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Ok, 17D “funny cartoon about jolly diver” has to be cormorant, surely? Cartoon anag I got but that leaves RM. A jolly or jolly-boat is a tender carried by a bigger ship but does that get me RM? Royal Marine?

A Royal Marine is known as a Jolly.

Yes, RM - Jolly, Royal Marine, crops up quite often! It's in Chambers.

malone

we spoke about Homer in a Times xword a few weeks ago. I expressed a wish for a "pigeon" clue involving Homer, and got it today!

Thanks, jigjag - I, of course, didn't waste any time thinking about Homer Simpson!

Malone

thats good - and I am awaiting a Homer clue relating to a home run in baseball - then we will have the full set!

Dammit no jolly=RM in OED!

I'm surprised about that, Colin - the term seems to have been around for ages (as in decades). There's some interesting stuff online.

Well yes Malone, interesting online stuff so far seems best represented by this forum...

Well, I found the stuff about the origins of the term interesting - especially the stuff about the Trained Bands Of The City of London. I wouldn't have looked this up if it hadn't been for the query about the clue!