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DT 30286

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30286

Hints and tips by Mr K

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I thought today’s offering was an enjoyable puzzle of about average Friday difficulty. 

In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer 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 and a hover (computer) or long press (mobile) might explain more about the picture. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Raise charge again for American tourist attraction (5,8)
MOUNT RUSHMORE:  Link together synonyms of raise, charge, and again 

10a   Design version of trap with net (7)
PATTERN:  An anagram (version of) TRAP NET 

11a   Separate strands of a French composer (7)
UNRAVEL:  A in French with a composer of famous ice skating music 

12a   Heard how David Beckham declares himself GOAT? (4)
IBEX:  A homophone of a (1, 5) way that David Beckham might refer to himself using his nickname. The capitalization of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in the surface reading is just misdirection 

13a   Artist with long hair, beatnik at heart (5)
MANET:  Another word for long hair with the central letter (… at heart) of BEATNIK 

14a   Auction items missing, beginning of sale delayed (4)
LOTS:  A synonym of missing with the letter at the beginning of SALE moved to the end of the word (delayed

17a   Travel kilometres across wood to see bird (7)
GOSHAWK:  A short synonym of travel and the single letter for kilometres containing (across) an archaic word for a small wood 

18a   Ends period in Italy (7)
TERMINI:  Join together a synonym of period, IN from the clue, and the IVR code for Italy 

19a   Enemy is present, one flier periodically observed (7)
HOSTILE:  Present a TV show, for example, with the Roman one and alternate letters (periodically observed) of FLIER 

22a   Going round circuit, catching gutted European (7)
AMBIENT:  An uncommon word for circuit containing (catching) the outer letters (gutted) of EUROPEAN 

24a   Dog belonging to rich owner (4)
CHOW:  The answer is hidden as part of (belonging to) the remainder of the clue 

25a   Soup monk makes without hesitation (5)
BROTH:  Another word for monk minus a sound of hesitation (without hesitation) 

26a   Record temperature, record American rejected (4)
TAPE:  The physics symbol for temperature is followed by the reversal (rejected) of the fusion of an abbreviated vinyl record and the single letter for American 

29a   Debate finally politician secured, becoming exhausted (7)
EMPTIED:  The last letter (… finally) of DEBATE with a usual politician and secured with a rope, perhaps

30a   Fruit, it's a necessity when retired (7)
SATSUMA:  The reversal (retired) of the concatenation of A from the clue with synonyms of necessity and when 

31a   Inspire a miler running in introductory events (13)
PRELIMINARIES:  An anagram (running) of INSPIRE A MILER 

 

Down

2d    Revealed rents for shops (7)
OUTLETS:  Revealed or not private with another word for rents 

3d    Born and died in poverty (4)
NEED:  An adjective meaning born or “at birth” with the abbreviation for died 

4d    Plunder smuggled wine (7)
RANSACK:  Another word for smuggled with a dry white wine 

5d    Extremely succinct impression about university trainee (7)
STUDENT:  The outer letters (extremely) of SUCCINCT and an impression in a sheet of metal sandwiching (about) the single letter for university 

6d    Brandy, stuff that's uplifting! (4)
MARC:  The reversal (that’s uplifting, in a down clue) of stuff or force 

7d    Starter of rich mayonnaise covering very little pasta (7)
RAVIOLI:  The initial letter of (starter of) RICH is followed by a garlic mayonnaise containing (covering) the abbreviation (little) for very 

8d    Lively young person scared Dawn at first (6,7)
SPRING CHICKEN:  Dawn or appear with scared or afraid 

9d    Brief success of Hannah's I felt bad keeping quiet (5,2,3,3)
FLASH IN THE PAN:  An anagram (bad) of HANNAH’S I FELT containing (keeping) the musical abbreviation for quiet 

15d   Capital grandpa risked to some extent (5)
PARIS:  The answer is hidden as part of (… to some extent) the remainder of the clue 

16d   Expert attending live investigation (5)
PROBE:  A contraction meaning expert is followed by live or exist 

20d   Cork  train calling at all stations? (7)
STOPPER:  Another word for cork is also colloquially (according to the SOED) a train calling at all stations 

21d   Title of novel older man left unfinished (7)
EARLDOM:  An anagram (novel) of OLDER MAN minus its last letter (left unfinished)

22d   Mechanic strips paint regularly, underneath vehicle topless (7)
ARTISAN:  Alternate letters (regularly) of STRIPS PAINT come after (underneath, in a down clue) a common vehicle minus its first letter (topless

23d   Cancellation of important date certain (7)
ERASURE:  An important date or period with certain or definite 

27d   Having left for run young woman requires breather (4)
GILL:  A young woman with the single letter for left replacing the cricket abbreviation for run (having left for run … ) 

28d   Leading actor in Red Dwarf perhaps (4)
STAR:  A leading actor is also what red dwarf defines by example (perhaps). The surface reading refers to this

 

Thanks to today’s setter. Today I particularly enjoyed 1a, 12a, 2d, 3d, 7d, and 27d. Which clues did you like best?


The Quick Crossword punBARE + GRILSE = BEAR GRYLLS


109 comments on “DT 30286

  1. I thought this was extremely hard, and in my opinion some of that was down to woolly or poorly constructed clues. Even after going over them several times, still can’t see how 17a, 30a, and 7d fully work. The answers are gettable, but don’t seem to really fit the clue. Maybe it’s just me, will have to see the hints for enlightenment.
    Also, does ‘important date’ really mean the first three letters of 23d, I would have thought more of a set of dates or a period. Ah well, with that out of the way I especially liked 12a and 1a, both very clever, thanks to our setter today, hope it was just me not fully understanding it all.

    1. Yep, my fault entirely, with 30a, missed the ‘when’, as for 17 and 7 just never heard of the words before.

    2. 17a travel = go, shaw(BRB) = Wood k = kilometers. 7d R starter of rich, mayonnaise = aioli, v for very put in. 30a reverse a must = necessity, as = when.
      Hope that helps

    3. T, 23d. The second definition for era in the BRB is: an important date. It’s best to do a little research before commenting – these setters are very rarely wrong when it comes to semantics.

  2. Rhis was definitely a bit of a struggle but I find, with this compiler, rhat it takes a while for the meaning of the clues to sink in and things improve once a few checkers go in. It was a long-winded solve and I couldn’t get 12a despite knowing the goat acronym. Idea (I -dear)”was the best homophone I could manage. Dim, as Kath would say. I liked 1a, 17a and the 31a anagram, however. Thanks to Mr K and to the compiler

  3. A rather mixed bag maybe. On 12a I became confused thinking GOAT was some sort of acronym! Whilst working on the other clues the penny dropped.
    Not Greatest Of All Time at all!
    2 for difficulty seems right although I took a little too long over it.

  4. Challenging but fun today. Had not heard of the wood in 17a or the brandy in 6d but the answers were gettable from the checker letters. COTD 12a, which brought to mind an image of David Beckham appearing in a Shakespeare play. Don’t know why but it made me laugh. Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.

  5. Sorry but I think Fridays and Mondays crosswords got mixed up this week! COTD for me is 12a, what a clever clue!!

  6. Very gentle for a Friday. Three made me smile, 7d, 12a and 8d (the winner). Thanks setter and Mr K.

  7. Very enjoyable indeed.
    On wavelength from the off for a swift Friday finish.
    Had to check the circuit and the mayo though.
    I have ticks throughout the grid but I particularly enjoyed 1a plus 8d but my favourite, though I clocked it immediately has to be 12a.
    Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  8. Superb. A total joy to work and finish, even though the left-hand side pushed me slightly into *** time. How well I remember the day when the brakes on my VW pop-top camper suddenly failed in the public parking area of 1a and we went sliding right into some guard rails (designed just for that purpose!), narrowly missing scores of parked cars, and giving us the fright and relief and laugh of our lives. (Everything repaired in just a matter of an hour or so.) So much to like in this one, with 12a finally nosing out 1a, 17a, and 22a for COTD. Thanks to Mr K and one of our three Friday compilers, I assume. ***/*****

  9. A rare Friday completion without electronic assistance today but needed Mr K’s hints to explain a few.

    Had not heard of the brandy or mayonnaise. In Scotland, the wood in 17a usually refers to the greenery above growing tatties.

    Thanks to compiler and Mr K.

  10. Exceedingly gentle for a Friday, but a splendid puzzle nonetheless with wonderfully precise and fair clueing, lots of humour throughout, and great surfaces. Hon Mentions to 1a, 30a, 6d & 27d, with top step on the podium to 12a.

    1* / 4*

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K

  11. Very pleasant – thanks to the setter and Mr K.
    I liked 1a and 27d but my runaway favourite was the very amusing 12a.

  12. Looking above I see we already have a range of views on difficulty, from extremely hard to exceedingly gentle. I was bang in the middle, with 12a my final entry and favourite for the LOL moment it produced when the coin hit the floor. Great fun.

    My thanks to our Friday setter and to Mr K.

  13. Do we have a ‘not a member of the Friday triumvirate’ as today’s setter? Not a pro_imal or proXXXXimal. No ‘two element homophone with a single indicator’ to suggest Silvanus, and he was on Toughie duty yesterday. Just didn’t feel like a Zandio. Whomsoever the setter might be, it was very enjoyable – 2.5*/4*

    Candidates for favourite – 11a, 13a, 17a, 4d, 20d, and 23d – and the winner is 11a.

    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  14. A surprisingly gentle but welcome finish to the week.

    Very happy with the wood in 17a which I’m sure will end up being one of Terry’s terrors.

    The COTD obviously goes to 12a, especially as that is probably how he would introduce himself. He scored sooooooooo many brownie points queuing to see Lilibet for 13 hours.

    Respect.

    2*/4*

      1. No, it is true. Mr. Beckham waited along with everyone else for thirteen hours to pay his respects to our late queen. He remained dignified throughout the wait and made no attempt to draw attention to himself. He was only discovered by a sharp eyed reporter.

        I agree with TS65, Mr. Beckham went up in my estimation by leaps and bounds.

        1. I completely misunderstood! I thought he meant the other Lillibet! Who on earth would do that? Of course, as TS65 said, that was very commendable of Becks, I never knew that.

  15. It took me quite a while to get into this puzzle but I did finally finish without any e-help. Favorites are the wonderful 12A, followed by 27D and 13A, in that order. Thanks to the setter ad Mr. K.

  16. I agree with Buzza – I do think today’s offering was a Monday puzzle. Very enjoyable with plenty to like such as strands of the french composer and the stopping cork. However, like others, my COTD is the brilliant 12a. There was a fantastic drop of a coin and a huge smile when that came to me.

    Many thanks to the setter for the fun and to Mr. K. for the hints and pusskits.

    Talking of cats, Perks climbed to the top of our Mulberry tree this morning which is about 25 feet high. He then started meowing for me to get him down. My response was that I have never seen a dead cat up a tree and, as he got himself up there, he could jolly well get himself down. Two minutes later he dashed into the kitchen and gave me a piece of his mind.
    He stalked off, tail high, in the knowledge that he had given his servant a good dressing down.

    1. You’re a hard man. I thought you would have scrambled up that tree to rescue the poor little mite.
      That reminds me, we had a huge black mulberry in Lordship Farm and the birds, especially the ducks, loved the mulberries. The tree was 300 years old!

      1. Ours is a black mulberry as well but only about 60 years old. The mulberries make a fantastic flavoured brandy for Christmas. (Sorry – far too early to mention the C word!)

        The berries are difficult to pick by hand because they are quite fragile when ripe. I gather the correct method is to place a sheet on the ground and shake the branches.

    2. Animals do like to try it on!
      I spent over an hour today scouring the village looking for a neighbours springer spaniel who was ‘missing’. She was eventually found in her own back garden where the owners husband had accidentally left her when he went out. At least it was a happy ending although I think the husband might end up in the dog house tonight!

      1. A former Lab did the same to me. I lost him when out and spent about an hour searching for him calling him and whistling to no avail. In the end, as dusk was descending, I decided to call it a day and return home. I would just have to return in the morning and pray he would be okay.

        When I got back to the car he was sitting patiently with a look on his face that asked where on Earth I had been.

    3. You should have called the Fire Station! They could have got him down in a trice with one of their ladders!

    4. Love the Perks story, LOL. I bet he was so proud of himself. When our grey tabby, Merlin, was a youngster he got up on top of one of the dormer roofs, and meowed pitifully to all and sundry. We didn’t have a long ladder in those days, so off to town Peter went and spent a small fortune on one. Of course when he got back Merlin was already down and back indoors.

  17. Very enjoyable solve today. I found the top half went in with relative ease and the bottom half was slightly more taxing, especially in the SW. The easy anagram at 21d completely escaped me, so I spent ages overthinking in my search for a literary work! Strange how once you become fixated on something your mind refuses to see the obvious. Today’s podium consists of 1a, 12a, 13a and 8d with COTD 17a for teaching me a new word. Thanks to our setter for the pleasure and MrK for the much appreciated kitty pics.

  18. A gentle puzzle today which is unusual for a Friday. My only holdup was 27d so thankyou Mr K for the hint. I too had 12a as favourite, we could certainly have done with him to help last night after a dismal second half. Loved 30a kitties.
    Thankyou all.

  19. For once, I have to disagree (exceedingly gently!) with Mustafa G. I thought this was very Friday-ish. Certainly not a R & W, anyroad. Loved it. Thanks to setter, and Mr K.

  20. A touch ponderous but solvable without too much aggro. Slow off the mark due to 1a failing to dawn. 17a bunged in as forgot that wood synonym and I was also slow in the uptake over 27d breather. Fav 12a although I know nothing about football! Thank you Mysteron and MrK.

  21. I’m another in the surprisingly gentle for a Friday camp & agree with Senf that it didn’t seem like the work of any of the usual gang of 3. It was very enjoyable whoever set it with some super clues & another vote for 12a as the pick of them. Both the bird & the wood required confirmation but otherwise straightforward.
    Thanks to the setter & to Mr K

  22. Long list of favourites here which would point me towards a specific member of our Friday triumvirate but surely not him on duty two days in a row?
    Anyway, I had great fun with this and my ticks went to 11,17&31a plus 2,3,20&27d.
    I was unfamiliar with the ‘wood’ in 17a but recalled that it does appear in many of our place names. I wasn’t on the ball with the young salmon in the Quickie either – seem to be as many alternatives for that youngster as there are when it comes to terms for young humans!

    Many thanks to our setter and also to Mr K for the review.

  23. Middling in difficulty for me 2* / 4*
    Not as Friday-ish as Friday generally is.
    Faves: bending it in is 12a, but also 14a and 25a.
    Ta muchly to setter and to Mr K who I needed to help me parse 17a and 22a

  24. I hate it when I do that. Wrote the answer to 22d in 22a which held me up until I realised my mistake.
    Very good crossword imho.
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the review.

  25. Enjoyable enough, and a nice mix of clues that are apparent immediately and those which take some working out (and crossing letters). Thank you to the setter.

    My favourite few were 12a’s goat, 14a’s auction, and 20d’s Cork train. Thank you to Mr K for clarifying everything, especially the wood.

    I didn’t know the wine in 4d either, nor that 6d was a brandy, having only encountered it in ‘6d de Champagne’ truffles — the chocolate ones, not the mushrooms.

    Have a good weekend, all. Ilkley Carnival parade on Monday has a coronation theme. The 8-year-old came home from school yesterday with a bearskin-style hat, and a balloon to partially inflate and put inside it; and the 10-year-old will be getting wings and a beak for being a raven.

      1. I remember Her Majesty’s coronation so well. I was in boarding school in Jamaica, we were woken up at an ungodly hour to gather in the assembly hall. We listened to it on the radio, I was 15 at the time, and it was so emotional. We had learnt some patriotic (remember Jamaica was still Brit) songs, Rule Britannia, Jerusalem, and many more. Oh, how long ago that was but I remember it like yesterday. I’ll be up again on Saturday at an ungodly hour, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

      2. I was 6 years old for the last Coronation. We had a fancy dress party on our street (in Twickenham), and Mum made me a dress out of crepe paper, on to which she glued wrappers from foods recently removed from rationing, complete with a ribbon sash saying “Miss Ration Girl”. I loved that dress. Then afterwards off we went to my grandparents where we watched the big event on the tiny square black box in their living room. I’m looking forward to this Coronation, but not perhaps with the same amount of awe as a 6 year old.

  26. Can’t say I enjoyed this puzzle today. Just not on this setters wavelength.
    A DNF by a long way and even when I had the answers all in found it way out in left field.

    Many made little sense
    Look forward to Saturday

    Thanks to setter and Mr K

  27. I enjoyed this immensely with no real hold-ups with just a bit of head scratching. I feared the worst after Monday but it didn’t transpire. Favourite was 27d as it took a while for the penny to drop. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

  28. Many thanks to Mr K and to all commenters, it is me for the second Friday in succession unusually. Quite a landmark puzzle for me actually, as it is my 100th Telegraph cryptic (56 Back-pagers, 44 Toughies).

    I’m disappointed that the first commenter has decided to follow Brian’s mindset of “I can’t solve a clue, so it must be poorly constructed”. Not only is that insulting to me personally, but it also suggests that the Editor is somehow culpable. May I humbly suggest that the Blog would be a much better place without such disparaging comments.

    A good weekend to all.

    1. Congratulations on your first century. Looking forward to the next batch.
      All the best.
      Jl

    2. “Chapeau!” to your first hundred, Silvanus, and may there be many, many more both as backpager and Toughie – absolutely tremendous today and you maintain a phenomenally high level of consistency. Thank you.

    3. Thanks for the appearance and congratulations on the century. I feel that a crossword is ideal when half the commenters say it is (too) easy and the other half say it is (too) hard. That puts it as perfect on the scale for me. Thanks again for keeping the Alzheimer’s at bay.

    4. Apologies Silvanus, was too quick to judge as I got the wrong end of the stick with 17a, thought the wood was ‘haw’ and kilometres was the wrong way round. My fault entirely.

    5. I’d like to see some of the moaners produce guzzles week after week. Keep going for those of us who accept the crossword as a gift, something to brighten each day, giving us different challenges and stretching our brains.

    6. Congratulations on reaching your century, Silvanus, and many thanks for all the enjoyment your puzzles have afforded us.
      Your remarks about some of the comments left on the blog were very appropriate. I’m not sure why some folk are so quick to assume that the reason for their failure on clues must be the fault of the setter – it’s really not that hard to admit that you simply couldn’t work it out!
      I’m often guilty of criticising a setter’s disregard for surface reads or over-use of obscure words in place of clever wordplay but in my experience it’s a rare occurrence for both a setter and the editor to have made a mistake.
      Here’s to the next century of Silvanus puzzles!

    7. Well I never!! I find it really hard to get on your wavelength, but today I was right there and loved it all. Maybe my mental block has now been cured!

      1. Well, I did in fact wonder if it might be you, Silvanus–some overtones of yesterday’s Toughie kept resonating; I kept feeling the happy vibe–and sure enough, ’tis thee. Congratulations on #100. Long may you compile!

    8. Congratulations on your century, silvanus and please ignore the moaners who probably couldn’t produce a cryptic to save their lives. I enjoyed your offering and look forward to the next hundred.

  29. This bunny has had to have several goes at this today and I have finally finished. I really struggled to get going and then got stuck but fortunately was able to slowly wait for the pennies to drop. Had I had less time I could easily have not finished and claimed it was too hard. I have needed the hints to understand the parsing and have learnt several new synonyms which have all been mentioned in the hints. Any problems were my ignorance not the puzzle.

    Many thanks and congratulations to Silvanus and as ever thanks to Mr K for the hints and pics and also to all you lovely bloggers who educate me every day!

  30. Many thanks to Mr K for helping me with 22d which for some reason I could not see – I stripped the paint getting ‘pit’ and was thinking of one of those holes in the garage for getting in to work underneath the car. Feeling decidedly unsettled after going into the nuclear tunnel. I’ve mentioned before my doodlebug experience and it was hard for me. A relief to come home and get stuck into the xword. I liked 1a and it may surprise you that I got 12a. Mr K I didn’t like your illustration for 28d but enjoyed the cats with oranges, did you see Karl Lagerfeld’s Choupette on Tuesday? A real Queen of cats. You will be delighted to hear George is outside putting up the runner bean sticks so I think he is on the mend.

    1. So pleased to hear that George is on the mend, Daisy, Covid has slipped under the radar recently but certainly hasn’t gone away.
      By the way, I read that Choupette has done rather well out of Mr Lagerfeld’s will!

      1. My word, George has got off lightly as did my David. I tested positive for about 3 weeks and felt terrible and still have that annoying cough! I haven’t planted my runner bean seeds yet so you are well away!

        1. I always plant my runner beans in toilet roll centres, then I just drop the whole thing halfway into a hole so that the walls of the roll protect the young tender plants from snails etc. it has worked perfectly for me for years. I’ll do a photo of it when I take them out of the greenhouse and plant them. I’ll pass on all the good wishes to George, he’s been such a brave boy. 🤥

    2. So glad George is doing well, it takes longer to get back to normal the older you get. Like Manders, I still have my cough ten months later.

    3. DG, I failed to fully parse 22d as “mechanic” is not exactly a typical example of that kind of skilled worker/craftsman which comes first to mind.

  31. I’m writing this before I read the other comments, I don’t want to read how dumbed down for idiots this was. I solved with only one reference to word search, I wasn’t sure 19a was correct so looked for alternatives. I loved it, translated? It was just up my straße. Nothing obtuse or esoteric, I couldn’t find the “wood” in 17a. Whomsoever compiled this, my heartfelt thanks for providing the fun. Fave? Too many, Kath would get cross with me if I named them all.
    Thanks setter, and thank you Mr. K for the enlightenment of a couple.

    1. P.S. I see Mr. DeSantis is in London. Please do us a favour, will you keep him there?

      1. But a word in his defence, he has really done wonders for the schools here in Florida, keeping a lot of the new nonsense out of the curriculum, and avoided us having the penurious lockdowns experienced all over the world. But he had made a few missteps recently, which is disappointing.

  32. Thanks to Silvanus for an enjoyable Friday crossword and congratulations on reaching a century! 12a gets my vote for clue of the day!
    Thanks too to Mr K

  33. I’ve never seen such divided opinion on toughness- my own rating is **** but on reading the much needed hints it’s clear this is a great puzzle worthy of centenary celebrations. Thank you Silvanus and MrK

  34. Way beyond me today. Solved 3 clues and conceded defeat. Glad (not to mention baffled) many found this easy.

    Thanks to all.

  35. Having read through the clues a couple of times I was slow to get going but gathered pace and only needed to read the hints for 3 or 4. It was our Golden Wedding Anniversary at the beginning of the week and we celebrated it with a couple of days away. Stayed between Grange and Cartmel and were blessed with sunny weather (a little chilly out of the sun). Great views of the estuary and fells. It makes such a difference when there is no howling gale or raining. Definitely feel that Spring is on its way.
    Thanks to Silvanus and Many Congratulations on your Milestone. Thanks also to Mr K. Have a good weekend everyone.

  36. I’m in the very tough camp, and was feeling rather pleased with myself at having finished unaided until I read that others found it easy. As Shrimp says I don’t think I have seen such divided opinion before.
    For all its difficulty I really enjoyed the challenge, a fine puzzle to mark the ton, well done Silvanus.
    Thank too to MrK for the comprehensive hints.

  37. I wish the cleverclogs who thought this was Monday-ish would stick to the Toughies and leave us mere mortal solvers to battle through the clues. I thought this was spot on for a Friday. Many thanks to Silvanus.

    1. Although I enjoyed this a lot, I didn’t think it was in any way easy, after all it is a Friday. I thought this was much, much easier than the Monday fare, that was just bizarre.

  38. I haven’t lost the will to live (thank goodness) but I did feel today that I had lost the will to solve. I know it is my fault as every other Friday we are out before breakfast and not back until the afternoon, so it’s always a bit of a rush to try and solve on our return. I cannot to claim to have found this gentle or easy, but was helped by Peter knowing the bird in 17a – because apparently there is a plane also called that. Didn’t know the brandy, but if the answer had been Harvey I would have been right there ☺️. Most of my answers were from checkers from my first answers, rather than from the clues. Oh well not to worry, tomorrow is another day.

    1. I think your feeling of deflation has a lot to do with the fact that we started Monday with a bazooka, then we’ve had no respite since then. If we’d had our usual week, gradually building up to Friday, I’ll bet you’d have thought differently of today.

  39. Good evening
    A struggle, but I got there! Couldn’t figure out the cryptic part of 8d, but got it from the definition part. So thanks to Mr K for the hints, and to Silvanus. A definite “Crikey!” for 12a!

  40. 2.5*/5*. I solved this early this morning then headed off for Mrs RD’s mother’s funeral. As she passed the milestone of 100 in November, this was very much a celebration of a long life rather than a day of sadness.

    I thought it was very obvious who was the setter of this magnificent puzzle, which I enjoyed immensely.

    This was sheer brilliance from start to finish, and a real joy to have a Silvanus puzzle for two days in a row.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.

  41. I see ten of the recent comments are from me so I think I’ll visit Ballybucklebo.

    Night all and stay safe.

  42. Hadn’t heard of the brandy, the wine, the wood or the bird so found this one quite hard.

  43. Truly great puzzle
    With many a smile
    Especially 12a.
    In summary 3*/5*
    Many thanks Silvanus and Mr K.

  44. Just a quick late note to say how much I enjoyed this puzzle. First pass only 3 answers then gradual dawning until all but 3 left. My ideal style of puzzle, I love those dawning moments.
    Completely agree that it is extremely rude to blame the compiler or editor for one’s inability to solve.
    The B in my moniker is for Brian, but I am not that one!
    I have tried to set crosswords. I did not find it difficult, just impossible!!!!
    So many thanks to silvanus and Mr K, (love the cats), and all the compilers and of course all the hinters.

  45. 3*/3* ….
    liked 14A ” Auction items missing, beginning of sale delayed (4)”

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