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Hello, Elle!
My watch cost £3.98 inc postage, so that is not too bad, I think.
It is the resin strap that breaks on my watch and I get approximately 18 months out of each one before it needs replaced.
Ah, 6d, the setter knows something we don't, it looks like, Elle!
I liked 24a, and I got the Cockney one in 3d.
A good puzzle, I thought!

Hi, Rusty!
Wow, that is an incredibly cheap price!
I pay more than that just for a replacement leather strap on mine.
You obviously have a bargain!
I've just had another look at 24a and I have suddenly got it!
"Amiable"...Am I able?
I'm ashamed to say I cannot see the full parsing for the Cockney one?
I have "barometer" = "it shows the necessary pressure one is under" (def)
But where does the Cockney bit fit in?
Well done you, for getting it!




Oh, I thought it was a joke, Chris...I was looking for the punch line!

Hello, Elle!
My watch is the Casio F-91W.
It has been in production since the 1980's.
There have been many millions produced and it sells all over the world.
The Cockney "in", is (h)ome, surrounded by "barter"/deal.
If a Cockney is "in", he is "(h)ome".

Hi, Rusty!
I have just looked at a picture of your Casio watch.......it looks neat!
My "old" Ladies' resin watch was also a Casio...I had it for about twenty years!
Very reliable...and it managed to resist being magnetised!
I only replaced it recently when the casing itself broke.
Ah, I never thought of a Cockneyism as simply being a dropped aitch...I was looking for a rhyming slang!
Thank you for explaining that!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, the Casio is a smashing watch.
They describe it as a "retro classic".
I've had quite a few over the years. All identical.
If I went to the cobbler to get a strap for it, I'd be dearer for the strap than I am for the new watch.
When it arrives, I'll test it to make sure it is not a counterfeit watch.
If it is, I'll send it back and let eBay know.
I've noticed there are much less London/ Cockney related clues lately.
I prefer it that way.

Rusty, Elle, I too had Solti in yesterday's puzzle - but only from the 'Maestro' bit. I've just looked at the Times blog/website and the explanation didn't help me much! The solution comes from musical terminology. If you use a certain key (musically), the G in the clue gives Sol and the B gives Ti. I can see that, but I feel that solvers didn't get much to steer them towards the musical stuff - 'GB possibly' doesn't indicate much to me!

PS My explanation might be slightly garbled, my eyes glazed over when I read the tonic sol-fa stuff.

re Solti (Maestro in GB possibly)

in Music - notes of the Sol Fa scale
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C = Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.

(taken from the Times blog)

Apologies Malone. My typing and reCaptcha took longer than expected

Thanks, Cerasus. I still feel 'in GB possibly' didn't give solvers much to go on!

I agree there was no definite indication of GB being connected with music