Cryptic crossword No 3,249

Not the first such tribute but hopefully still fun

Nicely done. Once I understood the theme, things started to flow much more quickly. Favourites 11a, 13a, 14a, 21a, 23a, 8d, 9d. Some spoilery comments to follow.

Thanks Sisyphus for a constellation of good clues. My favourites were 6a, 13a, 14a, 4d, and 8d. I missed only two, 23a and 15d. More in reply.

I've often wanted to use B for boy and G for girl but neither Chambers nor clue clinic supports this. What source endorses this?

Ha! Nice one, Sisyphus, thanks. I found this tricky but that was to be expected given the SI, until all became clearer that is. Ultimately, though, the NW had me well beaten. Favourites: 13a, 23a, 25a (revised version), 4d (!) and 20d. Spoilers …

Sisyphus, I just wanted to stop by and commend you for the energy and enthusiasm you bring to MyC. I intend to complete one of your puzzles in the very near future; I should have done so already. Thanks again.

Hi! I enjoyed this. Had to reveal a few (the NW corner mainly) due to not getting some references. Others were satisfyingly tricky - 7a, 19a, 21a & also enjoyed 13a, 25a, 17d, 20d. Thanks!

Hi Sisyphus - just catching up with last weeks puzzles and can report this one has taken quite a bit of chewing! FOI was 20d which was enough to guess the theme... but while I was greatly relieved not to have to rely on my largely absent knowledge of astronomy it unfortunately didn't unlock the grid as much as I hoped. Like others I found the NW tricky - despite 10a - but it was 17d that was LOI as I couldn't spot the indicator. Nonetheless several favs including 11a, 14a and 4d. Cheers!

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