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Hi Stevec,
Look for ‘symbols’ within the answers, so in your two examples you’ve got ‘times’ which can be represented by “ x “ and ‘colon’ which is “ : “

Enter the symbol in the grid in place of the part solution and keep going like that …

So 6d isn't 'noon' then? And if not, why not?

Yes, 6d is NOON, Only 36 of the clues have symbols in the answer, the rest are normal.

Sorry about the lateness of this post - hope not too late for anyone to see - but we've just about finished this crossword. Stuck on our last clue; 43a. The answer seems obvious but we can't see what the symbol for the last 5 letters could be/represent.

Never come close to finishing a Maskarade before and really enjoyed this clever challenging puzzle, Would love to complete it!

Many thanks

Jacklaine, the symbol is the first five letters, not the last five. Hope that helps

Quisling

Of course! Makes sense now. Thanks

So if 6d is 'noon' then 14a can't possibly be 'times' and 5a can't be 'colon'. So before I abandon this puzzle for good, what am I missing now?

Steve, the symbols should be drawn in the grid in place of those parts of the solution.

So the grid entry for 5a becomes “ :NADE “ and 14a is “ SOMEx ”.
Then the N in 5a will cross with the N in 6d and the O in 14a will also cross with the second O from 6d.

Probably a bit late on this one but I have just one left: 25A Happen to retain strike, you feature in cricket (8,3) . I have C?M?E?E and not a clue! Any help very welcome.

Hi Cymru,
It’s four letters ‘happen’ split by five letters ‘strike’ (also the thematic element) then two letters ‘you’ (archaic). Cricket here is the insect not the sport! Hope that helps.