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Hi Roof,

14a - 3 letter "John" (slang term) then 5 letter "stones" goes around/'tackles' single letter "back for Everton" - definition is "they're unsettled".

Yes roof, nothing to do with John Stones (who he?). Separate it as John, then Stones (extremely questionable!) about the back of Everton.

btw I am actually livid about 26a, having spent so much of my teaching career correcting this misapprehension.

Hi Chris,

Chambers says they both mean "transparent" so I think it's okay - what is your objection?

Clear means light can pass through the thing in question. Colourless means the thing has no colour, like water.
So it’s possible for say a liquid to be both clear and have colour.
I think that’s correct, Chris can confirm :-)

I'll have to spoil to explain. Clear is the opposite of cloudy; the opposite of colourless is coloured. It's very common to have clear coloured things - think stained glass or copper sulphate solution.

Chambers is (once again) just wrong!

Many thanks Chris for your explanation. I can see why you are so cross. It didn't spoil it for me as I'd got the answer albeit not an accurate synonym for clear. I think I've finished so thanks for all the hints above, but I cannot parse 20d.

My FOI was 16ac. My LOI was 25d if we don't count 20d, though I don't like the use of Latin plurals in crosswords. My CODs were 11ac, 1,21, and 2d. I didn't find it very straightforward - too many odd clues like 19ac, 14ac, 6d (I wanted to put in tandem!) and 20d. I was very puzzled by the parsing of 3d, though I think I got it in the end. So not a totally satisfactory solve. On the plus side my husband is back cooking dinner on a Saturday evening (I do the other six days) so I can concentrate on the crossword.

Thanks Roof, glad your husband is well on the mend.

20d - the "king" is more musical royalty minus 1 letter "large" then 2 letter "appeal" and all this goes after single letter "queen".

3d - it's "water" as a verb around single letter "river"

Can I have some help with 9 d please