EastEnders (Meta)

Did you pick up on the fact that the second words of the cockney rhyming slang phrases that were found elsewhere in the grid all had rhyming clues? The rhymes in these clues worked pretty well, I think. But 27D only works if you use a strong Aussie accent: "Sing-a Nor-a __"!

Ha! That was fun. Wasn't expecting the second halves in the grid but ...yeah it works.

Haha, nice! I noticed a couple of the rhyming clues but I didn't make the connection for all of them. TROUBLE is (sometimes) a noun so I wasn't sure if I was done at that point, but then I saw STRIFE right in the middle and I knew!

I grew up in (south) East London and had half created a meta on Cockney Rhyming slang - so had a leg up in solving this! TBH some of these rhymes sound more Aussie than cockney but Rabbit first grid entry and i knew where we were heading!!!!

I'll admit I knew where you were going but had to use a dictionary. Nice one! (And I didn't notice the second words in the grid.)

Finally got it after trying several things with “trouble” and after sending you a PM! Very clever! Thanks, Ben!

Had to resort to google and was happy to see the second words in the grid! Lots of fun.

Fun one. I had to use a cockney slang dictionary to hunt them down, but I started to see the rhyming pattern. Thanks, Ben.

Chicken and rice!

Submitted TROUBLE first. Had a few issues googling some of them--JACK JONES comes up as Alone more consistently than Own (at least in my hands). Had CAPTAIN COOK as Book for a bit (but I think that's just that I wound up on lesser sites originally). Also got distracted by PORK PIES (= Lies), which is one I knew of the top of my head. And STRIFE had me thinking that maybe I was supposed to find Trouble in the clues, etc. I presume the RUMPOLE clue is an Easter egg (though I'm not sure how popular that show was over here ). Fun idea, thanks.

Ha! That was fun. And educational! Lots of new terminology to apply in life. Thanks, Ben!

Got totally hung up on TROUBLE being BARNEY RUBBLE (which I remember from the movie Oceans 11, for some strange reason). Tried every which way to make that work, and then finally asked for a redirect. Nice one Ben!

Needed Google, but quickly found the words in the grid. I didn't, however, notice the rhyming clues. Fun meta. Thanks, Ben!

Really fun. Took me a few tries to find a cockney rhyming slang page that actually had all the entries- then it was smooth sailing!

Never could figure out the JACK-- kept getting hits for Jack and Danny

Knew some of these but leaned heavily on this "dictionary". Then wasn't sure what the final answer would be and of course it was my third guess. Fun!

Glad I gave this one a butcher’s!

I too answered TROUBLE in haste and was glad for the second chance, which I saw immediately.

Very satisfying puzzle, though I couldn't have solved it without the Internet. Having the second words in the grid wasn't strictly necessary, but it was a nice touch. I figured that RUMPOLE was meaningful, but didn't know why.

The moment I saw STRIFE down the middle I wanted to answer WIFE. I watched East Enders and spent enough time in Britain and London to have heard many of these (was looking for Apples, Dog, Army, Brass). I'll bet it was hard filling the grid and avoiding other Cockney phrases. Nice Captain and a proper corn.

Fun one, Ben! I knew a few of them but am now happy to add new ones to my vocabulary!

Exactly the same as MatthewL — submitted Barney, Rubble, and Trouble. Ocean’s Eleven. Had to google Trouble as a cockney phrase to learn about trouble & strife. Okay - but still, I think any of those three answers would be just as good, because of that movie scene! Thanks for this fun puzzle!

That was fun! Wasn’t familiar with Cockney argot, lots of fun learning about it. Clever puzzle! Thanks!

Fun one - thanks Ben! I've heard some rhyming slang before but needed to look up some of these. Some like AUNTIE had multiple second words, so having the second half in the grid was a greatly appreciated extra touch. And REALLY clever to make all those clues rhyme tho I didn't notice that til I read your comment.