lovatts holiday cryptic 57

Hi ftlocks

I have "checker" for my answer.

Thanks again dutchy, but i have been have trouble with the reasoning.
i know that catch means to board, but the rest of it escapes me.
Cheers

Hi ftlocks

Maybe our 'Cryptic Queen' Butterfly or Lezzles will read your question and give a detailed explanation of the answer, they are both very good at it. I merely put the letters together and hope for the best.

Hi ftlocks!

The thing to remember with the cryptics - and it is so easy to forget, I do it all the time - is that a word can have many meanings when used in a different context. For example, if the clue talks about 'going out to play' you can spend so much time thinking about school friends, games, toys, etc. and then suddenly the penny drops that the answer is 'theatre' or 'drama' or something like that.

With that in mind, have another think about the clue in question -

Inspector sometimes goes on board.

You might immediately think of a transit inspector getting on board the bus or train checking that passengers' tickets are in order. Yes, in that context he/she is a 'checker', but have you ever actually heard that term used? I haven't - they have always been 'inspectors' to me.

However, bearing in mind that inspectors are checkers.......

Who or what sometimes goes on a board?
what kind of board? Board of Directors? Ouija board? Chess board? Checker board? Fanfare please!

So, a checker sometimes goes on a board. So in this case 'board' was the word you had to find another context for.

I hope that didn't sound too long-winded - once you get your mind into the trick of changing context in mid stream it all makes sense! (Maybe!)

The resident expert on cryptics is definitely Butterfly - I feel she is on holidays at the moment - but I'm sure she could explain it much more clearly than I have.

Good luck!

Dutchy, you are right of course. I hadn't even considered a checker board
Your explanation was great, thankyou. Sometimes I don't have any trouble with the cryptic - i just do it in one sitting. Other times, like this one
I kept going back to it, and none the wiser afterwards!
Cheers

Hi ftlocks, ofcourse I was right in nominating Lezzlers as the expert, please pay her the compliments she so richly deserves.

Lezzles, profuse apologies!
I should have been addressing you not dutchy.
Sorry again
Cheers