Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Excellent puzzle with some great clues, Elfman. When 38a clicked, I had a laugh. Having cottoned on to the first set of thematics, I initially pursued another, more recent song (which one of its alleged writers thought rather poorly of). But the pdm on the second set (which produced another laugh) put me on the right track.

Google warning: more than one page which appeared at the top of searches contained a misspelling of the second writer’s name.

Do persevere with it, folks; it’s well worth it.

Well, I'm persevering but have hit a wall. I may have made a mistake but close inspection hasn't revealed it.

Is the actual entry at 4d a real word? I have solved the clue but the obvious choice of treatment doesn't result in a word (that I know) and creates a clash with my 1a and 11a. Does 11a involve how one might 'run out' a rope eg on a boat or when climbing? (I assume that 14a is an old crossword friend and involves chess).

Similarly I have 3 out of 4 letters for 16a 'Governor being obsessive....' but no idea how to make anything fit the clue! A hint would be v welcome. 😊

Not really spoiler alert, but apols to any souls feeling toes tipped upon re: help as per poster’s request.

4D - yes, a very common word indeed.

11A - correct, re: rope. You could use the guarantee that this is correct to reverse engineer the required device of the theme.

14A - yes, re: chess.

16A - the specific DBE is a military district on the boundaries of the Hungarian kingdom - which will give an insight to the beginning of a thematic word.

The entry for 4d is a real word. The modifications though consistent are not all the same.
16 was one of my last solves. 3 letter governor, four letter obsessive and, modified thematically before entry.

Thanks! 👍

I will continue to persevere. I feel I am about this >< far from getting over the line with this one.

Have eventually limped to the end. The first thematic transformation took me a lot longer to see than the second.

I think I have everything except for the definition pertaining to the third entry of the second set (in normal clue order). I suspect this is largely because I had never come across the relevant phrase and so I am not quite sure what it refers to.

17ac may give a hint.

I can't parse 18ac. Can anyone explain it?

Luftmensch - last two words are the definition. Five letter “film” (obscure), director is an abbreviation to one letter, then make the substitution of one letter ‘for’ another.

luftmensch

If you have a copy of Bradford's, the 5 letter film is listed under that headword.