Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Okay, my head has just about stopped spinning!!

This week's puzzle is by Paul and is themed and, to get anywhere, you really have to figure it out early on.

I knew I was in trouble when, after 15 minutes, I'd entered three answers, However, I then got the unthemed 17d, 22a and 28a, and this meant there were only a few possible answers for the themed 18d - though it still took an age to figure it out!

There are still a few I haven't fully parsed but in all honesty I'm happy just to have finished it.

Even once I got the theme I still relied heavily on Google.

Thanks to Paul for a fun but very demanding crossword.

Please feel free to ask for a hint or provide an answer and/or leave a comment.

To anyone who is interested in the acronyms that are often used on this thread, they are as follows:-

FOI - First One In
LOI - Last One In
COD - Clue Of (the) Day

My COD is the succinct and "partially" themed 21d.

Stay safe:-)

I've just managed to parse 24a and have elevated it to my COD 👌

Hi Brendan,

Very similar experience! For a long while I was totally at sea, practically shut out. Fortunately saw the theme after only a few answers (though many minutes of confusion), and then struggled through.

Thanks to Paul for a tough but fun puzzle. I was delighted to see a couple of trademark "Pauline" clues, one outstanding, after a relative drought.

Heavily themed, I had to Google a lot and most will require some references. 21 was my LOI after long pondering, so I'll award it COD, followed closely by 24 and the (4A, 15, 5) construct. 18, 19D, 20, 22 and 27 also standouts (can you tell I enjoyed this one?). To avoid spoilers, I won't specify the "Pauline"s or the one tricky misdirection/red herring!

Hi Geeker,

I think Google will have an influx of traffic today from Guardian solvers!

As soon as I saw it was by Paul I knew you would like it - and why not? There's lot to like:-)

Red herring - it's the word 😉

Finally figured out the wordplay for 4a - that's everything fully parsed:-)

Morning all, well yes that took a while to get into and some reference material is definitely required. Interesting use of cuckoo I thought. Wee cut is very Paul. 6d was a nice nod and cleverly constructed. The 4,5,15 combo were the last ones in and it took a while to parse 4a. 15a didn’t seem very cryptic to me unless I’m missing something.
All in all very enjoyable though.

Hi Jono,

I agree about 15a, it was least favourite clue .

Not my sort of puzzle - I'm not generally a fan of Paul anyway. I've got the theme from 25d, but I don't think I'll bother to winkle out all the others.

Well, I did finish it, but didn't enjoy it much - though I liked 6d and 24a.

I've not been able to locate 5a as a 15a on 5d. Is it, or do I have one of the three wrong?

I am floundering like a fin-less flounder, haven't yet managed to crack the theme. Does it have a scientific ring to it? TIA