A Puzzle by Maitresse
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid
A review of this puzzle will be added tomorrow (Sunday).
Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid
A review of this puzzle will be added tomorrow (Sunday).
Congratulations Maitresse on your promotion to the NTSPP and thank you for the crossword which I solved while waiting for lunch to cook
Lots to enjoy; I particularly liked 21a
Thanks in advance to Stephen
Crikey, Maitresse, I found this much, much tougher than your Rookie Corner puzzles. I assume CS must have been using a slow cooker for her lunch preparation!
However, I did enjoy the challenge, although I can’t parse 17d. I also found a small number of the surfaces to be a little clunky, especially 26a.
The “homophone” in 13a doesn’t work for me, and I am not fully convinced that “now” in 11d is synonymous with “chic”.
I entered “vinology” as my answer to 16d but, as I wasn’t sure that this was right, I revealed the letters only to find out it was wrong.
My favourite of many ticked clues was 21a.
Well done and thank you, Maitresse. Please keep the puzzles coming but can I make a plea to dial back a little on the difficulty level in future?
Thanks Maitresse and congratulations on your elevation. I agree with RD on two points – tougher than your RCs and the synonymity of now/chic in 11d. I also considered (John) Kerry is a little past his ‘sell by date’ for use as the particular indicator.
I did need a little e-help to get over the finishing line especially for the 18a ‘dubious woman.’
Smiles for 4a, 13a, 7d, 14d, and 23d.
Thanks again and a third agreement with RD’s plea on future puzzles.
A most enjoyable NSTPP debut from Maitresse. There was perhaps an echo of our setter’s pseudonym in my LOI, 18a. Not a word that I knew but I did manage to unravel it from the crossers and wordplay, and it merited a spot on my Across podium. It was joined there by 4a and 13a – a homophone that did work for me
My Down podium places went to 6, 8 and 20. The wordplay order for 7d didn’t seem quite right, but maybe I missed something…? I think I have the correct synonym for ‘show’ in the 17d &lit, but I’ll see if StephenL concurs. The two long anagrams were nicely constructed, with 6d getting the nod for podium place. The anagrind used in 12a brought a smile 
Thanks and congratulations to Maitresse, and I will look forward to Stephen’s review.
Much enjoyed over lunch and beyond! Thank you, Maitresse. We did need to check a couple of answers as we couldn’t parse them even though we thought we had the correct answer – 13a and 11d. 18a was a new word as was 16d but e help got us what was needed – we think! Favourites were 1a, 21a and 6d. We look forward to to your next one and to Stephen’s review.