Dylan, you raise a question at #21 which has also struck me as to the comparative gentleness of recent puzzles. Although my first occasional stabs at The Listener were when the crossword was published in the magazine of the same name, I only started to tackle it seriously and regularly in March of last year (no. 4652). During the remainder of 2021, there were some which I finished, some which I managed to get a fair way along before getting stuck, and some I barely knew how to start.
I wondered whether the comparative ease with which I’ve completed the majority of puzzles unaided since the turn of the year was because I was becoming more practised at tackling them. While there may be an element of that, prompted by your question, I’ve looked back at last year’s puzzles and the ones which were beasts then remain beasts now. We've been treated to a rather gentle few months more recently, I feel.