Inquisitor 1130

[Ripper]

As usual, I'm stuck!
I've filled in most of the grid, but my 'spare' letters make no sense (probably got some wrong?)
As for 'sevens' I've looked at the film, dwarfs, sisters, wonders of the world etal.............
Any hints would be appreciated!
I must be getting old!

[turnerjmw]

Hi Ripper, the theme is extremely topical, and the seven are an exclusive club

[Ripper]

Hi Turnerjmw
Must be the 'dreaded' footy then!

[turnerjmw]

Indeed, Ripper. The highlight is in a pretty standard place for a themed crossword, too. Shout if you're still stuck

[Ripper]

Hi Turner jmw
I'm shouting loudly!

[Ripper]

Hi Turnerjmw again
I've got the 'highlighted' bit
It's the 'seven' I'm stuck with
(I don't like Footy - prefer motor racing!)

[turnerjmw]

Only seven have lifted it. The missing letters refer to both incarnations of what was lifted, as the original one was kept by the first one to do so three times

[Ripper]

Thanks Turnerjmw, I think I've got an idea of what to do!
Wish me luck!
Perhaps it'll be one on F1 racing sometime!

[turnerjmw]

I'll certainly need your help on that. In the perimeter you'll need a typical crossword abbreviation for a compass point, by the way

[Ardboe]

turnerjmw,HELP PLEASE! Is 25d "taurean"? can't work out the logic.

[Indy-trier]

I have 'TAUREAN' too and wondered (as I need 'R' in my theme) if this had anything to do with horses (misprint for HOUSE?). I could only find references to bulls!
I've found the theme, the highlighted letters and most of the answers except for 9A, 5D and 23D. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[RossR]

I'm also missing 9A, Indy-trier, but I have 5D: AESCHNA, which is a genus of dragonflies. And I'm stuck on 24D as well.

[Ardboe]

Thank you Indy Trier
9a mese 23d erotema 24d ureter

[Indy-trier]

Thanks for this RossR. Because of my problems with 9A I didn't look at things starting wirh AE!! For 24D the misprint is in the end of the word DUCK. Hope this helps. If you have 23D could you send me a hint for that please?

[turnerjmw]

Hi Ardboe, 25dn is "taurean". The missing letter in the wordplay is R, as it is TV AU (gold) EA (channel) N (new) not very, so remove the V, i.e. TAU (R) EAN. A meaning of house, of course, is one of the twelve divisions of the heavens in astrology.

[Ardboe]

Many thanks turnerjmw - I had changed 'house' to 'horse' and couldn't connect it to 'taurean'

[Indy-trier]

Thanks Ardboe. As usual I had mislead myself - this time with 27A - which I convinced myself was NUB (a small hard lump), as BUN of course could be a bread roll!!! Doh!
MESE makes sense now you've said it. I had no idea about that one.
Finished now - I can relax!

[Ed-Deezy]

TAUREAN is correct. TV without V for "very", AU is gold, REAN is a channel (Chambers defines it as an old Somerset word for ditch or watercourse with alternative spellings of REEN, RHINE, RHYNE)

[turnerjmw]

I'm glad we agree on TAUREAN, Ed-Deezy, and it's an excellent spot that a REAN is a watercourse (I never knew that), but I think I'm happier with my parsing. 1) I think you need an R from the clue, either as a misprint or a missing letter. By my arithmetic it's a missing letter. I don't see that in your explanation. 2) You don't seem to give any justification for the "new" at the end of the clue. Surely it must have one?

Not that it matters, of course!

Turnerjmw

[Ed-Deezy]

I think you're right. The parsing should be:
TV without the V ("not very"), AU for gold, EA is a drainage channel in the Fens, N is new. That leaves R as the "missing letter".