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I was rather hoping for a July 4th themed Everyman, which I'm sure would have pleased our many US solvers but, alas, no 😢

Regardless, this week's puzzle is of a high quality, although, and I know I've said this before, but it does seem like it was compiled by more than one setter 🤔

For example, when you compare a clue like 6a "Celebrity blows whistle, turns" - which makes absolutely no grammatical sense, to a clue like 18d "Is inclined to enter church to get pure" - which reads like it could have come straight out of the pages of a book or magazine - it's hard to believe the same person wrote both - rant over.

In terms of difficulty I reckon it's not much different to yesterday's Prize, although I needed Google to find out who the Tolkien creatures were and I'd never heard of 7d. Also, I'm still not totally convinced I've got 13d right!

If you do get stuck, there a couple of long anagrams in the acrosses and an initial letters in the downs.

COD - Several contenders this week with lots of smooth surfaces - there's the aforementioned 18d, 1a, 3d and 4d, but I'm going to give it to 11d - who doesn't love a good homophone! 😜

Thanks to Everyman(s) 😉😉

Let us know what you thought and, as ever, if you get stuck - don't hesitate to ask for a hint.

Stay safe:-)

I agree about a collaboration of setters. A LOT of anagrams in one area. FOI 1a 2d 1d, Still cannot figure out 13D which I have been staring at for far too long. Help !

Hi Brendan,
Agree about mix of authors.
I found this really easy until I got stuck on 7, which I still don't have!
For quite a while, I hoped for the ever-elusive total write-in, but it was not to be.
FOI 1a, LOI will be 7 if I get it.
COD tie between 24 and 19a, the latter had a nice misdirect.
One short clue is vaguely Pauline, but I doubt he set it. An interesting Everyman trend of long "first letter" clues continues.
I've found the Tolkien creature to be a frequent visitor to crosswords, even the US variety.

I think 13 is an &Lit pertaining to a "domestic Persian", so to speak.

Hi Alzy,

I'm still not convinced my 13d is right so I'm not able to offer any insight. I'm pretty sure the Persian is the furry kind and I have something that would fit if it said "carers or guardians of Persians, but "providers"?

PS Where does the O come from in 19d?

Brendan: 19d uses initials of an unusual (for crosswords) 3-word term for Eire.

Hmmm. Thanks but I'm still not seeing the holiday issue.

Hi Geeker,

7a - As I said, I'd never heard of the "multi-generational novel" but got it from "where gold's discovered at the end"

13d - Have you got an I for the second letter of the second word?

. . .Unless we're talking about the airline. ??

Aaah! Of course, I was thinking it was just the usual 2 letters - silly me! 😜