Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Lumen, you’re probably making it harder for yourself than it actually is; if you know the letter to be removed, and can assume it’s unlikely to be a political party, it leaves the simplest of DD’s - which is also thematic.

Ok thanks, the problem was I had the wrong entry for 9d, so any help parsing/extra letter there would be good.

Many thanks to:
Foinaven for post 18 which said 'not sport'. My grandpup is staying with us on the sandbank and we were about to delve into Scottish football.
Malone (as ever) for post 38 - I would never have parsed 11 across and this gave me the comment. On to the next stages. An enjoyable puzzle.

Lumen - 9 down - the last word is the definition. An abbreviaton for college followed by a four letter exam penning a two letter word for just after.
Re my rather cryptic last post. 8d becomes teeth after the end game. When you see the context of the theme and the reason it happened all will become clear.

Thanks for your help on 4 down, Malone. It would have been an easy one had I not got 13 across wrong.

Thanks, Suzannahj. Glad you got 4 Down sorted. It seemed pretty straightforward to me, but that's often the case with a solved answer. Hindsight makes things look less tricky!

I’m stuck on a few to complete the initial grid. Hints for 19d and 27a would be very helpful. Thanks

The crossing letter is O. One is in Chambers as a police area and the other is one of several 'dribble' words with a double B. Sorry I can't fully parse either!

19 D has a two-letter 'refusal' inside a three-letter 'to harm'. It's an old-fashioned word, probably last used in The Sweeney or old episodes of The Bill.

Thank you Malone and Lumen. That’s helped a lot