The theme-word is SMITH which can be preceded by GOLD (24A), LADY (37A), HAMMER (3D), BLACK (5D) and SILVER (22D). The pertinent quotation ‘A mighty man is he’ at 9D comes from The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow. BLACK had to be shaded. First prize Andy Grady, Tutbury, Staffs Runners-up Steve Reszetniak, Margate, Kent; Oenone Green,
The unclued lights (with the pair at 41/2) include the colours of the RAINBOW, as confirmed by 24 Across. First prize Roslyn Shapland, Ilkeston, Derbyshire Runners-up C.G. Millin, Ramleaze, Wilts; Susan Hay, Wolverhampton
The unclued lights were odes by Keats and Shelley. The title could sound like ‘Some Addresses’. First prize Peter Wreford, Cambridge Runners-up Angela Tebbutt, West Caister, Norfolk; Anthony Harker, Oxford
‘YOU MIGHT AS WELL FALL FLAT ON YOUR FACE AS LEAN OVER TOO FAR BACKWARD’ – James THURBER (from ‘The Bear Who Let It Alone’ in the New Yorker of 29 April 1939). First prize Rhidian Llewellyn, South Africa Runners-up Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey; Gerry Fairweather, Layer Marney, Essex
Richard OSMAN (defined by the title) created 1/42/21, the members of which are 13/39, 18, 37/4 and Ron 29 with RON highlighted in the grid and referred to in the clue at 17 Down. First prize L. Coumbe, Benfleet, Essex Runners-up Angus Ross, Old Portsmouth, Hants Joe O’Farrell, Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, Ireland
The perimeter quotation reads, ‘I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member’. The unclued lights STRIP, FAN, BOOK, GROUCHO and YACHT can all be followed by the word ‘club’; GROUCHO Marx is the source of the quotation, which is from his resignation letter to a Hollywood club. First prize
The puzzle title alluded to a ‘base year’ and the message spelt out using unclued lights was ‘PUZZLE NUMBER is THIS YEAR, TWENTY TWENTY-FIVE, when WRITTEN IN BASE ELEVEN’. First prize R.J. Green, Guildford Runners-up John and Di Lee, Axminster; Kathleen Durber, Stoke-on-Trent
The unclued four-letter solutions are paired, one inside the other, to yield the four unclued 8-letter words: 37 ÷ 19 = 3, 15 ÷ 6 = 23, 21 ÷ 8 = 40 and 31D ÷ 38 = 44. First prize R.A. Towle, Ilkeston, Derbyshire Runners-up R.B. Briercliffe, Onchan, Isle of Man; Roger Cairns, Chalfont Heights,
The unclued lights are terms in heraldry. First prize A.J. Mott, Haslemere, Surrey Runners-up Edward Hossack, London SW17; Elizabeth Feinberg, Rancho Mirage, CA
The poem is ‘Say not the struggle nought availeth’ by Arthur Hugh Clough. The final words are SUN CLIMBS SLOW, HOW SLOWLY, BUT WESTWARD, LOOK, THE LAND IS BRIGHT. The other two extracts are DUPES (25A) and THE FIELD (22). CLOUGH (3) was to be shaded. First prize Will Snell, London SE10 Runners-up Mike Conway,
The unclued lights (including the pair at 4 and 37) are former county towns of eight historic Scottish counties. First prize Eleanor Morrall, Coseley, West Midlands Runners-up Revd John Thackray, Ipswich, Suffolk; Tom Fanshawe, Wantage, Oxon
Unclued lights were familiar three-word Latin expressions, all starting with ‘in’: IN STATU (2) PUPILLARI (11), IN MEDIAS (3) RES (40), IN LOCO (8) PARENTIS (43), IN FLAGRANTE (19) DELICTO (15), and IN VINO (36) VERITAS (20). First prize Gladys Chadwick, Walton, Cheshire Runners-up John Nutkins, London; John Bartlett, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands
Letters omitted from across answers, read in clue order, give MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SPECTATOR… the ‘organ’ in the title. The first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of Adrian Bliss’s The Greatest Nobodies of History: Minor Characters from Major Moments (Century) go to the following.
The perimeter quote from Cole Porter ends with the word GOODBYE, suggesting the remaining unclued lights and VALETE, to be highlighted in the grid. First prize Frances Whitehead, Harrogate Runners-up John Pugh, Ely, Cardiff; Willie Hamilton, Exeter
The pairs of unclued lights (1 and 13; 15 and 11; 20 and 34; 25 and 39; 26 and 31/16 reversed) are literal anagrams of each other. First prize Justin Hughes, Petersfield, Hants Runners-up Jacqui Sohn, Gorleston, Norfolk; John Bennett, Havant, Hants
The unclued lights are all types of sweet. The title indicated SWEETIES, an anagram of ‘I SEE WETS’. First prize Will Devison, Shaldon, Devon Runners-up Philip Grindrod, London W4; Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey
The two works are THE OLD WIVES’ TALE (1A/8) by ARNOLD (34) Bennett, born in HANLEY(25), and TALKING HEADS (27/36) by ALAN (35) Bennett, born in ARMLEY (17). BENNETT, in the fourth row starting at 16, had to be shaded. First prize Alison Latham, East Wittering, West Sussex Runners-up Stephen Saunders, Midford, Bath Mike Carter, Kirkby
The unclued lights are brands of CHOCOLATE. First prize T. Darch, London NW8 Runners-up Nicole O’Keeffe, London W11; Andrew Durham, Cooroy, Queensland, Australia
The unclued lights are four female winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature. First prize Angela Robinson, Brighton, East Sussex Runners-up Elizabeth Knights, Walton Highway, Wisbech; Andrew Vernalls, Milton Common, Thame, Oxon
The 14 unclued lights can be constructed using only the letters in ‘THE SPECTATOR’, as indicated in the preamble. First prize Belinda Bridgen, London NW8 Runners-up J. Bielawski, Southport; Hugh Green, Petersfield, Hampshire
