Guardian Xmas

[baibee]

Is the answer to part of 26a DOG CON? The clue is Pursue and deceive the king of the earth in the matter of the brother digesting the hundredth book that measures bends under water. This is the 3,3 bit and I can see dog means pursue and con means deceive and c is 100, but can't quite tie it up.
Thanks - this is a very hard crossword - I've been doing it for ages and have managed 15 answers! By the way, does anyone know the record number of responses to an original answerbank query - I note that the previous Guardian correspondence totalled some 22 responses at the latest!

[roslyn251254]

the second part of the clue is refractometer (hundredth book - c tome within)
The Universal Crossword Solver worked for me for some of the 9 linked double clues.
I'm slowly getting through it, but a way to go yet!

[Pete_the_teach]

The second part is REFRACTOMETER: re(in the matter of) frater(brother), around c(hundred)& tome(book)

[pjwillcox]

DOG FOX ??

[turast]

BAIBEE
The 26 AC in the left hand grid is not dog con. The first word is right, but your second word is an animal. Think about where this animal might live.

[baibee]

Yes, I see that now - didn't have much faith in the con part of it anyway!

[Roget64]

I got this eventually without resorting to this site, but I'm still puzzled. Is the creature in question really commonly known as the King of the Earth? I've googled for literary or folklore references and have drawn a blank. Or is this just a bit of loose cluing from Araucaria?
Apart from this, was amazed to finish the crossword on Saturday morning with only one check in a reference book and no googling (apart from the unsuccessful one noted above)

[Roget64]

I got this without reference to this site, but am still puzzled. Is the creature in question really known as the King of the Earth? I've googled for any literary or folklore references but to no avail.
Apart from that, was amazed to finish the crossword by 10 a.m. on Saturday with only one other check in a reference book (an old Oxford Encylopedia of English Literature)

[handspike]

Dogfox, I think . Pursue = DOG; deceive = FOX.
Very hard this one.

[PinkyG]

I think Dog-fox comes from 'The Knights' by Aristophanes, Part 15 where there is a reference to 'King of the Earth'.

[a2p2]

Hi - do not worry about the c as this refers to the other part of this double clue! We still are trying to solve the 3,3 bit, though..... We do love these crosswords, A&A

[ulysses100]

dog fox