Enigmatic Variations 1593 By Skylark ( Back To The Hints Section For Me )

[Matakari]

Good morning, thanks to the hints, I’ve been able to find a few, but the following
are still giving me some trouble. Unable to find three-letter review. Four-letter “design” noun, plan,plot, French plural: les, des, mes? Anyway to further elucidate what seems to be quite interesting? Thanks again for any more assistance with these!

28a Review about soprano’s former duress ( 4 ) : N?S?
37a Shires behind singular sides of crag ( 7 ) SP????S
23a Alberta are reportedly to judge railway guide ( 5 ) : ???EE
23d What simple designs capturing the French ( 7 ) ???M???

[Neveracrossword]

28 Vest, old word for 'dress', Vet with S.
37 Shies, as given to you earlier - so S, singular and Tosses, shies, throws.
23 Abcee, ABC (book) Ab, Alberta and Cee sounds like (reportedly) see, judge.

As this one'sproving to be another troublesome EV,Matakari, you might find some light relief in the latest Guardian Genius.

[Neveracrossword]

23 Artless, simple. Arts, designs,with Les inside.

[roslyn251254]

28a 3 letter review with s inside. Your N is wrong. U in dUresss is extra
37a r is extra ...think of coconut shies..
23a ...reportedly to judge would be CEE ...sounds like see
23d WHAT is extra....3 letter plural for the french...M is wrong

[Neveracrossword]

Sorry, Matakari - I went with the 'any more assistance with these' rather than 'back to the hints section for me'! Still, it's not easy to give extra hints when the first ones seemed reasonably generous. (Well, Rosyln managed it, she has skills I don't have.)

[Matakari]

Thanks again, NACW and roslyn251254, and yes, it’s been another toughie for me, but I’ve gleaned much from it in terms of knowledge. And before I relegate it to my archives,I would like to get the final two clues solved. Merci beaucoup!

33a United, always rough, without centre (4) : ??ED
31d Wish twins to avoid soft tunes ( 4 ) : I??R

PS: I would not be averse to trying my hand at the latest Guardian Genius if
you can provide a link. Hope there’s no ironical pun intended in the "Genius"
aspect of it for me. Hihihi!

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Matakari.

33 Tied, united - Ti(r)ed,rough, without the centre(letter)

31 Airs, tunes - Pairs, twins, loses the P, soft.

The Guardian puzzles are free and easily accessed. I just Goggle 'Guardian crosswords' and get taken to the website, it lists the various puzzles on offer.

[tedsgran]

https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2023/05/23/Genius_No_240v2.pdf

[Matakari]

Many thanks for the generous hints that have facilitated filling of the grid! As I read over and review answers, I discover one word that puzzles me at 37a – SPESSES – As recommended I’ve been thinking of “coconut shies” without arriving at a satisfactory answer. A confirmation of this would be appreciated. And a big thank you for the link and information about the Guardian puzzles!

[Neveracrossword]

Matakari, check Stosses (S+Tosses) in Chambers.

You'll fare better with the Genius, I'm sure!

[Neveracrossword]

PS Matakari, the frst S in Stosses is 'singular'.

Now that the grid is full, are you going to tackle the thematic part?

[Matakari]

Having got this far, I'll have a go at the thematic part to see how far I can get! Thak you again!

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Matakri. The statement from the extra words will tell you exactly what to look for - so it's more of a wordearch than wrangling with clues.

[Matakari]

I'll have to do a quick recheck for the extra words and letters à tête reposée - when my head is cool- as I did much solving without removing them.