Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

lizw - take the middle 2 letters from expats etc + your thematic word. My last is 19 - not there yet ...

If you want a hint for 19 I will give it

But not if you don’t

I almost always avoid Maskarade puzzles, but started this one anyway. Got about halfway through and set it aside for a while. Looks solvable, much more enjoyable than M's norm (IMO).

i really enjoyed it.

I'm enjoying it, but I've got a bit stuck with just half done. My right hand side is mostly empty. Can I have a couple of hints please.

29ac African girl embracing dogs (8)

I have ???A?E?E

46ac Score sent back - was not a piece (8)

I have N???U???

32d Recognised standards in life bewildered nieces ((9)

and I have no crossers!

Ok, here goes.

29ac not a theme clue, crossers are correct, think great for the dogs (not the definition).

46ac was one of my last ones in. It is a theme clue. Definition is 'piece', for 'score' think cricket.

32d another themed clue (answer starts with the three letters) 'bewildered' serves the purpose you probably think it does.

Many thanks Tombo

Your hint for 29ac confirmed the answer I thought it may be, though I couldn't parse it at the time.

I've now got 32d and think I have 46ac - again an answer I'd considered but couldn't parse.

I'm nearly there now, but it is time for bed. I shall pick up the challenge again tomorrow and may seek more hints.

Am I being really thick? Struggling with the instructions. We initially read it as two differently themed groups of 19 to be fitted in. But then if each of those is used twice, that makes 76 inserts not 38. So is it one group of 19 that's used twice???

I wouldn't say thick at all! When the instructions say "two separate themed groups of 19", it would be more precise to say "two separate themed groups, together totalling 19 abbreviations and words".

Maybe I'm being thick, but I've finished it but can't see a solution which contains two of the themed words?