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Thank you Brendan, that was my guess for 13a but I couldn't see why! Yes there is usually "arm" after the word, but I don't have any better guesses!

Hi Neville 13d is 1 2 & 2 letters

Take an initial letter from one or the words then a two letter definition for the third word then a two letter abbreviation for a former ruler

Re 13a I have an answer but again it’s a bit ambiguous my crossers are s-A-e-t

Thanks Jono, thanks Birder,

In 20a I got confused by "going to the front" when it's clearly not - now I realise it means going to the front of the other single letter (given that it appears after it in the clue).

Thanks Neville,

You, Jono and Birder were right about the sailing reference. I've just looked in Chambers (again!!) and seen that it's "a beam on a mast for spreading square sails" - I would say that it's unbelievable that I missed that definition when I looked before but, given that I do it so often, who'd believed me 🤷

Quite a gentle one from Boatman. Gearing up to decide whether to attempt the Maskerade. So far I don't even understand the instructions.

Loved the theme of this. Some subtle references.

FOI 9a. LOI 26d. COD 6d purely for the subject matter. Takes me back to my embroidered denim clad school days.

Finished an enjoyable crossword that’s wasn’t as hard as previous weeks

FOI 1d LOI 13a

Several candidates for COD 4d 30a and 6d which wouldn’t look out of place in the Private Eye cryptic crossword 😂

Did no-one else find the theme of an illegal and stupid war distasteful?

I take your point but no, I didn't find it distasteful, exactly. I think the intention was anti-violent and I would compare the crossword to an angry punk record or a political play. I suppose one could draw a line between a clue like 19D, where there is clear satirical intent and a clue like 4D, which is just wordplay about an unpleasant topic but for me the whole thing comes down on the right side of the line. YMMV, obviously.

Slightly off topic (only slightly Bren?), but there's a song by Durruti Column called the answer to 8d that includes 3 samples from other artists. One is from 8d, another is from Tracey Chapman's Behind the Wall, but I I've never been able to place the third one. If anyone knows who the singer is I'd love to know. I think it's by an artist with the initials AL but I won't say more for fear of confirmation bias.

This isn't a simple whim, it's just that the song has been part of my phone's playlist for many years and not knowing the identity has always bugged me.

Mahalia Jackson.

https://www.whosampled.com/search/?q=durutti+column+otis