I actually did that last crossword - can't quite remember if i completed it but i got 'time to go', 'nil by mouth' and 'cottage hospital' without realising their significance.
Right.
Fishing in the recycle bin i have managed to retrieve said crossword - rather unfortunately it was scrunched (real word) up and used to undamp (not a real word) my exceedingly damp shoes - and i had not completed it after all.
One of the things i liked most about Araucaria was that i always seemed to get stumped by him, yet i'd come back to it and have a sort of eureka moment and be amazed i hadn't seen it the first time round.
The very same thing just happened - 1 Down,
Kipling's Pony, a cross beast, playing 21 and 22 down (7,3)
21 down is 'castle', 22 down is 'mate' - i knew it was an anagram, knew the '3' had to be 'cat', knew Kipling's Pony was the definition part, couldn't see the answer. Out of the bin and descrunched (not a real word) the bits of c a s t l e m a t e that weren't c, a and t left the letters for 'Maltese' -
Maltese Cat!
I have, now, five missing answers.
Across
9 A cock bird no friend to Israel (9)
A_A_E_I_ _ (without overly wishing to influence the thought input of others it is tempting to think that this ends in 'semite')
14 Remove island prey of 8s' devil (9)
'8' is Burn - difficult to believe it has nothing to do with this -
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173053 - but fresh eyes is what i's looking for - but bear in mind that the subsidiary indications of 20 down refer to 8s' Mary (
Morison)
Down
5 Nameless impressionist with foot (errors excepted) put inside part of cathedral (10)
_ _ _ R _ _ _O _ R - thinking that the
nameless impressionist is re
noir?
7 Extra to set in the comic sense (6)
_ I _ D _ _ - i got nuffink, except that i have a suspicion that it ends in 'm' (which would be the 7th letter of 14ac - island = Man?)
14 Give boost to surrounding vulgar-sounding bully who has the franchise (10)
_ _ E _ T _ R _ T _ - not a scooby beyond giving a boost would probably be an -ate word (eg invigor
ate) but probably meaning the holder of a franchise
I know there are sites that just give you the answers but where is the fun in that? Please feel free to join in.