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Grunger.

I too liked 1 A in today's Times - and it made up for 13 A, Passage which Cockney has to be finished? (4)

I don't know about Jigjag, but the supermarket mergers, possibilities of mergers, haven't brought any financial rewards my way. Still, the PU stuff was good fun at the time!

Grunger

The only money I have made from supermarkets is from BOGOF offers!
Any pedants who followed the semi-serious stuff from Malone and me will have done well.

Malone

Yes the "passage" clue seemed wrong, as I thought the answer was an entrance to a particular thing, but that's an opinion of mine!

Jigjag, I went as far as checking Chambers for that 'passage' - the definition includes the word 'especially....', so I suppose it's a legitimate clue.

There seems to be far fewer BOGOF deals in supermarkets these days. A trip to Marks and Spencer can do wonders for one's mental arithmetic - working out how to get the best value in the various 'three for £7' or "three for £10' offers. I pointedly ignore the 'four for three' deals as I'd be there for hours, counting on my fingers...

Malone, I didn’t see any problem with “passage.” One must pass through an entrance. Glad to see that 8d used irrational instead of the despised “religious.”

Mathprofrockstar, yes, I agree that the clue works perfectly well - but it's the first time I've ever seen the word clued without there being mention of a mine. The answer, definition, is less specific than I'd expected.

I agree that 'irrational' was better than 'religious', but still a bit too obvious, commonplace for me.

Malone

I owe you an apology. Your M&S posting has reminded me that just before the Covid crisis, you posted a list of the various jeans that they were selling when I needed a new pair. I said I would go and look at them and report to you, but we were locked down and I could not go. You must think me incredibly rude, but I have simply forgotten about it.

Now that I am getting out more, I must go to M&S and no doubt will see Isla Sellitt, who irritatingly addresses me as "we".

Mathprof..., re post 24. I bet you were glad to see no 'irrational ' or 'religious' used for 26 A in today's Times? (Storyline inspiring current TV try-out perhaps (5). )

Jigjag,

Thanks for the apology. It certainly wasn't needed, I'd forgotten all about your planned hunt, shopping expedition. I have just had a quick look at the M and S website. Things haven't got any easier - there seems to be even more of a choice now. As well as the usual 'regular' and 'vintage' stuff, there are jeans such as 'Slim Fit Japanese Selvedge' and 'Straight Fit Super Stretch Performance Jeans.' Maybe it's time to switch to Chinos or tracksuits, those are maybe simpler?

Talking about adverts, have you seen the one for Lynx antiperspirant? It claimes to give "72 hours protection". How many people wouldn't have washed within 72 hours? (and I wouldn't want to know them!)

Malone, irrational for pi is fine with me. I have even used transcendental in constructing a clue. It’s nice to see something different for a change though. Some wordplay just gets done to death in crosswords.

I also learned something today - a word I would write as southwestern seems to be south-western in the Queen’s English.