Ta for the rec - it was a cracking puzzle, with some pretty crafty clues, and I only cursed at it a *little* bit! (...I was perhaps trying to solve it a touch fast...)

Ah, I take it 29a was responsible for the word association you asked chat for a while ago? At any rate, I'm still chuckling over 5d...

from Fudgeller: Every so often, Texas golfer hits this, and is delighted (5) from Suspicious_Door: Weaken at first signs of the exquisite nuts you audibly swallowed (9) [N.B. unclear if the risqué surface was intended, but it's why I like it so w/e]

oh, that 8d... *chef's kiss*

no worries I have some Americans on hand

once that single issue is no longer relevant, you gotta deliver on stuff that'll keep your new seats on-side, keep your core from bolting, *and* juggle all the big unexpected events that'll inevitably strain your government. anyway, time to take a big sip of tea and look at labour's winning strategy

sorry Boris: sure, an intense single-issue campaign can win big, realigning the electoral map and allowing you to win seats your party's never touched before, all at the admissibly small cost of scaring some of your core vote, but such a broad coalition is bound to be fragile by its very nature!

figured the CON collapse would let the fragmenting SNP hang on a little better, except it turns out SLab *really* soared, huh. and hey, I didn't even dare to dream any non-Corbyn independents would make it, so that's something too (Ilford North's the big shame, but ho hum)

belated post-mortem: I thought the LAB deflation & CON collapse that gave me my SNP/GRN/PC numbers meant more seats would shake out like South Basildon and East Thurrock, letting RFM squeeze in across the east coast, so it's kinda heartening to have got two-thirds of the former without the latter

actually screw it for the people who aren't my dad: I said LAB 410, CON 100, LD 75, SNP 20, RFM 18, GRN 4, PC 4 and, after a recount for maximum hilarity, IND 1. *now* Curtice can slide into my DMs