Fun, thank you! Interesting theme. Some glue was inevitable especially with so many Xs but it was smooth overall.
Tiny typo in the clue to 52A FYI.
My only real issue was the cluing for 18D. I get the wordplay, but it feels very dismissive for the major holiday in a country of 100 million people to always be associated with a specific wartime event from 56 years ago. (From what I can see on XWordInfo it has been clued as such less than 8% of the time and not once since 2014.) Just my two cents.
Thank you, Sendhil. You make a sound point and I will re-clue 18D. Thanks for solving!
An Ephemeral Collation 🤓8:07 · 2024-05-01T05:37:03.408Z
The clue for 9-D didn't feel totally in keeping with the vibe of its fill and I really wish that it did because it was a frustrating end to an otherwise incredibly rewarding solve. Looking forward to doing more of your work!
Xs but it was smooth overall.