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Thanks to Brummie, who many of us also know as Cyclops (Private Eye) for this week's Prize.

When Brummie sets for the Guardian, he seems to tone down Cyclops's tendency to naughty clues, and I only saw one faintly Pauline entry.

Enjoyed this puzzle, overall level of cluing high, but didn't find it as exciting as the strongest Prize standouts. Definitely rank it on the easy side, many entries went in quickly. Struggled with 19 (LOI) and 26 for some reason, otherwise it would have been a really quick solve. Wrote in the solution for 5, but parsing proved tricky.

FOI 1a. Had to resort to Google to confirm 22, though I'd seen the solution at least twice before in other puzzles.

COD 10 by a narrow margin over (6,24) and 8. Also liked 1a, 2, 9 and 23.

I was considering giving up after a first pass through the clues, but ironically, I got 22 as my FOI and started making steady progress from then on. The only one I am unsure about is 19d. Assuming I have the right answer, I don't know why it's on Cleopatra's right. Or is it another meaning of "right?"

Have to agree that this was a relatively easy prize, but still enjoyable. COD a tie between 3 and 18. Also liked 1a. I needed the crossers for 12 so that was my LOI. I think the use of “good chap” instead of the more typical “good man” threw me. I was about to write that I still don’t get 6,24 when it struck me. Very good. Didn’t even have to post first for the magic to work.

Hi Rainman,

Our “everyday” talking about Cleopatra often includes the object as the right hand part of the name.

mprs, agree on 12. I'd never have gotten it w/o the crossers.

Thanks, Mystogre. That makes sense.

Yep, a good puzzle but not the hardest Guardian prize.
Thought it was tightly clued.
FOI 15, LOI 20 (though had the word for ages), COD 18.

Am I the only one who is finding this really difficult? I was a bit surprised to see how easy some others found it.
After lots of pondering, a little light googling and use of the solver I still have gaps lower left and upper right. Any hints for 5a, 6/24d, 7d, 25a would be appreciated!

Hi FemmeNoire,
Don’t worry, I didn’t find it that easy either.
5a is one letter inside a country reversed
6,24 the first word is a reversal of a word for cork, the second a county
7 is the name of an artist. 4 letter word for strength of character inside another four letter word for China (slang)
25 a not so common meaning of report (or rather the noise of one). It parses 2,3 then a 4 letter anagram
Hope that helps

Thank you jono yes that was a big help. I think 5a is a different type of “one” maybe. Grid is filled in but not getting the green tick (or a white tick in a green circle if being pedantic!…) so looking for typos/ errors