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Please help with 24 across "Hear sound extract"
?r?n?
Probably one of the following...drone,grind,grone,prone,wring
I cannot get the wordfinder. The letters I have are C O I H E C H P A O /

Karen has already helped with this one. See above.

fao ANN
Thank you for your nice message on RT49 which I had some difficulty in extricating from the long lists of leesser crossword windows.So it's here's a hand ma trusty frier across this frozen waste(waist) which is the central belt of Scotland,and lang may yer lum reek and hope your larder is well stocked so I can say "Ye'll have had yer tea?"
I'm very happy to say,everyone,that I am in proud possession of the Christmas edition of RT having just returned from a hazerdous expedition to the papershop so it's yaboo to all of you(Only joking!.I've been making do with Scotland on Sunday and a downloaded Guardian crossword but my heart hasn't been in them so I might make a start on RT51 tonight.60across clues and 58 down,that should keep me out of the way for a while.(Thank
goodnes, do I hear someone say, that'll shut up that garrulous old haggis basher for a while!)
KEEP WARM EVERYONE AND HAPPY YULETIDE

Hey wee jock,

I hadn't taken you for a drinker of 58 down. Isn't the "water of life" more your tipple.

Belated greetings one and all.I haven't ventured out at all in the snow and ice but I have very good neighbours who have done my bit of shopping for me. It was not until this morning that one of them came with RT50.Finished but doubtful about my solutions to 21d and 23a. They don't seem to tally with the clues.

robtherich

I think that Mrs Robherick must be from a different branch of your family tree. Several generations ago, when literacy levels were extremely low, and crosswords hadn't been invented, your ancestors spelled their family name
phonetically, and of course they all interpreted how it sounded differently.

So she may be a second cousin once removed or some such!

(OK I will take my tongue out of my cheek, now)

23A is a three letter synonym for "and not" around the name of an English novelist. For an extra clue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Braine">this link will help, but only if you're desperate!

Alternative clue for 21D:

Geek found in spanner drawer.

Many thanks Mandala. You have confirmed that I had the correct answers for both clues. Even after your help I had to cheat by looking up the novelist of whom I had no prior knowledge.

You're welcome Navigator. I hope you get the Christmas Special soon, it's a good one.

Stay warm!

Received RT50 yesterday, a day early. Poor Postie was having a rough time of it with the weather. The road outside was an ice rink (it still is).

I too found the clues relatively straightforward, managing to finish them all within the space of CSI, Art in Germany and the Ashes. Normally, I have to cogitate overnight or over the space of a few days before completing the grid. None of the clues seemed particularly difficult. 15A seemed to be quite an effective tease, with its suggestions of something (in my mind at least) completely different (gear boxes and cam belts, possibly) rather than the true answer. I stared at 6D for a while before spotting the answer, literally. But I'm not sure I'd describe an assemblage of the raw material for Nelson's navy as a dense 'mass', even though it is a dense something.