DT 29510

104 comments on “DT 29510”

1. A fairly typical Monday puzzle (1.5*/3*) but with a few fairly convoluted clues. I really liked 13a and 9d but thought 8a was a bit weak thankss to Pommers for the review and to the compiler.

2. Struggled to make a start but then spotted one of my favourite films. Need to read the hints as there were two clues I couldn’t parse.
   **/*** for me Thanks to Pommers and the setter. ( I struggled with the quickie today and didn’t see the bottom pun )
   Off to get in some non essential shopping before the lockdown – we desperately need a new “office” chair – the hydraulics have gone and we keep sinking … or we’ve put on too much weight

3. I never seem to find Mondays as straightforward as the consensus though I did finish quickly after a slowish start. A lot of really clever clues but a couple of weaker ones too. I’d never heard of 6d but with the second word in and two checkers in the first it was a case of guess and check.
   I particularly liked 16&23a plus 5&17d but 19d was favourite.
   2.5/3*
   Many thanks to the setter and to Pommers for the entertainment. Nice to have a bit of Ian Hunter.

   1. Surprised you hadn’t seen “e” as a base(15d) a lot more Pommers, seems to come up quite frequently these days.

      1. A few years ago it was very common but it seems to have dropped out of fashion as far as I can see.

   2. I was stuck on 24a, why, for heavens sake, and looked it up on Dan word ‘cos you said it was OK, but I felt so guilty!

4. Nice Monday puzzle – thanks to Campbell and Pommers

   Popped out to stock up at the charity bookshop and was amazed to see how many people are out and about, most of them not concerned with social distancing but how much toilet paper they can buy. Madness. I was also intrigued by long queues at the petrol station – surely if we are going to be in lockdown, we won’t need that much petrol?

   1. I’ll never fathom people’s behaviour CS, nothing surprises me anymore.

   2. Finished reading Book Woman last night. Perhaps not quite as enjoyable as Giver of Stars but fascinating to read about the ‘Blues’.

      1. That’s what I thought too. Amazing the things you find out when reading novels

   3. I don’t understand the panic-buying/stockpiling at supermarkets: those are one of the few places that will be staying open!

      Stocking up on second-hand books sounds much more sensible. I was in one on Saturday and found myself completely unable to remember which was the one book the children haven’t yet read in the Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face series. (Which are far more intelligent books than I was expecting, given their name.)

      I’m hoping that our library continues running its reserve-and-collect service during this lockdown. We’ve been using it loads since it started in August.

      Thank you to Pommers and Campbell.

      1. There’s an app called Overdrive where using your library card and pin number, you can download up to ten books at a time. I have discovered a whole lot of new authors, but sadly the missing titles aren’t on the library’s reserve and collect list

         1. It’s a great delight to me that so many older works of fiction are available for e- readers at such a small cost. I recently downloaded Rogue Herries and the other 3 novels in the series, written by Hugh Walpole in the 1930’s. I read the first 3 as a teenager and wanted to read all of them again. They remind me of my many walking holidays in the Lake District.

            1. Excellent idea, I’d forgotten him. I’m off to download!

5. 2*/4.5*. I agree with pommers that this was very enjoyable and mostly light with a couple of head-scratchers to be negotiated along the way.

   I have never heard of 6d which held me up for quite a while even when it was clear that the second word must be ranch. Do 6ds exist in the UK? I can’t believe that anyone British would ever use this expression and I was amazed to find it in my BRB.

   There were far too many good clues to select a single favourite or even make a podium choice. I had ticks by: 1a, 10a, 13a, 21a, 23a, 25a, 1d, 3d, 9d, 15d, 17d & 19d.

   Many thanks to Campbell and to pommers.

   1. Not come across the term in the UK but took “wild west experience” as indicating US term RD. (As opposed to a windy weekend in Aberystwyth).
      Nearly blew the budget to stay in one in Tucson one year – to me they are an eye-wateringly expensive way of experiencing luxury & horse riding.

   2. Dude ranches are a specific thing. They’re mostly located in the American West in places like Wyoming. You stay in them for a few days and get to do cowboy type activities involving horses etc. They’re very expensive – kind of a Wild West equivalent of an all-inclusive resort.

6. An enjoyable start to the week and agree with Pommers on a**/****.
   Clear cluing throughout- (maybe not 8a) and nothing obscure, liked the wordplay in 13a and 20a.
   Favourite was 21d. I think I have heard of 6d somewhere but not in print-Selwyn rang a bell.
   Thanks pommers for the Dude clip

7. This was all over in ** time for me. Two clues got the “Hmmm?” treatment, until I saw the light, and therefore 4a and 13a are my COTD.

   Many thanks to the compiler and Pommers.

   Just off to audit my toilet roll inventory . . .

8. A pleasant stroll through today. I’d never heard of the term in 6d either. Certainly never heard anybody use it in the uk. As Stephen L said. Guess and check. **/*** I liked 16a and 19d but favourite is 9d. Thanks to all.

9. Easier end of the Campbell spectrum for me. I find he provides enjoyable and consistent cluing just right for Monday. Just into ** time with ***/ **** enjoyment.
   Must be one of the few people of my age that hasn’t seen 20a but it gets COTD, although liked the simplicity of 26a which produced a “Doh” moment for me
   Thanks to Campbell and pommers both for the entertainment.

   1. Hi LROK. Re the new college football rankings, and as you said yesterday: the Crimson Tide are on our tail–
      1. Clemson (33 1st place votes) = 1515
      2. Alabama (29) = 1513

      Associated Press Poll

10. Another quality offering for a Monday morning, with a terrific balance of clue types to keep the interest high throughout the solving process. No particular favourites, but the short, concise ones stood out for me.

    Thanks to Campbell for the fun and to pommers.

11. A most enjoyable puzzle to start the week (I know! I know! Monday may not be considered the first day of the week outside Europe…).

    We went out, yesterday, for a smashing walk in Berkshire, avoiding the rain. It was a wonderfully blustery, autumnal, grey-skied, English afternoon. We sat on a bench for a breather, and agreed how lucky we are, despite all of the challenges of life at present.

    Thanks to Campbell and pommers.

    1. Oh the sound of your walk sounds blissful. We used to live near a common and cooler weather walks were always my favourite. But we are lucky in South Florida today, as we are benefitting from a 3 day cold front. By cold I mean in the 70s. Our weather people were warning people to be sure and have a jacket with you 😊

       1. 

       2. Oh no, I hadn’t heard the forecast! Please say it isn’t so, bring back the 80s.

       3. By that standard up here in the Highlands we’ve had at most 5 days all year that weren’t “cold” Today it was 50F.

    2. I agree with you, Terrance. These days we must count our blessings and forget the negative.

12. Add me to the list of those who had never heard of 6d but couldn’t be anything else. A brisk & very enjoyable solve in just over ** time with no parsing issues so a nice start to the week. A toss up between 16&20a as my pick from any number of delightful clues.
    Thanks Campbell & Pommers

13. I surprised myself today, for some time Mondays have been a struggle, not so this Monday almost a write in except for a couple. Roget however came to my rescue. The hints were needed for 15d.
    Thanks to Campbell and Pommers

14. Pleased to see that I wasn’t alone in not knowing 6d, that was the only one that caused any hesitation. 13&20a were easy enough given the checkers available, 9d somewhat more subtle.
    Top three for me were 9&19d plus the smile inducing 25a.

    Thanks to Campbell and to pommers for the review. Our Welsh lockdown is due to end next weekend – remains to be seen whether that actually happens!

15. Enjoyable and straighforward although I wasn’t familar with 6d. 17d was my favourite today, great to see a reference to the UK’s second best university. Thanks to today’s setter and Pommers.

    1. Oi there. Careful …….

    2. First best university I would have thought.
       Hull is no good at all.

16. This seemed to be somewhat tricky compared to recent Monday puzzles but that could easily be memory problems and ‘Monday’ puzzles on other days of the week. Completed at a gallop – **/****.
    Candidates for favourite – 13a, 16a, 9d, and 17d – and the winner is 13a.
    Thanks to Campbell and pommers.

17. Except for *8a (which, quite frankly, could have been anything and which I nominate for ‘Worst Clue in a While’), I fairly breezed through today’s Campbell. 6ds used to be popular for the very rich over here but go by more fashionable labels these days, or so I hear. Podium stars: 25a, 23a, 1d. Thanks to pommers and to Campbell. ** / ***

    [ – o – e / – e – p ] = *8a = bone deep, lone perp, sole keep, etc, etc. Just a sampling of what I toyed with! The answer is a phrase we do not, as far as I know, hear over here.

    1. I like lone perp…..

    2. To be fair to the setter, Robert, 8a is a very common British expression and “in” = “home” crops up in crosswordland very frequently.

       1. Thanks, R.D. I know that. I’ve been responding to ‘in’ in crosswords for decades. It was the use of ‘collaboration’ mainly that threw me. I don’t think of ‘help’ in that context.

          1. It probably came a lot quicker to us this side of the pond as both the answer and daily are common names for the person who comes to do the cleaning. In crosswords of course we are more likely to see “char”. I have to say, however, that these days we are much more likely to refer to our “cleaning lady” or simply “cleaner”. I I am looking forward to getting a new one after the pandemic is over.

18. A delightful way to kick off the “working” week – much fun and just right amount of challenge. (Talking of kicking – congratulations England for winning through by the skin of their teeth in the Six Nations 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿). SW was last to succumb thanks to bunging in wrong ending for 14d and spending time on 22a looking for a kind of confectionery rather than a gelato. 6d new one on me too. Thank you Campbell and pommers.

19. This offering from Campbell was a slow starter but, once in my stride, it was most enjoyable. I am also a member of “I have not heard of 6d but it could be nothing else given the checkers” group. I was held by 12a for ages. I could not parse it at all and I struggled with it. Even leaving it alone for a while then returning to it did not help. Then I realised it was “rewording” not “rewarding”. Should have gone to SpecSavers. 13a and 20a were great clues and my COTD is the latter. I also liked 16a.

    Many thanks to Campbell for the challenge and to Pommers for the hints.

    1. Me too with 12a. With my dodgy eyes, I have a problem with “a” and “o”.

       1. I’m glad I’m not the only one, Merusa. I need new glasses but until I have my second cataract op it’s not worth it. Having one eye with clear vision and one with blurred, my sight is rather confused. 🤓

          1. My eye doctor insisted I do both eyes within two weeks of each other for that reason. My problem now is glaucoma, I’ve lost the sight on the right but the left is still pretty good.

20. Agree rating by Pommers. A bit fed up now as my birthday meal with the family on Friday has now been cancelled. 4 clues held me up. The charlady I thought was well clued when I eventually cracked it, then the subtle comedian fell, now having all the checkers. The book of maps I thought was poor but recognised the answer from a previous crossword and I could then get 23a having twigged suggestive. Needed the hints to fully parse 6d but unlike some others got the answer straight away. Television travel programmes can be useful sometimes. Liked 16a and 5a

21. Finished without hints and a fairly enjoyable solve. Some clever clues and 23a made it to the top as it is one of my favourite words. My favourite word is fetid which can be used in so many situations to avoid using what my mother dismissed as the limited language of the streets and I shocked her on my return from the army with one of these words as the adjective of choice whenever a noun was used.

22. A very pleasant solve without recourse to help, home or otherwise. I checked the parsing of one or two which had been immediate binging but then you have to work out, why? Should my knee really still hurt so much or am I a wimp? The bruising is spectacular – I have the staples out on Wednesday. I went for a little walk yesterday, george drove me to the science park where I could walk safely, the pavements in our village are a disgrace and covered in wet leaves. Thanks to Pommers and the setter.

    1. A friend had his knee done last November in Spire Milton exactly the same day I had my hip done in Spire Norwich. I was off all painkillers within 10 days but he was on very strong ones for weeks. So don’t beat yourself up, slow and steady is the name of the game. Don’t push yourself too hard. I worked on the Science Park for many years, great place to work. Stay safe.

       1. Manders is right Daisy, each person has a different response to pain. Do what’s right for you. I found that the knee to ankle bruise on my right leg, after my knee op began to fade when the anti coagulant injections were done with. They stop you getting blood clots but make the bruising come out more strongly. My left knee wasn’t half so black and blue. In 2011they were still prescribing aspirin as an anti coagulant.

       2. Knees are always more difficult than hips, so many more moving parts!

          1. Sorry Merusa – you beat me to it.

    2. I think you’re being an impatient patient, Daisy! Last thing you need is to chance messing up all the surgeon’s hard work that you waited so long to receive.

    3. Please take it easy, Daisygirl. As others have said, it takes time. My next door neighbour (a farmer) had his knee replaced but he did not listen to the surgeon regarding looking after the replacement. He went straight back to work and the replacement knee failed within weeks. There was then nothing that could be done.

       Hopefully it will be better after the staples are removed.

    4. I don’t know much about orthopaedics as it’s not part of general nursing training but I do know that knees are much more complicated joints than hips and do take longer to get ‘up and running’ – no, don’t try that!

       1. Really Manders? Or do you mean the Science Park in Cambridge itself? I am talking about the TTP complex down the A10.
          Thank you for all the reassurances, I must try to be patient. A patient patient! No one has said how far or how long you should walk. Having done about 15 very slow minutes yesterday, today I just walked all around the house (which is a bit spreadeagled) and then all the way down the drive to the road. That was enough. I collected a pocketful of small ripe tomatoes and some more dahlias on the way!

          1. No, it was the Cambridge one. I was pretty fit then. Our building was next to the squash courts so I played 2 or 3 times a week at lunctime and could walk across the road to the golf driving range for a bucket of balls. Oh dear, all downhill now!

23. For binging read bung ins. !

    1. I had the same problem Daisy, the over smart iPad correcting it to binging. Then I had to go back and put it back.

24. Now that’s what I call a lovely Monday puzzle to start the week. Just needed a couple of hints in the bottom half. My own fault, I bunged in narrative for 14d, which of course made 24a impossible. And have to confess I have fallen into using the word sweater and forgot 25a. But at least I was familiar with the 6d term. Not a dude, and not been to a ranch though. 23a was last in. Too many good clues to pick a favourite. Thanks to Pommers and Campbell.

25. I only knew 6d because I saw a documentary about them a few years ago.
    It seems that most of the cost goes on insurance to cover looking after people who’ve never been on a horse or in a desert.
    I think they’re the equivalent of cruises (eat yourself to a standstill and watch as your fellow travellers drop like flies), health farm breaks (eat very little, have salon treatments and wonder where the best part of £1k disappeared at the end of 3 days).
    Pre and post early retirees tend to have a bit of extra disposable income and feel time might be running out, so they treat themselves – some of them search for “ life-changing” experiences, which hardly ever are.
    I suppose we can add to Mamils, Mamohs (middle aged men on horses) and Mamoms (middle-aged men on motorbikes) and Mamips (middle-aged men in Porsche 911s).
    Then there are designer handbags, Quooker taps, the Orient Express ……and a million other ways to drop thousands of £ in a very short time indeed.
    #people in glasshouses…….

    PS It was a Monday crossword – many thanks to the setter and Pommers.

    1. Love it. A fool and his money are soon parted. Newly retired and suffering none of the above.

       1. Yes but there’s not a lot of opportunity at the moment. Depending on the length of this madness you may go wildly extravagant when free to do so.

    2. Yes, I refuse to spend huge amounts of money on ways to kill myself. I will let nature take its course.
       I too am recently retired Miffs and am starting to settle into it.
       👍

26. Could I add ‘BorrowBox’ and ‘Libby’ to apps that allow you access to books through your library card?Also, there is my favourite app ‘Fantastic Fiction’; with this you can buy on Amazon or, the best part, tells you how much the book will cost from second hand dealers or Waterstones as well.I have found these apps invaluable during lockdown.Apologies if you’ve read all this before.

27. I found this fun with the bottom left being the hardest. Apart from…..21a. I still don’t understand how the clue word and answer are synonyms. The hint does make sense though.

    1. Army and host are both words for a large quantity of people, especially in the Bible.

       1. Grrrrr! Thanks. I was thinking if someone who has a party.

28. Thoroughly enjoyable Monday puzzle which I worked through over lunch….some really nice clues and wordplay from the setter and like many others, I am finding Mondays are providing a great start to the week. Enough to get the grey matter going without being inaccessible.
    Fortunately for me, regular business trips to the USA allowed easy picking at 6d which is a great phrase…
    Hard to pick a COTD but 1a, 13a, 16a, 5d and 9d all up there.
    Thanks to Campbell and Pommers!

29. 2/3. Slow start and fast finish. No outstanding clues for me today. Thanks to the setter and Pommers.

30. Monday and Mondayish. 6 down was elusive and when it fell it filled me with horror. I won’t be googling let alone attending. Struggled with the mountain range as well. Thanks to Campbell and pommers. Lockdown lunacy looms.

    1. I struggled with the mountain range as well, but Mr. Th had inspiration. Other than that I did well on my own, only 1d causing me a problem. Lockdown lunacy is already here in Wales, Miffypops. The good thing about it is that you can put the blame for every senior moment on to it.

31. A slow start to this until I encountered the film and then a toehold in the north with 3dn. Then all was transformed into a satisfying solve after a very satisfying day in glorious weather in the olive groves. Our penultimate day yielded 500 kilos of olives which will translate into 100 kilos of Extra Virgin … tomorrow we have the final push given that macinery etc doesn’t have a hiccup.

    Thanks to setter and Pommers.

    1. I love olive oil. To think we Brits used to use it as a dressing for ears back in the day! I remember my shock when I discovered it was used for cooking and dressing salads. Back in the 1950’s you got it from the chemist in small bottles for medicinal purposes.

       1. I can tell you from experience, Stone Waller’s olive oil is absolutely delicious.

32. Easy enough, but fun despite some convoluted clues – couldn’t parse 6d, but now obvious thanks to the hint…

33. Nice start to another windy week 😃 ***/*** Favourites 13 & 25a 🤗 Thanks to Campbell and to Pommers

34. Well, I’m now sat in the street outside our local having a pre-prandial and Manolo, the owner, has just told me he has installed WiFi so here’s a post to celebrate. I’ll be blogging from the pub from now on 😀

35. A lovely start to our week’s solving, thank you so much DT. I loved it all, only needed help with 24a. I’ve been brain washed, I thought the small boat was short of a letter and the answer was figure. What happened to that lateral thinking?
    I thought 20a was two words but believe we’ve had this discussion before and the one-word answer won.
    I can’t choose a fave, too many choices for me and I’m a well-known dithered.
    Thank you Campbell, super entertainment, and thank you pommers for your hints and tips.

    1. Are you a Libra? My younger daughter is, always indecision.. Shopping for clothes with her is a nightmare, especially as everything she put on looks wonderful, then we get the dithering! Do I really need it, it is too short, too long etc.

       1. She needs to take a balanced view DG.
          😷

       2. No, I’m Aquarius I think, not too well up on these things! Quite right, balanced view LROK!! How’re you feeling?

          1. Physically OK considering thanks Merusa. Mentally strange just taking things day by day.
             Thanks for the thoughts

             1. 👍

       3. I`m a Libran and I used to be very indecisive but now I’m not so sure.

          1. I’m a Gemini and I am in two minds about this astrological cobblers.
             which reminds me of the chap on holiday in Rome, who sees a Papal audience and fancies a pair of the Pope’s red shoes!
             He finds a likely establishment and goes in and asks of the man behind the desk
             “I would like a pair of shoes like the Pope wears”
             “I’m sorry sir but this is not a shoe shop”
             “But the sign outside says “Cobblers to the Pope”
             “This is The Atheists Society – If you have another look at the sign it also says “B**loc*s to The Archbishop of Canterbury” !!!!

36. Very Mondayish apart from a couple that caused trouble.
    Like nearly everyone else I’d never heard of 6d and failed to recognise that it was an anagram – spent quite a while checking that I hadn’t got something wrong – I hadn’t.
    I was completely dim with 23a – my ‘changing mind’ bit of it was ‘redo’ and I thought at the time that it was slightly odd – that left me with ‘lent’ because that was obviously the answer. Oh dear.
    I’m not sure that 8a is your average cleaning lady – think it’s more someone who is closer to being a carer or someone employed to help a very old person stay in their own house for as long as possible.
    I liked and 16a.
    Thanks to Campbell and to pommers.
    You’d think that I’d typed ‘pommers’ enough times by now for the blasted predictive text not to correct it to ‘pommels’ every time.

    1. I agree re the cleaning lady.

    2. Hi Kath, I use SwiftKey on my mobile, and it remembers all the setters and reviewers.

37. Busy day so late on parade.Well I really enjoyed todays puzzle, I thought it slick, precise and with some clever clues such as 12a and 25a.
    Thx to the setter and for the hints tho not needed today.
    **/*****

    1. Yeah! 😀😀😀

    2. What a beautiful avatar, Brian

38. 6d was also new to me and waited til the end before writing it in.
    15d was also new to me.
    Thanks to the setter and to Pommers for the review.

39. Thanks to Campbell and to Pommers for the review and hints. A great start to the week. Most of this was quite straightforward, but I found some of it very tricky. Needed the hints for 1d, could only think of “raillery”. Close but no cigar! 8a, thought it was to do with newspapers. Also to parse 24a, had no idea it was a small boat. Had never heard of 6d, but got it from the fodder. I liked 20a, but my favourite was 10a. Was 3* / 4* for me.

40. I too am in the “never heard of 6d” camp this evening. Wasn’t keen on 8a either. But hey ho! I got there. Favourite was 16a. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers. P.s. I thought cricket clip was brilliant.

41. just enough of a Monday puzzle to give pause for thought. 8a eluded me until I saw the hint and earned a hmm. The rest started slowly but eventually at pace. 6d was bunged in from checkers but then I saw the anagram. 15d my fave today 9 and 19d close for the podium.
    Thanks to pommers and setter

42. 2*/4*……
    liked 25A “top milk producer? (6)”

43. I found this pretty straightforward and was throwing the answers in until I got completely stuck on the last three (8a, 22a and 19d) and has to resort to the hints. A shame as I was really enjoying it up to then! 22a did make me smile though.

44. A lot of comments today but I’m off to bed now. I won’t really do my next blog from the bar but Manolo does open up at about 0730 for the breakfast trade so it would be possible. However, I think pommette would object to me having a tostado and brandy at that time of the morning.
    G’night all. See you again in a couple of weeks.

45. Very late start on this puzzle as had to take preemie grandson to BCCH for check-up today.
    Found it tougher than Monday puzzles usually are. ***/** Bottom was toughest with SW last in.
    Clues of note16a, 25a, 5d & 9d with 25a winner

    Thanks to setter and Pommers

46. This raised my spirits. I have delayed reporting in while framing Comment 37. Favourites 16 and 25a and 5 and 21d. Three I could not parse which was for silly reasons like not spotting anagrams. Most went in on first pass starting with 1a. I should just mention 17d – a good clue – and a write in. I was completely out on the parsing however and just looked at both Emmanuel and Selwyn as the answer and missed the significance of “heading for”. Also missed the synonym for member largely because I thought col had two Ls. Thanks Campbell and Pommers.

47. All been said, but I found this a tricky little devil with lots to like, despite 6d. Thanks, Pommers for hints and Campbell.

48. I feel quite defeated by this puzzle, having to resort to the clues with eleven yet to solve. All fair clues in my opinion, including 6d which I solved early on. Thank you to Pommers and Campbell.

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