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Hi, Rusty!
'Tis a beautiful day!
I am looking out of my full length (floor to ceiling) window......it is very picturesque in the garden ...bright blue sky, lovely sunshine...colourful flowers......bright green grass........
That puts me in in mind of "The green , green grass of home..."
I liked the Joan Baez version....I love her voice...only what did she do about "Mary"?
I cannot envisage her singing " and there goes Mary...."?
Did she substitute a man's name?
I cannot remember.......
I have kind of finished the crossword, although I definitely found today's more difficult... I would not say that I 'liked' it......
I knew "loess" , "torte", and defragment".........
( regularly defragment my computer!)
I cannot do 3d, 10a , 15d and 27a?
I have a few letters for each, but have no ideas as to answers or parsing.
It doesn't help that the clues interlock.
Still no action on EuroSport!
I have set the recorder for the BBC Highlight of the Zurich DL shown tomorrow!

Hi elle
There's a sort of tradition - much ignored, though - not to give actual answers for Prize puzzles. This is most consistently maintained on RT threads, but it's not at all uncommon for answers to be given, so don't worry about it :)

Hello, Elle!
I can not remember what Joan sang, too.
Look on YouTube?
Everything in the whole wide world is there!
Just had a Tweet from Trotty.
Her and Jason Kenny are now the proud parents of Albert Louie who arrived on the 23rd, 8lb 12 ozs.
Well done, Trotty!
3d, Think it may be a French word for a resin?
Wee hint, "muddy ground" could be a "bog".
10a, This is a French month, from time gone by.
And it is something to do with cooking, maybe.
I came across it reading about Madame Dubarry etc.
15, Hint, you "relate" a story.
It is an economic term.
27a, The insect "buzzes" in summer.
The definition is someone from a certain African country.
Let me know if they are any help to you, Elle?

Hi, Rusty!
My goodness, "Albert" is a very old-fashioned name!
I wonder if he will thank his parents for that "moniker"?
Your hints were very helpful......
I now have 10a: thermidor - double definition
3d: gamboge = yellow ( yes, a gum resin)
game - match
bog- muddy ground.
I should have got this, even though I had never heard the word "gamboge"!
and 27a: Beninese = African
bee - insect that flies
nines - squares
I should have got "nines" !
I was looking for an African insect!
I should still be stuck if you hadn't helped me!
Thank you.
Joan Baez still sings of "Mary"....having listened again to the lyrics, I guess there was no viable alternative!



Hello, Chris!
I tend to think of Prize crosswords, as applying to the weekends.... I do try (when I remember) to avoid giving answers then,......
Do you know anything about Clitheroe Grammar, Chris?
Have you ever taught there?
My cousin's grandson is about to start there.

I haven't taught there, but friends of mine have. Very good school (so they tell me...)!

Where does your cousin live, elle (or, more pertinently, his/her offspring)? Clitheroe is "good in parts" (like the curate's egg), but the surrounding Ribble Valley is good in total.

Hello, Chris!
Oh, they live in Blackburn, near Witton Country Park.
The boy will have quite a long journey to commute to school.
I think the plan is to take him part way by car, to where he will catch the school bus?
He's a bright lad, and my cousin tells me this school is a good option for him?
It is her other daughter who lives nearer to you, in the disputed territory.......

I taught at QEGS in Blackburn, but it isn't the same sort of school now....

Hello, Elle,
I have just had some of the steak pie.
It was grand!
Old fashioned was my original thought when I read Albert, and Louie is not far behind.
But that will be unfair.
It may well be a family name that they intend to go on?
Laura's dad is Adrian. Jason's dad is Michael. So...?
Laura's dogs are called Sprolo and Pringle, wherever she found those names!
I have a mad idea at the back of my head that she said the dogs were "Sproodles"?
You heard of them?
Are you happy with "relation" and "f"(ine) ?

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, sorry, did I not mention "reflation"?
I found this one the hardest though.
I did not think of "relation" as in the telling of a story.....but as "being connected" to...if you follow me?
I understand it now, though.
I take your point about perhaps wanting "Albert" to be the continuation of a family name.....although more usually if (as we think) it is 'old-fashioned' , then more usually it would be given as a second or third name?
My daughter chose my father's name as one of YB's forenames, but we all agreed that though we liked the idea of the name being carried on, we did not want YB commonly known by that name .
Am I making sense?
I suspect (although I haven't heard the term before) that a "sproodle" might well be a across between a spaniel and a poodle?
Like the more commonly known "labradoodle"?
Your steak pie sounds great......I am off to get dinner!