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Of course - thanks Jono. It was the dog/tooth that was confusing me!

OK, I'm finished now.

Blimey - really unfair that you cant properly solve the down clues until you have solved all of the across clues first, figured out the obscure reference, and then applied the 'theme' correctly (which is one of the most obscure references I have ever seen, and barely indicates what to modify).

Not as enjoyable as other puzzles due to the inherent limitations and obscurities, but it has finally been conquered.

I tend to use this crossword as a way of checking whether my dementia has kicked in yet, and now I am positive it has. I am happy with all my across answers, less so with the omitted letters (and , yes, I have the correct bird in 14A), but the phrase makes no sense, even allowing for one or two errors. Are the first two words an unknown person's name? And are there any hints for my last clue,23D, even though I have no idea what the modification is to?

Pendragon, don’t doubt yourself!
The first two words in the message are 4,5. Yes the second word is a name but as we said earlier in the thread the first word tells you where to look for an extra clue (or two) in the grid…

23d is a word for ‘lack of energy’. It parses 1,3,1.

Nope. Let’s take 21d. The final 6 letters are generated cryptically and the last word is the definition. But I can’t make the first 3 words work as a cryptic definition for the first letter. So I need to find some way of generating the first letter, presumably an adjective that begins with the appropriate letter in place of the third word. But that could be pretty much anything.

To solve 21d you need to have applied the modification, otherwise the first indicator (first three words, but modified) will not make any sense.

Also - in order to even figure out the thematic modifier you REALLY need to be filling in the grid, otherwise you will never spot it.

Thanks, Jono. I had the third letter wrong, but, even so, the phrase meant nothing to me, even after searches and on the IMDB (and I have seen it). Much of the crossword seems rather arbitrary, especially 5D, and the only clever thing is the application of the first word in the phrase. i fact, I had the modification from early on, but assumed there was something more definitive about it. I suppose I should arrange to see my doctor for a check-up ...

(It's a real shame the grid is not interactive on the Guardian website - so many people will miss out on spotting the theme!)

Hi Castafiore,

You are sooo close!

a word "that begins with the appropriate letter in place of the third word" - exactly. It doesn't have to be 'anything' it would still need to be related to this crossword, so take the the 2 theme words and just apply them. After all, as you've already said in previous posts and is stated in the preamble, all the down clues need modifying.