ST 2670 (Hints)

54 comments on “ST 2670 (Hints)”

1. Good afternoon Dave, I did this in the early hours of the morning, not being able to selep and the only one I didn’t really understand was 17d, I assumed the word for a limb was to do with cricket but wasn’t sure so thank you :-) , I would give it a three star because it took me ages to get started! bottom half came together first and I got stuck on 4a because I was trying to fit 1a in there!!! I blame the early hour! No stand out likes today but all in all an enjoyable and very workable crossword with the usual perservation, off later, two of grandsons taking me to see Nativity 2 (danger in a manger) and for food afterwards, I’m paying of course ;-), they don’t really need me with them to go to the cinema anymore, so I’m honoured :-)

   1. Enjoy your time with the grandsons!

      1. Thanks :-)

2. Took a while to get started on this one but I enjoyed the process of working it all out very much.

   Lovely and sunny in Kent today – mince pies and ginger cake for the naughty corner.

3. Where is everyone today – I thought that I was late!
   I found this the most difficult Sunday crossword for ages – it’s stopped me from doing anything else for most of the morning – never mind – it’s not as if I have other stuff that I should be doing, given that it’s now only nine days until Christmas!!
   The first read through of all the clues yielded three answers – oh dear – not a good start. Then got a few more and so on and finally finished but it really has taken a long time.
   I needed the hints to explain the first four letters of 8a – that’s one of the words I always forget. Also needed them for part of 17d – it’s cricket – say no more! I got into a muddle with 21d and the two guys – was looking for names, which there are but couldn’t make sense of them – irrelevant! – just me being dim. Missed 23a for far too long – when WILL I learn – perhaps never!!
   I enjoyed the whole crossword – favourite clues 10, 13, 16, 21 and 24a and 2 and 5d. Absolute favourite 9d.
   With thanks to Virgilius and BD.
   Still have NTSPP to stop me doing anything useful for a bit longer! :smile:

   1. Doesn’t look as though anyone will be in the naughty corner today sue, they must all be out Christmas shopping!

      1. Sorry Kath in wrong place :-) I took ages to get going on this one and nearly gave up but perservated and got there in the end, 17d I had a suspicion it was to do with cricket in part but wasn’t certain until I read Daves hints, right off to cinema now then Franky and Bennys I’m a glutton for punishment, hey ho it’s Christmas, good will to all men etc. it’s not always easy, too many men and not enough good will ;-)

         1. Have fun – PLEASE don’t say it’s Christmas yet – nowhere near ready. I suppose that doesn’t make much difference as it’s going to happen whether we’re ready or not. Somehow it always sneaks up on me just when I’m not looking!

   2. Hope you get a bit more company on here later on

4. I started from the SE, worked towards the SW and NE. Quite enjoyable for a Sunday over a late latte.

5. The mental mechanics needed stoking this morning and what better way to do it than with this puzzle .Terrific . 2* / 4 .5 * for me .
   Beautiful sunshine and a positively balmy 5C in N .Yorks .
   Thanks once again .

6. No wonder we’ve got no sunshine, it’s all in Yorks and Kent :-(

   1. It’s not here today Mary! Cloudy but quite warm.

      1. cloudy and 7deg here pommers!

         1. Sun came out about half an hour after my post! Very pleasant afternoon.

7. Found this one a bit of a struggle, didn’t seem to have the same smoothness as a usual Sunday puzzle.

   Any way eventually got it sorted, not helped by fat finger syndrome resulting in juxtaposed letters.

   Thanks to BD for hints.

   Thanks to setter.

   Temp soaring to double figures, still sunny in Kent …on the righteous?

8. Splendid stuff as usual on a Sunday. Tricky enough to be interesting but not a mind-bender.

   I think 19d was favourite but there are a lot of good clues.

   Many thanks to Virgilius and BD. Off to bar now to meet some friends for a beer or 3 :grin:

   1. Spent ages trying to make 19d ‘frying’ then got 20a and had an absolute brainwave and turned 19d into ‘recipe’ for quite a while! :roll:

      1. Kath, We too had the same conclusions – does this mean that providing incorrect answers will not result in the naughty corner? (although I do recall BD censoring “Drapery” when the correct answer was “Tracery”. So by not being censored, can I conclude that between Recipe and Frying that we only have a single letter correct?). 40F in Boston.

         1. I don’t think that we’re giving much away here so probably not about to be summoned to naughty corner. Forget about oil being something that is used for cooking and consider something else it could be used for.

9. It took me a couple of hours to do this, I found it quite difficult. This is my first post on this blog, which I like a lot. Thanks to everyone who contributes. What I mostly do is to look at it after I have finished to try and understand why the answer is what it is. i am sure we have all done the same. ” I know the answer is xxxxxx but I don’t know why ”
   I live on the Cote d’Azur so I always do it on the Ipad App, which is the only reason I subscribe to the Telegraph App in fact. It has meant that I have got better doing anagrams in my head rather than writing the letters down on a piece of paper….

   Weather here is gorgeous….we walked the dog on the front in Bordighera this morning, had a cappucino overlooking the sea crashing onto the beach as it has been stormy for the last few days, and I have just finished the crossword sat in my garden in the sun. Must be nearly 20 degrees I think, but two days ago it was only 3 when I left to go to work.

   All the best to you all. Roger

   1. Hi Roger – welcome to the blog.
      Now that you’ve introduced yourself I hope we’ll hear regularly from you.

   2. Welcome… sounds like you could be a romantic novelist?

   3. Whenever I do anagrams in my head they nearly always go wrong! In fact doing that has so often ended up in complete disaster that even if I’m sure I still write the letters down.

   4. PS Welcome from me too.

10. Another nice one from Virgilius.

    Faves : 10a, 12a, 21a, 24a, 2d, 7d, 15d & 19d.

    6d we had not very long ago!!

11. I really don’t understand which part of the clue for 17D gives us the 3 letter word in the middle of the answer, which BD refers to as ‘the on side in cricket’ – which I do understand.

    1. It’s the second word of the clue.

       1. Of course it is – how did I not see that? Thanks Gazza

12. After a very fast start, still stumped on 19d to complete!

    1. 19d Specification for cooking steak in oil, for example (6)
       It’s a double definition. How you might specify to a waiter your steak preference and what oil is an example of in the world of art.

       1. Thanks, as usual glaringly obvious when you finally see it.

          1. Oh yes! So it is. Got totally stuck on this clue. Thanks so much. Love the blog and find the comments endlessly fascinating.

    2. My last one in – couldn’t do it at all and only saw it when I got 24a which was my second to last one.

13. I am afraid I chickened out here, having been away for the night, not read yesterdays papers, not read todays papers, Homeland and SPOTY on TV etc etc, I went as far as I could ( not v far ! ) and took some of your hints BD to move things on. feels like cheating really ! I think I might have needed hints anyway, particularly at 17 d to explain the wordplay. It was so well disguised. Thank you Virgilius and BD for much needed hints.

    1. What is SPOTY? Am I missing something?

       1. Sportsview Personality Of The Year !! At least we have had a good year this year and many wonderful champions to celebrate !

          1. Come on Wiggo !!

             1. Wiggo has my vote too, but I suspect Jessica Ennis might be the favourite – “The Face of the Olympics” and a very pleasant young lady as well, even if she is from Yorkshire (also she’s a fantastic athlete!).

                1. My prediction is:
                   1. Sir Bradley
                   2. Jessica Ennis
                   3. Mo Farrah

                   1. Hmm – tough one to call IMHO. Any of those 3 but all contenders are in with a shout.

       2. Thanks for replying – should have known that it was a ‘boy thing’ and should also have known that it would have been better not to ask!! :smile:
          Going off to do ‘girly stuff’ now – couldn’t watch the dancing yesterday but have recorded it so here I go! :grin:

14. Thanks to Virgilius & to Big Dave for the hints. Enjoyed this a lot, but found it very difficult, needed 5 hints so far. Was 4*/4* for me. I’m still stuck on 20a,got all the checkers, sure It’s an anagram, please any help would be most welcome.

15. Gnome’s Law just kicked in, just got 20a :-)

16. We found this one quite a lot harder than the usual Sunday offering, it took us ages to find an entry point. More like Toughie time for us, but an excellent puzzle from a really skilful setter.
    Thanks Virgilius and BD.

    1. Oh good – I thought it was pretty difficult too. Wondered if I was losing my marbles . . .

17. Strangely, I found this one fairly straightforward, and this after a hectic day preparing a pre-Christmas family dinner for a step-daughter unable to come on Christmas day. Needless to say, she didn’t turn up. Don’t ask.

    1. Oh dear! That sounds a bit loaded so won’t ask. Poor you.

       1. Very, very complicated. No snub intended, just the outcome of a totally chaotic lifestyle. (hers, not ours!) The rest of us enjoyed a splendid feast (also minus stepson 2, called away at very short notice to Mexico of all places. 90 deg. C, so not very Christmasy there.)

          Thanks for your commiserations.

18. My first post on this excellent blog- hello to all!

    Probably a tad late to the party on this one…

    Wasn’t ST2670’s 5d the same as DT27,044’s 17d?

    Why does this happen (same setter? Pool of clues?)

    Bye for now,

    Benbo

    1. Welcome to the blog Benbo

       It’s usually a fluke. The two puzzles that you mentioned are from different setters.

       1. This kind of thing is inevitable. From time to time, setters will spot the same wordplay ideas. For example, it can be difficult to resist the idea that SENATOR is an angram of TREASON.

19. Was stuck on 24 across until I realized I had 19d wrong!

    1. Hi Pasty,
       You’ve changed your alias since your last comment over two years ago! This meant that your comment required moderation but both aliases should work from now on.

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