DT 27531

63 comments on “DT 27531”

1. A lovely puzzle today, no problems.Favourite ? 1a. Thanks BD and Jay.

2. Great fun especially 4d which made me smile. No whinges today – apologies for yesterday’s rant, I had a severe hangover from the local Northumbrian brew, nice but strong!

3. Likewise, 1 across was my sole ‘problem’ but solved after much Googling – with the word now added to my dictionary.
   With much to do and time very short for crosswords, the past couple of day’s offerings have provided just the right amount of ‘entertainment’ for me.

4. I thought this was one of Jay’s straightforward ones. 1*+ a tiny bit and 3* for enjoyment.
   I didn’t get very many of the across clues on first read through but did much better with the downs – not unusual for a Wednesday.
   My last answer was 13d – spent too long trying to make it end in “art”.
   I liked 10a and 2, 11 and 18d. My favourite was 1a – husband’s having one of those this week.
   Might have to try the Toughie before I start any of the things that I should be doing.

   1. PS Sorry – manners seem to be having a day off. Thanks to Jay and BD.

      1. Have just read your comment from yesterday. And I’m with you on that – the crossword has to be done at the kitchen table. (My personal ritual includes a cup of tea or, if it’s Friday evening, a glass of wine.)

         1. And I’ve just read your comment a bit lower down – if you’ve finished the Toughie I think you’re very clever and have every right to be basking in smugness! I’m finding it really difficult.

            1. Not clever at all – I rarely finish the Toughie, hence the smugness.

5. Thank you Jay, enjoyable but I found the LHS quite tricky. I couldn’t get away from “hear” or “here” for 1d which made 1a impossible ! Once I had the”S” for 1d from your hint BD, 1a became obvious – so many thanks for your hints which were a great help today. Well one anyway

6. I agree completely with Kath’s rating 1*+/3*, and I too spent too long trying to make 13d end in ART.

   This was a lovely crossword spoiled just slightly for me by the answer to 1a, which was my last one in and which is IMHO a truly horrid word. It’s not in my admittedly ageing BRB and it was not found by the two anagram solvers I tried in desperation, but it couldn’t be anything else given the anagram fodder and the checking letters, and the ever reliable Google confirmed its existence.

   My favourite was 11d and BD’s photo for this clue was the icing on the cake.

   Many thanks to Jay and to BD.

   1. My BRB has also seen better days and 1a isn’t in it but I’d heard of it – husband (who hadn’t heard of it) says it is in the newest edition.

      1. My 10+ year old copy somewhat misleadlingly has “New Edition” printed on the cover
         

   2. I agree, 1a is awful word … ugh!

7. 1* difficulty for me today. 3* enjoyment.

   Loved 1A, not least because our town recently ran a series of events to celebrate that very thing. Made the answer easier than it might have been otherwise.

   I’ve just completed the Toughie for the 2nd day in a row. That has to be a personal best. So on that smug note, thanks to all!

8. Very enjoyable puzzle today – not too difficult, but definitely not a write-in, some very well written clues and some very clever ones too. Just for a change, my fave rave of the day is an anagram – a particularly clever one at 11D I thought.

   Looking at a fairly boring day today (only thing on my to do list is buying slug pellets – wow) so might watch a bit of the Brit/Scot (depending on the result) at Wombledon or might even start my ‘learn the guitar’course (cost £300, but to me £12 – a bit of a bargain I thought)

   1. Scott then?

      1. Yup

9. Solved in a coffee shop, and without recourse to a ‘google machine’ had a lucky guess at 1a with the checkers in place.
   Many thanks to Jay, and to BD.

10. Nothing too taxing today although I had to double check 7d online. I missed the hidden word in 22d for longer than I should – I seem to have a bit of a blind spot for them.
    I liked 1a which is a new word that has really caught on in recent times. I love the way our language evolves all the time and can’t understand why people get stuffy about it.
    About to find out if the Toughie will get its revenge after yesterday…

11. Nice crossword today but don’t understand where the ‘you’ comes into it in 14a????

    1. One favourite Kath, 2d

       1. 

    2. I know what you mean but I read it as ‘you’ the solver.

       I stand to be corrected.

       1. I agree

    3. Hi Mary, I think that it’s an anagram of ‘really’ and ‘go’ for travel

12. Following redundancy I spent quite a few 1a at Windowsill Bay

13. No problems. 1ac was my first one in! Thx to setter and BD .

14. Thanks to Jay and BD, a fun crossword and an amusing review.

15. Unusually for a Jay (start with the Downs usually applies) I started with 1a (my favourite) and more or less wrote everything in as I went along, so I would say on the easier end of the Jay spectrum. Thanks very much to him and BD too.

16. I struggled to get going in the NW corner, not helped by initially falling into the hear/here trap at 1d, so I started in the NE and worked around. By the time I got back to 1a the penny had dropped so it all fell into place.
    2*/3*
    Thanks to Jay and BD.

17. *** Enjoyment. 1a made me smile and 4d had me scratching around for South African cities with no joy until the penny dropped. Thanks to Jay and BD

18. Where in the world is this mysterious city that appears in 4D? There’s a place in Morocco without the S on the end, of course. But, um, huh?

    1. You have a point.

    2. Some dictionaries give “Tangier” as the prinicpal spelling but allow for “Tangiers” in “British English” usage.

19. A 2*/3* for me. 1a caused lots of delay as in fact did the NW corner as a whole. I liked 4d the most. Thanks to BD and the setter. Time to take down the flags and bunting.

20. Enjoyable puzzle today, thank you Jay. I never did get 1a, which is probably why I don’t like the word. Thanks BD for review.

    Nadal yesterday and now Murray today, what a rout. Please Federer, play your best today, would hate to lose another favourite.

    1. Federer is still there and well played

    2. Joe Cool triumphs again!
       One of the commentators said that he never does anything inelegantly – he even falls over gracefully.

       1. Thank goodness! I had to go out for physiotherapy and missed the match. I couldn’t have stood another disaster.

          

21. An enjoyable puzzle with no problems except 1a which I never heard of until now!

    Down here in The Var, I have to rely on a thoroughly out-of-date Chambers Thesaurus and an equally old Chambers Dictionary!

    Weather is still magnifique – yesterday we drove to Gassin with our neighbours who are also from Holland and had a magnificent lunch al fresco on the terrace of the Auberge La Verdoyante restaurant.

    1. I ate there once, many , many years when I was young and slim. My hosts couldn’t understand why I ate only two of the seven courses on the a la carte menu.Even now , I don’t think I could manage 7 courses.

22. I put in contemplation at 21a, did no one else make this mistake?

    1. No – it didn’t occur to me – I think it’s a cunning alternative answer but it must have made several of the down clues a bit of a mess.

       1. It did

23. I got well and truly stumped by 1a as I had fallen into the here/hear trap,therefore couldn’t get 9a either and apart from that was a write in and lovely puzzle. Fav.10a .Thanks to Jay & BD.

24. An excellent puzzle, thanks Jay, completed with some help, thanks BD. 1a is now in common parlance but I didn’t get it and it’s not in the BRB

    1. It is at the top of the second column of words on page 1523 in the 12th Edition of the BRB

    2. Thanks CS. I’ve only got Edition 11 and I don’t think it’s in that

25. Is 1a a proper word?
    S’pose so.
    Otherwise some brilliant constructions eg 12a, 21a, 24a.
    Many thanks Jay, very enjoyable.
    Also, as usual, to BD.

26. OK but not a whole lot of fun really. ***/**. 1a (what a horrible word!) and 27a are new to me. NW corner last to go in. 2d amused. Thanks Jay and BD.

27. Don’t know why but I didn’t find this to be one of Jay’s better puzzles. Seemed to be lacking a bit of his usual flair and was a bit on the easy side. Probably I was put off by 1a which was first in but a ridiculous word. 10a was pretty good though :lol:

    Was I back in the Weds blogging chair it would have got a */** rating.

    Anyway, thanks to Jay and BD

    1. Sorry but why is 1a ridiculous? It is a new(ish) word that has been in widespread use in recent times. You can hardly pick up a travel section without coming across it nowadays. I think it is inventive and neatly sums up a logical response to difficult economic times.

       1. Could not agree more ,my favourite clue by a setter who remains remarkably consistent and enjoyable .Thanks Jay and BD

28. The NW corner was the last to yield, 1a a new word to us, we did try to make 2d more complicated than it was and kept looking for city at the other end on the continent for 4d. Good mis-direction. Enjoyable solve.
    Thanks Jay and BD.

29. Forgot to say – lost interest in the footy when England and Spain went out. Now Andy and Rafa both out of the tennis so lost interest in that. Lucky the weekend holds the British Grand Prix and the start of the Tour de France so I won’t be bored. Actually there’s an interesting MCC v Rest of World Cricket on Saturday as well – my cup runneth over

    1. Footy Grand PrixTour de FranceCricket
       What about Federer and the other three still in Wimbledon?

       1. KATH, YOU ARE A STAR!

    2. Funny, when England when out I took more interest, felt so sorry for the USA who have played out of their skin. Despite everything I have 2 sweepstake tickets on the Netherlands which will end in tears so like you Pommers I say bring on the Grand Prix. Tour De France going through Cambridge which I shall be watching in person

30. Thanks to Jay and to Big Dave for the review and hints. An enjoyable puzzle, no major holdups. Was 2*/3* for me. No particular Favourites. Completed 75% before the Ealing Beer Festival and the rest afterwards amazingly

31. Quite easy but pleasing nonetheless. 2*/3*, l think, and 4d my pick of the clues. Thanks to Jay, and to BD for the review.

32. This is the first puzzle I’ve had a chance to look at since Saturday so I’m happy to say that I enjoyed it very much. Hoping to be able to print tomorrow’s out for the train journey home to normality and what unfortunately promises to be a very wet Fourth of July. Thanks to Jay and to BD for the review.

33. 2 down did not need the word “one” at the beginning, can under pressure is adequate

    1. But ‘Can under pressure’ is not really cryptic, is it?

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