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...it has a good surface.

...in fact, prospero is right - it's not a pun to begin with but a true definition.

Just finished, after a lot of headscratching & with some assistance from the discussion here. My last clue was 21 - I'd suspected the answer for a long time, but couldn't parse it. The clue, once un-encoded is superb! I can't remember a more satisfying, enjoyable (if at times, frustrating) crossword.
Hats off to Hamishsoup!
One question: when submitting the answers online, does one submit the unencrypted answers to the clues, or the characters inserted in the grid?

you put in the boxes what you put in the grid. I think the Guardian has had enough time to develop an algorithm that allows you to submit the actual crossword - the Times has had one for several years now ...

This is devilish enough without the uneven spacing. Do the last four letters in 27 make one word or two? Marking or mark one for example. It is hellish clever though!

two words, teenieleek mrk n

Thank you, Hamish! That was undoubtedly the best and most testing Genius for quite a while. And a large number of excellent clues that would have won plaudits even without their “dsgss”.

I worked at this at intervals over three days. Each time I had a series of “light bulb” moments and then hit a wall. Then came back to it and a bit more opened up. And so on. I felt a bit like I used to in my rock-climbing days when pushing my grade, and the cracking of some of the problems with this puzzle was almost as satisfying as working out a really tricky move somewhere on a rock face in Glencoe. And all without the trouble of getting up early and hiking into the hills to the foot of a cliff!

Best wishes; and I hope the bees are bee-having...!

Mike

No-one seems to have had problems with 25, my last one, so it must be so easy that I can’t see it. h-n- is clearly correct and there’s not a lot you can do with brndd; presumably tl is tail. Any enlightenment will be gratefully received.

I'm sure you're almost there, daw. Defiinition is first 3 words. You have to use "thr sd" of halloween (but include a conjunction) and add the "tl" of "brndd".

Thanks prospero, all complete now. Incredible how many words with thr in (there, three, other etc) plus, of course e.....
Idem for sd, said being immediate. Interesting that tl indicates two letters, not one.
I had visions of giving up on this one, and it would have been the first time, but perseverance and your very helpful observations have saved the day. Extremely difficult puzzle this time round - next month’s should be a walk-over by comparison.