Having trouble wth middle square of 7ac, 8th and 9th squares of 14d, 36ac, 25d, 1st, 3rd and 4th square of 35d and 40ac. Hints appreciated, but apart from that the rest was OK quite quickly, less than an hour. So feeling chuffed!
Thanks Kayakamina
7ac. 2?1
14d OFTHECA?PIRA ?
25d ?LI?A? This is assuming IRONS is OK for 32ac!
26d ?ASI?IC
This is my first shot at Spectator! I need to get inside the setters head.
Ciao
No, I'm throwing in the towel, just have too much on at the moment. I have the theme (I think) but I'm stymied by 14d, 7ac (though I know in essence what has to be done) and 8dn.
I have eliminated all the letters from the phrase in the preamble except O T E O.
Assuming the O goes to make OF , and TE becomes THE I am left with CA (O) PIRA ?
I know the Housman reference - what put me off is the instruction that the solution must be entered in an 'irregular style'. In this case, does that simply mean the omission of the first word of the two-word answer the clue leads to? I think I may be over-complicating things.
Thank you all for your help, but I cant find any references to the what the pairing of 26D/7A must be (after elimination of all the other unchecked letters)
Am I looking in the wrong place?
Augustus,
There is only one word that will fit the letters ?ACI?IC
Google that word with the combination of numbers and you will end up with a piece of music.
Bathtub,
You will notice that these two answers contain numbers......