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This week's puzzle is by Qaos and seems to have a different feel to it compared to the usual Prize crosswords.

It's hard to gauge the difficulty because the first third or so went straight in, but after that it got progressively harder and in the end I was glad to finally stumble over the finishing line.

If you do get stuck there are two long anagrams in the acrosses and an initial letters - also in the acrosses.

I think golfers will have no problem with 19d but others may not fare so well!

I found 13a an odd clue because only 3 or 4 words fitted my letter pattern so picking the right one should have been easy but, remarkably, two of them could have fitted the definition - this is where precise parsing comes into its own:-)

That said, there are still a couple I can't fully parse, namely 17a where I don't see the "stolen contents" part of the clue and 17d where I can see the definition, "with" and "fish" but don't really get the scientists part.

COD There were four contenders this week - 25a is excellent and took me an age to parse, even when I had the answer. 5d is also a good clue and has a very smooth surface reading, as does 20d. But I've picked 7a - "might be kind of shy" 😉 Excellent.

Thanks to Qaos for a challenging and fun crossword.

As ever, please feel free to leave a comment or ask for a hint if you get stuck - there are always people on here willing to help.

Stay safe:-)

Please ignore my "initial letters" in the acrosses - I had the wrong end.

Hi Brendan,

I agree, this Prize does feel a bit different, can't say why. Thanks to Qaos, I enjoyed solving it.
This has been a really difficult week of Guardian puzzles, but Friday's was easier than the predecessors and I found this Prize a relatively quick solve.
17 was my COD! Also liked 7 and 4. FOI 20a, LOI 8.
Hint for 17: For scientists, think of the equivalent abbreviation to the common (in crosswords) 2-letter abbrev. for "artist".

Sorry, the above "17" referred to 17D.
For 17a, I think "contents" means stripping off first and last letters of a word.

For 17A think of a 6 letter word for stolen with your 4 letter answer in it.

Excellent - thanks Geeker, thanks Akg.

Hi Brendan, I was thinking it was too easy, then I stumbled on 4d/8a.
Did you like the 12d's in the 20a 22a?

Hi Mattrom,

What a delightful theme and, naturally, it went completely over my head 🥵

There is the 1d, 3d, 12a 10a then the overall 20, 22a and many others.

Rule of thumb for me is..... if it doesn't come with flashing lights and 16 acrosses you can pretty much guarantee I'll miss it 😜

Well spotted Mattrom:-)

All the 12 downs seem to be there with the exception of the "main man", as it were - or he is there and I can't see him!

....... although he does appear in the second half of one answer.