Retirement Crossword

So here are my answers to the crossword I was presented with last week...

Well that was hard!  Firstly the grid is rather sparse in crossing words sharing letters at their intersection (known as checkers) - a typical grid has more shared letters than "unches" (unchecked) for all or most answers. And, secondly, many of the clues don't conform to normal cryptic crossword conventions. Several are lacking a definition part (but this can sometimes be omitted in harder crosswords in clues that have a common theme, as we have here, so that's OK) and some of the cryptic devices (e.g. take the first letters of, sounds like) are not indicated. But I think I've unravelled them all except maybe one, which I can't properly explain.

Fortunately I soon discovered the theme. The answers are all about where I worked, what I worked on, the tools of my trade and my hobbies. That was nice!

So many thanks again to Simon, Ed and Martin for the entertainment and the thought and effort that must have gone into coming up with it.

I annotate the clues, their answers and explanation of them explanation below as follows:

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and [] other indicators.

Across
1	These ordinary gentlemen attract followers (5)
	First letters of These Ordinary Gentlemen Attract Followers. The Open Group Architecture Framework, in which I'm a certified practitioner.
6	Inhaling Scandinavian air (7)
	INSPERA. Norwegian computer-based testing platform provider I've worked with for 8D. A sort of cryptic hint based on INSPIRE (inhaling... air).
10	Design and Technology are the essence of information (4)
	DATA -  First letters [the essence of] Design And Technology Are.
11	Most often the user finds a cure (8)
	CUSTOMER - Anagram of (Most cure)*. The Customer and Technology programme was one I worked on.
12	Systems to measure.(7)
	METRICA - Cambridge Assessment's in-house computer-based testing platform for which I contributed to the roadmap. METRIC (measure) and an unmentioned A.
13	Another wrong shade of blue (3)
	SKY- Cryptic definition. I think the "Another" means you're expected to do 30A (q.v.) first. Project SKY was not a success, hence wrong. Not that I had anything to do with it!
16	Much harder to create than first thought. (9)
	CROSSWORD - My favourite. It's an answer, of course, because it is a hobby of mine, but the clue refers to effort that Simon, Ed and Martin put in to creating this. Bravo!
17	Step over there, shouldn't you? (9)
	THRESHOLD - Another cryptic hint. This time to a project that was a precursor to 30A and hence actually before my time at Cambridge Assessment.
18	Judging the team's session without input or output (10)
	ASSESSMENT - Anagram of (team's session)* [without] the I (input) [or] O (output). It just needed an anagram indicator to make this the best clue.
19	Active colleagues lose some of their senses (8)
	INSIGHTS - This one had me grasping at straws. Application (20A) Insights is a tool used by our service management team, and Active Insights is a management development service provider. SIGHT = some of their senses? I think I got this one wrong, but with only one checking letter the possibilities are multitudinous. Crosswordsolver has 2513 matching words). I wonder what the answer should be? It is fair to say, though, that I did think some of my colleagues had lost some of their senses at times!
20	Putting to a special use (11)
	APPLICATION - A sort of cryptic hint. Application Architecture was a focus for me in my job.
23	Fundamental underpinnings (14)
	INFRASTRUCTURE - A straight definition. Something our team set direction for.
25	Should Virgil in part set the watchdog (11)
	INVIGILATOR - I don't know how this is supposed to work, but (Virgil in)* is part of an anagram of the perceived solution. The answer being a role needed for a formal high-stakes assessment.
29	The science of electronic dance music shows inverse exponential growth - why? (14)
	TECHNOLOGY - Is technology a science? Whatevs. This is TECHNO (electronic dance music) LOG (inverse exponential growth) Y [sounds like] why. Good charade, except there's no homophone indicator.
30	The wrong shade of blue (6)
	COBALT - Cryptic definition and a reference to a major project that went wrong and got canned. Not that I had anything to do with this one either! Before I spotted the theme, I thought the answer to this was OXFORD.
31	These stoic defenders of justice are down to earth (10)
	SOLICITORS - I think this  is meant to be a reference to the proposal I worked on for a new exam regime for the Solicitors Regulation Authority. But I don't get it. Stoic? Well it is part of an anagram for the answer. But "Down to earth?" Why?
32	Shuffling Humpty rules his domain (7)
	WALKING - My last one in. Misdirected by "Shuffling" which, conventionally in crosswordland, might refer to an anagram, This is actually a reference to Humpty-Dumpty as a WAL(l) KING. I only got this because there was no other refernce in the crossword to that hobby of mine! It sort of works with him ruling (i.e. being KING) of his WAL(l) if your spelling is suspect.

Down
2	Options for transport (5)
	ORBUS - OR (options) BUS (transport). The provider of our architecture modelling tool. A definition would have helped,
3	G.I. Joe is in the middle of a drink but still light on his feet. (5)
	AGILE - A nice surface, but the Joe is superflous. Otherwise a rather good clue. GI [in the middle] of ALE (drink). Agile is an approach to software development that Cambridge Assessment have adopted.
4	Sounds like the gnome grew his own tipple (4,5)
	HOME BREW - Nice try, although "sounds like" is not the same as "rhymes with"! My latest, a Wheat Tripel, will be ready to try in another week or so.
5	The fourth estate (3,5)
	THE PRESS - Straight definition, and a reference to our fellow non-teaching University department, the Cambridge University Press.
6	Antoine-Joseph's eponymous invention. (9)
	SAXOPHONE- Another straight definition, referring to Antoine-Joseph Sax, and my musical ambition to get good enough at playing the instrument to play it in public without embarrassing myself.
7	Small idiophone (8)
	TRIANGLE - Another straight definition, but I had to look up what an idiophone is. The name of our office is The TRIANGLE.
8	Institutions expect less teaching stress (6)
	IELTS - First letters of  Institutions Expect Less Teaching Stress. Cambridge Assessment's flagship English language test.
9	Sweet on the day assessed (9)
	CANDIDATE -  CANDI Sounds like CANDY (sweet) DATE (day). The person being assessed.
14	New French fashion by Radio Nordzee International towards the back of the station (13)
	MODERNISATION -  MODE (French Fashion) R.N.I (Radio Nordzee International) [back of]  towardS the stATION. IELTS Modernisation is another IT programme for which I shaped the solution.
15	Sly friend (9)
	ARCHIMATE - ARCH (sly) (I) MATE (friend). I spent ages thinking this was a double definition trying to find a word that meant both Sly and Friend. Archimate is the visual modelling notation we use for System and Enterprise (q.v.) architectures.
21	NCC-1700 (9)
	ENTERPRISE - The vehicle number of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek. Enterprise Architecture was one of things I worked on.
22	Jumbled scarlet wheel in the US (7)
	RETIRED - What I am now! An anagram [jumbled] of RED (scarlet) and TIRE (wheel in the US). Hmm. Deriving some words and then making an anagram of them is not allowed in a regular cryptic clue. This is maybe better clued as an insertion of TIRE in RED.
24	MA 02138 (9)
	CAMBRIDGE - The Zip code for Cambridge Massachusetts. But I worked in the UK one.
25	Almost sight without end (5)
	VISIO - [Almost] VISIOn (sight) [without end]. We seem to have two "lose the last letter" indicators here. You could drop the "Almost". A reference to the visual diagramming tool we use for Archimate (q.v.) diagrams.
26	Mr Brown the gardener (10)
	CAPABILITY - A straight definition. Defining the Business Capabilities of Cambridge Assessment was something else I worked on
27	In my sleep the world is learning (9)
	IMS GLOBAL - Another that took me ages at the end. The enumeration should actually be (3, 6). It is the first letters of In My Sleep and GLOBAL (the world). A bit of an opaque definition too. IMS Global are a consortium that maintains a set of technical standards for learning and assessment. After about 3 years of evangelising from me Cambridge Assessment rejoined the consortium.