Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

All done. Loved it as a real challenge and that all the themed words had a definition. Meant you could confirm your answer and made the clues more complicated to solve.

Hubby got the 2 thirteens to start 2nd grid with first one already completed. Thanks for answer re 2nd part of C name. Only thing we couldn't parse. I parsed E name on waking up this morning. Funny how brain sees afresh after a rest.

Yes reminiscent of the unsurpassable Auracaria. We are currently working through one of his books. Bought it for second time second hand. Fortunately we can't remember any of them from the first time! 😂 He was an absolute genius and Maskarade is only one who comes near in my view. But as someone said, the wit was so special too.

Totally agree with you about Maskarade being only one who comes close to Araucaria. Nearly there one or two still to fit in grids.

Sorry, hard pass on the Maskerade puzzles. Life is just too short!

HI everyone

Finished the answers and the grids this pm. I had about seven left to solve before I went to bed last night. Did a couple more this morning and then following collaboration with my friend in Sheffield late morning and some more thought I finally finished, though I'm not sure of the parsing of some of them. I do love filling in the grids. It took me ages to get L2 despite all the hints and I could only guess it from the crossers and looking up the answer in Chambers. It didn't work the other way round. There were a few I'd never heard of. I found many of the theme words from a list in Chambers. I haven't found any misspelt words except perhaps O1, but that is the one I'm not sure of. I can't decide how it ends and what the theme L1 is. I may have missed a hint on the way through this long thread. Finally, I couldn't understand why you were all talking about The Forsyte Saga until I got the F theme word.

My LOIs were O1 and E2. I think my COD was G2, even though I don't get the small peaceful traveller, closely followed by Z1. My FOI (not in the grid) was D2.

I've solved a lot of the clues including the two 13 letter ones but can anyone help get me started putting them in the grids?! Thanks.

Hmmm. If you have both 13 letter words, look at the penultimate letter of both. One of them must also be the 8th letter of one of the four 11 letter words. If you have that intersection. You are away

Thank you quisling!

Finished- thanks again quisling

Well done, gelibean, and thanks. Happy to be able to help

Ursine perambulation. 5,3,5,3,6. I always sing the answer to this to the tune of Lilly Marlene. Can't think of more lyrics though. Bit of an earworm. Struggling with 13 grid. That is to say I've got nothing inked in yet. Yes! Real ink, no answers.