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Thanks Tramp.
1/9 FOI
19a/20d last two in.
Those two took as much time as the rest.
Likes: 29a, 2d, 4d, 13a, 21d.
2d, 21d tie for COD.

Thanks to Tramp.
2 FOI. 1/9, which I wrote in w/o needing to parse (which I did when the grid was full) next. 7 LOI.
19 and 20 took a while, but 5 and 7 cost me the most time.
Solving time wound up just under Prize median.

Mixture of easy (a few real gimmes) and challenging clues.

COD 18. Also liked 8, 11, 7, 6, 29 and 4.

Took me ages to parse 18 - the solution was obvious but I got hung up on the first three letters - but now I have I agree with you geeker: COD for its trademark Tramp tricksiness.

Thanks to Tramp for an enjoyable Prize.

Thankfully, I didn't have any issue with 18d as that word for "mansion" crops up quite frequently in barred puzzles. Actually, now I think of it, I'm sure I've seen it in previous Prize crosswords as well - maybe Jono can shed some light on this.

5a - I do have a slight issue with this in that, If I'm correct that the wordplay is split 1,2,4, then I'm at a loss to see which part of the clue gives us the 2.

I did check the 2 in Chambers thesaurus but, oddly, that word doesn't appear when you click on it, rather "by" does and, yes, one of synonyms of "by" is the 2.

My query is would the Guardian Prize really be that convoluted or am I missing a really obvious connection between "before" and 2?

COD: I had written in 24d, but the more I see 11a (which is a lot given that it's directly under the aforementioned 5a) the more I like it - so it's a tie this week.

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Brendan, I thought a few clues had possibly dodgy wordplay and 5a is one. I also parsed 1,2,4 (having required Google for the 4), and concluded the 2 had to be "before", which exact usage I don't recall ever seeing. I looked briefly in my NSOED and didn't get much clarification.

Many thanks Geeker, it's good to know I'm not alone.

By the way, I also had to Google the 4, although it did come back to me upon reading it.

Oh dear, I've just spotted there is no comma after 29 in the thread title.

Norah was a Text Editor supervisor before retiring. I also have a feeling she was a bird of prey in a former life, given that she can spot these minor errors from miles away 😂

"You're a brave man, Charlie Brown".
🤐

Sorry, Brendan
I avoid unnecessary punctuations when posting online

I'm not sure what that phrase actually means Geeker - I know CB is a famous cartoon character, but have never read him.

I've known Norah for a long time and can tell you that she has a wonderful sense of humour.

I remember once I reported spam posts that were promoting an erectle dysfunction cream. In her reply thanking me she tentatively asked if I'd tried it out, to which I replied... "why do you think it took me an hour to report it"?

Cue several laughing emojis - Norah is a good sport.