The unclued lights consist of one author, two titles and four characters; ignore one accent. The titles (three words and five words) are pairs. Across 6 50% caught in large-scale disease outbreak (8)12 Get everyone out of Aleppo, due to lunatic taking over (10)13 Rolls makes an impression (9)14 Killer gets into motor car (4)15
Of the unclued entries, three combine to form a phrase (five words) describing three more (four foreign-language words). The remaining three combine to form a sentence (seven words) given by Brewer as an example of one of them. Across 1 It’s brimming, almost like an optimist’s view? Not half! (8) 8 Song or dance
The unclued entries (three of two words, and two hyphened) share an origin Across 1 Put an end to fight where you get a pinch (8) 12 Gold chain found in tangle (5) 14 Produce eggs to value somehow (7) 17 Panic in the manner of commandos (5) 22 Francophone settlers take from simple country
The unclued entries (two hyphened) are all synonyms. Each of five clues contains a word that must be removed to enable the clue to be solved. These words can all be augmented by a letter (the five letters appear in sequence in the completed grid, and must be highlighted) to form five more words, which,
The Journey of the Magi (38A and 39A), by T.S. Eliot, was based on an earlier sermon by Lancelot Andrewes, which is the source of the perimeter’s version of the quotation (starting ‘in the East’, down the right-hand column). His name appears in anagram form at 43D and 12D; and T.S. Eliot similarly at 47D
A quotation (in ODQ), starting on the appropriate side of the grid, runs clockwise around the perimeter. The other unclued entries (one of two words, one of three words), will show solvers the event being described, interrupted by some disposals. The original author of the quotation, found in anagrams in symmetrical answers, must be highlighted,
The unclued lights (including one of three words, two of two words, and a pair) are names for or are connected with a character. Two further four-letter names hidden in one row must be highlighted. Across 1 Discharge sailor to work out (7) 6 New mums with potential addition (7) 11 Bravo, cool dude (6, two words)
One of the unclued entries (two words) can be followed by each of the others (two of three words, one of two words), according to Brewer. Across 1 Clean turns into crashes – rash? (8) 8 What goes up, to go down like a lead balloon? (4) 14 Sinn Fein resisted revolutionary drinks (7)
Eight unclued entries (two of two words, one hyphened) form a folk rhyme used as the basis for the first lines of a work whose title is the other unclued entry (hyphened). Its author (5 cells) must be highlighted. Elsewhere, ignore two or three apostrophes and an accent. Across 1 Needing complex course, my
According to Brewer, a five-word phrase was used to describe a creature, but applies also to a three-word fictional character. The unclued entries, one doing double duty, comprise the phrase, the creature, his victim, the character, and the author’s surnames. Across 1 ‘Poacher’s instruments’ mean whisky (8, hyphened) 6 A jockey’s is shorter than
Two unclued lights give the name of a location and another a means of arrival and -departure. Other unclued lights give the names of the party arriving, including one who joins them at the location, and none who leave them there. The three instances of a certain letter appearing in the grid must be written
1 Across and 45 Across form a phrase, and the other unclued entries form a word ladder linking them, by changing one letter at a time, always forming real words. Elsewhere, ignore an accent. Across 11 Weary junkie’s eaten mollusc (10) 13 Everything taken into account, at last, endlessly (5, two words) 14 Holiday
Four of the unclued entries make up a ten-word Shakespearean quotation, including an apostrophe. The other three (two of two words each) represent three possible victims. Elsewhere, ignore an accent. 34 is in Brewer’s. Across 11 He almost banned awfully poisonous plant (7) 12 Cross Spain with a formative stage (4) 14
3 1A (eight words in total, one apostrophe) and 41 23 32 36 (seven words, including two accents) give two quotations (in ODQ) by 17 (two words), which possibly contradict each other or themselves. Across 10 With this cube, making something solid? (5) 11 Resolve to remove head of the BBC (5) 13 Old
10 5/9/34/30D/7/35/4/1D is a poem quoted in full in ODQ. The author’s surname (and indeed first name) appears at 26. Across 1 Portable furniture affected county (8, hyphened) 8 It’s only fair (4) 12 Get ready to improve shepherd’s delight left in champagne? (10) 13 Some twin sisters are demanding (6) 14 Book wrapping
Seven unclued entries are all examples of the other. Elsewhere, ignore an accent. Across 11 Ginger wine and rose (9, hyphened) 12 A long, aspirational character (5) 14 Feel for plunder, departing from honesty (4) 15 Remain undecided, lacking hint from photo finish (3) 18 Inoffensive, but for second, rude (7) 19 Less clear
In ten clues, the wordplay omits one of the letters of the solution. These letters in the grid, read row by row, complete the missing two words of an 11-word quotation (in the ODQ) given by five unclued entries. The other unclued entries give the name of the speaker. If these same letters in the
The unclued lights are expressions meaning NEVER (3A, 4D+43A, 21D+14D, 37A+1D and 37A+15D). First prize Hilary James, London W5 Runners-up David Henderson, Almonte, Ontario; A.H. Harker, Oxford
Across clues contain a definition and a jumble of the answer. In each row of the grid, a Shakespearean character is hiding, disguised by one letter. In one instance, the character does not occupy a whole entry — and in that instance the character is also hiding in the previous row. The disguises add up
Corrections of misprints in clues give CHAMBERS DICTIONARY, defining the items in the perimeter. First prize David Heath, Euston, Newark Runners-up E.C. Wightman, Menston, Ilkley, W. Yorks; E. Hogg, London SW13