The Spectator 1896

[Matakari]

Last of the Mohicans...Help!

DOWN
31. Muslim star, new one ( 5 ) : ?U??I
28. Strain surrounding cases lawyers take again ( 7 ):R??AT?H

And now just some hints for the following unclued lights...

32Ac : ??NN?L
36Ac : LI????
38Ac : ???H?A??T?
21Dn : ?URG?E
33Dn : ??B?R

Many thanks, again!

[Rollo]

31d Sun n i

[Rollo]

28d Re ca tch

[dr b]

Not sure how big of hint you are looking for here. All of your unclued lights relate to the 4 word phrase revealed by the extra words in the clues (???? over the ?????). They are all types of, or are words related to, the last 5-letter word in the 4-word phrase.

[Matakari]

Thanks very much, Rollo and dr b. I understand the allusion to coals and everything, but 21 Dn is still giving trouble...It's the last one and I have now:

21Dn : ?URG?E

I cannot make sense of it. Any straightforward hints? Thanks for the help. I have got some good practice here!

[dr b]

It was a word I never heard of before, so I am not sure I can even give a hint that makes any sense. The word also means "a small three-cornered or swallow-tailed flag or pennant used by yachts or merchant vessels." Does that help?

[Matakari]

Thanks, dr b, I've got it! And I am trying to work out the relevance to the theme of hauling over the coals...Perhaps, the inference is its use for carrying coals to Newcastle or something like that?

[dr b]

well, if you look at all the unclued answers, and their position in the grid, it reveals a sort of visual play on words - look at the position of the word meaning "haul" relative to all your words related to "coal".