Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I think Durban the preamble was referring to 41dn as originally clued rather than the eventual grid entry

Since the final entry for 41d is certainly in Chambers I assume the preamble is referring to the answer, which isn't, even in the relevant appendix.

I'm not sure what the problem is with 31d. It's a perfectly normal word, not obsolete at all.

Saoralbar, I suspect you have made the same error I did in the bottom row to end up with a non-word in 34d. Take care with the doubled cells.

The final adjustment was only partly what I expected, so I was a bit slow to see it. The position and inclination of a certain thematic word looks right before any adjustment. The adjustment is necessary to end up with real words, but to me it's visually wrong - a slight flaw in an otherwise brilliant grid.

Home and dry with thanks for the help. I'd been wrongly convinced that the doubles would go where they didn't cross anything else - but at least I wasn't alone in that mistake.

I can see there are a lot of cleverer folk around than I am, but what a puzzle it was.

My first successful Elgin solve (although I've admired from a distance for some time), and it's been entirely worth the struggle.

I just have one ? which is currently marring my satisfaction, and would appreciate clarification - a post earlier suggested that the 'dropped characters' are to be entered beneath the grid. Was that just a tip for solvers to reveal those thematic elements, or does the puzzle need to be submitted with letters actually outside the grid itself? My instinct is to say not to enter anything, as perhaps that's unfair (*cough*Poat's hare*cough*), but the word 'dropped' has got me doubting myself.

Many thanks in advance.

I still need help with a few.
33A One response in church is harsh.
45A Military attack say on base is repulsed
47A shift temperature in excess; the answer?
I do hope nobody minds my being so slow. You can always tell me to go back to Kindergarten, I won't take offence !
Thanks.

Murky: I get your point, but the adjustment is also necessary to take care of the victim. There really is no other way to achieve this really satisfying effect. Just picture the motion about an adjoining cell,

I'm struggling to get 1ac and 48ac.

Can someone give me a hint for 46ac (Greet with music that can make us smile or grimace)?
And could someone explain why my 16down looks such a mess? (I've got SGAR_E (I know that 16d is GREASER).

Thanks.

Samovar:

33A: Response=BI (see Chambers), church is RC
45A: say=EG, repulsed = reversal
47A: This is an &lit clue, so the definition is the whole thing; the word play is a word for excess + THE + A (answer) with the T (temperature) shifted.

Demeter:

See my comment in an earlier post. The answer is of the form 'w IN xyz' where if you insert the 'w' one way you get a smile and another way you get a grimace. (wxyz are unknowns).

Your 16d is correct. You only get a real word after the final step. Patience...

Thanks buzzb