Inquisitor 1685

[tedsgran]

some clues have a misprint in the defn
some answers are too long for their space in the grid...
1a Bribe father for some quiet ................... grid space (8)
24a Become decrepit - in essence, decaying .....grid space (7)
18a Try to advance liberal aim...........grid space (9)

[tedsgran]

...forgot my letters..
1a D?O???S?
24a S??????
18a ???R???E?

[hankir]

I do not have these three yet.
For 1a,I have more letters. 2d is anagram of 8 letters. 3d Eastern is def.; 4d has a misprint in second word. 5d Board is def.

24a. I have a 9 letter word for decrepit with anagram of essence plus two, but cannot come up with last two letters.

18a not sure but for 9d think Shylock.

[ProfessorMaisie]

1 and 18 are 4 letter answers [thematic entries].
24 is the back-formation mentioned in the preamble (from the word that hankir is suggesting) anag 'essence'.

If answers are preferred just say.

[tedsgran]

24a senescent? where does nt come from
18a lend?
1a dash?

[ProfessorMaisie]

No, just SENESCE.
Yes for 1, no for 18 (2 letters for 'try' + A+L def 'aim').

[hankir]

Thanks ProfessorM.
for 18a, To advance would have gotten me there sooner. Why Try to advance?
I have two types of answers. Those that are short like 18a or 17d. And others where the same 4 letters go in one cell.
With the letters I have in 18a ?O?R?M?E?, I do not how the 4 letter answer fits.
Also hint on 34a please. That would tell me what to do with thse 4 letters.

More to come.

[ProfessorMaisie]

see above for the 'try' clue, hankir.

[tedsgran]

18a go = try

[ProfessorMaisie]

34a - U(pper) + PP ('pages') + 'about' (2 letter abbrev) reversed - def is 'part of booT'. This is one of the two clues that confirm you're dropping the correct 3 letters.

[ProfessorMaisie]

...don't squeeze the letters into 1 cell, hankir.

[ProfessorMaisie]

The 2nd thematic treatment is quite tricky and involves a different synonym each time (around the 'A'). You'll need the quote to fully understand the endgame.
I'm about to head out and will be away for a few hours, so I'll give 18a if you want (if you can let me know in the next 5 minutes).

[tedsgran]

when the "too short" answers are made longer ...are they real words? I think not...

[tedsgran]

think i have the idea of the synonyms to go in the short words now so i'll press on!

[ProfessorMaisie]

No - there are loads of non-words (and beware the homonym clue - it's a trap for the unwary - like me - who didn't take account of the letter count in brackets... and it's a straight clue!

[hankir]

Thanks ProfessorM.
Still not seeing how Dash nd Goal get entered . Same with 17d.

I think I have to find all the misprints. So far I have 5. Does 30d have a misprint?

[tedsgran]

30d crowN instead of crowS ...move faster ...3 letters as in "horse ...move faster!"

[ProfessorMaisie]

Good luck - leaving now.

[tedsgran]

dash is entered D??A??SH the blanks are filled with the required synonym
goal is entered GO????A?L then as above....

[ProfessorMaisie]

Entry for 18a is - GOCRIMAEL (just in time!).

[hankir]

Thanks ProfessorM and tedsgran.