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Hi, Rusty!
Ah, I thought you must have known Anne Shirley as an actress, knowing your penchant for red- haired actresses!
(Although I suppose you could claim that Maureen O'Hara is in a class of her own?)
Yes, a good puzzle today...and not too hard.
I especially liked 6a: Phoebe; and 16a: jeer; and 23d: corgi
I couldn't do 24a: ?I?G?I?I
What am I not seeing here ?
And couldn't fully parse 15d:
iteration = repetition (definition)
What about the rest, please?
Have you read the "Winnie the Pooh" collection of (children's )stories by A. A. Milne?
They are tip- top,,,, and great read as an adult!



Yes, Chris!
Read "Pooh" again now......
( Well done, Alison, on her quote!)
An when it snows, I always think of Pooh's poem.....
"The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
On snowing.
And nobody knows (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
Are growing!.
And I think another book best read as an adult is "Alice in Wonderland".



Oh dear, Kenyatta...
We are at the WH. Smith stage........
So the next step will be a mobile P.O van?

Good evening, Elle!
Quite!
Maureen O'Hara is unique!
15d, baffled me for a while.
Still not looked up the word, but...
Remove "all" the clue says.
"(all)iteration"
Not sure what alliteration means?
Do you, and does the clue work now?
I reverse engineered the clue, putting "all" on to "iteration".
24, is fairly straightforward.
The fish is "ling" with finally yo"u", "in" is in clue, and foremost "I"talian, gives "linguini", which I believe is an Italian dish.
I have heard of Winnie the Pooh, but have not read the tale.
There is an awful lot I have not read!

I think I will, elle.
Well done for remembering Alison!
Rusty - read it, do not feel tempted to watch the appalling Disney versions!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I see "linguini" now!
"Alliteration" is the beginning of adjacent words with the same letter, such as the tongue twister "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper...."
0r the names "Donald Duck" and "Mickey Mouse".
So yes, the clue does make sense now.... it says "INITIAL repetition", meaning words beginning with same letter over again......
So as you say, "alliteration" minus "all" .......giving "iteration".
Well done!
Thank you, I would never have got that!

Elle
The Mobile PO is fine; it provides a regular efficient service. If you end up with one you'll be fine - it's within easy walking distance, for a start.
The WHS/PO operation co-existed with it for some time. It closed due to financial unviability and there may be some connection, although skullduggery has also been mentioned!

Hello, Elle!
I think "iteration" is a good clue, too.
The setter tells you to remove "all", so I added "all" to iteration, and knew it was a word, but I did not look it up or anything.
I did, however, look up "linguini" and discovered it can be spelled "linguinE", too.
But our "linguini" is correct with the clue.
I am reading about Harry Houdini, in my new Chambers Dictionary.
A remarkable man!

Hi, Rusty!
If I had been asked how to spell "linguine", I should have said with an "e" at the end.
I hadn't previously come across it spelled as "linguini".
I think it's an Italian word?
But I'm pretty sure it comes from the Latin "lingua" meaning "tongue".
How does your "Dictionary of the Unexplained" work?
Does it attempt to explain something apparently inexplicable?
Or does it just cite examples of hitherto unexplained happenings?
It sounds fascinating...
For instance, what does it have to say about Houdini?

Good morning, Elle!
A dry day here, so far, but still dark.
Yes, "linguini" is Italian, and it comes from "lingua" meaning tongue.
My "dictionary" covers all things "unexplained" in alphabetical order.
The "alien abduction" of Barney and Betty Hill is covered and often there is no explanation as to what "actually" happened.
There is quite a bit about Houdini.
How he did his escapes.
He expanded his chest and muscles while being manacled to give himself more room to manoeuvre.
He apparently swallowed tiny keys and shims and could regurgitate them when needed to unpick the handcuffs and chains.
They think, too, he could dislocate his joints, which made escapes easier to do.
He debunked "seances" and disagreed with Arthur Conan Doyle who believed in them.
Conan Doyle also believed in the "Cottingley fairies", which are in the book, too.
It is very interesting!

A Very Good morning to you, Rusty!
It is a dull somewhat miserable day here.......damp and coolish.
A brisk walk this morning!
So your book offers plausible explanations where possible?
For instance, like Houdini expanding his muscles whilst being shackled, so that it was easier afterwards to escape.
Are reasons offered to explain the Hills' alien experiences?
Now the Cottingley fairies are new to me?
I haven't heard of them?
Right, I am going to make a coffee before printing out the crosswords.....
I also have some paperwork to catch up on........

Hello, Elle!
Lovely day here!
Just home, been visiting.
No, the book sticks to what is known about the unexplained.
Houdini and many other escapologists used various techniques for their performances.
Some died when things went wrong.
The Hills had a two hour window missing from their journey.
But they were the first to report an alleged "alien abduction" so were not taken seriously at first.
But, there are many more abductions reported from the USA and UK, than from France and Germany, say. So...?
I am surprised you do not know the Cottingley fairies story.
Try YouTube, a few videos on there about what happened.
The woman who claimed to be the Duchess Anastasia had DNA taken when she died and was found to have no connection with the Romanovs.
But! Some folk dispute the DNA evidence...!
It's a great book for dipping in and out of.