Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I'm done. 12 clues in four hours, the problem with Sabre's puzzles (in my view) is not that they are really hard but that solving some clues doesn't really help you with the others. I will happily admit I am not a great clue solver but I have completed 99 out of the last 100 listener grids (with the odd letter wrong) without any external help.

The joy of crosswords for me is solving some clues that then give you a way into other clues that were previously impenetrable. 7 of my 12 answers here were in the top left corner, but the structure of this puzzle is such that even with half the answers in one area there is virtually no usable info to help you with the remaining clues. I suspect once you get to 75 or 80 per cent then that helps, but that means this is essentially an exercise in cold solving 40 very hard clues. Not my idea of fun.

Fair play to everyone who has managed to complete, excellent effort,

Foinavon, 44a is vulgar (unless I've got it wrong) and its spelling is not the more common one. The added letter is D.

We have not done a “Sabre” before. Having now completed this one, we agree with S Pugh that this was sheer genius. Hats off to you Sabre. It was a grind, but the endgame was a real surprise. We were expecting a resurrection of a reinvigorated Sabre with all faculties restored, ready to celebrate his golden anniversary with us. Must try and get to Madrid again when all this is over.

Thanks, Orson. I had a longer version of the same with a letter removed. This clearly makes sense.

The posts a few earlier...

Ignore my last - sent by mistake...

Re 44A - Always interesting to see re-spelt words as euphemisms to lose their vulgar/sexual meaning. Believe this spelling is only used to suggest nonsense/no good/useless - Much as the Irish put an 'e'- in the F-word to make it acceptable as an oath. I remember my mother admonishing us if we ever exclaimed 'for God's sake' or 'Jesus Christ' but she would regularly say 'flipping heck'...

Glad I persevered with this as it is a very clever puzzle, but without the generous help from those on this forum I wouldn't have come close to finishing this.

I would concur with smellyharry's comments - I'm not particularly good at cold solving clues of this complexity, and therefore rely on crossing letters providing additional pieces of the puzzle. For me, this week and last week have brought an end to a decent streak of Listener successes.

Despite having a completed grid and end game, I'm still struggling to parse a couple of the clues. Perhaps someone could give me a hint on how 42A and 46A work? I had taken 42A to be a 3 letter word for 'See' around 'M', but I do not see how the 3 letters I have are a synonym for 'see'.

42,, see as in diocese = ELY

46, YEVE around (t)ESTER