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Many thanks to Vlad for a delightful Prize challenge. He's becoming a favo(u)rite setter despite the slight feeling of intimidation his byline inspires. ;-)

On the difficult side, but not an outright impalement a la Enigmatist. Grid filled slowly but steadily. Feared DNF on the last few clues but pennies eventually dropped.

FOI 6.
LOI 20, though due to a corrected mistake in 19.
Too many clues gave pleasure to single out a COD.
17, 23, (8, 26), 13 and 20 stood out but others could be listed.

Sorry geeker, I was still posting when yours went up. Hopefully admin will merge. Suffice to say that we are pretty much ad idem on this one!

Thanks, rog.
Regarding 1, I wrote in the answer and was reminded to parse it by your post. That took a while! I think it's extremely clever (based on a UK phrase I mostly know via the title of a chess podcast), but perhaps slightly forced.

Thanks very much, geeker. I’m afraid the chess podcast reference is lost on me! I can’t see that 1 can be anything other than what I’ve entered, based on the crossers, and I can sort of see it (the second word being key), but wonder whether I might be missing something, as on my reading it’s not quite as tight as I’d expect from Vlad.

The chess reference is really esoteric. SPOILER ALERT: https://tinyurl.com/2sy76cx5

The other phrase that helped me with 1 is in the lead of this SPOILER ALERT: https://tinyurl.com/2nvcbvhf

I think my solution follows inevitably from these, it may be slightly loose but I'm permissive about clues.

Tough, fair, delightful Prize by Vlad. Thank.

Miss not feeling up to the task, WG rejected cricket practice, M's guarding shelter are my top 3 clues.

18d/24a last two in.

Tyrus in Indy! So, a double feature.

Note by Admin - Rogissimo’s inadvertent duplicate thread

I always expect a challenge when I see Vlad’s name, and I wasn’t disappointed today. A wide range of clues with plenty of potential for misdirection made for an enjoyable tussle.
FOI the gimme at 2, LOI 24a for some reason.
Too many competitors for COD, but I liked 6, 20 and 23 for starters. Not completely convinced by 1 though.
Thanks, Vlad!

4d

Not a fan of this trick (Is any-one?). Isn't this taking it to a ridiculous level?

Thanks so much, norah, and sorry for the trouble(!)

ilippu,
I’ve just completed the Indy without realising, but I guess I should have done. Found it far harder than the Guardian Prize!