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Even reading the comments in this forum, it took me a long while to get the point of 20a, partly because I didn't understand the significance which people were attaching to the dash, but once I saw it I thought it was a very clever clue. Clever, but not to my liking, because its difficulty is way disproportionate in this crossword puzzle. All of the other clues were fine, and despite the average level being on the easy side, there were enough more demanding clues to make it enjoyable. Thanks, Philistine, if you read this. My COD is definitely 6d, and 7d my runner up.

Damn. In my last post 20a was a typo for 10a. I agree with whoever it was who expressed a wish that one could edit one's posts.

Hi everyone, I've nearly finished after a very delayed second pass but I can't see 6d at all - could I have a gentle hint please? And without re-igniting the 10a discussion - I'm assuming my second letter for 6d is R?

I was sad not to see a jumbo today, it's my Christmas treat to have the paper version to pore over during the holidays. Does anyone have any inside knowledge if there will be one coming up? Thanks!

I hope this isn't going to appear three times - for some reason I can't post from my phone so I'm retyping on the laptop.

Hi havermonkey
6d is one of these "reverse anagram" clues that we have been seeing quite often recently. Yes, R second letter.

Ah thank you Chrise! That was the nudge I needed. I could not see how it could be an anagram then had a PDM. All done now.

As someone (jono?) posted upthread, Julius has a weekend jumbo in the FT. It's considerably gentler than a typical Maskarade effort, though.

https://www.ft.com/content/9f5a4d48-a3f6-4b54-9ee4-ae8608cc789b

I had to go through some gyrations to get it to print out without a FT logo obscuring some of the clues.

Micky
I think the jury is still out as to the parsing of 10a.

Micky, this is my last word on 10a, I promise. Rainman has nailed his colours to the mast on it being a reversal of a word for a long dash plus or. I’m certain he’s wrong. His interpretation relies on a) the letter l as part of a word meaning left, as a reversal, and b) there being a typographical error, as the dash in the printed clue is short rather than long. Such an interpretation is completely out of kilter with the difficulty of the rest of the puzzle. The typography was the same online and in the paper. The Guardian frequently corrects erroneous clues. They haven’t touched this. I will donate £100 to his favourite charity if he is shown to be correct. I hope he will rise to the challenge and do the same

FT Jumbo by Julius was an extremely pleasant solve in one long sitting!

The blog is out already

Very late start, disappointed to find no Christmas special which
is usually an important part of my Christmas.
Found this a mixed bag, no idea about parsing of 10 and more I read discussion on forum more confused I become.
FOI 22
LOI 24
COD 8 and 25
All good wishes to everyone, solvers and compilers ,and thank you for your company and help this year.












Is