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Interesting puzzle this one. Like a lot of you, I found it extremely difficult.

I actually only placed 23d in order to complete the pangram, so in this case it helped. I'm not entirely sure how it parses though. I can make two separate words that could be homophones, is this right? Then where does canal side come from?

Oh and I'm pleased that 26a showed up. I learned of them through an R.E.M. lyrics a while ago. It's not a general area of expertise.

mackania re 23d, the solution is a homophone of a word defined by the 2nd - 5th words of the clue. The definition of the solution is the final word.

Hi Mackania,

23d - is a homophone of someone who operates a type of boat common on canals - in the actual word the final letter of the answer is "ee" - definition is "side" (as in a side dish)

Duplicate Thread by Cruciverba

finished this yesterday , but unsure on the parsing of two clues .
10 a - 2 and 1 inside the four letter word for look after ? , with the 2 reversed as " surprise job " ?

25a- three letter word for " bewitching old woman ? , but not seeing " keeps back " ?

assist please

Cruciverba

Could you please read the threads I have just bumped to the top regarding posting Duplicate Threads and our Posting Guidelines, these explain how the Forum operates.

As you will see, I have copied and pasted your query into this thread.

Cruciverba,
10a 2 letters (expression of surprise), then ‘a’ from the clue inside a 4 letter word for job.

25a is all reversed (back) and parses as 1,4 (reading right to left ‘a bewitching’) inside (keeps) 2 (old woman)

23d. My Chambers dictionary has oodles of definitions for "side" but not one of them is "side dish".

barretter
It's quite common to see "Sides" listed on menus (though not, perhaps, in the better class of establishment!)

Good fun, and finally finished it, thanks to this forum. I seem to be missing something in the parsing of 23a though. Shouldn’t it be ‘peak’ rather than ‘beak’ in the clue (as in a Scottish mountain)? But then the surface of the clue isn’t as good. Can someone put me out of my misery?