The story so far...

[GuyBarry]

Looking good! I haven't checked that all 270 have been included (or that they only appear once!), but I think it will indeed work well.

I have checked but it'd be useful if you (or anyone else) could double-check - mistakes are bound to slip through.

We'll probably need to rewrite an early sentence about the Gunners - as this mentions 'Arsenal' as a word, which may confuse its hidden version. Perhaps "They focused on the relative qualities of North London football teams, and how the GUNNERS BURY their opponents with such style" would do this?

Thanks - I missed that. I tried to make sure that occurrences of all single words that are also station names were removed - "Paddington", "angel", "Oval", "archway", "bank", "Vauxhall" are ones I remember, but again there may be some that I missed.

Then we'll need to make sure the rules are explained clearly. For example, people looking for 'Upminster' must know that it has to be found separate from 'Upminster Bridge'. I could also remove (or change) the references to Harrogate and Uruguay; I was preparing myself for possible ways of getting 'Temple' and 'Tubeguru' into the mix; I didn't need to use them in the end. (Then again, perhaps they're bizzare enough to stay...!)

Yes - there are one or two sections that look as though they ought to have station names hidden inside them, but don't, such as the paragraph about how many points each country received in the Eurovision Song Contest. I thought about taking that out but on reflection I like the idea of keeping it in as a bluff!

Great work, GuyBarry!

Thanks.

[hopeful traveller]

You must, must, must point out that the UK are defending champions otherwise it makes no sense that it's in Manchester. The sentence about "Na-la-na-la-na" may need to be therefore changed.

Great read, the plot's brilliant. Would love to see it turned into a film!

[GuyBarry]

You must, must, must point out that the UK are defending champions otherwise it makes no sense that it's in Manchester. The sentence about "Na-la-na-la-na" may need to be therefore changed.

Good point, although the UK has hosted the contest on four previous occasions when it hadn't won the year before: 1960, 1963, 1972 and 1974 (see here).

Great read, the plot's brilliant. Would love to see it turned into a film!

Starring Johnny Depp in garish outfits?

[GuyBarry]

Here is the puzzle version, with all the capital letters removed. What do you think?

[RobbieM]

Just to say, I'm still alive, but have very limited internet access at the moment - will read it when I get time!

[RobbieM]

I'm about a third of the way through, ticking off the stations as I go. (I bet I've missed one or two!)

It's rivetting!! One or two proofreading marks; will let you know when I'm finished. May take a few days, when I have gaps.

[hopeful traveller]

I now have a view of beefing it up a bit and releasing it commercially. Thrilling story.

[hopeful traveller]

From a plot point of view, I want to beef up Don's introduction, make the Eurovision chronology accurate, waffle a bit, and possibly stretch to 100 pages, release as a book (with profits divided upon who wrote most - e.g. if I wrote half the words, I would get 50% of all profits), ring up James Cameron, Hayden Christensen (because they're the only people that will probably say yes), £10 a ticket into the cinema, and Bob's your uncle.

[tubeguru]

Where's the "WTF" smiley?

[The Orange One]

From a plot point of view, I want to beef up Don's introduction, make the Eurovision chronology accurate, waffle a bit, and possibly stretch to 100 pages, release as a book (with profits divided upon who wrote most - e.g. if I wrote half the words, I would get 50% of all profits), ring up James Cameron, Hayden Christensen (because they're the only people that will probably say yes), £10 a ticket into the cinema, and Bob's your uncle.

The film version should end in this way:

Final Walt and Ava scene
Summary of the ending
Credits
Post Credits Scene: John's comedy club in Euston - except the double act should be billed as "THARROW AND WEALDSTONE", opening the doors for a sequel...

[RobbieM]

Finally completed the puzzle readthrough, and managed to identify 269 out of 270. The one I missed was 'East Acton'. It's harder than you think when the answers aren't there in capitals, even if you've read it several times before.

Will PM GuyBarry with other suggestions.

This could really be a blockbuster when it goes to Hollywood.

[hopeful traveller]

It's currently 46 A5 pages (standard novel size) including cover but needs a copyright page, back cover, and full author names. I've 'chaptered' it.

[Iain]

Have you rung James Cameron yet?

[hopeful traveller]

Have you rung James Cameron yet?

Wanting to publish book first...

[The Orange One]

Let's imagine there is a sequel. This sequel would probably cover some other rail system - probably either the "Tube Friends" DLR and LO (as the last R15 was dubbed Tube and Friends), or attempt a network abroad?

If we are producing sequels...

Extracts from "The Memoirs of Inspector Warren Street - covering the New York Subway"

23) STREET took up...
28) STREET got into his Green Ford Anglia
72) STREET followed the thief on foot

Perhaps not the best idea?