10a (good spot), 26a (nice definition), 19a. But there are quite a lot of technical issues - will cover a couple below, but I'm sure others will pick up a few things.

Congrats on your debut, Kinksfan. As others have said, you've put some effort into surfaces which is great to see. Yes, it's heavy on a couple of devices which you clearly enjoy but the other devices will come with time. Likes for me included: 10a, 12a, 15a, 26a, 1d. Spoilers in reply. Many thanks. PM

Well done on your debut, Kinksfan. Some rough edges to work on, as others have said, but keep at it. Personally, I would focus on making clues technically sound rather than trying to create nice storytelling surfaces, but we all have our own style.