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jws...I don't know about a northern thing. I'm daarn saaarf and know of pumps being used in a very slang way. Maybe the word has fallen into such disuse that any more specific meaning has been lost in general usage other than to mean simply...trainers.

Hiya Lionheart,
I just missed your post last night, I went to bed at 1:30 because had to get up for work today. Just got home and here is the reply to your post questions about my clues.

39a) Get wine if this man begins to see me
PETER
'Peter-see-me' is a kind of Spanish wine

27a) Cream that occupational therapist won't apply to screen nasty scar
LION

Cream = Lotion, occupational therapist = OT, won't apply to = take OT out,
Scar was the nasty Lion in the movie (screen) 'The Lion King' (He was the on screen nasty scar)

33a) Rarely catch European reading out loud
PAUL
A catch on a ratchet is called a Pawl with a more rare spelling of Paul, European = Pole - reading out loud = Sounds like (Homophone)

I don't think I have time to type out everyones word play Lionheart, I will do it for the next grid though and publish it with the solution.
I'm not sure if you noticed, but my clue for 10d was a late edit. The clue originally read. 'Try starting the pump'
Which was Try = Hear + starting (t)he = Heart/pump
And then you emailed your clue for 48a which threw me into an instant change to,
Try to start = Hear (t)o start one alluded to in 48 across. Which at first was meaning with ref to your pumps, but then I realised it was a double ref because it was actually the clue from Lion(heart). Hope you understood that last bit.
Les40

Thanks Les. Some references I'd not heard of...my brain has been expanded :)
I think I've had my other queries explained by their setters so all is well!

Did everyone get the full word play for the rest of my clues?
I thought Wendy might comment on 49a, I enjoyed finding the wordplay for that.
19a, & 25a, took a bit of research.
Pad game for 13a, & Sweet peas for 34a, - pure God sends.
It was great to involve AB & Rosalind in the clue for AMBLER at 47a too.
I'm just so miffed that I couldn't quite squeeze Greedy kite in there somewhere.

I couldn't pick a favourite from the setters because there was so many, I think this month went well with some real diamonds and think that all can give themselves a jolly good pat on the back for some real exquisite word wizardry.
Thankyou very much everyone, my brain is already planning the April grid.

Stay well, Les40

A fantastic achievement by all involved.

Looks like I'm the only one that couldn't (and still can't) parse AB's 26ac. Explanation please.

Doing this puzzle was like having a potluck dinner with friends- not the kind where you're stuck with whatever your host happens to be serving but the kind where everyone brings a favorite dish, and also happens to be a great cook. Quite a few delicacies here. I too liked Lionheart's 17a (who wouldn't?) and greedy kite's 38a, which are not only accomplished but charming. Les40's 34a is the kind of clue I especially admire; it's unassuming, but has what might be called integrity of sense. It looks effortless and (a word I dread seeing in criticism) inevitable, but this kind of simplicity is always deceptive. Loved AB's Miss Appropriate at 22d, ixion's hovering auntie at 36d, THEA's 44d with the subtle Roman "bridge"...and so many others.
Thanks again, Les, and thanks, ixie and Syzzie, for commenting on 21d. Can't wait for the next one!

Hiya peterm,

AB's clue
26a) Yarn in balls given out by make up artist (4,4)
TALL TALE

Yarn = story or tale, balls = nonsense or rubbish.
Something that is said to be a load of balls - is a load of rubbish or a made up or embellished story. usually a story that is partly or wholly MADE UP as a fib or lie
So the teller or giver of this tale would be the one that would MAKE UP the tale.

The fisherman who caught a tiddler will nearly always tell you it was
"THHHIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS BIIIIGGGGGG!"

He is thus the maker up'er of the TALL TALE and his YARN is in fact a load of BALLS

Hi all...got about a third done...but I was a struggling!

Have now had a sneaky peeky at the solutions and will enjoy working them out "backwards".

Speak soon...

Sweetpea...."blush and coy titter".

Thank you Les. I was looking for something that wasn't there.

Les,

Must confess that I totally guessed PETER for 39a and never would have got it on my own so was grateful for the explanation. LION I didn't get at all, not knowing which one of us it was because I'd already got HEART. Well done there too.

As for 49a - it was lovely and oddly enough was the first name I got - at that stage I had no idea of the theme. The next themed one I solved was Pastille which was when I guessed your little plot!

On reflection, I think your clues were the hardest to solve and had I not stumbled upon the theme early on, I think I'd have given up ages before I did!

I think I'll stay off Crosswords for a couple of days while I recover from this one.

Again, many thanks for the fun!