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rogissimo

4th October 2025, 01:11
Finding myself up late for a change, I decided to give this a go. Found it well above average in terms of difficulty, despite the clear theme. An enjoyable challenge though.
FOI 8, LOI 5 as a result of getting hung up on the parsing and not seeing the wood for the trees.
COD? Tricky, but I’ll for 13 because of the highly pertinent surface.
Thanks to Brendan for the fun.
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mogwai

4th October 2025, 01:41
I also found this to be harder than usual, though over half of my solving time spent trying to work out the LOI of 24d. COD for me was 11a, due to its clever misdirection. Thanks Brendan.
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brendan

4th October 2025, 02:15
Very tricky in places but some generous anagrams to even things out a bit and allow solvers to at least get a foothold.

Too tired to give a in-depth review (I know, no doubt you're all devestated but try and soldier on as best you can 😪)

I do have a few of queries though...

23a - I'm not at convinced the answer matches the defibition (assuming I have the right answer, of course) and...

11a - While I get how the answer is "what's prior to this" and also a "contribution fron Ximenes", I can't see the "(before 1000)" part...

5d - If it's just a cryptic definition then that's fine (although post CK in the field of US sport, doesn't it now have a completely different meaning? - sorry to be so vague but I don't want to give spoilers). However, some of the letters in the clue also appear in the answer so I wonder if there's something I'm missing.

Thanks to Brendan for a challenging puzzle that really put me through my paces. Still, glad to know that, like me, he's also very playful and 2d 😂

Stay safe:-)
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ilippu

4th October 2025, 02:25
Brendan
Thanks to you I got 11 incl parsing.
Please look for a letter after answer in that word.
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brendan

4th October 2025, 02:27
Ahh! Brilliant, many thaks Ilippu:-)
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brendan

4th October 2025, 02:32
Sorry, typos everwhere. I meant "many thanks Ilippu", and in my previous post "devastated"

Well, I did say I was tired 😴
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darla

4th October 2025, 02:36
I was surprised at 19. Isn’t that an American spelling?

Plus, I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition.
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ilippu

4th October 2025, 02:49
Brendan

I have the same questions re 5d.

I am stlll stuck at 23/24....
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brendan

4th October 2025, 02:54
Interesting point Darla, I didn't notice it at the time but, having just checked, Chambers doesn't give that spelling at all whereas the Free Online Dictionary only gives the version in 19!

Make of that what you will.
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ilippu

4th October 2025, 03:15
Scratch that - got 23 and 24.

24d by staring at it, and verifying the answer.

23a with all crossers.

14d is COD for me.

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