Guardian Prize

[RogerBear]

The first T: "Shepherds steer into capital of Hautes-Pyrénées (3, 5)." The construction suggests OX in TARBES, but what the heck are tar boxes?

Otherwise all done, with the aid of a few hints here.

[Buenchico]

From the OED again:

tar-box, n:
A box formerly used by shepherds to hold tar as a salve for sheep

[RogerBear]

So the shepherds got called by the name of a piece of thir equipment? At least it isn't crooks? Seems there is a word missing in the construction.

All the same, I found this an unusually satisfying jigsaw puzzle to do. Even after getting both W and both S solutions (I found the longer ones in each surprisingly elusive), they gave me only a tiny patch in the SE. Addressing the rest required me to have solved well over half the clues before I could even begin. But the puzzle had that wonderful quality of acceleration, which is by no means guaranteed.