ST 4461

[almarone]

24a country bumpkin heads towards sandhurst?
20d entire contents of card index mysteriously empty?

last 2 thank heavens

is 5a strain (blood pressure)

[Mamyalynne]

letter counts please

[boxtops]

do you have any letters already?

what's the clue for 5?

We don't all have the papers in front of us!

[almarone]

24 a 5letters, 20d 7 letters

5a clue is blood pressure?t?a?n

[Mamyalynne]

24 Swain

[Lie-in King]

Hi almarone & welcome to AB! :-)

It's always nice to include the numbers of letters & any you've placed, so that people without the puzzle can more readily help you - thanks for next time :-)

That said -

24a Burma - Bu(mpkin) (heads [of]) + R(oyal) M(ilitary) A(cademy)
20d Drained - anag (c)ard inde(x) (contents of)

Yes, 'Strain' for 5a

[atrollope]

Double definition...Blood..Pressure..Strain

[almarone]

Thanks everybody, and thanks for welcom lie in king, you are a regular here, have used the site for months but in a passive way only. However the frustration of ST got to me today!

[Mamyalynne]

Apologies for my silly guesswork up there.