EV 993 Mind the Gap by Ifor

[dr b]

A fine puzzle, although a lot of cold solving required before you can really get going. Getting the 10 & 11 letter words helps a lot. Clever of Ifor to include 2 grid numbers as part of the thematic material. BUT.... "what he said", which is used to complete the grid, was NOT said at the highlighted "where", but earlier in the work and at a different place. Harumph.

[turnerjmw]

I quite agree, dr b. You will recall it was Ifor who used grid numbers for 5 degrees C and 41 degrees F in his "Minus Forty" Listener 4137, Frightened Catherine. Shame about the loose use of "where". Quite difficult for an EV, with no entry lengths, and no quick way in.

[AndrewG-S]

Despite the objections raised above, I really enjoyed this. The lack of entry lengths made it very challenging to get a toe hold on the grid, but getting one of the longer clues meant that the amount of cold solving was not as awful as I feared at first. Good touch to have all real words in the grid. Certainly at the tougher end of EV offerings. Thanks Ifor

[devadolly]

Good morning all, am slowly getting along but have only found one of the long answers necessary to start populating the grid. The preamble has been basically ignored for the moment. Will have another 'go' today but tomorrow's the day for the butcher so am a lot jumpy. Will hopefully consult on Thursday.

[kayakamina]

As others have said,it is a pity about the 'where' but , all in all, an enjoyable puzzle.
Having no entry lengths made it difficult but the clues being in alphabetical order certainly helped.