Spectator 1920

[greyfox]

Greetings Speccie enthusiasts! 'Gosh!' by Muso is this week's diversion.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article_assets/arti cledir_7431/3715773/crossword.pdf

[kayakamina]

Gorblimey! It's Thursday again.

Thanks for the link greyfox.

[toalisi]

Thanks Greyfox.

What is the normal clue that suggests the theme?

[novalis]

Many thanks for the link. That's my entertainment for later.

[kayakamina]

You may have to Google it at 18d.

You may also need to Google for 8d & 29a.

Cheers K

[AHearer]

Is the rubric accurate? Are there one or two two-word 18ds?

[turnerjmw]

I'm sure there are two pairs, AHearer. I think "two of which are paired" was poorly worded.

[mad max]

Many thanks for link.

[AHearer]

Thanks for that confirmation, turnerjmw.

[Christiana]

Thanks for the link. Will look properly tomorrow.

[Ironie]

18 down and 40 across are causing me some puzzlement. Can anyone provide a hint or two?

[Ironie]

Have just twigged what 40 across must be! The hyphen comes after the first three letters, I guess. Just leaves the crux - 18 down. I take it the last four letters form a crucial word, but what precedes them I cannot think.

[turnerjmw]

Ironie, if your first letter in 18dn is H then you need to look again at 17ac. If you have 17ac right then if you go to www.onelook.com and search on your four-letter word you will find enlightenment at the bottom of the page, in phrases containing the word.

[Ironie]

Many thanks, turnerjmw, for the tip. All is now clear. Tricky, that tempting, but false, variant in the solution to 17 across!

[turnerjmw]

Yes indeed, I fell into that elephant trap myself, as you have probably gathered!

[Ruthrobin]

And so did I - the H word seemed far more obvious at first.