Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Indeed - that is exactly where my assumption became redundant...Folllowed by row 5....

All done, but not before spending a good while wondering about 9source material for “Big girls don’t cry” (15 characters, repetitious chorus, and I did buy it at the time). Puzzle fatigue indeed. Thanks as usual for the help given here, esp. 1ac which was very much a gateway clue, when you start it in the right place.

Just as an afterthought - Do I presume the last word/last column is the disease as didn't find another meaning?...

I'm not sure what you mean Crates, the last word in column 13 is a 3 letter word meaning "light grey".

Surely a new 4 letter word or how do you get just 2 bars...

The first bar goes at the bottom of cell 8, then there is the N from 'autumn' then the next bar goes at bottom of cell 12.

You make a good point about the 4 letter word made by the N in autumn and the 3 letter synonym for "light grey" - we are supposed to be left with real words, but I can't find that one anywhere?

It's not in the BRB but it's a proper noun, Brendan. See #7 and #8 on the other thread

Agreed, Crates and Brendan. Those four letters seem to be a surname only.
The only anomaly in a great puzzle.

Brendan, that four-letter word is in my Oxford Dictionary of English. I see that the preamble says 'Chambers is the primary reference', I wonder if the 'primary' is significant?

I believe that's always the wording used, malone. Just a catch all. Answers which don't appear in there are often identified as such, but in this case it's more awkward because it doesn't start as one. There is already another proper name in the grid from the Notre Dame clue