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...and it's cute and Scottish!!!


https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dandie+dinmont+terrier&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

I'll try again....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandie_Dinmont_Terrier

Aww, so cute. I've seen a few over the years, in the local park, but always think the head looks too big for its body :) I much prefer this breed to the one I met yesterday (a South African Boerboel) I thought it was about to eat me !!

Thanks to everyone for taking part and for the very kind remarks.

Ari, Chrise Tony and Ab for full-houses. Congrats Andyc. Once again, thanks Tony and Ab for saving me posting my working. Jazzy and P@; hop you will both have recovered by next week (well done this week). Finally, welcome Mary6. Nice to see our wee 'family' growing.

Sorry if I've missed anyone. Love you all. J

Out of interest, jolan, what was the route that brought you to the "shooting gallery" clue? Did you see the anagram first? Did you know the meaning that I didn't, or did you research it?
(I apologise if this seems a lot to ask - perhaps clues spring into your fertile mind fully-formed!)

So pleased I got 3 right. Wouldn't have got the dog if it had barked at me and was almost there with #2 but was thinking grammatically for second person. But after so many weeks of staring blankly at jolans 5@5, I'm happy!

Funnily enuff , I got the reference to a drug den....maybe because I watched ever series of The Wire....

It's a long time since I last got all 5 right! Thanks again, of course, Jolan! And no, it wasn't that kind of dream (unfortunately)!
Liked the one about the mussel, though, Jazzgirl!

Good for you GK!

Chrise. I usually spot a solution first and then try to clue it. Shooting Gallery had come up in another context (fairground}. I always check and double-check my definitions, usually in Chambers, and I came across this other meaning whilst doing this. Then comes the clueing. I try to comfirm every synonym in at least two thesauri. I use an anagram facility in Crossword Compiler to wade through the many anagram words. This is more complicated when setting a "subtractive anagram" because the anagram words must, in general, tie in with the sense of the clue. There are many more devious paths to follow, e.g., try to link the main definition with another word (which must gel with the full clue) which suggests a different (false) idea in the solvers mind.
And, much more.......

I've never tried analyse this before and now am beginning to think I'm a bit 'twisted'...so I'll stop.

Ari! This side of the pond dog and hound are listed as synonyms in almost all thesauri. Aooooooooow! See! I AM loosing it! LOL. Lockily the moon is only half-full overhead here at present or I might be tempted to go loping across the moors.

Thanks ALL for such a fun response day.

Goodnight

John

Thanks very much for that, jolan - I am always looking for tips to improve my clueing, but that sounds like very hard work!
I think dog people would make a distinction between hounds and terriers - I know that foxhunting people (?!) wouldn't recognise "dog" as a description of their (smaller) animals.