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bobbycollins

31st October 2022, 13:18
There are several that I can't fully parse but this one is really bugging me.

Turn off internet connection (8) *N*R*E*D

I can only fit UNFRIEND
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buddy

31st October 2022, 13:28
I think it's just a cryptic def, meant to suggest unplugging your router but really what you do on Facebook when you don't want to be connected to someone anymore.
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bobbycollins

31st October 2022, 14:01
Thanks buddy - I think that's p**s poor.
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trebornotlaw

2nd November 2022, 16:28
What I like to call one of Dean Mayers 'upstart crow' clues, from the TV series with David Mitchell
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bobbycollins

2nd November 2022, 17:30
I'm still none the wiser!! 😄

Only seen him on WILTY
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trebornotlaw

4th November 2022, 00:38
There's a running joke in it where Mitchell, playing William Shakespeare, says something such as "a leaping amphibian caught in the ruby pipe which starts with a swallow but knows nought of birds".
Bottom then says "I think he means he had a frog in his throat", to which everybody else then roll their eyes and tut-tut.
I found it amusing and it reminds me that you have to approach Dean Mayer's puzzles with a degree of humour for them not to be annoying.
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bobbycollins

4th November 2022, 13:10
Thanks for that. I hate criticising setters since they earn a pittance for thier time and give us so much fun. However, I have become increasingly irritated by some of the smart-arsed ST clues in recent times. Just an miserable old bugger I guess😊
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malone

4th November 2022, 13:33
Bobbycollins, I don't mind the clue, though the answer, Unfriend, is an extremely inelegant word. I get more irritated by the fusty clues that siill pop up all too often. . A recent Times clue involved 'Cosmetic...' (I can't remember the exact wording) and the answer was Vanishing Cream. Vanishing cream? Has anyone ever heard this phrase used in the last three or four decades, has anyone used the stuff recently, does it still exist? I think that clue can join all the cleaner/chars and Sex/IT/SA clues that I have stashed in my 'I fancy a scowl' box.

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bobbycollins

4th November 2022, 13:52
Hello again, malone😊

There are plenty of very clever clues to compensate - I really ought to note them. One that I will remember forever is an old Tim Moorey Mephisto offering - "one taking tots out but not tits out" (3-5) solution was DRY NURSE. I mailed him to ask how it had got past the editor, he replied that he was surprised as I was!

Anyway, must dash - I fancy a bit of a Kip!!!
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malone

4th November 2022, 14:46
Thanks, BC. I liked the 'dry nurse' clue, and I don't mind the odd risque clue. If there's more than one in a particular puzzle, I could feel I'm doing 'Private Eye'!

I do like seeing people, Forum members, anyone, praising or slating a clue - mainly because I expect there to be at least one solver with the completely opposite opinion.
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