Times Quick Cryptic No 1688 by Monty

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A second outing for Monty today, his first being a fortnight ago to the day. Looking back over the previous comments, it was a puzzle that divided opinion, with some fairly tough clues, a dash of obscurity and an original style. I really liked it, and did so again today with what was a similar solving experience (reflected by my time, again coming in around three minutes over target). Again I learnt a few things, but none of the obscurity proved essential to the solve, and some of it even merited a closer look – just the way it should be! An array of fine clues, several pitched at the trickier end for a QC, all well worth it – many thanks to Monty!

Across
1 Turkey leg Bob demolished? Right! (7)
GOBBLER – Anagram (demolished) of LEG BOB, and then R(ight). Originally a US term for a male turkey, with ‘gobble’ being imitative of the gurgling noise they make.
5 Row after catching grand, wild cat (5)
TIGER – TIER (row) catching G(rand)
8 Ermine Street coming across to Alconbury at first (5)
STOAT – ST. (Street) coming across TO A (TO, Alconbury “at first”). Ermine can be both the animal and the fur; Ermine Street was a very ancient road from London to York, predating the Romans, and was later named by the Saxons after a tribe of people living near a part of the route. And yes, apparently it does pass through Alconbury. All news to me – lovely stuff! See here.
9 Artist’s pants (7)
DRAWERS – DRAWER’S = Artist’s. LOI – was stuck on the idea of rubbish/pants instead of underwear/pants.
10 Gather idiot has badge with end missing (8)
ASSEMBLE – ASS (idiot) has EMBLEm (badge, with end missing). I was slow seeing this and needed it for 11d.
12 Overheard couple too much (3)
TOO – sounds like (“overheard”) as TWO (couple). I was sufficiently unsure of this not to enter it on a first read through of the acrosses, as I don’t ever recall seeing the answer so blatantly in the definition. I think what’s happening here is that “too much” is an old way of simply saying “too”, as in Richard II, “Your majestie is too much sad.” (Thank you OED!) Quite a confusing clue without this knowledge, but thankfully not necessary for solving it. Well, at least Monty wasn’t in an even cheekier mood with “Couple overheard too much”, eh? 😉
14 Bald Ulsterman moved item of hall furniture? (8,5)
UMBRELLA STAND – anagram (moved) of BALD ULSTERMAN. Nicely disguised umbrella, I thought, that initially got me wondering who or what a MURLAND was, and what function their TABLE performed in a hallway.
16 Struggle avoided, ignoring the odds (3)
VIE – a V o I d E d “ignoring the odds”
17 Celeb briefly backed into corrupt poll (8)
ELECTION – CELEb (celeb, “briefly”) backed = reversed; anagram (corrupt) of INTO
20 Those people must accept rebuke for this treatment (7)
THERAPY – THEY (those people) must accept RAP (rebuke)
23 Boy trapped back in concrete pillar (5)
PETER – trapped back in the letters of concRETE Pillar
24 Forger sends money in two holdalls first of all (5)
SMITH – Sends Money In Two Holdalls, “first of all”
25 Chap’s local refurbished in 2000 (7)
MALCOLM – anagram (refurbished) of LOCAL in MM (2000). I share the common dislike for random name clues but this was neatly done.

Down
1 Point, when American soldier’s on the way (4)
GIST – GI (American soldier) is on the ST. (Street/way)
2 Top, black, suitable for surfers? (9)
BROWSABLE – BROW (top) SABLE (black); as in a browser for surfers of the net. Tricksy stuff: the B/BL for Black had me looking for a top via a wave.
3 Volume was illuminating, with accompanying note (5)
LITRE – LIT (was illuminating), with accompanying RE (note – as in do, re, me)
4 Communist: the German revolutionary (3)
RED – DER (the, German), revolutionary = reverse. (The only revolutionary in today’s puzzle, 1688.)
5 Violinist’s last seen on composer’s journeys (7)
TRAVELS – T (violinisT‘s “last”) seen on RAVEL’S (composer’s)
6 My half of child’s horse (3)
GEE – a GEE-GEE being a child’s horse.
7 Comes back on steamship going round small lake (8)
RESPONDS – RE (on) SS (steamship) going round POND (small lake)
11 Bottom of ship’s bunk (5)
BILGE – double definition, and nicely done. Another unknown for me: the bilge is the bottom of a boat; it later came also to mean “the foulness that collects in the bilge”, and was thence but a short hop to rubbish more generally.
12 Tango with novel footwear in song from musical (3,3,3)
TEA FOR TWO – T (Tango in the NATO phonetic alphabet) with an anagram (novel) of FOOTWEAR
13 Oust violently with veto to achieve defeats democratically (8)
OUTVOTES – anagram (violently) of OUST with VETO
15 Rubbish solution for irritated viewers (7)
EYEWASH – double definition, the first somewhat dated; boat bilge not recommended for the second.
18 Part of flower — and of date palm (5)
TEPAL – “part of” daTE PALm. Another unknown: the outer part of a flower, which wiki says is used when you can’t work out if something is a sepal or a petal. It’s a bit more technical than that, but potentially very useful if you want to confirm your ignorance of such matters in a fancy way.
19 Daughter’s head: strange place to do tattoo (4)
DRUM – D (Daughter’s “head”) RUM (strange). A tattoo being a tapping on a drum.
21 Old priest: the Spanish one (3)
ELI – EL (the, Spanish) I (one)
22 Yours truly’s up for eating a potato (3)
YAM – MY (yours truly’s) up = reversed, eating A

78 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1688 by Monty”

  1. I spent far too long on my LOI TOO since it was obviously not TWO due to the homophone indicator, and not TOO since it was right there in the clue. I wondered if was something to do with French (tout, for example). But in the end I bunged in TOO and it turned out to be correct. What an awful clue though.
  3. Very enjoyable for the most part but I trust that 12ac was some sort of error and not what the setter intended? Otherwise it’s simply not on. Whatever the explanation, the clue distracted me in that corner of the puzzle as I couldn’t bring myself to write in TOO and by the time I settled for it the clock was on 14 minutes.
  4. I don’t see how you can praise a puzzle that has a clue like 12 across in it. The worst clue I remember seeing ever. In case my name doesn’t appear, it is Tom Stubbs.
  5. I can be added to the list of those not enjoying TOO. Some bright spots but still the puzzle I have enjoyed least in an age. BROWSABLE my LOI after TOO. Knew what sort of surfer and that it ended in SABLE but still took too long to fill in the blanks to get BROW. Over 20m yet again but all green. Next!

    Edited at 2020-08-27 06:55 am (UTC)


  6. Apart from TOO which puzzled me too I enjoyed this.

    Tea for Two an ear worm now though, and BILGE took longer than it should have done.

    For once I actually got Malcolm – usually a bugbear of mine.

    Thank you Monty and Rolytoly

    Diana

    1. As a seafarer I am surprised that BILGE caught you out! Even after a needless alphabet trawl I just couldn’t make myself put in TOO so settled for TWO at 30 minutes and sank with a grimace. Pondered over BROWSABLE for two long two. Oh well, twomorrow is another day.
    2. Your mention of TEA FOR TWO reminds me that I was intending to say in my original comment that I am surprised to see it defined as ‘song from musical’. It was in one, but how many people would know that?

      It’s from an American musical called ‘No, No, Nanette’ that played on both Broadway and in the West End in the mid 1920’s but has never been revived in a major production in the UK since then. There were two films of it, the most recent having been made in 1940 which is rarely if ever shown on TV and is certainly not rated as being of particular merit.

      The song is famous enough in its own right of course (as is ‘I Want to be Happy’ the other hit from the same score) but the fact that it was in a long-forgotten musical is not really relevant nor of much help to the average solver.

      Edited at 2020-08-27 09:01 am (UTC)

  7. A good start and most of it went in quickly. However I, too, vacillated over TOO (yes, a thoroughly c**p clue), and spent ages on BILGE, BROWSABLE, and LOI MALCOLM (nice clue) with a finish on the wrong side of half an hour. A curate’s egg with some clues I liked, e.g. ASSEMBLE and RESPONDS but a pity about the runny bits. It made me realise how perfectly formed so many crosswords are and how little it takes to dash one’s hopes. A frustrating offering from Monty but a good blog from Roly. John M.

    Edited at 2020-08-27 07:57 am (UTC)

  8. In the end I decided to ignore 12a and so all correct but in a slow time of 25 minutes.

    GOBBLER first in and last LITRE although I should have got it much sooner.

    The surface of 24a was very smooth so that gets my COD.

    1. Yes, made better progress in the 15×15 today than in the QC, just two clues short after 1 hour. (No spoilers, @vinyl1)
      1. Yes, the 15×15 took me an hour as well. Not an easy solve but an interesting test. Goodness knows how the ‘sprinters’ manage it in their claimed times. John
    1. Definitely random. Campbell’s, Muggeridge’s, Sargent’s or Gladwell’s wouldn’t be random. “Chap’s” quite definitely is.
  11. No time but over my target, LOI bilge, not including “too”.

    Some good clues: responds, election.

    Today’s 15×15 is doable, and verlaine did it in a quicker time than today’s “Quickie”.

    But too is up there with the worst clue I have seen in the last 4 years, tied with the eyot one. Agree with Jack it has to be a typo. Overheard couple also is simpler and works.

    Edited at 2020-08-27 08:44 am (UTC)

    1. The 15×15 is certainly worth tackling. I was only 74 seconds slower than on this QC.
  12. congratulations to the blogger – I think you had a lot to contend with! A lot of irritations for me. Outdated stuff (‘tea for two’ and gee – unless you are an American maybe) An awful clue 12a and some obscure stuff. I resorted to a spellchecker for 2d and it couldn’t find a word – nuf said.
    1. Spellcheckers are a terrible tool for determining the validity of a word. Most of them have ‘bare bones’ base dictionaries with many common words missing. Looking at my Firefox user-defined section I see I have almost 300 entries, including such rare obscurities as ‘online’, ‘placeholder’, ‘syllables’, ‘shambolic’, etc. Why I even had to add ‘cruciverbalist’ to it the other day!
      1. Yes, you are right there. Actually I meant to say wordfinder. I have an Oxford Crossword gizmo which reckons to be based on the oed of course> I’m sure the word browsable exists but whether it is ‘valid’ for a quickie with tough clueing I’m not so sure! Maybe i am just having a grumpy day 🙂 Thanks anyway

  13. 30 minutes, but a DNF with BROWSABLE – at my 20 minute target I had just TRAVELS, DRAWERS, and it to go. TOO went in because it could’t be anything else.
    I don’t have a problem with random names as answers, but I dislike it when they are part of the wordplay.
    As a bald Ulsterman who recently moved an item of hall furniture I had no problem with 14A!
    Thanks for the blog

    Brian

    Edited at 2020-08-27 09:33 am (UTC)

  14. I came in 4 minutes over target. A little of this was due to trying to get on Monty’s wavelength. I wanted to put in Sepal at 18d but clearly the wordplay and T checker convinced me of the unknown TEPAL. I required all the checkers for DRAWERS. The TOO cluing didn’t really work so that only went in at the last minute. MY LOI was BROWSABLE (my COD). Thanks Roly and Monty.
  15. About 30 mins but technically DNF as I put in “Eyelash” for 15dn.

    Other than 12ac “Too” which I couldn’t quite believe and stared at for far too long, I really enjoyed this puzzle. Some nice deception and clever clues including 12dn “Tea for Two”, 19dn “Drum”, 2d “Browsable” and 25ac “Malcolm” (not that I really like actual names for answers). Erroneously biffed “Petal” for 18dn which distracted me a little, but the rest went in with a smile.

    FOI – 1dn “Gist”
    LOI – 15dn “Eyelash” (wrong!)
    COD – 7dn “Responds” – nice surface

    Thanks as usual.

    1. I liked it too… managed everything without needing to resort to aids. No time as I did it in stages. 12ac was odd but ir confused a lot of people so that might be the objective..
  16. TOO must be an error, right?

    Held up for a bit by putting TWO FOR TEA at first, and thus ruling out 14a as an anagram. Fortunately MALCOLM put me right.

  17. I wasn’t sure what to make of Monty after his first QC offering and once again this was a bit of a mixed bag. To say that 12a was a poor clue would be extremely generous and I genuinely hope that it was a typo. While I’m on a rant I have a bit of a pet peeve with the word EYEWASH, in the last 100 years has anyone ever used it outside of a crossword?
    On the plus side I thought BROWSABLE was very clever and therefore had me stumped for a while and I also enjoyed UMBRELLA STAND and MALCOLM. Finished in 14.12 with TOO.
    Thanks to Roly

    Edited at 2020-08-27 09:41 am (UTC)

    1. Once you start complaining that Crosswords use phrases that no-one else does, you are on a downward slope. My pet peeve SA for sex Appeal.
      2. Pi is the worst
        I doubt if more than 3 people ever used it and if thy did it was certainly long before I was born
    2. “…EYEWASH, in the last 100 years has anyone ever used it outside of a crossword?..”

      Yes. Often heard from my father in earlier years. More common than other crossword items.

      Edited at 2020-08-27 06:42 pm (UTC)

    3. Have seen Eyewash many times on motorways! Tanker lorries carrying toxic liquids have a small cupboard on rear of cab so labelled. God help you if they spill 1000 gallons . . .

      Philip

  18. I started this with high hopes, thinking that, after last time, Monty would have toned down his clues and we might be in for an easy ride. The first three went in straight away and I wondered if there might be an animal theme going on (which would be great for me). Sadly it didn’t transpire. I did slow down a bit from then, but I still thought I was motoring along, getting most of the clues, until I looked at my time after a first pass through and was already over 15 minutes. Then things really went awry. Never heard of TEPAL but it had to be (especially after I typed it into Google just to check it was a word – I never use aids to find out a word, but occasionally check the existence or spelling of something I’ve already thought of) and wasn’t sure of BILGE, but it was 9a and the 15d/17a combo that really held me up. I was pleased to see that 9a could be that well known to some (not me, but then I’m not great on artists) Dutch impressionist DIAPERS, and after another long while thought of the possibility that “irritated viewers” could mean sore eyes. With EYEWASH in, I finally figured out what was going on in 17a and stopped my watch on 70:06. As for 12a, I was one of those who couldn’t believe that the whole answer would be a word in the clue, so assumed some odd wordplay and put in TWO. It’s a shame that spoilt the puzzle for some on here, because, although this was hard for a QC there are many excellent surfaces and misdirections, so thanks Monty and, of course, Roly.
    1. Dutch impressionist Pieter DIAPERS? Inspired guess, I’m sure I’ve seen his work at some of the less popular rooms at the Rijksmuseum…

  19. Being just a humble novice at this kind of thing (relative to those further up), could it be argued that by placing “too” within the clue is just an extreme form of deception eg. hiding in plain sight?

    Or is it just trying to be too clever by half and failing miserably?

      1. Yes, 12a was awful. I went the wrong way, so DNF. I thought there was a “rule” that forbade having the answer in the clue. Obviously not!

        H

  20. No time today as I was interrupted several times, but it seemed to take ages, and I didn’t enjoy much of it at all. Had I been blogging this week, I would have been much less generous than Roly. 12a is an abomination, a BILGE is not really the bottom of a ship – try keel, although apart from that criticism, this was an acceptable clue. PETER, MALCOLM, ELI – is there a theme here, I wondered – none that I can discern. I’m sorry to say that I rate this offering from Monty at the pants, bilge or eyewash end of the spectrum, and hope that his future puzzles are an improvement on his first two.
    1. Also hated TOO. I am from nautical family and can assure you that the bilges (note the s) are most definitely the inside of the bottom of a ship or boat. Bilge without the s is an adjective eg bilge water. As the bottom of a ship is (hopefully) waterproof any liquids that are spilt in ship end up there eventually, and so bilge water is pretty disgusting stuff.
  21. I agree with the general feeling about 12 across being as something of a GR but, personally, I enjoyed the rest. I don’t know enough about ships to see that BILGE might not be quite accurate so that went in as one of my first answers (although I’d use the word bunkum, rather than bunk to mean rubbish ). I’m old enough to be familiar with TEA FOR TWO so had no problem with that either and I also think that the latter one at least was very fairly clued. Ditto the NHO 18 down, TEPAL. The whole thing took me about twenty minutes, I guess, with my LOI being a dawdling hesitant TOO. I enjoyed DRAWERS, SMITH and especially EYEWASH. For me, the good stuff in this puzzle far outweighs one poor clue so I liked it very much. Thanks, Monty. Thanks also to Roly for your informative and upbeat blog..
  22. Came up short again today. I thought BROWSABLE was a toughie, I know that “surfer” is a chestnut for the Internet but was put off by that “B” for Black. BROW=top was not easy either. Missed out on BILGE and EYEWASH as well, DNK that it meant rubbish, I guess a bit like “Hogwash”?

    TEPAL has caught me out before, especially as PETAL is often a near miss.

    COD THERAPY

    And I agree, the Bald Ulsterman is a nice anagram, Umbrella is not easy to hide.

    I’m getting fed up with ELI who seems to be making a lot of appearances. Lets have some other OT priests like Aaron, Zadok or (more challenging) Melchizedek,

  23. It took me 27:54 to finish this. Last in before 12a were BILGE and BROWSABLE which took me ages as BAND or WAVE seemed like obvious constituents. It was only when SABLE occurred to me that I was able to return to 12a. I could not think of anything better than TWO which might be down to me or the clue. David

  24. What everyone else is saying. Apologies Monty, but I think this is one of the least user-friendly quickies in some time. TOO was not good, although there were some entertaining clues in there – I liked TEA FOR TWO and DRUM. I realise it takes time to get used to a new setter’s style, so let’s hope practice makes perfect, or at least something approaching that!

    FOI Gobbler
    COD Umbrella stand
    DNF after 20 minutes + with TOO and BROWSABLE to go

    Thanks anyway Monty! And thanks Roly for the very helpful blog

    Edited at 2020-08-27 10:33 am (UTC)

  25. ….TOO ? Whilst there were some really good clues in here, there was too much that spoilt it. As well as the obvious 12A, NHO TEPAL but it was easy to parse. I wasn’t sold on “YAM = potato”. They’re certainly of the same family, but “tuber” would have been better.

    FOI TIGER
    LOI BILGE
    COD DRUM
    TIME 7:22 (or TOO TOO !)

    1. Agreed about 12ac.
      Yam=Potato? I guess if a Rattlesnake can be poisonous instead of venomous then I can live with the Yam thing too 🙂
      NHO bilge other than the nautical sense.
  26. Defeated by STOAT, LITRE and BROWSABLE. Put in TWO for 12ac since TOO in the clue. Hard.
  27. I GOBBLED up 1a then got the GIST of the NW, sans 7d, before continuing in a clockwise manner. I shoved in 12a from a cursory glance, without thinking TOO deeply, but had I spent more time on it, I’d have raised both eyebrows. Trusted the wordplay for TEPAL. Liked BROWSABLE once I stopped looking for a maritme surf connection. My LOI was BILGE, once I’d ASSEMBLED 10a to give me all the crossers. 11:56, so over my target again. Thanks Monty and Roly.
  28. Failed to get Drum and Litre, though should have. Also missed Malcolm.

    I saw a live ermine on our window sill in a ski resort once. I was less keen on our resident stoat here.

    ‘A stoat can be easily told from the weasel
    by the simple fact
    Its tail is blacked
    and its figure
    is slightly the bigger’

    Liked Drawers and Bald Ulsterman.
    Thanks all round.

    1. “You can weasily tell because they’re stoatally different” was what my grandfather used to say!
  29. It’s like eating a lovely apple and then biting into a maggot. It slightly puts you off the whole thing. Shame, because there were some good clues in there too.

    Thanks roly.

    Templar

  30. No time today as we were interrupted but it probably took us over our target. Some really clever clues that were a pleasure to work on – thanks Monty. However, as with so many others, we two/too thought that 12A was a poor clue and we plumped for “two” as our answer as we convinced ourselves that it couldn’t be “too” as it was part of the clue!

    FOI: tiger
    LOI: drawers
    COD: drawers

    Thanks to Rolytoly for the blog

  31. Never felt the need to contribute before but how on earth can the editor allow a clue where the whole answer appears in the clue. almost makes me not want to bother. Rest of the answers doable if tricky but this is not on.
  32. … because there were some really good clues in this puzzle and the makings of a most welcome addition to the roster of setters. 14A Umbrella stand a great clue, and my COD. But 24A Smith, 10A Assemble, 8A Stoat also all cracking clues.

    But (as many have said) also some real shockers. Not just 12A Too, which is worth all the brickbats already thrown at it; 18D Tepal highly obscure, 13D Outvotes puzzled me as the anagram indicator (“violently”) seems only to point at oust, not also at veto, and in 3D “illuminating” and “lit” are simply different parts of speech – it would have been so easy, and much better, to clue it “Volume was illuminated with note” instead. And a personal grumble at “on” = “re” in 7D – not really synonyms surely.

    So, not a puzzle i will look back with much fondness on. Roly’s blog, on the other hand, is a masterpiece of empathy and generosity sprinkled with GK and wit. Thank you!

    Cedric

  33. Several good clues such as DRAWERS, ASSEMBLE and THERAPY but, like others, I was surprised at 12A and decided it just had to be ‘two’.
    I also thought the STOAT cluing was a little weak and there were too/two? many names for my liking.
    COD goes to UMBRELLA STAND – very clever anagram.
    Thanks to Monty for providing 20 minutes of mental gymnastics and to Rolytoly for the cheery blog.
  34. Interestingly, we both found this a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, with the exception of 12A. So it just shows that, as often in the SCC, slower solvers see these QCs in a different light to the racers.
  35. No time today as we were interrupted but it probably took us over our target. Some really clever clues that were a pleasure to work on – thanks Monty. However, as with so many others, we two/too thought that 12A was a poor clue and we plumped for “two” as our answer as we convinced ourselves that it couldn’t be “too” as it was part of the clue!

    FOI: tiger
    LOI: drawers
    COD: drawers

    Thanks to Rolytoly for the blog

  36. For the error at 12ac
    These things happen alas. All too obvious after the event.

    I suggest putting 8ac 1ac, 14ac, 5ac 9ac, 25ac 23ac 24ac into Google 🙂

    MP

    1. Monty P, you must be frustrated that so much hard work went unnoticed because most solvers were distracted by TOO.
      You even managed to get ELECTION and OUTVOTES in there.
      Excellent nina ….. too. Thanks.
    2. Disappointed you didn’t manage to squeeze in raw vegetable fruitbat pussycat as well.
    3. What was the clue supposed to be? Is there an understanding that the answer will not be part of the clue?

      Nice work on the Monty P anyway! I’ll be on the alert next time 🙂

      H

      1. The names are the names used by a character in a Monty Python “Election Night Special” sketch. Googling will reveal all 🙂

        H

    4. I enjoyed the link – thanks! I also enjoyed the crossword – a pleasurable 12 minutes.
      1. Sorry to be dim but Gobbler and Malcolm make me think of Philip Pullman. Is that the Nina? Where does e.g. umbrella stand come in?
        2. I tried to respond to this post, but the site wouldn’t let me! So my answer appears a couple of posts higher up …

          Now it is letting me “reply”. I’ve no idea what’s going on.

          H

    5. Sorry for the mis-explanation at 12ac that deflected thought away from the rest of the puzzle and a lovely nina. Oh the parsings one can come up with by delving into the nether regions of a large dictionary.
  37. Thought TOO might be a double bluff so got it right but B_O_SABLE did not find any words in Crossword Solver so a DNF for me
  38. Plenty to enjoy here, with the obvious 12a exception. Didn’t see Monty’s first effort, but I hope he/she sticks with it.
    Tim (not that Tim).
  39. Well I liked it… Being still very much in the beginner league it’s nice to have an accessible puzzle. Thanks, Monty, keep them coming.
  40. I get it now!! Never do see ninas 😕 P’tang P’tang Biscuit Barrel – I’d completely forgotten about that!
    1. “As the Conservative candidate at this bye-election, I just drone on and on and on and on, until I foam at the mouth and fall over backwards”.

      My MP at the time was Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Walter Bromley-Davenport (Conservative, Knutsford). I swear Sir Bufton Tufton was based on him.

  42. Well… after yet another long day (house sitting daughter’s builders, since you ask) a late start on Monty’s second offering. This time I was slightly better prepared, and accepted that the 12ac shocker had to be ‘too’ with a simple shrug. Loi was 2d, Browsable after 26mins, which confirmed my ‘too clever by half’ impression. Some very good clues along the way, including CoD 14ac, but the balance is wrong for a QC – walk before you run. Invariant
  43. Trapped into two too.

    But enjoyed a good puzzle and wasn’t timing myself. So enjoyed the experience apart from Browsable. I was fixated on Boobtubes for a long while until Vie went in and spoilt my reverie..
    I had wondered about a modern internet connection but missed it.

    PS. I didn’t like drawers either….(strange considering my desire for boobtubes)

    PPS. Nice to see another GR airing!

    Thanks all
    John George

  44. I for one enjoyed this crossword. Some excellent clues. TOO was my LOI, but for me it was on the mer side of things, rather than GR. Closer to phil than I normally am, at 8:08 (state).

    Thanks Monty and roly.

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