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It was always going to hard to follow last week's brilliant offering from Philistine, but Paul does a stellar job all the same.

I found the cluing to quite witty and very inventive.

In my opinion, the sign of a really good clue is one where one the answer can be worked out, even if the word is unknown - this was exactly the case for me in 9a.

There's also a clue where the answer is so well hidden that, even when I had the answer, I still couldn't find it!

I found this rather difficult but there a a few long anagrams which allowed me to get a toe-hold .

For my COD there was a lot to choose from, 16d "made me smile" , 18d for it's smooth surface, but I've gone for the small but beautiful 23d Belief in female attending to litter (5)

It was really great to see so many new contributors to last week's thread - all opinions are welcome:-)

Please feel free to leave a comment giving your opinion on the crossword or, if you get stuck, ask for a hint.

Stay safe 16d 😉

Hi Brendan,
I knew a Paul prize was coming when he didn't appear Thursday night. This was good, a bit tougher than the norm. But as sometimes happens, I was able to get on Paul's wavelength.
One new word (clue # omitted to avoid spoiler), but clear from wordplay.
26 was COD with 17 a very close second, also liked 1a, 11, (7, 28) and 23. Agreed on 16 as well.

Hi Geeker,

I think I've said before that I'm not really knowledgeable on the styles of individual setters, but it's clear to me from this crossword, as I went from clue to clue, that Paul is undoubtedly a master of his craft.

PS in COD contenders I put 18d when I meant 18a.

Paul may be varying his style somewhat. I only noticed one rather tame clue that could even remotely be considered "Pauline".
Upon further review, the cluing and wordplay were really high quality. I could have listed more standouts.

Ditto

It's only when I went back over the crossword that the true precision of the cluing became apparent.

PS I've seen the "Pauline" reference before - what does it mean?

Naughty / off-colour.

Ah, got it - thanks Geeker.

Brendan,

Paul was the first setter profiled in the Guardian's crossword blog: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2011/sep/22/crossword-blog-meet-the-setter-paul

Quoting, ...I think of Paul's as one of the cheekier crosswords - sometimes risqué, bang-up-to-date with its references and often splutter-out-loud funny....

Morning all,
I’m just getting started, so won’t comment, coffee first! You may be interested to know that Paul is hosting an online call this evening to give his thoughts on this puzzle. He has said he will do this each time he is the setter. Details on his website (johnhalpern.co.uk)
Boatman has already hinted that he’s up next week ;-)

I've not finished yet, and I'm not sure I'll bother to, having come across the egregious error in 10a!