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Thank you jazzgirl , I get it now :)

quite right, jono. I did a translation of The Government Inspector in 1974. The Mayor's Wife used the close-but-wrong word articulation. Of course we shall be moving from this place, she said - I don't find it at all congenital ... Funny how different difficulty appears - I did this in 13 minutes and took best part of an hour over yesterday's ...

Thanks for the hints but I confess to having to look up 1a and 9a. I'm not sure I've heard of 9a -is it really an Everyman answer.?
For 5d , having just the final letter of the second word, the answer I thought of was very rude and indeed in the Viz crossword that would probably have been the answer.

loubylou
9a is a proper word , meaning 'awkwardly inappropriate'
5d is not rude:)

5d happens when someone formally promises to fulfil the duties of a new job or appointment.

hi prospero

Hylda Baker's favourite quote:

"I can say that without fear of conception "

At last. Yes 23 was in it the other week. Thanks for the various extra hints. Have a good week.

my last post to prospero should have read :

"I can say that without fear of contraception" !

jazzgirl - you remind me of my alimentari in Umbertide. The angel-faced Angelo was always telling me how good his prosciutto was - without preservatives. One day he was cutting slices for me and I reminded him it was senza preservativi. He almost bent double and all the old ladies in the shop went white ... I'd said his ham didn't contain contraceptives. Two years ago, after 25 years, he took me out of the shop and recounted the story ...

Hardest one for a while this, and missing rhyming pairs as far as I can see.

I blame the heat and lack of concentration for it taking me most of the day!