I am useless at cryptics so any help would be appreciated. 9a 5 letters pure and simple? Here's a different way s?e?? - if 7d is throttle then the last letter might be an r so it might be sheer but I can't think why. Also 16d 7 letters it's some proposal- mon dieu, natty Alex! s???o?? - I think the last letter might be p as 27 across is Plays