DT 29588

100 comments on “DT 29588”

1. I thought this was top notch, free from obscurities (and at least today’s singer is still living and performing!), any difficulties there were coming from cunning wordplay only. Good stuff.
   I particularly liked 3&21d plus 26&27a
   2/4*
   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K

   1. Meant to say my favourite was 1a

2. Well, that really was “Roses all the way” with hardly a need to draw breath but it was fun while it lasted. A hae ma doots about 17a meal and 21d give. Thank you Messrs. Ron and K.

   1. The piece about the vacancy for a cat caretaker on Syros reminded me of so many holidays in the Greek islands and being surrounded by begging felines whilst eating out in restaurants. Presumably there would be endless similar job possibilities (probably mainly unpaid) around the other islands.

3. A pleasant and trouble-free solve this morning, with the very smooth 1a my favourite. Not much to add other than my thanks to both Misters involved in today’s production.

4. Very enjoyable puzzle today. All pretty straightforward. I did need your hints to understand the answers to 3d and 20d. That left me feeling stupid because it’s blindingly obvious really. **/*** 23a was a nice little charade. Favourite is 25a – mainly because it’s my brother’s name and he likes his ale! Thanks to all.

5. Most enjoyable and I agree with Mr K on his **/*** rating. It wasn’t quite my style though and I had question marks after 23a 20d and 21d so thanks to Mr K for explaining my answers. COTD for me was on reflection 23a.

6. Boring! Easy!

   1. You or the puzzle? Sorry one of those days just could not resist!

      1. Bull’s eye!

   2. Rather rude

7. Wow! That was absolutely amazing and the best thing I have seen for a long time – the video of Sting at what looks like a private party!!

   Many thanks Mr K.

   The puzzle was gentle r&w fun. Thanks to setter.

8. Very gentle today and over too soon. Today’s Toughie from Dada is a doable but tricky challenge. Ta to all concerned

   1. I’ve managed 11 answers so far, I’m going back to it now. Wish me luck!

      1. Good luck

         1. Thank you. It helped!
            I managed to get 7 more, and will now pop over to the hints to learn how to do better next time. This site is just excellent. Thanks to all involved.

   2. I haven’t looked yet – if Sunday’s is anything to go by I’m not sure I’m up to it.

      1. I fairly raced through the top half before coming to a grinding halt in the bottom (half). I have some answers, albeit iffy, that seem to leave words that bear no resemblance to the clue. I’ll have another look in a minute but I’m sure I’m going to end up resorting to MP’s hints.

9. Needed Mr K’s hints for a few in the SE corner so many thanks to you. Otherwise not too difficult but some clues a little obtuse for me. I try at times to be provocative but can only assume that either no-one reads what I write or choose not to be provoked or ignore it. Not worth bothering with it.

   Many thanks to the setter.

   1. I read everyone’s comment Corky. It’s nice when someone replies to a comment, but I’m well aware that I can go for ages without anyone “speaking”. I take it as a surprise when someone does.

   2. Who knows what makes a thread Corky. Sometimes it falls on barren ground and sometimes it gets picked up and runs away like a mad thing. I don’t think I ever commented on the book club comments but I bought Richard Osmans Thursday Murder Club and Where The Crawdads Sing off of the strength of those posts. We are out here listening to you.

   3. I do read everybody’s comments. That’s nearly as much fun as the crossword. Especially, Brian’s Bon mots! I think he’s rather cornered the market in provocative comments.

   4. I think most people come here to read the posts, Corky – the replies you have demonstrate that
      No-one goes unnoticed since any comment is a contribution to this wonderful blog
      There are some who post virtually the same comment every day and never actually express an opinion; that’s not worth the bother
      Which clues did you think were somewhat obtuse, and why?

   5. I always read your comments, Corky, and on several occasions you and I have interwoven comments–with books, for example, but also other matters. You’re one of my favourites.

   6. I always read all the comments even if there are well over a hundred of them.

   7. Can you imagine if everyone commented on every comment? I always read them all, it would take all day in that case.

   8. I always try to read the comments, and yes it is nice when someone replies.

   9. I read all the comments as well but often find that people answer when you talk about something else than the crossword.
      So, tell us a bit more about you.

10. I thought that this was going to be a slam dunk, but a few of the trickier numbers just held out a bit longer. 18d for instance. I was convinced it had something to do with playing cards/bridge. It was my last one in and was my favourite. A comfortable and enjoyable solve. Thank you setter and Mr Kitty. The shed has now been completely cleared, thank goodness. I can’t tell you how many old pots of paint we found. Why on earth we kept them all I will never know.

    1. You keep them because the might come in useful for a scratch or repair , but more especially because you had room to store them!

       1. We brought some of the paint pots with us from our old house DG. They were never going to be used in the new one (now 19 years old)……and I certainly wasn’t going to go back and “touch up” the old one. 😂. Next thing on the list will be checking the loft. I don’t think there’ll be any paint pots up there, but goodness knows what we brought from the old house and stored up in the loft. A load of stuff that hasn’t seen light of day for 19 years no doubt.

          1. I had spare attic space in a house I had years ago. A friend stored a chicken brick there for over a decade. When I finally downsized, he was devastated that I wasn’t going to take it with me…
             In other news, a surprising * for me on effort today, which I think clipped my enjoyment slightly to a 2.5*. But a nice break – back to the grind now…

          2. When I downsized 3 years ago from a largish 4 bed house to a small 2 bed flat I was gobsmacked at the amount of stuff that I’d accumulated/kept and found disposing of it quite therapeutic. The charity shops did very well but there were plenty of visits to the tip – there were paint pots a plenty as well as over 300 VHS cassettes each with 3 or 4 movies recorded long play over the years.

          3. Loft clearance: Cue Tommy Cooper joke

    2. Another reason that you kept them all is because they’re jolly hard to get rid of.

    3. We actually do not have a loft. All our ceilings go up to a point, cathedral ceilings or something. Anyway. No lofts. One of my wicked delights is when I get a phone call Do you realise, madam, that it is 10 years since we insulated your loft. No, I say, really? Yes, I have the records here and I have to tell you that we can now improve on the quality etc etc. No, I keep on saying, ten years – that’s amazing. Yes madam. May 2010. It is wicked of me I know because they are only trying to make a living poor fellows, but when I say that is amazing because we do not have a loft they often slam the phone down BUT sometimes they argue with me and tell me I must have a loft, as if I have somehow mislaid it. I wouldn’t like you to think that we do not have clutter though. It clings to me like treacle.

       1. Not having a loft is a good thing as we get older. We used to keep lots of stuff in ours at the old house. Until one day, when preparing for a hurricane, I had visions of the roof coming off and lots of old financial records blowing all over the neighborhood. So down came those boxes, and we spent a good deal of the post storm time with the shredder plugged into the generator, getting rid of it all. When we moved house, we made a decision to keep hardly anything up there, as the kids really didn’t want us climbing up there any more. And over here they call it the attic, and I got a few puzzled looks when I would say something was up in the loft.

    4. It has amazed me just how much useless junk and rubbish Saint Sharon has accumulated over the years. I’m also amazed at how much treasure I have

       1. Peter has a mantra “if in doubt, throw it out”, but it doesn’t seem to apply to his stuff 😊.

11. Straightforward and enjoyable whilt it lasted. 3d was my favourite. I would have said more pop than rock on 22a. Thanks to Mr K and today’s setter.

    1. Agreed re 22a – my only gripe

    2. Typical genres attached to Sting’s work on Wikipedia include pop rock, art rock, jazz fusion and new wave so the definition is good enough for me.

       1. Why aye man

          1. Mark Knopfler

    3. Agree, but I was foiled by two crucial mistakes.

       I had frantic for 9 across. And Lorne for 12 across.

       Couldn t accurately parse either, because they were both wrong ! But I often take a punt and work out the parsing later from this site.

       Alas, not today….

       1. Welcome to the blog Big Mel

12. A very pleasant straightforward crossword today, which I enjoyed. It’s nice to have variation in the style and level of difficulty in puzzles and there has been a succession of crosswords ranging from pretty tricky to rather impenetrable over the last week. So thi was light relief (1.5*/3*). My two picks were 17a and 25a. Many thanks to Mr K and the compiler

13. Wasted a bit of time trying to read too much into the clue for 28a but otherwise plain sailing.
    Rather liked 3&20d plus the smart rock singer.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K for the review and one of my favourite Police tracks. Would have been nice to hear the 23a’s as well but that’s just being greedy!

14. Just like Jonners said, straightforward and enjoyable, completed at a fast gallop (just) – 2*/3.5*.
    I didn’t have doots (see Angellov at Comment 2) but I did have Hmms over 17a and 21d.
    Candidates for favourite – 19a, 23a, 2d, and 20d – and the winner is 23a.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

15. All finished in record time for me while waiting for the plumbers, who still haven’t arrived…they should have been here at 8.
    Thanks for the hints on 17a and 23a. I had the right answers but couldn’t figure out why. My favourite was 6d.
    Thanks to the setter for a fun start to the day.

16. I found this extremely enjoyable, as just at my (pretty low) skill level. Just needed a bit of help/confirmation. Thanks to compiler and BD

    1. Welcome to the blog awinguiseley

    2. I love your name. Especially as Jane lives there.

17. Pretty straightforward & all over in 1.5* time but very enjoyable nonetheless. 3d made me smile & vies with 1a as my pick of the bunch today among a number of fine clues. Today’s albums: Free Live (Free) & Four-Way Street (CSNY)
    With thanks to both the setter & to Mr K.

    1. Two great selections, Huntsman! Free Live is my favourite ‘live’ album of all time; Four Way Street is often maligned by retrospective reviewers but I love it.

       1. I’ll second that.

18. Hooray! Right at my level and most enjoyable to complete.
    (The Sting clip is from his his annual party at the farm shop on his estate in Tuscany – can’t be bad, eh?)

    The vet said she is perplexed by Lola’s issues. She has sent for a review of the biopsy taken a couple of weeks ago, as it all remains a mystery. Poor little Lola was rather traumatised by yesterday’s visit and spent the night in an open drawer of one of the wardrobes. It is her place to go when she feels scared.
    She is calmer today and is eating well. She has to continue with the steroids and antibiotics – but here we have had a breakthrough. One of H’s friends suggested ‘Pill Putty’ to disguise the tabs and… it worked (last night and this morning)! Long may that continue – Lola is so smart it is only a matter of time before she figures this trick out. The vet will call later in the week regarding the review of the biopsy and to suggest what happens next.

    Today’s soundtrack: Prefab Sprout – I Trawl The Megahertz

    Thanks to the setter and the celebrated Mr K.

    1. How frustrating, Terence, I was really hoping that the vet would have some answers for you. Well done on the ‘pill putty’ front though, long may it work!

       1. :heart:

    2. How frustrating about the Lola situation. Glad she is eating well, though – at least she will keep her strength up to fight off whatever it is. I’m fascinated by the Pill Putty idea – is it something you buy? We could certainly do with it here with our two cats – I’ve never had any success with cats and pills, even with a towel. We even have to take them to the vet to have their worm pills, in spite of them supposedly being “tasty” for cats. I do hope Lola’s paws and nose will improve soon and that the biopsy review helps identify the problem. Keep us posted.
       As to the crossword, haven’t really looked at it properly yet, but thanks in advance to the setter and Mr K.

       1. Hello Sarah – thank you for your kindness. I ordered the ‘Pill Putty’ via Amazon Prime and it came under the brand name of ‘Easy Pill’. It is a pack of four pieces of ‘putty’ – chicken flavoured rubbery, stretchy, stuff! (Ugh!)
          It was £8.99 but I ordered it with urgency – it may be cheaper elsewhere. You tear off a little piece and wrap the pill inside it. Lola, normally highly suspicious of such strategies, wolfed it down. I think it will last for two or three weeks even though I’m using it twice a day and two lots of pills at each go.

          1. That is so interesting, I have never heard of it – wish I had had Pill Putty with my little Widget, despite only weighing about 6 lbs, she was like a ferocious lioness trying to give her a pill. What is amazing about cats, despite being put through the wringer attempting to give them a pill, or whatever, they forgive you instantly. Unlike people!

19. Delightful puzzle and a pleasure to complete without any hangups. There is something really satisfying about being able to blast through a cryptic puzzle non-stop!

    No real favourite except 23a made me smile, all excellent clues with no question marks or Classic knowledge needed. Let’s keep the difficult puzzles with head scratching and obscure words for another day.

    Thanks to setter and Mr K!

20. Great fun and all completed in 2* time.
    SW held me up at the end. Took me a while to parse 3d – for some reason that meaning of chippy didn’t, er, enter my head.
    25a was my COTD – my brain was thinking of a different type of John!
    Thanks to the setter and Mr. K

21. Very enjoyable. I did put FEARFUL at 9ac because I saw earful as a tirade. That held me up for a while.

22. Yes a very pleasant work out, very best clues – I did like 3d, very cute and 25a although we have had similar before, and 23a as well. I love that moment when the penny drops, you know the answer must be so but why? Such fun. The pill putty sounds brilliant i could have used that. Sadly we had to have poor Thompson put to sleep in October – I haven’t told my grandson yet, she was his cat which was sort of landed on us. He is incarcerated at uni and I am putting off the bad news. Thompson was very skilled in spitting out pills ! RIP.

23. Relatively easy puzzle for Tuesday, I thought, at 2*/****, with no real difficulty. Last area finished was SE that was the area most troublesome. Favourite clues include 25a, 28a, 18d & 20d with no real winner but if I had to choose it would be 25a.
    Took a while to figure out the last letter for 17a as in my mind there were two options, so that made it a puzzle to work out 16d … which I still can’t parse.

    Thanks to setter and Mr K

    1. 16d – the definition is ‘looks like’ – one of the umpteen two letter abbreviations used, in Crosswordland, for a doctor goes inside (in) an anagram (unfortunately) of HERE LESS without the H (having left the abbreviation for H(hospital)

       1. Thanks for your input and to Mr K. Of course, I see it now and not sure how I didn’t get it.
          One of those DUH moments!

24. I’m sorry. Thinking about poor old Thompson I forgot to say thanks to the setter and Mr. K!

25. ***/***. Slightly more difficult for me as I needed help to parse a couple especially 23a. So thanks to the setter and Mr K for a generally enjoyable challenge.

26. Even though my bung-in for 3d is correct, I do not understand what the missing ‘fish’ is. Can someone enlighten me? I’ve googled ‘chippy’ but haven’t yet discovered what a ‘person known as a chippy’ is. Otherwise, this was a gentle Tuesday offering and I especially liked 1a and 25a. Thanks to Mr L and today’s setter. ** / ***

    1. A chippy works with wood and the fish is the genus of koi

       1. Thanks to LbR…had it from “Go in” but had no idea what the ‘chippy fish’ was all about!!! Doh!
          Cheers!

    2. A chippy is a carpenter.

       1. Thank you both, LBR and Greta. I get it now. After looking at Mr K’s illustration with Prince Charles, I thought I must have missed something having to do with…oh well, never mind.

          1. And of course the chippy is also the fish & chip shop or least that’s what we called it in Coventry which is why the clue made me smile.

             1. I find reverse engineering is often a good tactic Robert.

27. Thoroughly enjoyed today’s puzzle 😃 ***/**** Favourites were 25 & 27a and 3 & 23d 🤗 Thanks to the Setter and please Mr K never apologise for your excellent blog

28. This came off the shovel like the proverbial.
    Not a huge number of comments, except for 7d where I faffed around with ALL for a couple of minutes and then tried Assyria, without much confidence …….
    Lots of nice surfaces though.
    Thanks to our setter and Mr K.

29. Another lovely puzzle today, so thank you. Managed to do it surreptitiously (have I spelt that right?) on an Art Society committee meeting. We are going to have to put up our subscription to £45 from £35 which seems rather bad during these times when people cannot attend lectures but they are all being zoomed. Can I ask what subs other people pay round the country? Thanks. The AS themselves recommend £50 which seems a lot.

30. No problems today for the first time for several days.
    I wasn’t sure about the ‘John’ in 25a as Dom G mentioned earlier.
    Yet again I was fooled by the one letter abbreviation for ‘followed’ in 9a – will I ever learn – only just managing to remember that W can mean ‘with’.
    My favourite has to be 22a – I do rather like him, to put it mildly, and one of his CD’s reminds me of the most wonderful little beach in Corsica – my favourite place on earth.
    Thanks to whoever set this one and to Mr K.

31. Almost perfect puzzle today. Stupidly I needed the hint for 2d, just couldn’t get that, the last hold out. Pad and dressing just didn’t come to mind. Otherwise a lot of lovely clues, with 22a making me laugh. Really enjoyed this one, and could do with more like it. I didn’t find it all boring, or easy. Big thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

32. A very benign puzzle today but hugely enjoyable! I did have a problem unravelling a few, so needed Mr. K’s hints today, e.g. 28a.
    I remembered Jiffy bags from a previous puzzle, but forgot the chippy, a quick google sorted that.
    Fave was 25a, though my first thought of John was somewhat different.
    Thank you Ms. Setter, that was loads of fun, and Mr. K for the enlightenment.

    1. I think I have heard all the toilet jokes associated with my given name :)

33. We seem to have found every possible reason to make this harder for ourselves than it needed to be. Tried to make FEARFUL work for 9a, wanted COMMANDER to be the officer in 23a and tried to make 17a a full anagram instead of a partial one. Eventually got it all sorted though and plenty of chuckles along the way.
    Thanks Mr Ron and Mr K.

34. Fully solved without needing any hints today so must be */*… Still came here for the Lola update, I am hoping you will soon get there Terence and the pill putty novelty doesn’t wear off.

35. I had a lot of fun with this today, 1a 7d 22a all gave great PDM’s but what with my given name and Beer 25a is my COTD.
    Good luck to Lola and everyone else who gossips here. I am another pressed by time/work/an elderly mother to comment as often as I would like but I will endeavour to read as much as I can. sometimes the best bits are when someone takes a thread on a meandering ramble through delightful comments and reminisces. I have also learned loads of new music and books to discover. Currently on my bedside table is Stephen Fry’s retelling of Greek Myths and Legends – this alone allowed me to sail through yesterdays Polyhymnians. So don’t despair if some provocative/acerbic comments seem to fall on a “deaf” blog and you will catch more “Bees/Flies” with honey than vinegar! but whatever else please don’t stop. It is always a good read

36. Thank heavens for today’s setter! That was a really enjoyable solve after the last few days.

37. I’m with the majority on this, straightforward and enjoyable. No gripes unlike yesterday. Favourite was 19a not because it was difficult but when I first read it I came up with sings, realising this was unlikely I moved on. Later I solved 20d which caused me to clasp my hand to my forehead at my own stupidity. Oh well! Many thanks to the setter and Mr. K. Back to the toughie.

    1. Good luck with the toughie. Bit of a struggle for some.

38. Just watched the videos loved the Sting clip, I just love live music and the Austrian throwing boomerangs sheer genius Mr. K, sheer genius.

39. 2*/3*…..
    liked 3D ” Go in chippy, wanting fish (5)”

40. A gentle, enjoyable romp. As an ex-military man, particularly liked 23a having worked in said Ministry and with those officers albeit I was from a different cloth.

    1. Welcome to the blog Bunchy

       I’ve moved your comment to this post from the comment page. In future please add your comment to the relevant post else it will be missed by most people.

41. My husband nicked today’s puzzle. He has an annoying habit of bunging in answers; some are right without him knowing why and some are wrong. I feel a bit mean not wanting to share but the truth is I like to do them on my own to get that feeling of satisfaction from completing them. So I rather lost interest in this one I’m afraid and needed a few hints to complete it. ***/**

    1. My husband and I (I sound like the Queen!) do the puzzle over breakfast the day after publication, which is why I rarely comment. I used to get a crick in the neck trying to read the clues with the paper stuck between us, so we now photocopy the puzzle on the printer and each have our own copy, sharing our solutions. Works well.

42. Galloping along until reaching the SE corner – not a fan of 20D clueing…seemed a tad forced!
    Also needed help to parse our ‘chippy fish’ friend at 3D, but otherwise pretty good.
    Cheers!

43. Didn’t get a chance to solve this crossword until now and really enjoyed it.
    Loved 11a and 3d.
    Thanks to the ever changing Tuesday setter and to Mr kitty for the review.

44. 21 down. Concatenate the single letter for shilling, give with the expectation of getting whatever it is back, and an expression of hesitation .
    Not convinced “give” implies an expectation of getting something back. Am I missing something here?

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