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That's the conclusion I came too, Planks. It's a shame there is apparently no way of confirming it and thus appreciating the man's achievements. As I said way back in this thread, some insider knowledge seems to be necessary and that does (for me, anyway) rather spoil an otherwise nice tribute,

Jonathan Crowther's "A-Z of Crosswords" includes a pen picture of some interest. Inter alia it reveals that one of his pet hates was "any puzzle in which a considerable number of clues have to be solved blind before anything can be entered in the grid". Here hear!

...hope that I haven't offended anybody's sensibilities with my last post. And, of course, I meant to add "hear hear"

Having considered all the different posts regarding the THEME, I think that most Forum Users who responded are happy with the status quo. If we have a dedicated thread just for the THEME, then the helpful hints might go beyond 'hints' and divulge too much.

I suggest if any User wants any hints then post a request in the COULD CONTAIN ANSWERS THREAD. If any User responds, please keep your reply to hints only, do not divulge any more info than is absolutely necessary to assist the questioner.

The Wimbledon Men's final is finished, football is still to come. Italy are 1-0 down, lets hope it's 2-0 down by 10pm BST.

Thanks Norah, that’s got to be the right way to do it.

I didn’t know there was any football on. Who’s playing? 😉

I’m still toiling away trying to complete the grid. I’ve filled the bottom half but have a lot of gaps in the top half. Hints for any of 1d, 6d or 9d would be very welcome

If you cannot solve one of the perimeter clues e.g. 14, it is impossible to fill the unchecked top left square. This seems to me a flaw because you cannot guess the thematic item for encoding.

Ha, ha, Loge. I don’t know where any User lives in the World but, for the uninitiated, England are playing tonight in the Euro Football Final, their first appearance in a major final for 55 years. I’m sorry to say that I am old enough to remember the World Cup Final of 1966.

I’m off to Ash’s in a few minutes to watch the match on his souper dooper extra large screen, it makes my TV look pathetic.

So you can commit whatever crimes you wish on the Forum, I’m taking no notice this evening

For 9d you need a three letter word for a government, and a three letter word for 'facilities' euphemistically - reversed. The missing letter is in the 5th word and this is the start of the definition.

Hi Norah
I went to Hillsborough to see Spain v Switzerland in 1966. I was a 15 year old lad - Sheffield `adopted` Switzerland for the tournament - I think they were based in the City.
Fingers crossed!