Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I find one of the pleasures of these crosswords is googling obscure words and phrases I had never come across, such as 5a as meaning pilfer. I had assumed it was some kind of cockney rhyming slang, but if anyone is interested, apparently the word comes from slang for discarded cloth, which tailors would sometimes pocket. This in turn was derived from a middle French word for cheating. I don't plan on researching the origin of Scottish vomit.

As you suspected Paradigmshifter no L plates in the US. Some people put a sign on the car saying “student driver” but mostly you have no warning of a learner driver

They have (optional) P plates as well these days, with the P standing for "Please overtake me, I am driving at the speed limit"

Hi everyone

I'm not doing too badly this week, but having trouble parsing some. Have I got the right letters for 19ac ?T?G?O?N? I can't parse all of it and can't get 7d and 21d Can I have some hints for them. I haven't got 5ac, perhaps because I don't know this word for pilfer. I couldn't find it in my book of synonyms.

I finished the south west corner and most of NE and NW but I haven't got (not gotten in English) a clue for 24ac despite reading all the threads.

My FOI was 26ac which is so far my COI together with 6d.

19A you have 2 letters incorrect, the ones at the end.
21D has an obscure word for "genuine" at the end.
7D isn't too hard if you have the crossers, it's just "decline" + "flattens out".

5AC it's easier to get the answer then check google that it also means pilfer (it's part of the theme for today)

And the decline could be an incline as well really depending which way you are looking at it I think

Also, for 5A it's same device used for "A pair of students" from 15D in the "a couple of books" part of the clue.

I found this week's puzzle to be more accessible than of late, and all the more enjoyable for it, with many clever clues. Thanks to the setter and forum contributors.
Got off to a flying start, thinking I could complete without resorting to forum tips. But came unstuck on the right half.
A new word for me in the second part of 21d, and unfamiliar usage in 5a.

Roof, re 24a, the definition is dessert, and it's a common British term for dessert, which even this American was familiar with. You get it by removing "HAVE" from the end of a commonly used (typically by men in the morning) astringent.

Yeah for 24A I had to guess the word (common usage in UK), look up astringent, then check that the thing I hardly ever use (twiddles beard) was one of those ;)