We haven't had many this year which I would categorise as a "beast", but this one's among them. Brilliantly crafted, evil clues throughout, and lots of deception in the endgame - I loved it.... ...
8d. Lady taken around a valley (4) D?L? I suspect DALE but DELL also fits letterwise and both are other words for valleys. Anyone parse it to one or the other?
12d. Theres nothing wrong with that method- it let's you hear music(5,6)????? ???t?e 10a. In turn five get embraced by a French clergyman (5)c?r?e 16a an amphibian sheds quietly in the countryside... ...
Suspect there must be another thread elsewhere but can't find it. Enjoyed working this one through. The rather unpromising letter sequences took a while to fall into place and the preamble needed... ...
Have finished this (in breaks from doing the Caboodle Books Puzzle) but can't see the parsing for the last one: Huge number turned up, a number unspecified for delivery worker (8) The answer has to... ...