Ev 1555

[professorplum13]

Help please with the (end) game.
Full grid, lost letters from the acrosses (1st and 3rd are identical in the 7 sets of 3, middle ones vary???), extra words from the downs.....have guessed at a few synonyms of the pairs but getting nowhere fast....

[hankir]

Professor,
I don't understand instruction two:
Consecutive pairs.....dialect usage.
Does it mean Clue 1 and 4 have in synonyms in clues or in answers.
I have entered many down answers.
I see that in 1a, you can drop letters 3 and 4 before entry. In 4a, drop the last two for entry. But what's the rationale?

[ProfessorMaisie]

Yes, the pairs in order each share one synonym - the first 2 pairs are pretty obvious but the second two each have obscure synonyms.
The two names are -
P??(+)S???
P???(+)I??
I could spell them out if this doesn't do the trick.

[ProfessorMaisie]

...this is another very English theme/'game' - and one I've never been remotely interested in (but it has cult status over here, I think).

[ProfessorMaisie]

I'm not sure what you're getting at, hankir - the 'consecutive... dialect' part of the preamble only refers to the down entries extra words (that's what I've tried to hint at for professorplum13).
Only 2 letters drop from 1a - the letter counts given are for the original answers (was that just a typo?).

[ProfessorMaisie]

...sorry, the down clues extra words (not 'entries').

[hankir]

ProfessorM, thanks for trying.
I have not solved 2d, 4d (tier?), 6d (isis?).

Please spell out
P??(+)S???
P???(+)I??

Also what is the logic of dropping letters from across answers?

I have dropped ER from 1a, us from 4a, er from 14a, tin from 18a.

[professorplum13]

I still can't see the synonyms ... maybe i have the wrong extra words?
standard/score ...possibly PAR?
inhabitants/disciples
tip/settle
encloses/dwelling places

[professorplum13]

4d yes tier ..double defn ...level and "one restraining" ...inhabitants is extra i think

6d yes think it comes from vISItS without the T ? possibly extra is disciples ??

[professorplum13]

i have dropped ER from 3,11,16,21,25,31,35
SIN from 10,15,20,24,27,34,37

Could be wrong tho!

[Neveracrossword]

PP, yes to dropping Disciples.
Hankir, no to your Tin.

[Neveracrossword]

PP< your dropped letters seem fine.

[professorplum13]

Parsons?

[Neveracrossword]

Yes, PP - and that's a huge pointer to the theme itself (if you haven't already got it from the earlier hints).

[ProfessorMaisie]

The 'er' is what it usually means in crossword jargon - think of a 'game' that doesn't allow it.

[ProfessorMaisie]

I doubt you'll know the names or the 'game', hankir - but if you get the names you'll get the rest from wiki... I'll give it a little while longer and then spell them out if you're still stuck.

[professorplum13]

Got it now i think ...J A M perhaps?

I see the ER rule and the repeat rule but where does sin come in?

[Neveracrossword]

Deviations...

[hankir]

Thanks NAC and PP.
It seems this may be about a game show,, now that I have the two names. The game seems to be (4, 1, 6).

I am missing several answers. Time to give up.

[ProfessorMaisie]

2d PAAN