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Hi, one where the theme came unusually early to me, and definitely helped. Have all done apart from 7. Am 100% sure of my crossers but completely stumped.

Subtle hints welcome!

Hi JuniorBee
Definition is first word (though the second and third are relevant and doing double duty). It’s a word from French.

Rogissimo, I wouldn’t call that ‘double duty’. As you say the first word is the definition but the rest is wordplay.

I see that you might consider the second and third word as extending the definition but that is not necessary for the clue to work.

Double duty would be where a word or words are an essential part of the definition but also essential to the wordplay in some way.

Thanks rogissimo and jono. I have it now.

Sorry, jono - you are right in that there’s no duty involved, but I was trying to convey the fact that the two words might help (and I am guessing were intended by the setter to help) with the definition element. And I couldn’t think of another convenient term!

13d) The answer is obvious (uses Irish spelling). But I can't parse the definition.

15d) I have the answer. But what is the "king" referring to? I have a 4-letter word that does not mean king.

Hi mikey456
For 13d, think of a type of illegal drug
For 15d, think of King Charles.

13 definition is a bit loose. wordplay fine

15 two letter king - wouldn't have been as obvious a couple of years ago - two letter "provided"

13: Not clear that you have to drop one letter, in my opinion.
15: "provided" threw me.

13d - ‘a lot of’ is the indication that you have to drop one letter.