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Hi, Rusty!
Now admit it .......you are deliberately trying to fox me!
I am not sure if I am permitted to look things up?
But as I had never heard of "The Seven Lamps of Architecture", I did Google it!
Seemingly, it is an essay by John Ruskin.
Now you are not going to believe this....but there is a John Ruskin Sixth Form College in Addington Village, Croydon........ and coincidentally, our son attended lectures there for a time!
How about that!
I cannot tie it in with your possible clue though!
I shall ponder the "Exhibition of London's home-made home?"
No bells ringing as yet though.
I may have to concede defeat.......
I've one Everyman clue still to parse, too.
My toe?
Well, I found some paste (I'm not sure how old it is) that is for infections...so I have ladled some on to my toe "just in case" and stuck a big plaster over it!
We shall wait to see whether my toe drops off.......

Uhm, Rusty......
You mentioned "Easter".... was that a subtle hint?
"hot cross buns " would be 3, 5 and 4 letters.......and could be "home-made"?
No, I think I am up the creek without a paddle!

Hello, Elle,
"This is the house that Jack built."
Jack London, I suppose?
The Seven Lamps I have no idea about, but that is the standard of clues/answers that were in use in the cryptics back then.
This is another.
"____"(L.L.Lost) (27)
The answer is "Honorificabilitudinitatitibus"
Now this is supposed to be a cryptic clue!
I have no idea what it means, though it is in my Chambers, and I have taken the easy option of throwing the books of Jumbos in the bin!
They are not for folk like me!

My favourite poem when I was little started

Lord Lundy, from his earliest years,
Was far too easily moved to tears

Also Hilaire Belloc.

Hi, Rusty!
These are more like General Knowledge crosswords, don't you think?
Or at best, a cross between GK and cryptic?
You are right in saying that one couldn't work out the answers without some specific background knowledge.
According to Google.....

"Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the dative and ablative plural of the medieval Latin word honorificabilitudinitas, which can be translated as "the state of being able to achieve honours".
It is mentioned by the character Costard in Act V, Scene I of William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost".

This is surely a GK question?
As such , one would expect to have to do some research.
In the "olden days", that would mean getting out the encyclopaedias!
I do not think that many people would know that out of hand....
I certainly wouldn't! (and didn't !)
Oh dear! I think I need a strong coffee to stimulate my brain cells!




Hello, Chris!
Yes, it's interesting how phrases from Hilaire Belloc poems pop into one's mind!

Hello, Elle!
Now I am a very simple man and know nothing about datives and ablatives!
This "h" word appeared in The Times Jumbo Cryptic Crossword Book 1, at Easter, 1971.
I read that quite a few years ago, the editor of The Times, told the setters to produce crosswords that ordinary people could do, and to get away from the clues being all to do with Greek poets and Literature etc.
The modern ones are far superior to the old ones in my opinion.
In the olden days, before I had a computer, I had a Chambers Dictionary, a single volume Encyclopedia, a Brewer's, and a Road Atlas of the British Isles.
And I managed fine!
How is your dodgy digit getting on?

Hey, Rusty!
I was only introduced to the computer at the beginning of the new millenium, when my daughters dragged me ( kicking and screaming) into the twenty-first century!
Before that, like you, whenever I did a crossword - although in those days I only did General Knowledge ones - I used an Oxford Dictionary, an atlas and a Thesaurus.
Oh yes, and an early (almost prehistoric) edition of Brewers!
I nearly always finished the puzzle!
My toe is still painful and swollen, but I guess whatever it is will take time to subside.
I looked up gout but have no reason to see why I should have it?
I don't appear to fit into any of the health "hazards"?
I shall give the "dodgy digit" (I like the alliteration!) some time.......see how it is in 24 /48 hours........
I'm not sure about going to the GP......I don't like taking medication!
Right...time to phone my cousin (I think it's my turn?)

Hello, Elle!
You have had a computer quite a bit longer than me.
I got one 6 years ago.
I think crosswords were more fun in the days before computers became popular.
Now, Elle, if one of your daughters, for instance, had a toe like you have, you would be chasing her along to her GP, I'm sure.
I think you should get it checked over.
As Pigale did!

Hi, Rusty!
I have been talking to my cousin...... all is well with the family up there.
The youngsters are getting excited by the prospect of new schools come September, as they have been going on tours of inspection.
Her children and grandchildren are quite a bit older than are mine.
It will be 2019 before my eldest grandchild goes to secondary school.
So quite some time yet for making educational decisions.
Re my toe......
Now, my policy, Rusty, is "do as I say/ suggest" and not "do as I do"!
No, but seriously.....
I have a problem with a number of medications so am unable to take them.
Like NSAIDS which are prescribed for gout! I am unable to take those.
So if possible I avoid this type of situation.
If my toe does not improve after a few days, I promise I shall "think" about seeing the doctor!

Hello, Elle!
We do not know if it is gout or not.
That is for a GP to decide.
There may be other treatments even if it is.
Phone the GP!
I have a toe which goes on the blink every so often.
Just under the nail on my big toe gets very tender for a while, then clears up.
Been going on for years.
My solution was to buy shoes a size bigger to give the toe plenty of room and not be paining me.
i do not think there is much choice of secondary schools up here.
All my young ones went to the nearest school.

I got this one fairly quickly.
Easter 1977.
"Early report of pastoral negligence" (6,2-4,3,4,3,5)