Stephen Collis

OK, OK, I hear you… it is a bit hard, isn’t it? Well, here is a clue:

In some entries, the wordplay leads to an alternative to the grid entry which must be deduced

There, that makes it clearer, doesn’t it? Well, if you’re a seasoned crossword-o-holic, I’m sure it does. But I like to cater for everyone here (even if I do make really hard puzzles – on purpose, of course, because that’s what people like about my crosswords, so they tell me!)

So, what this means is that some of the clues might lead to a word that’s different to the one you need to put in. For example, if I was doing a crossword themed around birds, you might get this clue:

A military servant – Ledger’s nemesis? (5)

Now, this would lead you to Batman – Heath Ledger (brilliantly) played the Joker to Christian Bale’s Batman. And a batman is a military officer’s personal servant.

But five letters?

Of course, the bird theme – I’m looking for robin.

And that’s the answer you’d need to put in this bird-themed crossword. That doesn’t exist, of course…

Whozat?

One way or another certain solutions share a connection and may lack definition

You need Java enabled to view the crossword applet.



If you do not have Java installed you can obtain it from java.com. If do have Java you may need to check your security settings to make sure that applets are enabled, especially if you are viewing the puzzle from your hard disk. If you are using Internet Explorer, you may be able to enable the applet by clicking on the yellow bar at the top of the window and selecting “Allow blocked content”.

Congratulations to our competition winners, who all got the correct answer: J & J Wiersma, MN, USA; H Kirk, Crawley and A L Jolink, York.

The competition has now closed. However if you still want to complete the crossword, here it is with the solution included.

Thanks to everyone who took part, I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll see you again soon for another competition.

Certain solutions share a connection. Their clues appear normal, but to resolve ambiguities in the grid the original answer must have one letter replaced and an amended entry entered onto the grid. The discarded letters when arrange address a certain similarity. What is this word? (Highlight here to reveal: VESTMENTS)

You need Java enabled to view the crossword applet.



If you do not have Java installed you can obtain it from java.com. If do have Java you may need to check your security settings to make sure that applets are enabled, especially if you are viewing the puzzle from your hard disk. If you are using Internet Explorer, you may be able to enable the applet by clicking on the yellow bar at the top of the window and selecting “Allow blocked content”.