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ukridge - there is no simple way to crack the code, it is just a substitution and you have to work out which letters respond to which

Re candledave @18, 20d was it for me too, although I am still way behind you in the rest, but at least I have a foothold. (The following may be more of a hint than some may want at this point, so read no further if that describes you.) Being an avid runner back in the 80s, I was confident I knew who the noted Seb was. I kept banging away at this clue until the PDM as you all say.

Thanks Sunray and CD

I'm almost there with this but have run into a brick wall close to the end. I have the 6 items.
30d (....teaching of religion...) despite only having 3 letters, of which I have 2 and the 'ciphered' letter is proving obstinate. Is it the abbreviation?
Also 1d (Group of advisors...). I thought I had this but the last letter of my answer/3rd item doesn't match the cipher required for 26d/5th item. (I had L as in left for 'half').
Hints gratefully received!

Hi Granama,

30d - Is 2 letters for "religion" + single letter "priest" all reversed - definition is "according to".

1d - Is the abbreviation/acronym. Half "in" + A + 3 letter "taxi".

Thanks Brendan! 30d is a doh! I'll ponder 1d then it's on to the Inquisitor. This one was rather tough.

Several correspondents have opined recently that having got the theme there often follows a laborious internet trawl to find possible answers (eg the recent "sausage machine" puzzle, many of which were relatively obscure) - and I think this is no exception! I mean no offence but having cold-solved the majority of normal clues, excitement becomes tedium for me, in this case, when there is no rhyme or reason to the encoding.

Also does anyone else find it frustrating not being able to follow a thread of posts? Unless we start each post with the number we are replying to, it's difficult to know who is answering whom...
Onward and upward!

I've done the IQ on the last hour, so now back to this! 55% done. Still no clue on 11d.
Or the two three letter ones at 5 and 31d.
Also 8a and 8d which I was told were easy 30 hours ago..

11 down has a missing character; the wordplay is A + 2-letter abbreviation for UK newspaper + 3-letter abbreviation for European + S(ection)

5 is a hidden in "wasted" which is lacking a thematic character

31 is a jumble - definition for the original answer is "makes a noise of complaint" (also the noise some people make when they watch fireworks!).

Thanks loge.
11 - that was really tough (IMHO)
5 - I guessed that, but don't get it yet.
31 - I don't see why it's 'hotels on vacation' which is just HS?