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elle

7th March 2016, 15:17
There are three that I cannot parse.......
14D: Able to remember plunderer endlessly pinching wine (9)
The answer is "retentive" = remember (def)
Why, please?

18D: Sort of cinema way up by this writer's home (5-2)
"Drive - in" = sort of cinema (def)
way up - rd (reversed)
?????

20D: School head set up current ruddy course programmes! (7)
Syllabi = course programmes (def)
S - school head
i - current
Cannot do the rest of the parsing

Explanations appreciated, please!
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malone

7th March 2016, 15:21
14 Tent is wine (red, I think - the word comes up in crosswords occasionally) and Reive(r) is a raider (Scotland had reivers in the Borders).
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malone

7th March 2016, 15:22
20 D. I think Bally is just being used as a mild curse, in the way that Ruddy would be - 'this ruddy door's jamming again'.
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elle

7th March 2016, 15:27
Thank you , Malone!
All words I've never heard of before!
I thought "ruddy" meant "red"?
as in "ruddy cheeks "?
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malone

7th March 2016, 15:40
14 Tent is a deep-red Spanish wine. Reiver (and Reaver) is defined as 'archaic, plunderer, robber'.

20 Ruddy does mean Red (as in ruddy cheeks) but it also means 'bloody'. Ruddy is used euphemistically for 'bloody', though not necessarily in the literal gory sense'.'Bally' is defined as 'euphemism for bloody, but almost meaningless'.

18 D. I couldn't parse it properly myself, but the Times For The Times website gives some explanation about I've (this setter) and In (home). I read it, but didn't really get it - but am sharing it anyway!
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