Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

A pleasant challenge for the run up to Christmas. A few obscure words, but nothing that Google could not resolve.

I'm saving it for the Holiday!

On the subject of obscurities, does anyone know if the Spectator uses a specific reference dictionary/ies?
I’d be interested to know, thanks.

Jono, I've been doing the Spectator puzzle for a long, long time and I don't think there's ever been mention of a specific dictionary/dictionaries. Even when the main prize was a copy of Chambers, the puzzles sometimes contained words that weren't in there. I assumed there was no reference (!) to dictionaries because there was a pool, a team, of setters - and I think they didn't all stick to the same sources.

Malone, thanks, that’s good to know.

I was planning on saving most this until Christmas week but couldn't resist carrying on once I'd put in a few answers. I always marvel at the sheer ingenuity displayed in constructing large-scale puzzles like this.

On reflection, there is one relatively minor issue with the theme. Sometimes the definition in the across clues contains the letter to be omitted more than once, and the reduced form cannot be entered until sufficient checkers have been found.

Thanks to CheeseCracker; fun and not too taxing. My one loose end is 67: both the wordplay for grid entry and the omitted letter are very clear but I couldn’t resolve the full answer and what I assume is the definition in Chambers or online. Tant pis.

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Quizzes-and-Puzzles/Crosswords/Question1884561.html

Thank you, Bunty. That’s that itch scratched!