Spurred on by K and Cr, I thought I would give this a go. I have solved 20 clues, but I still have not the slightest idea what I am supposed to be doing! Could one of you please translate the instructions (in italics at the top) into words which I can understand? Or should I creep quietly back to the soothing arms of the DT?
The unclued ones all contain the letters of a 9 letter word in the grid. There are also three solutions that are clued and are also made up of letters from the same word.
Thanks, K. A bit clearer. I had the idea that all the unclued words had some association with each other.
Now seen your second post - I had assumed that 1834 was just the serial nomber of this puzzle!
So here we go again.
I think I'm still missing something here. K refers to the importance of the title. The only heading on my (downloaded) copy is 1834: The Spectator crossword.
The title here is "The Spectator Crossword". 1834 is simply the number in the series. If you look at the solution at the bottom you will see that it is for no. 1831, i.e. 3 weeks ago, and the title on that occasion was"Qui est-ce".
Aq Spectator is the 'magic' word and contains all the components of the unclued lights and the three undefined ones. Most weeks the title (see my post above about one headed Elevenses) is an indicator of the theme.
All will become clear but don't expect future puzzles to be as straightforward as this one.
The Spectator always has the same 14x14 barred format, and invariably has a group of unclued entries with a common theme (hence the larger format to allow their inclusion). The theme is usually more interesting that this week's example !
Regarding the 'three-point landing', I'm not sure why it should be particularly 'bad' compared to others - it is apparently easier to learn but not as good in windy conditions. Anyway, here is an example.
I have always believed that it was a very good landing, and indeed Chambers defines it as a "perfect landing". Therefore I think the clue is simply wrong.