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I found this a slog and, like others here, tried to leave it but kept coming back to it like a guilty substance abuser.

Struggled with parsing 8d, 2d, 25a/3d, all of which I now see. Paul has this knack of doing things perfectly 'correctly' but making them flippin' tough through the use of stretchy sub-defs, intricate wordplay etc.

On the plus side I did like 17a and 19a!

Need tips for a couple:
Can't parse 25/6d, (I could if the clue said Oxfordshire).

Can't solve 16d. I have [ P _ O | _ E _ G _ W ]. I'm guessing the first _ in word 2 could be 'R'?

Gah. I see 25/6d now. Cancel the Oxfordshire comment above. That is devious.

Hi jvector
You have made the mistake I complained about earlier with 28a - it's not a complete clue.

Roof
I'll address yours separately.

22a real person (probably!)

16 5 letter "commoner", then a loose 4 letter "fit" (medical)

27/6 a football ground I hadn't heard of - commercially sponsored, I expect from the name. The best clue in the puzzle, I thought.

8d totally unfair clue. It does parse, but you won't be able to put it together. It's a well-known pudding that you would think would be thematic.

..you wouldn't think...


The number of times a post of mine misses a 'nt - I wonder if it's an autocorrect?

Hi Chris

I'd made the same mistake with 28ac as you and another which made solving 16d impossible. Now I have the answer, but since it seems related to football I'm not surprised I didn't get it straight away.

I managed to google the football ground I'd never heard of.

I can see the surname of the 22ac, but can't get a first name. I assume it is a famous lexicographer, whose book I really rate, but he doesn't have a three letter first name.

Despite googling I can't find the well-known pudding. I think I might have it now.

I haven't understood Jono's hint for 6ac

I can't see the answer to 20d. I assume the answer is carousal, say.

I still have to get 7d, 13ac and 17ac, though 8d may help with some crossers. Back to the drawing board.

Thank you chrise - change the 28a and the 5-4 split hint gives 16d. Straightforward once you've seen it, in that irritating Paul way :-)

Hi again roof
22 is (in)famous - the second word is a dodgy homophone for "can go either way".
20d is a painter who sounds like he does what carousels and weathercocks do. A typically irritating paul clue.
17a is my dreaded "royal" connection
13 is fairly straightforward if you remember the abbreviation for "judge"
7d an abbreviated "character" (as in the theatre) followed by a synonym for "beaten".

Thanks Chris

I'd given up and cheated on a couple with Dan Word and still didn't understand the answers.

I am very annoyed with myself for not getting 22ac - I was convinced it was going to be Fowler, though I still cannot parse the second name.

I usually like Paul, but some of these clues were off the wall and I should have given up earlier and done some gardening in the lovely weather.

My FOI 18ac, my LOI that I got myself 13ac - I'd forgotten the abbreviation for Judge. COD was 1ac, which helped me get 5d, though I liked 12d as well and 26ac. I had to look up 4d and didn't know the word in 11ac.

I did see the parsing of 27,6 this morning, and I agree with the consensus that it is very clever. I was trying to make the wrong article work. As for 25,3, “charging” seems a dubious containment indicator.