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Finished at last . Thanks to Chrise for hint to 10a , took me ridiculously long time to get 24d and 27a and then of course they were so obvious. Enjoyed the prize offering from Brummie,
FOI 1d
LOI 24d
COD 29d so clever.
Hope you are all enjoying the mild weather .

Finished before coming to the forum, but had to resort to Crossword Solver for 10a with all the crossers except first letter (word is vaguely familiar some musical piece perhaps?), and then for LOI 4d, having now got all 4 crossers.

FOI 3d, COD perhaps 5d or 15a.

Interesting to come here and see others' experiences.

And there are 5 prizes of the Bellos book. I wonder how many entries they get, given the cost of a stamp. A pity they don't allow a scanned copy attached to an email, which would still prove purchase (or ludicrous determination to fake!)

PS to previous: I see they allow Fax entries!

Very late to the party with this one, as I’m in Venice, had an early night last night, and didn’t get started until my vaporetto back to the Lido. It’s a hard life. Nothing to add, except that I was pleased to see 29, having earlier eventually found his rather lovely grave in the San Michele Cemetery.
LOI 10, mainly because I’d stupidly changed 5 from the right answer to a wrong answer.

Definitely easier than the normal Prize, which is of why I’ve finished it early enough to be worth posting! (And with only one hint from the forum)
FOI 12a, LOI 7d after I slipped into a rabbit hole - more below. COD probably 14d though many candidates. 10a a new word to me, and no idea why I spotted 13a and 15a as quickly as I did.


I wondered whether the theme should include computer games as well as card ones - IIRC, I only know 3d 8d as a version of 27a bundled with an early version of Microsoft Windows. With that in mind, I misled myself with a computer game that fits the Wordplay and crossers of 7d, although the definition is definitive. I’m not sure whether the ‘near miss’ thematic solutions have been mentioned, eg a 20a card, or the game hidden in 23d.


Altogether lots of fun, although less challenging than we are used to. thanks to Brummie and thanks for all your companion the forum.

Just finished unassisted by hints here. We too buy the paper on a Saturday precisely for this reason, the magazine and other parts get covered with anagram jotting. Didn't spot the theme until I read this. We too had the wrong 2nd word in 11a hence 4 and 5 down were LOI.
COD 22a.

I filled in all the answers without having to seek help from this forum, my wife, or anyone else. However, there's just one clue that I can't parse. Since nobody else has mentioned it, I guess I'm missing something really obvious, and will be saying "Doh!" when I see it. However, if anyone would like to put me out of my misery by giving a hint, it's 25a. The answer is obvious, and the definition is almost obvious, although it could be either one word or two, but apart from what "pressure" may perhaps mean, I have absolutely no idea about the rest of the clue. Please??

Hi Micky,

25a - single letter "pressure" + 2 letter "one's briefly" +' 4 letter "at centre of"

I too found this difficult to parse.

My FOI was 20a, which I probably found easy because the same use of "Oscar" came in a clue in a crossword I did a couple of days ago. It was in an old page from the Sunday Times from years ago that I found in our collection of old newspapers for tasks such as putting on the floor when painting. I have no idea where it came from, as I don't take, and never have taken, the Sunday Times.

Thanks, Brendan. Not exactly obvious, but there's nothing there that I regard as particularly obscure or difficult, so not really a "Doh!", more of an "Oh yes, of course!"