Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Oh now I get it! Being an absolute non-fan of this bunch I hadn't made the connection to the image.

CONCEDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There appears to be a contradiction between the answer given by drxx to Lordbadger's question @ 150, and the periodic discussion by Loge and candledave regarding synonyms. Drxx appears to confirm that Lordbadger has done all that is necessary, whereas the discussion on synonyms suggests there is more to add.
The preamble is thoroughly confusing to my mind in this respect.

As drxx said I think the final grid is a representation of the fitst product of the thematic characters so just the 42 synonym letters should be shown plus the extra 5 letters and ring?

I'm not sure what you mean, murky because I missed the mid-point discussions (I was away from home on Saturday) and I haven't read the whole thread. I wasn't confirming lordbadger's post, by the way (my earlier point had to do with the next relevant column).

I didn't have any problems with any of the 'descriptions' - I think that's why candledave was trying to get gitto to leap ahead to the endgame and ignore any minor discrepancies in the grid-fill (if indeed there are any).

I'm not sure there's much to be gained from analysing the grid-fill in depth after the anticlimax of the endgame (and with the preamble leaving so much scope for interpretation).

Muraria, that is not what loge, candledave and some others are implying. The preamble says, "The characters' unchecked letters must be filled to complete descriptions (synonyms of the usual ones) that must be highlighted." There would be no point in highlighting if there's nothing to highlight. So far I have what Lordbadger describes, but I don't think that's the complete solution.

...sorry, murky - I didn't realise you meant the earlier exchange, that is intriguing! But I'm not sure I want to open another can of worms - I'll happily have it wrong just to be rid of it.

...but I have filled the unchecked cells with letters and I do have 'desriptions' to highlight.

Think we’re all saying the same thing murky.

There’s some characters containing synonyms that need to be highlighted

...and, yes - I was confirming lordbadger's post at 150 (I still do) so apologies to lordbadger if I've, somehow, misunderstood the question.