Am I honestly the first of the Friday Club? What a fine, interesting set of clues. We guessed the theme quite early, which helped. Brock has produced another excellent challenge. Thank you Brock!
Greetings all - once again I am struggling with the very last bit. I have found all the relevant connections except for the grid word at 2 down and the answer to the clue at 1 across. The only word that seems to fit at 2 down doesn't seem to have any relevance. Can't see any possible alternative word to fit, either. Can anyone point me in the vaguely right direction? Ta
These two are linked cross lover - the entry at 2d is defined by the fourth word of the clue. Definition in 1a is first 2 words, extra word appears at the end.
Thanks Mysterons. Still can't see why the entry at 2dn fits the theme, though. And I've just noticed I haven't solved the clue at 30ac either! Never mind, will all come as a lovely surprise.
Cross_lover, the justification for the entry at 2d as a theme word took me a long time to find, but if you so a Google search with the phrase <puzzle theme> and <2d> and search each hit for the word <29> you should eventually find what you want. Or you can just have faith that you have it right:-)
Nice one. Good clueing with plenty of smiles, a couple of chuckles and a few groans. The entertainment kept me going till I got the last asterisked clue (many of these backwards!) and finally worked out the "order determined by the grid". Maybe easier than last week, but far from the simplest this year. Thanks, Brock.