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Pronouncement by Noctifer puzzle available here
https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2026/06/july-2026-pronouncement-by-noctifer.html

Thanks Mattrom and thanks also to Noctifer. That was quite a work out! The parsing of some clues is really quite tricky, which I think is partly because of the two different ways in which across and down clues are constructed, but I think I have got there in the end. The preamble says one answer is an abbreviation, but I think there are two. I enjoyed this puzzle a lot (even though the theme has never been of interest to me}.

Duplicate Thread by Daw

Has anybody else completed this puzzle and come up against an impenetrable barrier when following the preamble? The misprints give me a logical sentence but the workings of the down clues result in a string of letters devoid of any sense. Nowadays it seems that setters prefer to contort instructions to a degree greater than the difficulty in the crossword.


Reply by Mattrom

Daw, with the down clues, if the extra word is, say, the third word in the clue, you select the third letter in the clue. (Not in the word itself)

Thank you Mattrom; my interpretation of the nth letter of the answer was obviously wrong. I don't have the crossword with me as I'm travelling, but when I get home, I'll no doubt find your answer the key to unravelling the setter's penchant for complexity.