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This week's Prize is another partially themed puzzle from Paul, following on from last week's enjoyable Addams Family production which, at least from reading the comments, is nowhere near as well known as I thought it was.

This time Paul has incorporated the names of several of his Guardian crossword setter colleagues into the clues.

In terms of difficulty, I'd say it sits at the easier end of the scale.

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

A few clues required trips to Google for confirmation, like the FDR agreement in 14d, the soaked bread in 21a and the literary squire in 13a.

The only clues I still have a small question mark next to are 20d where I'm on the fence over the required definition for sphinx and the exact wordplay in 7d, specifically the final 2 letters.

COD - I've gone for the themed 1a and 4a.

How did you enjoy it? Leave a comment letting us know and, as always, if you get stuck, just post your query on here.

Stay safe:-)

... and, of course, as soon as I press send I immediately see the wordplay in 7d where I had the wrong "wood"!

Brendan,

I really liked this, but am partial to Paul...he started setting right about the time I discovered Guardian cryptics, and I've always enjoyed his work and been more or less on his wavelength.

The "setter" theme is not rare and has been done very recently, but this is a fun twist.

FOI 9, LOI 27.

Enjoyed practically all the thematics, but COD is 3 followed by (15,8).

I thought the puzzle looked extremely difficult at first, but once I got working it went pretty quickly, probably slightly easier than the norm.
Didn't notice any naughty clues.

Got the Sphinx clue quickly, associating the Sphinx with [SPOILER ALERT] riddles.

Hi Geeker,

I completely forgot to look for any Pauline clues. I could be wrong but it feels like Paul is cutting back on them - maybe he's gone woke 🤔😉

20d - I get the wordplay but it's just marrying "an enigmatic or inscrutable expression" (or person) with the a ????? seems a bit of a stretch although I accept that if its not referring to an expression then the definition is ok.

Sorry, I've explained this really poorly but I know what I mean 😂

Brendan, I'm not sure about any "Pauline" trends. There was an epic example in last week's Prize (6d), for instance.

It does seem to me like more and more setters are including Pauline-type clues (though that's a general impression, not any kind of quantitative observation). Perhaps a reason for him to cut down: they're becoming too common.

Funny regarding missing "Pauline" clue...I originally wrote in a plausible but wrong answer for 22, using a Pauline term for "Tramp". Cost a considerable amount of solving time, as 18 and 23 were baffling (bad crossers) until I saw the mistake. 🤣

Thanks, geeker! I did exactly the same.

Finally having finished, I can say it was the usual trouble for me with a Paul opus. I still don’t see the wordplay in 7. For COD I’ll go with 18, partly because the old singer is one of my faves.

Hi MPRS,

7d - this is the one where I initially had problems with ..

3 letter "housework" (an acronym) reversed/'coming up' goes around 4 letters of a 5 letter "wood" - definition is "bore"

PS Really enjoyed you Spanish inquisition remark last week:-)

Thanks, Brendan. I think I was trying to make the cut wood go up as well.