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Maybe I was just on Philistine's wavelength, but I found this to be one of the easier Prize puzzles but I know these things are very subjective so I'll be interested to hear how others fared.

FOI (First One In) was 8a followed by 4d.

If you do get stuck there is at least one hidden in the acrosses and at least one initial letters in the downs.

The only real trouble I had was with 10a where I took a while to choose the correct first word and 16d where I couldn't, initially, see the definition and 13d where I had to choose between two possible endings.

19d and 23a both made me groan but they are pretty good clues:-)

Thanks to Philistine for a fun start to the weekend:-)

Let us know you got on and, as always, if you get stuck - don't hesitate to ask for a hint.

Stay safe:-)

Ah forgot my ...

COD (Clue of the Day) -14a for its well disguised definition, excellent wordplay and super smooth surface.

Hi Brendan,

Thanks to Philistine for a fun Prize this week, really enjoyed this one.

Far easier than the norm IMO; top half was nearly a write-in but the bottom half contained a number of Prize-worthy challenges. Too many excellent clues to enumerate! Suspected a pangram but the grid seems to be lacking one letter...grid is amenable to Ninas but drew a blank there also. Can't see a theme either, no surprise there...

General hint: Far fewer anagrams than usual. 😉

FOI 8.
LOI 19, last parsed was 23.
Among the plethora of fine clues, (20,24) and 23 tie for COD hono(u)rs.

Curious to see what other solvers think.

Hi Geeker,

I had pretty much the same experience as you in that I raced through the top half but then had to really work to fill in the bottom.

The way 4d and 19d line up did make me look for a theme but, alas, I didn't find one either:-(

How have you parsed 13d? I'm not sure I've fully understood the wordplay.

The right side of the puzzle hints at a culinary theme, but the left side doesn't bear it out.

Brendan, 13 parses as 3 ("work") inside 7, defn. "coming together".

Thanks Geeker, that's what I have but was not too sure how "as" acts as a containment indicator but, looking at it again, the wordplay has to be read as a whole rather than split up.

13 is one of the bottom half clues that slowed me down. After prolonged doubt, I've finally concluded the parsing is clever! But no further comment to avoid spoiler. 😉

Absolutely, I just wish I'd understood it earlier as it's a clear COD contender!