Iq 1617

[hankir]

Last two:

24a. Take turns to retire in market town (5)

43a. Charlie has coat made into carpet (5)

I learned a lot about old and new thematic words.

Thanks.

[Lie-in King]

Last two - you must have some letters placed, can you show them please? I'm guessing from your comment that there might be a theme or special instructions - is it/are they relevant?

[hankir]

Thanks LIK.
There is a theme but not relevant here.
Sometimes my crossers are wrong and hence I do not give them.

24a Could be B?R?O
43a could be CHI?? or C?I??

[iminoz]

43a C HIDE?

[hankir]

Thanks Iminoz.

Never thought of reprimand.

[Neveracrossword]

Lie-In King, the answer to 24 A can have any number of letters - the theme means the answer changes completely. Also 24 A, in common with other thematic clues, lacks a definition.

[fiction-factory]

So are you saying it may not be B?R?O and may not even be 5 letters? If there is no definition I'm never sure how these clues work

[Neveracrossword]

FF, yes - not necessarily 5 letters. The clue's just one of those solved by wordplay alone. (The other themed entries help in that solvers know the answer will be a place.)

[roslyn251254]

24a isn't one of the specials ...normal clue...your letters are correct

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Roslyn - I don't know what I was thinking! The couple of shaded letters must have confused me. Sorry, Lie-In King, Hankir, FF etc.

[Calibax]

Not sure of parsing but Borgo (=borghetto)
BOR - ROB (take) reversed (turns) + GO (retire)

[Neveracrossword]

Yes, Calibax, that's what I had. Chambers gives 'borgo, market town'. I complicated things earlier as I thought it was thematic!

[Lie-in King]

Apologies for my absence & lack of input here - by the time of hankir's response I had been long in my pit!

Thanks for the explanations :-)

[Neveracrossword]

Lie-In King, thanks. I'm sure you'd have got Borgo if I hadn't confused everything (and everybody)!

[Lie-in King]

The letter patterns would have helped - I knew I was on the wrong track when looking for the town of "Snips"... it was late, that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it :-)

[Mamyalynne]

Not much population growth there then?

I'll.....

[Lie-in King]

Yes, I would if I were you...

[Mamyalynne]

Meh.

[Lie-in King]

:-)

[hankir]

Thank you all. Thanks Calibax for explaining the parsing too.

It was "market town" that confused me. I think market-town is a concept unique to UK.

I wonder if there should be someway to know that the grid entry is a foreign word.

From wiki:
Borgo is an Italian word (plural borghi), cognate with English borough, German Burg, French bourg, that usually means the new town outside the walls of an old town (the paese).

LIK: I am 6 hours behind your time, so you have nothing to apologize for.

[Neveracrossword]

Hankir, as mentioned earlier, 'Borgo' is in Chambers, so it seems quite a fair clue.