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Hi Geeker, hi Rog,

I should have mentioned that my FOI were the crossing 10a and 2d pair and LOI was 26a where, like Geeker, I struggled with the parsing, in my case it was spotting one of the definitions.

Hi Bren
Unless I’ve gone wrong, 26 has only one definition, whereas 20 has the (in my view) DDD (dodgy double definition). But perhaps I’m completely at odds here. As always though, great to be able to discuss with you and geeker et al into the UK small hours.

Hi again Rog,

26a - My parsing is it's a DD with one being "they reinforce walls" (specifically on a C?? but if if you Google the term "do 26acosses reinforce walls" you'll see also more generally) and the other is "old city"

PS: Inedeed, I'm a real night owl so love it that you guys are also up and about:-)

Brendan,

Interesting re. 26. I considered a form of your reasoning, but stopped because I thought that (side)walls were the things that did the reinforcing. After some head-scratching I wound up going with rog's parsing, which seems natural and more elegant.

Hmmm, that's interesting.

Firstly, I agree the side wall reference was incorrect.

That said, if you Google "were 26 acrosses used to reinforce (or walls of old" then it says yes, but if you Google "were 26 acrosses used to reinforce the walls of 2a" then it say the answer is no.

So my reading is that it is a DD of either "they reinforce walls" and "old city" or "they reinforce walls of old" and "city" but that second one seems unlikely as, even though the city still exists, it is one of the oldest in the world.

I could be wrong, of course, but then where does "they reinforce walls" fit into the parsing?

Ahhh, I'm an idiot - should have taken "walls" of 'they reinforce' more literally.

Talk about overcomplicating a clue!!

I do that (overcomplicating clues) frequently. 😳

Hi Brendan

My reply was at 11th October 2025, 00:59, 7 minutes after your post.

I would not say easy - good deflections - many of the surfaces are so good - what's parliamentarian or Mustang had to do with the answer - one had to be watchful. Plus his signatures - I see 3 here.

== if the other thread gets deleted, this is what I posted ==========

Splendid stuff, Brendan.

Thanks Philistine.

COD - so many to choose from:
3/7/14/17 or 27.