Cryptic crossword No 3,164

Fun! Faves include 14a,17a (nice spot!), 30a,6d,8d,21d

Hi Serbosh, thanks for an engaging crossword, which I was mostly able to solve without cheating. Generally I thought the wordplay was pretty 24a, in the positive sense I would normally use the word. Favourites included 1a, 9a, 17a, 3d & 22d. Sometimes I felt the surfaces were sacrificed to make the clue work, and in a couple of cases I found the ‘grammar’ was compromised for the sake of the surface. Of which more below if you’re interested…

Hi Serbosh, all pretty good fun but a few slips which I think Sisyphus has already mentioned. I do like your playful definitions like spelling champion, winger, tiring substance etc. Best surfaces for me were 6a, 13a, 30a and 25d. Cheers