A note from the Membership Secretary
Wednesday's charge was not an accusation. The Membership Secretary would like this distinction entered before the Treasurer becomes involved.
The workings are below.
Mr Peregrine Fitch, Membership Secretary
The Crossing, as posed
Two clues, one shared letter. Eight letters across and eight down. They meet at the third letter of the across answer and the first letter of the down answer.
1 across (8). Charge for curiosity
1 down (8). Supports settlers wandering
The workings follow. Take another moment with the clues if you would rather solve them first.
The workings
1 across. Charge for curiosity (8)
The answer is INTEREST.
This is a double definition. Interest can be the charge paid for borrowing money. Interest can also be curiosity, the thing that keeps you reading. "For" joins the two meanings into a short financial surface. There are no letters to rearrange.
1 down. Supports settlers wandering (8)
The answer is TRESTLES.
The definition is "Supports". "Wandering" tells us to rearrange SETTLERS:
SETTLERS, wandering, becomes TRESTLES.
Every letter is used once. The clue makes the settlers sound geographically uncertain; the answer turns them into structures instead.
And the crossing
The third letter of INTEREST and the first letter of TRESTLES are both T. The crossing confirms the opening of the anagram and the middle of the double definition.
The Treasurer may now stand down.
The Doorkeeper's Question, answered
The previous Dispatch asked:
Follow quietly, or a flower's stem (5)
The answer is STALK. To stalk someone is to follow them quietly. A flower's stalk is its stem. Both definitions give the same five-letter word.
This week's Doorkeeper's Question
Foundation queue at the back of the court (8)
The answer appears in the next Dispatch.
The Society of Crossed Words publishes a daily crossing for those beginning, and a course in four volumes for those continuing.