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Another excellent Everyman, continuing the fine run we've had of late.

FOI was 1d followed by 2d.

I did see a couple of musical references and wondered if their might be a theme, but no, unless I'm missing it - which is entirely likely!

But I did spot a rhyming pair - that's two weeks in a row now so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself 😃

I did run in to a couple of snags in the NW corner with 1a and 2d but I'm pretty sure of my answers and hoping the wordplay will soon show itself.

If you do get stuck there are two long anagrams and two hiddens in the downs and a long anagram in the acrosses.

COD - I really couldn't decide between 20a and 19d - both are excellent with first-class surfaces so am declaring it a tie.

Yet again last week we had more first time posters join in our friendly Everyman blog, so lets keep that trend going. Remember, if you get stuck, don't hesitate to ask for a hint - or answer one😉

Thanks to Everyman for a fun crossword.

Stay safe:-)

Thanks Brendan - nice commentary.

I think I have them all, but not sure about the third word for 1a. Could you give me a pointer on what you have?

Thanks Peter,

1a - My mistake here was messing up 4d, which I think might happen a lot, which led to an incorrect answer at 1a, but I think I have it now ......

2 letter "old university" + single letter "tense" + 2 letter "old fellow" + 4 letter "that hurts" - definition is "old fashioned".

Apologies Peter, it should be ....

2 letter "old fellow" + single letter "tense" + 4 letter "that hurts".

Thanks!

I think I did the same thing as you for 4d and therefore had a T!

Exactly! 😉

Hi Brendan, missed you on the Prize thread yesterday.
Thanks to Everyman, lots of elegant cluing that induced smiles, my list of good clues is too long to repeat but will go with 15 as COD.
FOI was 1a, LOI 6. Got the rhyming pair. I'm awful at themes but couldn't see one; the second word of 11 gave a faint idea of a literary theme, but then the first word dashed it.
Quite a long "first letters clue" in this grid, but it fell short of one in a recent Everyman (2 or 3 weeks ago?) which was the longest I ever saw.
Enjoyable puzzle, mercifully a bit gentler than Tramp's fun but headache-inducing Prize.

Hi Brendan.
I think there is a mistake in the wordplay for 4d. Because it is where you find nurses and not where they go. As a consequence that was the last bit I slotted in .
The rest I thought was fine although some of the clues are a bit loose, but that is normal.

Hi Geeker, Hi Mystogre,

4d - I think Everyman is suggesting the destination rather than the journey to it - but I don't think we'll be the only ones confused by it.

I was looking after a friends dog and it took up all my time, I was terrified in case something happened to it. Plus, every time I sat down at my laptop it jumped up on me and started licking my face! As a result I've yet to tackle yesterday's Guardian Prize by Tramp but, judging by the comments, it looks difficult.

I too had 4d wrong, but corrected it later to fit 1a. Only the rhyming pair in 3d helped me to get 11d correctly, since I never tried this drink.