Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Hello, Elle,
I shall send him an email tomorrow.
Not sure what to put in it.
I have already pulled him up for the use of "fief" and "Brentford".
I wonder if Brentford is in his diary map!

Good morning, Rusty!
A dry, mild but dull day here!
Are you back from the dentist?
Have you replied to Mr. Rogan? What did you decide to say?
I don't think I shall bother to correspond further....on reading the email again this morning, I haven't changed my opinion that he has no intention of reducing the number of "Londonisms" used.
I was only trying to redress the balance for the benefit of people from other parts of the world who might not have such (possibly limited) information.
I personally have no objections as I almost inevitably know the answers!
Heads and brick walls come to mind?
What time are you meeting Miss L-B? Shall you look for a bigger Christmas tree that you can put lights on? (Christmas lights are lovely! - I like the coloured ones!)

Hi everyone,

Rusty and/or Elle,

Matter of interest to me, regarding that clue yesterday :
'Refuse to move round secondary bit of Putney Heath, perhaps westward (8)'
for the which the answer is 'detritus' - (a word used commonly in France by the way, probably due to its Latin origin)
Could you parse it for me?

It's quite convoluted, Pigale - and there's a very good parse on the Times For The Times website. Basically it has Stir for Move, U for the second bit/character in 'Putney' and Ted for Heath, a former British Prime Minister. Westward gives some reversing.

Thanks Malone and sorry for delay in answering.

In other words, the clue had nothing to do with an area of London, but rather used a U and Heath for Ted. I mean no special knowledge of London involved. Rather complex anyway.

Thank you very much for explaining Malone

You're welcome, Pigale. I liked that Putney Heath was meaningless when it came to solving the clue!

Precisely my point (and one of the reasons for asking the parsing), otherwise I would have given it as an example to dear Mr Rogan in my reply to him.

I don't know whether to apologise or not, but I actually enjoy and appreciate clues that send us off in the wrong direction (pun intended),

Oh yes, so do I - it's just that at the moment Elle, Rusty and myself are on the war path because of too many 'Londonisms' /Cockney Rhyming Slang etc (ie fief) . But the Putney clue is not a 'Londonism', just a perfect cryptic clue.

Good afternoon, Elle!
Yes, home from the dentist. We had a nice chat about writing to Santa!
I have not replied to Mr Rogan, yet. Not sure I shall.
I doubt he could add any more to what he has said already.
The thing is, Elle, we (including Pigale) brought certain things to his attention and he took the time and trouble to respond.
I think that'll do for me.
And I have already complimented him on the standard of his crosswords, which he appreciated.

Miss La Bamba gave me the elbow!!!
Something more important cropped up for her.
Possibly tomorrow, if she can fit me in. Granddaughters!
Did you buy your stamps and stuff?

Hello, Pigale,
Malone's parse was perfect.
I did today's crossword early today and I have forgotten it, but it was another good one!
Well done, Mr Rogan and team!