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Crucible - many thanks for taking the trouble to comment on this thread. Helpful and much appreciated. I, for one, thought this was a good puzzle. My only real beef is with 5ac - the pairing is unknown to me.

PeterM: if you Google "reuse and" the first item to appear is "recycle". It wasn't until I did this that I made it a 'partner' clue, thinking it might not be "well-known".

Fair enough, but all the other pairings can be easily deduced without googling. Maybe it's just me, but I think the 5ac pairing is not obvious and a bit out of sync with the others.

Hi crucible - fair enough, it is supposed to be challenging after all. I finally got in tune with it towards the end, so I hope your next one is soon, before I've lost the plot again! peterm, I thought 5a was reasonable, it's a very 'of the moment' expression - but you coped far better with the rest of it than I did - so vive la difference :-)

Hi Mr Crucible. Many thanks for dropping on our forum. The fact that this forum exists every month shows the interest generated by the Genius crosswords.

My penny's worth: I agree with Mrs Trellis WRT letter counts.

Also agree with peterm WRT 5Ac. Not a real "partnership" to my mind (as I already stated back at post number 24).

Otherwise, kudos for one or two gems - 19A was my favourite by a country mile (I live in France and the clue was quite brilliant).

At the point in the puzzle where, for 8 down, I had (L--) (-A-K), I really, really wanted it to be Lee Mack.
Even after I realised what the answer was, I still wanted it to be Lee Mack.
I could imagine Lee Mack doing the crossword with other people, seeing the clue, and saying,
"Lee Mack"
(everyone ignores him)
"Is it Lee Mack??"
(long pause whilst others discuss it...)
"I know what it is...it's Lee Mack!!"
(even after everyone else has said the answer)
"I know---Lee Mack."

In fact, it would make a good name for a tour: Lee Mack ...And Think of Etc.

Thank you for a very enjoyable puzzle, Crucible!

Very funny dove - I too thought it was Lee Mack, but couldn't make his regular oppos Tim Vine or David Mitchell work into the clue. Shame.

hi dove and mrs trellis,
I thought I was done after "uncovering" 1a ,finding 16a (Becky I think) and picking LEE,MACK for 8d.
Is that right or do I keep on tearing my hair (or what's left of it) ?

Still struggling with 4D,6D,14A,16A and 27A.

I am assuming 16A is based on spice girls and it's a girl's name

Any hints appreciated.

16A - you are on the right lines with the Spice Girls. The answer can be a diminutive of a girl's name but this is pure coincidence if you pars the clue and follow the instructions correctly.

4D - think 70s pop/rock icon meets eastern bloc composer.

6D was in the Mail a couple of days later I am told.