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Thanks Brendan. It was the Playboy reference that was throwing me. Onwards and upwards.

Well that got me through the last part. It was tough though. Don't yet understand the last two letters in 23a and don't get the parsing of the second part of 18d either.

I find this a super useful reference for those obscure little abbreviations that keep cropping up...

http://crypticcrosswords.net/crosswords/usual-suspects/

Rocky, scroll down to ‘soldiers’ for those two letters you are after...

Hi Rocky,

The last 2 letters in 23a crop up very frequently in crosswords and are short for "ordinary ranks"

18d the last three letters are "drink" as in "do you want another one"?

Thanks for that list Jono, it looks very helpful so I've bookmarked for future reference.

Funny - thanks ChrisE

Thanks jono

That's really useful thanks Jono. That use of fancy another one Brendan is exactly why this puzzle was tough but enjoyable. Slightly different and obscure meanings throughout but fair I thought.

Can anyone help me see how "village" works in 12A? I have the answer and understand "supermarket" and "empty shops" but I'm lost re. "village" and E.

Thanks!

Hi Trickyvic,

"close to village" just means the "close" or end/finish/close of the word (villag)E