flanerie.org

...and the Guardian crossword.

I am still working on the Christmas mega-jumbo Guardian crossword, which was a bit of a pig.

The instructions:
The opening words of a novel (2,2,1,5,11,12) are to go across the top of the perimeter and down the two sides, the two long words each extending round the corner into the bottom line, in the rest of which goes the local town where perplexed beginners abandon trigonometry (7).

Remaining solutions are to go into the diagram jigsaw-wise, wherever they will go; their clues are listed in alphabetical order of the solutions, acrosses and downs being considered separately. Characters in the novel are asterisked.

Crikey!

It did help once I worked out that the novel is Pride and Prejudice, although not much since I have never read it. Thankfully the entire novel and all sorts of character information can be found online!

I am about two-thirds completed and am solidly resisting the urge to look at the answers online. I reckon I can last a few more days before my resolve crumbles.

And now there is the New Year's Eve crossword to consider, which at least is regular sized, but has this devil of a clue to ponder:

Posh, his vice was her misfortune. That b__ song a mama's woe? C-could be! (3,3,4,3,3,3,6,6,2,1,4,4,4)

Hmmm