Guardian 26,671 by Screw

94 comments on “Guardian 26,671 by Screw”

1. I couldn’t do any better with 14. 10 I thought the first two words were the definition. Someone who is late would give showing (up) pain. I think ‘sorted’ in 2 just references sorting out the children’s money problems. Thanks to PeterO and Screw. Not one of his best I thought. But fun enough for a Tuesday.

2. Re 14, my take:
   Bound – def
   for empty – FR (i.e., F[o]R
   line,- TIER ( as in ‘first tier’ meaning ‘first line’)
   about – ON
   to get in it – to be inserted in what precedes
   So:
   FR(ON)TIER

3. Thanks Screw and PeterO

   I enjoyed this puzzle. I liked KNEECAP, SEXY, XENON, PILLOW TALK, FRONTIER and my favourite was PERPETRATE.

   New words for me were ‘xenon’ and ‘kite mark’, and I needed help with the parsing of 21a and 15d.

   I parsed FRONTIER in the same way as Rishi @ 2 – ON in F(o)R + TIER

4. With BANK OF MUM AND DAD, I think ‘sorted’ is meant to be Yoofspeak.

   So the ‘issue’ will be ‘sorted’ when he/she has made a withdrawal from said bank.

   I am a bit of an expert on this subject due to recent and repeated experience with my own issue!

5. XENON was a genuine LOL moment – not good in the office with a mouthful of coffee. Off to explain to IT.

   Thanks to Screw and PeterO

6. Thanks Screw an PeterO

   I found this difficult, with too many BIFD for me to be satisfied with my performance. The parsing of MAN IN THE STREET in particular went right over my head; the other BIFDs (1a, 2d, and 6d) I did at least have a little of the parsing. I was annoyed with 7d, as when I wrote it in I did wonder if CENTER was the required spelling, but thought “it’s an English crossword” and wrote CENTRE anyway – correction obviously needed to enter LAMARCK.

   I thought the “oner” in frontier was a reference to “one-liner” or joke, but I wasn’t happy with it.

   I loved PILLOW TALK and BOTTOM LINE.

7. I still don’t see convincing definition for LATECOMER. Otherwise, all clear and very satisfying. Thanks, Screw, and Peter for the blog.

8. @Ian SW3

   I didn’t finish this puzzle, and LATECOMER was one of the answers I couldn’t get. But I assume one who is a bit of a pain by showing up after the appointed hour is a “latecomer”; it’s a really nice idea but that’s a layer of misdirection too many for the likes of me.
   Thanks to Screw and PeterO

9. Aha – 7d, “center”, not “centre” – that’s half an hour of my life I won’t get back!

10. Thanks Screw and PeterO.

    Enjoyed this but, like muffin, BIFD quite a few then tried to parse afterwards.

    A LATECOMER at a theatre or the opera is usually not allowed to take his/her seat until after the interval, so would be unhappy.

11. As an obsessive early-arriver, I took LATECOMER to mean someone who is a pain to those already in their seats when they do show up.

12. I had ‘showing pain’ meaning one who, when showing up, causes pain for the audience by stumbling over the seats in the dark. Ouch indeed.

    I had the same as Rishi @2 for FRONTIER – eventually, for earlier I had jotted it down in the margin but soon crossed it out as implausible. The parsing of MAN IN THE STREET was by contrast well over my head.

    All in all, not bad at all, with some good moments.

13. Thanks, Andrew and Trailman. That works for me — just.

14. To Muffin @6: It will prey on my mind, so I have to ask: What does BIFD mean here? I’m sure, after googling, it isn’t British Institute of Funeral Directors!

15. Martin @14 Bunged In From Definition

16. I did NOT finish this, perhaps because my husband had the US Open on in the background while I was working on it, but even after he went to bed and I turned off the tennis it still didn’t go all that well. Mostly it was because the clues were a little too opaque for me, and I wasn’t on the setter’s wavelength. This seems to be a common problem with me and Screw.

    Someone will still have to explain the XENON clue to me in more detail: how does FA = none?

17. Surprised by some of the negativity both here and on the Guardian blog: I thought this was one of the most fun crosswords for a while – had me chuckling away from start to finish. Not that it was easy throughout – there was also a wide range of difficulty, from write-in to real head-scratcher.

    Re: 8 – I thought it was a homophone of “purr-pet…”

    mrpenney @ 16: “sweet fanny adams” is the slightly cleaner version; in the other version, the second word is “all”.

18. Built In Function Definition 🙂

19. I take LATECOMER to be a showing pain, with show as in “no show” and pain as in “pain in the …”

20. mrpenney @16, “sweet Fanny Adams” is not rude, she was a little girl in 1867 who was cut up by her murderer and her parts scattered over a wide area. In 1869 new rations of tinned mutton were supplied to British seamen, they did not like it and speculated it was some of these body parts. “Fanny Adams” became slang for stew or mutton, or anything worthless, and since the containers were reused as mess tins or cooking pots, they were called Fannys, and apparently still are. Mitz @27 has indicated the modern euphemism.

21. Thanks, Mitz and Cookie. I of course know [bleep]-all, but we don’t use the abbreviation for that.

    And I can only speak for myself, but I wasn’t being negative exactly; I was just commenting on the level of difficulty. No question the clues were clever.

22. Another dissatisfied customer here. Some clever and amusing clues (AS WELL, PERPETRATE, SEXY, XENON) but some were too “clever” by half, LATECOMER being the obvious example. The solution is clear from the crosses and the anagrind, but requires feats of mental agility to parse the definition. This is just pointless obfuscation and detracts from the enjoyment of the puzzle.

23. Thanks to blogger and setter. Didn’t like this much, some clever and funny stuff but also some convoluted clues e.g. 14a, 21a, and particularly 6d, with the shortened NHS and “quack” as the anagram pointer.w

24. Thanks poc, you put it better than me

25. Thanks Screw and PeterO.

    I enjoyed this, finding it easier than recent puzzles by this setter.

    Limeni @3 – I too got this very quickly, owing to extensive experience in the past.

    Wilko @9 – yep, same mistake.

26. I enjoyed this, as with other puzzles by Screw, but couldn’t parse MAN IN THE STREET – it’s very convoluted and altogether a bit of a stretch. But there were some great clues, including SOBER UP, TOMORROW and PERPETRATE. Many thanks to Screw and PeterO.

27. Too convoluted, too many BIFD, some still not making much sense to me even after reading the above – sorry, but this was more frustrating than fun for me.

    However, I did like PILLOW TALK and XENON once the pennies finally dropped, so thanks to Screw and much gratitude to PeterO and others who posted explanations.

28. Thanks to Screw and PeterO. I found this puzzle very difficult. In addition to the problems listed above (e.g., XENON, LATECOMER, FRONTIER), both KITE MARK and BANK OF MUM AND DAD were new to me and I needed help parsing MAN IN THE STREET and OHMS (I missed the E1 part of the clue). An uphill climb but I did finish.

29. Another tricky but entertaining puzzle from the always inventive Screw. The TETRA fish was the only unfamiliar solution and RENEGE was last in, though apart from that the NE corner took longest. Liked XENON, ENDORSE and PERPETRATE. Biffed MAN IN THE STREET so thanks for explaining that.

    Thanks to Screw and PeterO

30. I found this suffers from compileritis a bit, with the complexity seemingly chucked in to make things unnecessarily hard. It’s a pity as the technique per se is quite good. It was annoying anyway. There were 7 anagrams.

    9a u-turn I found confusing; 13a is E1 the correct postcode for Bow, where Cockneys are thought to have originated?; 21a I think a bit weak; 2d should be ‘issue may need this finance’ really, I don’t see how the ‘to get sorted’ is required at all; 4 22d I don’t see why ‘notes’ is there except to improve the surface; 8d weak again; 12d hard to get really from the clue part. Perhaps the ‘crossing letters brigade’ will vouch for it. 😀

31. Thank you PeterO.

    As others have said, rather too many BIFD to be totally satisfying, but at least one truly excellent clue such as PILLOW TALK.

    Mr Penny @16 here’s the reference Cookie alluded to…doesn’t make terribly comfortable reading I warn you, makes we Brits look like a terribly macabre lot.

    Struggled with a “showing pain” = LATECOMER. See the gag but it’s a bit strained for my taste. Similarly “angle” = “point” seems a bit far.

    To my shame I couldn’t parse BOTTOM LINE but now think it’s a cracker.

    Thank you Screw.

    Nice week, all.

32. Rishi @2 et al

    Thanks for 14A FRONTIER – your version is definitely preferable.

    xjpotter @1

    10A LATECOMER: I might have underlined the first two words – after all, that is the bit not involved in the wordplay, and I think that the LATECOMER is a pain for showing when s/he does. I just thought that the “definition” was so cryptic that it needed all the help it could get (although the rest of the clue is no more than marginally clarifying).

    Mitz @17

    I agree on the fun. Looking at the Guardian blog, I was not struck by negativity, but the number of plugs for this site!

33. Most of this went in quite quickly including LATECOMER which was an anagram but I didn’t understand the answer and I still don’t. The suggestions here don’t convince me and even if any of them are correct, this is still poor cluing. Getting FRONTIER and ENCHAINS took me as long as the rest of the puzzle and I can’t say I liked either of them much- especially the former. A curates egg then.
    But thanks Screw.

34. hh@30 Peter O suggests it is cockney not the setter. Bow is E3, E1 is Whitechapel/Aldgate/Stepney – where they are just as likely to drop the h; sorted has already been explained above.

35. andyk000 @34

    Wikipedia goes into great detail about Cockneys, born in sound of Bow bells – that is, of St Mary-le-Bow, which is on Cheapside (EC2), not in Bow. Whitechapel seems to be well within earshot.

36. hh@30 and andyk000@34. Cockneys are those born within the sound of St Mary-le-Bow, which is in Cheapside, the City of London. It would have to be a very still day to hear those bells from Whitechapel. Nothing to do with Bow, E3, which is where I happen to live. So perhaps EC1 more accurate, but not necessary for this clue.

37. Crossed with 35. Whitechapel is a good distance from EC2 and certainly the bells could not be heard from there today. Perhaps in the past but I doubt it.

38. Another example of the setter showing how clever he or she is. We in the UK don’t use American spelling.Terrible crossword, even though I finished it

39. xjpotter @37

    Wikipedia cites a study that Bow Bells “would have been” heard six miles to the east, which seems to mesh with your point.

40. Another example of the setter showing how clever he or she is.

    – Of course it is. All crossword setters show us how clever they are with every puzzle that they present. It would be a pretty rubbish crossword if the setter were to refuse to use their cleverness in the setting.

    We in the UK don’t use American spelling.

    – No, but we’re aware of it, especially when it is indicated in a crossword clue.

    Terrible crossword, even though I finished it

    – Why did you bother if it was so awful? I presume the “even though I finished it” is code for “I didn’t dislike it because it was too hard for me” but so what? It seems a strange sort of masochism to doggedly plod through to the end if you hated every minute – no-one forced you.

41. Thanks PeterO and Screw. Still getting used to the setter’s style. NE quadrant was harder. Could not parse Pillow Talk, Ohms, Kite mark. Centre would not let Lamarck in. My problems! Liked 1, 2, 3 and 12d.

42. William @31, thank for posting the reference for Fanny Adams, I have not dared to try doing that yet. I was hoping the subject would not come up, but after Mitz’s post @17, it seemed sad that there was confusion as regards the girl.

43. Cookie @42 I agree. The story is quite harrowing and in some way it becomes a bit trivialised by the “—- all” reference.

44. Thanks PeterO and Screw.

    I did like PILLOW TALK, though would it not have been improved without the word “discussion” ie just “Post-it notes?”.

    LIMBECK at 26a would have avoided the US spelling in 7d.

    Didn’t like several clues as others have noted above, though I do seem to be getting more satisfaction out of his offerings: looking forward to a good Screw next time.

45. This was a slow steady slog with some nice laughs on the way. I didn’t parse 3d, and I missed the parsing of “throne” altogether, so these were BIFDs apparently, at least I have learnt a new acronym. I understand LATECOMER now, and I did manage to parse 14a a la Rishi@2. Many thanks to PeterO for the review.

    Tough, and I’m now all parsed out for the day after Petitjean’s toughie in the DT, but the laughs and satisfaction of solving made this enjoyable.

46. Thanks, Peter, for blogging.

    I finished it, which I haven’t often done in the past, either here or with Screw’s alter ego Donk in the Indy. He’s a hard setter, fair enough; often too hard for me, though. But you can’t say that there are any ‘obscure’ words here: it’s just that his mind works in a very different way to mine and I haven’t really tuned in yet.

    I liked LATECOMER and in this case was on the setter’s wavelength; XENON was good too. LAMARCK was another scientific answer that I liked. His long discredited theory of acquisition of characteristics developed during an organism’s life might not be completely wrong, as shown by recent epigenetic studies. However, baby giraffes don’t have long necks because mummy and daddy did a lot of stretching to reach for those high leaves. Charles D was pretty much on the money.

    I liked this puzzle and will keep persevering. Thank you to our prison warder …

47. I thought showing pain was a pain at a show(ING) when he turns up at the performance late?

48. What is the purpose of “notes” in 4,22? I don’t see how this fits at all.

49. Neil 48 There is no point to “notes” other than too confuse (in my opinion to an unfair degree). Convoluted clues I can live with but introducing unnecessary words is on the wrong side of the fair/unfair dividing line.

50. I took PILLOW TALK to be a CD cum DD, hence was happy with ‘Post-it notes’ and ‘discussion?’

51. @48 and @49 they are called post-it notes so of course notes had to be there. It’s a brilliant clue. If anything Screw could have made it even harder by leaving out the word discussion (as Rufus might have done). I think Screw is brilliant even though I didn’t think this was one of his better efforts over all. But he’s much more to my taste than many others even on his slightly under par days. But we all have different tastes.

52. Well, we compare notes don’t we, but it’s probably not as exact as we might like as a synonym for ‘talk’. I wonder if a certain someone else added the ‘discussion’ bit? Also, and obviously, PILLOW TALK is not necessarily post-coital: it could just as well be be pre-coital, or just a conversation in bed between sexual partners who haven’t bothered to, erm, screw. In short, I can understand the appeal of

    Post-It Notes?

    as an idea, but it may be imperfect.

    I liked the crossword generally. It was pretty adventurous in places, as others have noted in their various ways, but Dave knows what he’s a-doing of AFAIK.

53. re Cookie at 20: Thanks for the explanation of “sweet Fanny Adams.” I had not heard that sad story before.

    I am, sad to say, more familiar with the modern expression “sweet f*** all.” But it is not, as you describe it, a euphemism. A euphemism is a substitution of a less offensive word for a more offensive word. Changing “sweet Fanny Adams” to “sweet f*** all” goes in the opposite direction.

    “eu” is a Greek particle indicating “good.” “dis” or “dys” (as in “dysfunctional”)indicates “bad.” Another alternative is “caco” (from the Greek kakos).

    So the word we’re looking for is either dysphemism or cacophemism: the substitution of a more offensive word for a less offensive word.

54. 52 There’s no “of course” about it as far as I’m concerned. The word notes is superfluous and misleading. Rather like having a jigsaw puzzle with an extra piece. It would be like introducing “naval” to 11 across because the words go together.

55. “Post-it discussion?” would also seem feasible to me, surface wouldn’t sound out of place in a corporate setting. The post-it being the sticky label, the note is what you write on it, so a discussion which uses post-its (believe me there are many) could be called a post-it discussion.

    anyway, well done screw for the whole post-it thing, that’s what matters.

56. I’m afraid I have to agree with David. The word “notes” is superfluous.

    This was a major disappointment.

57. Very late on the scene, but have to agree with Poc’s comments …

58. We liked 7 as NYC was in the anagram and also asked for the US spelling

59. Not enjoyable at all, and unnecessarily convoluted in places. Agree with ed @ 38. Mitz @ 40 – challenges can sometimes be an exercise in masochism. You might find the pleasure once completed. No such pleasure here.

    This is the sort of effort that makes you ashamed to be British.

60. I finished this but found it a bit of a slog.

    As already mentioned a few of the defintions were decidedly dodgy as was some of the wordplay!

    A good crossword in need of en editor I believe 😉

    Thanks to PetrO and Screw

61. 7 down suggests it’s an American spelling (NYC).

62. David means #51, I guess.

63. TommoConnor, agreed: my grandfather may as well have not turned up at Dunkirk.

    Is it any wonder there is a migrant crisis?

64. AndrewSkillsville @63

    I shall be witholding my council tax until I can be assured that Screw has hung up his/her/its* crossword writing boots.

    (* in these modern days of Caitlin Jenner et al, one never knows how to be PC. I dread to think what my late mother would have to say on the subject.)

65. @TommoConnor

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3226766/Brit-fighting-life-sore-throat-turned-complete-organ-failure-stranded-Spain-local-hospital-Manchester-doesn-t-bed-him.html

    ….need I say more?

66. Blimey, there’s some serious negativity around again today – I sometimes wonder if I have really done the same crossword! Yes there are one or two clues that have justifiably attracted quibbles, but for me it seems that the inventive, witty and challenging puzzles always seem to come in for the most criticism.

67. @66 Well said. I’m all for some artistic licence from our compilers. Araucaria, of sainted memory, was often very imprecise, but one knew what he meant when the penny dropped, and that is surely sufficient justification for whatever means are deployed. Post-it notes discussion is a far more satisfying clue than post-it discussion. Did anyone not get the answer because of the word notes?

68. @xjpotter

    I’m sorry, but I think most solvers find find redundant words misleading and irritating.

    If you let standards slip, where will it end….?

69. slipstram @53, I consider taking Fanny Adams name lightly far more offensive than the so called F-word.

70. b h @66

    Brevity is the soul of wit. Some clues here were clumsy and over-embellished.

    xj @67

    Artistic licence has it’s limits. This was atonal free-form jazz. But I suppose you think modern art is an acceptable waste of taxpayers money? I’d wager you’re in favour of council grants for lesbian disabled immigrant dance workshops too?

71. @TommoConnor

    I’m with you on the atonal jazz reference. This was the crossword equivalent to listening to Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert.

    (excuse the missing umlaut in “Koln”)

72. AS @71

    Jarret has some art to it. This was more like the Portsmouth Sinfonia:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJ6anurfuw

73. Agreed, far too clever. Just like some of last weeks’ puzzles. Why to these compilers think that crosswords have to be clever? Some of us are stupid, after all. More for us morons please!

74. @70. Well yes, I am a Guardian reader after all.

75. This was so strange.

    I generally enjoyed it and “perpetrate” has a brilliant clue; but “latecomer” & “frontier” are just too “clever-clever” for a Tuesday grid.

    To me a showing is an exhibition – not a play or concert etc. In these cases a latecomer is not a pain. I worked out the clue from the anagram but couldn’t bring myself to write it in – I assumed that there had to be another way to parse it (I never write in an answer until I can parse it.) Similarly I missed the parsing for “frontier” entirely.

    I had never come across the acronym BIFD before – it sums up this crossword for me. To me that always feels unsatisfactory.

76. I fiercely disagree with must commentators, but agree wholeheartedly with mitz and xjpotter. For me this was sheer delight (in the way of Arachne’s more devious puzzles). And why so many ‘BIFDs’ (a gruesome acronym which I wish hadn’t slithered in from the “Times for the Times” blog)? This is why I’m glad I solve on paper so not tempted to ‘cheat’; this way I am more driven to THINK (isn’t this why we enjoy our crosswords?) Indeed, one of the reasons I thought this so good was precisely because the wordplay led to the answers; often it was the witty definition that had me head-scratching, then smiling. As for the clueing, every one seemed fine – at worst – and superb at best. In the last several months, at least, very few puzzles have had as liberal a scattering of ticks as this.
    Many thanks to blogger; but had you come across the vernacular meaning of “to be sorted” (not only Yoofspeak, limeni) and that a latecomer is a “showing pain” (anywhere) and correct parsing of 14ac, you may also have loved it?! WFP

77. Only got round to this today.

    Some really inventive cluing here. Clearly some people don’t really like genuinely cryptic crosswords – preferring mere word-substitution – which can eventually get to be a rather dull clerical exercise.

    Having said that I think:

    10a: “Show pain” would have been better than “Showing pain” to give someone who is a pain at a show – and maybe a “?” to indicate the crypticness – I don’t really see why 13a needed one.

    also

    4d 22d: just “Post-it notes?” would have been niftier, more cryptic and avoided the charge of spare words.

    Otherwise – top stuff – more please – and more often.

    Many thanks S&B

    PS – I agree with Rishi’s (#2) parsing for 14a

78. William F P @76, I do not think BIFD is cheating as such, and it has nothing to do with solving on line, as Andyk000 @15 explains it means “bunged in from definition”, i.e. without fully understanding the parsing. Will someone correct me please if this is wrong.

79. Cookie @78 – yes, you are right. By extension biff and biffed are often used the same way – just shorthand, sorry if it offends linguistic purists.

    William F P – I almost mentioned Arachne in my post @66 but I thought that might be too inflammatory!

    As for sweet FA = 0, I’m afraid that’s just common parlance and most of the people who use the expression are not familiar with the history – again this is just how language evolves…

80. One final thought – I dabbled with the Guardian crossword for many years before taking it seriously, and in those years I would probably have sided with the “too clever” side of the argument. What changed my attitude was finding Fifteensquared – I recommend looking at the parsings of anything you have BIFD, because that’s where you get the knowledge to fine-tune those solving skills.

81. William F P @76
    As Cookie wrote @78, it’s just as easy to enter a solution from definition alone when solving on paper. Early on in solving a particular crossword, I would usually hold off until I had the parsing, or at least most of it. When most or all of the crossers are in place and there is little doubt left, why not enter it and come back to the parsing later? It still requires the same amount of thinking in the end.

    An advantage of solving on paper is that you can note the potential answer beside the grid or pencil it in faintly or with tiny letters, but online you can only enter it or not. On the other hand, I really miss the Anagram button. Although I don’t keep clicking until the actual answer appears, being able to run through some permutations quickly does seem to trigger word recognition better than staring at a circle of randomised letters on paper.

    I don’t have a problem with some puzzles being too difficult for me to complete (including fully parsing) – cleverer minds than mine deserved to be stretched too, and they are learning experiences for me. However it is clear that some posters don’t think that “every one seemed fine” in this puzzle and they’ve given good reasons why not. “Showing pain” still feels wrong to me. “Show pain” would have been better even though I probably still wouldn’t have got it. I didn’t have any problem with “notes” in PILLOW TALK and listed it as one of my favourites, but retrospectively I think those criticising it have made a good point.

82. Bit of a latecomer to this one, so to speak. Overall most enjoyable, though I failed to get Lamarck because I failed to spot the indicators that US spelling was required in 7dn (heresy!).

    I love seafood, but tetra was new to me as well; very clear cluing though so fair enough. Lots to enjoy, such as “post-it”, MAN IN THE…, OHMS et al

    Lot of negativity in posts above, and everyone is entitled etc etc of course, but Screw that, I’m a fan!

83. 1961Blanchflower @82
    I don’t think you would have come across tetras on a seafood menu – they are very colourful but rather small fish! (favourite of aquarium keepers).

84. I can see that “Post-it discussion” = “Pillow Talk”, but how does “Post-it notes” = “Pillow Talk”

85. My big success with this crossword (which we only finished today) was, after two clues read out by spouse, to correctly guess the setter. Yeah!

86. So in short, take away the compileritis and the crossword is much better.

87. Don @ 84. I saw “Post-it notes” = “Pillow Talk” as, for example, asking “how was it for you?”

88. cookie – I have known the meaning of the acronym from before it arrived on these 225 shores; it has been used at the ‘Times for the Times’ blog, as I pointed out above. I wish it had stayed there quite frankly! As for cheating, of course ‘bunging in’ an answer is not cheating; I did not say it was. But, like cheating or, for that matter, an anagram solving tool, it is, to my mind, depriving oneself of the intellectual challenge and hence a good deal of the fun. In the case of this superb puzzle, as I also explained, there was no need to parse post-solve as the answers followed beautifully from the wordplay and, as I also made clear, it was some of the witty definitions that led to head-scratching and joy.

    JollyS – I’m glad you agree with me. However, the LATECOMER definition is not meaning a pain at a show as you state. It is someone who is a pain at showing (up on time), hence a “showing pain” as I also explained. A perfect clue and definition as stands.

    hh – I don’t agree at all! It’s like saying take away the poetic licence and it’s better poetry.

    beery hiker – thank goodness you can be relied on to see sense – and beauty! I’m gratified not to be alone in seeing some spiderish similarities.

    I’ll say it again – this was a splendid puzzle all ways round and the supposed imperfections others might have seen do not exist in fact.

    Finally, I just can’t help being puerile – I’ve held out until now. So here goes: “You just can’t beat a good Screw” – and this was excellent!

    (In future, along with Arachne and Tramp, I shall be holding my Screws for weekend enjoyment when I have more time to relish their delight)

89. Cookie @69: point well taken.

    Here in the states, we have an “Amber Alert” for abducted children, but few people know the story of Amber Hagerman, a nine year old girl who was abducted and murdered in Texas in 1996. The “Amber Alert” was named for her.

    Fanny Adams and Amber Hagerman each deserve our memory.

90. slipstream @89, I know of the “Amber Alert”, thank you for understanding.

91. @WFP #88 – re showing (up). I missed that angle. Agree. I’ll buy it.

92. Thanks PeterO for the blog.

    Screw is rapidly becoming a favourite compiler with some wonderfully creative clueing, a good smattering of cheeky fun, and then some CDs like a witty version of Rufus.

    I can’t admit to having read all posts so I may be being repetitive here but thought that 1ac, 17ac, 21ac, 2dn and 12dn were all really excellently creative.

    I parsed 14ac (eventually – my LOI) in the same way as Rishi.

    My only minor quibble was ‘notes’ in the clue for 4,22 – the word certainly helps the misdirection but has no other real purpose.

    So thanks Screw. More of the same please.

93. Quite often consult 15sqd to check parsing but first time we’ve needed to check quite so many! Quite chuffed we managed to guess them all correctly before checking! Still don’t really get “man in the street” wordplay. But thanks all round for the others, and to Screw for an enjoyable if maddening puzzle!

94. Thanks Screw and PeterO

    Well … lost this one … came to grief with the US CENTER which caused an error with LEMARCK as well !! Found it a terrific puzzle all the same – lots of ingenius twisting of words and wordplay to get to the answers.

    XENON was clearly the best after the penny dropped … PILLOW TALK, a close second !!

    Last few in were PERPETRATE, LATECOMER (which I couldn’t parse) and FRONTIER (which I couldn’t either!). Also missed the parsing of the ‘OMES part of OHMS.

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