Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Hi

O is 11 in Roman numerals.

It is in Chambers but fairly obscure.

Meursault - I believe for 28 the word is spicule, which is at least as reasonable as some of the others. I think 34 is ok. In fairness to Elfman, vowels present challenges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_English_alphabet justifies 34 since it says:

Y: Islay (Scottish island), Pepys, gray

You're right about what is said, Buzzb. But it does conflict with the idea that the surrounding pronunciation shouldn't be affected by a silent letter. Without the Y, MAY would be MA as in mother; with it, it is MAE as in West.

In fact, the only one on your list that I strongly object to is Gray. Islay does not sound the Y at all nor does Pepys (though you might claim that the Y in that case alters the e to ee). A bit misleading for Gray to be listed alongside those two, since then you're left wondering what criteria they are trying to indicate...

What a liberty!

Fun puzzle let down by the GWIT "hint". Furthermore, even if the hint is cracked, given the wonderful diversity of accents in this country it is virtually impossible, in most cases, to fall immediately on the correct letter to be selected.

Thumbs down for the endgame. This solver had to use google to get there.

I somehow managed to complete this one without understanding the full significance of the title, how to choose the letters for the quotation or how to parse several clues.
I have now worked most of this out and it is much a cleverer puzzle than I first thought.
One final unresolved issue. I have the answer for 17a but can’t parse it.

LE(G)BRUN(T)

Just can't get my head round 6 and 15d.... Any tips appreciated.

Hi Ethik, those are two of the four thematically treated answers. For all of those answers, the entries are 6 letters shorter. Certain letters must be removed from the answer (check the puzzle title) in order to give the entry, but in each case the entry comprises contiguous letters from the answer. The other two entries of that type are 33 & 34A