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No problem, glad you got them all sorted:-)

Hi all, bit late to the table! I enjoyed this a lot, overall - some excellent clues. But agree that there were a few questionable ones, especially 20d which was a messy unsatisfactory clue. I also (like some others) wondered why 'Bit of' was at the start of 18d.

Only one I still can't parse is 21a (despite hints on here) and am wondering if my answer is correct (I have a country in Africa). I can parse the last 3 letters. But if the film is ET (is it?) then I'm left with HEO and can't make a 'leaderless state' out of that!

Hi julesvern
Check your spelling!

Doh!! Of course, how silly of me! Thanks Chrise :)

Just one more thing though, what is the 'not' doing in 21a??

"not oddly" is the instruction to take the even letters of optimal

I've only just done this as I've been away.

I try to solve it on my laptop but copy it on to my phone to make cross referencing easier when reading the comments.

I agree with Warden@49 and others that it was far too bitty.

My COD was 7d but maybe it should have read booze and dairy.