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Everything solved but still not sure I understand the parsing of 18a. Does the extra letter occur in the fourth word? If so, I'm sure how this part of the wordplay (minus the extra letter) accounts for the first four letters of the entry. I understand perfectly the definition and last three letters!

Yes, izzet, the first letter of the fourth word is extra. The last definition in Chambers of the first four letters is the anagram. It’s dialect, hence country

You'll find it under 'seel' 2 in Chambers, izzet.

Quixote, I was flabbergasted by your post in which you say “I'm sure there are mitigating circumstances - but it looks as though a valued member of our group has been disproportionately offended by another - may I suggest that a simple apology would restore the even tenor of our conversations”

First of all, I am not “another”, my name is Norah and I run the Forum as Admin to the best of my ability. Yes, there are extenuating circumstances, Tatters has frequently made snide remarks about my management of the Forum, at one point I was part of Les Tricoteuses.

I respect all our Forum Users and try to treat everyone fairly on the Forum, in return I think I deserve the same respect, I don’t think it’s too much to ask and I certainly don’t get that respect from Tatters. My response was not just to this particular incident but rather to a culmination of snarky posts directed at me. I will not be apologizing for my post which I felt was fully justified, though taken in isolation it could seem to be harsh. I run the Forum and that is the end of the matter.

As Admin, I turn a blind eye so can I suggest you all cease the discussion on how the Listener arrives at the Crossword Forum site, I’m not sure it’s altogether legal.

I would also add that, as Admin, I do my very best for our Forum Users and try to help everybody. My continuing efforts in trying to find a resolution to the 'Listener Saga' is testament to my dedication to the cause. As was my decision to only allow one thread per Crossword on the first page, this caused a lot of angst at first but I think our regulars soon saw the benefit of what I was trying to achieve.

So please can peace now descend on the Forum once again.

And I think you run it very well, norah - the reasons for your innovations are all completely sound, in my opinion, and you certainly have my respect.
I can't understand tatters objections to your rules but I can see how you might eventually tire of reading them, so please excuse my 'rather angry' comment - I hadn't considered the cumulative effect.

Thanks, Norah. It's always good to see things in context, rather than as isolated incidents.

I feel that Norah's patience and willingness to try various options for the Listener thread (threads!) show that she has Forum users' interests at heart. Of course we're not all going to agree on every little aspect of the Guidelines, of the site in general - but I'd settle for the default setting, where the Forum is a friendly, helpful place, well worth visiting.

Team Norah and team quisling all the way for me. Keep up the good work Norah. Your above and beyond efforts to keep the various factions content are much appreciated and it would be a major loss if we couldn't keep the listener threads going on this forum.

Norah, We could do with your negotiating skills over Ukraine at the moment. Glad we sold our time-share in Kiev and moved it to Taipei.

One of the teams you support appears not to share your affection for the Listener threads, smellyharry - I don't think it would be a major loss to quisling if the threads ceased altogether (regardless of how they're started or who starts them).

Drxx, Malone, Smellyharry and Simplesimon.

Thank you all for your support, I really appreciate it. I can assure you that the Listener thread is here to stay, a link being provided on the Friday is very helpful but totally irrelevant to the long term future of the thread.

Simplesimon, I've used up all my negotiating skills on Derby County. They had a fantastic march from the City Centre to Pride Park yesterday to show their support for the Club, it was likened to walking down Wembley Way, and there were over 30,000 at the match.

I'm glad your Time Share is OK but I have to admit that I needed to Google both Kiev and Taipel. It's 60 years since I left School so my Geography is a bit hazy, and they've probably changed countries since then anyway.