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Maybe I just wasn't on Tramp's wavelength, but I found this really quite difficult in places and more than once wondered if I'd even finish!

But, finish I did and, as is so often the way, looking back it's difficult to see why it caused so any problems. I'll be interested to see what others made of it.

FOI was 12a followed by 3d but it was a good ten minutes before I was able to solve anything else.

If you do get stuck there's a couple of long anagrams in the downs but they require a bit of unpacking and there's also a straight anagram in the bottom half of the acrosses.

The clues that caused the most problems were 16d, 18d and 19d and, strangely, the short 24a.

COD - I was going to give it to the funny 11a but, having finally solved 16d, it has to be that.

If you find it as difficult as I did, you can ask on here for a hint - there are always people here willing to help.

Thanks to Tramp for a challenging but ultimately rewarding puzzle.

Stay safe:-)

Very tough, only got 4 (LOI) as I was typing this post
Really slow going, FOI 3D, COD tie between 4 and 11, too many other good ones to list (17 and 23 for instance).
I pulled out much of what's left of my hair en route, but wound up having a lot of fun. Thanks to Tramp.

Hi Geeker,

I have a feeling many solvers will have a similar experience to us and find this a very tough puzzle indeed.

Methinks Tramp snuck in a Pauline clue!

I know exactly the one you mean - Paulinesque indeed 😉

Well, when Tramp was profiled in the Guardian,

https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2011/dec/01/crossword-blog-meet-the-setter-tramp

he did mention that "...I like including modern elements: songs, films, brand names and the odd bit of smut or toilet humour." :)

Many thanks Geeker,

That was a really enjoyable read - I think I'll give the Fawlty Towers puzzle a go during the week 😂

PS - Love the "Must've" clue, very inventive:-)

Well this one’s an uphill struggle, but so far a worthwhile one - some clever and humorous cluing. Thanks for the hints Brendan, which helped me get beyond the 6 answers I had managed to get till then.

Still only half way though. Any hints for 1d, 23a and 13d would be welcome, so hopefully I can make inroads into unsolved areas.

11a made me chuckle, but I am a bit confused and didn’t get it for ages because the badger’s home surely has 4 letters not the three that are in the answer?

I enjoyed reading about Tramp - thx for including the link Geeker. Wow what a piece de resistance “Must’ve” is. No wonder he is proud of that one. I will be thinking about and inwardly marvelling at it for days I’m sure.

So glad to have crosswords to do during this extra indoor time that some of us have at the moment. Hope you are all getting through the stressful times a little better with the crossword fun and fellow cruciverbalist camaraderie here.

Hi FemmeNoire,

That really was a great Q&A with Tramp that Geeker supplied.

1d - First word is a synonym of "diet" and the 2nd word is an anagram (I know it doesn't look like it) and the whole clue is the definition.

23a - 4 letters for "rose"around A from the clue + 5 letters for "more sick" - definition is "tablet"

13d - another anagram but it's tricky to work out what bits make it up - definition is again the whole clue especially the last four words.

Got there with 1d and 23a. Need to ponder 12d some more. Will come back to it later with fresh eyes might help
Thanks for your help Brendan