Roll up, Ladies and Gentlecreatures, the Bluestocking has been redecorated

[DeanElderberry]

Here for your delight and delectation is the hostelry by, for, and about wise, intelligent, creative and kind women, their assorted avatars including (but not limited to) a remarkable beetle, an astute android, a wise cake, and an assembly of companion creatures and animal assistants.

Food and drink available in abundance, all with remarkable non-damaging qualities.

Males may congregate in the nearby Staunch Ally and sometimes visit the stableyard to view outdoor performances by the gerbil waitstaff (who need to be distracted after the moment after that terrible 'misunderstanding' about the meaning of safe sex).

last thread here if you need to know why the Quokkas need some extra cuddles, and why the Cabybaras are being particularly efficient just now

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5273255-the-bluestocking-all-gerbils-welcome-must-have-own-frou-frou-skirt?

All help appreciated, from the Bluestocking or outside.

43 across: Slippery customer in Eastenders say. (4)
Possibly a comma before 'say', but I've scribbled on it.😁

S something A something

The S is from 'Facing drunk holding gut up' which I made TOWARDS (draw for gut inside sot for drunk, all backwards = facing).

The A is from 'Officer, delicate creature replacing duke with a king' which I made REAR ADMIRAL (red admiral for delicate creature, with D for duke replaced by AR for a king = officer). I thought this was a delightful clue.

I tried Chambers Word Wizard which gave loads of possibilities, but I still couldn't solve it.

Soap would fit the slippery and eastenders but 'customer' doesn't seem quite right.

My Ally agrees 🤷‍♀️

🙄of course! Thanks both (& Ally)! I was overcomplicating it, obvious now.

Slippery customer?

I think 'customer' is just a jokey way to say slippery object.

I think two things about cryptic crossword clues:

1. 'Oh FFS that's just impossible to work out' - flinging away the offending crossword.
2. 'Oh yeah - that was really obvious wasn't it?' - when somebody else tells me what it is😄

I just don't have the right kind of mind for cryptic crosswords, and I greatly admire people who have.

I was hoping it was going to be "eels" ( as in Beale's Eels) until you gave the letters..

Me too! Exactly the same!

Quite mortified that other members of my family are very good at crosswords. I can only do the quick crossword, anything even mildly cryptic takes me forever

That is the answer to the clue with the correct analysis. I love cryptic crosswords, though sometimes I'm not good at them.

I’m the same, @MarieDeGournay - my late mum and my sister both love(d) cryptic crosswords and I always got the feeling that my sister feels I have an inferior intellect because I don’t. Dsis definitely looks down on me because I’m not an Oxford graduate, Guardian reading, cryptic crossword doing woman. But at least I know that sex is binary and immutable, which she and her dh do not, so I reckon I win.

You definitely win!

Woley relaxes in the bar, feeling superior.

That's supposed to say 'GENDER CRITIC OF THE YEAR' but out of 16 efforts from the AI this is as close as it got. When I added in a crumpled-up crossword the AI really lost its marbles.

@Bannedontherun

To Margaret.

I was sorry not to be able to pop in yesterday. Spent all my free time looking for a new (but old) car. Collecting one tomorrow, hopefully, so that will add a bit of excitement to the week. The supermarket didn’t have the tea I like this time, so it’s a bit good news/bad news, I suppose, on the purchasing front.

I used to live cryptic crosswords when I was a younger woman and I had more time on my hands. But then life happened and I haven’t tried one for years and years. I think I’d have to learn how to do them all over again if I tried now.

It took me a while to get back into them. I bought some books of Telegraph ones as they're easier - & the Times does an easy cryptic every weekday as well as the standard cryptic.

It's a toss up which is more important to an Englishwoman: a car or the right tea. At least you got one of the two.

Thanks @lcakethereforeIam ❤️

Shit.

I meant….
Thanks @ifIwerenotanandroid ❤️

Sorry; I’m tired 🙄

@Swashbuckled I went back and reread the thread, wondering what on earth I was being thanked for 🤣 You've given me a good laugh. So, thank you for that.

Sympathy for your supermarket problem. It's always the bloody T!

@lcakethereforeIam

I’m so sorry.
(All that unnecessary bafflement I caused you 😬.)
Glad it made you laugh, though 😊. In the end….

Can’t understand what could have caused them to run out of tea…

I so love this Thankyou swashy xxx

Tea is very important. I have a teapot-cup combination which serves three cups a pot. I drink three pots a day morning. I drink it very hot and black.

I also have a lovely car and a car represents independence. But there are excellent trains to distances beyond my locality and most local things are very close. I have lived without a car of my own before (though it was in London where I could easily pick up a pool car).

This is like Daddy or chips!

I'm going for tea.

Good stuff, tea

www.msn.com/en-gb/health/nutrition/how-you-brew-your-tea-could-be-the-secret-to-a-surprising-health-benefit/ar-AA1zPh0v

I don't like tea. I drink one cup a day (because I feel I ought to) of extremely weak, black, Earl Grey.
Coffee in the morning, water the rest of the day.

I know...weird.