Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Came in late on this one. Have a full grid, got the top and bottom lines, weapon, characters etc. However, I can only see a few places to delete letters, and not in the top line. Struggling with making words for 5 and 6 down, and am I supposed to add a letter to 24 down?

Xij, to get real words in 5 and 6 down are each involved in the thematic adjustment, as is 24 down. An earlier post gave a pointer.

Askival, I had exactly the same thought as you, and given that the correct solution to an earlier Elgin puzzle many years ago (with only 16 correct solvers) depended on a literal interpretation of one insignificant-looking word, I wouldn't be surprised by a similar trick here. In the end I decided against it since the position would not be thematic. If they are anywhere they should perhaps be in a line on one side or the other of the bottom row, but not below it. However, with the Listener in general and Elgin in particular you can never be sure.

Ah, could have stuck with my instincts after all! Thank you everyone.

I am nearly finished but cannot get the river in 21dn. Also struggling to get 36 and 37dn. Thanks for any help.

If I may presume to reply to Meursault, I believe the "popular chatroom" to which the Times referred was at the "Crossword Centre". Not everyone (I suspect no one) shares his obsession with the AB threads and the need to sneer at them. I would also point out that M is being a mite disingenuous to claim he only answers questions. He is a master of the "May I confirm that the answers are...." type of "question", frequently giving more than what is actually requested. When people ask for hints, I suspect that is what they want.

River begins with H. MB is the doctor in wordplay

36 anagram of hair and hat without the letter Eliza struggles to pronounce

37 Nigerian people in plural

The first and last letters of a two word phrase for great chief are missing 3-5.

I believe Bruce Lee was in a film with this title.

Brilliant - thanks dja. Do the dropped letters read across in order? I don’t seem to have anything sensible.

1-14-2-3-4-5-16-6

21-7-13-8-9-10


That should help you unclued

So near yet so far. Finished as far as I can see with a satisfactory ending but I have one word left that is not real
I have a 5 letter word occupying the first 5 spaces of 20a that is not in my dictionary. Everything else seems to work.
A***n
Any tips appreciated.

Hi Smithsax

You've probably got it right but aren't reading it correctly.

You effectively have an 8 letter word with a space in the middle. That is a word in the dictionary