spec

[lashley]

help please-grid a answers lose letter to grid b17a staggering strumpet interrupting highball/drink to get stuck into ice-cream and cigars 9,7
S?A?L?N?/C?N?H?T?
24a rhythmic us operas here with ruddy/appeal,work that provides nourishment 6,4 M?T?D-loses r
23a bromide needed here?groan endessly,pedal furiously around durham/say,overtaking man showing way to navigate9;3,4
?A?I?U?E/?E?P?A?E
26acatholic adamant,in conclusion,damned member of religious sect is true being born 8;6 E?S?R?D/E?S?N?E ensured/essence?
thanks


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[Calibax]

Your word patterns do not match the number of letters you have quoted.
E.g. S?A?L?N?/C?N?H?T? is (8,8) not (9,7).
I gather there are two separate but concatenated clues for each pair of answers. is there anything else you haven't told us?

[Calibax]

1a looks like Startling - tart in sling

[Calibax]

1b Conchae - cha in cone
Sorry, I've just understood your first line. One letter moves from clue a to clue b.
So Startling/Conchae becomes Starling/Conchate.
Does the move always create two new real words?

[roslyn251254]

the T comes out of startling and goes into concha(T)e
24a met(r)ed and sa(R)go
23a (P)latitude and sea(P)lane
26a (C)ensured and essen(C)e

[Calibax]

3 Platitude/Sea Lane Latitude/Seaplane

[lashley]

many thanks

[factor-fiction]

Hi- I really struggled to follow this- for example I was not sure what was meant by b17 and I struggled with the punctuation in 23a and couldn't work out what letters you had in 24a.
I think it would be better to make sure each clue goes on a new line and that you put the number of letters in brackets.
I sympathise though if you were trying to type on a phone- I'm terrible at texting