independent inquisitor 1258

[gillie3431]

Help me please. I have been staring at this for two days - I have filled in the grid but cannot deduce a number of the "extra " letters.Will someone please give me a clue as to what it is all about. It has been in the bin a couple of times but I have resurrected it. Thanks.

[Gregsdad]

Hi

Happy to try and help - please say which clues you are having problems with. The theme is about letters that sound like places and names that have 'liquid' connections e.g, Dee which link the unclued entries and the descriptions rising from the extra letters.

[gillie3431]

Kind of you. The letters I have are as follows...........??IEA?WESTB?RE??SEALOCHMELT
I?MOWB?SYROVER

[Gregsdad]

Hi gillie3431

There are three 'clues' to three 'liquid letters' suggested by the extra letters. The first clue is 5 letters long, starts with D and ends in IE (which you have); the second starts with AW but it looks like you have a couple of mistakes in your list below (the B should be an E, the second E should be an O); and the third starts with ME but again it looks like you have a two or three mistakes (the I should be an O, the S should be an A and the second O should be an I).

Hope this is enough, just shout if you need any more.

[gillie3431]

You are a gentleman and a scholar. Cant thank you enough. It is not the winning for me - it is the participation. Now I can get down to it.

[Gregsdad]

Agreed ! I rarely bother to enter...it's the fun of the challenge and the PDM (penny-dropping moment). Good luck.

[NIMROD]

I also have been spending hours on this crossword, gillie3431, and am obsessed by it! Thank you for confirming some of the extra single letters, Gregsdad, but I am now confused about the whole synonym which I thought ended in US (suggested by the meaning of the 2nd and 3rd letters). Also I am unsure about the very last letter in the grid - I thought it was A but am now doubtful. Any advice would be welcome!

[Gregsdad]

Hi Nimrod

The synonym sounds like the three letters suggested by the three extra single letters run together, as the preamble states. The third letter is "I" not "S" so it's the English equivalent of the French for 'yes'. This relates to the unclued across entry on the 6th line down.

[NIMROD]

Thank you for the help, Gregsdad. I actually have an 'I' there but had 'translated' the 2 letters to something else to fit what I thought was the synonym. It helps a lot to know that I must relate it to a different word in the grid - I was on the wrong track. Thanks again!

[NIMROD]

The penny finally droppped, Gregsdad. What a relief! Quite apt that!