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rpchambe

You're welcome ! You're right about the parsing of 17ac too - it's someone who used to set crosswords for the Guardian from the 1980s up until he passed away in 2002.

Please help. Just recovering from four grandchildren.
I cannot parse 32 down: In the covers, when wet. My guess is the answer is a well-known setter who appears in acts. If I am correct why?
An enjoyable puzzle - how did we operate before Google?
Help appreciated

Williamseal, there's discussion on that one on the first page of this thread. I didn't do the puzzle, so can't help personally.

I also had to go digging to find the parsing for that one. You're right about the setter, the setter's name is also the middle part of a word describing a material often used for covering things to protect them from the rain.

Thanks biffo
I’d thought of this but rejected. Not a good clue - it needed something to suggest eliminating the other part of the cover. Perhaps I’m being over-critical

Oh no it was a dreadful clue, very vague. But you get those very occasionally with Maskarade, it's a sort of hallmark. However compared with the ingenuity of his Bank Holiday puzzles and his propensity to choose themes which are meaningful to ourselves rather than to our grandparents, it's a minor thing so I'm not complaining.

Hi all
I've worked hard at this today, hampered by not knowing the themes (despite googling lists) or by my brain and helped by the incessant rain. Can the themes words be used more than once? Why thirty theme solutions and remaining 36 clues, that makes 66 not 59?

Just 12 more to do, mainly, though not exclusively, in bottom left corner. Can anyone give me a hint for 40ac, 46ac and 20d
40ac Opera song about a posh limo (9) I only have the last letter - an A. This is a theme word and I thought it was an anagram of a posh limo.
46ac Excalibur and 59 old attendants (8) I have E as the penultimate letter. I'm not sure if this is a theme word or indeed a cross reference to 59ac.
20d Make a further approach to raging ocean and mere with Rosa Klebb. (4,6)
I have ???E ?E?R??
Are my crossers right?

What is a limo?
What did 59 used to be called?

Roof,

40ac - Think of another word for a song in an opera and wrap it around "a", a letter often used to denote "posh" , and another word for a motor vehicle.

46ac - Yes it's a cross-reference to 59ac, in this case that compiler's real name.

20d - Anagram of "ocean" and "mere" with "r". Yes your crossers look correct.

I forgot to add this - if you add up all the across clues and all the down clues you get a total of 66. Or to put it another way there are a total of 66 solutions to write into the grid.