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buzzybee

2nd July 2026, 05:57
Seems as though I usually start threads for the Speccie, possibly because my Antipodean location gives me a head start. So here goes. Another fairly gentle offering, with some wry smiles here and there. The additional wrinkle was not too hard to find.
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malone

2nd July 2026, 06:11
Thanks, BuzzyBee. I liked your 'possibly'!

PS A fine, apparently error-free puzzle.
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jono

2nd July 2026, 09:42
I note that 19d can be found in Chambers under the second word, though I was pleased to be able to put my newly acquired Brewer to use for the first time!
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prospero

2nd July 2026, 11:07
thanks Fieldfare - the keyword and most of the definitions apply to this puzzle - a pleasant gentle solve
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jono

2nd July 2026, 17:37
In the recent “crossword peeves” thread I mentioned the use of “extremely” as a selection indicator for outside letters (an example of which we see here) as one of mine.

Azed agrees… in the 1186 slip he wrote - “I have noticed a growing tendency among crossword setters to use “extremely” to indicate the first and last letters of the following (or preceding) word, but can see no justification for it.

“Extremely” means “in an extreme way; very” and I can’t equate that with an instruction to the solver to take the extreme letters of a word.”

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blackcat5

9th July 2026, 04:13
I think the use of EXTREMELY in this way is cryptic in itself. It might be more correct to say EXTREME-LY.
As always I am dragging the chain and probably only two thirds there.
Too many to ask hints about!
But in terms of the title-puzzle, am I looking for 4 clues which together form 2 words, or 4 clues which contain 8 words?
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mattrom

9th July 2026, 05:57
Blackcat, The 'two words' in the preamble refers to the word suggested by the title, which can be seen as one word, or divided into two.
The unclued words divide into two groups of four.
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blackcat5

23rd July 2026, 00:30
Thanks mattrom. I nearly got there!
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