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Williamseal, I have a clash in 27 D. You need a four- letter' inch across', move gently, with the 'edges of Nordic' inside. That'll give you a verb meaning to line....

Ease round Nordic edges, I think!

Many thanks!

Thanks Malone - a happy new year to you and yours

Thanks, WS - and your greetings are reciprocated.

Having completed the grid, identified the theme and resolved all the clashes, there's something which bothers me.

The preamble says that the theme "explains the rationale for each of the clash resolutions and letter changes". I can see how it applies to every clash resolution and the first letter change. The second letter change does not fit the pattern, but could be explained by a phrase which is closely related to the theme.

It seems odd to me that this is not mentioned at all in the preamble, as it's the only exception to the general rule; beyond being thematically related, I can't see a justification for it. I'm wondering if anybody else is bothered by it, or can justify it -- or wants to tell me there's another place to find the second word which fits the theme exactly!

(I'm entering the "smaller" of the two possible themes as it's the one that applies 18 times in the grid, not once.)

Thanks!

smst....both changes occupy the same position in the words they create iirc.

Many thanks!

Aha, of course! I can only imagine I was foxed by the bars; you're quite right. (And the first letter change wouldn't have had a thematic rationale if I'd applied the same logic as the second, so it makes perfect sense and I should have seen it.)

Thanks.