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I must confess, when I first saw this week's theme my heart sank, especially after last week's naked gardening extravaganza, but I needn't have worried - Paul has provided generous clues to help me get those not so well known poets.

FOI was 19a followed by 20d.

In terms of difficulty this was a definitely a puzzle of two halves. At one point I had a completely full lower half with not a single clue in the upper half! I think that is the first time that's ever happened.

If you do get stuck there's a long anagram and a hidden in the acrosses and a hidden in the downs.

This being a Paul crossword I was hoping to spot some of his trademark Pauline clues but alas, I couldn't see any. In fact, he missed an open goal with 5d 😉😉 Maybe others will have better luck.

I still haven't fully parsed 2d but the answer is clear so hopefully the mist will clear before too long.

COD - Some great clues this week with the witty 22d Poet takes Browning too far (5) and 1a for the quaint "rats" - but I've gone for the excellent 14d Birds hearing poet who jumps from planes? ( 9) - simply for the wonderful imagery it conjures up 😂

Yet again, last week, we had more first-time posters joining in our friendly Guardian Prize blog. I know it can be a bit intimidating to take that initial plunge, at least it was for me, but, once I did, I never looked back (don't let this be the road not taken 😉). So please, leave a comment letting us know how you got on with this week's puzzle and, if you get stuck, don't hesitate to ask for a hint - there are always people on here willing to help.

Thanks to Paul for a wonderful crossword:-)

Stay safe:-)

2d .... and, of course, as soon I post I immediately see the parsing:-)

Hi Brendan,
I had much the same reaction to the theme (and one clue's allusion to a Scottish island), considered pitching it in, but soldiered on and finished with some consultation of Google. Thanks to Paul, despite my aversion to the theme it was a fun solve. There was much fine cluing with some clever cross-references.
I think 10 is Pauline, possibly also 19.
FOI 22d, LOI 5 which I haven't fully parsed.
Liked the simple 9 as COD; 10, 16 and 20 also stood out.

Hi Geeker,

I'm useless with Scottish Islands but, once I'd seen the "book", it was a simple enough task to get Google to confirm the rest was an island.

10a - I did consider this but, other than the definition, there's no sign of Pauline.

19a - on the hand - yes:-)

5d - First four letters are "eye" and last three "issue" and these are "limiting in".

Sorry ...

19a - On the other hand - yes:-)

I was really surprised last week to see just how many gardeners there were among the contributors this blog - I wonder if there'll be a similarly high number of poetry enthusiasts:-)

Thanks, I was too locked in on the naughty aspects to see the sense of the first 4 letters of 5.
Agreed, 10 is too tame to be truly Pauline, and I expected more of that from 5!

5d - I know, such a golden opportunity that just went begging 😢

You're right about 16a - definite COD candidate, don't know how I overlooked it - such a smooth surface:-)

Mmmm thanks guys, just about to start ....I’m not good on that theme so lets see :-)

Another theme I'm not so familiar with but the clueing is fair so with help from Google I'm making good progress. What am I missing that I'm not seeing how the three letters make 'rats' in 1a?

If that can be answered with no spoilers.