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stacpolly

27th April 2020, 15:46
...and a postscript to what has been a brilliant Kea construction (hard though the cluing was).
My good friend Harold Massingham (Mass) who died a number of years ago was one of the great crossword compilers of my lifetime and he has been widely credited as the first to use the circular construction faithfully reproduced in Kea's puzzle. I feel sure that Kea's work was a discreet bow in that direction.
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0pt0

27th April 2020, 15:53
All done except for 32. I have five of its 6 letters. It must have one letter which moves and I think it is the second letter of the answer, which moves to the outer ring. I think the letter I am missing is E, which goes in ring 4. However I cannot relate my answer to the definition, which I take to be the first two words of the clue. Could some kind soul confirm whether I am on the right lines?
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tatters

27th April 2020, 16:02
32 unadjusted is a 6 letter scots word for search or range over

It is also the first 6 letters of an 8 letter word - which is a synonym for bun [but not one I was aware of].

It is just the 2nd letter that moves
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0pt0

27th April 2020, 16:14
Many thanks Tatters.
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murky

27th April 2020, 17:23
Lumen, the general rule is that capital letters should not be dispensed with in the case of proper nouns, but may be used falsely for common nouns, verbs, etc to deceive or for surface reasons.

This is what Ximenes had to say about it:

"May one use a capital where it isn't needed in order to deceive? May one abolish one where it is, strictly speaking, needed, in order to deceive? My answer to the first is: Yes, at a pinch; but try, if you can, to put the word first in the clue or after a full stop in the course of it. My answer to the second is: No!"

From 'On the Art of the Crossword'

So 29d does not breach Ximenean principles.
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rad

27th April 2020, 19:10
I think the so-called Ximenean principles are generally ignored nowadays. That is to say, the spirit of Ximenes is respected, but the strict rules that he kept to, and encouraged setters to keep to, are not obeyed any more. Capital letters are used freely to support the surface meaning of a clue. I hope he would not be too upset about this, shall we call it modification of his principles.
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rad

27th April 2020, 19:23
... and in response to Stacpolly acknowledging our indebtedness to people like Harold Massingham, Hear Hear!
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lumen

28th April 2020, 00:02
Thanks murky and rad, for your Swift response.
Hope you won’t be Fielding any More questions on Ximenes.
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rad

28th April 2020, 00:09
A Dickens of a response from you, Lumen!
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gazzar

29th April 2020, 16:05
After having almost given up several times I've just finished. I don't know if the setters read the comments but I'd like to congratulate Kea on a wonderful feat of construction.
Thank you to all the contributors on this thread - I only cold solved about half of the clues and wouldn't have finished this mammoth task without your help - cheers!
I have one query - I am presuming the solution to 33 is to do with a person living near The Wash but I can't parse it (not that it makes a lot of difference, but I like to finish it properly lol). Any help gratefully received!
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