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darla

21st March 2026, 02:20
Never heard of Deborah either, not surprisingly. But, yes this seemed on the gentler side for a Prize.
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brendan

21st March 2026, 04:01
Hi All,

I think I found this a bit more difficult than you guys but it was still fun, nonetheless.

Geeker, several baseball teams on your side of the pond have an association with the "group" in 3d.

Very sneaky (make that clever) of Fed to use "switch over" in 11a, causing me to search for 3 letter "tablets befor I realised my error.

Thanks to Fed for a very enjoyable solve.

COD:- I think I'll go for 5d.

Stay safe:-)
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brendan

21st March 2026, 05:57
27a - Odd to see that the wordplay can supply 2 answers, both of which fit the definition. I can't recall ever coming across that before 🤔
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jono

21st March 2026, 07:04
Good fun I thought. I’m with Geeker on difficulty level and Rog regarding the travails of the last two days.

Bren, you are describing a “Cook” - an acceptable answer which is not the intended one. Borrowed from a term used in chess puzzles. We have discussed them before, though I can’t recall when.

Wasn’t there also a Twin puzzle where every clue could be solved in two ways and resulted in the completion of two separate grids (or am I making that up?)
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rocky7

21st March 2026, 07:38
You're not making that up Jono. Wasn't it a bank holiday one some time ago? Fiendishly clever.

As for Fed's offering today, I wasn't as on his wavelength as others here. I found more fun in working out the parsing after coming up with a viable answer. Some of them were quite clever if a little clumsy at times.

SPOILER ALERT Song 2 by 3d is the one you've most likely heard across the pond. One of my favourites but strangely my LOI today. FOI 9a. COD 11a with a side order of 13a. Thanks to Fed. Wasn't really on your tip today but that's more me than anything.
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buzzybee

21st March 2026, 07:47
Jono
My friend Chris Ackerley made up such a puzzle around the theme of Contract Bridge. One example I recall could be answered either by " hearts" or "spades", each with the same definition but a word play that could be interpreted in two ways. This puzzle is in his book "The Bridging of Troy", which features all the main characters of the Trojan Wars in the context of a bridge tournament.
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chrise

21st March 2026, 08:21
Fairly quick. I hadn't heard of Deborah either.

Two unparsed - 1d etc. and 4d
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quisling

21st March 2026, 08:46
Brendan, could you share your plausible incorrect possibility for 27a? Or would it be a spoiler to give out a wrong answer?
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neville17

21st March 2026, 08:50
Yes I finished this pretty rapidly too although like many I hadn't heard of Deborah ... I'm just having trouble parsing 26, can anybody help?
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smudgekent

21st March 2026, 08:57
Neville, monkey can be a verb as well as a noun.
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