Focus croosword

[stymied]

Tapering end of construction site (7)

_ A _ D _ R _

Any help much appreciated.

[geo0939]

Hi, could this be ladders or laddery.

[BigMac]

I thought LADDERS, too, or maybe PAY-DIRT.

[Quizmonkey]

Don't understand either of these - could ou give explanations?! Also could you (stymied) list the clues that gave you these letters?

[JerryB]

I'm thinking more in terms of YARDARM - the yard being the construction site, and a yardarm is normally tapered - well, it's pointed anyway - but I'm still not convinced.

[JerryB]

Oops - forgot to add that a YARDARM is situated at the END of a square yard of sail.

[BigMac]

Ladders because the small ladder usually has the two sidepieces meeting at the top, ie tapering.; pay dirt because that is what you reach in, say a mining construction, and it gradually tapers out as the resource is depleted. Thought about yardarm, too, but my definitions only refer to sails, so thought unlikley.

Of course, I'm probably wrong on all three but they fit the letters you gave. As quizmonkey asks, are they correct?

[Jenny18]

Hi

I think the answer is yardarm because of the following definition of yard arm in Chambers ddIctionary on line.

"either of the tapering end-sections of a yard."

Also yard is a construction site as JerryB said and today ladders on site do not taper - my husband is in the construction industry and told me this.

[Quizmonkey]

I think you may be right but the clue is unsound. If the def is 'tapering end', then 'construction site' gives yard - but what gives arm??

[Jenny18]

Quizmonkey

I agree I cant see where arm comes from in the clue but who can say what these cryptic cmpilers think!

[stymied]

Many thanks for all the above
contributions. My money was on
YARDARM with LADDERS a close second but
with no thoroughly convincing reason for
either -- think it's yet another poor clue!
To satisfy Quizmonkey's curiosity, the letters
given are from the clues as follows:

The A is first letter of the solution to
"A group of detectives solves Iran's pollution (4,4)"
Answer ACID RAIN

The D is the 5th letter of
"Gradual approach to construction (5-2)"
Answer BUILD-UP (form B?I???P) although it could be
BUILT-UP I suppose -- doesn't help much?

The R is the 3rd letter of
"French Windward island (10)"
Answer MARTINIQUE

I must get out more often and give up this ****!
My thanks again for all your help.