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Hi Ilippu,

10a - 3 letter "favourite" the 4 letter "passage" goes around 1 letter "musical back" and 2 letter "that man" - definition is "Hamilton say?"

10 parses as 3 followed by [(1,2) inside 4]. Defn involves possibly specialized GK.

geeker, brendan

Thanks. Done now.

Paul always seems to me to be about balancing the fun and the annoying. Usually fun wins, but annoyance was my overriding emotion today, not helped by the - relatively - straightforward clueing.

Last one in and favourite 16d

No problem with 7d, Brendan. Not sure what else it could be!

Thanks Chris, I didn't have a problem with the answer (the wordplay is very clear), but just wanted some clarity given that Chambers doesn't mention 'compound'.

Sorry, I wasn't quite clear. I meant that the answer has to be a compound!

Good fun I thought. I prefer to call this sort of thing “aural wordplay” rather than mention homophones (which purists might say should be precise).

I'm a Paul fan not because he's a purist, far from it, but he makes me laugh.

Hadn't heard of the composer but was able to get it from the wordplay. Not being in anyway a 10a I don't know who that is either but again good wordplay and the crossers got me there.

FOI 4a, LOI 24a. I loved the 1a 1d aural wordplay because it appeals to my sense of humour but COD I'm going 16d.

Thanks Paul for an entertaining start to the weekend.

I know a French beef farmer who earned the nickname 22a after the impressive way he passed out after one too many drinks.

Finished without referring to this site or Google which is a rarity for me.

Chico Marx instead of Nicolas Cage? I know what is "irrelevant!"