bare bones mail on sunday

[pond50]

21a  runners in good health-he was a writer ???e?l  could it be orwell?  16d  expression of surprise about no good river  c?n??  thanks in advance

[shaneystar]

Second one is Congo.
Coo round NG...no good.
I think you are probably right with Orwell.

[frizzytwig]

I'm stuck on these 2 and also thought Orwell, but I think 16d could be CONGO, but dont know where expression of surprise comes in.  I'm also stuck (last one) 19a A good hit in cricket over the line A?I?. Any ideas. Other authors that could fit in ???E?L are: CABELL, LOWELL, POWELL and SEWELL

[frizzytwig]

Orwell won't fit if it's Congo

[shaneystar]

frizzytwig I think a good hit in cicket etc must be axis..A with six
backwards.
Coo is the expression of surprise around ng.
Stumped on the other one then .Sorry!!

[johnalex]

Hi pond50  -  Please confirm clue states 'runners', not 'runner', in which case River Po, 'runner', + 'well' gives you 'Powell'.  Otherwise, back to the drawing board ....

[frizzytwig]

Definitely says Runner's

[frizzytwig]

The apostrophe could be the clue here, not very good with grammar so would not rule out POWELL

[johnalex]

Thanks frizzytwig.  I'm definitely leaning toward POWELL now that we have an apostrophe, although the clue would have been neater with plain 'runner'. (River Po is Italy's longest at 405 miles).  However, I don't have the paper and haven't seen the grid!  Good Luck.