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This week's puzzle is by me, I mean Brendan 😉😉

I have a feeling Brendan might have been staring at the calendar when he compiled this as all twelve months of the year make an appearance, either in the answers or the clues.

My FOI was 11a followed by 3d.

In terms of difficulty I'd say it leans towards the more challenging end of the scale, but the cluing is fair so no complaints.

There are a couple I can't as yet parse, namely 6d and 7d, but the answers are clear so hopefully I'll have a PDM (Penny Drop Moment) before too long.

Also, I'm still unsure of 10a which is one of those pesky four letter words with a letter pattern that means there's about 150 words to choose from.

If you do get stuck there are a couple of partial anagrams in the acrosses and a hidden in the downs.

COD - There are some excellent clues but I have to go for 5d - "you can't miss it" 😜

Thanks to Brendan for a most enjoyable and fun puzzle.

Yet again last week we had more new solvers joining our friendly Guardian discussion thread. It's always nice to hear the views of others. Don't forget, if you get stuck you can always ask for a hint, there's always people on here willing to help - you might be one of them 😃

Stay safe:-)

10a - .....and the penny has duly dropped 👍

6d - and finally found the correct dynasty:-)

That just leaves 7d to parse........

Thanks (squared?) to Brendan.
I found this tough, despite spotting the theme early. Uniformly difficult, solving was slow and I gave myself a pat on the back for finishing. FOI 12, LOI 8, which I'll call co-COD with 21. Also enjoyed 3 and 20.
I also have not parsed 7!

Hi Geeker,

Actually, the more I look at it, the more difficult it appears.

I also liked 20a and for 21d I almost didn't look up what had to be the "Burmese title" - I mean, it couldn't be..... but it is!

7D

For a local (German) the setting for the Octoberfest is Bayern. The B and Y become T&V.

My best shot.

7d - Just got it! I had the wrong answer so no wonder I couldn't parse it😜

Thanks and well done, Nelson. I agree.
I think it merits COD status!

I've put it the pother way giving "Oktoberfest setting" as the definition rather than the "pub".

Yes Brendan, I believe the definition is "O'fest setting", but nelson revealed the parsing, which I likely wouldn't have gotten until tomorrow (if then :) ).