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Ew er misses, islet make the most sense but still cannot see 1 down. Have got to get going now so i am giving it a rest until later

Thanks all

1d is maid per my previous post

You could see an ISLET on a lake, but I agree the word order in the clue doesn't seem quite right - by convention the definition should either start or end the clue.

" - by convention the definition should either start or end the clue"

This is an &Lit clue where the wordplay uses up all of the words in the clue and you have to read the whole clue again for the definition. Most of the &Lit clues that I have seen are less than satisfactory, and this is one of them.

By the way, the Friday setter in the telegraph is almost invariably Giovanni (Don Manley) and I have no reason to believe that this is not one of his.

Thanks for that, big dave - I agree that I've seen better "&lits"

Hi guys,

Started this off this morning--i have been attempting the Telegraph Cryptic for the best part of 30yrs now,i am a bit bewildered with this weeks compilers -- what are "&lits" please. I love a clever obscure clue and especially the ahhh penny drop moment -- however, these clues seem very obscure to me -- i had to read news in the paper this morning !!!!

http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2008/08/and-literally-so.html

...I didn't know either!

Hi bobs mum
&lit stands for "and literally" - it's a clue type where the wordplay also provides the definition. Very clever if pulled off, but can (as in the islet example) be a bit weak.

Thank you chrise, (again) my mentor and paul. I agree this seems very weak and does not lead one to a very happy conclusion of a clue. Maybe i am a bit of a traditionalist (bah humbug). I am off on hols tomorrow -- no crosswords -- i will think about the "&lit" but i have reservations regarding the concept unless proved otherwise.