Listen With Others

My solution looked like this:

With an (I paraphrase) ‘Is all lost?’ theme, COVID on Row 9, analgesia down the right and Alkie at 5d, all looked pretty bleak.

A not-too-tough but a well constructed puzzle, built around the phrase IF ALL IS NOT LOST THEN WHERE IS IT? [Also available on Etsy on fridge magnets and badges].

I had one or two incorrectly guessed extra words to begin with: eg in 35ac I had TALAPOINS defined as ‘monkeys’ and was assuming that ‘Green’ was superfluous. Easily fixable though, once it began to be clear what the hidden message might be – and when I discovered that ‘Green monkeys’ were actually ‘a thing’.

Wishing you all well,

Tim / Encota