I like the gimmick, but I think each group contained at least one answer that was (IMO) too obscure. There can't be that many people who have heard of the Isle of Niue (population 1,624), or know that Roan is a breed of horse. I think the gimmick alone is enough to make the puzzle challenging and if the answers had been a little more mainstream I'd have given it full marks. Still, clever idea.

What on ear? ( Planet = 4&5th)

Agreed. It was hard enough without the level of obscurity of the answers.

Wow, ridiculously obscure. Shoe horned a couple of those answers in to make up the connections didn't you. And then you let yourself down further, Niue is not a in recognised country and neither is Siam, one could even argue that wire isn't in English so doesn't really match with the others. Not sure I liked using one of the squares as a clue either. In fact I'm bang against this grid.

This is: IT (=1S 2H)

Took a couple of looks to work out the concept. Once you have that it is quite achieveable with a bit of trial and error to get the obscure answers (it is easier to find one obscure answer in a set than trying to find a set containing all obscure answers requiring a specialist knowledge). I like the concept and applaud the attempt to add a bit of variety.

Bollocks

It is at a time like this that my ignorance is most evident. To quote W!A-
"This is about identifying what we do most of best and finding fewer ways of doing more of it less".

Hello Guys, thank you for the comments, to be fair I expected them because it was tougher than I anticipated once I had set it.
.... BX (Second letter "O")...
That's all you had to think outside of.
As to Niue not being a country.... mmm... What is it then? They were a country when I watched them play rugby against the Cook islands.

Nevertheless its not wrong to be different etc. etc. etc. (Hes brilliant Yul Brynner.)

Niue is indeed a self-governing country.

And I did find the grid tough,but 'twas good,nonetheless.

A bold and entertaining approach. Well done.

Wz Tst (add your own letters) Thnks.

Niue is not a UN recognized country. It is self governing (autonomous) but doesn't have country status in the eyes of the UN, neither do England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland FYI

Smh: Are you sure that Wales, Scotland, Northern England, Ireland and our mates in Niue recognise the UN?
By the way who cares?
They are all of them without question countries.
Bye the way did you complete the grid...

Bye the way

Thanks for all the detailed knowledge! I live and learn and wifi endeavour to remember at least some of all that.

Wifi? I meant will of course.

Smh, Johnny Truth (Wiz)...
Apology first to Smh if you thought I was flippant, that wasn't the intention although in hindsight it looks it.
Secondly I didn't post the reply to you both after your excellent dissertations on national identity somebody obviously did it on my behalf.
Now here's my two cents worth...
Take a moment to consider what I tried to do to form this particular grid.
Each row had three "three letter" words and a clue.
The three letter words in each row were originally "four letter" words with an identical letter removed which also had to occupy the same position in each of the original words in its own row but in a different position to all the other rows.
The three letter words that were left also had to make sense rather than be just a collection of letters (where possible).
This restricted things a little.
When it came to "countries" that were 4 letters long, with the second letter "i" my scope was very limited.
This was why Niue appeared.

As to whether Niue is a bona-fida country then this is open to debate but I offer the following:-
I listed countries with 4 letters and Niue popped up all over the place.
I then checked it with Wikipedia (not fool proof I know) but the opening statement is:- " Niue is an island country"
I also saw them play rugby against the Cook Islands...
So logic told me, for the sake of this quiz, that Niue passed most tests (although apparently not the UN's)
I did not ask for a UN ratified country or an independent nation or sovereign state, simply a country.
This begs the question how were countries classified pre October 24th 1945? or even before the 10th January 1920? when we had neither the UN or its forerunner "the League of Nations."
(I don't know)
As to Wales or Scotland or Ireland not being countries...
1. Point at a map of the Island or Ireland and ask any schoolchild what two countries make up the island and they will tell you Eire (or the republic) and N.I.
2. Walk into any pub in Glasgow and ask them what nationality they are or what country they live in.... Also wasn't James king of both countries?
3. Every time I cross the Severn bridge driving west out of England I pass a sign "Welcome to Wales" on the border of the two countries.

Undoubtedly your information is irrefutable but sometimes we have to bow to common consciousness.

Nevertheless thank you for taking the time to reply.

(Ooops nearly forgot Smh, the reason I asked you if you finished the grid was simply out of curiosity, I could not imagine you getting so enraged had you waltzed through it.
It is quite a strange grid because I have retried it since and struggled and I thought I knew the answers... (I knew Niue anyway.)

Beer now.

I really enjoyed this, Blues: it was a creative, original concept, and I found all four to be easy once I noticed what the equalities meant. Every quizzer, crossword buff, or geography buff knows Niue, so I'm surprised people are calling it obscure. I'm even more surprised by the back-and-forth over whether Niue is a country: the theme is "Places=2i," not "Countries=2i," so who cares whether it's a country? No one can deny that it's a place.

If only you'd been watching the Cook Islands against Fiji instead Blues, all this kerfuffle could have been avoided! Great grid as ever, I applaud the efforts to challenge the status quo with the introduction of hitherto unconsidered concepts... Worth coming back just for this... (and while I'm here maybe staying jus' a 'lil while for a cheeky glass or two of wine... ;) ) Hope all's well with you (& Wiz, Toast, E.L. etc.) and iechyd da!

...and all those whose names I didn't mention with whom I've enjoyed *ahem* discussions(!) in the past - the memory's not what it used to be - certainly didn't mean to omit your noms de guerre - no offence intended... it's just it's been a while!