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Morning all. I like a theme and Paul has done us proud today, thanks for a lot of fun. FOI 9a, LOI 8a. Like someone else, I got the second word of the theme early (suggested by 21d) then the other word took ages. I have to agree with Brendan's choice for COD. Nothing Pauline that I can see, which feels like a missed opportunity.
Looking forward to others' comments on a very enjoyable puzzle.

Hi Luko,

That was also my route to unlocking the theme - I think I'd still be struggling if I hadn't seen it.

I think the absence of "Pauline" clues might be attributed to the fact that the theme itself is, in a sense, "anti-Pauline".

16d was my clue that unlocked the theme.

Hi Brendan,
On 13a, the town is Boer war vintage.

Thanks Mystogre,

I got the parsing from Geeker's tip and Google confirmed that it's, as you say, Boer related. In fact Google actually gives it as The Siege of ......... leaving no doubt it's the one Paul intended.

Enjoyed (enjoying?) Paul’s offering. For me the current CODs are 7a and 13a.
Cannot parse 1d - there seem too many options from the theme, and I can’t discern which one from the clue....

frsteve, in 1d I parsed the first 2 letters as a syn for the phrase consisting of (the 2 words following the comma in the clue). Agreed that there were multiple candidates.

Hi FrSteve,

1d - First 2 letters are "naff off" and the next 2 are "put a sock in it".

Thanks geeker
I’ll keep seeking the elusive tick in the app....
(I assuming all the others are correct!)