The Age/SMH Cryptic by DP #20,891

Wednesday morning saw me grabbing my puzzle junk and running for the relative solitude of a cafe to escape the demands of those I'm living with. Screw you guys! I got to hang out with a lovely woman who was also doing crosswords and we chatted with/ then ignored each other; only asking "how far along are you?" once or twice. I love puzzle people. I also forgot my pencil hence why half the puzzle is in pen.

I found breaking into this puzzle a bit tough. Often I can see one or two right away but my head wasn't in it and so I took a good twenty minutes just to absorb the puzzle before 14A and 21D lit up for me.

I didn't like 1A but I my have it wrong. I don't think "plane ticket" is a "bill of air" but I can appreciate BILL OF FARE is tricky to clue. At least its down clues were good enough to get me the cross letters. In fact I really liked 5D - surprise surprise.

17A - Fraud who makes cleaner return to province in S Africa (9)

I got this with definition and cross letters but I don't see what the cleaner is or the the rest.

24A - Policy takes years off one's pedigree (7)

"One's pedigree" is the definition and LINEAGE is the answer. I swithered over this but I think "policy" = line as a "party's line" are its policies right? Then "years" = AGE so what is "off" doing in there? I didn't see a deletion or an anagram.


Comments are great, share your pain.