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xwordfan

15th December 2017, 14:08
the extra is E not S (e from Earth or an E in LEd)
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kash72

15th December 2017, 14:12
Thanks xwordfan. I got the extra letter for penultimate Across and Down clues mixed up.
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david w

15th December 2017, 14:45
I'm down to my last two. 13d looks as if it might be waist/waste and 21a looks like encheer but I can't parse either of them. Any offers please?
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xwordfan

15th December 2017, 15:46
21a Pence is the VP(vice president) P is extra , H(hard heart/inside) + ER (hestitation)
Yes to waist ...can't parse it either sorry
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david w

15th December 2017, 16:00
Thanks xwordfan. Did you actually solve the clue, or did you just guess the answer and then work out how it could be fitted to the clue?
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xwordfan

15th December 2017, 16:18
I worked backwards from crossers in the grid ...W?S?E. Only waste fitted so I knew it had to be the homophone of the clue answer waist defn narrowing in the middle
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david w

15th December 2017, 16:56
That;s what I did for 13d although I still can't see the wordplay. Likewise 21a, where I can see the wordplay now you explain it but I was wondering if you had actually been able to use the wordplay to reach the answer.
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artifice

18th December 2017, 15:40
Waist - remains = "waits" + fat on the bottom - ie last letter of = T
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david w

18th December 2017, 18:24
Thank you Artifice. So waits, take out the T for the message, then add the T from fat.

My ill-expressed question at 35 was really about the wordplay of 21a but it applies to this one too. Did you and xwordfan manage to work out the wordplay going forward, or did you guess the answer and reverse engineer?

I have a theory that some wordplay is so cryptic as to be insoluble without sharing the setter's advantage of seeing the answer. (But I also have a fear that all wordplay is soluble ... if the solver is clever enough!)

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