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Hi Charley,

18a is an excellent clue and has a lovely smooth surface.

For once I actually managed to notice the rhyming pair of long down clues - a first for me 😉

Hi Brendan. Yes, I spotted the rhyme as well. And I forgot to say that the customary "primarily" clue taught me a new word as well this week. I got really grumpy when Everyman "changed" a while ago but must admit that I now really look forward to the Sunday challenge.

i would never have got the "primarily" if it hadn't been one!

i was thrown by 17d too, brendan - needed mattrom's explanation.

Yes, same here Chris. In fact, I originally thought that the "primarily" was going to be a clever misdirection this week as the word was totally alien to me.

Re 17D (my LOI, unsurprisingly), it's news to me that the answer can be a verb, but it's listed as such in the Concise Oxford as well as Chambers, so can't complain. Nevertheless, I'm sure it will be the main topic on this forum today! (24A and 27A will probably cause some head-scratching too, especially among those who are usually seen in 25A.)

Good day. Enjoyed the extra hour today. Allowed me to finish before breakfast. Not sure if all my answers are correct but they fit. I love 3d. Being a fan of that other word game as I imagine many of you are. FOI 4a. LOI 26a. So COD definitely 3d. But what I want to know is how Brendan is FOI every week. Do you not sleep? Best wishes and hope we are all coping.

Hi all,
I’m a little late today. Many thanks to Mattrom for the parsing of 17d which I hadn’t appreciated fully. Enjoyed the two long downers. Dare I suggest 7 and 8 are also a connected pair?
24 and 27 are suggestive of a little grid crunch perhaps, but not to worry, worth it for 16 and 25.

Difficult to phrase this without revealing the answer, but i would suggest the first four words of 22a are the outside (travelling) bit of the clue - otherwise I don't see "eating" is serving a purpose.

no, ignore that last post - being too clever for own good ...

I saw ‘eating’ as the envelope indicator i.e. the consuming of the chicken starter!