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Absolutely stellar puzzle from Picaroon full of wit, ingenuity, and well hidden definitions.

FOI was 9a followed by 11a.

In terms of difficulty I'd say it sits towards the harder end of the scale.

If you do get stuck there is at least one long anagram in both the acrosses and downs.

My only queries are with the "under" part of 20d .... OMG! I see it now - another brilliant clue:-) so that just leaves the choice of "set" in 16a but I'm sure Picaroon had a good reason.

COD - Too many great clues to list but, if I had to pick one, (well, it is COD Bren!) it would be 10d, although clues like 20d (which I've just now understood) ran it very close.

Thanks to Picaroon for a real treat - more like this please:-)

Did you enjoy this as much as me? Leave a comment letting us know how you got on and, as always, if you do run into problems, just post your query on here - we're a friendly lot and there will always be someone on hand to help.

Stay safe:-)

Brendan,

Thanks for steering me to a new COD choice, 16!

I expected a Jumbo, but it's the standard 15x15.

I'm a Picaroon fan, found plenty to enjoy, but must have been on his wavelength because it was an unusually quick solve. LOI 27, which greatly extended solution time but turned out to have a clear parsing. No super-puzzling clues. I didn't notice any theme, Ninas, etc.

17 will be familiar to weekend Forum posters. 😉

FOI 5.
COD now 16, had been 25. Also liked 24, 6, 7 and 3 (second tier), with 14, 1a and 8 in the third tier.

Brendan, in 16 "set out at night" in a glass? 🤣

Hi Geeker,

Glad you enjoyed it too and you're no doubt pleased to see a couple of "North American" clues:-)

16a - Yep, I get how the clue works but I've only ever heard people say they "take" them out not "set" them out - does that even mean the same thing? 🤔

Brendan, I'm never too particular about usage but seem to recall seeing "setting [them] out". The glass on Grandma or Grandpa's bedside table was an occasional guest in old movies and TV shows.

I wrote in the solution but only saw the nifty parsing after your post.

The ‘set’ is a noun, not a verb, I think.

Thanks Geeker,

I'm sure it's okay, it's just that I was surprised to see "set" when there was such an obvious alternative but .... as I write this I'm now wondering if it was, perhaps, too obvious and that was why Picaroon chose the alternative?

25a was also on my (very long) list of COD contenders, along with 21a, 17d, 20d and 23d.

18a - the word for "pity" that forms part of this clue was new to me but it's in Chambers as an archaic usage which you normally only see in barred puzzles.

brendan: see my comment above and think ‘upper’ and ‘lower’

OMG!! What a dunce I am 🤬

Thank you Rogissimo, much appreciated.

Brendan, I had to infer that usage in 18. I think I may have seen it in old English novels, but confirmed via internet.

I enjoyed the 2 clues with musical solutions. I recall the tragic death of an associated guitarist who was electrocuted on stage. 😭