Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

well with buzzybee's tip I have everything now except 1a. Have been trying for hours to fit the St John's Wood ground in but it won't go ... I also seem be spelling out 2 words - with 15 or 16 letters!

prospero - hard to give a hint without it being a spoiler. Definitely 11 letters. 2 words if that helps.

I've finished. Very enjoyable, especially at the PDM. I've a query though.

8d - I can see the definition and a bit, but not all, of the wordplay.

Prospero, this one’s further north than St John’s Wood :-)

simon - 8 is one letter for tense + first 4 letters(not entirely) of a 2-word phrase for held back. Yes, I got that it was 2 words - but do I have the right ground?

8d parses 1,2,3 with the last letter of 3 removed (if that makes sense)

Thanks both (grrr!)

prospero - whilst the answer is only 2 words, the wordplay breaks it into 3 parts.

Took a while for the penny to drop but all very satisfying when it did. Thank you, Pangakupu.

ah - got it, thanks - used to go there often! Still puzzled though - I have an 8-letter word from the across clues ... do we ignore the downs?

I've done all the hard stuff but got stuck on the normal 28a. Nudges, please.

Also, I'm embarrassed that I did not read the preamble properly and tried to make the theme word from the other letters...

Pls ignore the request for 28. Saw the light as soon as posted.