Radio Times Prize Crossword 48 Tuesday November 17Th 2020

[rtxwdtrier]

Two 5-letter words still to do:
6d "Quickly gather for jam" _ L _ C _ seen as both BLOCK and FLOCK and I've read the earlier posts: both mean jam but neither fits with Quickly; and
24a "Positively evident" _ L _ I _ possibly PLAIN but how does that relate to Positively?

[dannyk13]

6d.
Flock ( gather)

[bobbinwales]

But why QUICKLY dannyk13? and if jam = lock where do's the F come from??

[dannyk13]

Flock
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flock
scroll down to 'words related to'

[rtxwdtrier]

Sorry dannyk, I don't see anything about Quickly in that link - or have I missed it?

[dannyk13]

I think that you are overthinking the clues.Flocking together often indicates that a crowd is quickly gathering. e.g they flocked to see such a sight.

[dannyk13]

The link is referring to flock = jam

[rtxwdtrier]

Thanks, you may be right! Possibly the same for PLAIN?

[Itsprobablymyage]

I do worry that this is simply a poor clue with more than one 'valid' answer. I don't think Block or Flock are great answers, and I have a couple of other suggestions, which are also not great answers, but possibly valid ones.
I was possibly thinking 'Click', as in to suddenly gather in terms of getting an idea 'the idea just clicked' and then jamming/clicking things (jigsaw pieces) together. I was also thinking possibly 'Pluck' as in to quickly gather a hair or feather and also to pluck strings of a musical instrument (e.g guitar) as in a musical 'jam' (jamming sessions). I still think all 4 answers are equally dubious which I think reflects the poor quality of the clue rather than our potential answers...

[rtxwdtrier]

Thank you all. No definitive answer to 6d it seems. I wonder whether the setter got his musical terms wrong and thought f (for forte) meant quickly rather than loudly!

Nobody has responded on 24a, unfortunately.

[dannyk13]

Again I think you are possibly overthinking the clues.I think that plain is a more forceful adjective in some cases.
Evident, scroll down to synonyms:-
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evident
Plain, see definition 4.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plain

[Tinselly]

FLOCK
F= for, as opposed to against, and LOCK= jam.

[Bonnevilleian]

I too have been struggling with these two answers. Somewhere at the back of my mind is the idea that blocking is a tailoring term. Could this link to "quickly gather"?

[Mamyalynne]

Blocking in that context is flattening rather than gathering.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_(textile_arts)