DT 27972

84 comments on “DT 27972”

1. Yikes a second write in for me, perseverance pays. Many thanks to Miffypops and Rufus.
   Its blowing a hoolie here in North Cornwall so have again battened down the hatches. Seas are pretty impressive though.

2. Not sure whether I liked this one or not. Certainly a little trickier than usual for a Monday. I thought 14d was an odd clue.
   No real favourites and 2/3* overall.
   Thanks to Rufus and to the good egg.

3. We are launched gently into a new week. Thank you Rufus and indeed MP although I did manage by my Jack Jones. Classification or pecking order, yes, for 14d but not sure about government. 17d raised a giggle. **/***.

4. 2*/4*. Usual Monday fare – not too taxing but a lot of fun.

   I didn’t know the government connection with 14d but it is in the BRB. 13a was my last one in and favourite when the penny dropped.

   Many thanks to Rufus and to MP.

   1. 14d The order of classification of members of the government would be a hierarchy maybe.

5. Finally put stylus to tablet after enjoying the blog for ages. Enjoyed today’s , didn’t need help for once. Held up in NE by putting On Station for 7d, seemed a clever answer! Thanks to Rufus and MP for brightening up a miserable day here in North Devon.

   1. Welcome to the blog Penky

   2. Hello from me too. Hope you carry on posting.

   3. Hello from me as well

      1. Miffypops, about re-parsing 14d. I think this is more of a double definition as: classified government order (all underlined). I could be wrong though. Hierarchy is a type (classification) of political party (the government reference) such as the Nazi Party or Communist Party of China and hierarchy also means a general system of arranging people or things into graded ranks or orders.

6. */****

   A lovely puzzle from Rufus. An evener gooder blog from MP.

   Some delicious surfaces and plenty of smiles to illuminate a rainy day on the moors. Although I did see some sort of giant owl before riding this morning. I like owls.

   Got stars by a few clues today but 6a, 9a and 20d stood out.

   Many thanks to Rufus and to MP for a brilliant blog. Like the dentist joke.

   Back to work. There is a pile of paperwork waving at me to be done. I need more distractions.

7. Ah, I see the server is playing up again as my previous comment has been lost – hey ho. I did have a welcome line in Gaelic to wish you all ‘Happy St Andrew’s Day’ but there you go, you’ll just have to have it in English

   With regard to the puzzle there are a few clues that I really liked (12 & 16a and 20d) but also quite a few that are stretching the term ‘cryptic’ quite a bit IMHO (2 & 17d and 25a). The rest are pretty straightforward as you expect for a Monday.

   Thanks to Rufus for the puzzle and miffypops for the review.

   Slàinte

   1. Hurrah, it’s posted

8. Lots of Server problems again!

   This was pretty straightforward, plenty of anagrams, some simple clues and a touch of Cricket – quite enjoyable though!

   When I’d printed this off from the Telegraph’s Puzzle site I thought I’d print off the Herculis as well – it turned out to be a PDF of what looked like a photograph of the puzzle – what’s this all about?

   

9. Bonjour MP from sunny Languedoc. Many thanks for the hints . Why is ‘con’ short for corporal

   1. I don’t know – I can’t find it anywhere and I have looked. I was going to put that in my comment but was in such a hurry to try to send comment, having failed several times, that I forgot.

      1. It’s NCO – I think!

      2. Oh dear – dim – of course it’s NCO.

   2. Hi Collywobbles,
      Try using the other ‘N’ to make your word for ’emphatic’!

   3. It’s NCO, not con.

   4. Found a number of clues very clunky and clumsy. 9a, 10a, 24a and 22d were all I thought extremly poor. I would take issue with 26a, perhaps the clue should have read aerobatic. Skydivers don’t performs acrobatics (see the BRB definition).
      Can’t say I have enjoyed a Rufus puzzle for some time. Not to my taste I’m afraid.
      Off to lock up the chickens before they get blown away on this ghastly day.
      Thx to all.

   5. Well spotted Collywobbles. There appears to be a letter N that is not accounted for. I only meant CO as an abbreviation for Corporal inside insistant.

   6. Many thanks all for your comments. If it is ‘NCO’, and I as sure that it is, there is nothing indicating an anagram for ;nco’, except the answer to the clue

      1. That’s probably because it isn’t an anagram – I NCO NSISTENT

         1. Got it

10. Try again time – I keep getting the “Timed Out” thingy.
    I’d go for 2* difficulty and 3* for enjoyment.
    I don’t like clues such as 19a in cryptic crosswords – you either know the answer or you don’t but there’s no way to work it out from the clue and I don’t think that’s fair.
    I also wasn’t too keen on 25a and thought that 2d was a bit weedy.
    I liked 6 and 23a and 15d. My favourite, and las answer, was 13a – didn’t think I was ever going to get it.
    With thanks to Rufus and to MP.
    Very gloomy and grey in Oxford – it’s hardly even light.

    1. I think the site is having real problems at the moment. Not only is it very slow and often times out but it also no longer holds names and email details. Probably a server problem.

11. Not putting 13d in the past meant I was beaten by 16a.
    Agree with Gwizz – a little trickier than the usual Monday offering.
    Thank you Rufus and Miffypops.

    1. I did that too!

12. 13a and 14d held me up and were last in.On the back of these ***/***. Slightly different , a little trickier, to the usual Monday, but thanks to Rufus and MP; favourites 8,9,13d and top of the pile 19a .
    Not a fan of 13a though ,sorry RD

13. Rather a mixed bag for me and gets a 2*/3* in my book. Several old chestnuts in 21,23&25a and I agree with Kath that 19a doesn’t count as being cryptic.
    Last ones in would have been 9a&14d had it not been for the fact that, despite knowing the breed of dog and having all the letters in front of me, I still managed to write in an incorrect last vowel in 4d. That made 13a tricky to say the least.
    Leader board shows 13a out in front followed in no particular order by 6,16,24&26a.
    Thanks to Rufus and also to the rather more restrained than usual MP – although the dentist quip was well up to standard!

14. A second successive Monday when a Rufus puzzle was trickier than normal……is a trend developing?

    My two favourite clues seem to have divided opinion. Like Hanni (but unlike Brian) I really liked 9a, and like RD and Kath (but unlike Fran) I also took a shine to 13a.

    I did feel that 19a was possibly a little unfair on our French friends especially, but also to those with no interest in the sound of leather upon willow.

    Rufus might have avoided “out” being involved twice as an anagram indicator by using “off” instead in 6a, I think it would work equally well.

    Many thanks to Mr. Squires and to Miffypops.

15. Thanks to Mifypops and Rufus. Quite enjoyed the hints and the crossword. Some clues a bit basic, but then I need basic! Some really clever like 13a . loved it.
    First post times out. This is the second attempt. Error message said something about no cache available. Use live

16. ***/**. I found this a bit of a chore and therefore not particularly enjoyable. I also prefer clues which lead to the answer rather than based on general knowledge eg 19a which I knew but why would anyone outside the cricketing fraternity. Nevertheless, thanks to the setter and MP for explaining my bung ins.

17. Enjoyable. Really got stuck with 2d for some reason I thought it must be “Erprod” which of course isn’t a word no matter how much you Google it!!! Really didn’t like 19a I know little about cricket and had never heard of the guy when I eventually found him. Enjoyed the rest though. Thanks Rufus and to MP for an amusing and clever set of hints.

    1. I too thought of an included or hidden word or a lurker as they are known around these parts. As I had the letter O from 11ac I too found ERPROD which made me smile. I meant to mention it in the hint but forgot all about it.

18. Been busy today ,so late on the blog, a star up from most Mondays, so I think a **/****, favourite clue was 13a-and last in. Did’nt think 19a was particularly cryptic and 14d was ‘iffy’-or was it just my lack of knowledge..Anyway good start to the week,thanks Miffypops.

19. Easy and hard in places.
    Thought 13a a brilliant clue.
    14d really irritated me.
    Thanks Rufus and Miffypops
    Both good eggs

20. Wit and good surface readings, as per usual. And as per usual a lovely beginning to the solving week.

21. I almost didn’t attempt today’s crossword as I’m most definitely on a different wavelength to Rufus. I do smile at some of his excellently crafted cryptic clues such as 13a (my last one in and also my favourite) but some seem poorly contrived (e.g. 11a, 19a, 24a, 25a). There are usually too many double definitions and anagrams for my liking and I then find myself getting irritated which seems to be an unfair reflection of his obvious skill as a setter. So … ***/*

    I’ll keep perservering.

    Thanks to Rufus and Miffypops.

22. Good evening everybody.

    Today’s puzzle had been completed bar 9a,13a and 14d – I think by my sometime crosswording accomplice. After correcting 6d I was only able to add 9a before being foxed by 13a – despite correctly identifying the first word – and 14d. Not not one of my/our better days.

    On the upside I was able to complete the two puzzles in another place.

    ****/na

23. I regard 23a as a general knowledge affair rather than a cryptic clue.I was stumped by 13a, so thanks for the hint Miffypops.
    I liked the double definitions, such as 3d, 24a, 9a.
    I have seen something very close to 13d elsewhere , recently.
    Thanks to all concerned.

24. Always enjoy a Monday. Thanks to the setter and to Miffypops. Loved the pic in 13d. Somewhere in my loft I have a very old Tracy Island. No doubt I will come across it when I hunt out the Christmas decorations in the not too distant future.

    1. Whoops! Typo. Meant 18d. Liked 12a. Like anything to do with Bridge.

25. I also found this one trickier than Mondays often are, but not by very much. Agree that 13a is the pick of the bunch.
    Thanks Rufus and Miffypops.

26. I found this harder than the average Rufus but still enjoyable.
    I shot myself in the foot by spelling 4d incorrectly, this made 13a very difficult to solve, but I managed to see the error of my ways. Memo to me: when it’s an anagram, write the letters out and make sure you use all of them and don’t add any.
    Didn’t know the pain in 6d but wrote it in anyway.
    I never did get 19a, but I don’t feel badly about that.
    Thanks to Rufus and to M’pops for his hints and giving the answer for 19a.

    1. Hi Merusa,
       Glad I wasn’t the only one with 4d – I did confess at comment 13 and would guess that we both fell down the same hole. I spent a while trying to get ‘snore – something’ into 13a as a result!

       1. Yes, I read that you fell down the same hole! I think there was someone else who did the same thing!

    2. I’ve been ‘had’ so many times by spelling the 4d dogs the wrong way that I’m wise to that one now, even though, for once, I didn’t write down all the letters!

27. Rufus!
    How do you except me to know 19a?
    Had to press the reveal button and I don’t like to do that. No wordplay, just plain GK.
    You might be 84 but you are a naughty boy.
    There seems to be a lot of all in one clues lately too, which are not my favourites.
    As usual a great review from MP.
    Glad we got rid of the statue in 25a. We also gave away that horrid tower to Blackpool. Oh no! I just looked and it’s still here.
    Thanks.

    1. I read that the top of the Eiffel Tower was so high they could not reach to put the final finial on the top so they took a trampoline and a circus act ot Chinese acrobatic monkeys and that one of the performing monkeys wore a red suit and a gold hat and bounced high enough to attach the finial.

       1. Hmm. I’m not convinced that’s true MP. I heard that Stephen Sauvestre was so determined to finish it, he shackled the builders to it and insisted they finish. Quite cruel really but effective. But the bouncing monkeys might be true. Gold hats and all.

          1. I prefer the Monkees. It is in a book you may know by Jeannette Winterson called Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

             1. I do know that book. She also wrote Boating for Beginners and Sexing the Cherry. I prefer your monkeys too. Much better than tying up builders.

                1. I have enjoyed everything I have read by her

                   1. I’ve still not read ‘Why be happy…’ I’ll get around to it. Probably when I remember to buy it.

       2. I think you get mixed up with King Kong and the Empire State building.
          But you’re the one who wrote a thesis on gorillas.
          Who am I to argue.

          1. It sounds more interesting than mine. The hideous intricacies of contract law.

             Now onto the birthday bash. I missed out last year but I believe you brought ‘treats’? Will there be some this year? She says hopefully.

    2. I agree about 19a – not fair in a cryptic crossword. I did know it but only because I’d had to ask the nice Mr Google for an answer in another crossword yesterday, or maybe the day before – that meant that I hadn’t had time to forget it. I know we’ve had it before but . . .

    3. Yes, I agree. 19a Completely out of order as far as Im concerned. Finished the whole thing except that one and had to click the reveal button…Huh! Im not completely cricket illiterate, but that was definitely below the belt to use another sporting reference. 2*/3* Thanks to setter (except for 19a) and to MP

28. Oh Spit, dodgy Wi-Fi thrown me out again. Thanks to Rufus and Miffypops for a delightful start to the week, no pencils were mistreated in the solving and my favourite was 6a just because I love the sound of the word closely followed by 24a.

    1. No pencils Hilary? Well done

29. We have a stone dog called Rufus. He props open the porch door in the summer.

    1. My gravatar is a very, very special dog named Rufus, the “ru” in Merusa. I still mourn him, even though I have another special named Sadie, the “sa” in Merusa!

    2. We’ve got a stone dog called Andy, we use it as a doorstop – years ago my Mum came back from one of her Red Cross Jumbles with it – we all asked what did you buy that for and she said it would come in handy – hence the name!

       My Mum is long gone, bless her, but we’ve still got Andy and he’s going strong!

       

       1. How Lovely

30. Thanks to Rufus and to Miffypops for the review and hints. A very difficult start to the week. I was 6 answers short, and was pleased to say that I would never have got any of them in a million years. 10,13 26a and 6,8,14d. Was 4*/3* for me.

31. This would have been finished well within my 1* time had it not been for the 2d/9a combo, where I insisted in trying to unearth an obscure printer’s term for some sort of typeface. Then the penny dropped with a dull thud. On balance, then, 2*/3*. Only one contender for favourite clue in my book: 13a. Thanks to Rufus, and of course to Miffypops.

32. For 16a I used NCO plus inordinate to come up with incoordinate, which I then checked as I was not sure it was a real word. It turns out that it is a real word, a synonym of uncoordinated, therefore ‘out of step’. Oh dear.
    We had something very like 13d recently but in the present tense.
    I liked 20d too.
    Thank you Rufus for setting this and to MP for the hints and explanations.

33. I’m in the trickier-than-usual-for-a-Monday camp, which is no bad thing after Saturday’s stroll. I loved 13a, my last one in, which has been awarded the Davis Cup of crossword clues, but there were a handful that spoilt it for me: the horrible split infinitive in 24a; the non-cryptic nature of 19a and 17d; the convolution of 14d BUT all of those are as mere bagatelle compared with the heinous and unforgivable Americanism in 5d. Unforgivable is not a strong enough adjective, but I’m too polite (here anyway) to repeat how this word is greeted when presented for publication in my manor. I’ve had this rant before, and if memory serves, Rufus was the catalyst last time. On the off-chance that you ever read this, STOP IT! In English, people who do things are -ers, and people who have things done to them are -ees. So a person who has escaped is an ESCAPER, not an escapee, for goodness sake. I offer employer/employee; interviewer/interviewee; examiner/examinee etc. if this is allowed to go unchallenged, we’ll be having that other awful Americanism “retiree” for someone who has stopped work and lives on a pension. Anyway, this ruined an otherwise excellent puzzle so I can only give it 1* for enjoyment.
    Thanks, though, to MP, who might like to know that my favourite album is the sublime Dyland/Band collaboration Planet Waves, which stands head and shoulders above anything else in my extensive record collection.

    1. I’m with you all the way on -ees and -ers. “Attendees” at meetings used to annoy me but worse still are the signs on buses showing the maximum number of “standees”.

       As to this crossword, I thought that, apart from the brilliant 13a, there were some very weak clues. How could anyone solve 19a if they’ve not heard of him? I don’t think 25a and 26a are even cryptic.

    2. Hi TS. Not sure whether you read the comment I posted to you at the end of the Saturday blog – hopefully you did. Anyway, I’m ready for the next lesson in my reading course!
       Wonder whether you watched the film of The Cider Rules shown on TV last night. I haven’t read the book but understand that John Irving cut out two of the fairly major characters from the book rather than deplete the story of the remainder. I enjoyed the film anyway but maybe you would disagree?
       Your hatred of misuse of the English language is to be applauded but I have to admit that I’m guilty of splitting infinitives on a regular basis. You already know that, because you’ve pulled me up on it before now! Apologies in advance for future transgressions – I tend to write as I speak and that’s obviously not always correct!

       1. Not splitting infinitives is one of the few grammar rules I see no point in. Isn’t it simply a hangover from the impossibility of doing the same in Latin?

          1. In my old copy of ‘Usage and Abusage’ Eric Partridge gives the sage advice “Avoid the split infinitive wherever possible, but if it is the clearest and the most natural construction, use it boldly. The angels are on our side.”

             1. Thank you, Gazza. I’m rather partial to having the odd angel on my side!

                1. Thanks indeed Gazza.

                   Writers should learn to not split infinitives. There’s no reason to deliberately split them if it’s going to really upset people.

34. Just changing the subject, did anyone notice the oxymoron-type word in today’s (Mon) crossword: 12a. Unite together; split (5). Answer: Cleave. A cryptic for this could be something like: Unite together in Split (5). A word that has two opposite definitions is called a contranym, an auto-antonym or a Janus word. Other examples are fast, screen and off. Just thought some bloggers might be interested…….

    1. Welcome to the blog Jose

35. Thank you, BD – I wasn’t sure you had to go through a registration process or something to get on here (but obviously not). I read about these Janus words roughly 10 years ago in a newspaper article and the examples given (plus a few others) are not mine – and it stated there are “plenty” more. I’m very interested in semantics and intriguing words (and DT cryptic crosswords) but though I’ve been trying for years, I can’t think of any other contranyms myself. Any of you bloggers on here know any?

36. Can anyone help explain 1a? I don’t understand how “purchase” equates to “leverage”. I know there is a leveraged buyout but I cannot see how purchase as either a verb or a noun comes to leverage.

    1. Anthony. In my experience (of writing/semantics) these two, in the appropriate setting, are pretty much synonyms of each other. Other common synonyms are edge, vantage/advantage and power. But not necessarily according to my (1997) BRB and I don’t have a Chambers thesaurus. Any help?

       1. Welcome to the blog JR

          For purchase Chambers Thesaurus has:
          * grasp, foothold, grip, hold, advantage, leverage

          and for leverage:
          1 apply economic leverage
          force, strength, power, advantage, authority, influence, rank, weight
          formal: ascendancy, purchase
          colloquial: clout, pull

          2 the leverage of the straps
          grip, hold, grasp, force
          formal: purchase

          1. Thank you BD. Between us, I think we’ve answered Anthony’s query adequately.

37. Urgh. 13ac and 14dn are classic “read my mind, because I’m not going to give you any confirmation” Rufus clues, and I knew what kind of solution 19ac would be, but don’t know and don’t care about compilations of cricket statistics.

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