QC 3071 by Oink

From the brass insignia worn by high-ranking military officers, Earliest documented uses date to around the 1890s-1900s in military contexts and 1920s for broader usage.

DING DONG for a fight or argument, not so common, but definitely still current, often preceded by “a right”

A somewhat dated term for “the feds”, (usually the FBI, but could be the IRS, or other “Government Men”. First popularised in the 1930s when J Edgar Hoover was launching the FBI.

G-MEN is also a term used for members of G Division, a Dublin Metropolitan Police unit operating out of Dublin Castle prior to Irish independence in 1922 and this predates American usage.

Without the italics this would be a straight definition such as you might find in the Concise crossword. The italics refer to the Netflix show.

“Is closing in” is the containment indicator, but doesn’t quite work for me. “Encloses” yes. “Is hidden in” yes.

As noted before, A for American has not been spotted in the wild, but only in Collins. I put the latest version of ChatGPT on it, which came back with there doesn’t seem to be any credible example—whether in crosswords, editorial style, technical codes, or scholarly writing—where “A” by itself stands specifically for “American.” It’s just not used that way.

The challenge is to find it not as part of another abbreviation.

It suggested further looking at “military dispatches, older telegram codes, or specialized dictionaries” and came up with one example: the Canadian Football League (CFL). They label player status with a single letter e.g., the Negotiation List shows the A/N/G column and explicitly defining A: American.

The suffix -SICK works in two opposite ways : The “yearning sick” words (homesick, lovesick) are metaphorical use where “sick” meant something closer to “afflicted with longing.”

The “causative sick” words (airsick, seasick) follow the more modern, literal pattern where the preceding word identifies what’s making you physically ill.

“vessel” is one of the most vexing words to see in a clue. It is used by setters for ships (like today), containers such as basins, pots etc and also for tube-like things such as arteries.

I think setters use it to tune a clue to make it a bit harder, as today “ship” would have been a bit easier.

ETNA being, of course the Sicilian volcano, hence a hot spot.

This time Oink tunes the clue a bit easier, because omitting “Italian” would have made it considerably harder.

The Times crosswords often requires deep knowledge of drugs and their slang. Amphetamines are called “uppers”, though “speed” is also common.

“End” as in the aim(object) of an action, as in “They worked tirelessly to that end”

EIGHT is just one of the Cardinal numbers. It’s a linguistic term rather than a mathematical term, for numbers one, two, three etc written out as words. Mathematicians like me don’t use this term, and we never write numbers out. We say “integers” and it’s more precisely defined.

I think “toot” is a bit too polite for a car horn, I’m sure that “honk” is generally more common in Britain?

Not sure what Oink is getting at here. Children have Piggy Banks, is that it?

Soldiers who serve under regular, standardized conditions: consistent pay, uniform training, organized ranks, and permanent service. This contrasts with irregular forces like militias, partisans, mercenaries, or volunteer units.

And someone who drinks in the same pub.

Homophone indicated by “I’m told”

AVER=declare (or say) is very common in crosswords.

I think OAP is generally frowned upon. There was even a petition to ban its usage even though the Govt just calls it “State Pension”.  The US “senior citizen” is making inroads.

“Cockney” is just how setters indicate that an aspirated H is to be dropped.