Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I've invented a word!

"incongruous".

Desert, adjective, synonym for uninhabited (which the island in Lough Gill is).

Not as in sandy and covered in palm trees.

Parse please for 5d:
Faces no longer fitting, sadly, at the top (5)
M-E-S

Must be MIENS, I think, but just can't see why.

Took me a long time to get going on this one; thought it harder than usual for the Saturday Prize.

Can anyone repeat the link to that website which analyses the difficulty rating of 'The Times'? I neglected to bookmark it.

Meets, faces. Meet used to mean (no longer) 'fitting'. with the S at the beginning, at the top, of 'sadly'.

Thanks, Malone. I was completely off target there, but I would still have struggled to parse MEETS.

I don't try for the prize any more; by post it's not good economics. Even in the old days I didn't want a fountain pen, however expensive, and I don't like whisky.

9D - Where you’ll find eg Madrilenos with no common sense gossip (6) ?S?A?A

Espana, E.S.P. + ana

9d "Where you'll find eg Madrilenos with no common sense gossip" (6)

?S?A?A

16d "What's maybe experienced by an impatient practical joker in military retreat" (4,5)

L?N? M?R?H Presuming it's LONG MARCH for military retreat but don't see where impatient practical joker fits

Any help much appreciated

Gooner, the impatient joker can't wait for April 1st, April Fool's day...

Thanks malone; very clever clue which I'd never have got.