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Thanks to Vlad for this week's Prize challenge. Many witty and surprising clues that were not straightforward to parse.
I find Vlad one of the most difficult Grauniad setters (save Enigmatist and Maskarade), but he seems to have been gentle here: at or slightly below median difficulty (IMO) for a Prize but distinctly easy by V.'s standards.

FOI 2, LOI and COD 3. COD runners-up 16 and 28, long list included 25, 18, 15, 17 and 19.
Google needed to confirm parsing of three clues.
No theme or gimmick feature that I can see, but I rarely spot them and won't be surprised if I missed a theme.

Curious about other posters' impressions. I found the last two Prize puzzles difficult, but many other solvers sailed through them.

Hi Geeker,
I've only recently progressed from Everyman & got put off Vlad after my first attempt. However I found this very do-able and fun. Even where I lacked the GK they were able to be worked our from the wordplay & a quick google to confirm. Just stuck on the two short 12 & 24 which I'll probably kick myself for.

I always find Vlad tough and so far this is no exception. Took ages to get started largely because I'd never heard of an 11a before and I got bogged down in it. I'm about half done and there are some cracking clues already. The 8,7 and 21,22 link is superb.

But I have a few like 13d and 5d where I have answers that fit but no idea if they are right from the clue.

OK I have 5d. I was right and have worked out the parsing finally. Very enjoyable this I think.

Very good I thought. Enjoyed the connection between 8/7 and 21/22. Last one to parse was 13d but finally figured it out

So I really enjoyed this. Some tough words I didn't know and I still can't parse 19d assuming it's right. I get a green tick on a Saturday even with a wrong answer. I've tested it.

COD 8,7 and 21,22 for me as a joint offering. LOI 19d.

Thanks to Vlad for some really clever and sometimes unusual clues and all in all a great puzzle.

Hi Ricky, 19d is three letters for sister and three letters hidden in a word from the clue. Interesting you have that experience with the tick. I only get one with a correct grid. As soon as I enter a wrong letter the tick goes. I think this has been commented on before. Very odd.

*Rocky, sorry! It autocorrects to ‘Ricky’ every time.

I did think 27a was particularly tricky given it’s the less common spelling of a fairly obscure word and the wordplay is an anagram that requires both subtraction and the use of an abbreviation

Yes Jono. Agree 27 was a tough one too. 19d became obvious as soon I posted. I also spent ages on what I thought was an anagram on 18a. That's why I felt this was a clever puzzle in the way it took you down roads that were red herrings. But fair.

An excellent puzzle by Vlad from whom, as Geeker suggested, we've come to expect more brutal crosswords, so this was a pleasant surprise.

COD - a close run thing but I'm going for 16d.

Thanks to Vlad and Geeker.

Stay safe:-)