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Many thanks for that information K. As you probably noticed from my posts yesterday I was having more than a few problems, whereas prior to that I was able to do these crosswords with relative ease. I assumed that it was simply me going through a 'bad patch' , but you have now given me reason to believe that I can get back on track in due course.
I realise that dt cryptic is considerably easier, (as a rule), than Guardian and Times etc. but I need to feel confident at this level before tackling something more challenging. Thanks again for the advice. (S).