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This week's puzzle by Brendan follows on from Picaroon's themed offering of last week only this time the theme is all things Royal.

FOI was 12a followed by 22a.

I didn't find this too difficult but there are still a few clues I can't fully parse. Namely, 8d where I'm not totally sure where the first 2 letters come from (other than the obvious) and 20d, 23d and 25a although I am sure of my answers.

If you do get stuck There is a hidden and long anagram in the downs and a long anagram in the acrosses.

When a setter decides to create a themed crossword it can adversely affect the surface of the clues but, in this instance, I think Brendan has done a good job of keeping that to a minimum.

COD - I've gone for the witty (dare I say a.......) 4d 😉😂

Thanks to Brendan for a fun puzzle:-)

It was good to see some first time posters join in our friendly Prize blog last week and look forward to keeping the trend going. So, as always, if you get stuck just post your query on here there are always people willing to help.

Stay safe:-)

Just worked out 20d - very good:-)

Hi Brendan,
20 was my COD! Over 18, 14, 9, 3, 1d and 19.
FOI 4, LOI 19.
I found this enjoyable but easier than the norm, especially in contrast to last week's challenge by Picaroon. [It so happens that Buccaneer aka Picaroon appears in this evening's FT - some outstanding clues but overall easy by his standard.]
Can't help mentioning a possible sub-theme - see 21, 10, 23 and 20 - possibly foreshadowing MC vs Nepo later this month!

25 is a somewhat unusual vague syn of "wobbliness" around a pronoun avoided by a famous thematic person.
8: I agree with your parsing, consider the clue a bit weak.
23: in US slang the answer can be a syn for "epic" / very large. Perhaps another weakish clue...

Hi Geeker,

I agree that his was easier than last week but I still can't parse 25a - I know it's correct because there are only a handful of words that fit that letter pattern and I have a green tick on the app but I just can't see the wordplay!

You could be right about the sub-theme - either way I'm looking forward to the big showdown 😃

Thanks Geeker,

25a - I see what you mean but there is more than one instance of that pronoun in the answer and no instruction as to how many or which of them the "wobbliness" goes around - but I do get it:-)

Surely it only works for the first instance of the pronoun in the answer. I don't think I have ever seen this particular synonym for 'wobbliness' as a noun, but as an adjective, it's not so uncommon.

Agree with the rest hat this was not too difficult but still fun. I had the same parsing questions as already mentioned. Agree that if 8d is what we all think, then not very good. Also, I thought there must be more to 23d than that. Also my favorites were the previously mentioned 4d and 29d.

I'm missing 3 and uncertain of 2, so before I use a solver I should ask for help...

25, 26 can't think of much that fits 25, can't see a word for wobbliness even if I remove any of the 3 pronouns. 26 I can't parse but I have a word for Henry's offspring cut short.

That leaves me with:
5A, can't think of a word I have S?I?E?Y
9A: I can fit a US state in there but no idea why that would be correct
20: Can fit a word that someone who is lying might be, but can't parse it. 26 might be wrong though, I have it ending with A.

My favourite was 3D and I'm surprised the math prof didn't have it as their CoD as well ;)