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Hello all. Managed to complete the grid sometime yesterday after starting it the previous evening. 16a held out to the very end. As ever, I twigged to the full meaning of the clue only after I'd realised the answer.

Nice to see some propriety restored to the thread after the less-than-agreeable interjections of previous weeks.

With the frequent mention of the nation's First Ratter-in-Chief and his ilk in this thread, I wonder if T.S. Elliott was mistaken when he extolled the elegant repose of F. Domesticus as mere cover for extended thoughts on the thought of the thought of his name. Perchance it is more mundane than that: could it be that Felix is completing the entire cryptic in his head without all that messy scribbling we humans have to deploy against cunning anagrams?

Good afternoon Tom Cat - During our quiet time together this afternoon on the sofa I put your question to Charlie and at first he declined to answer. He has always taken the position that the less said on almost any subject the better; however, I pressed him. He finally pointed out that mental agility, to which he assumed you were referring, requires a lifetime of practise and must needs be learnt through strenuous inner exercise and discipline, in the peace which is only to be found behind the closed eyelid. As he also said, how much better to leave crude physical activity to those best suited to it, naming no particular species of being of course [though I think his meaning was clear]. I asked about Larry and the position he found himself in and he made the point that if The Great Creator had meant cats to be purely cerebral He would not have created rats; also that the acrobatic abilities of a cat closely resemble the beautiful exercises of the Chinese, and look at them. But why he mentioned that I'm not sure as he returned to inscrutability and there's no talking to him in that mood.

Tomcat @ 52: Cruciverbalists should find it easy to remember the spelling of the Great Poet's name (TS Eliot) as it's an anagram of toilets...

Sorry, that should have read @ 51. My brain can't hold stuff between reading on screen and then achieving the panel for further contribution.

RobtheRich - we really must congratulate you on the quality of your Maltypements. It takes a special kind of mind.....

Golly, Charlie'sHuman (sorry about inserting the apostrophe there, but I belong to the Apostrophe Veneration League - and, no, that doesn't spell anything, rude or otherwise) you've been trawling through back threads and old stuff, flattering in a way...

Yes the mal-type-ments (fumble-fingered typos) became Malty-Pements for a jocular while. Just adding all this in case some of the newer cohort think we've both lost our marbles. Though in my case...

Glad you decided to join us Mr Light. Look forward to your contributions. It took me about 2/3 months before I decided to join in.

I am really still stuck on this crossword which I found very difficult. In particular
10A - the platforms thing,
22A - drink certain to be swalloed
17D - only working parent housed

Another query for 14D is the answer to `loud banger` a German word?

Maybe no one will reply as there is a new challenge tomorrow.

By the way Mr Robtherich is very particular about spelling errors - he has caught me out in the past!!!

10a podiatry
17d anomaly
14d bratwurst
22a measured

OK.

Thanks Zorro! At this 11th hour I am sure the others will all have already filled in their grids

I could not care less whether they have or not.