DT 29846

65 comments on “DT 29846”

1. Top notch **/**** Tuesday fun with consistently well crafted clues. The SE nudged me into ** time and my favourite clues were 9a and 14d. I think I have seen the former before so my COTD is the latter. Great stuff. With thanks to Mr K and the illustrious setter.

2. Very enjoyable indeed, slightly trickier than the average Tuesday just scraping in under 3* time.
   Today’s podium consists of 12a&14d, with top spot going to the very clever 18a for its misdirection over the pronunciation of the first word….it gave me a nice PDM.
   Many thanks to the setter (NYDoorknob?) and Mr K on another sunny South Devon morning.
   2.5/4*
   By the way, fascinating article about the late Stephen Sondheim in yesterday’s newsletter and what a great clue this was.
   This is a prison term. This is another (8)

   1. Hello Stephen, That’s interesting speculation about the setter – perhaps if it is indeed him, he can confirm below? I do hope the setter is reading the comments below. The large number of clues nominated as favourites indicates that this was a high quality puzzle.

      1. NY Doorknob usually does pop in so I’m beginning to think my speculation was wide of the mark Mr K.

3. Tricky for me. Could not see 22a and 20d…until I did…then wondered why I hadn’t.

   Thanks to the setter and to Mr K…..and his usual great pictures

4. 2*/4*. This was light and good fun. I was concerned early on as 6 of the first 8 clues I solved were anagrams, but no more appeared after that.

   14d was my favourite.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

5. Excellent fun today. Thanks to all. Mr K. The song at 22 across is a winner “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.” Steve Earle

   1. Not sure I’d go as far as Steve Earle but TVZ was a far better writer than he was singer in my view. Pancho & Lefty is a great song – check out the cover by Elizabeth Cook & Jason Isbell which is my favourite version.

      1. I’ve often said that Pancho and Lefty is the best Bob Dylan song written by someone else

      2. Huntsman, I’ve just listened to the Elizabeth Cook & Jason Isbell version. It is very good but Willie Nelson’s rendition gets my vote. I’ve seen him perform it live several times – magnificent!

         1. I love that too. Am a great fan of his lad, Lukas, & his band Promise of the Real. Worth checking out if you don’t know them.

6. Great fun, lovely puzzle, with 14d soaring to the top of recent clues, followed by some strong contenders in 18a and 9a. I don’t normally single out anagrams but 21a pleased my palate. Fast finish for me but most enjoyable so thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the usual entertainment (the corduroy pun is a real groaner!). ** / ****

   I’ve been humming Sondheim tunes all week–what a brilliant composer-lyricist; he also loved cryptic puzzles. Huge loss to the American musical, but what treasures he left us: for me the most extraordinary being Follies.

   1. Hear hear re Sondheim.

   2. Absolutely agree about “Follies”, Robert! Saw it in London in 1988, but prefer the concert recording from 1985 – and, of course, the original.

7. Found this less accessible than today’s Toughie taking well Into *** time. Enjoyable and satisfying nonetheless.
   Like others 14d my COTD with a good few other very good clues.
   Thanks to setter and Mr K for the additional entertainment. Brilliant illustration for 20d. You would have to have a very fast shutter to get Biggles in a picture like that!

   1. I thought the toughie was marginally easier too.

      1. Me too.

8. It’s Typical Tuesday! **/****.

   Candidates for favourite – 18a, 26a, and 20d – and the winner, even though it is an oldie but goodie, 18a.

   Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

9. Tricky (5d was new to me), with Lancashire and Cumbria the last to be explored and conquered. Hugely enjoyable.

   Thanks for the many kind comments yesterday. We went to Wotton House for luncheon; and had a short walk around the outskirts of Shere, but it was so bone-freezingly cold that it was a very short walk indeed.
   I was asked here yesterday why I had an advance copy of Paul Weller’s new album – it was sent to me to review.

   Today’s crossword soundtrack: Il Canto – Monteverdi Madrigals

   Thanks to the setter and The Celebrated Mr K.

   

   1. Lucky you having the album to review. Hope you enjoyed it.

10. I managed to fill the grid unaided and parse the answers in a solid *** time. As mentioned 14d has to be the COTD and was my last in.

    Thanks to the setter and Mr K .

11. The north west corner nudged me into *** time and with *** enjoyment. 9a and 14d the best of the bunch. It took quite a while for the penny to drop along with the answer in 9a. Thanks to all.

12. A cracking puzzle this morning with superb clueing throughout, the heavily fancied 18a and 14d being my favourites too.

    Thanks to both Misters involved.

13. Agree with 2 K’s **/*** and the 5d pic certainly means busness!-thanks for the parsing of 14d which eluded me and deserves to be the most popular favourite.
    Liked the surface of 22a and 26a.
    Thanks setter for the excellent cluing and enjoyment.

14. I thought it quite tricky (into *** time also) for a Tuesday but very enjoyable. Never come across 5d meaning bloody before & think of shrew more as nagging than troublesome. 14d my pick of the bunch & reminded me of Django’s exclamation mark clue last week. Ticks also for 9,12&18a plus 11d.

15. 2 clues here made me shudder but for different reasons and they were 9a and 18a

16. Took me far longer than it should have done to answer 9a so that earns a podium place along with 12a which made me smile and the loveable chestnut at 18a.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K for the review and illustrations – particularly liked the pic of the angry bird!

    1. Thanks, Jane. I thought that eagle was a perfect illustration for the clue.

17. Very tricky and I needed help with a few so not a great deal of enjoyment for me. There were some clever clues such as 1a and 12a but the one that really grabbed me and is my COTD is 14d.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr. K. for the hints and pusskits.

18. As always with Tuesdays I found this a bit tricky. Many of the setters synonyms are just a bit too stretched for me.
    16d is a new word for me. For me just an OK puzzle.
    ***/**
    Thx for the hints

19. Yes a very nice amusing crossword 😃 ***/**** Many amusing and clever clues 👍 Favourites 9a, 18a and 14d. Thanks to Mr K, loved the photo accompanying 20d, and to Donnybrook 🤔

20. I’m in the ***/*** camp, unusually doing better during lunch break than breakfast time. Disappointed in myself for thinking flower was the usual flower, rather than flower, so stuck at the end with a consonant wrong and a parsing impasse.
    Bit new to the meta levels here: is the letter substitution in 8d a signature of the setter?
    Thanks Mr K and the setter whoever you are.

    1. Hello, GD. Not sure whether the wordplay in 8d offers us a clue to the setter’s identity – did you have somebody in mind?

21. An entertaining enigma today with just a little hold-up in NW. Can’t believe I didn’t parse bung-ins for my 14d and 23d bung-ins. Latter becomes Fav with 18a running up. Thank you Messrs. Ron and K.

    1. Apologies for repetition!

22. that was a slightly trickier Tuesday for me too. In my case, the SE was the last to fall. The Women’s group and the dog not coming to mind easily. 14d I did like and it isn’t long since we had another punctuation clue. I will be on alert for the next one. Thanks to MrK for the hints and setter for the puzzle.

23. A relatively calm puzzle to solve on a Monday night as we await the third Pineapple Express storm for Tuesday/Wednesday in the Greater Vancouver area. Just been abysmal for so many In the Abbotsford area that is set to last from Tuesday until Wednesday afternoon this time.
    Rate this a 2*/4* for me.
    Favourites include 1a, 9a, 21a, 1d & 14d but there were so many fun clues. Winner for me was 14d but could have been any of the five I listed.
    20d made me smile as did 7d and 17d
    I’m sure the dog will not be happy on the walk Tuedsay even though he should be considering he is a Shetland Sheep dog and the inclement weather should be in his genes!

    Thanks to setter and Mr K

    1. Do you normally get so many storms from Hawaii? Or is this unusual? As always, my concern is for the livestock and wildlife.

       1. We tend to get the now called “atmospheric rivers” (or what we used hear called ‘pineapple expresses’) from the tropical areas in the Pacific but not with nearly as much rain until this year it seems. The rain quantity and severity is to do with climate change, or so is the explanation from the meteorologists.

       2. check this out:

          ‘A parade of storms’: What’s behind all the downpours on the ‘wet coast’ this fall?

          1. That was very interesting! Nothing’s going to get better with climate change until we have 99% of Earth’s population take recycling etc., to heart.

24. What a wonderful puzzle! Unlike Greta it was the SE corner that was last in, 22a and 20d being the stumbling blocks. Although of course when the penny dropped it was so obvious. Daisy stars for so many, 1,9,12,18,21 and 25a and (with the majority) 14d. I missed yesterday as it was a very busy day but managed to do it in the bath quite late! Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Hinter. Stay warm, everyone!

25. I had the same problem as Greta; 9a finished me off – otherwise a very enjoyable solve (especially 14d)! Thank you setter and Mr K

26. I loved this, not easy but hugely enjoyable. South was very approachable and the NW last in. I had to use e-help for 1a and it helped me to get back on track. Yes, 14d was special, but I thought 9a and 18a were pretty good too, and 23d – heck, why stop there, the whole puzzle was clever.
    Thanks NYDoorknob, if indeed it was you. Thanks Mr. K for the hints and pics, especially 20d.

27. I must have my thinking head on today, as I didn’t find this as tricky as a lot of Tuesday puzzles, in fact just perfect and hugely enjoyable. Too many favourites to pick an all out winner, but 9a is probably top of the list. 16d did hold me up for a while as it is not a word I would ever use. Rarely, if ever, used 5d but it couldn’t be anything else with those letters. Big thank you to the setter and to Mr K, especially for the 20d picture. One of our former cats, a 12lb grey tabby by the name of Merlin, was in total control of our 86lb lab, Toby. Never saw him sit on his head, but he certainly could, if so minded.

28. I found this quite difficult for a Tuesday and it took me some time to get into it. I found the synonyms more difficult to solve than normal and admit to searching for synonyms in the BRB.I was left with only 4d which I got when I gave it a fresh look and 9a. I admit to using the hint for for 9a which eluded me. As soon as I understood the word “top” I got it! Favourites 3 8 11 14 and 17d. Thanks to setter and Mr K.

29. Wot larks! An enjoyable puzzle which at one point threatened to be drowned in a surfeit of anagrams, but fortunately they dried up. Expertly crafted clues, concise and full of humour.

    9a COTD.

    1.5* / 3.5*

    Thank you to the Setter and to Mr K

30. A thoroughly enjoyable solve with many clues taking a little time to prise open … 14dn, 9ac and 12ac to mention a few.

    As it’s Mr K I’ve added a video just taken of Monte (Casino), my Maremmano sheepdog servicing Chin-chin (one of our cats, 17 years old). He does this to her several times every evening😎

    Thanks setter and Mr K

    trim.80EC6DFD-4F6C-478C-B084-27671CE18FA6

    1. Whew! As a country bumpkin, I interpret servicing totally differently!

       1. Yes, perhaps I could have chosen better wording …. preening perhaps?

          1. Yes! Nevertheless, what a lovely picture. My labradors have always loved my cats, always a love fest!

             1. The Maremmano breed is of a possessive dog. Normally raised among goats and sheep, the Maremmano owns them all and (usually in the mountains) will protect his/her family till the death. We don’t have such dangers so Monte just has to look after the cats😎

    2. Hello, SW. Thanks for sharing the video – it’s very sweet.

       1. You’re welcome!

31. After an great round of golf at Selsey with a couple of old rugby mates, and a couple of pints, settled down with this very enjoyable puzzle. **/****. 9a and 14d favourites.
    Interesting to see a couple letters regarding the new variant pronunciation… Oh-my-cron is the way we were taught. I’m surprised the classics scholar BJ chooses not to pronounce it this way!
    Thanks to the setter, and to Mr K

    1. The whole point of having both omicron and omega in the Greek alphabet was to distinguish between the sounds. The o in hot would be omicron, while the o in hotel would be omega.

       1. Last April you used the name ‘Supersolver’ but appear now to be using your Christian name. Both will work from now on

32. Too hard for me.
    I bring a whole new dimension to the word ‘useless’.
    Thanks both.

33. I struggled with 9a as it took me a while to replace “continue” with “keep” as a synonym in a sentence. However, just to add to Mr K’s explanation of the clue, I think that “top” is a bit more than just “kill”. Isn’t it “cut the head off” as in “topping and tailing”, say, carrots?

34. Had another go this morning with no luck, totally beyond me, might as well have been written in Klingon. Thanks to all.

35. a lot of this was beyond me too. I’m not complaining to the setter, just about the choice of where this puzzle should be – and it’s not on the back page. There’s no enjoyment in this, anyway thanks to setter an d Mr. K.

36. A pleasant solve today but I have to say that the ghastly word “themself” spoiled the otherwise clever clue at 18a.

37. 3*/5*….
    liked the macabre 9A ” Device that’s raised to top? (10) ” … amongst others.

    1. Hi Robin, if I may ask – how did you come to be living out in Tanganyika?

       1. parents moved out there after the war.

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