EV 846 Three Fours

[DocHH]

Just struggling with 24d, any hints would be appreciated. Thanks. I am assuming the title is also thematic, but cant see anything appropriate.

[copelander]

Hi, Novalis and Crofter, Could you have missed 33a as one of the thematic clues? It is less obvious than the others as it's a solid block of 4 letters removed.

[crofter]

Hi copelander. All 11 adjusted clues have now been found. I had overlooked 45a as being the last thematic clue. I thought that it was a straightforward clue (but rather weak). However, the weakness was in me"

[novalis]

Many thanks for that DocHH. Now complete.
Copealnder - you were right. I'd just not looked at 33a properly.

[DocHH]

Any thoughts on the Title other than three fours = 12 and an oblique reference to 12th night! It is bugging me!!

[novalis]

It is bugging me as well. Will keep thinking about it.

[Christiana]

Wonder if anyone could help me with a clue for my last one, 8d? I know I'm going to kick myself but have been trying to work it out for hours. I have 10 of the eleven clues so assume this is the final one.
Have also played about with 12th Night and have also noted there are 4 clues starting with P, including the unnumbered one, 4 starting with a vowel, and, if 8d starts with a consonant, four with consonants other than P. But that seems very weak.

[slaney]

Hi Christiana....8d is not thematic, and the definition is
tussle.

The title is also bugging me - I spent some time going down the Quarto route, but that's unlikely.

[Christiana]

Thanks Slaney. I've now realised I actually have all eleven. I had written one at the bottom but not put it in my list. Must be getting tired. As for the tussle, I now have that but I was reading the second letter as an 'e'. All finished now apart from the three fours mystery.

[devadolly]

I'm glad everyone is as confused as I am about the title. The removals from each clue seem to have no connection (apart from the obvious) as they come from different works and different types of work. Could it be musical? How I can't imagine - I am merely clutching at that miniscule straw floating past...............................

Regards

[DocHH]

Hello everyone,
Still pondering the title, could THREE FOURS need to be modified by the same method as the other 11, or perhaps by the reverse of that? The latter would be horrendous, but might it result in a title of a work by 28!
Devadollys cat might provide ins"purr"ation.

[devadolly]

Sorry DocHH, ginger Mog has not come up trumps this time. Had a quick glance through the complete works thereof last night, but nothing leapt out and throttled me, will have a closer look later. Have just spent a freezing hour sorting out the new AAngus delivery for the freezer and am having a hot Marmite break before I go back and finish putting up the orders.

This title is really annoying me, I hope someone has a blinding flash of insight soon.

Regards

[novalis]

Just come back to poring over the title --- I was "volunteered" at the last minute to set a quick 30 question quiz for yesterday evening. Still no flashes of inspiration but I'm not "bard" with it yet!!

[DocHH]

Pleased to there are still 3 of us on the case! While walking for the paper this morning, I was wondering how devious Jophu could be. Concluded, perhaps wrongly we need to insert a word rather than subtract a word from the title to make any sense of the title.
Could the first or second E of the title be followed by V, then stand alone as a pair of letters, and could any removed word end in O, so OF OURS. I then went on To HeRE, trying to insert the moor, plus other combinations , none of which has proved successful.
Spent a lot of time yesterday on Talking Newspaper things, so felt suitably distracted to return to EV this afternoon. However I think I need to have alternative and definitely lateral thinking prompting please!

[devadolly]

Thinking of charactors with an O the redoubtable Duke....................................hang on a minute I have had a brainstorm...........3 x 4 = 12 doesn't it? So, Sir Toby & Malvolio, what about your liege lord and his title? What do you think chaps & chapesses? Must be the Marmite working at last!

[DocHH]

Regret you are being a bit too devious for me Devadolly. My knowledge of the Classics is very limited. I'd previoudly thought of an oblique reference to 12th night, which must have been close in the calender on sunday, but how does your Duke fit in to the title to give a phrase or something even semiliterate!! Keep pondering, nattering and chattering!
ps Chap!

[devadolly]

DocHH a main charactor in 12th Night has a name both beginning and ending with O, that thought came from your suggestion that the title may have the removal of a word ending with an O + your reference to the moor. Haven't tried any clever stuff with anagramming it, leave that to you! That however, has strained my brain to breaking point!

Regards

[copelander]

Not posting, but still thinking, and can't come up with anything useful. . THREEIVS..... TREYIVS... MHO.... Can't remember nor rework out 4d. Could it be relevant?

[devadolly]

Copelander, magazine gone to the quack's surgery but if I remember, 4d was not an oddity, wasn't it something like mistook or mistake?????

[copelander]

That's it Devadolly. Now...MHOMISTOOKS, no. MISTOOKMISTOOKMISTOOK. No, ok back to insertion of EV somewhere in Three fours. No, leave it for a while methinks.