I should add that I do not have difficulty with 19D and 22A. The definition you give for Pledges is just so. The use of the word hock aluding to a drink is a clever misdirection.

22A I think works this way: “This has been used poetically” is a definition. And “In the past” is another definition – i.e. it is what ere now means.

I have been on holidays so missed this blog, which is a pity becaue I have a bit to say. So I will lodge this and draw your attention to it when your next blog appears.

I agree with your sentiments entirely. This is the hardest Dante I have seen. But it is hard because a couple of the cryptic clues are ridiculous. 4A. Ocean bed is a nonsense of an answer to the clue. It doesn’t work in any way you look at it. The sensible answer is Water bed. It is a place to sleep. But it doesn’t work with the down clues. I wondered whether in England, water beds are called acqua beds. That would give me COIF for 5D but left me with no clue how to get 6d. 6D is another clue which simply does not work.

15A. SLUG. How does this work? A slug is a bullet but these two-word clues are meant to provide an answer which fits both words. How does Live = Slug? I had wondered wheter SHOT might work in a peverse sort of way given the question mark.

I can’t see 24A. Doesn’t maske sense to me.

I didn’t have a problem with PROMONTORY. But, like you, 13A was a problem for me. Yes I can come up with a better answer – Hooker. i.e. the little guy in the middle of the front row of a scrum. It is a rugby match and he has to draw the ball into his pack.

And finally we come to 2D. Like you I thought PARACHUTE a poor answer as a parachutist defintely doesn’t want to end up in the drink. A better answer is PERISCOPE. But of course it doesn’t fit with the across clues.

I like DANTE and I love his wicked sense of humour. Little girl holding little boy’s pencil is my absolute favourite followed by Two girls one on each knee. You would like these because they are constructed clues. But I also like the cryptic ones. Get Blooming Old is very good. But if Mr Squires wants to use cryptic clues, and please I hope he continues to do so, despite the fact that they are hard to write, he should perhaps check that they do not hamper our efforts to get the interlocking clues when there is more than one answer to them.

But it isn’t me suddenly getting better -I had a miserable experience with Dogberry 14152.