Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

The clues...
Requests for help should normally include the clue itself, the number of letters in the answer, and details of any you already have. Any special instructions or additional information should also be included.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...
Help towards the theme may be sought here. The 'help' should not be miserly, nor overly-generous - just a gentle nudge in the right direction, or a little pointer as to what's involved. Any queries or responses which, even inadvertently, reveal too much are likely to be removed.

The Listener is a unique puzzle and should be treated with respect.

This thread is being started early as I may not be around later.

Bump, just for a more traditional spot/billing.

All done in under an hour... quick thematics here! Thanks Hidewell.

Do we need to highlight the relevant down answer?

I don’t think there will be many requests for help with this one! Thanks, Hidewell, for an echo from childhood. Strangely, naming the item brought back a long forgotten smell.

Very nice idea very nicely executed, but always slightly unsatisfying when they take less than an hour.

Perfect endgame from my point of view. Two minutes, a wry smile and no b****y grid staring.

I remember this from childhood - but I had never come across its name before. Even in one's ninth decade one is still learning!

Certainly the easiest grid fill for a long time, apart possibly from 26d where I could make no sense of the wordplay.
But unlike you guys, it took me ages to work out what the end game was all about, despite Hidewell's very generous hint.

Also not the faintest idea about the wordplay on 26d

26d is a composite anagram; bits of the clue plus the answer anagram to the last word of the clue.