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Hi Yevrah,

I'm pretty sure we've had a very similar clue recently.

I'll be interested to see which option people choose for 26a, the one beginning with B or the the one beginning with R?

26a: I had the word with R only. Never thought about the one beginning with B, until I saw your post. Both seem to fit.

Hi Mathi,

I opted for R.... too but, in addition to the that query, I'm still not happy with "fight" - I think it would fit better if it was "fighting".

Morning all,
Re 26a, Chambers has the b word (look under defn 2), as a noun, defined as ‘a fight with the fists’. This isn’t the case for the r word, so I went with b.

Can anyone help with 23? I have an answer which fits the definition - it's to do with applause - but can't see any possible parsing for my answer. Thanks.

Hi Lucertola,

It's a three letter word for "China" (as in cockney rhyming slang) + single letter for "about" - all reversed/"to tip over" - definition "making loud noise" (as you say, to do with applause)

A couple of Cockney rhyming slang references today neither of which are indicated. I’m sure Everyman used to indicate them with ‘in the East End’ or ‘down the Queen Vic’ or with some such expression. Just an observation, I think it’s fair, these two are pretty common

This all flew in today for me. I’ve started doing the midweek Guardian cryptics of late, which regularly demand a somewhat raised game compared to Everyman, so that may be why. Still really good fun though.

As I came to this site I thought “I wonder if there’ll be any chat about 26a?” and here we are! Surely “fighting” instead of “fight”?

I had the “b” variant and didn’t see the “r” until it was mentioned here.

The more I think about it, fight only works for B (as in I’m going to give you a b—, I’m going to give you a fight) and not for R. So ‘fight’ is less ambiguous than ‘fighting’, which would have meant either option could have worked

Hi Richard, hi Jono,

I know in these Covid days there are no longer giving prizes, but I wonder, if they were, whether both Bo.... and Ro.... would have been accepted.

I agree that "fighting" reads much better but, as Jono has pointed out, the all-knowing Chambers does give Bo.... as a synonym for "fight".