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Back to normal this week with a fun and entertaining puzzle by Brendan.

I'm not sure if this constitutes a theme but there are several references to US politicians, both in the clues and the answers.

It's difficult to gauge the difficulty level with this because when I did my first run through I only managed to solve three or four, but, as is so often the way, once I got going they all fell nicely into place.

My FOI was 10a followed by 8d.

Ahhhhh!! I've just spotted something very clever - 19a is in the 17a, 20a - brilliant!

If you do get stuck there are a couple of long anagrams in the downs along with a hidden.

My only query is the "book abridged" reference in 19a but the answer is clear so hopefully the penny will drop before too long.

COD - there is a clear winner this week with topical 29a.

Please feel free to leave a comment and/or ask for a hint if you get stuck. It's been great to see so many new posters joining our friendly discussion thread each week - the more the merrier.

Thanks to Brendan for an excellent crossword.

Stay safe:-)

Hi Brendan,

Missed last week, generally pass on the bank holiday puzzles which require too much work...
Thanks to your namesake, but this puzzle didn't really excite me, unlike most of the excellent Guardian offerings this week. On the easy side (not far from a write-in), and a general theme that has been done to death lately IMO. I agree with your query on 19a. Maybe I was spoiled by Paul's tour de force yesterday.

Hi Brendan, well spotted for 17, 19, 20a!
In 19a, the book is biblical.
I had a smile at13d and 17d, but I thought we had better clues for 13a. in one of the recent Peer Reviews. Perhaps I'm prejudiced.

PS. After saying 29a was a clear COD I'm going to immediately backtrack and declare it tied with 22d - how's that for being like a politician 😉

Still baffled by 19a - If the answer was only 2 letters long then that would work with the "book of ......" abridged, but I just can't account for the last letter - Hmmm!

There is another Book, less well known.

Hi Mattrom, Hi Geeker,

I've just been looking at the winning clue by PaulH for 13a and, yes - I agree it's a much better clue:-)

19a - Got it, many thanks Mattrom, it's not one I've ever heard of - but that's not saying much:-)

Yes, thanks mattrom. I thought that lesser-known book was a possibility, but was too lazy to check!

Morning all,
My favourite grid, it has every clue length from 3 up to 10, which is fairly unusual.
I’d say definitely on the easy side for a prize. I wouldn't have known 4d had the name not been guessable from the theme or the literary reference in 25d, but the wordplay was fair.
Nothing too subtle about the theme but if you’re looking for hidden messaging how about 19a 22d 28a 29a ;-)

A nice puzzle with a theme. I guess almost everyone around the world is very happy that it is finally 29a.

I'm with geeker on this one - enough with the election already!
I had TOM (of Dick and Harry) first for 19a. Better answer, as far as I'm concerned (TOM(e)).
Surely 27d would be better as "Dodgy character..."?