I've been on this forum about a month now (crossword fiend for about 3 years) and I would like to preface this by commenting on what a friendly bunch you all are. Thanks for having me here.
Anyhow, enough of the greasing -Wow, what an abundance of great clues to choose from.
Some of the clues I especially enjoyed:
Greedy Kites extremely clever spoonerism @ 4 (it
took me a few seconds to make the connection)
Red Elf's "Cutting Edge" misdirection @12
Ginge's Subtractive Anag with a clever definition @13
Mrw's great clue @16 - If you had managed to work the ashes (timber) in there somehow it would've been perfect. :P
Rambler's Mega-Subtractive anagram @18 (A lot of effort put in there) (And Aldermen? Sent me to google – very clever clue)
Imagcq's @26 (I've got the word play, impressive - would you be able to explain the def?)
Busby's clever homonym @ 29 - regarding @ 30 I'd love to know too, I've never seen it.
SLH’s Lord of the rings reference @39
In the end for me it came down to 3 -
Ab's short but very effective - Branch Managers? @31 the sort of clue I love to solve.
Bbm2's Subtractive anagram - Suppliers of raw material somehow make LSE lecturer feel minuscule (4,7) was extremely clever and when the minus-cule connection was (finally) made I literally gasped.
I hate to choose one, but for me the clue that I choose as the winner, is one that took me back to this old joke that I was told when I was a kid:
Paddy and Mick are looking for work. They come across a sign that says "tree fellers wanted". Paddy says to Mick, "Ahhh, what a pity there's only the two of us!"
(However, whenever I re-told it, I think people laughed more at my version of the Irish accent which sounds like a mix of Australian and Jamaican)
My pick for the winner this week is Bernie's perfect clue @2:
A trio of Irish lumberjacks? (4,7)
Well done mate, here is your prize:
Tree felling - Kiwi style:
http://youtu.be/iXUU39aC-IQ
and as a bonus -
In line with your clue - and the plethora of different cultures on here - a Northern Irish comedian who was born in England and lives down under:
http://youtu.be/ZaO-llc_E64