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It has landed

…. and it involves PLAYFAIR

….be careful what ye wish for…😉

All done, a very cleverly constructed puzzle. Can't find one of the four places in the source material, but the place I have is clearly correct. Happy New Year to all!

Almost done. Just need to follow the instruction, but that's looking like a GWIT. Not sure whether to take the instruction literally or to go for the alternative name, nor whether it is coded or plain.
And I presume that I'm not looking for a straight line, despite only changing one entry...

Almost as frustrating as not being able to take the 8th Indian wicket!

Lovely puzzle, and no need for online Playfair solvers, so generous were the encoded entries. The most enjoyable I’ve ever done by Dysart, so a fitting farewell. Thank you, Sir

Expect you've got all that by now rhsl but just in case: it is indeed the alternative name, in plain text and in a straight line. A very enjoyable puzzle, just right for me at any rate so probably too easy for some. Very sad that JEG is retiring, how long has he been doing the stats? I've been doing the puzzles for 40 years and can't remember a time before 63 Green Lane. Thanks and farewell!

I’ve found this quite a challenge but was delighted when a hunch re the theme and characters proved correct. And so lovely to be doubly appropriate. I find I do need the playfair to fill in some unchecked cells and I thought I knew what the key word/phrase would be given what the changed word uncovered. However I cannot make it work. I’ve tried the revealed word alone and with a word meaning locate before it. Can someone throw me a lifeline?

I am in a similar position to you Rickye. I have all the encoded letters at 12 and 41 across, but entering them in a Playfair breaker yielded nothing. I suspect that may be because one of them is a proper noun. No idea where to go from here.

Hi opto.
12ac has only 5 letters but evens up with 2ac. Does this help I wonder? Playfair breaker sounds interesting….