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Am I the only one thinking 23D - "N. African banker's nothing exceptional at first" (4) = NILE [nothing - NIL + E -first letter of exceptional] is a stretch of the imagination?? The Collins English Dictionary states - "Banker - Austral. and NZ informal, a stream almost overflowing its banks". Whilst the Nile DOES overflow its banks it can hardly be described as a stream!!

Hi Finley, it's worth remembering 'banker', along with 'flower' (something that flows), as they often crop up as synonyms for 'River'.

Hi brendan, whilst I am familiar with 'flower' being a synonym for river I have NEVER come across 'banker' as one! Have been doing crosswords for years and am still learning (unless setters are introducing new tactics to puzzle us) Thanks for your reply.

I know what you mean Finley, sometimes the definitions stretch credibility to breaking point. In today's Times they have 'Eater' as the definition for a brand of apple!

Oh well - we will not be beaten! I have mainly tackled the DM during my crossword years but have started to do Times on a Sat. as a new challenge - this site is great as someone will help with the clues that defeat me.

Out of interest - just looked up eater on the site's dictionary and it does give the definition for an apple!

I'm not surprised - isn't that often the way? You think 'this can't possibly be' only to find it given in Collins or Chambers etc. Still, good fun though, and you'll enjoy the Saturday Jumbo Cryptic. I do it ever week and have to come on here 'every week' to get some of the parsing explained.

Think my head may explode if I tackled a 'jumbo'! To be honest have to squeeze crosswords into busy days - have a lot of "Granny duties" to perform! Yes I am a female Finley - when registering I found someone else was using my name as their user name so as the Native American Indian Chiefs did when naming a new born I looked around and the first thing I saw was my cat - Finley!!

Good job it wasn't two dogs reproducing! ;-)

Ha Ha! You have obviously heard the same joke as me!