Bird On Track

[satprof]

Today's Alphapuzzle cryptic clue.

[emmie]

rail

[mallyh]

rail?

[1ozzy]

That was quick Em, well done

[emmie]

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules.

[mallyh]

ozzy i'm wounded that's twice you've ignored me x

[JJ109]

It certainly was 1ozzy, Emmie's answer appeared before satprof's question appeared on my feed!

[JJ109]

Sorry Mallyh - me too!

[emmie]

sorry mally if they are ignoring you....

[bobbinwales]

Mallys name made me think answer could be mallard if rail don't work out

[emmie]

could be bobb, will have to wait for someone to confirm.

[mallyh]

bobbin that sounds good x

[1ozzy]

My most humble apology Mally,
I'm now sitting in the naughty corner hanging my head in shame.
Whilst sobbing quietly ;-/

[bobbinwales]

Rail is much much more likely.

[mallyh]

i should think so too,been ignored once was bad enough but twice x

[1ozzy]

Ya gotta pick your game up girl.
Or have others knocked off ;-)

[emmie]

could be mallard will see what satprof says

[satprof]

Well done, emmie. Virtually the same clue popped up just over a year ago: 'Track this bird', but it would not be chivalrous to reveal who got it then.

Mallard won't work as there are no 7-letter possibilities that allow for double L.

Of the four 4-letter grid positions, one can be ignored as it contains K, a given letter, but there's not much to go on to choose between the others.

I'll report back unless someone else gets it first.

[emmie]

thanks satprof..

[satprof]

'Rail' works out if you use A=4. I'll leave mouseymick, the unsung hero of these puzzles, to give fuller details.

[mouseymick]

Rail .. 6,4,8,3 .. Q is 25 and Z is 16. Keyword is (6,2,3,8,5). Thank you for the plaudits Satprof, I’m just doing my best to keep my brain in gear and, hopefully, helping other ‘Alphapuzzlers’.