DT 29941

74 comments on “DT 29941”

1. I agree with MrK about 1a being amusingly titillating and I also really enjoyed 14a and 3d as the other 2 stand out clues. It fell pretty easily for me at */**** for some reason. Whoever this setter is I am on their wavelength thank for a great puzzle.

2. Some terrific smooth clueing today, with 4d and 14a as favourites – thank you setter and also MrK for explaining the ‘teach’ element of 13d

3. The NW corner went in quickly but after that I got progressively more bogged down with the unusual clues in the puzzle, particularly in the NW (5*/3*). 14a was a beast of a clue and went way over my head, until I sought electronic help. I gradually , after alot of head-scratching and use of the thesaurus worked out the rest. I thought the anagram at 11a was good fun. Thanks to the compiler and to Mr K for the hints

4. Lot’s of fun. Solved in the carwash. Thanks all.

5. All well and good for a Tuesday so thanks to the setter for the arm wrestle. Thanks to Mr Kitty for reminding me of the pirates real name. Mr Kitty. I saw this interesting cat carrier last night. I don’t think they will catch on

   

   1. Ouch!

6. Jonners

   You’re either very good at this or you go to a very thorough car wash.

   I thought 14a was brilliant.

   I liked the coffee lady and the goalkeeper too.

   Many thanks setter and Mr K

   1. There was a queue this morning, must be the weather.

7. A fairly gentle puzzle, even though I also did not know 13d’s proper name. Fortunately it was guessable, once I had decided that there was an E rather than an O in it.
   Thank you setter and Mr K.

   1. See below…..missed your post

8. A very enjoyable crossword today…a great relief after yesterday when everyone except for Brian and me seemed to find it easy. Lots of great clues, favourite is 14a.
   My only problem was 13d as I did not know the name of the robber in question. I spent a while pondering as to whether blackboard could be used as a verb meaning teach, but realised that there was then no connection to the wordplay, so it had to be the pirate.
   Thanks to the setter and to Mr K. Loved the goalkeeper cat.
   Beautiful day here today.

   1. Exactly my process regarding 13d!

      1. Add me to your list re yesterday’s crossword Ora. My comment was ‘I’ve done easier toughies’.

9. Gratitude, Mr 🐱, for hints and explaining 13d (for which I input an o instead of the e) now I have learned something. I liked all of it, but especially 11 and 14a so devotions to whomever compiled it. Thought the Cat Jennings video was incredible.

10. I’d love to know who today’s clever and sparklingly beguiling setter is. I found this one a bit tougher than the usual Tuesday fare but most enjoyable, especially 13d, my LOI, which hit me like a bolt from the blue (I kept wondering if ‘blackboard’ could be an acceptable ‘teaching’ metaphor–old habits die hard with me!). Many great clues: 12, 14, 22, 25a; 5d and of course 13d. Thanks to Mr K, especially for the goalkeeping cat, and today’s setter. ** / ****

    Terrific Toughie too today.

11. Typically Tuesday continues very enjoyably – **/****.

    Candidates for favourite – 22a, 3d, and 16d – and the winner is 22a, just hearing the word raises a smile.

    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

12. Good fun today,nicely clued throughout, 14a had to be my favourite for its rarity value, next in line was 22a.
    Remembered Mr Teach ,again a top clue.
    As per Mr K going for a **/****- thanks for the amusing pics.

13. Loved it, especially 22A and 13D. Thanks Mr. K and the setter.

14. Relieved to discover that I wasn’t alone in having to check on the name of the infamous pirate – I did try to justify blackboard for quite a while………
    Plenty to enjoy in this puzzle and I gave top marks to 22a & 3d.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K and his energetic feline!

15. Sorry but I gave up with this one. Perhaps I’m not in the mood.

    Many thanks to the setter for the beating and to Mr. K. for the hints.

    Wordle in 4.

16. I made heavy weather of this to begin with but suddenly things began to gel. Not sure I have come across 14a before but last 8 letters became obvious then first 4 had to be. As is often the case clues with which I need help become Favs viz 13d where teach hadn’t rung a bell for me. Thank you Messrs. Ron and K.

17. Good fun with 1a my favourite, a struggle with 13d, and a hmm (of course) for 15d. Hypnos in today’s cryptic in the Independent shows exactly how to treat the use of names in clues with a “Batty woman” and a “Welsh woman”.

    Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

18. Some brilliant clueing eg 22a
    Faltered at last in, 13d, which popped me into ** time.
    Answered it correctly, not knowing why.
    Will not get caught out again with this name!
    Like others, fixated on blackboard or something board for too long.
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr. K.

19. Now today I fully agree with the rating, yesterday was obviously just an aberration. This was a super puzzle with an outstanding COTD for me in 13d. Many thanks to the setter for restoring my confidence after yesterdays debacle.
    **/****
    Thx to all

    1. Couldn’t have put it better myself Brian!

20. 14a is a truly bonkers word which I’m sure doesn’t get many outings.

    It reminds me of another rarely used word that someone was clearly having prefix-fun with when they created it….preantepenultimate, meaning ‘the fourth last in a sequence’.

    ‘’I know who was on the podium in this race but I’m curious to know who was the preantepenultimate finisher.’’

    1. You don’t see “callipygian” very often, either.

       1. You don’t but what an outstanding word with an etymology to boot!

          1. Puns acknowledged!

21. Great stuff with some inventive clueing and a couple of new words to forget. 1a was my favourite as it allowed the schoolboy humour in me to come out.

    Many thanks to both Misters.

22. 2/4. Another really good Tuesday puzzle. I was another who pondered long and hard with 13d before I bunged it in – so good to have the explanation. My favourites were 1, 5&22a. Thanks to the setter and Mr K for the usual amusing review.

23. Brilliant puzzle completed sitting in really warm sunshine, a lovely day. So many to like, I wanted to put moustache in 25a but of course could not justify it. Wonderful clang when I got 14a, other stars for 11 and 22a. Many thanks to Setter and Mr K. I do not care for the cat carrier! We are both off now to get our Spring Booster – I rang yesterday and no problem in getting a slot this afternoon.

    1. I agree with Daisygirl – a brilliant puzzle! I didn’t finish it until this morning, but I’ve never managed to complete one before. That word in 14a – if you taught English, as I used to, it was useful as Shakespeare’s blank verse is written in iambic pentameters – 10-syllable lines – decasyllabic – as was the clue!

       1. Adding a ‘t’ to your alias sent you into moderation. Either this one or your original ‘Jacky’ will both work for any future comments

24. Some of you bloggers make me laugh.

    If there is a chance to show a picture of a scantily-clad woman, you grab it with both hands.

    Don’t get me wrong, I welcome it but I do wonder what the women on this blog think. Maybe they are cool with it but there must be the occasional eye-roll.

    1. I noticed that the opportunist Mr K posted a photo related to an incidental part of the clue (not even the definition) rather than the answer. Mind you, I would probably have done the same in his boots …

       1. I assume that young woman has just purchased a coffee and isn’t a barista!

          1. The internet claims that she is. Evidently bikini baristas are a thing.

             1. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later …

       2. Nicely done by ‘Special K’ 👏👏

    2. It’s rarer than it used to be in the bad old days. I never put pictures of scantily clad people on my blogs. It is easy enough to get the woke brigade to upset themselves in other ways

       1. Wot, by posting a pic of a spoof cat-carrier?

          1. No. That’s just funnny

       2. I’m sure I remember you posting a photo of an oldish balding bloke sprawled across a hotel bed wearing nothing but a pair of budgie-smugglers! :-)

    3. Doesn’t bother me in the least, Gordong, they’re invariably very attractive young ladies who may engender my envy but never my condemnation. I’m quite a believer in ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it’!
       My problem comes when those of either sex insist on flaunting what they patently haven’t got to be proud of!

       1. A misplaced thong is a cringe-fest unless it’s on Bella Emberg, of course…..zowie!

          Did you know her name was Sybil Dyke. Why change a great name?

          Oh, what an atmosphere….

       2. Well said, Jane, exactly my sentiments. In any case, the bloggers do occasionally show a piece of beefcake for our delectation, what do you say then?

          1. If he’s hot, then…..yeeeeee haaaaar!

    4. Nothing wrong with “women”, but I just prefer “ladies”, or is that being “woke”. I’ve never really understood what being “woke” means.

       1. Hoo nose.

          Interestingly, my wife hates the term ‘lady’. So, I stopped using it. Maybe, she’s in the minority.

          Horses for courses and all that caper.

25. Well to go against the trend, I thought this was pretty dire. Especially 13d whom I’ve never heard of and the ridiculous word in 14a. Never mind, the rest of it was okay.
    ***/**

26. Thanks Setter for dragging me 5 seconds into 2* time and thanks MrK for the parsing – I think you mean homophone not anagram in 6d, btw. Knew the pirate, and as an ex-teacher, blackboard didn’t once spring to mind, funnily enough. Good fun all round.

    1. Typo fixed. Thanks.

27. I thought this was a fantastic puzzle and very enjoyable unlike yesterdays. Loved the cat video – I will try and attach a little clip of my own although not sure I can access the file. Thanks to all. Wordle 5 Quordle 8! If I manage the clip play with sound on.

    
    

    1. How on earth do they do that?

       1. Computer-generated imagery, I expect.

    2. That was brilliant. An amazing video Manders. Thank you for the entertainment!

    3. Thanks, Manders, that’s brilliant.

28. Lovely puzzle. I was tootling my way through it when I received a request to take ‘The Youngster’ out to lunch. So out I headed with three answers left to find. Upon my recent return, they fell into place with an ease that was not there pre-lunch (and I’m a non-drinker so we can’t give the shout out to a gin and tonic or whatever).
    Earlier, I had gone further than Daisy and chucked in ‘moustache’ without a care, only to erase it when 17d hove into view.

    Thanks to the setter and The Celebrated Mr K (particularly for the explanation regarding 13d)

29. That was a barrel-load of fun, I loved it all. Of course I didn’t know 14a, I shamelessly used e-help to get the answer, I’ll never remember it anyway. It took a long while to remember the Britspeak for “tips” at 3d. Lovely word at 22a, rolls off the tongue, but fave was the pirate, didn’t fool me at all and went straight in.
    Thank you setter, please come back soon. Thanks Mr. K for unravelling a few, and natch for the cat entertainment, I could watch the goalies for hours. Wordle in 3.

30. Well. That was a smooth solve.
    Love expressions such as 11a and 22a.
    Nice bit of poetry in 14a.
    Thanks to the setter and to MrK for the review.

31. Thoroughly enjoyed!
    Completed last night pre-blog so had to return today and be ‘educamated’ about the pirate’s real name…as we say “every day’s a school day!”
    Many thanks Mr K (loved the pics and vid!) and also to today’s setter (?)
    Cheers!

32. Again I found this a bit tricky 🤔 possibly because I a. Did not know the pirates name and b. had the wrong ending to 14a so ***/*** Favourites were 22a and 13d Thanks to Mr K and to the Compiler 🤗 I also liked 1a 😬

33. A nice puzzle again for a Tuesday 2*/4*
    14a was a really clever and good clue and has to be my favourite for its construction.
    Other favourites were 1a, 11a, 22a & 3d.
    Much to like and chuckle over in this puzzle.

    Thanks to setter and Mr K
    Wordle in 4 and Canuckle (the Canadian version) in 3

    1. Now look what you’ve gone and done! As if I didn’t have enough addictions going on, Xword, codewords and Wordle, now I have to add a Canadian bit of fun. Done it in 3.

34. I really enjoyed that today. 14a has to be one of the best PDM for quite a while but 22a and 25a and 20d ran it close.
    Loved the cat vids as well. (Peter the Cat Bonetti, whose memorial Terence recently attended must have been that pussies inspiration)
    4d and 9a nicely overlapped wordplay and definition too.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

35. Solved early this morning before setting off to Dunston Hall in Norwich for a golf trip – course so so but the room & staff great & hopefully the grub too. Thought the puzzle great fun. Fairly straightforward & a brisk solve with no head scratches other than parsing 13d – knew the pirate but not the relevance of teach. Ticks for 1,14,22&25a plus 3&8d.
    Thanks to the setter & Mr K – loved the goalie clip & the clip from Manders

36. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle and my only delay was 14a and 13d. The latter, I struggled to parse but it had to be! Loved the cat videos from Mr K and Manders. Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

37. This was certainly a bit different, and a very enjoyable solve over a pre supper beer.
    Must admit I couldn’t see the parsing of 13d though the solution was obvious enough.
    Top clues for me were 1&22a plus 23d (natch).
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the fun.

38. Mixed feelings on this one, it felt like it was written by two people. Got half done and rest proved to be quite stubborn. Nothing more annoying than an anagram that I can’t solve (14a). I agree a “bonkers” word. I forgot about the British tip. We don’t have them here. Most counties will pick up anything you leave out on garbage day, be it a couch, refrigerator etc. But you do need to take stuff such as partly used paint, electronics etc. to the hazardous waste site. I’ve long thought it is a shame that this pick up service isn’t part of dustbin day in England. It would avoid so much fly tipping. Thanks to the setter and Mr K. On a positive note, just finished Monday’s 700 puzzle, a real gem.

39. BL – I wish our UK counties too would pick up more or less anything. Tomorrow is our non-recyclable collection day in Horsham W. Sussex. I have just tried my luck by putting out a broken steel garden chair alongside the dustbin but am fairly sure it will be rejected and I will have to go to the tip/waste site or pay to have a special collection.

40. I thought that was an excellent crossword, one of the best for a while. I really liked 13d and 14a, very clever!
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

41. A super puzzle, the second of the day with the toughie. Lots to like. I knew Teach in 13d so no problems there, even though 14a was a new word for me with most of the checkers out couldn’t be anything else. I’ll go with the majority for favourite as 22a. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

42. 4*/4*…..
    liked 11A ” New Yorker’s an entertaining quiet busybody (4,6) “

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