Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Sorry, tail.

I agree with everyone about the brilliance of this puzzle - particularly the cleverness of many of the clues.

However...... I am now stuck on the final bit. I have found and enacted the first three of the steps from the missing letters but cannot quite fathom the fourth one. I have a completed bottom line and highlighted the four cells giving the product of the process. I thought I should be looking in the grid for the 5 letter word in the final step - or at least a jumble of it but I have drawn a blank. As a result I cannot satisfactorily complete the top line. Any hint would be appreciated. Is the top line one word or a phrase? Are the "new" answers to the first nine down clues all one word each?

I am sure I should be able to see what I need but have got a mental block.

Incidentally I do agree that the preamble should perhaps indicate that some answers do not fit in their allocated space in the grid. Otherwise, an excellent puzzle.

thepost, all nine are all one word answers. The top line is more than one word but not a phrase. Hope this helps

The by-product in the top line is a common two word phrase, and the new entries are indeed all individual words.

For step 4, look for a specific form of your 5-letter word which is more than 5-letters long ,and then change x into y. Simples :-)

P.S. Check, this was great puzzling. Much appreciated.

Sorry if I trod on your toes there numbskull.

Not at all schorley

Any hints as to instructions 2 and 3 would be much appreciated. I have the top line but have trying for three days to work out how it is arrived at via the steps of the "process".

Hi ortolans. I’m a big fan of the product but no expert in the production process. However, I think in the process, steps 2 and 3 involve replacing one of the elements with another in the grid. The top line is a by-product when step 4 is carried out.

Impressed with the crossword, liked clues like 32A where the wordplay sprang to life when I deduced the missing letter, and found an unlikely word in Chambers.

Totally baffled by the endgame, not helped by not resolving

28D (which instrument? one fits wordplay better, the other holds out hope of every eventual answer being a real word, but final letter wouldn't be very helpful for bottom row)

36D (have a justifiable answer, but need to nail down...

...42A (one-letter abbreviation followed by 2-letter abbreviation? Can't find it with either initial letter from 28D)

I thought I'd be using thematic items from the hidden message to fill gaps, but this would be random rather than sequential. Hmmm.

Thanks to Numbskull and Schorley with your attempts to help (change x into y?). However I still cannot see this last stage.

Is the top row a "phrase" (i,e, well known) or just two words? Is it a jumble of, say, a by-product (7 letters beginning with M?) and a six letter specific type of the last word in the fourth step of the process? Does the top line have two I's in it?

A really BIG nudge would be greatly appreciated. Looking at this week's Listener I need to get on to that soon!