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 additional information or special instructions, common in Listener puzzles, should also be included.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...
Requests for help with the theme may also be made here. The 'help' is expected to be of a gentle nature - just a pointer or a nudge in the right direction, something that could help a struggling solver... without spoiling the puzzle for others. Any posts which, even inadvertently, reveal too much of the theme are likely to be removed.

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

All done, nice puzzle - IMO the quotation is one of the most inaccurate statements of all time!

All done apart from understanding the wordplay for 30. I'm pretty sure I have the answer, but I can't tease out the relevance of the final four words of the clue.

Cockie, I think those four words work as "You shouldn't have" + 'now', in the sense of current or fashionable. The last part seems a bit of a stretch, but there is a ?

Nice puzzle. Some wordplay was a little obscure - or, perhaps, beautifully misleading?

Yes, mattrom, I think that's right, but ... the full answer isn't a "first word of clue", even loosely IMO.

Cockie

30d seems fine to me.

A 4-letter word for spirit + 2-letter for you shouldn’t have + 2-letter current / now.

The 4-letter spirit synonym gets a letter removed and you’re left with a clear example of the first word of clue. And obv the answer needs thematic adjustment before entry.

Help with my last one would be hugely appreciated:

7d Durban’s tots into slashing coarse fabric (6)

I know it’s a thematic one, but struggling…

h1982 unadjusted def is last two words, for tots think 4-letter measures in ZA with a letter - which you presumably know - removed.

Thanks, GG. All done now

This is starting to frustrate me now. I have the 14 clashes and the name in the grid, but I have now spent over an hour trying to answer 39a and 30d, which I truly hope, are both thematic. My only other problem is that I cannot parse 4d, although I have both the extra letter and the answer.