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Sunray, the preponderance of Scottish words is due to the fact that Chambers is renowned for its inclusion of many, often arcane, words from North of the Border. Setters feel perfectly justified in using anything in the main body of the BRB. I agree that it can often have you pulling your hair out!!

Bobbycollins and malone, you will be relieved to know that I still have some hair left.

Edmund Spenser's words often appear in these types of puzzles too for the same reason that Chambers covers them. I like Spenser and I like the way his poetry preserves old words, but I think Chambers does not need to include them. Anyone reading a book of his works will almost certainly find a glossary at the back without bothering to pull Chambers off the shelf.

Orson, thanks very much for that. I'd much rather see the Scottish words (many of which are still in use) than the pesky Spenser ones which are obsolete, archaic ...

Puzzle finished but with two problems.

1) How does the cryptic part of the 'bird' clue work?
2) Do we have to follow the second instruction for every entry or just the unclued one?

I've only just started out on this and am finding it pretty tough going!
Could someone tell me if 15 Across is 9 letters, as in spaces available, or 10 as it says in brackets?
Thanks.

Hi, samovar,

Yes, th answer has 10 letters. Enter the two middle letters n the cell where 15ac intersects 8dn. It will make sense when you get to the endgame.

Thank you very much, Wintonian. That's a great help, maybe I can get on now !

Hi ionacarr,

re your first question, if you take your bird, reverse it, and look up the longer version of the word you get in Chambers, then you see the definition "on record".

I just can't see the wordplay for the "seed" clue three lines below. I think I've got the word right, with the first 3 letters being the abbreviation of a publication, but I can't see how that is a manufacturer. Or am I getting the wrong end of the stick?

Hi, blakwhole,

The definition is “seed manufacturer”. The wordplay leads to a three-letter word that can mean “brood” and a three-letter word that can mean “put”, all reversed.

ok, thanks Wintonian, all clear now.