Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Thanks both of you. The lady in 31 is pia.

Sorry meant to say that pia is an old feminine version of pious.

Thanks Granama 1 and Foinaven.

Is 26a missing an "a" at the beginning of the first word of the clue and the answer a short version of Dorothy. That's the only unsolved clue left.

The rest is still a mystery. I can see the anagram at 37a throws up a miltilary observation system, and I can see most of the letters for Nimrod, an old one of those, in 5d, but I have no idea if those are relevant. Grrr

I am way behind you laertes. I have O as the unchecked letter in 26a.

I need help with 29a and 21d to start with.

I can give the clues here but most of you have solved the puzzle.

29a There is a letter missing in the first word to give the definition. Then the "introduction" to David, then "is", then a word for stupid reversed and with the last letter cut off.

yes regarding the 'a'.
no to 'nimrod' (i can't be sure what you have in mind by the 'system', but the unclued entries are very closely linked thematically).

21d the clue is perhaps overly complex. The first few words are the definition (no missing letter). A generic word for shrub is "acquired" by another word for the naval meaning of stern, but missing a letter often used to represent a century. To be honest I could not quite parse a couple of letters. The generic word for the shrub is also another clue to the whole answer, if you are old enough.

Thanks drxx

Thanks laertes. Got both.