Curious what 12barblues means by his "alternative", but obviously it'll be better to await publication of the solution to find out what was meant.
Amazingly I managed to complete this, which suggests that the clues where not quite as formidable as others from recent years, but that is by no means a criticism. There were a few super clues in the set -- 10dn being my pick -- and generally some great care must have gone into the polished surface readings.
For the endgame I think I basically got it accidentally correct, only looking in the right place by chance, but once I'd realised this it made the endgame and the construction much easier to appreciate!
As it happens I know Cagey in person -- one of only two Listener setters I can make that claim about, the other being Chalicea -- so I've also seen some of his earlier work. Safe to say that this is better by far.