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Hello, Elle!
Scenic route was fine!
It is dull and dry here.
Well done Amazon!
There was a dinner in town to celebrate our local sportsfolk.
Rory Muir collected an award for his sister, Laura.
They are very alike!
I am having a break from taking an electric fire apart.
It had developed an annoying "squeak".
And I know I have WD40 somewhere!

Hi, Rusty!
I had temporarily forgotten........but wasn't yesterday the day for the lighting of your beacon to commemorate the Battle of Loos?
And there was also a dinner to celebrate Scottish sports people?
it is all happening!
I think Laura's younger brother, Rory, is an 800m runner?
I feel sure I read that somewhere?
And they both went to the same school as Eilidh Doyle!
Yes, WD40 is brilliant!
If anything can fix your squeaky fire, then that will do so!
I kept my previous tumbler drier going for many years with an occasional squirt of WD40!
Sunny here!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, yesterday was the anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Loos.
The dinner was for local sportsfolk, not Scottish.
I did not know Rory ran ?
I have fixed the fire!
Did you purchase The Times today?
There is an interesting article in it about Peter Norman, the runner (his Australian record has stood since 1968!).
He was the third man on the podium when Tommie Smith and John Carlos did the Black Power salute.
I think they are making a film about him.
I have finished my puzzle while waiting on the weather to brighten.
A good one today.
Two words I did not know.
And one clue/answer which is debatable, I think, but the editor must have approved of it, so that's that!

Hi, Rusty!
Perhaps I am mistaken about Rory's also being an athlete?
But I could have sworn that I had read that somewhere......?
No, I didn't buy the paper......I only do that if John is away...or if the printer isn't working and I cannot print out the crosswords he sends me!
(and printer is all hunky-dory, now that my husband has fixed it!)
But I do know of Peter Norman.
He didn't do the fist in the air salute, but he was wearing the "Olympic Project for Human Rights" badge ( as were the other two athletes) because he sympathised with their principles.
I think a film about it all should be interesting.
I'm only a short way through the puzzle....I lost interest and allowed myself to be side -tracked.........
I will maybe take another look later.
What is the clue/ answer that you thought debatable?

P.S. Well done on fixing the fire!

Hello, Elle!
My pesky clue is 20d.
"Prunella, Vanessa and others in the information age (6)
I have ?e?e?a
I have gone for "gen era".
Gen/info, era/age.
But Vanessa is a flutterby, and Prunella is a plant, or a silk, or a bird.
I presumed that Vanessa and Prunella would be linked, but I am looking in vain!
What do you reckon ?

hi
Just looking in, as a break from gardening.
Genera - plural of genus :
Prunella is a genus (of a type of plant) and
Vanessa is a genus (of a type of butterfly)
Two x genus = genera
......Back to the lovely sunshine ......

Hi, Rusty!
I am sorry not to have replied sooner...I have just come in from the garden!
Re 20d:
I agree with "genera"
Gen- info
era - age
Genera is the plural of genus........ What would be the definition here?
Is this one of those pesky "&lits" that I cannot get my head around?
"Vanessa" - according to the RHS - is also a tree.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/54136/Parrotia-persica-Vanessa/Details
Does this help?

Sorry, jazzgirl!
Your post wasn't there, when I first started looking up explanations! I googled..... and then I typed .....and then saw your reasoning after I had posted!
I think probably both Rusty and I were looking for two great a depth answer!

Hello, Jazzgirl, lucky you and your sunshine!
Not so, here!
Yes, your parse is the way I was thinking but I imagined the two genera would be both plants or both "whatevers".
I suppose the setter is correct.
When I saw Prunella I could not get Scales out of my head!