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Lovely work by Picaroon, requiring quite a bit of lateral thinking around the theme word. A satisfying, if quick (again) solve.

Yes, thanks to Picaroon. Another relatively gentle but enjoyable Prize.
Started slowly, FOI 18. Fortunately got a thematic with the second one in, which instantly yielded the theme. Then it went rather quickly.
LOI 16 due to correction of error, otherwise would have been 25 (which revealed the error).
COD 5; also liked 26, 24d, 7, 6, 15 and 4.
Was hoping for a pangram, which would have been somewhat appropriate, but no.
A few technical terms, but nothing that required external (Google) assistance.

A wonderful themed puzzle by the ever popular Picaroon.

I suppose the difficulty level depends on how quickly you spot the theme word, but there are plenty of easier clues in the downs to get you going.

I found the quickest way into the theme was via 12a.

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

Jazz aficionados will appreciate one of the themed clues but, I'm sad to say, that I had to look him up on Google!

COD - As usual with Picaroon there are plenty of contenders, but I'm going to go with my LOI and pick 7d:-)

Thanks to Picaroon for a most enjoyable Prize puzzle.

Leave a comment letting us know how you got on.

Stay safe:-)

Brendan, being a jazz aficionado, the clue you referred to was my above-cited 2nd one in and gave away the theme. 🤣

As soon as I got it I knew you would appreciate it.

PS I'll go over to the Chess thread to get your thoughts on MC's "plough" opening in the blitz tournament.

Um, had to look up a few synonyms for "toothless" but got there in the end

I’m sure I’ve seen that word for toothless recently. Also Poetaster in a Paul puzzle was a solution only a few days ago.
Got the jazz reference early on but sadly one of the other ‘experts’ I didn’t know.
This was good fun I thought.

Despite getting the theme from 12 and 22a, i didn't find this all that easy, with several in the top half hanging out. i did know 5 though, as it gives its name to an order of animals (though google seems to suggest that the name has changed).

5 was an answer in the FT last week, I knew I’d seen it recently.

Gentle for a Prize, I thought, but very satisfying. My way in was via 15.