91 responses to “DT 27382”

1. I agree with BD’s rating of 3*/4*for today’s superb crossword with wonderful clues throughout with great surface readings. 11d was my last one in simply because I didn’t spot the anagram indicator for quite a while – I’ve no idea why I didn’t see it for ages as it is so obvious with hindsight.

   Too many top notch clues to list them all and the excellent 7d was my stand out favourite.

   Many thanks to Ray T and to BD.

2. I really enjoyed this one and found it pretty difficult – 27a was a really good clue.

   Thanks to BD for the confirmations – incidentally the definition of 8d in the blog needs an ‘s’ on the end!

   • Thanks – now sorted

3. Must have been on the setters wavelength today, really enjoyed this one. Spent a while trying to define a Cupola, DOH!! Best clue by far for me was 16d but then I just love pun type clues. Thanks to the Setter for the puzzle and to BD for explaining 22a missed the net completely.

   • You do know it was Ray T today??

     • Shh, don’t tell him

   • We have a cupola on top of our garage which was put there by the builder originally and last year cost £750 to be replaced. A “good lookin’ nowt” as my Dad would say!

     • Many modern cars have one too, although in that context the correct spelling is “cupholder”

4. Afternoon all, I am back on track and upto date with the daily DT. This one was a beast for me taking twice as long as normal and using up too many little grey cells. Even had to use a dictionary for a few – a cheat in my book. Didn’t quite finish with 11d and 13a defeating me. (Did not know that that thing was a whip). Thanks to Ray T (the ‘T’ stands for ‘Tough!’) and BD who’s decode was much appreciated. We care done sitting round a pool now thank goodness and head back to Blighty tomorrow.

   • Btw.. Fav clue by far was 7d.

5. Quite a challenge but it remained enjoyable. 11d was certainly a sneaky anagram. favourite was 20d. Thanks to RayT and Big Dave.

6. A slower solve for me today, finishing up in the top right. Many thanks to RayT for the customary excellence, and to BD for the write up.

7. I agree with BD’s 3*/4* rating.
   I did all four long answers round the outside fairly early which certainly helped with the rest of the crossword.
   I wasn’t too sure about 25a being a word so spent a few minutes dithering about that one.
   Having found the 14a hidden answer I completely missed the next one – 15a! Oh dear! Even when I had alternate letters in and it had to be what it was I still didn’t spot it for ages.
   I liked 17 and 20a and 16d. My favourite was 7d.
   With thanks to Ray T and BD.

   I made a complete pig’s ear of the quick crossword – got the first two of the three answers making up the pun but then had ‘dune’ for the third. It made perfect sense to me at the time (‘what you doing’ pronounced with an American accent) but totally screwed up the top right corner.

   • Even with the 3 correct words it took me an age, in various accents muttering to myself, to get the pun

     • Walking round muttering to yourself is the way to get carted off if you’re not careful.

       • I prefer your pun Kath.

   • Kath, I like your Quickie Pun!

     

   • Kath, our nine month old American grandson is called Ewan and to amuse his older brother we say ” what you doin’ Ewan”

     • 

8. I’m about halfway through and I’ve done about half the clues. This is good progress for me with a RayT puzzle which has been very entertaining and enjoyable. So, thanks to him and now I’m off to do the second half which may be more difficult

   • Finished. This is the first time that I have finished a RayT puzzle on my own and it was very enjoyable. Tough, but with determination it was doable for me. Thanks to him and to BD for the hints

9. I was relieved to see BD rated this 3* for difficulty. I agree with that, since it took me a while to sort out the SW corner, having put “convict” for 22a. I also go along with 4* for enjoyment.

10. Totally not getting this crossword today. Struggled to get 4 clues so far today. Disappointed that Brian was able to do this as I normally struggle with the same crosswords…

11. A really enjoyable puzzle from RayT. Last in was 11d – that makes it my favourite, of course!

    The clue to 17a contains more than 8 words – What’s going on here?

    “Get Back” will now be going round and round my head for the rest of the day!

    • Yes – me too with “Get Back”. I wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t about my least favourite of anything they ever did.

      • It’s 44 years since the Beatles performed “Get Back” on the roof-top of Apple Studios – I remember it well.

        But, I can’t remember what I did Yesterday!

        • Yesterday, my fav Beatles song of all time

          • Whichever one of theirs I’m listening to at the time is always my favourite, except “Get Back” – such a pity I’ve had it on the brain all day. I think my favourite might be “I’ll follow the sun”.

12. Best back pager of the week, many thanks to RayT and to BD for another lovely pictorial review.

    • I’ll second all that!

      5D was my penultimate answer – not because it was hard, but because somehow I hadn’t read the clue at all…

13. This was a cracker of a puzzle. Went off the straight and narrow but with a couple of hints from BD reached the final destination. I would rate it 3/4 Particularly liked 19A – a nice smiler. Thanks to Big Dave for the review.

14. Top half went in quite quickly but struggled a bit with the rest. Thoroughly enjoyable though on a mixed sunny and rainy day. 11d my favourite after realising the answer contained ‘one collar and two socks’. Thanks to setter and BD.

    • I like the ‘one collar and two socks’.

      • My aide memoire for that is an image of a cess-pit… but then I did spend two summers working on a sewage farm in my formative years

15. Oh yes, that was very very good, thank you.

    I envy Kath having got the four outside first, they were tricky and no mistake, but brilliant.
    I also spent time looking up Thesaurus for Cupola…..what a fool!
    6d was a pain to spell without looking up and 16d was cheeky. We try to be clever and get a wagging finger!! Wagging – see what I did there?

    I’ll get my coat.

16. Enjoyed this crossword today. Found the top half easier than the bottom, I know not why. My books don’t have 25 across as a word, but I’m sure it’s in the BRB. Thank you to the setter & to BD of course. It’s got out nice & sunny now here in Scarborough. We’ve managed to escape most of the bad weather so far this year.

    • 25a isn’t in BRB either but I’m not feeling argumentative today so will just lie low, I think.

      • Adjectives which follow the rules, like acute, acuter, acutest , don’t need to be mentioned explicitly in the dictionary.

        • I didn’t know that – it just felt like a funny word somehow.

          • W.S.Gilbert uses the word in Don Alhambra’s song in The Gondoliers:
            “… Yet he’d have acted otherwise/ If he had been acuter…” (he needed a rhyme for pewter).

            • Physicist…..the only reason for using it I should think.

      • Chamers only gives superlative forms of adjectives if their spelling is irregular. Therefore, “actue” as the entry in dictionary also includes “acuter” and “acutest” for the superlative forms.

        • The pedant in me rushes to point out that it should be comparatives and superlatives !!

17. Thanks to Ray T and to Big Dave for the review and hints. Another masterpiece from Ray T, very enjoyable. Just needed the hints for 7d, knew it was an anagram but only had one checking letter at the time. Missed the anagram for 11d. Favourites were 15,24,26a & 16,19d. Was 3*/4* for me. Blue sky for once in Central London.

18. Have to admit to giving in on 1a and 17a, then it was doable, but only just! Took me hours! Just as I thought I was becoming a better solver after completing Tuesday’s Toughie singlehanded – a first! Thanks to BD for relief from head-banging.

19. Late on parade today – not my fault, blame the weather – I actually managed to get the laundry done for the first tie for about a month !!! (Yes, it deserves 3)

    Best puzzle this week (so far) with some very nice cluing and some good mis-directions. Managed to get the longer clues done fairly early on (even my guess at the spelling of 7D was right – must be my lucky day).

    • Our laundry seems to get done all by itself

      • The ‘washing and ironing fairy’ sneaks in and does it at night – by morning it’s all clean, ironed and put away.

        • I’m afraid that I must confess to being the Washing Fairy, as for the other, I’m more of the ‘Lets leave it there and we can look at it for a while or maybe a while longer in fact lets look at it until I’ve run out of shirts and then I might do a bit of the ironing grudgingly Fairy’

20. BD. Has the layout on this blog changed recently? There seem to be a lot more spaces (vertically) between comments than previously. No real problem – just wonder if it’s my old dilapidated laptop?

    I’ve tried IE, Chrome & Mozilla – all the same.

    • You may need a new overhead underhang Stan. Failing that you could try replacing the trumpet grunions. Other than that I have no ideas. My Grannie always swore by an onion in a sock tied to the bedpost

    • I think I may have fixed it.

      • I knew there was something different about the blog – it’s spead out a lot more than previously – as you page down you think you’ve come to the end but there’s more lurking at the bottom!

      • Oh no you haven’t

        • Oh! Yes! He has!

          Thank You and Goodnight!

          

          • That looks much better!

            Thanks to BD for not only providing us with hints and tips … but also for maintaining the site!

            When does he have time to solve the crossword?

            • I don’t think it takes him very long – solving the crossword I mean.
              I suspect the rest of it takes him an exceedingly long time – thanks again – it always works absolutely beautifully.

              • First we have a Kath Quickie Pun … and then to follow … an innuendo à la RayT.

                Shame on you!

                • Oh dear – now what have I done?! Smack my legs!! One day I will learn to keep quiet.

    • It is still all detatched houses instead of the nice cosy terrace we used to have.( still spaces between each comment).

21. A truly great crossword today. 15 ac last one in although I did not know why and failed to spot that it was an included word. Many thanks to Mr Ray T and nicely reviewed Big Dave

22. This was a good brain exerciser but I did have a problem with bottom left-hand side. I put “remembers” for 17a which really threw me off. I should have realised that “member” was single and the clue clearly says “group”. Definitely *** for difficulty but enjoyable. Favourite was 27a. Thanks to RayT and BD for needed hints.

    

23. Sheer joy, great tension in the struggle to solve to completion.
    Beyond my normal solving time.
    Even the ‘always solvable’ type of clue, that is, anagrams and hidden, were fraught with red herrings. eg 11d,15a.
    Many thanks Ray T, and to BD for the colourful review.
    .

24. Thank you Ray T, one of your harder puzzles, and one of your best ! A really enjoyable struggle. Last 2 to go in were 22a and 19d. For a moment I had “convict” at 22a which didn’t help. Persistence rectified the problem. Thank you BD for your review and photos – one most tasteful, can’t remember which one !

    I wonder if I might seek advice here ( not the first time ! ) I have an important birthday coming up in April and I am informed that I am to receive a present to mark the occasion. We are a bit behind on technology – we have the paper version of the DT and I do not have a smartphone or iPad etc. I get the impression that most contributors do the puzzle using the DT puzzles app ( when it is working ) and I have decided to take the bold step of at least getting the machinery to enable me to do this whilst on holiday etc. What I don’t know is, can one access the DT puzzles from a smartphone or do I need a tablet or iPad or mini iPad etc ?

    Any advice most welcome !

    • Saint Sharon bought me an iPad last July whilst I was up a mountain or in a pub in The Lake District. I use that for the DT crosswords but I don’t get code words or other puzzles. It’s great for reading the paper too. It uploads in the early hours so just right for a cup of tea in bed before rising. It’s a nice little tool anyway.

      • Thanks Miffypops – advice noted.

        • Not sure if you’ll read this as it’s quite late. I use an iPad, and think you’d find a Mini one or phone too small. I used to subscribe to the whole paper, but found I wasn’t reading it, so decided to subscribe just to the puzzles site and use the CRUX app to download it to my iPad and type in on screen. It’s fantastic when the puzzles site is working, includes the toughie and costs me just £30 odd per annum. Crux also gives you access to loads of other puzzles free, including the Independent’s concise and cryptic.

          • Many thanks Ian – a great help !

      • Miffypops – sorry but puzzled.
        Do you print it off from your iPad?
        If you actually do it on your iPad, how?
        Thanks,

        • The crossword is there with a keypad. Just type in and correct if necessary. Once used to it it is perfect especially for me. I cannot read my own writing.

    • I also use the iPad version as a freebie with my print subscription which saves a small fortune when in Europe compared with the euro cost of the print version. However as Miffypops said you only get Sudoko and the two backpage crosswords. When I investigated the DT puzzles site 12 months ago I got the impression that it would only work with a Windows PC. I have just tried to find the description of the site but it seems to have disappeared presumably because of the technical problems. However there are versions of the e-paper now for Android and Kindle so if you are happy to settle for the two backpage puzzles you could save quite a bit compared with the cost of an iPad. Before getting anything check out how easily you can read stuff on the smaller screen sizes. If you want to able to look at the entire grid for the longer answers I think you might find the font sizes very small on anything less than a 9 inch screen.

      • Thanks for all that MichaelP – very helpful

        • Thanks Miffypops and MichaelP
          I haven’t downloaded the DT App onto my iPad.
          I get my crosswords through ‘Standalone.com’ but only the makeshift version of the DT one as the DT puzzle site, to which I am a paid up subscriber, is up the creek.
          Standalone, though, does download the makeshift version but not in a doable form. It would need printing off.
          So, if I downloaded (and paid) for the DT App. I could, from what you say, complete the crossword on my iPad.
          I really love my iPad.
          

          • You need telegraph subscriptions. I pay about £28 per quarter. The paper edition is delivered by our local shop so I do have a toughie when I have time. The ipad edition comes through on both my and saint Sharons ipads. The news, world news, comments, features, letters, obituaries, puzzles, cartooons and picture galleries are all there but less adverts. I found the crossword awkward at first but that quickly passed. As I have said before the ipad has dramatically shortened my solving times because all the letters look like what they should look like. With a pen in my hand the letters C G and L are exactly alike as are B P and D. U and V give me problems and unbelievably the letters I and N are indistinguishable. I write as well as I sing.

            • Interesting Miffypops – I already do DT subscription for the paper version, so it sounds as though I should be able to get the iPad edition without extra payment. Very helpful, thank you.

              • You just need your Telegraph subscriber number

25. Did this one with just a little help then cracked most of the Times one. The training I have had from BD and others has really raised my game. I suspect though, I will crash and burn tomorrow. Thanks for the fun and help today.

26. I really enjoyed that today, but it was apuzzle of two halves for me. I found the right hand side easier than the left maybe because carelessly I had misspelt connect, by putting the c before the e therefore just couldn’t see 19d.
    Thanks to Ray T & BD.

27. Did anyone else assume that the Lewis in 4d was Lewis Carroll of Alice In Wonderland fame

    • Yes !

    • No, but mainly because in Oxford we are very aware of the right one (not that there is anything wrong with Lewis Carroll it’s just that he would have been wrong today).
      There is a C.S. Lewis reserve very close to where we live – it’s lovely – lakes, trees and wildlife.

      • Any Aslans?

        • Whoops, I read that as Asians

          • I thought that as I typed it

28. Really great stuff and thoroughly enjoyed it. Last in was 11d.
    There is a slight Tut-tut though. When we did the word count on the clues, as we always do with a RayT, we discovered to our shock and horror that 17a actually has NINE words in the clue. What is the world coming to!
    Many thanks RayT and BD.

29. What a super RayT puzzle! I found the bottom half a bit trickier than the top, and 11d was my last in. Plenty of super clues. I particularly enjoyed 7d, 19d, and 20d.
    Although I didn’t need your excellent hints, Big Dave, on reading them through I note that I did not fully appreciate the cleverness of 7d. So, your clarifications are much appreciated.
    Very many thanks to you both, RayT and Big Dave.
    

30. Setter here, with thanks to BD for the decryption, and to all for your comments. I’m glad that most of you enjoyed it.

    RayT

31. Lots of comments today – I’m really pleased. I’d been thinking that we were all being a bit dozey and slightly in hibernation mode since Christmas – understandably, of course – but I was just beginning to think about what to do to stir things up a bit – it would seem that it’s not necessary (with one collar and two socks)!!

32. Wow. I think that’s my first ever Thursday completed without any help at all. Completely expected to see 1 star difficulties here so delighted to see the three stars. Silent high five to self!

33. Very enjoyable and quite taxing, but I got there in the end.Struggled for far too long on 10a. Re 7d, I’m not sure that that is a treatment, as BD suggests, I think it’s more a branch of medicine and “treatment” refers to the anagram. But thanks as always for explaining the ones I got but couldn’t quite see why. Missed the “hidden in clue” on 15a and came to BD after completion for explanation. Must try harder

    • Chambers defines paediatrics as “the treatment of children’s diseases”

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