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nearly finished. can't say i enjoyed it much - rather loose in places, and several i haven't fully understood.

any hints for last one, please?
4d Bit of love during sex that's ace (4)
?o?a
not absolutely sure about the A - that's one i haven't fully parsed

Hi Chris,

I think this puzzle will grow on you:-)

4d definition is "bit" (as in 'small piece') and is the usual single letter representation of "love" inside 2 letters for "sex" (yes, that old chestnut again!) + A(ce)

thanks brendan
i think i've sorted the parsing for 11, but the outside 4 letters are pretty loose, if i'm right. "see you" is missing

I thought exactly the same Chris but I've checked in Chambers (yes, I remembered this time) and it gives "later" (informal) see you later.

14a: yes, last three letters mean hindquarters!

I have to say I thought the cluing in this crossword was as concise and tight as I've seen in a Guardian Prize - there isn't a word that's out of place or not needed to get the answer - hats off to Tramp.

Hi Mathi,

14a I parsed it differently... 4 letter "crew" then a single letter contraction of "is" after/"behind" single letter abbr. of "section" (it's in Chambers) then 3 letter word for "in" (as in 'fashionable) - I'm not saying that's right, mind you:-)

Hi Brendan
Where is the indication of how to interpret "See" in 23d?
Another I can't see is where the first 4 letters in 16a come from. "ground" doesn't give it for me, even if it's not part of the definition.

Hi Chris,

23d Chambers gives "see" as 'the third letter of the alphabet'.

16a Chambers gives the first 4 letters as "a foundation, support , the foot, bottom" so I'd say "ground" matches that.

I agree Brendan, the clueing is concise indeed. It's almost as if Tramp wrote some decent clues, and then went back deleting words to make them even more concise to the point many are doing double duty. It reminds me of a Staff writing course where we were encouraged brevity to the point of rudeness!