DT 29699 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29699

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29699

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Good morning from South Staffs, and let’s hope that the gremlins which affected the site yesterday have been sent packing.

We have a pangram missing the X this morning, which points to ProXimal as the setter. Thanks to him for a puzzle which for me was reasonably straightforward.

In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the ANSWER buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Flustered following circuit of racetrack, possibly discontented (6)
FLAPPY – Put together an abbreviation for Following, a circuit of a racetrack, and the outside letters (dis-contented) of P(ossibl)Y

4a           One’s depressed to divide characters (5,3)
SPACE BAR -Cryptic definition of something found on every keyboard.

10a         Reportedly, skates stick and cause trouble (5,4)
RAISE CAIN – Here we have homophones (reportedly) of some fish also called skates, and of a stick once used by schoolteachers to punish pupils.

11a         Sheltered in base with dawn breaking outside (5)
AWNED – Anagram (breaking) of DAWN wrapped round a logarithmic base.

12a         Prune around Aussie bush, but not the front (3,4)
CUT BACK – One of the Latin abbreviations for ‘around’ or ‘about’, followed by the word used to describe the Australian bush, minus its first letter (not the front).

13a         Uncovered roux in large enough container (7)
AMPOULE – Remove the outside letters (uncovered) from (r)OU(x), then put the result into a word meaning ‘large enough’.

Everything You Need to Know About Ampoules | StyleCaster

 

14a         Figure needing support to involve personnel department (5)
THREE – The two-letter acronym for a company’s personnel department is inserted into a support for a golf ball.

15a         Fixed ado with brute that’s stubborn (8)
OBDURATE – Anagram (fixed) of ADO and BRUTE.

18a         Many cross receiving pound gratuity (8)
MULTIPLE – Put together the Latin symbol for a pound sterling and a gratuity given to a waiter. Then wrap an animal which is a cross between a horse and a donkey round the result.

20a         Object when bird blocks drive (5)
DEMUR – a large flightless bird is inserted into an abbreviation for DRive.

23a         No official American centre for koalas (7)
REFUSAL – Put together a football official, one of the abbreviations for ‘American’, and the middle letters (centre) of koALas.

25a         Wickedness of year spent in retirement (7)
DEVILRY – Put together an abbreviation for ‘year’ and a verb for ‘time spent’, then reverse the result (in retirement).

26a         Nothing around Zulu area for food (5)
PIZZA – Reverse (around) an (American?) term for ‘nothing’, then add the letter represented by Zulu in the NATO alphabet, and an abbreviation for Area.

Best BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe - How To Make BBQ Chicken Pizza

27a         Jam-packed deliveries left Yemen port (9)
OVERLADEN – Put together a set of cricketing deliveries, Left, and a port in Yemen.

28a         Genteel manoeuvring ideally to bag king (8)
LADYLIKE – Anagram (manoeuvring) of IDEALLY, wrapped round the chess notation for a King.

29a         Rushed eating starters in Indian, carefully seasoned (6)
SPICED – Another word for ‘rushed’ or ‘went fast’, wrapped round the initial letters (starters) of Indian Carefully.

Down

1d           Instilling love to rectify awful savagery (8)
FEROCITY – Anagram (awful) of RECTIFY with the letter which looks like a love score at tennis inserted.

2d           One flies by in upward course (7)
AVIATOR – The Latin for ‘by (way of)’, with the reverse (upward, in a Down clue) of a course or schedule of duty wrapped round it.

3d           Pressure on cleric before a Christian observance is common (9)
PREVALENT – Put together an abbreviation for Pressure, the short form of the honorific given to a member of the clergy, A (from the clue), and a period of fasting observed by Christians in the period before Easter.

5d           Tingling feeling chap in sand needlessly hides (4,3,7)
PINS AND NEEDLES – Hidden in the clue.

6d           Squeeze fifty in temporary quarters (5)
CLAMP – The Roman numeral for fifty inserted into temporary living quarters, possibly under canvas.

7d           We’re told save banter for lavish meal (7)
BANQUET – Here we have a homophone of two words (4,3), the first being an instruction to save money by putting it in a secure institution, the second some banter or repartee.

8d           Clear oddly greasy wrinkles (6)
RIDGES – A verb meaning ‘clear (out)’, followed by alternate letters (oddly) of GrEaSy.

9d           Painter of sailor and child with fish (7,7)
JACKSON POLLOCK – Put together a familiar term of address for a sailor, a (male) child, and an edible fish from the North Atlantic.

Jackson Pollock | Untitled | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

16d         Update of work supporting journalist infiltrating party (9)
REDEVELOP – The usual crossword journalist is inserted into a party or celebration, then the result is followed by the Latin abbreviation for a (musical) work.

17d         Shaded yard, once renovated (8)
CRAYONED – Anagram (renovated) of YARD ONCE.

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday - All the colours of the rainbow

19d         Composed a French female a final letter (7)
UNFAZED – Put together the French for ‘a’, an abbreviation for Female, A (from the clue), and the full name of the last letter of the alphabet (UK rather than US pronunciation).

21d         Sounding agreeable, doctor covers tips for lumbago (7)
MELODIC – Another word for a doctor wrapped round the outside letters (tips) of L(umbag)O.

22d         Push forward in short formal line (6)
PROPEL – Another word for ‘formal’, often linked with ‘prim’, minus its final letter (short), followed by an abbreviation for Line.

24d         Petty scam disheartened everyone (5)
SMALL – The outside letters (disheartened) of S(ca)M, followed by another word for ‘everyone’.


The Quick Crossword pun SIGH + DEPRESS = CIDER PRESS

94 comments on “DT 29699

  1. Smashing crossword, that I found quite hard but satisfying to complete – 9d is brilliantly constructed.

    Fours hours one way on Wednesday; four hours back yesterday, to attend the funeral of H’s father (a lovely, hugely popular man; a multi-instrumentalist and conductor). The service was beautifully presented and was a fitting tribute.

    Today’s crossword soundtrack: Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 21

    Thanks to the setter and DT.

      1. What about the second movement of The Emperor? Heard this at the Proms in the late 90s played by Emmanuel Ax. Absolutely first class.

  2. All over in **/*** time, but a total of three had question marks put by them. I thought 1a was just crude and clumsy, I couldn’t see the course in 2d (course = rota?) nor the banter in 7d, but on seeing the hint, I think that makes it COTD.

    But a full grid is a full grid so thanks to the compiler and DT.

    And the ‘edit’ function is now working properly here!

              1. Yes I couldn’t fathom how wet or quet would give you banter but I pronounce the end of the 2word almost like —ette.

  3. Tough workout for me and I fell a little short. I guessed the answer from the definition for 7d but didn’t enter it as I couldn’t parse it – I had to read the hint twice and then say it all out loud a few times before the penny dropped.

  4. A very pleasant end to the (non-)work week and, after the fact, I established the X-less pangram – ***/****.

    I don’t think I have ever come across the 11a verb before so I did have to seek confirmation from the BRB.

    Candidates for favourite – 1a, 13a, 23a, and 22d – and the winner is 13a.

    Thanks to proXimal and DT, and of course BD for his heroic efforts.

  5. I thought this was an absolute stonker (that’s stonker, not stinker!), loved it and could have put over half the clues on the podium.
    The zero in 26a came up in the Wednesday Toughie which was helpful and anyone familiar with the music of Mr Springsteen would appreciate 10a. However I’ve chosen to highlight 21&23a plus 2&22d.
    3/5*
    Many thanks to ProXimal (what a great trio of Friday setters we have) and DT for the fun….and nice to have the blog back so a big thanks to BD.

    1. I started to raise an eyebrow on the ‘home’ of the 26a zero but the BRB does have (sl; orig US) so the eyebrow was lowered and replaced with a small hmm.

  6. Very enjoyable, slight hold up with a wrong second word in 4a, corrected when I got to 8d.

    7d gets my vote today.

    Thanks to DT and proXimal.

  7. I enjoyed both of yesterday’s puzzles and was sad to see the site down so thanks and congratulations to BD for getting things up and running again.

    Today’s puzzle was a little gem, with a terrific clue mix and 9d was a cracker of a clue, my favourite.

    My thanks to ProXimal and DT.

  8. Very satisfying to complete, and a good mixture of clues, with only the couple of Zs at the bottom taking a couple of minutes to do.

    I started to tut internally about 1a, then I thought it was funny. I’ve never heard it used used as an adjective, but now I plan to say it a lot…….
    Thanks to ProXimal and to DT.
    Thanks to BD – that sounds like a bit of a Thursday tussle! If I have time later, (stuff to plant……) I’ll go and look at MP’s workout.

  9. Just logged on to see if you are up and running, as I have not had the usual email link which I usually use to access it. I was worried that site may still be down but mightily relieved that all is well. I woke in the night to do yesterday’s which I loved. I was so disappointed then that I could read all the comments! Thanks BD and I hope the majority enjoyed yesterday’s puzzle.

  10. Pleasant puzzle a little marred by the leap of faith needed to solve 1a, if you are going to use a single letter abbreviation it really should be indicated in my opinion. Apart from that very enjoyable. Thx for the hints to explain my answers to 10a and 2d.
    Thx to all
    **/***(*)

    1. Lots of Abbreviations in today’s puzzle: 1a, 12a, 20a, 23a, 25a, 26a, 3d, 16d, 19d & 22d.

      I cannot find a single one that is “indicated”.

      1. ps. Thanks to proXimal for the puzzle … and to Deep Threat for typing “abbreviation” so many times today.

        1. I write my blogs on my iPad. A lot of words are suggested by predictive text or after the first letter or two. Abbreviation is offered after the A and B are entered (entered came up after ent) so it doesn’t take long for me to type it out

  11. A most enjoyable puzzle solved that I managed to solve unaided – almost! I needed the hint for 22d. As usual and much to my annoyance, I wondered why it had held me up. I thought 9d was great but my COTD is 21d.

    Many thanks to Proximal for the challenge and to DT for the hints.

    I’m afraid the Quickie pun didn’t quite work for me. Another one that depends on how it is pronounced and I am never in the correct dialect.

  12. I quite enjoyed this puzzle, which had a good range of different types of clue and most of them really well constructed, with no silly syntax (**/*****). It was the best puzzle of the weelk so far. I loved the lurker at 5d, the homophone at 10a and the lego type clue at 9d, the latter being my COTD. I still can’t see how the second part of 7d works, however.
    Many thanks to DT for the hints and to Proximal for a fine puzzle, not to mention all involved in getting the site back up again after yesterday

      1. One of those pronounciation things, Malcolm. I would pronounce 7d’s second half ‘wet’ with a short e. Thanks for enlightening me. I’d already written the answer on the strength of the first half homonym but it was niggling me.

  13. 1a aside I too thought this a belter of a puzzle. Solved from the bottom up & other than a wee bit of head scratching in the NE (4a&7d) it was a brisk trouble free solve with no parsing issues – always a plus. I get confused (doesn’t take much) – is ProXimal’s trademark both the X-less pangram & an X in each quarter or is that a different setter?
    Lots of super clues but I’ll plump for 9d as my favourite. The wordplay reminded me of my mate who was getting increasingly impatient for the time it was taking to get his cod & chips order in a busy Glasgow chippy where pollock was being punted out. Politely inquiring as to why it was taking so long he was indignantly told that he should expect to wait if he wanted a speciality fish order…..
    Thanks to ProXimal & to DT.
    PS lovely to have you all back. Didn’t try to look at the site until early evening yesterday as out all day & was looking forward to reading through the comments. It was like finding the phones of all your mates were off the hook. Enjoyed Ray T yesterday but found the Firefly Toughie aptly named & still 5 short.

    1. Hi Huntsman,
      Yes, they’re both proXimal’s trademarks. He obviously saves them up and then uses them all in one go!

  14. A most enjoyable puzzle. ***/**** 9d favourite. Glad the site is back up. Thanks to all.

  15. Fortunately I am not so up on the niceties of clue setting so I always assume the setter is right and leave it to the unraveller of the day to sort my parsing out. So no ummms today. I needed hints for two in the NE corner, one to convince me I was right, the other to sort out my muddled thinking.

    9d my clue of the day with honourable mentions for 10a and the long lurker in 5d. Many other hood clues but one can’t include them all (why not? Ed.)

    Thanks to Proximal for a fine puzzle and to DT for his much needed help.

  16. An enjoyable do-able crossword, thanks. We thought 1a was ingenious. It’s a great relief to see the site up and running again.

  17. It was like a day without sunshine. not having the Blog yesterday, but kudos to Big Dave for getting it back up and running! I’d never heard the word ‘stonker’ before, but apparently, as Stephen L affirms, this is what today’s terrific puzzle was for me too. Thoroughly enjoyable, with 9d (my COTD), 2d, 7d, and 25a winning top honours. Thanks to DT, BD, and proXimal. ** / ****

  18. Cracking stuff again — with 23A my COTD. Some neat misdirection, too, in 17D. Struggled in a few places, especially 21D until the checkers led to the final aha! moment.

  19. Friday ProXimal all done and parsed = happy bunny. I had spotted the X-less pangram which helped no end. I realised there was a problem yesterday after I rebooted my phone and still no joy, well done Big Dave. Favourite was 7d. Many thanks to ProXimal and DT.

  20. I wasn’t very keen on 1&11a and it took a while to figure out the right pronunciation to make the second part of 7d work but there were plenty of other good clues to keep me happy. Favourite was 9d which really made me smile – more than I can say for his artistic attempts!

    Thanks to proXimal and to DT for the review.

    Had to say goodbye to my little IOW family last night as they are returning home today. Very sad but my young grandchildren have left me plenty to remember them by – a stinking cold, swollen glands and a throat so sore that I can hardly swallow!

    1. Who played in the paddling pool? Who shouted with the children? Who overloaded on the bits of children’s food? Had a great time and can only blame yourself!!!! He! He!😂

      1. Truth is that they arrived here with said ‘ailments’ and thought granny should share them!

  21. First class puzzle today with some cracking clues, 13a, 23a, 7 and 9d. I was slightly disappointed that Brian did not gave something to say about 10a and 3D. Thanks to the setter(I did spot the almost pangram) and DT for explaining 26a. I did yesterday’s crossword during a 21/2 hour journey to see DD1 whom we have not seen since last august. Oh dear. We didn’t recognise her amongst all the 90 year olds sitting in the day room. Lockdown has not helped people in care, being cut off from reality. We were told she asks for mummy and daddy every day because we are going to take her home, so you can imagine the scene when we left. Pitiful. So I’m afraid I didn’t even notice that the site was down but thank you for getting it up and running again.

    1. Much love and admiration to you Daisy. I would love to meet you and George. I cannot possibly begin to think what it has been like for you. Some things are hard to bear and this has been multiplied infinite times during the past 15 months and counting.

      1. The two who are really bearing the brunt are my two lovely grandsons, especially the elder of the two. It is
        a very real burden for them – to us it is just a heartache. The people I deeply admire are those parents who have
        a severely disabled child and undertake the care themselves. They are the heroes.

  22. Thank goodness the site is back again. I was very miserable without it yesterday.

    1.5*/4*. Yesterday’s excellent but relatively easy back-pager from RayT has been followed by an excellent but relatively easy back-pager from proXimal.

    The (non)-homophone in 7d doesn’t work for me and I found the answer to 11a somewhat strange, but “awn” as a verb is in the BRB although I am not sure anyone would want to use it (except in a crossword!)

    No doubt about my favourite today – the superb 9d.

    Many thanks to proXimal and to DT.

  23. I found this puzzle quite difficult today but satisfying , excellent cluing throughout ,particularly the charades eg 9d,27a,3d.
    Have to admit to a few’ bung ins’ eg 7d ,I still don’t like the second part even after DT.s explanation ‘use’ does not sound like wit to me .Favourites were 13a and 23 for clever surfaces.
    never mind going for a ***/****

    1. I read the synonyms for “save banter” as being “bank wit”, from which the required homophone arises, given that’s how most English speakers tend to pronounce the answer. It was one of my noted “enjoyed that one” clues!

      1. There are a great many English speakers who wouldn’t ever pronounce it that way, Mustafa!

      2. In total agreement with Mustafa. I am a well educated, English as they come, 76 year old, who has been to bank wits.

        1. Me too Mary and I have been re-learning French in my old age but I have never been to a bonkay. On the other hand the English pronunciation given in Chambers English/French Dictionary gives the last three letters of the phonetics as WIT.

  24. Really enjoyed this puzzle, a good lunchtime grid. Some absolutely cracking clues – especially 10a, 20a, and my joint CsOTD, 5d (superb lurker) and 9d. Plenty of other ticks and nothing really let the side down in my view. For some reason I found the W more challenging than the E, but 1a and 10a were the keys to a steady completion. 26a my buinged-in LOI because I couldn’t work out why “piz” was nothing … until the clang of the PDM on reading the review. Doh!

    2*/4*

    Many thanks to Proximal & DT.

    Re the use of single letters mentioned somewhere above: f for following (or indeed female, see 19d) is an accepted abbreviation and defined as such in my BRB (1983), and I don’t see it as being any different to using s for seconds, c for caught or cold, o for over, m for maiden or mass, etc etc. All I believe are fair and accepted weapons in the setters’ various armories with which to challenge and misdirect us all!

    1. Absolutely, MG! It’s never been a requirement to give abbreviations a secondary indication – surely the use of the abbreviated word itself in the clue is indication enough. These groaners will just have to think harder and work it out for themselves.

  25. So sad to see site down yesterday, I don’t very often comment but thank you all for your hints and help. Welcome back

  26. I pronounce 7d as Ban quet. Therefore the homophone has no meaning for me in relation to the parsing.
    Finished after struggling with all the crosswordland clues. I ended up with 7 bung-ins but decided that even if I didn’t use words like. 1a,11a and the reversed nothing, they were probably legit.

    1. Macmillan (and various other online dictionaries) give the pronunciation of 7d as ban(k)wit….therefore the setter is entirely correct or “legit” Bob.

      1. I agree and as I’ve replied to Mary above I looked in my BFB (big French book) which gives the French pronunciation as you would expect but the English word with the same spelling a phonetic spelling ending WIT.

  27. I wonder if someone can help me please. After not being able to access the site at all until just now, the only way I can get in is by going to the main website which is very long winded. I’m not getting the email telling me the hints, etc. have been published. Yesterday I didn’t get the back pager email only the Toughie and couldn’t open it anyway. Now I’m not getting anything. I’m addicted to this site so this is very frustrating. Thanks for any help.

  28. I am grateful for the site today and look forward to looking at yesterday’s next. This one took me slightly longer than yesterday’s but felt much longer. Top half went in no bother. I had to check my answer to 10a with Mr Google. I had never heard the expression but was do-able from the word-play. Bottom half harder and I was trying to fit in another rushed at 29a. 9d was my favourite. Other favourites 12, 14 18 and 20a and 3 and 17d. I don’t know whether to class 5d as a favourite. I enjoyed it and it gave me some much needed checkers but I only needed the first two words of the clue to get the answer. Thanks ProXimal and DT and to BD for everything. I started this post ages ago but got caught up with a call from my husband who is in Cornwall and has accidentally got caught up in awaiting the arrival of HM The Queen at St Austell Station.

  29. ***/****. I had one too many bung ins to give this five stars but it was an enjoyable puzzle. My favourites were 10a, 9d and one of the best lurkers I’ve ever seen at 5d. Thanks to Proximal and DT for explaining the answers I was either too lazy to reach for the BRB (11a) or spend more time trying to parse (7d).

  30. Sorely missed yesterday but so pleased it’s back, and downloads onto my iPad much faster!
    Lovely, elegantly constructed puzzle, 9d a gem.
    Problem free.
    So ***/*****
    Many thanks ProXimal and DT for the review.

  31. Found this puzzle harder than yesterday, and I had no hints yesterday due to the site crash. ***/***
    Clues I liked include 4a, 5d & 21d with winner 4a
    Great lurker well hidden in 5d too.

    Thanks to proXimal and DT

  32. Another great puzzle from ProXimal. Solved on the banks of Loch Awe in Scotland while being attacked by midges. I rarely have any issues with homophones or Quickie Puns but see them as a device for a bit of artistic licence for the setter which offers some amusement. Thanks to DT for the review and to ProXimal for the puzzle.

    1. Loch Awe, lovely place. I’ve spent some lovely times there, enjoy it M’pops.

    2. Thanks for the hints for yesterday MP.
      Midges must have got blown South. At least those that are biting you aren’t biting us !
      Hope you e.njoy your stay up here

  33. Well, where was I? I did the puzzle then had to break off to watch the final few games of the Zvevrev/Psitsipas (spelling) match.
    This was no piece of cake, I needed e-help but not so much that I lost interest. I thought 1a was an awful word, but I did look it up and it does exist.
    There was lots to like, fabulous lurker at 5d and I liked 4a, but fave was 9d, how clever was that, I loved it. I can’t say the same for his “art”.
    Thank you proXimal for the fun and M’pops for unravelling not just a few!

  34. Well done BD on reviving the site, a task beyond me.
    A super puzzle today that I found hard enough to solve with a very enjoyable level of entertainment.
    3*:4.5*
    Many thanks to proXimal and to DT for review.
    As to yesterday, thanks to setter for an enjoyable evening puzzling.

  35. Thank you Big Dave for getting the site back up. I really missed the blog yesterday especially the hints!

    On first pass I really couldn’t see anything to get me started but things improved upon a second run through. I didn’t complete today’s puzzle without some hints so thanks to DT and the setter. Have a lovely weekend everyone.

  36. I was so exhausted after a lengthy walk yesterday in North London that I never even got round to doing the crossword. At least it is all working today, many thanks BD for this excellent resource.
    Needed a few of the hints today but by and large completed it unaided.

  37. Another great puzzle today – thoroughly enjoyed completing although it was tough in places!
    I’m sure I’m not the only one saying 7D out loud several times trying to understand the parsing…it was only when Mrs H looked at me (with that special ‘incredulous’ look…) and enquired why I was reciting the same word over and over in several ways, that she pointed out the 2 homophone words…Doh!😳
    Anyway, all done and somewhat satisfying after the initial read through…thanks ProXimal…pretty tough but fair!
    Thanks also to DT for today’s excellent blog ‘n hints!
    Glad everything’s kinda back to normal – good work BD on reviving the site 👍 now if you could just get the travel restrictions between here and UK removed so we can get back to see the grandkids without so much faffery 🤞
    Cheers!

  38. Strange how the brain works – spent forever looking at 26a with the 3rd and last checker in place, but just couldn’t see it. With 4 teenage daughters it must rate as one of the more popular foodstuffs in our house. Anyway, the penny finally dropped and 22d swiftly followed to complete this very enjoyable puzzle. My favourite was 25a.
    Thanks to BD for getting the site back up and running, ProXimal for the challenge, and DT for helping me understand 7d

  39. Very enjoyable solve. Needed the hint to explain my bung in for 7d. I also pronounce it with -ette at the end.

    **/****

    Thanks to all.

  40. Well I found this rather tough. *** but *** for fun as well. Rather distracted though as brother and wife having stayed in our new waterside pad in Plymouth on Monday he then went to Cornwall on planned hols and has had a heart attack! Nothing to do with the G7 as far as I can tell and he is currently enjoying the culinary delights of Treliske Hospital in Truro. Having had one stent he may need another. The crossword has thus proved a great and welcome distraction.

  41. So glad the site is back up and running, thanks Big Dave. But strangely, it did make me work harder on yesterday’s puzzle, and I ended up only needing to look for help on two clues. Unlike everyone else I didn’t care for today’s puzzle, but that is just me. I am clearly not on proXimal’s wavelength. 1a and 11a were both verbs I have never seen used, and 17d rarely. Couldn’t figure out 7d and 10d without the hints, and forgot the 12a. Thanks proXimal and DT.

  42. All been said at this late hour. I found it hard to get started & east easier than west. *** time & enjoyment for me.
    Echo those who thanked BD & the “team” for neutering the gremlins.

  43. I found it hard to get started & east easier than west. *** time & enjoyment for me.
    Echo those who thanked BD & the “team” for neutering the gremlins.

  44. Thanks to ProXimal and to Deep Threat for the review and hints. Late on parade today after playing tennis. Super puzzle, was on the right wavelength from the start. Last in and favourite was 26a, which made me laugh. Was 2* /4* for me. Very good puzzle.

  45. I was quite distraught to find the site down yesterday, although I did finish the crossword. Welcome back! I don’t comment often, but visit the site daily to read everyone’s news, and enjoy the observations! Thank you all so much – here in the Antipodes one feels a little out of touch. 🙃

    1. Welcome from me jj
      Remedy is in your hands – comment more often not fair you know more about us than we do about you!
      The more “upsidedown” views the better!

  46. After a long struggle I had to give in and seek help from DT, for which many thanks. Thanks also to Proximal for a puzzle which was difficult but enjoyable.
    In my comment on “Outage” I said what is life without this site, and it seems from from all the above that many others felt the same. So a belated but very grateful thanks to BD and helpers for all their hard work to restore the site.

  47. I found this tricky and tricksy but quite doable and much fun, so thank you Proximal. Thanks too to DT for revealing yet more of the subtleties that had gone over my head.
    However, I’m surprised that there has not been more comment about 11a. The clue clearly indicated that answer so I penciled it in. But dictionaries only gave a botanical meaning to the word… ***/****

  48. 4*/5*….
    liked 19D “Composed a French female a final letter (7)” amongst others.

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