DT 27608

56 comments on “DT 27608”

1. I agree with Gazza’s assessment, Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***, nothing too difficult. Favorites 7d and 26a.

2. A quick and easy solve today. I don’t remember ever seeing that grid before (13 across clues and 18 down). */**
   Thanks to the setter, and to Gazza for his review.

3. I too agree with gazza’s assessment and enjoyed reading the review. Thanks to him and the setter.

4. Thanks to Mr Ron and to Gazza for the review and hints. A nice puzzle, not too tricky. No real favorites. Last in was 4d. Was 1*/3* for me. Nearly at Newcastle now.

5. Thank you setter. An unusually friendly offering for a Tuesday ! Held up in the NE corner, needing BRB for the pawn definition, and thought 3d was very clever. Started off by thinking “dry” something Thanks Gazza for your review and hints. I haven’t seen reference to 5a since I wore battledress !

6. Pretty straightforward today and good fun. I’m not familiar with 9d so thanks for the hint on that one which helped me to complete the missing letter.
   Thanks also to Mr Ron.

7. I agree with Gazza’s ratings and comments.

   Although I completed the grid, I couldn’t fully parse the German clues. Many thanks to Gazza for the clarifications for both 26a (I’ve never heard of the old Germanic people in question) and 7d (I didn’t know that the name for that type of wine could mean to pawn).

   Many thanks too to Mr. Ron whose style shows commendable brevity.

8. Nice gentle puzzle – just the thing for helping to get over the shattering of the Mr. Clooney dream!
   Needed the hints to fully explain the answers for 7, 22 and 25d – many thanks Gazza.
   Took a little while to see the anagram in 16a – OK, stupid I know.
   Especially liked 2,3 and 17d.
   5a – took me back to the days of making them to go with the Girl Guide uniform!
   Nice one, Mr. Ron.

   1. Just done yesterday’s crossword and read your comment. I’m back! Real life has overtaken crossword life for the last few days. I’m still working on the list of what I’m good at but making cushion covers for Pet Lambs will certainly be on it – not that there’s been much progress with them recently!

9. No real problems today although I didn’t know the ‘pop’ connection – answer was fairly obvious though (as long as you know your German wines). No real favourites today as they all seemed quite good, so perhaps I’ll go for 26A as it was my mate Frank’s birthday yesterday.

10. Thought this was going to be a write in until I hit 4d, my last clue. Still don’t understand the answer, what has saga to do with a soap opera? Surely sagas are rather noble stories not the inane drivel served up a soap operas. Thought 25d was a pretty poor clue.
    Apart from 4d & 25d I really enjoyed today’s gentle stroll.
    Thx to all

    1. saga
       ˈsɑːgə/Submit
       noun
       1.
       a long story of heroic achievement, especially a medieval prose narrative in Old Norse or Old Icelandic.
       “a figure straight out of a Viking saga”
       synonyms: epic, chronicle, legend, folk tale, romance, traditional story, history, narrative, adventure, fairy story, myth; roman-fleuve
       “the Celts’ tribal sagas abound with mythical figures”
       2.
       a long, involved story, account, or series of incidents.
       “launching into the saga of her engagement”
       synonyms: rigmarole, story, lengthy story/statement/explanation;

       ie a story that goes on and on without really getting anywhere and which should (IMHO) be banned from TV

11. I was struggling with the 16a anagram because i had misspelled the poem in 14d. No excuse since that was also an anagram!

    paused for a while with the Germans, but a fairly gentle crossword today
    many thanks setter and Gazza

12. I called it a day without having completed 9a or 4d (both of which I’m sure I’d have got with a little more time), but other than that no real hold-ups. Thanks to the setter for the breakfast brain-food, and to Gazza for the review, especially the interesting information re 7d.

13. Virtually a write-in – only 4d caused a slight hiccup as I went through all the soaps I could think of !! Definitely a */*** and thanks to the setter for an entertaining lunch break.

14. As to Mr Ron ITMA. The last two in the quickie link up. We have seen this geezer before.

15. Thanks to the setter and to Gazza, gentle but fun crossword and super review. The Messinae toughie is worth a go, not much more difficult than this.

    1. Agreed. Mostly in on the way to lunch with one of my three sets of outlaws. Top right corner to go and I have thought of another answer as I sit here listening to the small talk.

16. We found this not quite a write in (we never find them write ins) but not bad either. We did have to look up one or two to see why the answer was the answer, but it’s a * /*** for us. Thank you to the setter and to Gazza.

17. I agree with gazza’s rating.
    8d was my last one but I don’t know why – suppose something has to be!
    I didn’t know the pawning bit of 7d but the BRB did.
    No real problems so now there’s time to have a go at yesterday’s and Mr Rookie – feeling generally idle – think I’m allowed to be occasionally.
    I liked 11a and 17 and 27d. My favourite was 16a.
    With thanks to Mr Ron and to gazza.

18. Easy peasy until the last few (as always).
    Needed confirmation of:
    7d Pop?
    10a Had to look up Arsenic in the period table
    I had dmark for 26a
    (Cannot find your ref to Wolf etc on the site. ) Found it, what on earth has oxen and got to do with neat? sounds like I’ll go 4 clubs, when you mean No Trumps.
    Oherwise, agree with score.
    Thanks to Gazza and setter

    1. Needed the hints today to explain the wine/pop double def. Thanks to all.

    2. Neat is an Oldie English word for a cow (or coo for any Scots in) which can also be thought of as an ox. Its worth remembering, it occurs a lot in crosswordland

       1. Thanks. I thought I had most of the CWL oddities, but that one takes the biscuit.

19. I edited my comments to say I’d found the ref to Wolf in etc. But it seems to have vanished!

20. All went well with me up until 5d came along as I pondered whether that would be let or lay, as in employment and stop being nasty. I did not know 9a right away. so it took me a little while to ponder the alternatives before getting the answer. Other than that an easy one today.
    1*/3*

21. */**. Pretty much a read and write but enjoyable with 7d my favourite. Thanks to the setter and Gazza for the review.

22. Back yesterday from marvellous USA/Canada “holiday” and no cruciverbal activity although received but no time to read the daily Big Dave fix. Today’s offering was gentle way to get back in the swing although 4d caused problem so I eventually settled on Aida (on basis of that opera or possibly Princess Ida being soap?) thus 7a escaped me as did 7d – hate that word for German wine). Therefore **/*** for me. Thanks Mr. Ron and Gazza. Now need some to recover from jet lag!

23. As today is the 40th anniversary of my 21st birthday we went out for a rather splendid lunch. Menu:-

    Starter – this crossword with a small beer
    Ist course – fabada Asturiana with red vino collapso
    2nd course – large plate of mixed salad
    3rd course – ternera en salsa with roast spud and some more red vino collapso
    4th course – cheesecake with raspberry coulis
    Followed by coffee and brandy plus the arteXlen puzzle from a recent FT.
    Then pommette drove us home, all of 1.5km, and is now having a siesta.

    All taken sat outside in the shade while watching the world go by. Told you it was a splendid lunch.

    Oh, and this puzzle was pretty good too and was a great start to lunch – thanks to setter and Gazza.

    1. Congratulations and felicitations to pommers on this significant anniversary.

       1. Thanksh Gazza.

    2. Happy Birthday!

    3. Happy Birthday from me too and another little flower to add to the collection.
       The crossword, the beer, the red vino collapse, the mixed salad, the roast spuds and the cheesecake I understand – the rest needs some translation!
       Hope the rest of your birthday is good.

       1. Tanksh to you too Kath. The first bit is a bean/tomato stew with small bits of sausage, ham, bacon, chorizo and blood sausage or whatever the chef can lay his hands on. The second is beef in sauce – whatever sauce the chef decides on the day so just saying “sauce” saves reprinting the menus!. Today was mushroom and tomato – delish

          Off to local now for some more beer with mates.

    4. Happy birthday! Enjoy the rest of it :).

    5. Happy birthday pommers. Enjoyed your menu. ‘Nothing succeeds like excess’.

       1. tansh Kiwis, back from bar now and going bed, hic!

    6. Happi burpdai too U.
       H

24. Much more straightforward than today’s toughie. Was left with 5a only. Sounds as if it comes from the French word lanière. Two of the clues looked suspicious. 10a is an anagram of arsenic at. And 11a flounder is both sink and fish. What has large got to do with it? Anyway quite enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to gazza for the review and to the setter for the puzzle

    1. 11a: to founder is to sink, usually used in connection with ships; to flounder is to thrash around helplessly, literally or figuratively.

       1. Got mixed up with the definition of flounder in the dictionary which said something about plunging movements. So floundering is like flapping I guess. Thanks for the explanation.

25. Founder… to sink. Next please!
    Very straight forward except for 4d, heaven knows why!
    Thanks to Mr Ron and Gazza for the hints.

26. I started slowly as it took me a little while to get into the setter’s head, but I soon found the way he/she thinks and it all went smoothly after that. Last in was 4d. I wear a 5a around my neck with my mobile attached, the only way I can keep track of it, and I can use it to call someone in case I fall! That’s old age for you. Fave was 16a but many honourable mentions. Thanks to setter and to Gazza for review, not needed today.

27. Nice puzzle, thanks Gazza and setter.

28. Good fun that did not take very long. Just as well as time is rather limited here at present as it is school holidays and we have two grandsons (cousins) staying with us. We take them back to their respective homes later today. (after we have dealt with the Jay). We will miss them.
    Thanks Mr Ron and Gazza.

    1. Good luck with Jay – I’ll be thinking about you and wishing you luck!

       1. I’ve got time to try to cope with a Jay tomorrow, but am out all day on Thursday so won’t get to look at what I hope is a Ray T until the evening.
          I bet Brian will be up early on Thursday!

          1. I am confused about the time zones. Good luck with Jay. Always a nice setter. Bring it on Ray T on Thursday . Thanks to you Two Kiwis for joining the team. Let naughtiness reign.

29. Thanks to Gazza and the setter. I’m sad to say that after making rapid progress I got totally stuck on 4d and needed the magic button when my patience ran out.

    1. Me too!

30. Thanks, Mr Ron, for a gentle but jolly puzzle. Something like 1.5*/3* by my reckoning. My favourite clue was 10a – rather stiffer than the others – but 11a made me smile because l remember catching them in the Thames estuary as a boy. Thanks to Gazza for the review as well.

31. Got all the answers in in good time, but needed Gazza to explain Pop goes the weasel and 10a. I had it as an anagram of arsenic in at first and the answer came from writing those letters in my usual reverse circle (!) . Never thought to look up arsenic in the periodic table. In Spain the Tagus is El Tajo and forges its way through the Alto Tajo national park, where it is a thing of great beauty and perfect for a dip in summer.

32. Did this a day late. Had fun and also broke my time record! 1*/3*
    Thanks Mr Ron and Gazza.

33. Decent puzzle, useful explanations, but could do without pictures of breasts thanks!

    1. Welcome to the blog, Joe.
       Would you like to volunteer to write reviews? – then you can select your own choice of pictures.

    2. … and I could do without people telling me how to run the website.

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