DT 29367 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29367

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29367

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone.  I thought that today's puzzle was a step up from recent Tuesdays in terms of both difficulty and enjoyment.  Our setter made an appearance in one of today's clues, so perhaps they could also make an appearance in a comment down below?  It would be great to know who we should thank for crafting this fine piece of entertainment.

Very happy that last week I was able to locate and purchase a 50lb bag of bread flour, because for weeks there has been none in the shops.  Looking forward to making more bread.  Any readers out there also amateur bakers?  Yeast or sourdough? 

In the hints below most indicators are italicized and precise definitions are underlined.  Clicking on the answer will be here buttons will reveal the answers.  In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background.  Clicking on a picture will enlarge it or display a bonus illustration.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Hat leaving Charlie with rings -- bowler sometimes does this (7)
APPEALS:  A basic hat minus what Charlie represents in the NATO phonetic alphabet is followed by some rings of a bell.  The clue's bowler is a cricketer, not headwear 

5a    Pictures can be seen here since getting developed, enthralling mother (7)
CINEMAS:  An anagram (getting developed) of SINCE containing (enthralling) an informal word for mother

9a    Appear excited to follow dad (3,2)
POP UP:  Excited (2) is to follow an informal synonym of dad 

10a   Trendy positions for cases (9)
INSTANCES:  Put together a usual suspect for trendy or fashionable and a noun synonym of positions 

11a   Link prisoner with new wing getting defaced? (10)
CONNECTION:  Glue together a usual prisoner, the abbreviation for new, and a wing or branch minus its first letter (getting de-faced

12a   China  tea (4)
MATE:  Double definition.  The first a rhyming slang usual suspect, the second a tea drink from South America

14a   Resemblances I initially missed caught by Israeli -- it's strange (12)
SIMILARITIES:  I from the clue and the first letter (initially) of Missed are together contained by (caught by) an anagram (strange) of ISRAELI IT'S 

18a   Walk ignoring a learner's state of physique (12)
CONSTITUTION:  A regular walk taken for the sake of one's health minus (ignoring) both A from the clue and the letter indicating a learner driver 

21a   Left bumpkin's farmhouse? (4)
LOAF:  The single letter for left is followed by a bumpkin or clod.  The ? indicates that the definition is by example

22a   Stroll over with most of linen -- it's suitable for jumpers (10)
TRAMPOLINE:  Assemble stroll or hike, the cricket abbreviation for over, and all but the last letter of (most of) LINE[n] 

25a   Present minutes before hospital department's medical attention (9)
TREATMENT:  Chain together a present or gift, the single letter for minutes, and a usual hospital department 

26a   Pick up  smell, perhaps (5)
SENSE:  A double definition, the second by example (…, perhaps

27a   What tennis player might do after a fault -- hold back (7)
RESERVE:  The answer split (2-5) describes what a tennis player does after a fault that didn't cost them the game

28a   Allegiance from 50 kings and queens? Not at first (7)
LOYALTY:  Follow the Roman 50 with all but the first letter (not at first) of what kings and queens are 

 

Down

1d    Animal from mountain area: tailless cat (6)
ALPACA:  Link together a high mountain, the single letter for area, and all but the last letter (tailless) of CA[t] 

2d    Very hot farm animal gripping leg (6)
PIPING:  A farm animal that makes bacon containing (gripping) an informal word for leg 

3d    Take on board ace pirate at sea around Portugal (10)
APPRECIATE:  An anagram (at sea) of ACE PIRATE is wrapped around the IVR code for Portugal 

4d    Fleet Street admitting endless trouble and strife (5)
SWIFT:  The map abbreviation for street containing (admitting) all but the last letter (endless) of what trouble and strife is rhyming slang for

5d    One might investigate Russian satellite company with dodgy amounts (9)
COSMONAUT:  An abbreviation for company with an anagram (dodgy) of AMOUNTS 

6d    Tidy Welsh town? Almost (4)
NEAT:  All but the last letter (almost) of a Welsh town near Swansea 

7d    One working on an estate, say, crazy to collect heads of every Cape hyacinth (8)
MECHANIC:  Crazy or hyper containing (to collect) together the initial letters of (heads of) Every Cape Hyacinth 

8d    South American writer regularly sets up tension (8)
SUSPENSE:  Concatenate the single letter for south, an abbreviation for American, a writing instrument, and alternate letters reversed (regularly… up, in a down clue) of SETS   

13d   Queen ruined glorious year, strictly (10)
RIGOROUSLY:  Amalgamate the Latin abbreviation for queen, an anagram (ruined) of GLORIOUS, and the single letter for year 

15d   Playwright quietly leaving female before conflict (9)
INTERFERE:  Cement together Harold the English playwright with his musical abbreviation for quietly deleted (quietly leaving), the abbreviation for female, and a poetic word meaning before 

16d   Artist's model put closer -- eyesight's beginning to go (8)
SCULPTOR:  An anagram (model …) of PUT CLOS[e]R minus the first letter of Eyesight (eyesight's beginning to go

17d   Those who steal  shoes (8)
SNEAKERS:  A double definition.  I'd have said that the word for shoes was an Americanism, but the BRB doesn't agree.  The BRB also has the second definition 

19d   Fruitcake -- some Ellen miserably picked up (6)
SIMNEL:  Hidden in the reversal of (some … picked up, in a down clue) the remainder of the clue

20d   Just depend on this setter? On the contrary! (6)
MERELY:  On the contrary instructs us to invert the wordplay, so we put a pronoun that the setter might use for themselves before (on, in a down clue) a synonym of depend 

23d   Satisfied aluminium is this (5)
METAL:  Satisfied some requirements is followed by the chemical symbol for aluminium.  this refers back to the aluminium in the clue

24d   Celebrity scoundrels on the rise (4)
STAR:  The reversal (on the rise, in a down clue) of some scoundrels or traitors

 

Thanks to today’s setter for a fun solve.  Top clues for me were 1d, 4d, and 20d.  Which clues did you like best?

 


The Quick Crossword pun:  WHOLLY + WAUGH = HOLY WAR


120 comments on “DT 29367

  1. This was definitely harder than Tuesday’s usual offering (2.5*/3*). I quite enjoyed 14a but found some of the synonyms used were a bit over stretched (5d and 17d). Thanks to Mr K forhelp parsinga couple iof partially understood bung-ins. The picture of the cat trying to catch the pop-up fingers made my day. Thanks to the setter. Keep safe and well everyone.

    1. I can’t see how 5d is ‘stretched’….you didn’t mean 15d, did you?….in which case I may agree.

      1. No, I did mean 5d. I could see how a 5d might navigate or control a satellite but why investigate? I could see how an engineer or designer might investigate said satellite but that didn’t fit!

        1. I just took it to mean that the only person who could possibly get to a Russian satellite to investigate it was a cosmonaut.

            1. I thought 26 could easily also be scent. Which initially ruined my 19 and 20 down. Agree anyone??

              1. Welcome to the blog, Ritchie.

                SCENT could be defined by both “pick up” and “smell”. But that leaves the “perhaps” unaccounted for. For that reason I think SENSE works better, as a synonym of “pick up” and also as something of which “smell” is an example (…, perhaps)

  2. This was right up my street, I do hope the setter claims it as I thought it was outstanding.
    If I have one slight reservation….is someone who steals a 17d?
    Host of great clues to choose for top spot contenders including 10, 20 and 21a plus 4, 7 and the excellent 20d
    3/4.5*
    Ps…Did anyone else go down the road of trying to parse 16d as model =sculpt etc, doh!
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for a brilliant puzzle and review.

      1. It’s a plausible theory Jane. I’ve since seen sneaker/swindler synonym, which could justify “one who steals’ but both are a bit stretchy to me.

        1. To steal up on someone, ” to approach quietly
          To sneak up on someone “to approach quietly”.
          Like Jane, that’s how I took it.

    1. I wondered about sneaker = thief but I justified it on the basis that we talk about a “sneak thief” being an opportunist thief taking something from the other side of an open door, or while someone’s back is turned.

    2. In addition to the shoe, the BRB also has sneaker as 1.A person who or thing that sneaks.

      It also has to sneak = to steal (slang) along with, as LrOK and Jane point out, to steal = to pass quietly. So according to Chambers the clue works as a double definition.

  3. Difficult. This one took a fair bit of head scratching and having arrived at many of the answers, it took me ages to work out why. Not my wavelength. 12a is a bit obscure – at least the tea part. 7d seemed overly contrived and I needed help to understand 11a. I’m assuming the last part is section without the s, defaced. I still don’t understand the “not at first” in 17d. Favourite 1a. It would be nice to have some cricket to watch after all this time. Not the most enjoyable puzzle for me. No idea who the setter is but thanks to all.

    1. Hi Greta. The “not at first” in 28a is an instruction to delete the first letter from ROYALTY (kings and queens?)

    2. “Not at first” relates to 28a, not 17d. Then, 50 gives us “l” and the rest of the word is “royalty” without the first letter.

  4. Well if the first two days set the trend it’s going to be a challenging week of back pagers. Thought this very enjoyable & pretty tough in places – I made hard work of it. Completion took just over 4.5* mainly due to stalling on 3 pairs (1a/4d, 15d/22a & last in 7d/12a) & once the penny had eventually dropped I wasn’t really sure why they’d taken so long. Certainly for 7d the blind alley was that the crazy synonym was mad. Podium spots to 7d, 15d & 22a – a 3way photo too close to call.
    Thanks to the setter & to Mr K for the review.

  5. Bottom half took a bit longer than the top in this very enjoyable crossword.
    4d made me think about the bird of the same name.
    The skies are full of them at the moment. Incredible little creatures spending their time flying nonstop for up to a year. We should have less mosquitoes this year as they eat 10000 insects a day.
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the review.

    1. I used to have them nest in the open eaves of my previous house, an absolute delight. It’s the only time they ever land, even sleeping on the wing. Sadly my current house doesn’t have open eaves.

  6. 3*/4*. I found this more challenging than usual for a Tuesday puzzle and I enjoyed it a lot.

    Regarding 17d, I didn’t know that “sneak” could mean “steal” but it is given in the BRB as slang. By the way, Mr K, “sneakers” is not on my list of Americanisms.

    I thought the definition for 5d was slightly strange.

    My joint favourites were 4d & 20d.

    Many thanks to Messrs R & K.

      1. I really know it (and sung it) from A Child of our Time by Michael Tippett.
        An African American Spiritual, although the oratorio itself is a response to Kristallnacht, so relevant to all persecuted peoples.

  7. The top half of this puzzle went in quickly. I can’t say the same for the bottom half. I thought that 28a was a bit stretched. I loved the misdirection in 21a. Despite the question mark, I looked up every type of farm building I could find. Great 28a of satisfaction when I’d finished. Thanks to the setter and to Mr Kitty. As I write, I have pizza bread proving in the airing cupboard. I was able to have all sorts of flour and fresh yeast delivered last week. The dough has to prove for four hours, so I’m just about to take a look at it before I make the pizzas for lunch.

  8. Like JL, I found the bottom section needed a bit more thought than the top. Not complaining though, I found it an enjoyable solve.
    My favourite was 20d and 9a made me laugh.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K for his usual humorously illustrated review – particularly the ingenious way to amuse one’s feline friend(as long as those claws don’t come into play) and the jumping porker! On the bread issue, sourdough would be my choice although I steer clear of any home bread-making because the warm freshly-baked results are just too hard to resist………..

    1. That is the problem with home baking, Jane….we just eat it. Usually immediately.

    2. Sourdough for me as well, although like Florence I use yeast for pizza dough. My starter is now almost 15 years old. The loaves illustrating 21a were made with it.

  9. Too hard for me today, first time in weeks I’ve not been able to finish. Still, it keeps me sane :) Thanks to Mr K.
    12a was my favourite!

    1. Welcome from me as well. This puzzle was certainly harder than what we’ve has on recent Tuesdays.

    2. Welcome from me as well, Lync42. Look forward to hearing from you again. :good:

  10. Completed alone and unaided but could not parse 11a and 12a (never having heard of the South American drink), so a well done day for me.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for his explanations and, as always great picture.

    Mr Meringue bakes the bread in our house …but sadly lack of flour has curtailed this. He has flirted with sourdough but prefers yeast. We both like it baked in a Dutch oven…but each to his own.
    Lucky you with the 50lb sack !

  11. Not too many problems although I did learn a new South American brew. I found 5d a bit clumsy. Favourite clue today was 7d, I enjoyed the mis-direction. **/***. Thanks to Mr K and today’s setter.

  12. Needed some electronic help, so not quite on my wavelength. Thanks to Mr K for parsing help with the ones I found tricky. Favourites 5a, 11a, 21a, 28a, 1d, 4d, 8d. Did not like the definition for 5d much, and thought the definition for 17d was rather stretched. Don’t understand the relevance of the picture accompanying 13d.

  13. After a rather uninspiring fight with the Toughie this was nicely straightforward. I query 22a in that to tramp definitely takes more energy than to stroll.
    I really liked both 21a and 7d for their clever misdirection.
    Loved the kitty in 9a and memories of “Widdy” in 13d…

  14. I found this difficult and needed a couple of the hints. I have never heard of the tea at 12a and I was surprised that 5a was plural. I know it fits the clue but it did not sit well with “seen here”, which implied a single venue. So, very much not my cup of 12a but I fully appreciate it is me and not the setter. I did like 22a but no real favourites.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the much needed hints.

    1. I hadn’t heard of the drink of 5a either. Will try to store that for future use in a decreasingly efficient memory bank!

      I enjoyed this one a lot so ***/***** and a hearty well done to the setter.

  15. More of a challenge than recent Tuesdays but several of those were more like Monday puzzles. So this one is probably a true Tuesday puzzle completed at a gallop – 2.5*/3.5*.
    Candidates for favourite – 21a, 22a, 8d, 15d, and 20d – and the winner is 15d.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

    1. Senf,
      If a gallop describes 2.5* what gait describes 1.5* ? Seems a touch quirky to me.
      🤔

      1. Don’t ask is my advice – I just feel sorry for the poor ***** horse – he, or she, never seems to get a day off and I really think that he/she deserves one.

      2. I tried asking a few months ago whether there was any walking or trotting available, Or whether there might be such a thing as a slow gallop……….but I don’t think I ever got an answer.
        Best to leave it to the experts to decide……..

  16. I found this pretty straightforward, but very enjoyable after struggling yesterday my fav clue 1a and I will give it **/****.
    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
    Sourdough for me, made one yesterday and I use my own starter

  17. I quite thought that this one would make my stinker pile, but picking up and putting diwn worked wonders. I got a bit hung up over 22a & 12a but as is so often the light bulb comes ln. A quality puzzle even though the little grey cells were working overtime. The answer to the bread question is yeast, a simple recipe, two provings and away. One of the benefits of an Aga. Trouble is the loaf never lasts long.
    Thanks to Mr K and setter.

  18. As others have commented the top half went in much more easily than the bottom but great puzzle. Mr Manders’ bread due to come out of the oven very shortly, smells delicious. Our wonderful watermill is 2 or 3 miles from here and we get our flour there and its fantastic – there is nothing like home made bread! Stay safe everyone. Thanks to the setter and Mr K. Bread has just come out, looks great.

  19. I’ve lurked on this site for some months, but it’s time to emerge to express my thanks to you all for the pleasure it has given me during Lockdown. I’ve learned so much from the brilliant reviewers and it’s been a joy to hear news from all over the world — the weather, wildlife and quirky side stories. I rarely finish a puzzle without help, but seem to agree generally on the enjoyment/difficulty level. Thank you to Big Dave, the setters and reviewers as well as the whole Big Dave community. Reading the blog each day has become a highlight in my daily routine. (A Pangram paragraph!)

    1. Welcome to the blog, RosieJ.
      Now that you’ve delurked I hope that you’ll become a regular commenter.

    2. Hello RosieJ. Welcome from me too. I wonder how many pangram paragraphs you have written in the past without realising it.

    3. And a warm welcome from me as well, Rosie. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the site and the puzzles. As Gazza and others have said, we hope that you will keep commenting.

  20. Just like Senf today completed at a gallop. Only one difficulty, didn’t know there was a tea called mate. I thought maybe there was an obscure rhyming slang where tea plate = mate.
    So I give it 2*/3*.
    The mix up yesterday with guitar names I put down to a senior moment ,and of course BB Kings guitar was Lucille but Albert Kings flying V was called Lucy

  21. Been baking bread for quite a few
    years now. Have tried the sourdough without much success although the flavour is OK.
    The sourdough recipes I’ve seen appear very wasteful of flour which I can’t afford at the moment.
    Have only recently found a source of bread flour and yeast so I’ll stick to my tried and tested method using yeast.

    1. Hi, Bluesking. I feed my sourdough starter only once a week because it lives in the fridge. That keeps the amount of flour that doesn’t end up as bread quite small.

    2. I can recommend Patrick Ryan. I’ve been baking sourdough on and off for years but just discovered his amazing YouTube ‘how to bake sourdough’. He talks through how to make a starter and then bake a loaf. Works every time for me now…in fact just taken a loaf out the oven!

  22. Well after being given a steer by BD on time taken (thanks again) this was a 1.5* for me but as we all know it’s a wavelength thing most of the time. Thanks to setter and Mr. K.

  23. Bit of a challenge here but we got there in the end. I did know the tea (back to the rhyming slang) as we have toyed with many teas over the years but now firmly in the Earl or Lady Grey camp. I have made my own bread for many years, or rather my breadmaker has, and have fortunately been able to get flour although not my favourite Waitrose seeded ones. Yeast is sometimes a bit of a problem. I would like to try sour dough or soda bread, the trouble is as someone has said, that one eats it!

  24. thanks to the Setter and to Mr Kitty for the review and hints. I struggled again today. Had 26a wrong, so made the SE corner impossible.Needed the hints for 16d. favourite was 4d. was 4*/3* for me.

  25. Took me a while to develop momentum with this xw but the pace picked up. Looking back, I’m wondering why it took time to click but I found it an enjoyable solve. My COTD was 7d. Took a for while to realise what the estate was. Thanks to the setter and as always Mr K for the blog🦇

  26. It took a while to see the link between the leftie yokel and the foodstuff which hindered the almost impossible 16 down where I couldn’t see an anagram in plain sight. C’est la vie. Ta to all. Back to the enjoyable grind.

  27. Thought I was going mad today. Finally started to use the on-line version which is part of my DT subscription so I could do on the day rather than in the evening when my paper comes or usually next morning. Went in in double quick time. Had no real problems except I put in Mate for 12a which was right answer but I was just thinking of the rhyming slang rather than the double definition. Finished but then surprised that the solution tells me I have 16d wrong. Could not think of any other answer so tried to look on the site which I have only just been able to access! I find I have 16d correct after all and it was an anagram as I thought, although I did have difficulty parsing as I was looking for an Artist’s model! Thanks Setter and BD for getting the site back up and Mr K for confirming I was right and 30/30 and not 29/30 as the on-line version is telling me!

  28. Looking through the comments it looks as if people have been getting access throughout the day. Must just be me – although I tried using two different devices and different search engines. A mystery! Sorry can’t say what my favourites were as unable to ring them as I go along as I do in the newspaper. I did however like the farmhouse, and luckily twigged before I looked through all the odd regional names for farms and buildings.

    1. I too lost access to the blog with the message ‘error contacting database’ and I did need it for the bottom half

        1. I lost access at 2pm whilst trying to correct my earlier comment which related to 12a not 5a. Apols.

          Too much sun…..

    2. That’s one advantage about being across the pond, and 5 hours behind. Most on line problems are resolved before I even get to this.

    3. A break in the emailed stream of comments suggests that the site was offline for about 90 minutes starting around 1:30. Thanks to BD for getting it back.

      1. Glad it wasn’t just me. Beginning to feel ostracised. No-one else has mentioned being marked wrong on the DT digital version. It is the first time I have used it. I could not see how I was wrong as I was sure it was an anagram and not knowing another word to fit I started to look for a proper name of an artist. I found a Schleter which was obscure, but then was a past one – author named Atwell! All that only to find that my answer was correct.

        1. There are several versions of each puzzle produced, for the newspaper, the various apps, the DT website, and the Puzzles website. So perhaps it’s not surprising that from time to time one of them has a hiccup and the others don’t. The solutions included in my blog are produced automatically from a puzzle that was submitted successfully on the Puzzles Site, so I believe that 16d must have been correct there.

  29. Enjoyed that a lot. Some nice misdirections. Didn’t twig the Argentinian “tea”, so I guess that was a bung-in, otherwise a solve completed at a steady pace with no real problems.
    Thanks to setter & Mr K, intrigued by reference to setter making an appearance in the clues. My ignorance of setters’ styles & names means I can’t see any connection.

  30. Sourdough is the staple diet here. Bread and tomatoes (or Pan’ e Pomodor) … rub the pulp of tomatoes into the bread (stale or fresh) on both sides. Salt to taste and drizzle on olive oil. Eat with preserved olives, chillies or whatever. When the bread is really stale (it goes stale after 1 day) finely slice and ladle any kind of stock … Pan’ n Fuss (Wet bread) … add anything you like especially chilli oil. I personally like an egg poached in the stock.

    My pruner (who moved out of the town to the countryside when lockdown started over 10 weeks ago) is baking me a loaf tomorrow in a traditional wood-fired oven.

    Anyway, the crossword. Took some solving and the farmhouse defeated me. After all I haven’t bought one since, maybe, 2000.

    So thanks Mr K for sorting that 4-letter word and to the setter for a fine crossword.

      1. Have a visit … we have one. Fired by olive wood mostly. Dig deep into Avatar😎

        1. Thanks, SW. I checked out the links in your gravatar. Looks beautiful. If I’m ever lucky enough to be in that part of Italy I will certainly swing by.

  31. Found this straight forward until I arrived at the SW corner 19d in particular 😬 ****/*** Favourites 21a & 7d Thanks to Mr K for his much needed help and for a nice blog and of course to the Setter 😃

  32. Didn’t particularly enjoy this for same reasons as Greta above. Best parts for me were the clip at 9a (forwarded to my cat loving daughters) and the bread picture at 21a, made my mouth water. Thanks to Mr K and setter for the challenge.

    1. Hi, Lizzie. I made the bread shown at 21a, so I’m especially glad that you liked the picture :)

  33. 3/4.5. What a treat! Nicely challenging with some clever clues – 16d was my favourite as I got the answer but it took me ages to see why. Thanks to the setter and Mr K for the usual amusing review. We have just started phase 2 of our “coming out of lockdown”. My hairdresser has called me but as Mrs Vbc cut my hair recently I won’t be visiting for a while – I’m getting used to wearing a hat all the time😂

  34. I thought north was very friendly but south was very, very tricky. I had to use e-help to get going again, then it sailed along nicely.
    I have my own silver maté gourd that I got in Argentina, very much an Argentine thing, so that’s my fave.
    Thanks to our Tuesday setter for the fun, and many thanks to Mr. K for unravelling a few and pics of the cats.
    Monsoon rains forecast for the afternoon, I may have to change to afternoon solving if this keeps up. I’ll never complain about the rain, I’ll adjust!

    1. So, mate is drunk from a gourd. Why? Nothing to do with the crossword – I’m just interested. :grin:

      1. I presume it’s just traditional. The one in Mr. K’s pic looks like a gourd that has been dressed up, but the ones in BA come in many different materials, mine is silver made to look like a gourd. They’re all known at maté gourds. The “straw” has little holes in the bottom to prevent sucking up the leaves. The maté, itself, is pretty awful stuff – sorry, Argentinians!

        1. Blimey! If it’s awful, why drink it? Does it have .. er.. “ narcotic properties”? 🤪

  35. This took my usual 2 or 3 sittings during coffee breaks at work and I managed without the hints. I do agree with comments about stretched synonyms in (5d 17d) and although I knew what was required in 27a I wondered if I should take the 50 from allegiance to give Kings and Queens, or take the R from Kings and Queens and add the 50. but 23d put me on the right track.
    I knew the cup of tea but it isn’t my cup of tea! I will stick to Yorkshire Tea. fully parsing 8d and 14a took a bit of thought too.
    Thanks to MrK for the blog and Ann Nonny-Mouse for the puzzle.

    Holgate Windmill in York is opening for a couple of hours every Saturday for prebooked 5kg orders. I am not a regular baker so have never had a sourdough starter so will stick to the dried yeast.

  36. I thought that that was a particularly enjoyable crossword. Lots of creative and varied styles of clues. Found it no more difficult than average – just more fun. Many thanks to whoever set it and to the blogger.

  37. We enjoyed this one, favourite clue 16d. One of us knew mate, though we have never tried it. No time to make bread: we have vast numbers of strawberries in the garden so we are finally learning to make crème patissière … wish us luck! 😅

  38. I’m new to these cryptic crosswords and lockdown has given me some time to work them out with my Mum (who’s not so new to them!). Today’s was great. We didn’t get the China tea one, and we didn’t get Merely either but what a great clue! Thanks setter and Mr K!

    1. Welcome, SusieSA. Please post again because it is great to get new thoughts and opinions.
      It also helps to bake bread if today’s comments are anything to go by! 😀

      Welcome, Mum!

    2. Welcome from me as well, and thanks for sharing your experience with the puzzle. I hope that you (and your Mum) will keep commenting.

  39. Upon my soul this was a tough assignment (for me). I needed to draw on Mr K’s help for several.
    No complaints from me, I just couldn’t tune in today.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  40. Well I thought this was going to take as long to complete as my sourdough takes to rise (all day!) but it gradually fell into place from the south, northwards. An enjoyable solve in the end. Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
    I managed to get hold of a 16kg sack of flour from Marriage’s and a 5kg sack from Bakery Bits but I think I must have struck lucky! All the small millers seemed to be stretched to the limit at the moment. Maybe lockdown has turned us in to a nation of bakers….

    1. I managed to get a 16 kg sack of wholemeal bread flour from Marriage’s Mill yesterday. I could only just lift it! All the supermarkets round our way are out of bread flour.

  41. Very late completing this today as spent the day in the garden and the reflective glass on the iPad is not ideal in bright sunshine. This was well worth the wait, an absolute gem of a puzzle. Difficult, but fairly clued and very rewarding to complete.

    Thanks to our setter for the challenge and to Mr K for his usual comprehensive blog.

  42. This was a pleasant enough accompaniment to breakfast but IMHO lacked sparkle. It has however been a red letter day for me with easing of Lockdown restrictions allowing me to meet up with my sister for a socially distanced picnic in a “public place”. The East was completed ahead of the West. 12a tea foxed me too. Failed to parse 16d. Fav was 22a. Thank you Messrs. Ron (wonder who you are?) and K.

  43. Lost my earlier brilliant comment to a recalcitrant gateway that lacked a database–or something like that–so I’ll just say hello to everyone and add that I very much enjoyed this tougher-than-usual Tuesday puzzle. Perhaps my other comments will yet arrive from the Ether, so I’ll just thank today’s setter and Mr Kitty and name my stars: 7d, 15d, and 16d. 2.5** / **** (I should add that I knew the tea, thanks to NYT GK crosswords over the years, but 19d and 21a were new to me, though I had no trouble unwrapping those clues.)

    1. Hello, Robert. It looks like the blog was having serious issues in the US morning/UK afternoon, so sadly it’s unlikely that your missing comments from earlier will show up. But thanks for what you did post above.

  44. Well thank goodness most other people found this difficult, I thought it was just me being too tired and stupid having been toiling in the fields all day. I’m not used to it now. Never heard of the tea but I Googled and, hey ho! I have now. Favourite 21a, I don’t bake in fact I barely cook but I do eat bread. Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  45. What is with all this bread making? I don’t understand it. I know that a minority of people bake their own bread and if they enjoy making it that is fine, but why because we were in the midst of a pandemic was there a sudden surge in demand for flour and yeast? As I’m not going out to the bakery or supermarket I just get the bread in the weekly grocery delivery. Is there a bread shortage in some parts of the country/world or is it something to do to pass the time? Just curious.

    1. I believe that many people thought that bread was going to be in short supply through the lockdowns. That ensured that it disappeared off shelves quickly, which presumably led in turn to the panic buying of bread flour and yeast. I do wonder how much of it got converted into bread.

      I enjoy making bread in part because I believe, of course, that it tastes better than typical supermarket offerings. But mostly I still get a kick out of how a simple combination of flour, water, and salt can turn into something like the loaves in my 21a pic. It just seems magical. When loaves like that come out of the oven they usually crackle loudly as the crust cools faster than the interior. It’s a wonderful sound.

      1. I used to make bread for the family curry on a Saturday. I used yeast and served it straight from the Aga after spending most of the afternoon preparing the dough. There was not a lot left for the next day but, whatever was left, had dried a bit and had lost it’s sparkle.

        All this talk of bread has made me want to try soda bread. I bought the ingredients a week or so back after asking you good folk how to make it but there was always bread available from Boris.

        After reading all the comments today, I am determined to make soda bread to have with my lunch tomorrow. 🍞

        It will not, of course turn out anything like Mr K’s who would appear to be an expert baker.

        Ever thought of online bread making lessons, Mr. K?

    2. Hi Weekend Wanda, I don’t think it has anything to do with the pandemic. I just think folk have more time during lockdown and making bread is a very satisfying pastime with a gorgeous result. I believe we are rediscovering things that had been forgotten. The talk of bread making today took me straight back to my childhood when I stayed on my uncle’s farm. My aunt baked bread every day for the farmhands and I can still smell that wonderful aroma.

      Some have discovered bread making, some have rekindled gardening and others have gone back to other things.

      As I said, it’s not about the virus, it’s about rediscovering how life should be.

      1. Yes I think you are right. I am pleased that people are cooking more things from scratch and growing there own vegetables. My young grandsons currently have a much healthier diet. We have wonderful vegetable garden which my husband has had time to had time to do this year. Our garden at home is also in good shape. I think what started a lot of people off with the bread was the warning that food would be scarce. Luckily that seems not to be the case but hopefully people will continue with the good habits. A friend is a trustee of a local windmill and they cannot mill four quick enough to supply the demand!

        1. I am certainly experimenting more with my cooking. Taking my time over it and preparing properly and making larger portions for the freezer. Looking into bread making but not yet had the courage to try. I used to bake it but that was a long time ago.

          For the first time in ages, I have leeks, lettuces and rocket growing in the garden and I am loving mowing the grass, tending the borders and chatting to my neighbour over a socially distancing fence. Also loving the nature around me and the clean air.

          I, for one, hope this pandemic changes the way we live for good but I fear the folly of man.

  46. I’m trying to update my gravatar image to a better picture of Hudson. I choose the photograph and the size then, nothing! It does not let me go any further. Anyone else had this problem?

  47. Late as ever due to continued family problems.
    North was fine, south a bit trickier, but a lovely diversion from the above.
    Thanks all, sorry for the recent absence.

      1. Good to see you back, Hoofit, I thought we’d lost you. Hope things get better.

  48. I was stumped by 19 & 20 down until I realised that 26 across was SENSE not SCENT . I did enjoy this one

  49. 3*/4*….
    liked 16D ” artist’s model put closer — eyesight’s beginning to go (8) “……
    also pictures to the hints for 13D (strictly come dancing) & 22A ( the bouncing piglet).

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