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After last week, I wrote a note to myself saying "whatever you do Bren, don't say it was straightforward"! Well, no chance of that.

This week's puzzle is by Paul and it is an absolute monster!

FOI was 11a followed by 15d - although I got 15d because I took a guess at the definition and reverse engineered the parsing.

If you do get stuck there are three long anagrams in the acrosses - but good luck spotting them!

I also noted a couple of Pauline clues in the acrosses, which are always welcome when Paul is the setter.

9d - I couldn't find any confirmation in Chambers that the "native" was "Australian" but I think I saw one in Crocodile Dundee so that's good enough for me 😉

23a - I had no idea this was what the phrase means.

22,5 - Another one I'd never heard of but Google confirmed it.

COD - There were plenty of contenders this week with the hidden definition in 1d, the witty 20d "eating off lap" and 19a "most definitely gone" but, being Paul, I have to choose the Pauline-esque 29a.

Thanks to Paul for a challenging but rewarding puzzle.

I'd particularly like to welcome and thank new poster Roundy1988 for sharing how he/she does the crossword with his/her Dad over Zoom - An excellent way to stay in touch in these difficult times.

Don't forget, if you get stuck you just have to ask for a hint - there are always people willing to help.

Stay safe:-)

Hi Brendan,
This one was a beast. I usually do well with Paul's creations, but feared an utter defeat and despaired of finishing. Still a fine puzzle, thanks to Paul who was in fine Pauline form.
Required Google for (22,5) and 9, would have had no chance otherwise. FOI 6, LOI 7. Many COD candidates, I'll pick the simple but trademark 27.

Hi Geeker,

Very difficult indeed. For my COD I had written 27a and 29a and went with the latter, but they are both excellent.

I'm looking forward to reading how others coped with this 😜

I'll add that although our CODs are quite simple, plenty of Paul's "other" (IMO) trademark, complex parsing, is in evidence today!

I'm not totally happy with my parsing of 13a - I have a nagging feeling I'm missing something.

Okay, I've got it - I wasn't sure what part "buttons up" played but I see it now.

Yes, a difficult one. Though I could get 9d using Chambers dictionary, the name in 22d definitely requires looking up Google.

Early start for me on this and so far concur. Quite a tough one. Brendan mentions 1d with a hidden meaning but there is no 1d so not sure which that refers to.

Unless I have completely the wrong answer to 4d, how does it relate to 16 14?

Rocky, the first 4 letters of 4 are a type of 16 and the last 3 letters of 4 is a quantity of (the last 6 letters of 14).

I had the wrong answer. Makes sense now. Thanks Geeker. I may have to go about Saturday and return to this later. It's going to need some serious investment.