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Peter I take it to be BONA

Thanks KT. That is the only possibility I have come up with. As fr as I can see it makes no sense in relation to any unclued light.

She's in H VI (Part 3)

Thanks. I did know that, but I am still profoundly unhappy with several supposed connections.

I'm now wondering what I might be missing.
My only (very slight) issue was with the inclusion of a tragedy amongst the histories, but the across/down gender split seems to work quite well - and they're all gentry!
Quite a narrow theme considering the range (and considering it's Doc).

I was thrown slightly by 8 down which is spelt with a different vowel in my copy of the text (OUP, 1988); but all became clear when I consulted my grandmother’s volume (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1896)!

In my view 'gentry' is insufficient as a descriptor. Whilst all the down are ladies, only 4 of the across are lords (and one of these is described as 'Earl'). At best, rather messy.

Equally, the inclusion of just one Tragedy among all the Histories seems to me pretty shoddy.

Reluctantly, I accept BONA, just as I accept this to be a badly managed theme - getting far too common. I used to rely on The Spectator for well constructed puzzles - no more.

I see 'earl' is given in the definition for 'lord', so it's reasonable, I think (in relation to the puzzle's title) but I agree with you regarding the stray tragedy - although that might have been difficult to fix.

Peter, I’ve complained here in the past about puzzles where the theme reveals itself too early in ones completion, making the puzzle too easy... so I can’t condemn either this weeks Speccie or last weeks on that ground.

I just feel the title and rubric of each could have been a tiny bit neater, a tiny bit more enlightening or directive to the solver, particularly last weeks.

But if these are our worries we are lucky indeed!

Help please - mostly fairly straightforward but 11 (.I.E.S) is a lord I simply don't know.

Misery extraction please.

Thanks in advance,

Vinsculler