suntel 2427

[sarumite]

As all regular devotees of the Sunday Telegraph cryptic are painfully aware, the clues are often poorly defined and this week is no exception.

I think there may be two possible options to the answers to 25a and 26d, neither of which seem particularly solid.

25a You expect well of her (4) H???
26d Be matched against and lick (4) ??A?

The third letter of 25a is the first letter of 26d.

Options appear to be .........
(1) Hope and Play
(2) Hebe and Beat

I would be interested in any views that favour either of these options, or any other suggestions!! ☺☺ (S)

[gen2]

I prefer 'Beat' for 26d since to my mind, 'play' doesn't really suggest 'lick'.

[factor-fiction]

Mmm, tricky. I like BEAT but could you explain HEBE?

[factor-fiction]

Lick could be PLAY. As in guitar.
Looked up Lick in thesaurus and it gave Play as a synonym.
I'm more inclined now to Hope and Play

[sarumite]

You've both "hit the nail on the head" ... my preferences are Hope and Beat, but obviously they cannot both be used!

If we use beat, we're stuck with Hebe (goddess of youth and spring, daughter of Zeus), but I can't fully justify it.

[sarumite]

Thanks for details of the thesaurus entry factor30, that does sway the argument the other way now!

[paulineward]

I gave up on this crossword weeks ago!
I am relatively new to cryptics...and have had a brilliant mentor...Kayakamina...who has been so patient and taught me so much. I now get so much pleasure from tackling and possibly completing one.
This crossword defies most of the 'rules' he teaches me for a good cryptic clue....and I despair of it.
As it gives me no pleasure and I just groan at the answers..when I can understand them..I bin it now!!

Good Luck to you all though! :-))

[sarumite]

I think perhaps you're doing the most sensible thing Pauline!! (S) ☺☺

[novalis]

I went for Hope and Play ( hope and pray is what you do with the ST cryptic ) as Chambers gives "to pass over or play upon..." under lick. As always though it is extremely tenuous.

[sarumite]

Thanks novalis, I've also settled for hope and play. (S)

[cliffyg]

pauline i am happy to send you a weekly missive containing the answers in story form but i must admit some of the crosswords are getting me down lately
i didn't like all the plural trees in the you crossword
Still the weekend was good the gunners lost to the super reds despite punching one into the net. The Arsenal Manager must have had his eyes tested lately as he seems to clearly see all the decisions going against them
And I scored lots of points for the first time in ages on the KM game. you could say it was a Smash Hit

[paulineward]

Hi cliffyg...and Wigan did their stuff last night!! :-))

[pbeach]

Hope and Play are correct

[sarumite]

?? Where did you find this pbeach .... it's a year old !!?? (S)