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Paul has presented us with a themed Prize this week and it's a corker.

I'm not exactly an expert in this field but some of the terms are commonplace and, for those that aren't, there's always Google.

Paul has mixed things up a bit by making it so there are some themed answers where "7" is the definition and others where it forms part of the wordplay.

FOI was 10a but first themed answer was 17a which I recommend as a way in to it.

9a - I still haven't fully parsed this - I can see the "Blairite" and a possible way to get the rest from "Livingstone out of doghouse" but I'm not certain that its what Paul had in mind so I'll wait to see what others think.

COD - Lots of contenders this week with the themed 20a a particular highlight. 28a and 5a are also worthy of a special mention but my pick of the bunch is the brilliant 12a not least because it took me an age to see it.

If you get stuck - you may remember I asked people whether or not I should continue with this and, after spending most of the last fortnight counting the votes, all two of them .... it's a draw! Regardless, I think I'll call time on it, at least for now.

Thanks to Paul for a wonderfully constructed puzzle.

Stay safe:-)

PS Geeker should like 1a:-)

9d (not 9a) - I had parsed it wrong but I see it now - a great clue:-)

Hi Brendan,

I found this very difficult. Not just because I lack thematic knowledge; several of the clues seem really tough. Thanks to Paul for the challenge - last few Prizes have been on the easy side and this swings back in the other direction. I found clue 1 super tough! By no means a common US word, but aesthetically pleasing.

FOI 10, LOI 29 (still unsure of parsing, confident in answer). I have a guess for 11 that seems likely, but no idea of parsing.

My short list for COI is 20, 23, 27 and 25, let's just call them co-winners. Also like 12, 22 and 21.

[Added] I finally see a parsing for 29. Necessary to look at clue 8...

Brendan, I got 9 pretty quickly because the first word is rather obvious. Had to guess the second word and parse in retrospect. 😉 It is a nice clue, surprisingly "gettable" for this non-UK resident.

Hi Geeker,

I did wonder if 1a might be a tad obscure because we have so many US shows and films on TV and yet I cannot remember ever hearing it.

11a - I'm not surprised you found this clue tricky as the "bloomer" in question is a particularly British usage of the word but the FreeOnline dictionary does show it - if you scroll down far enough:-)

Thanks, Brendan. The British usage relevant to 11 was totally unknown to me and I'd never have guessed it! My answer was correct, though.

Hi Brendan…I should have voted! I really appreciate your very gentle hints, so would welcome a return. Just 6 left to do, so am going to take a break…or carry on with Nutmeg…

Just picked this up and already looking tough. Think I have 1a not sure about the US part.

7 I have an answer that fits in with Brendan's 17a hint for getting into the theme but I can only parse the first four letters so I'm not sure

Definitely not a subject I knew anything about but found the references needed in the list of such things in Chambers Thesaurus. Also had the last two letters of 11 wrong (too big a ‘bit’ but a perfectly valid answer I thought) which held me up with 8.
I assume the US reference in 1a is due to the spelling rather than it being a common US term.
Was just typing that I was stuck on 14 and 29 but immediately they came to me, both very good :-)

Rocky, for 7, the next 5 letters are a single letter ‘one’ inside a four letter word for style.