DT 30520

114 comments on “DT 30520”

1. I gave up on this one after half of my answers were guesses, and then had to work back to see why.
   Some may like it, but sadly I found it grim.

   1. Grim sums it up well. What’s happening to the Telegraph crossword? I always found it challenging, and always expected it to be more challenging as the week went on, but there was always an element of fun to be found here and there.

      My wife agrees with me too. There are so
      many obscure/iffy definitions, ‘initially’s’, ‘the compiler’s and such. I remember when I wrote ‘Sent a bee to buzz the missing person (8)’ people questioned my use of buzz as an anagram indicator. It may have borderline at the time but some of the ones used these days are ridiculous!

      1. You’ve changed your alias so this needed moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

2. Finished apart from one. As usual a difficult solve which I didn’t really enjoy. I managed to do the last three days toughies for the first time ever and this today could stand comparison amongst them. Favorite 17d
   Thanks to all.

3. All went smoothly. I thought all fairly clued. I wasn’t convinced by the ‘stupid’ synonym on 1d but the BRB confirms it, so all good.
   Thanks to Mr K and today’s setter.

4. I too struggled with having the answers but not knowing how/why! Finished in a decent timeframe but needed to look up certain animals/flowers/butterflies.
   Good challenge for a Friday

5. Even for a Friday back pager this was quite tough. I was rather hoping for a pro_imal or a proXXXXimal but that is obviously not the case. So, if is it a production of one of the other members of the Friday triumvirate it ‘feels’ more like a Silvanus than a Zandio – 3.5*/4.5*

   Candidates for favourite – 25a, 30a, 9d, and 17d – and the winner is 25a.

   Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if it is not he, and thanks to Mr K.

6. Super puzzle, perfectly pitched for a Friday but not excessively challenging. Clues all scrupulously fair, with the instructions for solving all hidden in plain sight, sometimes just a little deceptively; all GK quite basic; good surface reads throughout and a nice ratio of anagrams : other. Not convinced that a 17d is necessarily close fitting other than at the top, so maybe should have ended with a ?, ? Podium places for me go to 21a, 28a, 30a.

   3* / 3.5*

   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K

7. Inadvertently hit the reveal button with SE corner still to go. Found it very tricky and didn’t enjoy it much. Unfortunately the email didn’t arrive today so had to access through website. Anyway thanks to all.

   1. Gremlins at work. I couldn’t get Wordke on my iPhone – had to use the iPad.

      1. I usually do Wordl soon after it is released at midnight followed by various other word puzzles but today Wordl wasn’t available until a bit later – could that have been your problem DG?

8. Friday level tough but scrupulously fair which would lead me to concur with Senf as to the authorship. Delighted with myself for remembering the cricket ground and, like Mustafa, I had my doubts about all instances of 17d being close-fitting.
   Podium places went to 14&25a plus 7d with a mention for the reverend’s contribution.

   Thanks to Mr Smooth for another fine puzzle and to Mr K for the review – nice to see the pusskins back in force!

   1. I always get a little glow when I know a sporty/crickety clue!

9. 2.5*/5*. What a joy! This fine puzzle lifted my spirits after watching the England cricket team toil in India. Super-smooth throughout, it all came together steadily with just a small delay in unravelling the parsing for 28a.

   With tick all over my page, I finally settled on 14a as my favourite, with 1a in second place.

   I’ve stuck my neck out before and been wrong, but surely this was the handiwork of Silvanus? Many thanks to him and to Mr K.

10. Quite tricky as we’ve now got used to for a Friday but very enjoyable – thanks to the setter and Mr K.
    My printout is awash with ticks including 10a, 25a, 28a, 30a and 17d.

11. Found this one to be a lot more approachable than yesterday’s offering.
    Best to start at the bottom and work up I found. My last in was 10a as there didn’t seem to any form of homophone indicator. Best for me was 1a, spent many a happy day at this place of worship.
    Thx to all esp for explains my answer to 10a.
    ***/****

    1. B. There’s a very clear/obvious homophone indicator in 10a – “picked up” (or heard/audibly detected).

       1. Ah missed that. Thanks

12. Friday puzzle not for me as parsing is incomprehensible in at least a third of it. I don’t think I am that dense, but so many just made no sense to me.

    My issue I suppose
    (Found much the same in the Thursday puzzle), which is why I refrained from commenting.

    Favourites … 1a, 2d, 4d, 5d 9d & 23d — with winner 9d … what my mind was whilst trying to make sense of it all.

    Thanks to setter & Mr K.

    … Bring on Saturday

13. I made this harder than it needed to be by entering beano at 19a. Once I had sorted that one out, the rest fell into place very nicely.
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K

14. Enjoyable except 21a. Thanks to today’s setter and Mr K.

15. That was a very enjoyable tussle. I’m glad Mustafa found the GK ‘quite basic’. His knowledge of butterfly species, wild flowers and pig like animals must be far greater than mine. That said, all were fairly clued and I managed the cricketing anagram at 1a without help. As always, it’s a matter of ‘ you know what you know!’ I’ve got ticks all over my paper, the SE corner held out the longest so I’ll choose 25a and 28a to share the honours today. Honourable mention for 29a, 3d and 17d. Thanks to our setter for the pleasant workout and MrK for confirming my parsing and the lovely kitty pics.

    1. The butterflies are rather lovely, the wild flowers beautiful, and the wee piggies are quite dinky and I recall featured in some rip-roaring fiction centred on the Caribbean – though sadly I’ve never seen them in the wild. But as you say so rightly, what you know is what you know.

16. A tough puzzle, even for Friday. I nearly gave up on it but got my second wind after taking a break and coming back to it. It was a bit of a slog though I got some satisfaction out of finishing it, albeit wirh a lot of guesswork and more use of the thesaurus than usual. My COTD was the Spoonerism at21a but I enjoyed the anagrams at 1a (rare for me to enjoy a crickety clue) and 13d and the lego clue at 11a. Thanks to Mr K for the hints and to the compiler ( Sylvanus?).

17. An enjoyable puzzle from…. Silvanus? Some really clever clueing as expected (too many to mention) – but am I missing something on the parsing of 21a? I can’t see any indication of ‘archaic’ or ‘homophonic’ to the word ‘bear’. Maybe I’m just stupid – don’t all rush to agree :)

    1. It’s a Spoonerism so a homophone/nym is implicitly indicated.

       1. Thank you ALP, that’s a new one for me – however, it is well known that I don’t particularly like Spoonerisms.

          1. You’re not alone. Many, perhaps most, people hate them, but they have my grudging respect. Your archaic bare for bear was new to me but you’re right, of course – fascinating – so we all live and learn!

    2. SL, 21a. ALP has dealt with the implied homopone indicator, but I can’t see where anything “archaic” comes into it (unless I’ve missed something). The word-play is put up with (BEAR) + agony (HELL) = BEAR HELL. And Spoonerise, by swapping the rhyming elements (spelling is irrelevant) gives: HAREBELL.

       1. Hi Jose, if you have a copy of the BRB – it’s there under bear1.

          1. Yes, I understand that bear = archaic bare (coincidentally). Are you just citing an incidental observation or suggesting it has an actual bearing on the clue/Spoonerism?

             1. *The Spoonerism works with either bear or bare. If the setter intended bare (which I doubt) it could be argued that an archaic indicator is required. But since there isn’t one I presume it is bear.

18. I have to agree with much of the above. Very fair parsing – which does indeed scream Silvanus – yes, 17ds aren’t always tight (I certainly would never trust anyone wearing a snug one – well, not a bloke, anyway) but it did help the solve, and, as per Mhids, 25a and 28a got the biggest ticks. I liked the Spoonerism too. It was all fun but perhaps lacked a little joy. 30a was brilliant – the first time I saw it! Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

    1. I love the idea that you would entertain a female wearing a tight 17d. I think that the feminist brigade might be after you …….

       1. Do you mean that ALP gets to entertain the lady first, followed by the feminist brigade doing so next? :)

          1. Great shout MF!

       2. Ha! No sexism or sweater girl smuttery intended, Daisy. I just find blokes in tight polo necks highly dubious. Women, for some reason, not so much.

          1. Don’t worry, you are not going to upset me, I am not at all woke!
             I would love a builder to whistle at me.

             1. Oh Daisy, stop making me snort! And if you’re not careful, Tom will definitely whistle at you!!

                1. As my Dad used to say “Quit while you are behind”.

                   And we had a real chuckle on Mr K’s “Knights who like to say an element” pic.

                   Mr & Mrs T

             2. Me too.

    2. The Saint, James Bond and other such surreptitious characters often wore tight-fitting, lightweight polo necks (usually black) whilst undertaking their undercover activities. I’ve got quite a few (all black) and they’re very handy to wear as an extra layer over a T shirt in this cold weather to keep your neck warm. But that doesn’t mean I’m particularly untrustworthy! :-)

       1. *Why hasn’t my usual :-) been automatically translated into a yellow smiley-faced imoji?

       2. Oh Jose, it’s like the &lit-that-wasn’t all over again! I beg to differ. Only cads and cat burglars wear tight polos. What’s wrong with a scarf, or even a snood? I read once in the Mail (ugh) that “men over 25 should never wear snoods”. I’ve worn one religiously ever since..

          1. OK, you’ve sussed me – I am a cad/cat burglar! :-)

             1. You are indeed a man of mystery!

                1. Cryptic’s the word!

             2. My :-) hasn’t become a yellow imoji again – so now I’m :-(

    3. I did a search on the blog for ‘decreases’ as I feel sure I’ve seen the word used whimsically like in 30a before. It revealed this on 5 December 2021: “16a. Device that decreases pure stress, or otherwise (7-5)”. I wouldn’t have seen that clue at the time. I feel certain I’ve seen ‘decrease’ used in this way in the last year, but perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me. I think I prefer decrease to be used to mean removing creases in the wordplay (as it was in December 2021) rather than as the answer. The definition of ‘decrease’ in my BRB doesn’t include removing creases, any more than departs is to put things back together again.

       1. Decreases dawned on me after wasting some time trying to find a way of parsing depresses!

          1. 😁 As the BRB defines ‘press’ as to iron clothes, I suppose ‘depresses’ might be to put the creases back in! Might need to watch out for that one.

19. Got through this unaided but Please Explain the spoonerism. BEARHELL would become HEARBELL and that is not the right answer. I did a bung in which fitted the checkers .Sorry if I am being pedantic but the crossword does encourage . Otherwise I did enjoy this offering . Thanks to all ,especially for the help given on this site.

    1. Spoonerisms are based on sound rather than spelling. For instance in “The Lord is a shoving leopard”, the initial sounds of “loving shepherd”, which is pronounced /lʌvɪŋ ʃɛpəd/, get swapped over to make /ʃʌvɪŋ lɛpəd/, the pronunciation of “shoving leopard”.

       Here “bear hell” is prononuced /bɛː hɛl/ and swapped to /hɛː bɛl/, which then needs spelling out correctly for the answer.

       1. I could not have put that more succinctly myself.

       2. Thankyou for taking the trouble to explain. Spoonerisms always notch up the challenge for me.

          1. I very rarely manage to solve a spoonerism, and today’s was no exception. I hadn’t heard of the flower, which made this one even harder for me than most!

             I do like the humour of a good spoonerism, though. And maybe the spoonerism in today’s clue will help me to remember the flower? (To add to the Hungarian wine I’m trying to remember from yesterday …)

       3. Perfectly explains why Spoonerisms make me shudder.

20. My corner threw in the towel on this to save me any further punishment. Struggled to get beyond half the grid entered, having stared at it for an age. Too good for me today. I’ll now look at the hints for enlightenment. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.

21. I struggled with this, needing Mr K’s hints when I’d only filled about half the grid ‒ thank you so much for providing them. I was unaware of the dentistry term and the flower, and I hadn’t realized that the word for the coin was “previous”; I’ve been using it to mean 2p. My last in was the “fairly straightforward” 24d.

    My favourites were the 1a’s cricket ground (though I doubt that the crowd in Hyderabad were sad at either of England’s Bens getting out yesterday!), 15d’s musical instrument, and 10a’s large jar. Thank you to Silvanus, if it is you: after the blip of completing one of your puzzles a couple of weeks ago, normal service has been resumed! (That is not a complaint: there should be a range of different crossword styles and difficulties to suit differ solvers, not just my current level.)

    (I also see that I didn’t post my comment for last Friday’s puzzle, so belated thanks to Mr K and Zandio for that one, especially the Times changing angle.)

22. A cracking Friday puzzle, for me generally very similar to yesterday’s so I’ll just repeat what I said then. Fine clues, a good challenge and an enjoyable solve. Fav: 25a. 3.5*/4.5*.

23. A DNF for me, in fact hardly started! Reading the answers above makes me realise I was way out of my depth

24. Well. That was a stinker – but Brian, who never fails to surprise us, liked it. And we now know that he worships somewhere, if not someone. Or maybe he does, who knows. I’ve been horrendously busy this week but have done the guzzle late at night in bed, too late to have the energy to comment. And Burns Night of course!
    Maybe a tiny bit squiffy. I really liked the international nursing home, so clever. I got the crickety one and knew the animal from some deep recesses of the cerebral filing cabinet. Also liked 7d. 27a must be the most difficult nationality to spell. Well, that was a Friday Fiend so thank you Mr K for helping me out – 12a was puzzling me but again, cunning misdirection of overhaul. And thanks to Mr Setter of course. Started the run up to George’s birthday with a delicious lunch at The Ivy Cambridge, bring it on.

    

    1. Lovely photo Daisygirl. Pardon my ignorance but which clan do you belong to?

25. Finally finished but only with a peek at the hints to get me restarted on the last 3 which were in the north west. I enjoyed the challenge and know I am at the limit of my abilities as I put in several answers with no clue why they were right (thank goodness for the check answer option).

    Any thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.

26. Got through this with just 28a unparsed. As it turned out to be sports related I didn’t beat myself up over my inability to parse it. Sports terms are a bit hit and miss with me.
    I even managed to get the Spoonerism which I usually loathe. Possibly I got it as it was flower related.
    Favourites for me were 10a, 25a and 7d.
    Thanks to setter and hinter.

27. Sorry, that was an older photo with sash on wrong shoulder!!! A cousin told me tartly that as I had married out of the Clan it had to go on left hip. 🫢

    

    1. Lovely to put a face to an albeit Nick..name!

28. I really enjoyed this; despite it being on the difficult side for me and thus using some electronic help. Thanks to Mr K and to the setter.

29. Who needs the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ when you have a ‘Slugfest with The Best’! (there’s better out there)

    Such an enjoyable challenge with my crossy skills being pushed to their limit. My 3 Fs are truly rubbish (flower, fauna & flighty things). So, I had to biff 11a and 21a and assume that 7d was a butterfly.

    The anagram in 27a is almost a lurker! A goodie though.

    Re 4d, surely the actress Middleton can’t be happy with her parents for calling her that? It’s a lovely name but so brave.

    My podium is 1a, 14a and 25a.

    Many thanks to the Friday fiend and Mr K.

    We should change the spelling of Friday to FRIEDay because I’m toast.

    4*/5*

30. Too difficult for me today. Quite a guess-fest.
    Didn’t know the butterfly or the piggy despite knowing the toothy term…..
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the much used hints and the lovely pics.

31. I was swimming in molasses again, at a total loss, though I did do better than yesterday. I had to look up the spelling of the S. American, but I knew the pig. I also remembers Agatha’s sleuth, a miracle as she hasn’t survived as well as Hercule and Miss Marple.
    Thank you setter. Thanks Mr. T, you brightened my day with the kitty pics. I’m now going to do last week’s Sat Chalicea for fun.

32. Many thanks as always to Mr K and to everyone taking the trouble to comment.

    Were I a betting man (which I’m not), I would have wagered a sizeable sum that a) Brian would absolutely hate the puzzle and b) Senf would choose the clue involving his adopted city as one of his “candidates for favourite”. Wrong on both counts!

    Lovely to see an all-too-rare comment these days from Shropshirelad and such nice Daisygirl photos. Thank you both.

    May I wish everyone a good weekend.

    1. Great puzzle, Silvanus. Many thanks to you and Mr K.

    2. Perhaps Brian’s account has been hacked again?

    3. Getting my plagiarism defence in early, I submitted a puzzle last week with virtually the same clue (and solution) as 10a, only with the last two words at the start.
       I’m hoping everyone will have forgotten it by then!

    4. Thanks again for the puzzle today and (of course) the Toughie from yesterday- always a pleasure to solve. I thought I had you today on the Spoonerism but, I should have known that it was I that would be in the wrong :) I feel that I should have been heading to London today for a pint (or two) at the Bridge – I miss the annual beano as they were so much fun and a chance to catch up with my fellow cruciverbalists. I will raise a glass this weekend in memory for the Big Man.

    5. Now if Winnipeg, or any other Canadian city except Toronto, is the answer to a clue that would merit consideration as ‘favourite.’

       Canadian Provinces and Territories would also merit consideration especially the (12,3,8) and (6,6,6) Provinces.

    6. Many thanks silvanus, you kept me going through breakfast and lunch!
       Thanks also to Mr K.
       Bon weekend, all!

    7. Thanks Silvanus – tough in places but hugely enjoyable as ever.
       Thanks to Mr K also whose review I’ll read after the live screening of Dear England which I’m about to watch in Potters Bar

    8. Thanks for popping in and thanks for yet another fine puzzle to solve and to blog.

33. Good afternoon

    Crikey! Much use has been made of Google this afty: my GK stock has increased now that I know what 11a, 21a, 4d, and 7d are.

    That was hard work – but no less enjoyable for that. Talk about a false sense of security: 1a went straight in, and then….the top half stayed inkless for ages, and ages, and ages. Finally twigged 1d and thereafter my last to fall, 12a.

    Despite several good contenders for COTD, 3d takes it.

    A good work-out from the Brain Of Silvanus, whom I thank, along with Mr K.

34. Well just about got through it , however the nature element foxed me rather – excuse the pun , and I needed hints to complete. The spoonerisms I always find tricky , but gave it a try ..I came up with Panefeel , (although that should have been Fanepeel ), and actually googled thinking , as does happen now and again, that I may have discovered a new word. It’s so exciting when that happens ! Alas not on this occasion ☹️. Thanks to setter a Mr K.

35. No time to do the guzzle today. Not just because of the marking but I’ve had the good news that Mrs. C. is coming home on Monday. 👍

    Just popped it to thank the setter and Mr. K. and to have a look at the pusskits.

    1. What wonderful news, Steve. You won’t have time for marking any more papers until you’ve got all that dusting and hoovering out of the way!

    2. That’s truly great news, Steve. I’m sure we’re all delighted for you both. Don’t envy your marking though!

       1. About sixty post grad diplomas at 5000 words each, four dissertations for Masters at 15000 words each and about twelve post grad certificate essays at, thankfully because I can slot them into the time table, 2500 words each, ALP.
          I gather from your post that you feel my pain! 🤣

          Yes, it is great that Mrs. C is coming home.

    3. Wonderful news, I hope all goes smoothly for you both.

    4. Best wish SC and Mrs C. Hope all goes well.

    5. Good news indeed. Best wishes to both of you.

    6. What great news, Steve! She must be over the moon to be going home.

    7. That is wonderful news Steve. Many Mrs C make a full recovery asap. Just make sure the house is warm, fridge full and spare blanket by her favourite chair.

    8. Glad to hear that Steve!!

       1. Good news Steve.

    9. Thank you all for your good wishes. Yes, the cleaning and dusting has been done. 👍

       1. Excellent news Steve. I believe the term for the cleaning is scurryfunging.

    10. That’s great news, Steve. Hope everything goes well.

        1. Thank you, Mr. K. 👍

36. Great news, so pleased for you both. Put the duster round before she gets back!

    1. 😊

37. Having been defeated by Silvanus on the toughie yesterday, by a distance I might add, I was staring another dnf in the face today. 11a and 4d were fairly clued but only if you’ve actually heard of them! I still can’t see how 26d equates to the answer, I’m sure someone will enlighten me. I struggled on and finally stumbled over the line with a bit of electronic help. Bruised and bloodied admittedly but I’ll get over it. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.

    1. HONES(t). To point can mean to sharpen.

       1. OK got it now. A bit tenuous but passable.

38. I haven’t had much time to read today’s blog and have only just seen Mr K’s absolutely superb ‘Knights that go Ni’ pic.

    Very clever

    Bravo! 👏👏👏👏🤜

    1. Thanks Tom. Glad you (and Mr T above) enjoyed the pic.

39. Solved just over half and resorted to the hints/answers. Most of the clues I didn’t get were way beyond my GK and/or ability.

    Stupid/gross as synonyms are not in my BRB in either direction. I must have a smaller version I presume.

    Thanks to all.

40. This was far from being my cup of tea and I was ready to throw in the towel this morning but a return to the task in hand this evening was more productive. I did actually manage to complete with a little help from my digital friends but, phew, what a graft. Not much fun. Whilst recognising the extensive vocabularies of our setter(s) this felt like a product of quite some dictionary reference or perhaps it is just the limitation of my personal thesaurus. Thank you Silvanus and MrK (glad you and several others enjoyed it!).

41. I’m surprised.

    ‘A gross/stupid mistake by the BRB’ works for me, BW.

    1. 😀

42. Had to come back to this one today! Almost got there – one hint needed and one wrong. Not too bad considering. I was not going to give up!

    1. Good for you! 👍

43. Thanks to everyone who commented above, especially those who provided additional explanations in my absence.

44. Hard one for me.

    I believe 22d is actually a double definition, not a pure cryptic. The answer is a synonym for ‘obscure’ as a verb, as well as something which excites astronomers.

    1. You are correct!

45. 4*/3* ….
    liked 11A “Pig-like animals eat endlessly , attracting tooth decay”

Comments are closed.