Independent 8/9

[hairs]

14D Suitable for cultivation and fit for country alliance (4,6) ?R???E???E I thought that this was 'crop circle'! 8D Particular arrangement in cowshed loft, separating aninal noise from farmhouse at last (7,7) C?Y???????T?C?

[slaney]

8d Cry(stal L)attice ..is what I've put.

[slaney]

14d Arab Le ague

[kettledrum]

I found this one really difficult......
5d Holder of doctorate in elementary game symbols, picked up here? (6) O - F - R - . Is it Oxford ? Why?

[slaney]

'Morning,kettledrum..tried this crossword for the first time ..took me ages !

F for Fellow in OXO ( naughts and crosses) , but can't explain rd= symbols...

[kettledrum]

Hi Slaney! That's about as far as I got too! .... with rd = Dr 'picked up' & one can pick up a doctorate in Oxford, but I don't think it's an entirely satisfactory explanation. Does anyone else have a better one?

[ulysses100]

Doctorate is Dr ; game symbols are X and O ; the word "of" is held up between them to give the place name Oxford

[slaney]

That sounds better !...thank you ulysses.

[kettledrum]

Thank you Ulysses....that's much better, but I still think the clue is less than perfect!

[ulysses100]

I agree !
It wasn't an easy crossword to complete either... again (I am not saying that it should be easy, but this one, as well as the previous week's one, was (for me) extraordinarily difficult).