Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Synonyms for English & a game minus male & quiet respectively.

It's to do with the shape of the needle.

Thanks Marca and Ginge - got it now!

Thanks Dja. A clumsy word.

Good Morning. Have read all the posts three times and am still in total confusion. After only managing 16d on my own am a bit fed up. Can see the parsing for 1d, half of 1a, can't see how to get to 3d but see a similar word to that in 16d. I'm afraid I need Very heavy (almost transparent) hints to attempt to carry on with this EV. Cannot see how they are supposed to be entered to even be able to find the word in the circles that is going to make all clear, nor do I appreciate the 'half of the clues & half of the grid entries' referred to in the preamble....Help!

Hi manic mary, the title gives a big hint. In half the clues the answer exceeds the available grid space with thematic groups of letters in these answers occupying 1 cell. The circled cells all contain 1 letter which when anagrammed confirms the thematics. In the other clues, as dja has previously mentioned, each clue has to be looked at very closely to get the wordplay (these answers have 1 letter per cell). Once you have an example of this it becones more straightforward.
Hope this helps.

Mary is asking for very heavy hints.
1a is Colonel and 1d is Colonies.

The first 5 letters can be represented by a symbol. There are 14 symbols which can be called by the 11 letters in the circled cells.
Think question mark.

I think for 3d perfectly is the definition. A followed by 5 letter symbol (same as in 9A) may give the answer.
10a I believe is POI truncated and then a computer chip brand name.

I do not have 16d, though is seems like Charas like word.
I can do with hints on 30a, 8d, 17a and 22a.

Thanks.

16d is one of the usual answers for a drug but in a longer form

30a think Russian police of old

8d serious infection begins and ends with s

17a frees is definition UN as in peacekeepers and the rest is a word I think of in terms of a traffic jam

22a fishermen- named after their net which is also a river in France

The answer to 34 across is appropriate for me because I can be described as such at the moment. The doctor's instruction to avoid excitement and stress did not take this EV into consideration. I am stuck on 5 down - Conservative joins House of Lords in despising new addition - and I have that beginning with a symbol representing four letters and also 20 down - Armed force arrives with old letter exchanged for millions. Also, three different sets of letters ( e.g. those in 9 across, 34 across and 32 down ) look as though they should be represented by the same symbol. Is that the case and if not how is the distinction made. Any help/pointers will be appreciated.

Hi alwayspuzzled,
5d; the wordplay uses an alternative name for the same symbol attained from 3a.
20d; the symbol occupies the 1st cell.
Yes, from 5d above you'll see different terms for the same symbol appear and duplication of the same term appears before being replaced.