Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I predict that Brockwell’s offering will prove divisive. I liked it, but there are some obscurities (fairly clued in my view, but I needed crossers for some), and some GK required (in one case very UK GK - good luck, geeker et al!)
I remain to be convinced by 24d.
FOI 2, LOI the clever 4.
COD: I’m calling a tie between 4 and 21.
I hope most of you enjoy this one!

A 30 minute job which is quick for me for a Prize. LOI was 4 which is very clever. I don't see a problem with 24d. Amused to see Amol Rajan as I had just finished his history of spin bowling.

I guess I just haven’t ever knowingly clocked that spelling, whereas I am familiar with three others.

I am stumped by 1d and 4d. I suspect those are the UK GK to which you refer.

I enjoyed this, thanks to Brockwell.
Found it difficult, but that may have been fatigue because I just got back from a concert.

I think 4 and 18 are the 2 UK-specific clues. I got 4 fairly quickly from wordplay and faint geographical memory. 18 I wrote in quickly, but couldn't parse until long after the grid was complete due to dependence on a UK usage. Also was fooled by the spelling of 24: initially wrote in the "obvious" but wrong one and had to correct it to get 28. 17 was obvious from wordplay but I had to google to verify.

Can't recall FOI. 1 was LOI but 18 last to parse.
Too tired to select COD, but liked 1, 28, 4 and 10 among others.

Check out Berkshire in a dictionary rather than an atlas.

Sorry, I meant 3 instead of 4 in the above post ("UK-specific").
4 required considerable thought (I really stalled out in the NW quadrant), but is funny and not overly UK-specific IMO.

Aha, now I think 21 could be the clue rogissimo warned me about!
I struggled with it, one of the last clues I filled in, but needed Google to decipher the final 4-letter piece of wordplay.

1D doesn’t require geographical knowledge, just knowledge about one particular aspect of a sport (and a common abbreviation).

I'm considering giving up on this one. I've already been annoyed by 24d - there are several spellings, and this isn't the commonest - and the surface makes no sense; how can a hospital be consumed by a boy?
17 very obscure and apparently a variant spelling. 21 how could anyone outside the UK understand this? I have a answer for 1d but don't see how Exeter fits in.
Most of the RHS empty.