1. C onspiracy - If three (3) is company, then what is five (4)?
2. - Twixt dark below and dark above, below & between.
3. - + 60, -10, still stepping out of the same door.
4. - A place of first meetings, lingering glances, and (nearly) last farewells.
5. - Twenty-second in the line.
6. - A bit sweet, but backward, and if I gave a direct clue it would probably be crude.
7. - Elvish ... and a trio of Beornings.
8. - Gondor calls, "The flaming cursor!"
9. - Not new, not two, not race, not safe.
10. - They could make almost a Hobbit sequel, but Warwick is necessary first.
11. - With a name, he's a stalker above all others; without his name, sing who he is.
12. - Left behind; his namesake is on the Barrow-downs though.
13. - Scrambled in an anagram: retained in the taproom.
14. - Singular, lost in Ladros, in a house by the river.
15. - Bilbo passed, and the Age removed
16. - Before they were grey, they served still.

The Conspiracy (in Chapter 5) has four members: Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fredegar Bolger, poor neglected chap.

For #3, you actually have the right door! But not the right answer. :) And no on Bree or the password.

hS

Ah ... the chapter number. I thought 5 was Sam, Merry, Pippin, Fredegar and Folco, then those minus Sam when Sam was terrified of being turned into a spotted toad.

11. Eol?

I don't think I'd count Folco as a member of the Conspiracy; if he had been, I imagine he'd have joined the others in Crickhollow.

And not Eol, I'm afraid. You're actually looking for the 'without his name' version in #11.

hS

4. Rivendell?

Not Rivendell. The meetings, glances, and farewells are all from different people, and quite some time apart.

hS

Is 11 Smeagol as the nameless terror- the ghost that drank blood - and the stalker of the Ringbearer?

Nice thought, but no. 'Sing' is relevant here.

Also I might be being a little unfair with 'stalker', but... not by much. (Serial harasser, for sure.)

hS

Daeron?

16. Gimli's socks? :D

Is 3 something to do with sailing west, given that Sam did so 60 years after Frodo, I think?

I thought the answer to 1 was orgy for a moment..though 4 indicated letter in answer...eep


On safer ground, I will hazard for 5, Imrahil, wind prince of Dol Amroth

8. Red Arrow?

Could 4 be the Grey Havens? Ist meeting of Gandalf and Cirdan ....

Weird thought - 11. Tom Bombadil?

Edit: never mind, missed some of your comments on that one :o

Cousin of Forlong the Flatulent? :D

Is 4 Cerin Amroth?

Wow, lots to get through here!

So that's no on 11 Daeron (he's not the one singing), no on 16 Gimli's socks (:rolleyes:), no on 3 sailing west (the 60 is indeed years, though), yes on 5 Imrahil, yes on 8 Red Arrow, no on 4 Grey Havens (though you're pretty close; consider the 'nearly'), no on 11 Tom Bombadil (see previous comment on 11), and no on 4 Cerin Amroth (though that's a great guess).

I think I got them all?

hS

I'm going to guess...

14: Eilinel (although 'singular' eludes me here)

16: The púkel-men

(This is what happens when I return to the Downs - I get no work done. :D)

No and no, I'm afraid. #14 has both a cryptic and a straight clue, and #16... you're actually kind of in the right place!

(You're telling me! I'm practically new here and I keep writing crosswords instead of working... :D)

hS

Ha, is 16 the Oathbreakers then?

14 could also be Beren, who never became the Lord of Ladros and died in Tol Galen... and only had a singular hand. :D

Neither of those either, I'm afraid.

Ladros itself is not actually involved in the Ladros answer. :)

hS

So hard! :D

Does 16 have something to do with the Drúedain?

It does not, except that the Pukel-Men were witness to something relevant to the clue.

hS

The nearly last farewell I'm thinking of was near Bombadil's, but I can't remember exactly where.

I'd go with 'nearby' rather than 'almost'.

hS

Maybe the Tower Hills? Sam's last farewell to Elanor.

Was it? I didn't actually remember that! The Tower Hills were the site of the first meeting between the Numenoreans and the men of Middle-earth; the site of Elendil's palantir which let him cast 'lingering glances' into the West; and close to the Grey Havens and the last farewells that take place there.

hS

12. Merry, who was left behind? There is a Merrymatt on the Downs.

I see where the thought came from, but no.

hS

Is 16 just the Havens?

Does 15 have something to do with Old Took? Bilbo passed his age near the turn of the Age.

Not the Havens, I'm afraid, but:

'Age Removed' is a direct thesauriation of 'Old Took'. ^_^

hS

Aghan's feet, after his watch-stone put out the fire? :D

There's also the Grey Company - whose passing the Púkel-Men witnessed - but I can't quite connect it to the clue.

Could 2 be the Bridge of Khazad-dûm?

The Grey Company is the right people - but not the right answer. Check the first word of the clue. :)

Not the bridge for #2; this is another clue with both a straight(ish) and a cryptic part.

hS

Rangers?

I mean, you could have been more specific, but I'm not going to quibble:

(As opposed to the Rangers of Ithilien, of course.)

hS

Does 10 refer to Warwick Davies, who played the hero in the film 'Willow' - which featured many little people?

Could the answer be Willow(s)?

I *meant* the northern ones.

Mablung has never even glimpsed the Watford Gap!

And as for trying to get decent mushy peas out of Damrod ....

#10 does refer to Warwick Davies, and Willow is in the answer...

:D There are so many possibilities inherent in T'Rangers of t'North. Where 'ast tha bin sin' Ah saw thee/On Dead Man's Dike baht 'at?

hS

All Rangers of the North are Grand-Masters of Eckythump, of course.

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Willow men?

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Although, having looked up the film, Willow and his friends are DWARVES?

To be more precise, I mean that the word 'willow' is in the answer. :)

hS