The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/30073.
I was happy to have avoided blogging yesterday’s Enigmatist, but if that one was easy for an Enigmatist (if that is not an oxymoron), I found today’s easy for a Brockwell, particularly in the top half. There is enough material built around 3D HORSE to constitute a theme, without being oppressive. Given the theme, I thought that 22D FLICKA was a gem in its brevity.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | HIGH TEA |
Spoonerโs man from Bangkok makes meal (4,3)
|
| A Spoonerism of THAI, HE. Perhaps not the best of Spoonerisms, but the word ‘meal’ helps to obfuscate 10A. | ||
| 5 | TRIGGER |
Bouncer defending right cause (7)
|
| An envelope (‘defending’) of R (‘right’) in TIGGER (‘bouncer’; the Winnie-the-Pooh character who loves to bounce. “Bouncing is what Tiggers do best”). | ||
| 10 | FOUR |
Square meal left out (4)
|
| A subtraction’: F[l]OUR (‘meal’) minus the L (‘left out’). | ||
| 11 | GRANDSTAND |
Show off magnificent stomach (10)
|
| A charade of GRAND (‘magnificent’) plus STAND (‘stomach’, verb). | ||
| 12 | GIDEON |
Christian Bale finally doing wrong (6)
|
| An anagram (‘wrong’) of E (‘balE finally’) plus ‘doing’; for a member of Gideons International, which distributes free copies of the Bible). | ||
| 13 | TRUSSING |
PM briefly in front of No.11 preparing joint (8)
|
| A charade of TRUSS (Liz – in full Mary Elizabeth – the short-lived ‘PM’) plus ‘in’ plus G (‘Front of No. 11’, a reference to the answer to 11A, Grandstand), the ‘joint’ probably being prepared for roasting. The picture of the Prime Minister rolling a joint on Downing Street is delightful. | ||
| 14 | STUD FARMS |
Dr Faust confused by manuscript showing birthplaces of 6 and 28 (4,5)
|
| A charade of STUDFAR, an anagram (‘confused’) of ‘Dr Faust’; plus MS (‘manuscriot’). | ||
| 16 | SENSE |
Soundness of judgement is some change for Donald Trump in speech (5)
|
| A pun (‘in speech’) on CENTS (‘some change for Donald Trump’). | ||
| 17 | BOGGY |
3 whimsically entertained by youthโs description of Slough (5)
|
| An envelope (‘entertained by’) of GG (‘3 whimsically’ – 3D HORSE) in BOY (‘youth;). | ||
| 19 | SMACKDOWN |
3D wrestling match (9)
|
| A charade of SMACK (‘3’ – both HORSE and SMACK are slang for herion) plus DOWN (‘D’) | ||
| 23 | STEEPLED |
3 taking pulse oddly inspired? (8)
|
| An envelope (‘taking’) of PLE (‘PuLsE oddly’) in STEED (‘3’ -3D HORSE). | ||
| 24 | LIVERY |
Organ Symphonyโs finale is uniform (6)
|
| A charade of LIVER (‘organ’) plus Y (‘symphonY‘s finale’). | ||
| 26 | HIPPOCAMPI |
Bits of grey matter in fish (10)
|
| Double definition; the fish are seahorses, fitting the theme. The brain region was so named for the resemblance of its shape to the seahorse. | ||
| 27 | SHOE |
Weeds cycling in Oxford? (4)
|
| HOES (‘weeds’) ‘cycling’, with an indication by example. | ||
| 28 | SHERGAR |
That woman in tattered clothing coming round for 3 (7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of HER (‘that woman’) in SGAR, a reversal (‘coming round’) of RAGS (‘tattered clothing’). Not as well known as 6D RED RUM, but another successful racehorse; when retired to a stud farm, he was kidnapped and held for ransom (the ransom was never paid, and the horse was not recovered). | ||
| 29 | CHARGER |
Spice Girl cut by tea tray (7)
|
| A charade of CHAR (‘tea’) plus GER[i] (Halliwell, ‘Spice Girl’) minus the last letter (‘cut’). Not the definition used by the clue, but another reference to the HORSE theme. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | IRONIST |
Club is ultimately perfect for George Bernard Shaw? (7)
|
| A charade of IRON (golf ‘club’) plus ‘is’ plus T (‘ultimately perfecT‘), with the question mark for the indication by example. | ||
| 3 | HORSE |
Hard rock capturing the heart of Mason Mount (5)
|
| An envelope (‘capturing’) of S (‘the heart of maSon’) in H (‘hard’) plus ORE (‘rock’). Brockwell often makes inventive use of real names; Mason Mount is a footballer who plays for Manchester United. | ||
| 4 | EUGENIA |
Plant from eastern New Guinea (7)
|
| A charade of E (‘eastern’) plus UGENIA, an anagram (‘new’) of ‘Guinea’. | ||
| 6 | RED RUM |
3 makes a killing after receiving a tip (3,3)
|
| A reversal (‘receiving a tip’ – that is, upended) of MURDER (‘killing’). One of the most famous Thoroughbred racehorses. His name came from his dam MaRED and sire QuoRUM. | ||
| 7 | GATESHEAD |
Billionaire boss in Northern town (9)
|
| A charade of GATES (Bill, ‘billionaire’) plus HEAD (‘boss’). | ||
| 8 | EL NINOS |
Climatic events during climbing season in Lesotho (2,5)
|
| A hidden (‘during’) reversed (‘climbing’ in a down light) answer in ‘seaSON IN LEsotho’. | ||
| 9 | PANTOMIME DAME |
Emma made point about cross-dresser (9,4)
|
| An anaram (‘about’) of ’emma made point’. | ||
| 15 | DIG DEEPER |
Pedigree dogโs heading off to investigate more thoroughly (3,6)
|
| An anagram (‘off’) of ‘pedigree’ plus D (‘Dog’s heading’). | ||
| 18 | OSTRICH |
Bird not up for courtship dancing (7)
|
| An anagram (‘dancing’) of ‘co[u]rtshi[p]’ minus UP (‘not up’). | ||
| 20 | COLTISH |
3 is hot and frisky (7)
|
| A charade of COLT (‘3’ – 3D HORSE) plus ‘is’ plus H (‘hot’). | ||
| 21 | WARZONE |
Spin bowler containing Australia up front? (7)
|
| No, not an anagram of ‘bowler A’. An envelope (‘containing’) of ZO, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of OZ (‘Australia’) in WARNE (most likely Shane, ‘spin bowler‘, cricketer). | ||
| 22 | FLICKA |
Movie about mustang (6)
|
| A charade of FLICK (‘movie’) plus A (‘about’ – not a common abbreviation, but it is in Chambers). Flicka in the film of that name was a mustang, so that is a sufficient definition, or the entire clue may be read as an extended definition. | ||
| 25 | VISOR |
Counsellor spending a day in the shade (5)
|
| A subtraction: [ad]VISOR (‘counsellor’) minus A D (‘spending a day’). |
Nice puzzle, liked the gateway clue HORSE [has anyone else noticed that Mason Mount is almost without fail referred to by commentators by his full name? Another such is Declan Rice.]
For 10a (FOUR) I confidently put in UNCH (an unchecked square in a crossword). It works perfectly, if you ignore those pesky crossers.
Thanks, PeterO – needed you for SENSE and BOGGY.
TRIGGER presumably is a reference to Roy Rogers horse.
SHANE WARNE is/was a spin bowler.
Thanks Brockwell, too
Liked GRANDSTAND, TRUSSING (there must be such words to describe PMs with short tenure!), BOGGY,
HORSE, EL NINOS, WARZONE and VISOR.
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO.
I also had UNCH as my first entry in the grid, feeling very pleased with myself. I then had trouble with the crucial 3D even though I had SHERGAR early on. But in general it was a relatively straightforward Brockwell crossword. Thanks to him and PeterO.
Another UNCHer. The theme helped me for RED RUM. Liked STEEPLED. I confess to having googled ‘warnoze’. CHARGER held me up for ages and was LOI.
I was a bit worried when I saw the theme and could see two of them were going to be names of horses but even I had heard of SHERGAR and RED RUM.
Glad I am not the only one who wasted time trying to fit an anagram of bowler a especially when the W was checked. I can count on one hand the number of spin bowlers I know and thankfully Warne was one of them.
Didnโt know the movie FLICKA which went in with a shrug. Didnโt know the second meaning of HIPPOCAMPI but the checking letters were very kind.
Liked SMACKDOWN, thankfully my son likes the wrestling or I may have struggled with that one. Iโm not sure itโs a wrestling match in the same way Soccer Saturday is not a football match.
Likes for HORSE, GIDEON and TRUSSING as well.
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO
Goodness – as so often with Brockwell, the theme runs very deep. As PeterO says, not oppressive but I would not be surprised to find virtually every answer having a connection. I have not gone through them all but there have been several famous racehorses called EL NINO; a top class breeding mare, Princess EUGENIA; we have IRON horse, WAR horse, horse SHOE, horse HEAD, horse SENSE, PANTOMIME horse, the apocalyptic FOUR horsemen, STEEPLE chaser etc etc. Chapeau to setter and thanks to blogger.
The theme was a bit scary for me as I know very little about famous horses so I was relieved to see it was mainly horses that have appeared in crosswords previously. I was sad to read about SHERGARโs kidnapping and brutal murder in that he was machine-gunned to death by very violent men.
I gave up on 16ac and 29ac. The mention of DT in the clue for 16ac made my brain go dead ๐
New for me: EUGENIA = plant; GIDEON = Christian (although I have heard mention of Gideonโs bibles), and CHARGER = tray.
I could not parse the A bit of 22d FLICKA.
Yes, lots to enjoy in this. Once the theme was seen, RED RUM and SHERGAR were just waiting to go into the starting gates. HIGH TEA, GIDEON and SMACKDOWN were favourites for me. Thanks to B & P.
FLICKA
I have seen ‘a’ clued as ‘about’ in some puzzles before, but I had forgotten the context
in which a=about.
Gemini says:
In family trees, historical archives, and biographical records, space constraints require aggressive abbreviation.Example: โBorn: a. 1820, Died: 1895.โ In this context, it stands for “about 1820.” (Note: It is used interchangeably with the Latin abbreviation c. or ca., which stands for circa).
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO
The other way round for me on FLICKA – I remembered the film of that name (a remake of My Friend Flicka) but didn’t see the wordplay, so thought it was just a non-cryptic clue.
Lots to like. BOGGY just about favourite.
I thought COLTISH was a bit weak, as the description derives from COLT.
Another who tried the BOWLER A anagram. Nice clue when I saw it, though.
I got CHARGER from the theme and crossers rather than the clue.
Dr. Whatson @1 my answer to your question about Mason Mount is that I only know that name doesn’t refer to a geographical feature somewhere because you used “his”.
I struggled with some of the parsing. Flicka seems rather obscure to me, and the two racehorses are perhaps well known to those who were around when they were active but obscure to younger solvers. Perhaps, ironically, Shergar will remain common knowledge for longer due to the associated mystery.
I’m pleased I didn’t notice unch.
I found this far harder than yesterday’s Enigmatist and had to reveal FLICKA and the entire Southeast.
I enjoyed the horse references – STUD FARMS led me to RED RUM and then to HORSE. Perhaps a bit backwards but it worked for me.
A clue that requires me to know a random cricket player leaves me utterly cold.
Thanks Brockwell and Peter
Lovely, though I didn’t know EUGENIA was a plant and HIPPOCAMPI were seahorses, and was surprised to find A=about was legitimate. Managed to miss the “bowler” bear trap in WARZONE (a favourite clue, and even I have heard of Shane Warne). Other favourites were TRIGGER (for the “bouncer”), SENSE (so rarely found in DT’s speeches) and SHOE.
Thanks Brockwell for an entertaining morning and PeterO for the blog.
Agree with PostMark at #7; the delightful thing about Brockwell is that there is always more to the theme than just the indicated clues. I didnโt catch all of these but did spot Trigger and Steeple as thematicโฆ
Thanks as always to our blogger for the explanations ๐
Fortunately the horses were two of the three that I could actually name
Top ticks for WARZONE, SMACKDOWN & IRONIST for being the exception to the rule that nobody in a Brockwell puzzle is who they seem to be
Another temporary uncher here ๐
Cheers P&B
Couldnโt for the life of me parse SENSE. The two I had most trouble with were GIDEON, (though I do remember those ubiquitous hotel drawer bibles without thinking about Gideon the Christian) and loi CHARGER, with a definition as a Tray that I had not come across before. Apart from that, fairly plain sailing, though not exactly at a gallopโฆ
As PostMark suggests @7 (echoed by AlexinSG @15 – I managed to delete a comment I wrote earlier!) a good deal of the enjoyment of solving a Brockwell puzzle is to take time to go back and DIG DEEPER, to uncover the elegant and witty lightness of touch in the way the theme permeates the whole – pervasive but not oppressive, we might well say. So far, I have not found more than PostMark (chapeau to him) but they may well be there.
Aside from the theme, my favourite clues were GIDEON, TRUSSING, CHARGER and WARZONE (all for the trademark use of real names), BOGGY and OSTRICH, both for the smiles, LIVERY and a host of other ticks, genuinely too many to mention.
Many thanks, as ever, to Brockwell, for a delightful start to the day (helping to divert my thoughts from the tragedy of Dunwich Heath, which I know well) and to (lucky!) PeterO for the blog.
While Red Rum was indeed a thoroughbred racehorse and originally trained for mile races on the Flat, his fame comes as a steeplechaser; he is the only 3 times winner of the Grand National (with 2 second places into the bargain).
DrW @1: many thanks for the UNCH note. I didn’t know the word but I always dread 5-letter lights which contain 3 unches.
Also thanks to PeterO for the link between seahorses and that bit of brain.
Gotta love a crossword, eh?
LobsterDarts @13 – Shane Warne is far more than ‘a random cricket player’! He’s one of only two bowlers to have taken more than 1,000 international wickets.
This was Shane Warne’s first ball in an Ashes Test in England – often referred to as “the ball of the century”.
Thanks to PeterO for the blog and to Postmark@7 for highlighting the inventive use of the theme. That was a tail of 2 halves for me as the top half went in quite quickly but the bottom half took some serious staring with the clever WARZONE & CHARGER being my LOIs.
Well done Postmark@7 for finding all the additional words involving horse.
Just a small bit of pedantry – Gideon @12a was obviously not a Christian, but was chosen by the Gideons International in the 19th century as an example of his readiness to serve God.
El niรฑos, rather than los niรฑos, looks weird to me but I feel content it is correct.
Thanks for the blog and well done MrPostmark@7 for all the extras . STUD FARMS actually gave it away very early for me before I even got to any 3 references . STEEPLED is very neat with a bit of fission , HIPPOCAMPI a very clever double definition . RED RUM famously trained on the beaches fairly near to where I go swimming .
Breaking news today , SHERGAR has been found hiding in the KPR trophy room with Lord Lucan .
A welcome relief after yesterday’s horror show. Got the theme early on and knew all the horsey references (and no, I wasn’t held up by putting ‘unch’ in at 10ac, FOUR was my FOI). Pleased to say that I knew both meanings of HIPPOCAMPI. Although I detest cricket and everything about it, and couldn’t even name most of the current England team, even I knew Shane Warne. Therefore I think that counts as legitimate GK.
Enjoyed this quite a lot, though WARZONE defeated me, requiring the GK of a specific cricketer. I find EL NINOS teeth-grating, both because it’s niรฑos (yes, I know we’ve had this before), and because as a plural it would presumaly be ‘los’ if anyone ever actually said it.
Amazingly, I did see the theme and knew both the horses referred to. The REDRUM-MURDER trick has been seen more than once in crosswords.
can anyone enlighten the definition of charger as tray? Google’s just giving me suggestions of trays that can charge my phone but I presume it’s not that?
I thought someone else might mention that, besides being Roy Rogers’ steed, as Dave E points out @2, TRIGGER was also the horse of Ernie the milkman and in that capacity pulled the fastest milk cart in the west. I wonder which Brockwell had in mind.
Oh, and a HORSE TRUSSer is a thing, to add to PostMark’s equine inventory.
Shirley@24 Gideon was indeed an Old Tstament character but, as PeterO in the blog suggests, a member of the Christian Gideons International organisation is known as a Gideon
Jim@29 , large china plates in fancy dinner services to go under the dinner plate or bowls . I see a lot at auctions .
TRIGGER also a friend of Del-Boy , so-called because he looked like a horse . Rodney originally was worried in case he carried a gun .
Jim@29; the classic reference to a charger as a tray is Biblical, when Salome asked Herod for John the Baptist’s head “upon a charger”, (which was duly provided, and is the subject of many paintings). Incidentally, and not yet mentioned, one can get on one’s HIGH horse (not unknown on this site).
Why is 29a CHARGER a TRAY?
“Charger” always reminds me of “When a knight won his spurs” which I quote to friends who arrive and immediately ask to borrow a cable for their phone: “No charger have I and no sword by my side…”.
poc@28: Although I am usually pretty pedantic I can see a good case for “El Ninos” rather than “Los Ninos” (setting aside the tilde because well, British spelling arrogance I guess). It’s the same way I might say “There as several Las Vegases, including two in Spain”. I’d be treating “Las Vegas” or “El Nino” as a compound noun rather than separate words.
Clever use of theme, lovely misdirections and smooth surfaces – thank you Brockwell and PeterO
If the Willie Mullins trained I Am Maximus comes back to Aintree next April and wins The Grand National for a third time at the age of eleven it will almost emulate RED RUM. This Irish raider came second in between its two very recent wins thereโฆ
โฆand when SHERGAR won the Guardian Classic Trial at Sandown in April 1981 (I was there!) the legendary Guardian racing correspondent Richard Baerlein famously told the world โto bet like menโ on the horse to win the Epsom Derby in June. He probably wouldnโt have got away with saying that today, howeverโฆ
Many thanks to PeterO for a typically excellent blog and to everyone else for solving and commenting. Iโm glad that most of you enjoyed the ride and spotted most of the themers. Visor, grandstand and (starting) gates will be familiar to racing fans and thereโs a DAM hiding in 9d. Disappointing that nobody seems familiar with what you should say to a recalcitrant horse – GIDEON UP obviously ๐. All the best, B
I failed. It was a poor effort from me. I didn’t get GIDEON or FLICKA. Last time HIPPOCAMPUS/CAMPI came up, in March 2024, Eileen told us “Double definition – look them up!” The second half of which, it seems, would be reasonable advice for CHARGER today.
[I remember a GIDEON guy presenting his bibles to us at school when I was 11. He claimed we could look in there and find the answer any question. Within 5 minutes of flicking through, it became clear he was lying or of inferior intellect*, probably both. Into the bin it went.]
Decent puzzle. SHERGAR was first in, which got the theme rolling. The only clue it helped with today was CHARGER. Mostly straightforward but still a DNF.
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO.
*Like I feel today.
cents has a t in. It is not a homophone of sense. Even in RP.
copland@41
PeterO has called it a pun instead of a homophone.
May please consider that it’s Donald Trump’s speech. ๐
Am I the first to mention LIVERY yard, a stable where owners pay to board their horses? Once commonplace, perhaps best known to modern solvers from Westerns, where a livery stable would also hire out horses and wagons.
I was also briefly distracted by UNCH, but wasn’t aware it was a word, which saved me from more trouble before I twigged to “meal”. I dredged up FLICKA from faint memory – perhaps a distant echo from my time in Sweden decades ago.
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO.
If you choose to DIG DEEPER there is horse connection to every other solution. Some are obscure, like OSTRICH but they check out. A tour de force from Brockwell.
KVa @42: Indeed. In fact it is such a common pun, there are countless financial advice shows, blogs, podcasts, etc. here in the US punningly titled “Dollars and Sense”.
Good horsey stuff. Luckily, I solved the NE corner first, so got HORSE early on. I liked Christian Bale/GIDEON doing wrong, the SMACKDOWN wrestling match, and the inspired STEEPLED.
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO.
[A couple of asides: the LIVERY stable brings to mind the one run by Mr. Hobson, where the horses were hired out in strict rotation and the next customer had to take the horse nearest the door: Hobson’s choice.
The GIDEONs are a very hidebound organisation: in 2018 the UK branch proposed (not before time) that it was high time that women were allowed to be admitted as full members. However, the US-based parent body, Gideons International, rejected this out of hand and took legal steps to prevent the UK branch from doing so. The result is that the Gideons have split: a new UK body called Good News for Everyone does similar Bible-promoting work, but is open to women. Not sure if Gideons UK is still in business.]
The tongue is in the same position for the n (nasal voiced), the t (unvoiced and unaspirated before another consonant) and the s (unvoiced fricative). As the voicing of the n ceases and the release of breath for the s begins, a t sound is inevitably produced.
Is no one going to mention Trigger, Roy Rogers’ horse in the movies?
Debbie M @49
See DaveEllison @comment 2. ๐
Dr. Whatson @1 You’re right about those players nearly always being referred to by their full names! I always notice Lamine Yamal is too. Most commentators never call him just ‘Yamal’.
I’ve not encountered Brockwell before and I don’t wish to again. Recovering from an op I was looking forward to something more relaxing but this was way out of my league…
Stools77 @52
Please don’t give up on Brockwell so soon. He’s one of the favourite setters of many folk here. (I’ve just completed six months’ convalescence from major surgery and his puzzles went a fair way to helping my recovery!) Of course, we all have different tastes and interests. Brockwell’s puzzles always have a theme: perhaps today’s just didn’t happen to suit you – but the next one could be right up your street. It might be worth looking at a couple of blogs of his previous puzzles, just to get a whiff of his versatility.
Just saying … ๐
As a horse-mad child in the late โ50s, I loved the tv series โMy friend Flickaโ. It was only much later that I discovered the Swedish word โflickaโ means โgirlโ. I was about to complain that the movie could not have been about a mustang, but checking with Google put me straight – apparently a mustang can be male or female.
Does anyone know what happened to the cheat word option from the menu? Been missing all week. I haven’t turned off the setting and the other options (check word etc) are still there
Thanks Eileen #53, maybe I’m just having one of those days. I’ll check some previous puzzles and see how I get on. Wishing you well…
I was another who initially tried to solve 10A on an โunch. (Apologies.)
That was most enjoyable, thanks Brockwell and PeterO.
If “cents” sounds the same as “sense”, presumably “dents” sounds the same as “dense” and “tents” sounds the same as “tense”.
David @58 yep.
Bog hoss @55 Annoying isn’t it? Life’s too short to try letter by letter. The cheat (or they might call it reveal) word is still on the website though. ๐คทโโ๏ธ
Stools77 @56
Thanks for your response – glad to know you didn’t take my comment amiss.
A suggestion: https://fifteensquared.net/2026/07/10/guardian-cryptic-crossword-no-30055-by-brockwell/?
All the best. ๐
David Mansell @58
I take your point, but one would have to be enunciating extrremely precisely to make those pairs sound different.
Eileen @61 & Stools77 @56
Eileen, you have directed Stools77 to the blog, which is probably not what is required (at least not yet). Stools77, for the blank crossword, try the Guardian site.
As Eileen says @18 , we always have to DIG DEEPER with Brockwell to reveal the full delight. Not that I did, of course, which is why I come on here to appreciate everything that I’ve inevitably missed.
Regarding the cents/sense argument, I was reminded of a joke my niece once told me:
Why do hippies like camping? Because it’s intense, man!
Can somebody please explain 29a, I get the pieces but no idea regarding the tray definition, this has wound me up all day ๐
Dan h @66
If you do not have a dictionary to hand, this has been explained by Roz @32 and Sagittarius @34. Alternatively, you evidently have online access, and the site onelook.com will give you a choice of dictionary definitions. Of course, platter might be a better definition, but I think ‘tray’ will suffice.
In old dinner services they act as a tray to catch anything spilt from the plate/bowl being used and protect the table . These days we use table mats .
A very rare occurrence for me to finish a Friday, helped by the theme. Couldn’t parse CHARGER or SMACKDOWN but both were well explained. The mark of a good crossword, for me, is one that keeps you coming back for more, and this one certainly did. Thanks both.
I was another who confidently wrote in UNCH at 10a, and refused to reconsider it until this morning. As can be imagined, I didn’t have many others filled in…
Once disabused, I made startlingly good progress, but it took me a while to think of that “random cricketer” and the real name of a Spice Girl rather than her nickname. One of the few I got before the rewind was GRANDSTAND, which I thought was brilliantly succinct, but maybe it’s beaten by FLICKA.
Thanks to Brockwell and PeterO.
Not easy for me. I allowed a few days for this, and almost finished. For 29a I had an unparsed CHERVIL (“Spice”, “girl” = CHER, etc?) instead of CHARGER, which blocked 21d WARZONE, which I never would have solved anyway. Many really delightful clues, though. I especially appreciated the reference to โOrgan Symphonyโ in 24a LIVERY, having played a few myself. Thanks to both
Mig@71 , a few days ??? you were lucky , when I were a lass we had to spend six weeks on a Bunthorne or there was no gruel for supper .
Roz@72 and here I thought you’d be proud of me for not giving up so quickly! ๐
Yes Mig , I was impressed , I was just channelling the Four Yorkshiremen .
Some people join the blogs here on the morning of the crossword and say – I did not finish – ???
Roz, I learned from you to be more patient! Sometimes surprising how it pays off…