Mephisto 2663

[amtaff]

Stuck on two interconnected clues.The 5th letter of the across clue coincides with the 5th of the down clue.22ac.Crazy,cold driving mist precedes Brtiish downfall(10).?RAI??RA?N. 13d. Support time in infirmary,for some it has to go(7,2 words)?TI??B? Thanks in anticipation for any help received.

[scotman]

brain drain

[mike11111]

22 looks like Braindrain

[Captain2]

22a Braindrain

[mike11111]

13 Stick by

[chelle7272]

Stick by ?

[Captain2]

13d Stand By?

[Captain2]

Stick By is better!

[amtaff]

I considered that but the word play indicates that the BRAIN element is preceded by a word clued by 'cold driving mist'

[mike11111]

T(ime) in SICK BAY minus a (meaning it in certain dialects).

[scotman]

stand by matches OPs crossing letters.

[amtaff]

If its stick by the first elemnt is now ?RAIK!

[slaney]

C rack brain

[scotman]

^

sorry, that's rubbish

[chelle7272]

why is it rubbish?

[mike11111]

It is correct. C(old) RACK (driving rain, mist, Shakespeare) before B(ritish) RAIN (downfall). Te OP must have some other clues wrong.

[amtaff]

Crack brain appears in Chambers as 'a crazy person' so look good to me.This means my answer for 20down is wrong!Green's fear company in trade association with limited purpose(7) ?CO?IDE

[slaney]

Yes - surprising how many definitions of "rack" there are in Chambers - 8 in all.

[amtaff]

Does 'ECOCIDE' make sense?

[mike11111]

Ecocide

[amtaff]

Thanks to all for your help-sorry to lead you on a merry dance!