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I had the same thought re 14d but didn't bother to look it up since it was a write-in... Mikhail Tal being "The Magician from ****" and all... 🤣

Ha ha, that was exactly my thought:-)

Long time lurker, first time poster.

A Paul Crossword is always a joy.

A recurring theme for me is I get down to needing 2 or 3 answers to complete the puzzle and so I look in here for a nudge in the right direction, however, the clues I'm stuck on (today - 10 & 11a) are NEVER the clues under discussion.

Don't want to spoil any clues for anyone. I have all the crossers but can't see either. 11a - I can see a meaning in bait but fail to connect it with hand. 10 - the second part just doesn't click.

No matter. It's been a good start to the weekend.

Finished this pretty quickly last night, but didn’t come on here straight away as I also struggled with the second element of 11a (also my LOI). In fact I think I had the right idea about it, but had to slope on iy (give it a few hours on the clock, if you will) to get there. Still not sure that I would agree that it’s nifty though.

FOI was 4a.

Like geeker, I’m generally a fan of Paul, and have recently had the sane experience of finding his weekday contributions a good deal tricker than his Prizes. This was no exception, but I also felt that it didn’t quite hit the mark, with no particular stand-outs, and quite a few feeling a bit clunky and/or somewhat unsatisfactory. Didn’t know the shark or the parrot so had to reverse engineer the obvious answers with online help. Having done that, I think 21a is probably my COD, mainly because the surface is smooth and quite amusing.

Geeker: I think 1d qualifies as being mildly ‘Pauline’, but it also falls squarely into the clunky/unsatisfactory camp for me.

Perhaps I’ve just got out of bed on the wrong side, as I’m not usually one to criticise setters, least of all Paul (to whom thanks, as ever, and sorry if I’m being unfair - which might well be the case!)

Hi Mootster,

Welcome to the Forum.

It's not a problem to ask for a nudge here or there and both Geeker and I also struggled with the second definition of 11a - think 'compass', 'wristwatch' or items of that nature.

10a - is 2 then 3 letter "equipment" all inside 3 letter "racket" reversed/'pulled back' - definition is "elastic".

‘slope on iy’? How did that happen? Sleep on it, I meant, and clearly I didn’t for long enough.

Revisiting the crossword, I note that no fewer than ten of the clues feature a question mark. For me, that’s too many, and tends to support my suspicion that overall it was a bit loose.

Thank you for the kind welcomes and thank you again for the nudges. I had the wrong equipment (as in the first half of a biscuit) and the wrong hand.

Rog@17, that’s an interesting observation. I did note that in some of the double definition clues the ? was unnecessary.

Compare 11 and 23 for example. In 11 both definitions are straight so I would argue no ? is required. In 23 however one definition is a dbe, so here I think the ? is justified.

Good analysis, jono, if I may say so. The second element of the dd in 11a required a bit of lateral thinking on my part (along the lines suggested by Brendan earlier on), and I’m still not entirely convinced, but on any view it’s simply a cryptic definition. The ? is therefore unnecessary, and if anything tends to suggest that Paul wasn’t quite convinced by it either!