DT 29535

79 comments on “DT 29535”

1. Another very straightforward and enjoyable puzzle that’s on a par with yesterday’s fare, 0.5*/4*. I liked 1a, 18a, 2d, 5d, 8d and 13d with 8d COTD.
   Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

2. Good. I’m glad this was over relatively quickly. I’ve got a lot to do including some fresh air .

   Thanks all.

   PS sorry about Saturday BD

3. I found this only marginally more challenging than yesterday’s and about as much fun.
   I’d never heard if the Greek character at 27a but the wordplay virtually handed it to you on a plate.
   I liked 1a (despite the dodgy surface) and 8d best
   1.5/3*
   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K, whose recommendation of the Toughie I endorse as it’s accessible with some fun anagrams to get you going.

4. A game of two halves, with the top half of the puzzle more challenging than the bottom but with the best clues (2*/3.5*). I liked 1a, 5a and 8d but wasn’t keen on the synonym in 10a. Thanks to Mr K for the hints I loved the melted cat and the onewith the cat flap roundcits middle. Thank you to the compiler also.

5. Another plain and simple offering, all done in */** time. I couldn’t parse 1a, I was fixated on the cut bird being a LAR(K), so thanks for the explanation. 3d was another that took a short while to fully understand.

   Many thanks to the setter and Mr.K.

   1. I had the same problem with 1a, needed Mr. K for that one.

6. 1*/3.5*. I found this very light but I did enjoy it with 18a my favourite.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K – great pictures as usual including the hidden ones.

   P.S. Like Mr K. I found today’s Moeraki Toughie fun and not at all tough, although I am in the embarrassing position of being unable to finish it due to an incomprehensible (to me!) pesky five-letter answer even with three checking letters.

   1. The 5 letter ones today were fun…I must admit I had a real penny dropping moment on one of them

   2. One of them is a lurker.

7. Today’s is straightforward. I also recommend the toughie. On the easier side but with some excellent clues.

   1. Agreed. Both puzzles were fairly straightforward today, but very enjoyable.

8. A Monday replica today, concise simple cluing, no outstanding favourites.
   Thanks Mr K for the pics, especially the nuns indulging in bad habits, what is the world coming to!
   Liked the Quickie pun.

9. I was on one of Senf’s horses today. Completed at a full gallop! */*** Enjoyable while it lasted. Favourite 13d. I even finished the toughie albeit using all the hints so it must be on the easy side. Normally my brain gives up with about half done. I should try harder but somehow lose the will to live when I’m getting nowhere fast. Thanks to all.

10. A thoroughly entertaining and very uncomplicated puzzle for a bright Tuesday morning. I liked the excellent 13d the best, followed by 3d.

    Many thanks to both Misters.

11. Thanks, by the way, to Robert and Merusa. I’ve just finished “where the crawdads sing”. I now know a lot more about the Carolina coast. A good read and I think the ending was hinted at once or twice along the way.

    1. Yes, I agree. A rare occasion when a miscarriage of justice is actually a cause for hope ….

    2. I read it on the recommendations from our friends here. I’d downloaded it to my Kindle some time ago and never got round to it, I started it when the folks here said it was so good. My, was it ever good!

    3. May I add my thanks too. Just finished it. I thought it had a wonderful sense of place and atmosphere. It’s not a book I would have likely have chosen without the recommendations.
       Thought initially that today’s puzzle looked unfathomable but once I got a foothold in the north east it fell in to place very smoothly. Thank to to all.

12. Very enjoyable and its nice to have a fairly straightforward puzzle. Finished in bed with my early morning cuppa. I liked the British Rail notice. Reminded me of a sign outside a wildlife park in Australia where the lion enclosure said ‘Entrance Fee $4, Pomms on bicycles free’!

    1. A pleasant solve as is the Toughie. We can do with gentle days like this occasionally.

13. Very straightforward and very enjoyable, completed at a fast gallop – 1.5*/4.5*.
    As a measure of the enjoyment, candidates for favourite – 14a, 18a, 8d, 13d, 19d, and 23d – and the winner is 19d.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

    Ditto on the comments on the Toughie except that I would give it 2.5*, not 4* like Mr K, for difficulty if it was a back pager.

14. Another easy ride with little to scare the horses. NW slowed home run a little. 26a caused a giggle. Personally don’t like12a abbreviation. Thank you Mysteron and MrK (amazing the contexts in which you can feature a moggy – viz 2d!).

    1. It does seem that the internet has cat pics for every occasion.

15. No idea why but it was a painfully slow scattergun start until the brain slowly cranked into gear & then a steady solve in 2.5* time with no parsing difficulty. About on a par with yesterday though the NW caused a wee bit of head scratching as I was sure the 2d had to start with ST & didn’t twig 1a for a bit. Rather liked 13d but 18a is my pick of the bunch. Lovely weather today so a lengthy walk in the Hertfordshire sunshine beckons before the forecast rain & possible snow later in the week, nicely timed for the reopening of the golf courses…. Don’t know if it’s just me but this last 4 weeks has been Groundhog Day – am sure there’d be a good market out there for an alarm clock that wakes you up with I Got You Babe.
    With thanks to the setter & to Mr K

    Thanks to the setter & to Mr K – will read the review later

    1. My iPhone and iPad play whatever I want as an alarm. Tom Waits or Bob Dylan usually

16. Definitely a candidate for ‘bright and breezy’ – most 18a!
    No particular favourite but none the worse for that.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K for his usual amusing review – loved the melted cat.

    1. Just been looking again at Mr K’s photo accompaniment to 5a. Looks as though young Wilfred is going to have the same wayward hair as his dad!

       1. I thought the hair was carefully cultivated?

17. I found myself completing this at midnight last night, aboard one of Senf’s steeds. So I was annoyed with myself this morning as there was a yawning gap in my post-breakfast routine. I resolve to await the morn’ in the future.

    We undertook a mighty walk yesterday afternoon, starting in Shere in Surrey, winding our way along pathways and through woods to Albury and then back again on other paths to complete a circular route. The last twenty minutes were completed in darkness but this was rather fun. The best part was the flask of hot chocolate waiting for us in the car, on our return.

    Thanks to the setter and the celebrated Mr K.

    1. The Toughie would probably have made an excellent gap filler in your post-breakfast routine.

       1. I’ll head there right now!

          1. Your walk description took me back 35 years to a Geology Field Trip, where we stayed at Holmbury St Mary, in a Youth Hostel with a painted frieze of 1930’s vintage in the common room. My teenage charges, all boys, had a whale of a time. The woods are beautiful around there.

             1. They really are, Chris. I know Holmbury St. Mary well.

    2. Hope Lola didn’t try to follow you on your walk – many years ago we had a cranky, grey haired tabby, Merlin who used to follow us when we walked our yellow lab, Toby, at night. Always at a discrete distance, and meowing to let us know of his presence. But if we stopped to let him catch up, he would just sit down and wait until we moved on. Just to let us all know who was the boss.

    3. I do like the sound of “celebrated”, although I’m not sure it’s accurate. Thanks, Terence.

18. Slightly more difficult than yesterday’s offering but still enjoyable and solvable in reasonable time. It was most enjoyable with many excellent clues. 26d raised a smile but my COTD is 18a. The lurker in 20d was well hidden I only found it after having tried other things first then I remember the maxim “if all else fails look for a lurker’.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints and cats.

    I think this year we are going to have Christmas rammed down our throats. I usually listen to Classic FM in the morning but they have started broadcasting back to back Christmas music with enforced jollity. Radio 3 here I come.

    1. I should have remembered my own advice (possibly nicked from Gazza). Also if the clue contains no obvious instructions look for a lurker. It didn’t. I didn’t. But what a pleasant puzzle today’s Toughie was.

19. Enjoyable whilst it lasted. 8d was my favourite. Thanks to Messrs K & Ron.

20. Another straightforward puzzle although it started as a crossword of two halves North and South, nevertheless very enjoyable.
    Thanks to Mr K and Ron

21. Don’t know if it is the same setter every Tuesday but I do know that it is the same grid every week. Just different words.
    Enjoyable solve nonetheless.
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the review.

    1. Hi, J-L. Apparently the Tuesday back-pagers are compiled by a rotating cast of at least five setters.

22. I thought it was going to be a ** then I came across 8d which pushed up to *** for difficulty. A clever but somehow irritating puzzle with lots of wordy clues. Not quite sure why but didn’t really enjoy this one awfully probably because there were too many clues that you couldn’t understand until you had the answer.
    Thx for the hints
    ***/**

23. */****, so nice to get an easy one, it gives us the temporary illusion of cleverness. Thank you setter and Mr K! It would be great to have a blog for the Toughie, there are three we can’t do ….

    1. There is.

24. Another very nice puzzle, many thanks to the setter and Mr K, where do you find those hilarious cat pictures? We went for a walk this morning after my zoom physio session (he thinks I am doing well) up Norgett’s Lane (a ‘hill’) along Orchard Road down Drury Lane (downhill) and along the High Street to the car. Bitterly cold when you walk at crutch pace. Years ago when I did in depth research into village names, the only street name I could not justify was Drury Lane. I was one of seven who produced a history of the village with a huge lottery grant and it went into every house in the village complete with a disc of anecdotes from elderly residents ISBN 0-9549120-1-2 Enormous commitment but lots of fun.
    Happy days!

    1. Hi Daisy,
       A friend of mine was involved in similar research elsewhere and – outside of the obvious reference to Sir Robert Drury in the street in London – she found that most of the streets bearing that name derived from the old French term referring to love or lovers. Is it possible you have a ‘lovers lane’?

       1. Interesting thought! I’ve not heard that connection before. It is not in a Lovers Lane sort of position and has a dozen really old thatched cottages which have obviously been there for several centuries so too many nosey eyes (nosey eyes?) to encourage courting. I did at the time try to establish a link with London but I think it just has to remain a mystery unless it is a corruption of brewery! Lots of those around, we had some 27 pubs at one time in a small village!

          1. Which village?

25. A very nice relaxing puzzle – most enjoyable. **/****
    8d was my LOI – I was looking for all the other types of “bug”, until the penny dropped. The amusingly absurd 18a was my favourite!
    Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

26. ** for difficulty and **** for fun with some good misdirections throwing me off the scent … eg 3d throwing up some truly dreadful maladies! Thank you setter and MrK

27. Nice puzzle for a sunny, if chilly, Tuesday. 2.5*/**** Would have been 2* except I got stalled in the NW area as last to go in with 2d last in. Relatively straightforward other than that and completed in clockwise fashion starting in the NE.
    COTD candidates are 12a, 26a, 27a, 2d & 7d with winner 27a with 7d the runner up. Got a good chuckle with 26a and 2d especially!

    Thanks to setter and Mr K

28. This was so much fun, I loved it all! I did have a couple of bung ins, requiring Mr. K’s unravelling. Even the anagrams screamed at me, solving themselves.
    I’m going to choose 2d as fave, I haven’t heard it before, I’ll trust there is such a word, but it is so descriptive I love it.
    Thank you Madame Setter for the fun, and Mr. K for explaining some answers, not to mention the cats, I always love those.
    We have a chilly South Florida today, 50sF, warm in the house so I won’t go outside today. Ugh!

29. I have found the last several puzzles very difficult, I think my brain is just fuzzy, but I am grateful for the difficulty. I means I have a nice stack of almost or half finished puzzles to keep me occupied.
    Tomorrow I have to go for more bloodwork, six vials worth and I have very small veins so I shall pay close attention to the crossword while the vampires do their work. I am scheduled for yet another operation on the 29th.
    Doc has put me on 3000mg of potassium a day. Somewhere a horse is missing his pills!

30. Robert hasn’t shown up again, I hope he’s well.

    1. I understand that Robert is fine, Merusa, just taking what he refers to as a ‘self-imposed hiatus’. I’m sure he’ll be back to assist with our literature awareness course ‘ere long!

       1. Good to know. Was wondering the same myself.

       2. I do hope he will be back as many of us look forward to reading his comments. If you read this Robert, forget about the hiatus and come back soon.

       3. I hope so. Robert, come back soon – you’re missed.

          1. Absolutely, I agree entirely. This blog, like many creations, may not have adhered strictly to its designer’s original brief, but those who read or comment on here have come to feel part of a family. They have become characters rather than cyphers. In this dreadful time of lockdown and isolation, it is surely even more important than ever for people to be able to discuss, within reason, the things that animate them, with others of similar interests. If they stray too far from the brief, or at too great a length, then surely a *gentle*, polite, reminder is all that is required?

             1. Well said, Carmen. Thank you.

31. Nice crossword 😃***/*** a few clues took a bit of thought 🤔 Favourites 12a & 19d Thanks to Mr K and to the Setter 👍

32. A pleasant solve that all flowed smoothly for us.
    Thanks Mr Ron and Mr K.

33. I quite enjoyed this one but can’t really be bothered – my brain has turned to mush – fear I’m going to be reduced to daytime TV before long which is something I never do except when it (used to be) Wimbledon.
    No trouble with the crossword and I enjoyed 26a and 2 and 8d.
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

    1. PS – I’m not sure that the answer and the definition in 3d are the same thing.

       1. I agree, Kath.

       2. I wondered about that aspect of 3d at first, but according to the dictionaries the definition is OK. For example, the ODE entry for the answer is:
          1.Sadness because one has no friends or company: feelings of depression and loneliness.
          • the fact of being without companions; solitariness: the loneliness of a sailor’s life.
          2.(of a place) the quality of being unfrequented and remote; isolation: the loneliness of the farm.

    2. The lockdown blues Kath. I know what you mean. I find counting to infinity helps. I’ve done it twice already

34. A rare afternoon solve after an early start and a morning clearing a barn and finding forgotten treasure. A tad on the easy side I thought, hopefully the puzzles will get meatier as the week goes on. Thank to the setter and the blogger today

35. All perfectly straightforward and enjoyable. I agree with Kath as I live alone but I’m not lonely. I’m wondering why a + sign has appeared in my name, I’m going to delete it as I think this has happened before and stopped me posting a comment. Any road up. Favourite was 27a. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

    1. Well that worked.

       1. The same happened to me. I can see my comment on the toughie but it says “awaiting moderation “.

          1. Same here. I can see my comment for Jay’s puzzle but the comment is awaiting moderation. I will delete the plus sign and see what happens.

36. This was a very enjoyable solve this morning. But for some reason I couldn’t comment at the time, kept getting an error communicating with the server message. Nothing obtuse, sporty or requiring a deep dive into GK. Perfect. Thanks to Jay and Mr K.

37. Can’t believe it! Completed two crosswords in 2 days before midnight! Last in 7& 8 down! .Thanks to the setter and Mr K. So enjoy reading your comments.

    Daisy Girl how are you keeping after all you have been through? I have been following your medical journey through the year. Do hope you are on the road to a full-recovery.

    1. Oh Hilary, I think the site must be fed up with my state of health – it is getting tedious! And there are so many of us who are undergoing treatment at the moment. In a nutshell, knee doing quite well, will be relieved when they have sorted out the heart problem. Still smiling and cannot wait to resume doing the splits every morning AND climbing in and out of my sunken bath. Do not like showers, you get very wet in a shower and cannot do the toughie or eat chocolate.

       1. Oh I am not a lover of showers either. To much faffing around and don’t drop the soap!! No chocolate? Oh dear one of my favourite foods. Good to hear that you are getting out and walking though not the best time of the year. So chilly. Take good care.

    2. Congratulations on those completions, Hilary.

       1. Many thanks Mr K. I am very new to blogging but enjoying the experience!

38. Straightforward and enjoyable today.
    Tier 3 as from Wednesday along with the rest of Kent, yet I think we have had more cases of Scurvy than Covid in our little Village. At least the allotment is benefiting from the lockdown.
    I have recently dusted down my classical guitar, so there are some benefits.
    Stay safe, thanks all.

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