Friday Cryptic Crossword Game

[Guy Profumo]

Struggling with both the wordplay and a response on this one.

[Guy Profumo]

Sam loses distillate for Bacardi (7)

[irony towers]

Right to the end, Catalan club pre-eminently displays indomitable spirit (7)

Barca with right to the end -> BACAR

+ pre-eminently (ie in foremost position) D(isplays) I(ndomitable)

[Guy Profumo]

So not "club" and "card" then…

[Guy Profumo]

So not "club" and "card" then…

[Guy Profumo]

_ _ L _ _ _ _ _

And of course, the discalcula has struck again.

Eight letters

[Granthamian]

Guess northern lass mixed up ZZ Top’s cheap rhyme for molasses (10)

[irony towers]

Fixing palm above sunglasses, they shield against bright light (10)

[S. aureus]

Lampshades, a thousand created! (5)

[S. aureus]

_ _ _ _ T

[S. aureus]

_ E _ _ T

[Guy Profumo]

Ok. Private Eye again

US state briefly declined morally and gave way (9)

"Collapsed"

Where has the second "L" come from people?

[irony towers]

Chambers gives 'Col.' as one of the abbreviations for Colorado.

There seem to be some variants to the two-letter versions; for instance, I've seen 'Cal.' used quite often in the wordplay of clues.

[S. aureus]

More letters on mine:

B E _ _ T

[Guy Profumo]

Chambers gives 'Col.' as one of the abbreviations for Colorado.

There seem to be some variants to the two-letter versions; for instance, I've seen 'Cal.' used quite often in the wordplay of clues.

Thanks.

I thought US states had two letter abbreviations by convention

[ursus arctos]

Something I can actually contribute on this thread.

Each state was assigned an official two letter (all caps) abbreviation when the US introduced postal codes (Zip codes) in the 1960s. Prior to that time, there was no convention as to length, with some widely used abbreviations (Calif.) being longer than the full names of some states (Ohio). Col. and Colo. were the accepted abbreviations for the state before the adoption of Zip codes and CO.

[irony towers]

Meanwhile, thanks to SA my knowledge of lampshade manufacturers has been enhanced by infinity per cent.

Hamlet's ending, in a roundabout way, begat comedy (6,3)

[Guy Profumo]

I'm still none the wiser

If anyone can cast any light on this?

(Google was not a great friend in this circumstance)

[Granthamian]

I think one meaning of "lamp" is to thump someone, or in this case beat. I was not 100% sure till I saw I.T.'s new clue to confirm it

[Granthamian]

By the way it was a pretty shrewd clue S.A.

[Guy Profumo]

Indeed

Now it's been explained .

[S. aureus]

thanks, and that's the correct parsing.

[S. aureus]

Father Ted's tipsy, plastered. (6)

Though I'm not sure of Father Ted, as I don't really see where the roundabout way fits in

[Guy Profumo]

Something I can actually contribute on this thread.

Each state was assigned an official two letter (all caps) abbreviation when the US introduced postal codes (Zip codes) in the 1960s. Prior to that time, there was no convention as to length, with some widely used abbreviations (Calif.) being longer than the full names of some states (Ohio). Col. and Colo. were the accepted abbreviations for the state before the adoption of Zip codes and CO.

Quelle etoile!

[irony towers]

Father Ted's tipsy, plastered. (6)

Though I'm not sure of Father Ted, as I don't really see where the roundabout way fits in

Yes, you have it, SA.

begat = FATHERED, surrounding (ie in a roundabout way) Hamlet's ending = T