DT 29905

73 comments on “DT 29905”

1. This was a wonderful puzzle and very enjoyable. I would say it was one of Chalicea’s but I’m no good at setter spotting so will not be placing any bets. Plenty to amuse such as 1a, 18a and 4d. My COTD is 9a because of its simplicity and the fact it made me wonder if Chinese folk called them that.

   Many thanks to the setter for the enjoyment and to Mr. K. for the hints and kitties.

   1. SC. You’re a keen clue-writer, have a look at Gazza’s silver-winning clue in the DT Puzzles Newsletter and see if you can spot anything wrong with the given explanation/parsing.

      1. The first letter is not removed from “companion” – the heart of it “a” is.

         1. Indeed. And what a cracking clue it is!

            1. That it is. I especially like the use of “Nelly” for the definition, a word I had forgotten.

            2. Thanks, Jose. I was quite pleased with that clue.
               Congratulations to all the blog members who got a mention, especially Jane for her podium appearance.

               1. Thank you for the mention, Gazza, but I have a long way to go to catch up with yourself and Prolixic! Shame that the winning clues appear so infrequently, the pair of you must be waiting to see several of your own in print.

                  1. Congrats from me too. I did wonder if it was you.

                  2. Very well done, Jane.

               2. Well done, Gazza. Two of our number on the podium. :good:

                  1. And you another Hon mention! Well done all.

                     1. I also was mentioned for my effort!

2. 2*/4*. This was great fun with 9a my favourite. 3d was a superb anagram too.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

3. Fun whilst it lasted. 3d was my favourite, 9a also made me smile. Thanks to today’s setter and Mr K.

4. Combined with my inability to spell correctly 15a, the subtle misdirection in 18a put me, alas, into ** time.
   All thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying, though.
   Many thanks to the setter and Mr.K.

5. A second day of relatively easy clues giving me a repeat of yesterday’s */*** with lots of lurkers and anagrams as Mr K eruditely points out. 1 thought 9a the best with 4d also making me smile. Great fun and thanks to the setter.

   1. Alas I cannot take credit for the photo of the red breasted goose yesterday. It was my keen photographer next door neighbour.

      1. You are very honest! A good photo though.

6. Similar to yesterdays puzzle so going for a */**** again, nothing obscure and an enjoyable solve throughout.
   Favourite was 18a for its surface- could have read’ Putin a’ instead of ‘holding a. to be topical !
   As Mr K says plenty of smiles all round as per 1a.

7. The second interesting and accessible puzzle in a row. Will my luck (and fun) continue into Wednesday? 1.5*/****

8. I’m having a good day. I finished today’s crossword with only a little help from my spellchecker. Very unusual for me I generally need a lot of help from the person giving hints. But even better I did wordle in 2 !!

   1. Wow – excellent Wordling :-)

   2. Well done! I sneaked in at 6, just missed flameout.

9. As Jonners saiys, “fun while it lasted”. My favourite was 4d, but 18 & 28a ran it very close. Thanks to all concerned.
   Wordle in 6 today – just by the skin of my teeth, but it does give me three in a row.

10. What a splendid puzzle today, so much to like. 9a my COTD. Thanks to the setter and Mr K for the pics. Wordle in 5. Off to have a desperately needed haircut as can hardly see out.

11. That was a lot of undemanding fun. NE hung fire a bit. 12a was bung-in as that word for character didn’t occur to me. Favs 9a, 26a and 4d. Quickie rather more challlenging than this. Thank you Mysteron (or is it Misron?) and MrK.

12. I’m with Jonners and Shropshirebloke – fun while it lasted or finished before it got started. More Mondayish than Tuesdayish but good fun – */****.

    Candidates for favourite – 28a, 17d, and 24d – and the winner is 17d.

    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

13. Ps. I forgot to say that I usually start wordle whether house or mouse as they give a good variety of vowels & a useful s. Today it was mouse so I got 2 letters & worked round them.

    1. I thought there was an agreement not to discuss Wordle, here. Fortunately, I had completed today’s before reading the blog. Otherwise, your remarks could have spoilt it for me.

       1. I was unaware of your unwritten agreement. Sorry. It was comments on this column that alerted me to to the fact that there is a daily puzzle & how to access it. Also someone else said what word they used to start to give lots of vowels. I sit corrected.

          1. I think we discuss Wordle in that scores are given rather than individual letters or words used. That is my interpretation and I’m sticking to it! :smile:

          2. Hardly a hanging offence Muddlehead, unless your final word was different to mine, you only gave one letter away and it is the most common letter in the English language. Don’t lose any sleep – I accidentally revealed who left Strictly on a Sunday afternoon, I felt quite bad about it so I do watch what I say now!

       2. There is not an agreement not to discuss it so far as I know. Just an agreement not to give the answer or even a hint (I would suggest). Hints for the crossword are fine for those that need them but hints for Wordle pointless. You can’t really get stuck on it. If you do you finish anyway.

14. Like yesterday fun while it lasted. Another vote for 9a with mentions for 26a plus 3&8d. Slow progress in today’s Toughie which seems distinctly un-Tuesdayish in terms of difficulty though it’s probably just me.
    Thanks to the setter & Mr K
    Wordle – first failure loomed but scraped home in a lucky 6

    1. Same here with Wordle, Huntsman. When you get the the 6th row the mind becomes really focussed. At least the run continues.

       1. Just a word of warning about Wordle runs (you may be aware, but others might not). If you delete your Browsing History (is that the same as Cache?), your current run will disappear and you’ll be back to square one! Well, that’s what happens on my laptop, anyway.

          1. Yep, I did that. Cleared the history and lost the run. :sad:

       2. In 5 for me.

    2. Wordle was a funny one for me today but best to date. I got the last three letters in the right order at first try. I then got the other two on the second go. Sometimes there are a lot of options and it is pure chance which you choose. This time there amazingly few letters that would make a word. I was pleased to succeed therefore second try. Whether I manage to repeat it with most letters available remains to be seen.

15. Mr K, 13a. I’m wondering what that hairstyle in the photo is called. The “Pineapple”?

16. Very enjoyable crossword 😃 **/*** Favourites 1a and 11a 👍 Thanks to the Compiler and to Mr K🤗 Lovely picture of the Red-breasted Goose yesterday Manders ( whoever took it) though I suppose your favourite is the Crackling Goose 😬

    1. Absolutely! He’s still there today, or maybe he’s a she. Still loads of twitchers.

17. Quite enjoyed this one despite it’s over-reliance on two particular clue types. The only answer that didn’t sit well with me was 4d – to my mind, writing and typing are totally different operations, the former sadly slipping out of use these days.
    Top two here were 1&27a.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K for the review – I do hope the 1a pictured survived its ordeal.

    1. It’s X-Type today, not Chalicea…Re your grumble about the supposed difference between writing and typing – have you not heard of “typewriters”…? Seriously – thanks everyone, for your very nice comments: glad you enjoyed it.

       1. Thanks you, X-Type for a great puzzle. I did say my setter spotting abilities are poor. :smile:

          1. Lovely puzzle, and special thanks for 9a – helped me decide what to cook for dinner!

       2. Hi X-type, yes indeed but the machines produce forms of ‘print’ which I maintain is a totally different animal to ‘real writing’. Not to worry, I’m sure we can agree to differ but thank you for popping in and also for the puzzle.
          Hope you get a hand-written letter sometime soon, they really are a great pleasure to receive!

       3. Keep compiling at this level for me my friend as I find you very entertaining and solvable!

       4. With you all the way X-Write.

          If someone writes a book, they do it on a typewriter or should that be writetyper.

          Semantics at its best.

          Keep up your oh so splendid work.

    2. Congratulations on your Bronze Medal, Jane, for finishing 3rd in the clue-writing contest this week. And thanks to X-Type for popping in. And further thanks to MP for so kindly sending the newsletter to this most appreciative American.

       1. Thanks from me to Big Dave and StephenL who send it to me. I’m tempted to send it on to ten people as a type of chain letter scheme

18. Quite underwhelmed by this puzzle, which at least did not last too long. Too many anagrams for my taste – a quarter of the grid. Thought 4d a vague and poor clue, and too many surfaces felt rather disjointed.

    1.5* / 1.5*

    My thanks anyway to the setter, and to MrK.

19. It’s a Tuesday so we think we can do crosswords. But I’m girding my loins ready for some tougher fare to come.
    Thanks setter, my COD 1a, thanks MrK.

20. A nice easy Tuesday ride with lots of smiles along the way. 1a (when the penny dropped – I was thinking cougar) 15a,21a and 3,14 & 16d. The pineapple hairdo is bizarre and the photo of the cat in the case made me smile, I think all our cats & dogs over the years have climbed into the suitcase. It is a move designed to make you feel guilty at leaving them!
    Glorious day here, washing drying on the line, not too cold and masses of snowdrops and primroses in the garden. Thanks to the setter and Mr K for enhancing my lunch!

    1. Hi DG, snowdrops and primroses gladden the heart – maybe Spring is really on its way.

21. Another puzzle today on par with yesterday’s for time and enjoyment.
    Clues for podium candidates include 1a, 9a, 26a, 17d & 4d and winner with a chuckle is 26a

    Thanks to setter and Mr K

22. I thought this was an absolute belter of a puzzle.
    I thought 3d was superb with 10,13&18a not far behind but could have mentioned a few more.
    Many thanks to the setter and Mr K for the top notch entertainment.

23. Great fun, completed at a good pace. It all went in very smoothly, and I cannot look beyond 9a and 3d for co-favourites.

    Many thanks to X-Type and Mr K.

24. In line with all your regular contributors I felt this was towards the easier end of the spectrum, hence my ability to complete it!

    1. You can only beat what is in front of you SD. The editor judged it was backpager standard. Don’t knock your efforts. It’ another step on the road to mastering RayT etc.

25. Agree, a very smiley puzzle today, with lots of enjoyment from the workable clues. Only two held me until I looked at the hints. 26a gets COTD because it made me laugh and the lovely picture provided by Mr K. We had to keep all suitcases hidden when packing as one cat, Basil, would always sit on the clothes, covering them in hairs and his brother, Rupert (clearly smarter) would go into a depression as he had it figured out that we were going on a trip. Thanks to setter (Chalicea?) and Mr K for today’s treat.

26. Great fun today, lovely puzzle. Over much too soon, with 3d, 9a, & 18a taking top honours. And for special distinction, the Clarkie goes to 28a for its geographical melange. (I hope that Chriscross, our geographer in residence, enjoys it, and that she is doing well. Have missed her the past few days.) Thanks to Mr K and to X-Type. * / ****

27. Another load of fun, loving it, and I had no problems parsing! I’m going to choose 26a as fave because of the pic.
    Thank you X-type, just perfect puzzle. Thanks to Mr. K for the cat enjoyment.
    Wordle in 6.

28. 1/4. Great fun while it lasted. Felt like a Monday puzzle and no particulate favourite. Thanks to X-type and Mr K for the hints which weren’t needed but were as usual well illustrated.

29. Straightforward but enjoyable, just how Tuesday’s should be. Favourite was the super smooth 3d. Thanks to X-Type and Mr. K.

30. The day has gone by, but I did this puzzle first thing this morning and enjoyed it very much. There were no problems and my favourites were 18a and 17d. Thanks for the fun to the setter and to Mr K.

31. Relatively easy today, with plenty of great clues. I will plump for 28a by a nose from 9a and the almost linked 10a 8d.
    I see X-type has claimed this but when I did this earlier 10a 8d led me to think of Navy Clues, a young setter who seems to have dropped off the radar.
    Thanks to Mr K and X-Type

    1. Yes, whatever happened to Navy Clues? I was thinking of her the other day.

32. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle and was spoilt by the setter with some wonderful anagrams. The answers went flying in but then I had to go out for an early afternoon tea. Delightful, but I think I will still be on a sugar high at bedtime. Thank you to X-Type and to Mr K. I loved the kitten in the brief!

33. Thanks XType and Mr K. No recourse to hints but will check my parsing. Favourites 1 10 11 and 28a and 4 8 and 17d.

34. As ever with me, 95% was R&W, the other 4 clues I would not have got if I had stared at them until doomsday.
    Thanks both.

35. Very late on parade. As all have said very acceptable Tuesday fare.
    Thank you X-Type and Mr K, as always welcome additional entertainment.

36. 2*/4*…..
    liked 22D ” Body buried by rector solemnly (5) “

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