Puzzle Notes

Hello solvers!
Time once again for your fortnightly dose of cryptic cleverness, brought to you this time by Larry Kline, whose last AVCX contribution was way back in 2022:

Larry Kline (he/him) has created cryptics for The Browser, Cryptic Crossweird, and Out of Left Field, as well as clues for Minute Cryptic and Parseword. In July, he helped coordinate the US & Canada Cryptic Crossword Championships online, while contributing a puzzle and editing. He lives with his wife in Toronto, and their son is studying theatre in Montreal. For cryptic news and monthly Scrabblegrams, follow Lowdown Cryptic on Bluesky and Instagram.

This one might be on the trickier side, but we know it'll be worth the effort, like the best puzzles always are. This is my last editorial byline for the year -- thanks to my cryptic colleagues and the AVCX community at large for being generally awesome! See you at the AVC X Games in January,
Dan (for the Cryptic squad)