Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

26d is a rather nice clue. I didn't appreciate the subtle parsing until you brought it up.

26d - I agree Geeker, the wording is precise and I Qaos should be praised for it.

Also think 16d has a strange charm to it 😂

Very much so (16), Brendan. 👍 Ashamed to say I had to google it, though.
Repeated thanks to Qaos for various elegant and clever subtleties. And within a relatively gentle/accessible puzzle, which he apparently strives for (see above linked interview).

Thanks for the hints about the theme, which I would never have worked out myself (and still needed Googling). It's not a subject I know anything about, although one of them used to live only four miles away from me, but it's been fun to work out how many pairs of seemingly random clues are actually connected. And I've probably only scratched the surface. A very clever puzzle.

I’d finished this before noticing the theme too - and having just finished the latest ‘Child’s hero’ book (after receiving it for Christmas) a lot of it was still in my mind (as it usually is with him coincidentally). On the easy side without having any knowledge of the theme in any case.

On the subject of the theme, 10a and 5d should help.

So far I've spotted 5 who's full names appear and one with just the surname (although I wonder if 6d was an attempt at it?) but it's probably there somewhere and I'm just too dim to see it!

Sorry, 6 with full names, I'd omitted the one Geeker referred to in his earlier post.

Concerning the one without a first name, is it a coincidence that his initials appear in the top row?

Ha! I thought exactly the same thing Rainman.

I'd say it is a coincidence because it doesn't match the style of the others but, given that I completely missed the theme in the first place, I'm probably the last person who should be offering opinions:-)

Morning all. Great puzzle this from Qaos. Brendan I wouldn't have picked up the theme either if you guys hadn't pointed me to it. Just a few clues left but I'm stuck on 11a. Is it a themed solution? I have a French word that fits but bears little relation to the clue and leaves me struggling for a word for 2d.