DT 30224

91 comments on “DT 30224”

1. Greetings from a very sunny Sandhurst today.
   Well, the week progresses and the puzzles get trickier. Thought it was going to be fairly easy until I came to the SW corner. Had to consult the Dick and Harry to check I’d got 16d right (we didn’t do a lot of Latin at my local comp), once this one was in the penny dropped for 26a, the last one, and by far my favourite clue for some while, very lateral. Also liked 3d as one of our cats is called Nimrod. Well done to our setter today, great puzzle.

2. Excellent with a capital E! Cryptic and full of misdirection. If this is an example of what the new regular Wednesday setter is going to serve up then we’re in for a lot of fun. My only question is I think 26a would work better without the definite article.
   I thought 1a and 21d were great examples of their clue types and laughed out loud at 12a but top spot goes to 27a, genius clue.
   Thanks to the setter and Senf

   1. Your comment on 26a never occurred to me SL but I agree with you

      1. Me too

         1. Just my thought. Should have had the indefinite article or none at all. The question mark was sufficient. Brilliant clue though

            1. Exactly what I was going to say too.

3. Whoever this setter is he or she suits my feeble abilities so more please! I thought a steady **/*** with the best of the bunch being 12&26a the latter my COTD. Thanks Senf for standing in and to our setter.

4. I often tune into Jay’s style quite swiftly, and after thinking last week’s wonderful puzzle was one of his was later saddened to read he will be contributing fewer back pagers. Today I tuned in similarly quickly, and were it not for his comment last week should have thought this too was a Jay creation.

   Anyway, whoever the compiler, be it Robyn or Jay, a hugely delightful puzzle while it lasted, and for me at least continuing the week’s series of gentle back page challenges. Quite a few anagrams though I thought 1a and 3d were both particularly good combinations of surface read and answer. Hon Mentions also to 12a (Boom, Boom!), 26a (big smile) & 27a, with COTD 14d – excellent construction, surface, and answer.

   1* / 4*

   Many thanks to the Setter, and of course to Senf

5. Straightforward and nothing too controversial today I think.

   Schoolboy Latin required for a couple of answers. No one could argue that 20a is not a Latin word too!

   Favourites include 11a which needed the checkers to stop me trying to get ‘pa’ or ‘dad’ in the answer. Other favourites were 14d and 18d.

6. As so often, my experience is the opposite of those above me. Thank goodness for the healthy dose of anagrams, as they got me under way and my schoolboy Latin helped me valde.

   British Gas due to attend between noon and 6pm. It could be a long afternoon.

   Thanks to the setter and The Man From Manitoba.

   1. It’s 6.50pm. When did BG arrive and were they worth the wait?

      1. They probably arrived, looked at the problem, gave a huge intake of air though their teeth while shaking their heads and said, “We can’t get the parts for that, pal!”

7. A very enjoyable puzzle with some well-camouflaged anagrams and some nice musical clues. I enjoyed the two Latin clues too. Favourites include1a, 16d, 14d, 5d and 21d. Thanks to Senf for the hints and a warm welcome to the new compiler.

8. Very enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Senf.
   I liked 2d, 18d and 21d but my favourite was the excellent 27a.

   I hope that the 2Ks have avoided the terrible weather engulfing New Zealand. I think that they were travelling to the South Island for their holiday and since the worst of the weather is in the North Island let’s hope they are ok.

9. Nicely challenging with a couple of parsing difficulties at 18a and 26d. Thanks to compiler and Senf for explanations and the stunning 4d.

10. I’m not sure this is a Robyn puzzle & if memory serves Jay didn’t say he was stopping but scaling back. I’m probably wrong but I’d risk 5 bob that it’s a Jay puzzle on the basis that 13a (my last in) has one of his trademark letter sub clues. Anyway best of the week so far & wee bit more of a challenge than the previous 2 days without being particularly difficult. The 4 peripheral long ‘uns all good but 14d pips 12a as my fav.
    Thanks to the setter & Senf for subbing.

11. Thoroughly enjoyable…apart from tortuous-to-parse 23A. I failed. But on the plus side were 1A, 9D and the wonderful 26A and 27A which are my co-favorites (sorry, Kath). Many thanks to the setter and Senf.

    1. 23a: glad it’s not just me. That’s the beauty of the blog!

12. I’m hedging my bets as to who this is, esp as one or two have been buzzing around the midweek slots of late, but it’s a great puzzle. There are a great many to choose from for the podium positions today, but I’m drawn to 27A, which is just fantastic, and 8D, which presents as an ultra-neat charade. Brilliant stuff, so thanks Mister Ron, and Senf too.

13. For me, a bit of a curate’s egg today. A few too many anagrams for my liking, though they did help with the checkers for the more challenging ones. I agree with others about 26a, though thought it was good misdirection,as was 2d and the brilliant 27a which is my favourite. Whoever the setter is,thanks for the enjoyment and more please. Thanks to Senf whose help I needed to parse 18d.

14. 2*/4*. This was light and great fun in spite of the slightly strange 26a.

    Without my glasses on, I had my usual problem with the R and N in 18d, which I initially read as “… watery bum”.

    With lots of good clues to choose from, I am going for 27a as my favourite.

    Many thanks to the setter (I tend to agree with Huntsman that this could well be a Jay production) and to the ubiquitous Senf.

    1. I had the same problem with 18d, RD – see #17,

15. Not prepared to put money on who set this one but it was certainly someone with a penchant for anagrams – always thought the Telegraph had a strict limit on the use of those.
    Plenty to smile about and my top two were both in the ‘fun’ category – 12&27a.

    Thanks to our setter and to Senf for the review – hope our 2Ks are enjoying reasonable weather for their holiday.

16. One of my most enjoyable solves ever. 14-lettered top and bottom helped a lot and a slightly different vocabulary came into play. 23a was bunged in/unparsed. 13a had to be but deity unknown to me. Slow in the uptake with 18d as ‘turned’ didn’t occur to me. Would like to think, if this is not a Jay, it comes from someone whom we are going to see regularly in the future. Thank you to Mysteron and Senf.

17. I’ve not read the comments yet but I wonder if anyone else tried for ages to work out the answer to 10a from an anagram of “mina” and “cream”. A terrific puzzle and I especially loved 1a. My Father-in-Law had a Masters in ancient Greek and Roman and gave me 1a as a motto when things were going a bit awry. I thought the Northern hemisphere was very good but my COTD is 27a.

    I thought the last word in the clue for 18d was only three letters, which gave it a whole new meaning.

    Many thanks to the setter for the fun and Senf for the review and hints.

    Perks is going to the vet this afternoon for a jab and Hudson is grinning from ear to ear!

    1. Be nice to the lovely vet Perks

       1. We have just returned and Perks was extremely well behaved, G+D. He has gone into his pet carrier and Hudson, believe it to not, is lying beside him.

          1. 😊

          2. Good boy Hudson!

             1. I think he knows what a visit to the vet means and that Perks is feeling a bit below par since the injection, Merusa. He really is the gentlest of Labradors.

    2. He won’t be grinning when it’s his turn!

    3. I own up. I spent far too much time thinking that Mina and cream had to be an anagram.

       1. I’m so pleased I wasn’t on my own, Florence.

    4. I’m one who spent ages trying to make an anagram out of Mina and cream. When at last I gave up and looked at the hint, I could have smacked myself.

       1. I have my dogs jabbed three times and never again, twice as puppies plus a booster, the third is probably unnecessary, and never for leptospirosis, they all live long lives. The current leptosirsis jab kills more dogs than it saves which is none as it’s readily treatable with antibiotics I’m sure someone will disagree with me.

18. A truly superb crossword.

    Lots of anagrams and some great GK, finished off with a bit of Latin (I always enjoy rolling the r when saying 1a).

    The capital city of a non-country threw me for a moment but it couldn’t have been anything else.

    Bravo!

    2*/5*

19. Managed to finish it again without help from the blog… Apart from last one 23a. Was not in my knowledge that ‘o.r.’ can refer to ‘men’. What does it stand for?
    If I include this one, I’ve managed three this week without help. Great fun!

    1. OR = Other Ranks and is often seen in puzzles in the way it is today.

       1. Thank you

    2. OR is an abbreviation for ‘other ranks’ so men (as opposed to officers).

20. Excellent puzzle with many entertaining clues. I was held up getting 9d which was easy enough once I corrected ‘ship’ for 10. I think ‘ship’ does work for the clue though? 26a qnd 27a were my favourites inter alia (just being topical).

    1. I can see where you’re coming from re “Ship” for 15a but it wouldn’t work as P is not an abbreviation for Pound though it could possibly work if the clue used penny of pence instead Ray.

       1. Agreed. And, if it was a trap, I fell into it.

21. Absolutely loved this puzzle with a wide variety of clues – thought I might be up the junction at first, but with a mug of black coffee (not in bed), I’m tempted to say this was really cool for cats. Apologies for the tortuous song references but am out to see Chris Difford tonight and Squeeze are on my mind. COTD for me was 27a – although Back in the 27a was by a different band!

22. 26 and 27a were my co-favourites from this very enjoyable and entertaining puzzle. It may not be a Jay, although it did feel like one of his, but it is a very worthy replacement and I can only hope we get more from this setter in a similar style.

    Thanks to whomsoever compiled this little gem, and to the hard-working Senf.

23. Needed a bit of help with this one (thank you Senf) though less than I expected after the first pass. COTD definitely 26a – stared at it for ages before the penny dropped, made me laugh.

    Thanks to setter too

24. Um … well, hi. Mr Ron here. Thanks for all the lovely comments. Thanks to Senf as well, and all the best to 2K: hope you’re okay (or 2K OK in NZ, should that be?).

    So I put 8 anagrams into this? That is more than I would consciously supply I think (only by one, probably), but I’ve certainly always thought that The Times’ limit of 5 (full and partial) is a tad stingy! They’re usually pretty easy to spot, thus hopefully giving solvers a good start, especially in puzzles that aren’t meant to be too tricky (unlike a Toughie, for example, by that lunatic Donnybrook).

    Cheers
    NYDK

    1. Thanks for popping in. Fun to solve and fun to blog.

       When I was writing the hints, I did seem to be writing ‘anagram’ quite a lot but, when I counted them up at the end, and found eight with two of them partials I considered that to be quite OK.

       Thanks again.

    2. Well that’s another 5 bob down the drain. Thanks for popping in & confirming.

    3. I had a feeling it was your work – lovely crossword, over far too soon

    4. A great puzzle, NYD and thanks you for popping in to claim it.

    5. Thank you NYD for giving my Mysteron a name and thanks for a terrific puzzle 👏.

    6. Thank you NYD for a top class crossword which I completed without hints and which also restored my fast disappearing confidence in my ability to solve the DT backwater.

    7. Oh, thank you for being kind! I do enjoy your offerings.

    8. Never too many anagrams. They at least give me a foothold when I’m still unraveling the other clues.

    9. Wow. Raves from jeanne vincent, Corky (have missed you), and so many others. Clearly a sublime model of what a cryptic should be. So, many thanks to you, NYDk, for becoming one of our most celebrated rock stars.

25. Just brilliant and best of the year so far. Sometimes it is the shortest of clues that get the biggest smiles eg 26A but my COTD has to be 27A . **/*****

26. Found this Wednesday puzzle easier than a Jay puzzle normally is … so likely this is not a Jay puzzle, considering his mentioning last week of cutting back on producing puzzles. But I am no expert so I could well be out in left field.

    My rating today is 1.5*/4*

    I liked the four perimeter clues and other favourites include 12a, 27a, 3d & 21d … with co-winners 3d & 21d

    Thanks to setter and Senf

    1. Definitely not a Jay. See Comment 24.

       1. Missed that … but as I said it didn’t feel like a Jay

27. Found this tougher than it should have been, but after getting on wavelength I appreciated the excellent clueing. Had to resort to google to confirm the answer to 13a, and was glad that those Latin lessons we had many years ago paid off!

    2.5*/4*

    Fav 26a for making me smile LOI 2d

    Thanks to the setter & Senf

28. Absolutely wonderful, by far the best of the week. 14d leads the pack of many top-notch clues, with 27a, 12a, 13a,11a, & 18d a few cuts above the rest of this excellent puzzle. I really loved working this one last night. Many thanks to NYDK for keeping up the very high standards of this Wednesday slot, and thanks to Senf for the review. **/*****

29. Thanks NYDK. Some lovely genuinely cryptic clues, misdirection, animals, latin and smiles.
    COTD 26 or 27a.
    Thanks Senf for unpacking my bung-in LOI 23a.

30. Thought at first this was impenetrable but surprisingly found answers flashed into my head as if by magic. I did not find the long clues as helpful as I often do but all was well. I thought I would need help for 23a and 21d but I got there! I do know the men but sadly missed them. I was also thinking of op for work. Finished but I parsed so thanks Senf for the hint. Thanks also NYD. It was a pleasure to solve. Favourites 26a. 27a good but rather obvious. Also the two Latin ones despite being sacked from Latin in Lower V, as a lifetime of law helped.

    1. I never seem to hear the “lower” or “upper” forms again; lower IV, upper IV, and so on. I guess I’m too old now.

       1. My first year at Grammar School, I was in 1G2 – Year 1 Grammar Second level. I soon showed them what I was made of and, in the second year, I was upgraded to 2G1 – Year 2 Grammar First level. A rather strange class numbering but the school, Havelock in Grimsby, was a bilaterally streamed school. It had the Grammar School and the Secondary Modern School together. The Idea was that any pupil showing promise in the Secondary Modern school could be brought into the Grammar stream. It was a forerunner of the Comprehensive System but worked far better. One pupil from the secondary modern stream was seen to have potential by the masters and they nurtured him. He became Head Boy and went to Oxford where he gained a First in history.

          1. We never had a first form, that was assumed to be kindergarten. We started at II, then III, lower IV upper IV, lower v, upper v when we took our Senior Cambridge certificate, you then left school or went into lower VI and then you took Higher School certificate after upper VI. Soooo long ago! I don’t think they do the Cambridge exams any longer in Jamaica, I think it’s now local.

             1. I won’t go into my dismal school career again or mention that someone in the 12th out of 13 classes was the vice captain of the chess team as it obviously doesn’t wrankle after all these years but the only language I learnt at school was English which, curiously, I was fairly adept at from a young age. What was the point?

31. Held up by 10a, but not held up as long as 26a. Even with the three checking letters in place, my brain took ages to figure it out. Many years ago my kids and their friends built a 26a during an off school snow day. I spent many winters as a child with deep snow outside. We never had a snow day. We still walked to school. Many thanks to the mystery setter and to Senf.

32. Loved it – 27a my COTD – thanks to all.

33. Enjoyable with some complicated but doable clues; 26a is brilliant despite some of the above reservations. Thank you NYDK and Senf

34. Like many others loved this too- 26a and 27a also my favourites- I do like to lean the brain laterally
    Thanks to NYD – this was a lot of fun
    Thanks to Senf also

35. Hi All. Usually find Tuesday floats my boat the most but today’s definitely rocked up beside it. An excellent and for me speedy solve. I don’t dabble with *’s but with the background playlist fired up it had failed to reach double figures when The Frank and Walters played out as the tortilla bit the dust!
    No CoTD but ‘watery bums’ provided much amusement! 🤭
    Thanks to Senf/Setter

    1. Welcome to the blog.

    2. Welcome from me, as well, RogB. I am so glad someone else thought it was “watery bums”. 🤣

       Hope to hear from you again. 👍

36. Really enjoyed today’s puzzle. I have to admit that I initially thought 10a was an anagram but soon realised it wasn’t. So many brilliant clues. I was delayed with 26a and 24d was last one in.
    Many thanks to NYDK and Senf

37. Just a quick note to let you know that we are fine. We have been in the South Island so have missed most of the devastating weather that has affected so much of the North Island. We return home on the Cook Strait ferry today. We understand they are running again after a disrupted few days but they promise us a ‘bumpy ride’. Last evening there was a quite large earthquake centred just off the coast from where we live (but widely felt throughout the country) so fingers crossed that things didn’t get shaken about inside our little house.
    Should be back and rarin’ to go next Wednesday.
    Cheers.

    1. So glad to hear you are all OK.

    2. Oh dear, hurricanes and now earthquakes … best wishes to you both that all is well.

    3. My goodness, storms, earthquakes – I hope that you find everything intact when you get home. Travel safe.

    4. Here’s hoping everything is fine when you get home.

    5. Flipping eck, 2Ks! I do hope you get back safely and that your home is ok. Please keep us informed.

38. Earlier this week I bemoaned the fact that the week started out tricky and dreaded what we would get on Thursday and Friday, but no, they’ve become more friendly as the week goes on. I might have known this was NYDK, I’m usually on wavelength and this was a gem. I had a few that I couldn’t unravel but they didn’t connect with each other so didn’t cause a problem, I bunged them in and they’re right! At least I have a lot of company with 18d. Pollock … what can I say! I think his stuff is awful, please don’t pounce on me, if you like him good for you. How can you choose a fave with this lot, but I think 27a was pretty good.
    Thanks NYDK, I love you, and appreciated your unravelling Senf! Oh dear, I seem to have gone on and on!

    1. I agree about Pollock, Merusa. Anyone can pour paint onto a canvass on the floor.
       My apologies, as well, to those who like his work.

39. What a week, another enjoyable puzzle, my cup runneth over. Tried to make an anagram out of Mina and cream, and couldn’t quite remember what Basil Brush was. LI was 23a which I couldn’t fathom at all. Otherwise totally doable, and very enjoyable. Thanks to NYDK, and best wishes to the 2KIWIS for a safe trip home.

40. What a joy to solve.
    So many misdirections and cryptology at its best.
    14d is my COTD.
    In summary, 1.5*/5*
    Many thanks to the setter and to Senf.

41. More like this please….an excellent crossword, thanks NYDK! Too many good ones to pick a favourite.
    Thanks to the hard-working Senf for the hints and tips.

42. Good evening
    Midway through today’s shift on the iron road; finally managed to get them all done, although I must say thank you Senf for explaining 2d and 23a, and Dr Google for 13a. A wry smile for 12a and a Crikey!, I think, for 26a!

43. Lovely crossword today for me. I too was held up by trying to anagram Mina and cream……

    Thanks to the setter and to Senf.

44. Oh dear! I managed this with difficulty. I’ve done most of the toughie but I think I’ll leave the rest until tomorrow. Some really good clues as always with this setter and best was 2d, very clever. Thanks to NYDK and Senf.

45. 2*/4*….
    liked 21D “Getting into flat on a ladder, without a key! (6)”

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