Vagaries of English
An ongoing collection of strange uses.
A = per = A (as in one-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross buns). So 'per annum' could mean 'pa' - the usual abbreviation. Or it could mean 'aa' - per = a, and 'annum' = 'a' - again the usual abbreviation. In reverse 'AA' (Alcoholics Anonymous or an English Roadside Assistance company) could be used to give 'pera' or 'aper'. There are often cases where the word 'A' is used on it's own in a clue to mean 'per'. Particularly as the first word in a clue - 'A … '.Also can have the case where An = per = An (three times-an-hour)[Editor's note: Immediately after writing this I failed to parse 'Making good broadcast on a revolutionary (9)' -> repairing. D'oh!]
Ai (or more correctly Ai Ai) is a type of sloth. Mostly used as a reverse definition - 'sloth' to give 'ai'.
Ate, a very common word ending or combination of letters within a word, can be defined as 'had' (we had lamb for dinner).
Has. There has even has been a discussion that 'has' can be used an anagram indicator. It is a pretty esoteric meaning which I can't remember.
Red, a common beginning or ending of words. Can be clued as 'wine', 'embarrassed', 'Bloody!' or 'The backward German', etc.
Theatre. Can mean 'show-business', 'hospital' or 'war'. Mostly seen in the form S-B implying operating. 'Regular theatre-goer's cutting response to criticism (10)' -> dissection. A double definition. Some setters may have left off the last two words submitting it as a cryptic definition. You know how much I dislike those.
A = per = A (as in one-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross buns). So 'per annum' could mean 'pa' - the usual abbreviation. Or it could mean 'aa' - per = a, and 'annum' = 'a' - again the usual abbreviation. In reverse 'AA' (Alcoholics Anonymous or an English Roadside Assistance company) could be used to give 'pera' or 'aper'. There are often cases where the word 'A' is used on it's own in a clue to mean 'per'. Particularly as the first word in a clue - 'A … '.Also can have the case where An = per = An (three times-an-hour)[Editor's note: Immediately after writing this I failed to parse 'Making good broadcast on a revolutionary (9)' -> repairing. D'oh!]
Ai (or more correctly Ai Ai) is a type of sloth. Mostly used as a reverse definition - 'sloth' to give 'ai'.
Ate, a very common word ending or combination of letters within a word, can be defined as 'had' (we had lamb for dinner).
Has. There has even has been a discussion that 'has' can be used an anagram indicator. It is a pretty esoteric meaning which I can't remember.
Red, a common beginning or ending of words. Can be clued as 'wine', 'embarrassed', 'Bloody!' or 'The backward German', etc.
Theatre. Can mean 'show-business', 'hospital' or 'war'. Mostly seen in the form S-B implying operating. 'Regular theatre-goer's cutting response to criticism (10)' -> dissection. A double definition. Some setters may have left off the last two words submitting it as a cryptic definition. You know how much I dislike those.