EV 916

[Mampara]

Can anyone who is doing today's EV please confirm the following-

1) The number of letters in the clue reading ' Queen starts to handle useful instrument' ?

2) That the number of letters (12) is correct for clue ' Design German's day with English nets and line'?

[dr b]

^"being"

[Mampara]

Thanks for your help Dr b

[novalis]

After having spent yesterday helping friends with a house clearance I didn't start this until earlier today. I'd managed to pick up on the various "amendments" but I am still struggling ( very much so ) with

One thematic light ( No date to transfer port ).
Where to look in Brewers, although ( virtually ) all the treated entries look "obvious".
The three words to be written under the grid.

Any pointers in the right direction would be most welcome.

[DocHH]

Hello Everyone,
Apologies for late appearance. Spent yesterday enjoying the superb weather in the garden, wearing out a garden chair, rather than the normal tasks of sunday, viz EV, it was a close run thing again today. Thought it prudent to combine EV with wearing out the chair again today in the sunshine! My excuse is that I was practising for an imminent holiday. Just found the thread, the Search function seems to work better now, I'd twigged the anonimous length of the clue, thanks to Chambers, and that the other was 7 rather than 6.
Thought that this was a pig, as far as I am aware, not thematic, of an EV.
Sorry dr b, that's about the best I could do, rest of the thread seems a bit serious!

[dr b]

novalis, I had never heard of the theme; as a Brit it is likely more well known to you. As such I simply googled a bunch of the "treated" grid entries (almost all are very common words) and the first link led me to the Wiki article where all was revealed.

[turnerjmw]

Hi Novalis, for the thematic light you're looking at a word for transfer losing a single-letter abbreviation for date. Think royal houses. I can't help you with Brewer, as I don't own one, but when I typed all the thematic words into Google I came up with something plausible pretty quickly

[turnerjmw]

I should learn to type like dr b. He's far quicker than me!

[copelander]

Well,that was a bit of a struggle. For an hour this evening, I tried to book into the DC, but wasn't surprised to find they were fairly heavily booked! Still unsure of the 3 word phrase, but am prepared to lift it from Wikip.

[Christiana]

Got a lot but by no means all of the 'cold clues', no idea of the theme, as yet and, rightly or wrongly, a fair amount in the grid. Out of ideas for the present, so will return to it tomorrow. Having to give large chunks of my time to the packing, but will struggle on in between times.

[AndrewG-S]

Finally twigged on the second 13 letter entry and suddenly everything started falling into place. Still a bit to go but making better progress at last.

[AndrewG-S]

Definately flirting with DC this week, but finally finished. Enjoyed the symmetry of the thematic answers, including the non-thematic but related answer.

[Graudian]

Well done andrew.

I'm really struggling, and if you could share your breakthrough regarding the second 13 letter entry, I may be able to proceed.
This is as difficult as a Listener in my book.

[AndrewG-S]

It is an old word for liberation. As hinted at above it starts with an F. I am not totally happy with the wordplay but I had a stab at guessing the last lettter based on the clue. There is a more well known word which has two more letters at the start. I think with chambers word wizard this will get you there. If you are still struggling then email me on [email protected]. Definately more Listener than EV this week - wish they had picked a rainy weekend for a tough one!

[Graudian]

Thanks Andrew I've taken you up on your offer!

e-mail is on it's way.

Very grateful to you.

[devadolly]

Good afternoon All. Only began it last night and have managed about 3/4 of the clues. Have the two 13 lettered answers but am not sure which to put where as very little seems to fit. Have 4 of the 7 obvious 'to be treated' clues and have 2 which seem to be germain to the 'main man' and I am presuming (rightly or wrongly) that the theme involves history, is the treatment along the lines of the somewhat aggressive stance the movers & shakers of yesteryear took with their enemies, opr am I barking up entirely the wrong tree? If I am, please, someone shove me in the right direction!
DC always open and can accommodate any number of people, the more the merrier as the chat gives ideas.

[AndrewG-S]

DD, welcome to this week's thread. On the 13 letter clues, Dr b gave a good hint that if you put one of them in one of the positions you end up with 4 letter words ending in an unlikely letter, so this is the wrong way to go. Once you have had a stab at this, I found the bottom left hand corner the easiest to progress with, then top left. On the main man - I think ultimately the theme is more of a main woman, with a few unlikely companions for her corgis.

[devadolly]

Hello AndrewG-S, oh dear I must be well off course! my 'main man' comes from Wierd aid...... supported by Without a delay...../Design German........../Wealthy Scot.......... and possibly Girl formally...........! More likely wolf-hounds I was thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!! Off to DC.

[turnerjmw]

Hi devadolly, you're very close. If you type your main man and all the supporters into google and search, you will find the link you need in the first couple of pages. Andrew G-S's suggestion that you should "cherchez la femme" is a good one

[novalis]

Many thanks Dr. B and Turnerjmw. I want shooting for the port as I've been there and I'd been looking at the wrong part of Brewers. ( Heraldry rather than what was needed. )
Time, I think, to open a botle of red!

[copelander]

Devad, You sound as if you're nearly there, and a bit of googling for when they all appeared together will lead to some help. A bottle of your favourite tipple needs to be on hand for the finish! Pinot Grigio just being opened here.