Friday December 16Th 2022

[johnpiper]

well this was a mammoth task but having sorted out the rubric ad the unclueds i am stuck on 4 clues
51D Grave with 500 Bones (6) i have ST?R??
75A French royal seal set awry (7) I have ???eps?
61D Laugh about young child's Scottish interjection (5)
45A Take in charges and return to take up land (4,6)
I have ?RE? SELECT
Stumped!

[Captain2]

75 Altesse - anagram of 'seal set' - french royal

[Captain2]

Any letters for 61D?

Which crossword is it and are there any special instuctions?

[Patsy33]

45a Free Select

[johnpiper]

Spectator but these are all "normal" cryptic clues

Thank you both
Why is it Free S

[Captain2]

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/free-select

[Patsy33]

Charges = Fee Return = R

[Captain2]

Letters for 61d?

[Captain2]

I want 51d to be grave = STERN + D = 500, but can't find the word sternd anywhere, so perhaps' stern-a'?

[johnpiper]

Is a also an abbreviation for 500 too?

Just leaves Gunners in Greek island (5) ??ERA

[bobbinwales]

must be sterna but cant explain the A part or the 500 in clue??

[Captain2]

Thera? - but can't parse it.

[bobbinwales]

i vagely remember someone on AB answering a question by finding anumber in Greek /Roman for A maybe letter a but camt find it now anywhere

[johnpiper]

Thanks everyone

[bobbinwales]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Thera
The RA (royal artilary)

[johnpiper]

Its The RA i.e. the Royal Artillery Gunners

[Patsy33]

There's sternad

[Captain2]

Thanks guys. I'd got it into my head that Gunners were 'RE' for some reason. Honestly I did know it is 'RA' ;))

John, so what's the answer to 61d pretty please?

[johnpiper]

HAITH which i assume is a scottish interjection and all the letters are crossers
thats it all done!

[Neveracrossword]

Just for info - this is the Spectator's big/jumbo Christmas puzzle. There are extra prizes, £100, bottles of champagne... The closing date is 16 January 2023.

[Neveracrossword]

...,and A = 500 is in Chambers. 'A - as a medieval Roman numeral, 50 or 500'.