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With reference to 7 down, I suppose that you might say that San Gimignano is T******R than anywhere else in Tuscany and I note that the Scrabble websites allow this recondite word ..... but has anyone ever seen it used seriously ?

I had exactly the same reaction as you, Gerba. It's a strange and rather inelegant word, isn't it?

Exactamundo Will37, to avoid this ugly construction, you'd probably use 'more' - just as you might say 'more comfortable' rather than comfortabler. My spellchecker doesn't like either of them and he's not even human.

Another oddity in this puzzle is: why are there numbers in the top-left, top-right and bottom-left squares? It's not as though there are clues numbered 1, 9 or 43.

I found that, once I had solved 8d, 13d and 14d, giving a pretty clear indication of what 17a is, the rest fell into place very quickly. In a week when the Listener puzzle is so completely beyond me - never mind the clues; I can't understand the instructions! - I should have liked the Speccie to give my little grey cells a bit more of a work-out.