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Hi, Rusty!
Where would we all be without Wikipaedia?
It turns out that there are a handful of songs by Rod McKuen all paying tribute to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie!
And if you look on YouTube, you can watch/listen to "Jean" - which won the Golden Globe award!
I used to like him years ago!
We even had some recordings of some of his songs (although not the "Brodie " ones)......
but unfortunately they seem to have gone missing over the years.
Do you remember his singing "Abilene" and "If You Go Away"?

P.S. Rusty!
I've just been listening to "Abilene" on You Tube!
I might go browsing for CDs on Amazon.....

Hello, Elle,
No, I have not came across him before.
I listened to him on YouTube, though.
A nice change from the Bluegrass dancing!

Hi, Rusty!
So do you like him?
I am going through his whole repertoire!
I am "wallowing" in sentimentality and nostagia!
I'm having a great time!
But on a more prosaic note ......and liable to raise your hackles (!) there were two (supposed) homophones in the Time QC today......
The first .......Mr R thinks that "barren" sounds like "baron" ????
Not to me it doesn't......
And the other one... I shall give you the clue - it is good clue in a sense , except that I cannot really agree with the homophone......
but see what you think?
17a: Ecstatic sound of famous singer, Joe, and band (4-1-4)

Hello, Elle!
No, I am not keen on him.
Fats Domino and Christy Moore are more my style.
Barren and baron would do for me?
I have no idea of 17a?
I think it is colder this evening.

very well done for winning Clueless Pigale. I can't parse your clue but it's a great achievement. The only problem is judging next week!

Hi, Rusty!
We used to play songs by Rod McEuan in our car.......!
Now, the clue......
17a: Ecstatic sound of famous singer, Joe, and band (4-1-4)
The answer is "cock-a- hoop" = ecstatic (def)
cocka sounding like Cocker (Joe )
hoop - band
I think it is quite a clever clue, but again , to me "cocka" doesn't sound like "cocker"
(as -en couldn't sound like -on in the previous clue!)
But homophones are never going to be satisfactory to a lot of people , are they?
I am back to getting only two daily crosswords again, as John is back from his holiday!
So no 15 x15.
I could of course buy the newspaper.......

Thank you Rosalind! I am very happy indeed (as well as pleasantly surprised!). A hint : I did live in Guernsey for 11 years.......

I agree with next week - choosing a word and a clip is one thing, but be the sole judge is quite daunting! Easier to win Peer Review in that respect.

Yes, Well done indeed, Pigale!
I would be lost in understanding all those excellent clues!

Hello, Elle!
I would never get that in a long, long, time.
Yes, I can see it is a good clue, if you speak like that.
I do not, and I am sure there are many like me.
One crossword is plenty for me nowadays.