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Hi jamesa, rather than googling use the Keyword Index at the back of ODQ. You'll find it quickly if you look at "what I'd imagine" appear less frequently first.

Great forum and nearly always hits the right balance. I comment infrequently and read weekly, only for the Listener crossword. I'd say I've moved from a 1 in 3 strike rate to 2 in 3 as a result of the hints, tips and advice, so thank you all. Every now and then the balloon goes up when the unwritten rules are broken and then we all settle down the following week. C'est la vie.

I do find the debate on cheating fascinating. As many posters have said, if you're not entering for a prize it's not really cheating. I agree. There's a long line that stretches from "just me and my pencil" to a printed set of answers. I have never not used the BRB, I usually use Bradford's, I often use Google, I sometimes use anagramming/word finding tools but i only consider my completion a failure if another human gives me the complete answer. That's my line and I'm sticking to it.
So I come here to either check my answers and enjoy the debate on surfaces and PDMs and general quality etc or to learn how I might do better next time. And for me learning is more effective through guidance rather than answers.
Didn't mean to go on. It's why I don't post much!

Thanks, but I don't have the ODQ. Please suggest how I might find the answer by googling- I asssume the thematic items all appear in the ODQ version.

Jamesa, I put all the theme words ( or even those in the top half of the puzzle) together into Google, and the result came up.

Jamesa, alternatively there is an online pdf of the ODQ, which is what I used. I reposted the link earlier, after another forum citizen had posted it originally. Go back through the thread if you like.

Well, I must be fairly stupid today because I googled most of the thematic items and nothing useful appeared, partly perhaps as I have no idea what I am looking for. I think I need something more explicit. This is only the endgame after all and I have done all the hard work solving the crossword!

Hi James,

If you write the six themed answers in the top half of your grid, separated by commas, in to Google - it's the very first thing to come up.

Thanks, Brendan. Perhaps there's something wrong with my search process but when I do that the first thing to come up is about St John the apostle followed by nothing else very helpful at all. Any further ideas would be gratefully received (or just the name of the source!!)

James, try reading the Wikipedia entry for 'gringo'. There's a pretty good hint there...

Hi James,

Put in the the thematic names, or a few of them, followed by the word "green".