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Ah! 1d answer is maybe a cricketing link with first part of the clue?

11 is an anagram signalled by "trip" and "Italy" merely supplies another letter.

noeyedeer: yes, 1d defn pertains to cricket. Parses as 5 ("jump"), 3 "fairly evenly"). Solution is thematic.

Thanks Geeker and David. All done and dusted

Finally finished

FOI 18a LOI 5a a good also ran for COD. 9a COD had never heard of this word being used in that context before. Tough but enjoyable

Can anyone help with 26a? I’ve got m*d* I think), but I don’t see how switching the two halves of the obvious answer would involve a Republican - quite the contrary

I've finished it, although am not sure of 26d. I get the 3-letter word for 'soldier' but I can't see how my remaining letter relates to 'base'. But previous contributors are talking about a theme. What am I missing?

glaucus, you're on the right track. Take a 4-letter word for "additional" and change the "R" to the other side of the American political spectrum.

castafiore, the "base" will indicate the theme...along those lines, said letter is often referenced in crosswords via the name of Napier.

Despite the theme, I found the clues more difficult than the average Prize. I only got 9 by assuming it was thematic and looking up the presumed entry in Chambers. And still I needed geeker’s help to parse. Thanks for that, geeker. I had never heard of 20, so thanks again to geeker for showing me the way. I should have enjoyed this given the theme, but some of the clueing seemed really tortured. COD the combination of 26 across and down. Clever to put them together.