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Maybe I'm just having a reaction to my Covid jab but I was all over the place on this one and really wasn't on Philistine's wavelength.

That's not to say it isn't well-clued but just that I struggled to see some of the definitions.

23d is a case in point where, although I'm confident of my answer, I can't see where "gang" fits in - in fact, if it wasn't for the cross-referenced clue at 8,26, I'm not sure I would have got it.

27a is another where I can't account for the middle 3 letters, although again, I'm confident of my answer.

FOI was 11,20 followed by 21d.

If you do get stuck there's long anagram in the acrosses and another one in the downs, though neither are straightforward - there's also a well signposted hidden in the downs.

COD - I've gone for the short but sweet 17a - Fish supplement pawned - excellent:)

I was pleased to see we had more new posters join our friendly Guardian Prize blog last week - the more the merrier 😉

Remember, if you get stuck you can always ask for a hint.

Thanks to Philistine for a well constructed puzzle.

Stay safe:-)

Hi Brendan,
I was lukewarm about this puzzle, OK but didn't get me really enthused. But maybe I'm just tired on Friday evening. Thanks to Philistine.
FOI 7, LOI 23. I can only guess 23, don't see parsing. COD 17 by a wide margin over 18, 1 and 22d.
27 I parsed as 2 single letters + four-letter syn for "fair" (n) + the easterly breeze.

Funny, we had very similar reactions to this Prize!

Got it, thanks Geeker - I was trying to make the letters of "fair" fit in as a partial anagram.

23d - If you look at the first letter and last 3 letters of 8,25 it should help you out. but I still don't see the rest.

I thought this was excellent, although this is one the fastest ever completions for me and but a glance at the forum for help! I got the theme (that nobody has commented on) early on, which gave several pointers. FOI 22A, LOI 4D despite being themed, COD probably 24-25A which got me on the right track

Hi Luko,

I didn't notice any theme but then I wouldn't - unless it flashes in neon light I'm pretty much guaranteed to miss it 😜

Sorry, Brendan, just re-read your initial post, and I should have suggested that the gang in 23d are the other themed answers, so you referred to the theme perhaps by accident! Been a fan of 23D since childhood (despite some discomfort for contemporary mores) so once I'd used 24 to make sense of 23, I know some to look for elsewhere.
Many thanks Philistine and best wishes to all on the forum

Thanks Luko,

I can't say I've ever read the books and I did see recently that many of them have been removed from libraries for "cultural insensitivities" but they are world famous so shouldn't cause too many problems for solvers.

Cultural insensitivity is too mild a phrase for some of the depictions, but the best of the books are very enjoyable. My problem here was that I spent some time looking for the missing ones: 20A's other 10A, 4D 17A's house I was sure would be there, and I expected a mention of the wonderful Bianca!

Okay I get it now - I've just Googled the clues you referenced along with 23d and, you're absolutely right - it's themed:-)