Strictly speaking, you are only bemoaning the lack of multiple expression support, not multi-line lambdas.

Oh, I'm not bemoaning. I'm just answering GP about the likely limitations that the previous poster was complaining about.

Maybe this is a common trick? I don't use Python; I hardly know anything about it.

I work around lambdas by naming internal functions. It's easier to read intent if I tell you what I'm trying to do.