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This week's offering is by the Prize regular, Paul.

For me, it was definitely the proverbial 'game of two halves'. At one point I had virtually the whole LHS filled in while the RHS was completely empty! Still, got there in the end 😃

If you do get stuck there is a long anagram and a hidden, all in the downs.

The only one I can't fully parse is 10a, where I can't see how to get the second word - it would work if it was a homophone but there's no indicator of that so ...?

There were a couple of cracking Pauline clues, either of which could easily have been a COD, but I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't include them.

COD - Paulines aside - It was a toss-up between 13a, 24a and 17a but I've gone for the excellent 13a.

Thanks to Paul for a challenging but fun puzzle.

Please feel free to leave a comment letting us know how you got on and, as always, if you stuck - don't hesitate to ask for a hint.

Stay safe:-)

10a - Ignore my previous ramblings, the penny has finally dropped:-)

Hi Brendan, good to see you back!
Thanks to Paul, progress was slow but many admirable clues. Fun puzzle, above-median level of difficulty IMO.
FOI 3, LOI 10 subject to parsing 24.
COD tie between 16d and 17, with a large pack of runners-up.
One extremely Pauline clue triggered laughter.
23 was practically a write-in, but took unreasonably long to parse.
Still can't parse 24; actually see two possible solutions but neither clear.

Good the penny dropped on 10. I considered posting a parsing but had a feeling that would happen!

Hi Geeker,

Thanks, I had a great time at my nephew's wedding and it's good to be back.

One particular Pauline had the exact same effect on me 🤣

24a - You need to split one word in the clue into two, then insert the "brown".

Thanks, finally understand 10! As usual, it'd have gotten more COD consideration had I parsed it sooner.

I meant 24, not 10. The customary weekly mistyping. Signing off!

Hi all.
This was a hoot and the Pauline clue certainly raised a smile. As do 4a, 9a and, of course 10a, seeing I live in Picton.
It certainly is easier than some of his more recent offerings.

Hi Mystogre,

So you're a New Zealander? I love how many solvers we have from overseas:-)

In addition to the main Pauline clue, there is also a Paulinesque homophone.

Hi Brendan,
Yes I am. I took the Pauline clue to be the homophone.
Great day here for a change so did this sitting in the sun with my after lunch coffee.