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Malone

Thanks and nice to be in touch with you again. I missed usuress. I go on holiday tomorrow but hope to start posting again on my return.

Grunger

Great to hear from you. Hope you have been OK. Have you been working abroad? I am sure whatever you have been doing has been interesting, and I know we would like to hear about it, if you dont mind.

Have a good holiday.

Times 28,703 5d

More than one daily newspaper bores presidents (10)

CHAIRWOMEN

A bit of malone-baiting and some thoughts about gender, though not -ESS this time.

I remember malone's cultural objection to the reference above for cleaners. Perhaps this clue is more likely to appear in The Times than The Guardian.

I don't object to 'chairman' being retained for a female in the post, as with Theresa May and Caroline Spelman, the only Tory examples so far. Alternatively I consider 'chairwoman' much preferable to 'chair' (too professorial) and the ghastly 'chairperson'.

Perhaps typically, the Labour Party uses Chair and the Leader has appointed more women to the post: Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Angela Rayner and the present incumbent Anneliese Dodds.

This choice of terminology must differ widely nationwide in so many clubs and organisations. I suspect the most popular are 'chairman' for a man and 'chair' for a woman.

I

Hello, Paul...

I think the chair/woman/man/person debate will go on until the end of time - mainly because there isn't a nice definitive solution.

I still dislike the lazy 'char, daily' clues, they seem so, so dated now. I have never once heard anyone talk about their char or their daily, just as I have never heard anyone talk about It and SA in the way setters use the words. Language evolves constantly, but crossword-setting seems quite mired in the past at times - I saw several examples last week (I should have jogged down a note rather than just tutting away to myself).

Absolutely right, malone @694.

That very day, right on cue, we had the same old 'it' in Times 28,704, 1d

Reduction in daycare raised - or suggesting it? (4)

RACY

It's not as though there are no new ideas to replace some of the outdated ones. HR for personnel was used to reach ABHOR in the same crossword.

Grunger

If you are back, I am sure you were delighted with the -ess and -ship words in the Times crossword yesterday, benefactress and chaplainship.

jigjag

Yes I was and I solved them too, although I would have preferred chaplainessship. I liked the monstrous female today, but thought the brassiere clue should be "big cups".

Paul, Malone

Thanks for the charwoman/it postings while I was away. I agree with what you said. I have been a cleaner, but would not have liked to be referred to as a char/charwoman/charlady.

Welcome back Grunger!

I see you can have chaplainship and chaplaincy, but I was surprised to find captainship alongside captaincy, though it's 'obs'. Also valid: chaplainry and captainry.

From a rather old Chambers.

My phone has put red lines of protest under the first and last two of those examples. No idea of its source dictionary. Not Collins as I think that's used by The Times.

Grunger,lovely to have you back.

I'm sorry, but 'chaplainessship' has to be the most ungainly, inelegant word I've seen for a while.

Paul, Grunger, Jigjag, anyone and everyone... I think I will take a note of all the clues, answers that arouse my displeasure - the fusty ones, the hackneyed/done-to-death ones., the less than attractive ones. My moans will be shared...