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Hi BlackCat,

7d - OLLAMH - learned man

Greeting = HALLO reversed/"upright" around M(aiden)

Thanks Brendan. I eventually worked this out for myself. But what a truly obscure word! I'm always in awe of the crossword setters.

Couple of general questions:
1. is the Speccie the hardest crossword in your view?
2. do people here do other crosswords, and/or contribute to queries on other crosswords?
3. do you all live in the UK? I'm in Aus.]

Hi BlackCat,

Others may find otherwise but I think that both EV and the Listener of the crosswords which I attempt on a regular basis are generally more challenging than the Spectator, the Listener especially. In addition to those I do the Sunday Times Mephisto every week and occasionally look at the barred I crossword on a Saturday. I contribute to threads when I feel able to but I am not in the same league as Malone, drxx, Brendan et al when it comes to crosswords. I am UK based.

Hi blackcat. Yes, ollamh is obscure but I'd come across it in another croossword some time ago. Unfamiliar vocabulary makes puzzles harder. I seldom finish Mephisto in The Sunday Times without having had to use a word I previously didn't know.

I wouldn't call the Speccie the hardest crossword althought the unclued element offers a particular problem. I just keep plodding along solving the clued words and hope that that gives me enough to make an intelligent guess at the rest. For instance, in 2487, I spotted Night at 37 and then when I'd added 45 I was on the home straight.

Others may have another view but I find, of the puzzles which I regularly see here in the UK, the Listener puzzle is the hardest. It's published in The Times on Saturday and is thus behind a paywall but Tatters, on this site, has pre-publication access to it and posts a link to it here at about teatime on a Friday. Half the time, I can't get my head around the instruction rubric, let alone solve the thing!

Ollamh

Sorry Brendan, missed your post!