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Many thanks to those who help - tatters and loge will get a special herring if they are ever swimming past Morston.

The PDM for me came when I grasped the significance of 'right-wing majority' . However it was a tough one.

There is incidentally no discernable difference between the two threads (with and without answers). I know this debate continues but I would just combine them.

I agree about the overlapping threads. Only last week I mentioned that we did need two threads in the light of the way the discussion was going, but as you say there isn't any noticeable difference this week. I understand why the need for two threads arose, but OTOH it's not so easy to keep track of requests for help (and replies) when there are threads.

I'm still a relatively junior member of this forum, so it's not really my place to ask for one of the other. But if some of our doyen(ne)s wish to return to a single thread, I would be happy to go along with that.

Perhaps those who give direct spoilers too early should, as punishment, be made to complete a Sabre puzzle with invisible clues, the answers to which must be translated into Sanskrit and then jumbled!

Just my pennyworth.

s/b ...when there are TWO threads (para 1)

...ask for one OR the other (para 2)

As always, apologies for ham-fisted typing.

What a funny (but very enjoyable) puzzle. A comparatively easy grid fill, then stuck until the forum gave me the nudges. No problem on the insertions, but now...
I cannot see how to draw a straight line (is it just one?) and a closed curve (I was no good at geometry either). Is the thematic number the total in the table? This is a 'with answer' thread so a hint would be most welcome. I'm so nearly there.

Thanks

Many thanks for all the help. Finally finished this marathon of a puzzle. Just one query, what the heck is the answer to the fifth clue.

WS, It’s the number of the column (group) in which the elements appear in the modern Periodic Table, which didn’t exist when I taught Chemistry!

Xij, is a word meaning someone you don’t know, 8 letters. The wordplay involves an A for O letter swap.

Thanks Loge

All clear now - worth the effort

I can’t figure out the parsing of the sixth thematic wordplay, though I know roughly what I’m trying to get to and have completed the endgame. Can anyone throw me a hint?

PS on the two threads issue I think it is useful to have both, when both are working properly! The other thread being careful to stick with hints and pointers and nothing overt, and this one (May Contain Answers) having some more overt help and discussion. That enables people who don’t want to accidentally see spoilers to still seek a nudge or two on the other thread, and come here if they need a bit more. You can’t un-see a spoiler. The problem, I think, is that following a bit of a spat a few weeks ago, in which some rather blatant answers were posted on the other thread, as a result of which this MCA thread has been restarted, the other thread has been almost entirely devoid of hints so only contains a bit of banal commentary about good or bad each puzzle was! I think if it can settle down to deliberately gentle and opaque hints on the other thread and more explicit help here then the two threads can work well. It’s happened before and maybe just needs a chance to settle back down now.

PS in the typical way I’ve seen how the sixth thematic works the moment I posted my question...! I had gone one step too far back, and assumed it would clue something like ray rather then the name of the element it was named for, at which point the wordplay kind of drops out...