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This week's puzzle is by Pan and if there's been a more straightforward Guardian Prize in the last few years I'll be very surprised.

My FOI was 8a but really it could have been virtually any clue, either across or down. Normally I only solve about two or three on my first read through but this time I solved them virtually in order.

If you do get stuck there are quite a few anagrams and they are well signposted. There's also a winter festival that I'd never heard of but Google has, so again, if you're stuck just Google the Shetland Win........

Normally at this point I'd say which clues I haven't managed to parse but, and this is a first, I've think I've got the wordplay for them all.

The only slight fly in my ointment is 7a - where I think "Attractive (male)" is more commonly known by the first four letters not the first five, as is the case here - but it's a tiny quibble and I'm probably wrong anyway.

Straightforward as it was, it was still enjoyable and maybe it's no bad thing to not have to pull your hair out over clue after clue.

So, thanks to Pan for a fun crossword.

It was really encouraging to see so many new posters join in the Prize discussion last week, so let's keep that going. Remember, if you get stuck you can always ask for some hints - there are people on here from all over the world and in different time-zones, so you can post your query or comment any time of day or night.

Stay safe:-)

Hi Brendan,

I pretty much agree with you about this puzzle. Thanks to Pan, and nice to see a new Prize setter (don't recall Pan here), but I found it a bit too "vanilla" and the overall level of wordplay less than Prize-worthy (so I'll pass on COD rankings).
I did have fun with it, though. I must admit Googling the Shetland clue, which I'd never have gotten otherwise.
FOI 8, LOI 1 (which threw me for a while).

Hi Geeker,

1a was also my LOI and word I was unfamiliar with but I had all the crossing letters and the wordplay is clear.

I completely forgot about my COD - I thought there were some very good clues, like 27a which is well crafted and 4d which has a lovely surface as does 6d but I'm going to call it a tie between 8a and 26a which are both short but wonderfully elegant and have great surfaces.

Re 7a Brendan, think adjective rather than noun for first 5 letters and it makes more sense. From the clue wording (“keeping”) I am not sure but maybe the fifth letter is at the end?

Surprising that the Prize is so straightforward, which did make for a less frustrating solve than usual, although less satisfying. No clues gave me a giggle or the joy of “that’s sooo clever” - maybe we’ve been spoilt by the many stellar offerings of late.

One to go - stuck in 10a so any pointers would be welcome please.

Have a great weekend lovely crossword people!

Hi FemmeNoire,

7a - I'm sure you're right, it's just that the adjective is very rarely used - of course that doesn't mean it can't be or that it's wrong.

10a - Usual single letter for "British" + an 'informal' word for "food" - definition is "pounds" as in 'hits'.

PS

7a - Chambers does give the 5 letter adjective so you're right FemmeNoire, I probably should have checked that first - will I ever learn 🥵

I think 7 parses fine (per femmenoire), but had always seen it as 2 words (per title of an album by a certain D. B.).

And what a great album it is:-)

My only reservation about the clue was that if the word we were looking for was supposed to be a synonym for "male" which is a noun, then the synonym should also be a noun - but if it's a synonym of "attractive" (which I now think it is) then, as that's an adjective, the synonym should also be an adjective - which it is. So, as suspected and is usually the case - I was wrong:-(

Thanks
Seems obvious now...

No problem, have a nice weekend:-)