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I really enjoyed this and found quite a bit of humour in the clues.

I don't know if this is pure coincidence or if it's the same setter as yesterday, but there is a symmetry between 24a in the Guardian Prize and 7d in this crossword.

13a did made me laugh but my COD is 18a, which I think is just brilliant.

Thanks to the setter for a fun workout :-)

I understood 24a in the yesterday’s Guardian prize only now. We don’t get this biscuit here in India, though the pen brand Bic is popular. 18a in today’s Everyman was also very popular here in the 80s.

Hi Mathi, I hadn't occurred to me that Hobnobs might not be well known outside the UK, but of course, you're right.

18a I think are famous all over the world.

10a My problem is I've seen 2 spellings of this phrase (the penultimate letter is different in each) and the wordplay doesn't seem to lead to a particular one.

I always remember "Bic" because, many years ago, Private Eye had an article where they used the word "Bic" instead of "pen". Forward on a few weeks and Private Eye publish a letter they've received from the Company's lawyers telling them that "Bic" is a protected brand/trade name and they must never use it without permission from the company!!

For 10a, the definition is excitement. Chambers defines it as ‘a noisy fuss’. I had to guess it from the first letters and look up the dictionary. Yes, the parsing is bit vague.

18a was not that popular in the US somehow. Only a few Americans I met knew about this Swedish pop group. But they were very popular all over Europe and in the east.

Like the Bic pen company, Xerox also wants us to use the term photocopy. But somehow, the first version got stuck here.

It's funny how certain trade and brand names can become synonymous with their product. Aside from 'Bic' and 'Xerox', I always refer to a vacuum cleaner as a 'Hoover', which I always thought was a Canadian company but I've just checked and it was founded in Ohio.

Some of you are up early but I note the time difference for mathi. Second part of 10a has me stumped. I may have 3d wrong. Is that -as- ?

Your letters are correct, Yevrah.

Thanks Brendan. So second part across is -a-s could be -ars or -ass ?

ahs

I'm stuck on 8 down