DT 30545 (Hints)

83 comments on “DT 30545 (Hints)”

1. 2*/2.5*. A pleasant enough puzzle with nothing either to frighten or to excite the horses.

   Is the female in 8d really “introduced BY”? Also I can’t see anything remotely cryptic about 13a. The answer to 7d was new to me necessitating a quick BRB check.

   Thanks to the setter and to Gazza. I hope you feel better soon, CS.

2. I found this to be a relatively easy puzzle made harder by an unfriendly grid, four separate corners seemingly isolating pockets of words.
   Anyway perhaps that’s just my strange take on it, other than that no real problems apart from maybe 3d which I had to look up to check, couldn’t really be much else from the clue, but I’d never heard of the word before.
   Two favourites if pushed would be 10a and 22d. Not much else to say really, just seemed a bit ordinary today.

3. A couple of pauses (I can’t be the only one initially misled by 3d, surely) but quite light in the main. Shouldn’t there be a question mark in 11a, though? Many thanks to the setter (felt quite Dada-esque, no?) and Gazza. Virtual grapes to CS.

4. As has been the pattern for me this week I thought this Saturday puzzle somewhat more challenging than of late. With two new words in the first 7 down clues my GI was once again tested and I thought I might be on for a humdinger, but fortunately they proved the only ones.
   I found the NW corner slow to fill in but once I had sorted out 2d the rest fell quickly so I was left wondering why I had been held up.
   Many good clues including 4d, 22d and 18d but my favourite was 11a.
   Thanks to the setter and to Gazza, with best wishes to CS.

5. Typical Saturday fare with few surprises. 10a amused and 7d new to me.
   Thanks to compiler.

6. Enjoyable especially after the past two days. Cotd, the wonderful 10a

7. All the very best to Super Sue. She puts up with my ‘sense of humour’ and I’m very fond of her, even if she is a little scary at times.

   Unlike those above me, I found this to be a tricky fellow. I had to wrench each answer out of its shell, but it was an enjoyable task to do so.

   I won’t be here tomorrow as we will be Wembley bound, most likely to see my Chelsea walloped by Mr Klopp’s heavy metal tough boys, an artful mix of artisans and maestros. So I must bung in a ‘for me and I stress for me’ a day early, otherwise the universe might swirl out of control tomorrow.

   Thanks to the setter and the former midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur and England.

   1. I expect your team will fare better against mine (Leeds-leeds-leeds) in the cup – I wouldn’t be too disappointed if they do drop out of the cup if it allows them to stay in the promotion places

      1. We’ll be there on Wednesday evening! Worryingly for us, your Leeds looked red hot last night in the latter stages against an underperforming Leicester.

8. I fell into the same trap with 11a and as I submitted my effort I suspect I am out of the running for the mythical so SteveC should have a slightly better chance this week.
   I wanted 3d to begin with a B but it didn’t and we are short of the pangram by at least 3 letters anyway
   Get well soon Sue and thanks to Gazza and Setter

   1. Me too John. Steve will be a racing cert

      1. I wish! 😊

         1. I could resist sending mine in to give you a better chance!😊

   2. Thanks for holding back to give me a chance at The Mythical, guys but I think I fluffed the goddess. is fluffing a goddess a crime, I wonder?

9. A real mixture of reasonable clues, clever clues like 22d and clues with words I suspect few will have known in 3d and 7d not to speak of a little known Greek goddess.
   Overall a poor puzzle imho and apart from 22d very little fun.
   ****/**
   Thx for the hints

   1. 3d and 7d were a little out of the ordinary, that’s for sure. Both have placed, with immediate effect, on THE LIST.

   2. I thought the goddess was quite well known.

      1. I’m guessing Brian (not Brother Ian) is referring to the little known three letter Goddess and you the six letter one that usually ends with a different vowel.

         1. I’d certainly never heard of the wee one either

            1. Me neither, and I was too lazy to google her.
               A nice puzzle; thanks to the setter and to Gazza.

            2. Nor me, had to look her up after I got the six letter answer.

         2. Ah! Me getting the wrong end of the stick as usual. 😳

      2. I was held up by the goddess as I thought she had a different ending, but 3d had to be for obvious reasons. I even googled the goddess with today’s ending but google didn’t like it either.

   3. Little known goddess here too.

10. Well this one seemed all right to me, and I did enjoy it, but some of the Saturday humour we’ve been getting used to seems to have taken something of a back seat, or even a day off, like poor Siouxie Sue (GWVS by the way).

    13A I think relies on a certain idiomatic phrase which uses a form of the answer word, then you have your double-definition cryptic.

    Many thanks Mister Ron, Missus or Ms Ron, and Gazza.

11. A good workout but I woke through it with a feeling that I wasn’t getting quite right. However, it all fitted together well so I will assume it was all correct and submit for The M. A couple of words not often used threw me off course a bit – 3d and 7d and I havered over 13a because, as RD pointed out at 1#, I couldn’t see how it was cryptic. My COTD is the procrastinating admirer at 10a.

    My thanks to the setter for a good Saturday workout. Thank you, Gazza for the hints, toons and for stepping in.

    Best wishes to CS for a speedy recovery.

    1. I do hope Mrs C is doing well back in home territory.

       1. Thank you, DG. Mrs. C is better but being extremely stubborn and refusing to have carers come in to help her. I can’t get her to understand that they help me as well. However, the truth is she really does need care but nobody can convince her that her frailty is any way a problem.

          1. Oh my dear, that is really very hard on you. She ought to have professional care – can you persuade your doctor to intervene.

12. For me etc, a real curate’s egg especially in the NW where I made a complete horlicks of 8a and 2d.

    Candidates for favourite – 11a, 19a, 21a, and 26a – and the winner is 19a.

    Thanks to whomsoever and Gazza and best wishes to Sue for a speedy recovery.

13. An interesting challenge today with a couple of ‘what the?’ words popping up.

    3d took me an age: it’s quite something not to spot it when the clue only has four words. I’m okay with 13a…..a double definition…ish.

    The setter has given RayT a run for his money with the brevity of their clues, dipping under a six word average.

    My podium is 10a, 14d and 22d.

    Many thanks to the setter and Gazza.

    2*/3*

14. A couple of relative oddities already mentioned by earlier commenters held me up a bit, but not too long. I really appreciated the concise nature of the clueing which, for me, always increases the feelgood factor. 18d was my favourite.

    My thanks to our Saturday setter and Gazza. I, too, hope Sue gets over her bug.

15. The pictures for the down clues look like they belong on the naughty step 🙈

    1. You’ve reversed your previous alias so this required moderation. The alias will work both ways round from now on.

    2. I too thought they were somewhat revealing!

    3. The pictures definitely 4d!

16. This setter’s style seemed rather unfamiliar and didn’t really ‘float my boat’ but at least I learnt a new word from him/her. No outright favourite today although 19a & 4d raised a smile. 10a missed the cut because it’s been done before and therefore lost some of its edge.

    Thanks to whomsoever and to Gazza for standing in for CS and delivering the hints and another of his splendid assortments of cartoons. I do hope that Sue recovers quickly from the lurgy.

17. I found this harder than the usual Saturday offering, possibly because mental exhaustion from the last two days, but my bid for the “prize” is in. Cotd 10a), although I did like 22d). Now offering a 10a) to the Missus as I settle down for an afternoon of Rugby!

18. A bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed 22d from behind the sofa. It’s where I go at the mention of the answer. I didn’t like 8a as I had to put the clue into a crossword solver. Lo and behold, I understood the answer, but it had an unfamiliar ending.
    I’d better go and ask the plumber if he’d like a cup of tea. He was two hours late arriving, so I’ve just been letting him crack on with the job. Excuse was he had paperwork to do, but does look rather the worse for wear. Good night out last night I would say. I’ll reserve further judgement until the job is finished.

    1. Forgot to say thank you setter and Gazza. Get well soon CS.

19. Mama Bee having a bit of lemon drizzle before I get on the naughty step

    

    1. Looks to me as if she’s not the only one having a piece of cake!

       1. Well spotted!

       2. Mama Bee (Yes and me too!) have already eaten the lemon drizzle so Gazza can have the leeway for his excellent cartoons (comment #15)

    2. I’ve thought umpteen times, but never said, that you’re a very good son – I do hope that Mama Bee appreciates you!

    3. Wonderful! It looks like your mum will have devoured it all for it even reaches the Naughty Step! 😊

20. I think it has all been said, not frightening the horses, good Saturday fare, blessed relief after the last two days etc. I particularly liked 22d and do not remember having seen that before. Do hope that our indefatigable friend CS is actually taking it easy, we need Matron to be on duty if only to oversee the naughty step. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and thanks to Gazza for stepping in and to Mr Ron for a fairly gentle ride.

21. Well this Saturday puzzle was a pleasant change from the last two of the week for me. Very pleasant and fun to solve.
    Two words I did not know in the NW, but easy enough to work out with the rest filled in.

    1.5*/4* for me

    Favourites include 10a,12a, 24a, 22, 4d & 22d — with winner 22d!
    Hope CS recovers quickly

    Thanks to setter & Gazza for hints/blog

22. A little less smooth than the average SPP. 7d was a new on on me but I enjoyed the aomewhat cryptic 18d and 26a and the2d lego clue. Thanks to Gazza for stepping in to do rhe hints and I hope CS feels better soon. Thanks also to the compiler.

23. We couldn’t see anything cryptic about 13a either or 15d for that matter. Add us to the list of who had to look up 3d, 7d and the short goddess. Everything else fairly straightforward. Favourite was 2d. Thanks to the setter and Gazza.

24. All done and dusted bar one clue before 09.00 this morning and I accordingly set the challenge for my 92 year old Dad who has been doing the D T cryptic for longer than I’ve been alive!

    Come back to it after a few hours away and with electronic help cracked it.

    Thanks to Gazza for the hints even though I didn’t need them and to the setter too

    Best wishes to Cryptic Sue for a speedy recovery

25. Not sure how to sum up this puzzle. It made me slightly 4a as I put it down and picked it up two or three times and, in the end, resorted to electronic help on two. So on balance not a great feeling of achievement. Can’t imagine using 7d too often, but it’s now in my lexicon. Thanks to the setter and Gazza for the hints. Best wishes to CS.

26. Only clocked my error at 11a on the post solve parsing check so DQ’ed for signing an incorrect scorecard. A couple of unfamiliarities but otherwise pretty straightforward & perfectly enjoyable without being 19a. 4d was my pick of the bunch.
    Thanks to the setter & to Gazza for subbing. Hoping Sue feels better soon.

27. A fairly gentle puzzle compared to the last couple of days. I solved 4d relatively early on , and that helped pick up the pace . That said I got stuck right at the end annoyingly with 3d and also 18d , for which I needed the hint and electronic assistance. Grrr to that one too in hindsight. Thanks to the setter and to Gazza.

28. Thank you for your kind comments

    1. Thanks for a great puzzle solved (bar 11a – where i fell into the ion trap) before taking Mama Bee out for tea/coffee and cake.
       An absent x, y and z ruled out the other SJB I was expecting until the 3d penny dropped.
       More like this please with just enough “toothiness” for an SPP

    2. I didn’t have it pegged as one of yours but thank you for popping in to claim ownership, so nice to hear from you.

    3. Thank you, Cephas for popping in and for the puzzle. Unfortunately, I think you have sabotaged my chance at The Mythical because I think I had the wrong spelling for a certain goddess. Ah well, tomorrow is another day! 😊

       1. Doesn’t that make 3D incorrect?

29. Like Jane I thought that the style felt unfamiliar but, on the other hand, there were a couple of clues that did feel familiar – 10 and 12a.
    For no obvious reason I’ve found this quite difficult – one of those when you suddenly get it you then you just :roll:
    I’ve never heard of 3d but the BRB calls it “related adjective”.
    I had the second bit of 11a wrong – just as well that it didn’t affect anything else.
    4d took me for ages – the first couple of words were the problems.
    Anyway, I enjoyed it and it was a relief after the last few days.
    I particularly liked 9 and 23a and 2 (eventually) and 22d.
    Thanks to whoever set this crossword and to Gazza for doing the hints – and his usual brilliant cartoons.
    I hope CS is feeling better very soon – here’s a little flower. :rose:

30. The NW corner was the last to fall but I think everything is now in order
    I hope CS recovers before Mama Bee and son eat all next week’s lemon drizzle!

31. Not a walk in the park for me but very enjoyable. The spelling of the goddess stymied me for a long time but I knew 3d was correct, I don’t think that’s a particularly unfamiliar word. I’m not so familiar, though, with 22d, am I the only one who’s never watched Dr. Who? I thought there were a lot of smilers along the way, I liked 12a, 19a and 4d.
    Thank you Cephas for the fun and Gazza for stepping in, love the cartoons. Get well soon, Sue, spoil yourself!

    1. No Merusa, you’re not alone I join you in admitting I have never watched Dr. Who either!

       1. Ah, so nice to know I’m not alone. I was feeling a bit chilly out there by myself!

    2. I watched the original series when William Hartnell was the Doctor, so I was very familiar with the 22ds but, once the main character in any series suddenly morphs into someone else, I always lose interest.

32. A bit more chewy than recent Saturdays, and a few brain teasers hiding between the easier answers. Enjoyed this, but needed help for 8a and didn’t spot lurker in 3d as I had never seen that word before. Thanks to setter and Gazza for stepping into the breach. Hope CS feels better soon.

33. Good puzzle although the German spelling in 8a put us off for a while.

    1. Ah, so, it’s a German spelling for 8a. I’ll try and remember that.

34. I would like to know what Prolixic would say if this was entered in Rookie Corner (although I don’t mean to say this is a rookie puzzle). There seems to be a number of things in it that might raise eyebrows. Can’t discuss them on a Saturday, so I’ll leave it at that.

35. Good evening

    An enjoyable solve for a Saturday afternoon. All done!

    Definitely 10a for COTD.

    Thank you Cephas and Gazza.

36. An enjoyable solve after the last two days but after reading the comments I realise I have fallen into the same trap as Sloop John Bee and Kath with the final part of 11a. Hesitated with 8a and LOI was 3d, failed to see the lurker!
    Many thanks to Cephas and Gazza for stepping in at short notice. Get well asap CrypticSue and keep warm.

37. I am obviously getting slower in the uptake. Again it took me sometime to get a handle on this enigma but once underway it did fill in reasonably quickly with the exception of the NW corner and particularly 8a on which I concur with reservations expressed above. Not really my scene but perhaps that’s due to my main attention today being with tennis from Doha and RFU Six Nations (sad England once again failed to win the Calcutta Cup). Now to more tennis from Brazil. Thank you Cephas and to Gazza especially for picking up the mantle of CS to whom my bestest wishes for a speedy release from the dreaded lurgy 💐.

38. All the best CS! Get well soon!

39. As Senf says above, definitely a curated egg!
    Only recognised 1d as an anagram afterwards. Didn’t know 7d. Only just remembered the goddess that went with the Scottish woman, though did know the amswer.
    Joint faves are 10a and 4d.
    Many thanks to Cephas, and to Gazza for getting me out of the ion trap at 11a! And for stepping into CS’s Saturday shoes.

40. Very pleased to have solved this unaided. After numerous spectacular DNFs this week, I was expecting the worst.

    However, a very enjoyable solve. Once I had 3d worked out (a new word for me), I was able to solve 8a, my LOI.

    Thanks to all.

    Apologies for being a grouch most of the week. I was convinced I had early onset dementia or something…

    1. Banrap is back! 👏👏

41. Finally finished after a busy day with visitors, not entirely straightforward for me as there were some new words eg 3d and it did not flow easily for me, but I was tired.

    Many thanks to Cephas and to Gazza for the hints and for stepping in for CS. I send CS my wishes for a speedy recovery.

42. I found this a little harder than usual for a Saturday and fell into the same traps with 11a. Not seeing the obvious, in retrospect, 3d made 8a even more puzzling as I had the wrong last letter. I finally finished with a little help from Gaza. Many thanks and also to Cepha for late evening workout.

43. Quite hard and a lot of that came from obscure definitions. A phrase I’d never heard of and some words too. Looking forward to the full blog to see what was going on in places.

44. 3*/3* …..
    Liked 26A “Dawn’s pair of birds (4_4)”
    & the cartoons to the hints.

45. I have tried to find the review / answers to this 30,545 crossword, but it is not coming up in any search at all, only the hints.
    Does anyone have a link to the answers please?

46. Hi Stuart – CS’s review is here: http://bigdave44.com/2024/03/01/dt30545-full-review/

    1. Thank you so much, no matter what I put into a search engine all I got was the hints, not the review / answers.

Comments are closed.