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A bit of a relief after yesterday’s tricky (and Prize-worthy I think) Paul. Not too easy, not too tough. FOI (strangely) 18d, LOI (strangely) 1a - took me a while to sort the definition from the fodder.
COD? I liked the pithy 1d.

Yes, far easier than Paul's yesterday, which unusually threw me (usually do well with Paul).

I was about to post the following:

Thanks to Brummie for a gentle but highly entertaining Prize this week.
Appeared difficult at first glance, but once started things picked up and solving time was well under Prize norm. The upper half seemed tougher than the bottom.
One clue was readily parsed but required Google to confirm. Another clue "references" a regular to Prize threads here. ;-)
I didn't notice a theme or Nina, but Brummie doesn't favor those IIRC.

FOI 3, LOI 17.

Many strong clues but no COD standout. I'll call 21 COD because it's a bit of a misdirect for those familiar with Brummie's alter ego Cyclops (Private Eye). Other candidates 24, 18, 16, 17, 8, 1d, 20 and 25, so I found much to enjoy.

geeker - I thought about calling 21 as my COD, but decided against it only because I didn’t think that the surface made much sense. But I did enjoy the humour.

I didn't find this as easy as you guys but the clueing was fair so, no complaints.

A few of the parsings took a lot of unpacking and, as said earlier, some of the definitions were very well hidden which added to the difficulty level.

If you do get stuck there are at least two long anagrams, both in the downs.

I needed Google to confirm a couple of historic(ish) figures - neither of whom I'd ever heard of!

COD - I'm going with 1a, though mainly because SOTS was the first song I played when, to be a thoughtful neighbour, I sold my saxophone and temporarily switched to the clarinet - I couldn't get on with it though so now play neither 😥 (thrilling Bren.... Zzzzz 😪🥱)

Thanks to Brummie for a challenging but enjoyable Prize puzzle.

Stay safe:-)

I found this a bit easier than recent Prize puzzles, although I was held up in the SW corner. I can't agree with 21a as COD; it's an image I could do without. Sadly, crossword setters seem addicted to her, much as they are addicted to the one contemporary artist they think we've all heard of.

I am a bit puzzled by 5d. Isn't the house the wrong way round?

Hi Rainman,

5d - 3 letter "house" (abbreviation) + 6 letter "mull".

I suppose that makes sense. I had assumed that it was 2+1+6 (on + small + mull), but you're saying that "small" means abbreviated.

That's what I took it mean as it's the only way I can gat a "house".

Morning all, always enjoy a Brummie. Foi 3+10 at the same time. Fave so far 9a and 1d.

New cod 7d