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Ordered to obtain good mark (5) _a_g_

badge
bade + g

It took only 25 minutes to finish, but it's a very poor one this week from Neil Shepherd; the clue above being one example. In my mind 'Ordered' should be 'made' rather than 'bade', giving 'MADGE' as the answer to the cryptic part of the clue, but a 'MADGE' is a lead hammer, an owl or a magpie and nothing to do with a mark.

Other poor clues this week:

11A Willing to give money (5) ?E?D?

I have 'READY', but money should really be 'READIES'.

15D Doctor in Leeds forced to pretend (9) D?S?E?B?E

The answer is clearly DISSEMBLE, but the word 'is' is missing from the clue.

Maybe I'll have to start buying a different Sunday paper.

Hi John
It was nice of you to write and I agree with your comments entirely. My wife has been threatening for ages to replace the SoS ! Regards. George (from Edinburgh)

dissemble is an anagram of isleeds and mb

Yes, but the clue is printed as I wrote above and there is no 'is' in it. It's either very poor clue setting or proofreading, but I'd plump for the former.

Sorry - I read it wrongly.