Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

25a. I can see why Chrise is annoyed. I don't like the expression. Looking for a rise, it raised eyebrows.

Thank you very much, brendan. Of course I had the wrong Keaton - silly me. 13D parsing came to me as I was falling asleep and I really have to kick myself for not seeing what the fastener was in 8D.

Like many others, I didn't like the equating of 4, 1D with 14A; it felt like something that might have from Benny Hilli or The Two Ronnies.
As for 25A, well, I guess you had to be of a certain age to have heard this expression. Verdict: please do better next time, Paul.

@bagheera33
An excellent question - I often feel like a massive cheat for using a thesaurus, missing letter solvers and Google. I admitted as much to a crosswording friend recently and she looked at me aghast.

I’ve decided to be ok with it though. Over the past few years I’ve advanced from being able to solve only a fraction of the clues to usually being able to complete a puzzle. This forum has really helped. 😊

You have to learn somehow. My mum was an excellent crossworder. She taught me enough to get me started many years ago. I often feel like I’m connecting with her by continuing to learn. 💜

So, I’m sure everyone has finished and moved on by now, but I’m frustratingly stuck with three gaps! There has been no discussion of 1d apart from the general nature of the answer - so I am clearly alone without a clue what is it or how to tackle it. Hints please! Similarly 9ac and 6d - I have a word for the latter but don’t know why it would be the answer. For the former, like 1d, I don’t even know where to start. Any input gratefully received.

Hi Bob,

1d - 3 letter "murder" (a slang term often used in films) + 4 letter "king" (in literature) minus/'dispatching A - definition is "murderous leader" than when coupled with 4d supposedly gives 14a [

9a - double definition of "no more" and also "breakfast"

6d - 6 letter "thoroughfare" minus its outer letters/'out of bounds' - definition is "bay, perhaps"

Bobs,

1a - I meant "that when coupled with ...." - this is "humour" that is, as Jennaralissima said in a post, more suited to Benny Hill than modern day so I'm not sure what note Paul was trying to hit, but it's in my nature to give people of the doubt so I'll reserve judgement.

.... the benefit of the ...

I need some sleep 🥱

Bobs,

14a - "cruelly" is not only saying that 4,1 (in that order) cruelly describes 14a but should be taken as a wordplay indicator.

Brendan, perfect directions, thank you. All sorted now. Not sure about Benny Hill, as I associate him more with sly innuendo. Also the 4 1 link isn’t even really humorous to me but rather baffling. I’m a novice in the ways of Paul, though.
Thanks again.

Thanks Bobs, glad you got it all sorted:-)