First Times

[fortis70]

a pinch of sand will make it dry, i have ?o?a? i also have selenites as the answer to " the men in the moon, i infer this from the cross letters and selenite ties in with moonstone although i am not convinced that it is a good clue, in fact a lot of the clues in that crossword are somewhat iffy, to say the least

[elliemay1]

iotas? But can only parse, a pinch of=iota +s(and)

[Toorak]

Selenites looks good:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Men_in_the_Moon

[Lie-in King]

(tee)Total (def. "a") - dialect, Scot. "a(ll)" (?)

Collins - tee ... Obsolete - a small, cone-shaped mound as of sand, on which a golf ball was placed to be driven

Hmmm...

[fortis70]

thank you very much lie in king and toorak, i am happy with selenites and the link confirms that, i am less happy with the iotas and still think that is a bit iffy as were a lot of the clues in the times first crossword, i think lie in king is on track with teetoal for dry, i wonder if IT from the clue and A from the clue with the initials of "Of Sand" is the answer? this is very tricky

[fiction-factory]

I think Lie-in King's suggestion of TOTAL is worth considering. i sthere another crossing letter you can find?

[Mamyalynne]

I too think LIK's answer works, although lacking a clear definition.

'Iotas' is less safe a punt in my view.

[fortis70]

ah yes, i have looked again and i see that lie in king (as usual) must be right, the answer is TOTAL and not iotas. i understand now that the pinch of sand is TEE. that is really diabolical and only a mastermind like the lie in king could work that out. a hundred thousand thank you's to you lie in king, you a real champion

[fiction-factory]

Is that the exact, full clue for the first one please? I agree with Lie-in King's parsing but share the concern about the lack of a clear definition

[Toorak]

Is dry not the definition?

[Mamyalynne]

I know see I have not fully absorbed the parse given.

Total = All - Scots for all is - 'a

Add Total to Tee (pinch of sand) to get the 'dry' part.

Sorry, skimming again.

[fiction-factory]

yes, teetotal is dry but normal ther eis a standalone definition for the answer isn't there. But I can see it can work

[Mamyalynne]

a is the def.

[fiction-factory]

I think Total is right but if the definition is A (all in Scots) then that seems rather obscure unless it's a Scottish crossword

[fiction-factory]

Crossed posts earlier Mamyalynne- at 18:39 I was responding to Toorak not to yours which I hadn't seen at that point.

[Lie-in King]

ff - Scots & dialect words are used frequently in non-Scottish publications' puzzles.

"A" in this case *has* (to my mind) to be the definition, there is no other there.

[fiction-factory]

Yes, I have never doubted it's the only possible definition- as per your 18:25 post but it just seems a little tough unless one is familiar with scottish A for All which I certainly am not, despite family links to Scotland

[fortis70]

i think we have generated a lot of comment for this one but i am convinced the lie in king is one hundred per cent correct, he always is. he is the undefeated champion and we must bow to his superior knowledge. that crossword goes back a long way in time it is the first times crossword so definitions and other factors make it vastly different from these days. has anyone else tackled that first times crossword? i found it very difficult indeed

[Mamyalynne]

He is indeed correct.