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Corners are proving tricky as there re so many 4,5 and 6 letters solutions to juggle.

Whenever we get one of these monsters this song comes to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9W0g3NGSj4

The first verse seems apt

Hi Jono,

Just a general point to mention that, like you, I solved the numbered clues first - the fact that a few are anagrams helped enormously.

This then allowed to place, with some degree of confidence, one of the long 13 letters clues - another anagram.

But.... all that I've done is in the central are of the grid so I take note of the trickiness you speak of in the corners:-)

Anyway, I need a rest so have put it aside for a while.

Hi Buddy,

I clicked on your link fully expecting to hear Masquerade by The Skids. Don't get me wrong, I do like a bit of George Benson (who doesn't?) but, have to say, I was a tad disappointed:-)

Haha, that’s brilliant Buddy…

“This lonely game we play
Looking for words …
Searching but not finding understanding anywhere
We're lost in a Maskarade!”

Yes quite a challenge. As Jono has said, solve the numbered clues first, then fit the two 13 letter solutions where they can go, and then some of the 11 letter answers. I made two lists of the 26 A? and ?A combinations and crossed them off as I found them, even if I could not initially fit the answers in. Some unfamiliar words needed to accommodate some, eg QA or AE.

Maskarade, in his everyday guise as Tom Johnson, wrote a book about an aspect of life in the location of the QA word. I’ve not read it, but it is as about as niche a subject as you could imagine.

What I don’t understand is, if you had an answer , stamp,say, how do you know if you’ve got an “am” answer or a “ta” answer? Maybe I have misunderstood the instructions.

Hi Mirel, the wordplay will clarify. So in that example if the wordplay includes the M then the TA is unclued and vice versa.

Hi Mirel,

It can actually be quite helpful in determining if it's a down or across clue because, if it's down it would be MA but if it's an across it would be AM.