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I came late to this; serious family issues took precedence. I can’t imagine anyone curmudgeonly enough to regard this a “too easy””. The elegance and skill required to make two messages from the clues and to result in a satisfying grid with all real words is beyond praise. Thank you, Chalicea.

Jack, I've never had you down as lacking imagination - strange the things we learn over time!

Sorry to disappoint you, Malone. In my defence, I did fairly quickly imagine the (very) necessary apostrophe….

Jack, that's always something - thank heaven for small mercies.
And I did find the apostrophe thing quite interesting, I like being distracted....

Thanks folks. Chalicea here. I, too, seeing this two years (in a test solve into the proof of the puzzle) after I had set it, was a bit taken aback by the last four letters of the message - then had to smile. Of course, we don't put apostrophes in. I'm glad you enjoyed it - it was a challenge but very satisfying to set. Yes, mine will always (or mostly) be the easy ones but it was good that even the best solvers had the grace not to grumble this time.

Yes, apostrophes seldom feature in crosswords - and I was being slightly careful with what I said in my first reply, seeing as it was such a recent puzzle. I quite liked the tail end of the message, I enjoy being pulled up short occasionally!

There are many regulars/regular helpers here on the Forum and I think we can all appreciate that there's a wide range of puzzles on offer, especially at weekends.

I thought at first that it was the third hit we needed and the title almost made an anagram then the penny dropped, with Malone’s hint only being understood later! Silly (or slow) me. I’ve always thought there should be a variety of “levels” of difficulty. No complaints from me.