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Hello, Elle!
Cycling going well.
Annemiek van Vleuten has won!
Very pleased for her after her horror crash in the Olympic Games at Rio.
Anna van der Breggen was second.
British girls not good enough.
My sons told me not to bother with wonky printers for they are cheap to buy?
I have finished my puzzle.
21d and 24d are new words to me.
Not an easy puzzle, I do not think.

Hi, Rusty!
We have been out doing some gardening....just a tidying operation.....weeding after the rain!
Too wet to cut the grass today!
One of the foxes was willing to help! but dog was having none of it!
She always sends them out of the garden!
But our previous dog had a 'fox friend' with whom we walked half way to the park each morning!
I would walk along the street, flanked by dog on one side and fox on the other!
Every day without fail, until the fox's death.
It was great to see!
I haven't quite finished the puzzle yet...other events intervened........
But I am about three -quarters through.
"Satay" I knew!
But 21d I haven't been able to solve yet?
Yes, printers are quite inexpensive, but it may not come to that....
My husband is reluctant to give up on the challenge.....
(If I "disappear" again, you will know he is having another attempt at "fixing"...!)

Hello, Elle!
Fair play to your husband for not giving up on the printer!
I think, possibly, Elle, you won't have heard of 21d, but Anne Bradford has, with a slight change in spelling, which I then found in Chambers.
You are needing a synonym for "havoc", I think, with a change inside.

Hey, Rusty!
Well, I have given up on the crossword!
I still have no answers to four of the clues... 14a; 16a; 18d; and 27a..... and I have no idea how to proceed further!
I have got 21d though...
"beldam" - an anagram of "bedlam" (havoc), although I would have spelt it as "beldame".
I thought "naked" for 22d was reminiscent of "The Emperor's New Clothes"?
Did you not think of the fairy tale when reading the clue?
Danny Kaye sang a song about it?
" The King is in the all-together..."
That took me back a few years!

Hello, Elle!
I did think of the Emperor!
14, One pal is "a china".
16, Is boxing slang. All right is "okay".
18, could people looking be "starers"?
27, Elle, I think this is a German word.
Always is "e'er".
Could the old country be a French one?
Appeal coud be "it".
These wee hints should get you over the line, I hope, Elle!

Hi, Rusty!
Oh dear!
Now I'm going around singing under my breath
"Isn't it grand! Isn't it fine! Look at the cut, the style, the line!
The suit of clothes is all together
But all together it's all together
The most remarkable suit of clothes that I have ever seen.........."
Followed by the chorus!
Well, I have now done three of the four clues, I think?
14a: Ma china tes (I should definitely have seen this one!)
18d star t ers"
But why "cultures"?
16a:" kayo"?
but I don't know the word.
And I still cannot get 27 a: I now have G?U?EIT?R
I'll try a strong coffee......

Hello, Elle!
Yes, "cultures" for "starters" is a bit vaguish.
Could it be to do with plants?
Yes, kayo can be used for KO. Knock out.
Well, it looks like you do not know the foreign word that is 27a.
Have you thought of the old word for France, yet?
Whatever was Asterix, at all?
Keep at it.
You shall overcome!

"Cutures" are starters in some contexts, for example making sourdough bread. You make the starter by culturing yeast from apples. When it is good and fizzing you add some to the flour and make the bread. You then feed the cuture for the next starter. Ginger beer is made in a similar way.

My son made a copper rose to give his wife on their 9th (copper sometimes, apparently) wedding anniversary today. He bought the copper from eBay and taught himself to cut and shape the petals. What a true romantic.

Thank you, Rosalind!
I knew some of the more knowledgeable folk on the forum could give an explanation!

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, Asterix and Obelix!
I hadn't realised that I was looking for an old name for France - of course "Gaul"!
Gauleiter!
How dim am I?
I shall be able to sleep tonight now!
(that is, if I'm not still humming "The king is in the ....")
A busy day coming up tomorrow!
After the morning dog walk, I have to take the cat to the vets for another antibiotic and steroid injection (he's going to love that).....
And then my daughter and YB are coming over and we are all going out for lunch.
It should be good!



Thank you , Ros, for the explanation about cultures and starters.
I have never heard of the term "starter" in that context.
I found the puzzle hard today.