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Bren@19 I agree, it just seems rather an odd coincidence.

Good luck with your operation. Will it improve your typing speed? 😂

Thanks Just sove but, to be honest, I wasn't doing them too regularly before:-)

It's nothing serious, just something called Dupuytren's contracture, where a bit of tissue acts like elastic, pulling on the end and causing it curl inward.

By all accounts it's an easy fix - they just 22d the bit of tissue et voila! The finger or 'hand springs' back open!

Ha! It looks like I will be doing a 3a after all 😀

Thanks Jono, but luckily my typing finger (yes, you read that right) is unaffected so my typing speed will continue at its usual glacial pace 👌

Nicola @ 10 - I've been doing Everymans for even longer, but I had to resort to a full-blown cheat for the NE this week: this site's filling in the gaps for 3A and 10A, and a very rare visit to DanWord for 5D. My mood wasn't improved when I saw the answer to the latter (baby talk that doesn't even make it into Chambers) ... and a 3A is not a cartwheel, no matter what the COD might say (Chambers terms a cartwheel a sideways somersault, which to my mind is far more accurate). Nevertheless, congrats on battling your way through them unaided!

I have -u-t-r for the 2nd word of 11d is this right. Despite your comment, I can't think of a suitable word. Also I don't know the undergarment in 26a.

Hi Helen,

11d - Yes, your letters for the second word are correct.

26a - "spin" is the definition as in a whirlpool - 5 letter "undergarment" minus first letter. It's a undergarment that covers the upper body of a lady and is generally made of satin or silk.

26 - did Mrs Roosevelt wear it?

Thanks, brendan, jono et al re 11. Like you, bren, I still think it’s unsatisfactory, but at least I know it’s right (the rhyming pair factor helped confirm that it could be nothing else).
Re the branches, I wonder whether Everyman just means ‘outlets’ and nothing more?

…and good luck with the op, Bren!

Thanks Rog, much appreciated 👍