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Brendan, sorry about that - I really just meant for you to start at the beginning of the Downs...

Yes, I'm sure that's the right one (although the Scottish island is a distant possibility). I suppose the reason a synonym had to be used is because the two words share a lot of common letters.

...sorry, 'the reason the synonym couldn't be used...'.

Splendid puzzle from Gaston. Toughest of the weekend for me, although Shirley's was more difficult than usual. I'm with Brendon on the three down clues. Also scratching my head for the twelfth - it can't be the island since that one's a different thematic. Hmmm.

I think the one you're missing is very early in the down answers. (8 letter answer)

Thanks, AP - I think the earlier hints, about ch looking at 'the beginning of the Downs' didn't seem to help much!

Here's my problem with that 8 letter thematic.

In all other examples, apart from the the thematic relationship, there is absolutely nothing else connecting them - wordplay but no definition

In this instance, however, one Chambers definition of the answer is "easily affected or altered" which is basically "easily upset" (if you alter a crime scene, for example, you could be said to have upset it), meaning the clue has the routine wordplay and definition components - unlike the other eleven.

All this, of course, assumes we're talking about the same clue:-)

... and that I have the correct answer:-)

Brendan, that all sounds really reasonable, I'll need to have another look! When I put that answer in on Sunday, it was because I knew it, pronounced differently, is a word in French.

Like Malone it didn't give it a second thought. The word appears in almost every list I've seen of 'faux amis' for people learning French.