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BBC1 lunchtime news today at a Cotswold archaeological site rich in fossils.

Unsurprisingly the reporter said the fossils were laying in the mud.

This usage is so common nowadays that I think it may soon be validated in dictionaries.

jigjag

I like your clue but here the -er is longer than the -a, but I think it works for most of England as Malone says.

Jono

Chinese Auditor? (7)

....for your list?

Malone Grunger

Glad you liked the clue. It works in Wales too, which Offa would have been pleased about no doubt.

Paul

Pity the reporteer was not asked about what the fossils were laying.

Malone

Interesting that a variation of your "offer" is in the Times today. Did you set it?

Grunger

Yes I noticed that and it did occur to me that Malone set todays. If not, the "casual" use must be common though I had not heard it until Malone mentioned it last week.

Thanks, Grunger and Jigjag. I hadn't even looked at today's puzzle, so am glad you mentioned it. I definitely didn't set it - I wish I was smart enough for that to be a possibility!

Cater to or cater for?

I often hear the former (e.g. catering to someone's needs) and it mildly irritates me. Should it?

Paul

For me it can only be cater for. Cater to is wrong. It is to pander to someones needs.

I much prefer "cater for...". It's the standard usage.
"Cater to" does crop up occasionally, especially in the USA, and it has been used by such Victorian writers as Thackeray and Kingsley.

BBC Commentator: "This is the lowest key Olympic Games ever."

Surely it should be "These are the most low key Olympic Games ever", whether true or not.