I thought there were some nice touches in this customary gentle start to the week. 10a and 12a being two I liked particularly.

Thanks setter and everyone else.

Am I missing something or does 1A not have a surface but is merely a mechanical instruction on how to construct the answer?

Thanks to Eileen

I am another who tried to imagine a relay team of two people having two legs each

In 8d I tried, for a long time, to use ‘model’ in its usual crossword sense of meaning T but eventually spotted the correct interpretation. That comes as a pleasant surprise.

For once, i disagree with you. Surely there are four runners running in each leg?

Like others, I liked CYCLOPS.

Chris @17, I wondered why the check button wouldn’t have the first a of AGAMEMNON, when I checked at the end of the puzzle. It couldn’t have been anything else!

EN ROUTE reminded me of an early French book at school, which contained the ‘adventures’ of a French family. I can still remember huge chunks of the stories and the accompanying drawings.

Giovanna x

Thanks Eileen; I was misled into thinking of a team with two people before the penny clanged. I thought you would like your Greek hero even if, as Chris @17 stated, the Grauniad wanted to spell it with an À.

I particularly liked ACTRESS and GOODY BAG, having convinced myself for a protracted time that the second word would be man.

I was momentarily non-plussed when, using the “Check” button to make sure I’d spelled Agamemnon correctly, the Grauniad website removed my leading A! Eventually, the “Cheat” button revealed that they wanted an À (A-grave)!