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Maybe I was just off form but, for whatever reason, I made a real chore out of this, falling into one trap and pitfall after another.

Need lees to say in terms of difficulty I'd say this is at the high end but let's see how others fare.

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

28a was a new word to me as was 8d which does not appear in Chambers or the Free Online Dictionary but I knew it had to be the answer and eventually found confirmation online but am still none the wiser as to its origin.

18a - I had a hell of a time trying to parse the first part of this until the penny dropped with such a clang I think it woke the neighbours!

16d - Similar experience with this where, despite having the answer, it took an absolute age to try and work out which "odd bits" went with what - still, got there in the the end:-)

** I'm not sure how useful these hints are each week or even if anyone reads them so, unless I hear views to the contrary, I'll call a halt to them this week.

COD - 3 way tie this week with the clever 1d, the witty 17d and, because I enjoyed finally seeing the wordplay so much, the outstanding 18a.

Thanks to Philistine for a challenging but rewarding puzzle.

Did you find it as difficult as me or was I just not on Philistine's wavelength? Let us know in the comments.

Stay safe:-)

Brendan, I found this one of the easiest Prizes in memory...must be a wavelength thing, because I'm tired this evening and expected to really struggle. Finished so quickly that I started working on Buccaneer's (aka Picaroon) Friday FT puzzle.

But there were many good clues, several rather tricky. I got in the mode of writing in solutions and then parsing, which dodged almost all the ruses. Thanks to Philistine for strong cluing.

On the downside, there seems to be an editorial gaffe IMO: two down solutions are excessively similar words.

FOI 1a, LOI 16.

COD 18 (because I like the key wordplay device), followed by 19 (because I like the word). 20 is easy but has a very smooth surface. Also enjoyed 28, 15, 16, 5d, 7, 4 and (23,6).

8 was a completely new word but very clear from wordplay.
28 also a new word, but I wrote it in because a variant (practitioner of 28) often appears in puzzles and I've always thought it a funny word.

Hi Geeker,

Completely missed those two down solutions (as did the editor!) - goes to show how out of form I am tonight.

I'm in shock. That one just flew in, which never happens to me. So I guess that puts me in the geeker camp.

Still got one to go, and can't get the parsing on 1d at the moment, but feel the lightbulb will go on in a moment.

Liked the Spice Girl clue.

Hi Plutocrat,

I did enjoy the the Spice Girl clue but, if I'm being extra picky, there are 2 Spice Girls that give the answer after being "abandoned" however the clue specifies "a" Spice Girl.

I was definitely in the Geeker camp in terms of difficulty, though there were some tricky parsings and I still can't get the financial centre bit of 8d.

… and I can’t get the foolish day bit!

Hi Paul,

The "financial centre" is here in London and is just known as 'the ????'

The "foolish day" in 8 is the first 4 letters of the solution, where the 4th letter can be read as a number.

The full solution is a word I'd never encountered and had to look up.