Spectator 2480

[hypotheses]

Stuck on last two but both are theme words. 25A: Have 3 out of 4 letters but only 2 words seem to fit, neither of which seems to relate to the theme. Similarly, 30D: 4 possible two-word phrases but again, none seems to be relevant. Any hints without giving too much of the game away?

[ProfessorMaisie]

For 30d the first word is the obvious theme word (also used in one of the 3 letter phrases) together with the following word the phrase is given as a direct synonym in Chambers for the word at 3d.
For 25a I think there's only one possible synonym for the same obvious theme word.

[hypotheses]

Many thanks for that. Confirms what I thought most likely though some of these synonyms seem to be stretching a point to me. Not the most satisfying Speccie.

[ProfessorMaisie]

I think a theme word hinted at by the title/preamble is being used cryptically and, if so, all of the unclued entries would be reasonable synonyms of the first 5 letters of this 9 letter word.
However, the 9 letter word itself isn't exactly synonymous with 'warning' - it's defined as 'a password... a signal' etc (although 'signal' can mean 'danger' according to Chambers) so it's not ideal - maybe there's a better '?????word'?

[ProfessorMaisie]

...the phrase '????? it!' might work.

[hypotheses]

I agree, but your thinking is rather more subtle than where I was coming from! I think your suggestions tend to underline my original point that the theme is less than definitive. In an ideal crossword world there wouldn’t be room for interpretation. Thanks again for your responses.