Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

alwayspuzzled - Others may help better - I no longer submit - but when I did, I always submitted by post - If things have changed someone on the site will know...

smithsax - Never pedantic - When I started solving spotted your first option. Later spotted the second option. As neither affects the final grid (or the phrase to be entered) I guess may be wondering what was in the setter's mind. Has happened occasionally over the years...

Definitely by post - as long as John Green is the judge (hopefully for a LONNNGGGGG time), I suspect this will never change.

Not sure the title is really apt, unless I am missing something subtle. A 7,8 is not usually made from a 24 across.

Thanks for that information Crates and Buzzb.

Hi all,

Coming to this late and have resisted trawling through the thread yet. Have got as far as IDing all the blank cells and the 6,9 phrase (other side to 8D) but not the second one. Is it a cryptic or alternative rendering of the 6,9?
I can see the four groups so am assuming joining cells with lines forms letters but am struggling to form anything that makes the connection with the phrases. Hints much appreciated....

Buzzb. Perhaps the subtlety lies in the first phrase (6,9) where the “9” is definitely a type of 24 ac and the “6,9” was also made into a word spelt out in the 4 shapes. Even subtler, the 4 shapes come in a 24 across, or used to. Layers of complexity.

Ah, I'm guessing it's something to do with a 'culinary' version of 6,9? Something I had for lunch. Yesterday (no connection intended!) in fact.

Muraria, you’re on the right track. Just line up the pairs of clashing letters and both phrases unravel like a double helix!

Got you Simpleimon, many thanks!

I made the mistake of copying over my working grid and omitting the clashing letters (as per the preamble) and not revisiting them. So I ended up making various imaginary words from the spaces....thanks again.

I've finished the grid except for 3d. There were some helpful hints here earlier but I'm still stuck. I think the 3rd, 4th & 5th letters are clashes. Can anyone confirm if that is correct and also if the final letter is a or e?

Also, I think I have 23a but can't work out the parsing.