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Hi, Rusty!
Good news!
Yes, British Gas did (eventually) come up trumps!
The engineer who came was great; a very pleasant young man and very helpful.
We now have working thermostatic valves on all radiators!
Plus a further check on the boiler, flue, and timing mechanism , and the batteries changed in the main thermostat.
All hunky-dory!
We gave him a cappuccino and a biscuit!
He has just left.
In all fairness to BG, in the past we have had excellent service.
This delay should never have happened, especially as my husband is listed as "vulnerable".
Retrospectively, I shouldn't have agreed to the first deferment ....but the situation was manageable then; it isn't now, with a soon-to-be housefull of people!
Thank you for the reference of your own engineers.....
Yes, I shall study it for comparison.
Whew! I am mentally exhausted!

Sorry, Kenyatta...
I was about to reply, then the phone rang....and after that , it slipped my memory!
Yes, I was trying to be obliging in the first instance - never again!

Hello, Elle!
Well done, British Gas!
And you had a pleasant young engineer, too.
You can relax now, ahead of your family's visit.
Peace of mind!
I have a Gold Star contract with WRB and it works out very well for me.
A good puzzle today.
9a, is a new meaning to me.
11a, and 23a, are new words to me.
28a, was vaguely remembered!
I enjoyed it!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I enjoyed the 15 x15 and the QC - both done early this morning due to my being confined to barracks!
I don't understand 9a: I have "panic" = "great alarm" (def )
but how does "grass" come into it?
Have I misunderstood something?
I liked 13a, 25a, 14d and 18d.
I think that 25a was my favourite........but I didn't realise that the answer "parricide" could refer to the perpetrator, as well as the crime!
I had to check that with Chambers.
A good homophone, I thought?
"Paris eyed" sounds like "parricide".
I liked it!
Yes, "touraco" was a new word to me, too.
The crosswords filled in a few dull moments while waiting for BG!
I have also wrapped all my (so far existing) Christmas presents!

Hello, Elle!
Apparently "panic" is a type of grass!
So says Chambers, anyway!
A "regicide" is a person or an act, so it looks like "parricide" is the same.
I did not make the connection with "Paris eyed", Elle.
Well done!
I had cheesey chips for tea.
Very simple, very tasty!

Hi, Rusty!
I have never had cheesey chips?
Are they just "ordinary" chips covered with a cheese sauce?
Do you eat them with anything else, or by themselves?
How about this for a good word?
"Hornswoggle".
Do you know it?
I found it used by Bertie Wooster, in another P.G. Wodehouse book.
It means hoodwink/ hoax/ bamboozle / trick or cheat.
I have found a clue I missed......
20d: Eccentric son at university going over grounds (6)
?A?P?S
I think its "campus" = "grounds" (def)
up - at university
s - son
But "cam"? I thought it was a river?
It surely doesn't mean "eccentric", does it?
I couldn't find that in Chambers.

Hello, Elle!
Cheesey Chips are simply chips with melted cheese on.
I do know of "hornswoggle".
Remember it being used in cowboy pictures.
A "cam" in engineering is eccentric, yes.
I'll have look in Chambers later.
Have you heard of a "camshaft" in a car engine?

Hello, Elle,
Anne Bradford has "cam" under "eccentric".
Chambers has
cam (mech) an irregular projection on a revolving shaft or rotating cylinder, etc etc.
"Irregular" meaning "eccentric".

Here you go, Elle!
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-hor1.htm

Hey, Rusty!
Brrh, it's still cold here!
Even to open the patio door to let the dog into the garden, has had me shivering!
How disappointing that you already knew "hornswoggle"!
I thought I might surprise you with a "new" word!
The book in which I read it was different from the one mentioned in your article - this was "Right Ho, Jeeves".
Yes, I saw that definition of "cam" in Chambers.
I did not connect "irregular" with "eccentric" in that context...........
Of course, I should have done!
We are thinking of going shopping tomorrow for the remaining "bits and pieces".
Maybe Croydon?
On the tram?
I shall have to take the dog out first though.