Times 4509

[PuzzPuzzPuzz]

16D A child almost completely offinsive? PERSONAL. Wordplay?

[PuzzPuzzPuzz]

Oops, offensive!

[factor-fiction]

A child almost completely offensive. Is that the exact clue? If so I can't immediately see it- is that definitely the answer?

[writesbad]

child = person
al = almost "all"
personal = offensive (personal comments, etc)

[PuzzPuzzPuzz]

I was thrown by the word "A" at the beginning, seems superfluous. Thanks!

[factor-fiction]

I'm still not totally convinced.

[HowardKennitby]

Are you sure 'personal' is the answer?

[sedge47]

PER (A, as in 50p per pound) + SON (child) + AL(l)

[factor-fiction]

I prefer sedge's explanation of PER SON, but I don't get the AL bit

[factor-fiction]

Is the clue exactly right or does it say 'almost all'?

[MarkRae]

Well, I did the crossword on line as usual, put PERSONAL as the answer, submitted it and was informed that I had one incorrect answer. Annoying, it doesn't tell you WHICH answer(s) are incorrect. I'm pretty sure of all the others, so I reckon it's this one.

The clue on the online version (which has been known to be slightly different from the paper version) is:

A child, almost completely offensive? (8)

The pattern is ?E?S?N?L so, if it's not PERSONAL, it must be SEASONAL which doesn't fit in any way that I can see.

The "known" letters come from

17a HIGHLAND CATTLE
20a TV DINNERS
24a VEGAN
28a MARSHAL

[factor-fiction]

I see it now = completely gives the ALL, so 'almost completely' = AL
PER +SON as per sedge's explanation

[factor-fiction]

It was the comma that helped me see it

[MarkRae]

Yeah, I've spotted where I went wrong too, so PERSONAL is definitely right :-)