Hi Mintyman
Don't know if it's just me, but I'm having trouble with your link. I've never had a problem before, but my browser is giving me this message:
The page isn't redirecting properly
Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.
* This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept
cookies.
Could you repost the link or even e-mail me directly
Another two hour trudge, made harder by words not in my battered 1986 Chambers. Please let me win soon so I can put my Thursday arvos (arvo = afternoon in Australian and in Chambers) to a more useful purpose.
My ODQ, about as old as my Chambers, has a few cross-references for 40 across in the index, but not to the theme quotation. Has the index been updated in modern editions?
Bootlebarth, 40a is the fifth word of the quotation but you won't find the verse under that word. The verse is in my 1993 concise ODQ so it should also be in yours. The title of the puzzle and the 'elusive' in the preamble should help you. You will need to look closely to find the answer.
The rhyme is in my ODQ but under P, and 10d is not in Chambers ( in the cake sense).
Originally I intended to highlight 2d until I realised there was a much better alternative.
I assume the title refers to the 3rd line in the verse?
Thank you for what you presumably meant as a helpful answer. I'd already solved the puzzle. I merely wondered why 40a (Crossword Buddy denied any alternatives) wasn't cross-referenced against the relevant verse in the ODQ index although the verse is included in my old copy.
Determined solvers, who spend time (like me) on crosswords instead of doing something to improve a cruel, chaotic and self-destructive world, can easily overcome the deficiencies of their obsolete reference books and the obsession of compilers with obscure New Zealand words. The Internet may be taken for granted by youngsters, who don't know a world without it, but it's a continuing source of amazement to old buffers like me on the verge of senility.
Thank you for your kind but not giveaway assistance. My entry was in the post several hours ago. I don't want to be elusive. The Spectator can publish my name and home town any time.