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Oh, am I the first to start the thread? Happy International Jazz Day everyone!

minty

Good grief, I didn't know that...and I'm a jazz enthusiast.

Well, this week's Prize (thanks to setter Brendan) has a theme, and some of the thematic elements are relevant. 😉

Hi geeker

It's actually tomorrow (30th), but close enough

minty

April 29 is the birthday of a someone who figures in the crossword, so that might have been the inspiration for the theme, but I think the real theme is that they refer to people with honorary titles (although confusingly there are a few who are actual royalty). That's why "so-called" appears a few times.

In the case of 3d, it's not an honorary title, but there is a title in her name. So more accurately, I would say the theme is people with titles in their name, honorary or otherwise. They happen to represent different genres of a particular art form, without giving too much away.

This week's Prize is a very clever and entertaining puzzle by my namesake Brendan.

After an initial read through, I noticed several references to 'all things royal' which, I assumed, was a nod to the forthcoming coronation. But, after solving a few clues, it became apparent that many of the "royals" were actually musicians, and not just any musicians .... these were/are giants in their field - kings and queens indeed:-)

FOI 9a followed by the crossing 5d.

In terms of difficulty, I'd say this sits somewhere in the middle but, as I've said before, these things are very, very subjective.

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

The word that goes around "court" in 19d was new to me but didn't cause too many problems as I was able to reverse engineer it from the answer.

There are still a few answers I haven't been a been to fully parse, namely 24a, 18d and 8a but I am sure of my answers so I'll continue my search for illumination:-)

COD - It was a toss-up between 5d, 3d and 15a but, in the end, I went for 3d whoo whoo 😉

Thanks to Brendan for a most enjoyable way to kick off the weekend.

What did you think, did you enjoy the clever "royals with a twist" theme? Let us know.

Stay safe:-)

I thought the theme was "musical nobility", though in one case the title is a first name, another a surname, and the others nicknames.

The (explicit) royal figures do have operatic connections, albeit perhaps obscure.

Brendan,

I enjoyed the thematic aspects of the puzzle, which are quite cleverly implemented IMO. From a crossword standpoint, I found it very much on the gentle side, though there's plenty of enjoyable wordplay.

FOI 8, LOI 23.
COD 19 over 8 and 16.

Thanks again to Brendan the setter.

18 is a double definition.

8 is funny and witty: (1,4) inside 3. The 4 is the tricky part: not the usage one might first expect.

I was confident in the solution to 24a, but had to research fine points in a dictionary to arrive at a reasonable parsing. Difficult to say more without spoilers.

Hi Brendan, with 24a, the final word is a noun. 18d is, I think, a simple double definition. 8a has a chemical formula embedded in it, although I'm not entirely sure of the 'sea'.