Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

How's that for Christmas spirit, mooncow! No one has replied thus far. Here goes.

8 It's a double def. Think "school" in the sense of marine life.
12 I can't actually remember how the wordplay parsed at this distance but the def. is the first two words, such as a roar.

I agree with you about the construction and the way the top line fits. The really clever bit is that there are perhaps two different 12-letter names for the thematic location and both the right one and the wrong one create real words when added to the down solutions.

Ah, double def! I had the school but was trying to make the rest wordplay. I now see meaning 11 of the solution word. Got it.

My problem with 12 is that there’s a meaning of “south of” that could build the deep sound nicely, but that meaning does not see to be in my Chambers! Is it in there somewhere? Or is this a non-Chambers stretch the rubric omitted to mention?

If I remember correctly, the wordplay is the abbreviation for lake inside a word for south of/underneath. The fifth word of the clue is extra,

Ah yes, my only issue with that was that I can’t find that sense of “south of” in my Chambers. Is it hiding somewhere I’ve not looked?

I don’t think it’s in Chambers, but I’d say it’s in common enough usage (especially when talking about maps) that it doesn’t matter.