Favorite clue: MALIGNER. Least favorite: RED-FACED. Fed raced just makes no sense, I think good sponerisms in puzzles should sort of make sense both ways. Or at least be funny.

Relied entirely on internet research for all the themed clues, completely lacking knowledge of the topic. Gave up without getting ABSTAIN (should have!) and ANCHISES (probably never would have).

I thought this was a great puzzle. I loved the convoluted interweaving of the clues, just up my street. Not very Ximean though, had to put my pedant’s hat away in the drawer to enjoy this one to the full.

I had a heads up on the theme though, as I had spotted ‘Lady Clara Vere de Vere’ as a frequently accessed link while viewing the fifteensquared stats page earlier in the day.

The veins in which gold appears are called reefs, so the “of” is appropriate, with “gold” doing double duty.

I think your reference to an old Kinks song would probably be more obscure to most people than Arry’s to the Apocrypha.

Like you I was pleased to finish this resourceless, though I did look up Anchises, after solving the clue, just out of curiosity as to whose father he had been.

Unlike you, I enjoyed this one – it had that pleasing progression from fiendishly difficult to suddenly completed which gives a great deal of satisfaction, even if some of the cluing might look a bit ropey in retrospect.