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I thought that too, Brendan, but he's part of a longer word.

Congratulations to Qaos on a sophisticated use of theme.
For instance, 24a + 25a is a phrase that might be recognizable only by quite experienced players (of which I'm one).

Definitely Geeker,

In addition to your good self we also have another player of note who frequents this Forum - i really hope he's made aware of this wonderful puzzle by Qaos.

Thanks for pointing that out, Geeker. I just looked up some more terms and found 3 more I hadn't realised were themed.

......so far I've counted 17 clues that are theme related but there are probably more.

Definitely more, Brendan.
For instance, hidden in 9 (a technical abbr.) and 19 (a more basic term).

Not doing well with the Prize today, maybe because not familiar enough with the theme. Thanks for posts giving pointers. Needing help with 2d, 11d, 25a please

Hi FemmeNoire,

There's a glossary of terms related to the theme on Wikipedia but I suppose you have to know the word in order to look it up so...

2d - 3 letters foe "court" + single letter "daughter" then the second word is an anagram/"dancing" - definition is "bird" as it relates to 1d.

11d - Is an odd word that you will definitely know but have probably never used - 5 letter "former party leader" around an anagram/"mess" of a 4 letter word in the clue - definition is "can be excused" but although it's in Chambers it's not on some other word search sites.

25a - Is a 4 letter anagram inside 2 letter "books" + single letter "yankee" - definition is "something unusual".

Thank you Brendan v helpful.
Just a hint for 8a and I will be done except I seem to be lacking one 12d. It’s the one that is placed in the end positions of the 20a at the start and has two alternative names

The 12d that goes at both ends and has two names is 1d.

8a - 4 letters "labour" goes around/"employs" single letter "leading economist" and 2 letter "article" reversed/"over" - definition is "growth" (a bit loose I think).