Holiday cryptic 78

7ac. it fits neatly in a socket. I have ??e?a?? TOESACK (anag)
10d. nobleman's cool address to bishop. I have ??r?t??p LORDSHIP

Hi Gwenda

7a = EYEBALL
10d = LORDSHIP

Good luck

Just explain how you got "eyeball" from the phrase "it fits neatly " in the cryptic clue. To me this implies a re-ordering, i.e. an anagram. Otherwise why bother with the word "neatly" ?

c'mon. Doesn't your eyeball fit into a socket in your head? Common expression.

I think the question answers itself, EYEBALL is the only solution to fit in with the crosswords of 'electrician' 'andreagassi and the last letter 'lordship'.

The last letter of your word 'toesack' does fit in with "Nobleman's cool address to bishop" which is 'lordship'

Hope this explains it.

Thanks. Obviously the lovatts concept of "cryptic" is much looser than than of other publications.

I've seen a very similar clue involving 'socket' where the answer turned out to be either 'eye' or 'eyeball' in American newspaper crosswords.

The issue I raised is that "fits neatly" is normally taken as an instruction for re-ordering in a cryptic crossword. Compare that with the mental convolutions involved with "lordship". The fact that the rest of the crossword (not in my possession) supports "eyeball" merely renders the phrase "fits neatly" an arbitrary and potentially misleading choice of words.

Try this one from yesterday's UK Telegraph.

...noting particularly the role of the word "in".

...or this one

...noting the instructional function of the words "outside" and "awfully"

Thanks a lot Duchy, makes perfect sense,think my brain must be catching up with my age. Hope the others enjoyed their discussion..