Times Jumbo Cryptic 632

[blueberry2]

I'm down to the last few on this one and eager to finish it now!

10d Amorous behaviour in part of capital (7) N?C???G
Think it is necking, can see the EC but not the rest of it

17a Prompt to cheat, getting success in early round (5,5)
???C? T????

15d Develop way to capture military headquarters? (4,5)
T??? S????

26a Year for King in house in country (5)
L?B??
Think it's Libya but can't really see why

I would be very grateful for any help and explanations.

[geo0939]

Necking.

Quick trick.

Take shape (supreme headquarters allied powers europe).

[geo0939]

I have Libya too but not too sure why, so I won't guess.

[blueberry2]

Thanks geo0939, very helpful. Any idea on how you explain necking, what is the n king bit? Really annoys me when I can't fully see these clues.

Perhaps someone else might come up with a Libya explanation!

I can't see why 7 down - catch out after blunder in court - is trip up either.

[wideboy]

Trip - blunder; if you're in court, you're up.

Not sure about Libya and necking though. Thinking .....

[Quizmonkey]

The (zodiacal) house is Libra. Swap the R (king) for Y (year) and you get LIBYA.

[Quizmonkey]

Necking is also an architectural term meaning "a moulding between the capital and shaft of a column" - so just a double def.

[blueberry2]

Brilliant Quizmonkey! Of course. Many thanks. Can you explain 'necking' as well perhaps !

[blueberry2]

You beat me to it Quizmonkey! I am so grateful to you and geo0939, can now get on with my life!

[blueberry2]

Thanks wideboy too!

[Quizmonkey]

A pleasure - any time!

[wideboy]

Yea, thanks Quizmonkey. Still keep forgetting Zodiacs as houses (usually think of signs). Others were brilliant too.

[geo0939]

blueberry2, it's a pleasure, in fact you deserve extra brownie points for getting to the basics of the crossword. The whole idea is to get inside the head of the compiler, and to do this you must understand how the answer is arrived at.

QM, I manage OK with my crosswords, but I must admit that when it comes to lateral thinking, you are almost without equal. More power to you.