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Hi
Would anyone be prepared to give me a nudge on:
Former hedges in bud entangled nester (12)
Securing bands on account of Henry breaking world records (12)
Thanks!

Personally I draw the line at providing help on Listener or Magpie puzzles, since they form part of an annual competition based solely on successful completion, but others may feel differently...

I appreciate that entirely.

As it happened, I solved those two clues in the end, and filled the grid...
And then got totally stumped by the endgame.
A great crossword, but so irritating when after a lot of hard work, the theme remains elusive.

Lewap, do you submit your solutions?

Hi Quisling
In the 100+ issues since I started subscribing, I have submitted entries on 2 occasions, so I am probably not in the running for most top answers!
Even if I did submit this one, it is not a prize one...
I feel I need to know the theme before tackling the cipher. I have tried standard rotation ciphers, and using 'quarters' as a keyword. Letter frequencies add to the confusion, with the enciphered 'e' being the most frequent! I feel it is most probably a 'keyword, then the rest of the alphabet' type of cipher, with the keyword being the theme. One of the NW quadrant's thematics seems to have a letter appearing 3 times, so is most probably the way in. However there are several possible entries, many of which could belong to a theme!
As to which of the clued answers is thematic, where does one start?!
It also seems unusual that all the thematic words have 6 letters. And I feel that 'quarters' must refer to something more than just the grid design...

To Spoffy's point below, I draw a distinction between The Listener and the Magpie. I am happy to hint on The Listener as I feel it is good to encourage people to do the Listener for the good of the advanced cryptic ecosystem in the same way that The Numpties hint on the EV each week.

However, The Magpie, by its nature, is for a smaller group of keen enthusiasts and, although relatively new to it, I've come to the conclusion that it would take something away from the nature of the competition if any hints were available online, particularly to an E-Grade.

That said, I can readily understand the frustration that one can feel as one approaches the end of a tough puzzle so would happily offer a hint offline, Lewap, on the basis that you rarely submit in any event. If interested, let me know an email and I'll send you a hint.

A hint would be much appreciated! Thanks Candledave!
Paulwoolleymusic@gmail.com

Have sent email