Ev 1391

[professorplum13]

A letter must be removed from each answer wherever it
appears before entry into the grid; definitions refer to the full
unmutilated answer, and wordplay to the grid entry

25a Trader arranged to trap immature sandpiper (7)
12a A good sign, you say, to diversify (6)

[vetuste_ennemi]

I think 25a is [B] ar(tere[k]r. But "immature" meaning truncated seems a bit of a stretch.

12a is [A} u+spice

[professorplum13]

12a got it now ...(a) uspice

[vetuste_ennemi]

I found this cruel defintion ofin Mr Bierce's dictionary:

"Cat, n. A soft, indestructible automaton provided by nature to be kicked when things go wrong in the domestic circle."

[vetuste_ennemi]

And here's dog":

"DOG n. A kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world's worship. This Divine Being in some of his smaller and silkier incarnations takes, in the affection of Woman, the place to which there is no human male aspirant. The Dog is a survival — an anachronism. He toils not, neither does he spin, yet Solomon in all his glory never lay upon a door-mat all day long, sun-soaked and fly-fed and fat, while his master worked for the means wherewith to purchase the idle wag of the Solomonic tail, seasoned with a look of tolerant recognition."

[Neveracrossword]

V-E, thanks for the parsing. Maybe 'immature' could be 'not fully developed'? Yes, a bit of a stretch - but it's all I can think of.


Some of the dictionary entries were terrific, I had a little browse earlier.

[professorplum13]

Thanks vetuste_ennui ...had to change a few of my removed letters .. but now have the word to go under the grid
I find this type of puzzle hard with the crossers not being much help and grid full of non words...