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Hi everyone

As usual, I started after a late lunch with some breaks for chores. The wet and windy day has meant I couldn't pot up my tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers, so what better than the crossword. My heart fell when I saw poets as the theme. I much preferred gardening. My first one in was 1ac, followed by 4d, 14d and 1d. I got stuck soon after that and read through all 56 of the threads on this and then plugged away.

Fortunately my book of synonyms gives me long list of poets and I've got answers for all but one. A hint for 24ac would be helpful. I've got ?I?O?E, but I'm not sure of my answer to 13d and hence the I.

I parsed my answer to 26ac as the first two letters of Issue and the last two of Point, but there is nothing to suggest that in the clue, but maybe my 13d is wrong, is it really a plural? I can't parse 18d though I understand the definition is house. I can't quite see 6d either. And as I'm writing I've just seen the parsing for 25ac (LOI).

My CODs are 9ac,15ac, 19ac

Can someone tell me what you mean by a good surface?

Hi Roof,

It's been a fairly miserable day here in London also:-(

26a - I think you might have gone a bit wrong - the definition is "issue" as a verb as in 'send out a signal'
Surface Reading

The surface reading (also called surface meaning, or simply surface) of a clue is its external meaning - what the clue conveys when you read it as a straight sentence/phrase.

Take the word CHAIR, and look at three different clues for it.

Piece of furniture one in daily (5)
Burn around one piece of furniture (5)
Cleaning-lady holds a position of authority (5)
All three break the word up as CHA{I}R.

The wordplay is identical, but what of the surfaces?

Forget for a moment that these are cryptic clues, just read them literally. You'll see that clue (1) is nonsensical, clue (2) has a grammatically correct surface but is semantically weak (what does it mean to "burn around one piece of furniture"?). Clue (3) is the most plausible of the lot.

A good surface will be meaningful, often intriguing or witty. The kind of phrase that you're likely to come across in conversation, writing or thought. A good surface will also try to direct your attention away from the cryptic meaning of the clue.
13d - Anagram/"doddery" of "mother around/"carried by" a 3 letter "whistler" as might be in a sports game? - definition is a word meaning "of that place" that you've probably never used but will still know.

Apologies for plagiarising but I've copied and pasted this section on "surface reading":-

Sorry Roof, I have no idea what happened there ..

26a - I think you might have gone a bit wrong - the definition is "issue" as a verb as in 'send out a signal'

13d - Anagram/"doddery" of "mother around/"carried by" a 3 letter "whistler" as might be in a sports game? - definition is a word meaning "of that place" that you've probably never used but will still know.

18d - 3 letter "minister" (an abbr.) + 2 letter "working" + 2 letter "well" (as an exclamation) all reversed/"after U-turn"

A clue that has a good surface is one that makes total grammatical sense when you read it, such as you might see in a book or newspaper - not all clues do:-(

hi roof
in his erudite discourse on surfaces, brendan has neglected to point out that your i is wrong in 24a, i think!

You're right Chris, I missed that.

I think the cursor must have jumped just as I was copy and pasting the "surface reading" section.

Many thanks Brendan and Chrise

I'm disappointed that Theremins isn't the answer, but pleased to get 26ac

So, who is the last poet in 24ac. I now have ?R?O?E and where does Tennyson fit in?

Hi roof
Look back through and there are some fairly clear hints for 24

Tennyson wrote a poem about a homonym of 24ac. The actual answer is another poet from around 100 years ago.

A school friend of mine had the same surname as 24a and often quoted from that Tennyson poem.
For men may come and men may go..........

Back again. Firstly, I omitted to thank Brendan for his discourse on a smooth surface clue. I will look out for them in future.

Secondly, I think I've found my poet for 24ac and the Tennyson connection. I can't explain "under discussion", but will leave that for now. So, I really have finished.