Fabric Of Dilapidated Origin Cut Short

[satprof]

Sunday Express Alphapuzzle cryptic clue.

[mallyh]

plaid?

[emmie]

denim??

[emmie]

gingham???

[dannyk13]

Plaid- anagram of Dilap(idated)

[Neveracrossword]

Well done, Danny!

[dannyk13]

Mally had it first.

[emmie]

ok

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Danny - and sorry, Mally, I missed your earlier answer.

[satprof]

Well done, mally, and thanks also to dannyk.

Finding a place for 'plaid' isn't all that easy. One route is to locate the Q, which is on a junction with the same letter following both ways. This will give you the number for I quite easily, and probably the L as well. If you get both, there's only one choice. With I alone, there are two possibilities, but one of them contains a U & can be eliminated.

[mouseymick]

Plaid .. 1,8,7,12,14 .. Q is 17 and X is 9. Follow Satprof’s excellent advice and there’s really only one word that fits that grid. This leads to solving (7,23,23,5,8) across and you’re on your way.