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Crossword Help Forum
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smithsax

7th November 2017, 22:54
As a new Listener addict I have been gripped by these discussions. I started after I retired at the end of 2015 and after a stuttering start I decided (and have managed so far) to complete every puzzle this calendar year.
At first I needed huge amounts of help from this forum but in recent months I usually manage to complete the puzzle before logging in.
Without this forum I may well have given up. I think it is a valuable resourse and would not change its current content.
People who do not want any help do not need to look in.
I think a much more important question is how much use of on line dictionary services is acceptable. The Chambers app allows you to search for anagrams for instance. Is using that sort of thing cheating?
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smithsax

7th November 2017, 23:06
Just noticed my typo - “resource” of course.
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rainbeaux

8th November 2017, 08:15
Errrm... morning, all. Mr Rainbeaux has a full grid and had his PDM around 3 this morning regarding the reassembly work. (Hurrah!). However, he’d appreciate help on parsing his answers for 6a and 9d if anyone has the time to help.

It’s a fine morning, looking forward to a good walk.
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dryden

8th November 2017, 08:32
Durban, If my message appeared to be condescending towards octogenarians I apologise. It wasn’t intended. In seven years I will be one, if I last that long. I only hope my wits are sufficiently intact for me to be still solving the Listener. My comment alluded to an earlier post that castigated the Listener editors for showing no consideration for the elderly people who may have difficulties with scissors, manipulating small shapes and pasting. In years to come If I am too arthritic to cope with such tasks then so be it. I wouldn’t expect the Listener editors to make concessions on my behalf.
I also apologise to others here for distracting from the main issue, the solving of the puzzles, but I feel strongly that Meursault’s almost relentless criticisms of the Listener editors and many of the puzzles should not go unchallenged.
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dryden

8th November 2017, 08:38
Rainbeaux, 6a is SA + BE around R
'It' and SA both mean sex appeal.

9d - very sneaky. Definition = 'runs'; 'out of' = EX. TRASH = splinters = splints in Chambers.
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rainbeaux

8th November 2017, 08:46
Thank you from us both, Dryden.
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crates

8th November 2017, 08:50
rainbeaux - definition as verb - it (sex appeal) remain unchanged (be) right (r)....ex (prefix, out of) tras(h) with meaning splinters (or splints)
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rainbeaux

8th November 2017, 08:56
.. and thanks to you too, Crates. All sorted now, time to get our boots on.
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crates

8th November 2017, 09:15
Smithsax - Now we are in the computer age, the setters come up with intricate final grids often, by necessity, leaving strange combinations of letters. Without demeaning the setters in any way - surely they must take recourse to some aid to discover foreign/obsolete/archaic/Milton/Spenser/The Bard etc. If this assumption is correct I feel happy to do the same.
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sonambulist

8th November 2017, 11:32
Okay have got it all, theme, names, cutting up but don't understand parsing of 31ac or 16d. Help as in the title of the forum?

For what it is worth I think this forum is perfectly legit. I'm sure, like me that solvers attempt to do the crosswords alone and when stumped frustrated or just sometimes lost pop on here for a bit of a nudge. Given life's propensity for computer driven aid in most things now this doesnt seem too beyond the pale. Can anyone really state that they have never ever consulted a wife friend daughter dog or computer at any time when trying to solve?
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