Ah - sorry - I now realise that Darren had solved Raak's first (and that mine was wrong) - if I'd read rab's simmulpost then I'd've realised sooner.

[Blob] You're bang on (ahem) with rab's: SPAN (range) K (king) THEM (the others) ON KEY (in tune).

Sorry, couldn't resist it!

Please can someone explain why [hidden answer] ENTICE is the probable solution to this clue 'Person bound to learn to sacrifice pawn and rook to offer temptation (6). Letters E_T_C_ already secured. [The Times Crossword - Weds]. Damned if I can work it out.

[Chalky] Here is the explanation: Person bound to learn=PRENTICE. Sacrifice pawn (P) and rook (R) to leave ENTICE. To offer temptation=ENTICE (straight def). There you go.

Ah - many thanks, kind sir. Didn't realise that PRENTICE was aphetic for APPRENTICE and if I hadn't been so lazy a quick peek in the dictionary would have told me that.

This crossword pretty much did itself last night, but I don't fully understand two of them. (Answers in square brackets).

• Archer's thing? Yes, with or without dash (12) [BULLSHITTING]
• US would-be persuaders of the continuing need for persuaders (3,5) [GUN LOBBY]

The former has an obvious main definition - I don't get the device. The latter looks like a single definition, but I just don't get it.

Meanwhile the same puzzle includes (8) (Geddit?) which should be obvious in the light of our recent discussions.

[rab] Re-archer: I assume the idea is that it is a double definition. With a dash (hyphen), it can be read as bulls-hitting, which is what archers do. Without, it is what Jeff does. And I've seen "clueless" done that way before, more or less.

[CdM] Thanks - I've got so used to reading 'without' as the opposite of 'within' I forget it can also mean the opposite of 'with'. Also I should have realised this: Cyclops has clued this word in this kind of way before.

I think that clue would be improved by being simply Archer's thing. Like the bust down reason example, it makes the entire clue simultaneously the definition and the cryptic indication.

Well, since BULLS-HITTING isn't a common phrase as far as I'm aware (unlike BULLSHITTING) you'd probably need to write it as Archer's thing? with a question mark.

[CdM] How about OBSCURE VAULT NINETY-NINE?

Yup. :-)

but a better clue might have been:
Hereby ruin sonnet? I'ven't a clue, sorry. (7, 5, 6-4)

Shouldn't be hard... Take on muse, upset as before (6)

[Darren] ASSUME.

There appear to be seven currently outstanding:

• An end to land-mines ! Her idea caused split (8) (Blob)
• This clue might be: "500. Follows solid containing volume of mute's heart" (10) (rab)
• Poster confused near narrow road (6) (Chalky)
• Doctor's wrapped up in umbilical cord (MF)
• Small animal run over by learner driver (6) (rab)
• Twisted small mammal eats a chopped nut (6) (Raak)
• Presume the leader is back in place (8) (Blob)

Perhaps some further hints would be in order. Mine contains a misdirection: "Twisted" is the definition part, not a sign of an anagram.

Raak's one has been bothering me for some time now. Some ideas I've had have been TURNED, TURBAN, TRUANT but none of them really seem right. I'm sure when the real answer comes up I'll feel really stupid for missing it. Some explanations of those ideas: I'd realised the "Twisted" misdirection quite early on. Presumably the letters of "nut", chopped (by which I assume anagrammed or split up or both), are in there somewhere, so it comes back to the small mammal. For TURBAN (and yes that's not a great answer for "Twisted") it would be "RAB" (heh) which could be a small form of RABBIT. Very messy, that one. TURNED it would be RED, which I covered above. TRUANT would be RAT, but is TRUANT an answer for "Twisted"? Still, Raak, if you'd be so kind, could you tell me if I'm anywhere near the right lines here?

Oh, and rab's "500" one was solved above, iirc.

Oh, and Chalky's is DARREN but uses a rather naughty indirect anagram.

[Darren] "Chopped" in this case means beheaded, rather than rearranged. The answer is a fairly uncommon word.

I believe Martha's Doctor was also solved, by CdM if I recall.

And the landmines one was also solved, by MF. And I could have sworn that some one had also posted the answer to Chalky's a while back, but maybe that was my imagination. I know I solved it and then didn't post the answer for some reason. So only the last three of Raak's list are outstanding.

I've got it: it's VOLUTE, and thanks for the hints.

I'd like to have a stab at Blob's - is it THEORISE? (I wouldn't be surprised if it was wrong though.)

Raak copied the buggy v1.0 of my outstanding clue. It's:
Small animal said to be run over by learner driver (6)

Is Rab a learner driver? If so, I wondered if it could be RABBIT (that is, Rab-hit)... just me clutching at straws again, I suppose.

No. It doesn't require anything outside general knowledge - although it could be a rubbish clue. There is a big clue in the amendment. The definition is 'driver'.

Been thinking about this one for ages now - the small animal combined with the learner might suggest the word: GOLFER - GOPHER with 'L' a driver is used in golf, etc etc. I'm having a problem, however, with the phrase 'run over' . If I'm correct perhaps you can explain the last bit of hidden text.

[Chalky] I believe you've got it: Small animal = GOPHER. Small animal said = GOFER. "Run over by learner" means insert an L, hence GOLFER, who drives from the tee.

[Raak] Thanks. 'run over by' as an insertion indicator is new to me, but the rest is much as I thought. Have we solved all the outstanding ones now? If so, before the serious stuff begins again, here's a little light-hearted diversion:
Be alert when one's aurally deviating? (5, 2, 4, 4)

[Chalky] Well I reckon that must be Prick up ones ears (or "your" for "ones" - but "ones" is commoner in Xwd answers).
Still my Presume the leader is back in place (8) to do. rab may well complain that the penultimate word is unnecessary and confusing, so you can ignore it if you like.

[Chalky] Have a coconut! My understanding about the use of terms like run over is that it's ok if it could be taken in the intended crossword sense without too much difficulty. This might be on the edge of fair play, but lenience may be granted as it carries on the English language sense of the clue, and strengthens the misdirection of "driver" as a controller of automotive transport. Well, anyway.

[Blob] Nice one. Have you seen this clue before? My late father was convinced he was the originator. I just adapted it a little. BTW - The 3rd word is 'YOUR' which I feel is more idiomatically natural ['ONE'S' is perhaps too formal?] and besides, I wanted to use 'one's' in the clue giving 15 letters to strengthen the anagram red herring.I shall now take a break from work and give some thought to your outstanding clue, unless someone has posted the answer while I've been faffing around.

[rab] Cheers. It was quite a relief to see that some literary license *can* be taken when indicating insertions etc. It would be awfully dull if we had to adhere to a strict list of accepted words/phrases. Cavalierism is good. Can we have some more clues? I'm learning lots.