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...or "published", if appearing on the Internet doesn't quite count. The puzzle will be up at midnight UK time in Big Dave's Rookie Corner (Puzzle #503).

https://bigdave44.com/category/crosswords/rookie-corner/

Contributors to the clue-writing contests on this site may recognize a few of the clues, but for the most part it's all new.

One of my testers compared it in difficulty to a midweek Guardian, and another referred to it as "a dog's breakfast", which I understand is a compliment in several of the more obscure Finno-Ugric dialects.

At any rate, if you finish with the Guardian Genius early, and want to have a go at it, please do. No need to comment on it here as that is what the comments section of the Rookie Corner is for.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Congrats, buddy. Enjoyed it.

Thanks, I enjoyed it. Took somewhat longer than a typical Guardian daily, but I often struggle with unfamiliar setters. ;-)

Nice work Buddy. Good to a recent Clueless winning entry getting a second outing.

congrats buddy. i had a quick look, but found it difficult to operate with my cat on my lap! i'll try again when she has moved off.

chris, how big is your cat? Thanks for comments so far. (Really just giving this a bump.)

[buddy - quite small but inconveniently placed. i can only use one finger on one hand to type....]

Hope you don't mind me commenting here, but I wanted to say that one thing I really noticed and liked was your hidden indicators. Not the run-of-the-mill. Unlike the comments on your puzzle there though, not a fan of "it" as sex, but that's just a matter of preference. I did have 17 as one of my favorites - very clever. Also particularly liked 24a and 28a. The entry at 20 was not a word I knew, but wordplay was clear. 18 was sneaky, in a good way. I did spot the few contest entries. Overall, definitely Guardian cryptic level difficulty. Well done!

finished it, but found it hard - harder than a typical guardian prize. not a clean solve - i revealed a couple of letters to give me a clue.

favourite 13a. i was thrown by 18d (where the letter reveals were needed) - shouldn't it be two words?

Yes, the commenters on BD's site noted 18 should be clued as (3-5). I note that some puzzles include hyphens in letter counts but others do not, so I wasn't sure what to do (next time I will include hyphens!)