It's the tenuous link between the two that puzzles me. Here's an example. 16 Down: Acting as an extra principle of creative accounting ... (6,2,3,7) followed by 18 Down: ... leaves diminished bottom line (3). The answers to the two clues are 'making up the numbers' and 'cos'. The only link I can see is that there is some accounting context in the two clues, but the answers are completely unrelated. They might as well have been stand-alone clues. Here's another example. 16 Down: Shocking weapons wounded one's ... (4,4) followed by 18 Down: ... kind-hearted idea of minority (7). The answers are 'stun guns' and 'infancy'. I can't see any link here at all. Why the dots? Why not two stand-alone clues? The dots are only ever used on consecutive clues.