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Thanks malone and orson.

Orson,
I have the phrase now. Almost. Still missing the first word. I have a guess.

7d: I took it as God's because it ends in IC.

I thought 11a was krait. The def, is a joke.

I have not heard or seen the thematic material.
I googled it to get the unclueds.

I have yet to get 7a, 10a, 31a, 9d, 25d. I have 33d but not sure how it works.
I have 3 of the 10a kind. One missing.
I have 18a that reflects the 10 letter word. Will find 3 more,
when I return in an hour.

Appreciate help from both of you.

Hi sunray,

The first word has an apostrophe after the second letter. Do you have any letters for it?

The defn for 10a is rise. It's an obsolete word made up of obligation (3 letters) + s for special. 4 letters altogether, a thematic entry.

The defn for 31 is a word that Bradley Wiggins was using this week to mean deny. If you have the Times today, Oliver Kamm towards the back argues that it is a valid synonym of denines. 7 letters and thematic.

25d hope becomes pope. Humanoid refers to a 3-letter word for a mythical being.

I'm not sure what you mean by 18a reflecting the 10-letter word. The answer is 7 letters but it is thematic.

I cannot help with the rest right now. Back to my glass of wine.

And in 31 the T becomes a G. Retreads is the word that has to change.

Thanks orson.


I do not read Times.
But deny can be refute or refuse.
If s changes to g, it will be refuge.
That provides the answer,
25d begins with G. I do not see a word that fits. I have three letter alien.

9d could begin with abbrev.of account.
I have 10a.

Shoot is gun, alien is elf. It is in Chambers but not the plural.

Thanks orson.
I should have checked TVD before commenting.

By carefully following the previous hints/posts, I have almost completed the grid. As usual I am stuck on a final couple:-
7a. Small amounts of gin almost get one drunk (4). I think that 'gin' should become 'tin' after the misprint.
7d. Goa's Spacier while tripping (7). I think that 'Goa's' should become God's after the misprint. I cannot find any relevant anagrams of Spacier.
31a. Denies replacing seconds with good retreads(4). I think that 'retreads' should become 'retreats' after misprint.
Can anyone please put me out of my misery?

7. Yes, gin becomes 'tin' - and foreign tin.

7 Yes, an anagram.
31 Yes, retreats - so another word for that, but the centre comes out, thematically.

There's a bigger , more specific hint for 31 A a few posts earlier.

Thank you very much Malone, all clear now.