DT No 30315

101 comments on “DT No 30315”

1. Wow! That was a Toughie and no mistake. Even though I knew 1d was an anagram, I would not have solved it in a month of Sundays without help. I have only vague memories of the cat and the virgin birth. All in all, not a lot of laughs for me but I am sure others will love it.

   Thank you to the setter but, like yesterday, I was on another planet all together. Many thanks to SL for the hints.

   Happy Birthday, Shropshire Lad. I hope you have a great day.

   1. Is it unreasonable to have little known words clued in a way that allows those of us with smaller vocabularies to build them, then look ’em up? Just a thought.

      1. Of course not, Dryden but, even with checkers, I wouldn’t have got 1d. :grin:

         1. I shamelessly used an anagram solver for 1a and 1d, I would never have solved those otherwise.

            1. Me too!!

            2. Me too!

               1. And me! No shame at all.

      2. I agree, with 1d being the prime offender, and hard to understand how a crossword that includes such answers gets onto the back page, instead of the Toughie slot.

         1. Good point, these crosswords should be about “tough entertainment” and enjoyment, not clever and not above most average peoples scope!! Very bad!!

         2. Never heard of either 1A or 1D… but still manged to fit in the correct letters after filling in the checked letters. Then checked them in the big red book. Sometimes it’s not so hard. Excellent puzzle for the back page… good to have to stop and think awhile.

2. 2.5*/5*. I absolutely loved this puzzle, with brief, accurate clueing throughout and penny-drop moments aplenty.

   1d was my last one in solved by subtracting the crossing letters from the anagram fodder and playing around with what was left until something which looked less unlikely than all the other combinations appeared. A quick check in the BRB confirmed that this was indeed the required answer.

   1a was a great start – a lovely humorous hook to kick off with. As for trying to pick a favourite, I wouldn’t know where to begin with such a fine selection.

   Many thanks to the setter, could this be a second back-pager from The Twmp? Thanks too to SL.

   P.S. Happy Birthday to Shropshirelad. I hope you are keeping well, Jim. Be good to hear from you on the blog again.

3. 8d!! My favourite clue ever😊👍

4. Not being a combination of quantum physicist, evolutionary biologist or an expert in reproductive biology, today’s puzzle almost brought on the need for reformulated angelicas (15d).

   With a great deal of electronic assistance in these areas, the outer grid was completed and the rest was thankfully within my limited areas of knowledge. Favourites include 12a, 13a and the bewildered birds of 22d.

   Thanks to setter for increasing my vocabulary (if I can remember these new words) and thanks also to the hinter.

   1. I fully agree.
      Additionally, I hope your horse has plenty of hay.

      1. Neigh!

   2. I doubt you’ll ever see those words again,I’d just forget them

      1. I’ve given up on this. I came on the blog to say exactly what you’ve said, the most ridiculous, outlandish clues I’ve ever seen in a crossword. Well done to anyone who got them unaided. While I’m here 3d reminded me of the 7 dwarfs, I’d spell it ‘hey’ but I’m sure someone will put me right. Grump over.

5. Extremely tricky and completed with the help of a dictionary for 1d and 1a, neither of which I had heard of. It was a struggle. Still perishing here and unfortunately it is our WI visit to Mannington Hall to see their famous roses most of which probably won’t be in bloom! Still Lady Walpole is giving us an introductory talk outside so we will have to wrap up with scarves and gloves and its JUNE for goodness sake. Thanks to all

6. Definitely “Toughie” territory and nearly gave up but once 1A and 1D were in the rest proceeded at a steady pace. COTD 8D ***/****

7. I agree with everyone. I did an online anagram solver for 1d and it was my last fill-in.

   1. Two anagram solvers for me … tough but fair!

8. Goodness, that was tough (upper reaches of 4*), but not unenjoyable. 1d held out until the bitter end, needing all of the checkers to assist in what I needed to look up.

   After a couple of weeks with little time for crosswords, could have done with something gentler to ease back in!

9. There are some cracking clues here though I wasn’t thrilled to find that all the 15-letter peripheral clues involved anagrams (three full and one partial). Thanks to the setter and SL.
   I ticked 12a, 3d and 20d with my runaway favourite being 10a.

10. A toughie back pager with a challenging ‘frame’ ,last in was 8d when I remembered the disappearing cat from my uni days,needless to say 1a and 1d were completly new and took a bit of finding.
    Top class cluing ,liked 12a and 25a elicited a smile.
    Favourite was 10 a double cryptic as per SL.
    Going for a ****/****

11. A very enjoyable not a Ray T guess the setter Thursday back pager – 2.5*/4.5*

    Amazingly, I was able to drag 1a from the recesses of my memory with the only reason for knowing it is that it has appeared in DT puzzles before. And, I knew 8d from being ‘addicted’ to a well known US sitcom abbreviated as TBBT. But, I did need e-help to resolve the primitive sort of anagram in 1d.

    The linguistic purist in me might say that another E is required in 8d because it is not possible to include an umlaut (and I can’t really accept what is probably an Americanisation of the scientist’s name) :wink:

    Candidates for favourite – 22a, 24a, 29a, 4d, and 22d – and the winner is 22d.

    I was thinking of putting five bob on NYDK for the setter but our blogger’s suggestion is hard to ignore so the two half-crowns are staying in my pocket.

    Thanks to whomsoever and Stephen L.

    1. If I were a betting man NYDK would have been my outside punt but I think I’m pretty safe with my original choice. All will be revealed later hopefully.

    2. I also only got 8d due to the wonderful TBBT.
       Overall a challenging puzzle but still enjoyable.

12. A positive celebration of anagrams which were greatly enjoyed by yours truly. I particularly liked 1a, 1d and 8d (though like RD, I wasnt too sure of the spelling in the latter. 29a was also a very ckever clue. Thanks to SL for the hints and to our compiler for a tricky but fair challenge.

13. Thanks Stephen, but this ace puzzle isn’t mine!

    1. That’s a big surprise, I felt sure it was. I wonder if I can edit the preamble without anyone noticing!

    2. Thanks Twmbarlwm. Five bob on NYDK!

14. Ouch!! 1A and 1D took all five of the “reveal a letter” options, a lot of head scratching, and finally googling what I was sure was the incorrect spelling which google then obligingly corrected. Handy, that. So, a full grid though not a lot of satisfaction. I did like 22D and 25A, though. Thanks to SL and the setter.

15. I echo Steve’s WOW and the fact that help was needed to solve 1d, but I absolutely loved it. It was very anagram heavy which you know I’m not fond of, but on this occasion they certainly helped. I’d never heard of 8d. I knew what I was meant to do, but was trying to get Moore into the picture as the sculptor and was convinced that the final word was ‘act’. However, with all the checkers in place and fiddling around with the remaining letters I got there unaided. Far too many superb clues today to choose a favourite, so thanks to the compiler for the mental workout and StephenL whose comments I enjoyed reading.

16. When, involuntarily, Jonah took up residence inside the whale, he must have looked around and thought, “Well, this is a fine mess I have got myself into.” That was rather my feeling as I blinked in the manner of Bertie Wooster being accosted by an aunt on the way to luncheon at the Drones Club.
    I had so much time as I stared, uncomprehending, at this grid, that I hallucinated and believed I was Santiago in The Old Man And The Sea – the marlin pulling me towards the infinite ocean. I felt as though I were both alive and dead at the same time.
    As I don’t drink alcohol, I mixed metaphors instead of martinis.

    The committee that decides upon entries for THE LIST resigned en masse this morning as soon as they saw this grid. I am going outside and, after a short ceremony, I shall burn my copy of Chambers.

    Thanks to the setter and to Dharma Of The Dumnonii

    1. Your comment has made my day, Terence. Thank you. Here is a mixed non-alcoholic martini for you.🍸

       1. :good:

    2. Chapeau, Terence, quite brilliant: were the Chelsea men even half as talented at their football as you are at penning reviews, they would have two cups already this season and be on for the quadruple!

    3. Do not burn the book Terence, and re-convene the committee forthwith. Tomorrow is another day and The List will no doubt be brought into play again. Never mind Jonah in the Whale, at least he stood a chance of being spat out but pity that poor cat. I have never liked that Schrödinger man.

       1. When is your book going to be published, Terence?
          Daisy, I’m with you re 8d. I did know it and felt immediate distaste for the man. What did the cat ever do to him?

17. I really enjoyed this and agree with the difficulty rating. 1d my LOI and solved in exactly the same way as Rabbit Dave and then confirming with Google. 5d and 8d my favourites from an impressive cast list.
    Many thanks to the setter for the challenge and of course to SL for the hints.

18. Managed 1a once I had some checkers in place but 1d took a fair amount of guesswork and help from Mr G. Would agree with others that 8d looks wrong with that spelling.
    Not sure how much I enjoyed the solve but I did find enough goodies to fill the podium – the nod went to 9&18a plus 3,7&22d.

    Thanks to our setter (NYDK?) and also to Stephen for the review.

19. An exacting vocabulary test with which I do have to admit to a nudge or two from MrG. NW last in including my Fav 11a. I agree with Senf re missing umlaut in 8d. Altogether a terrific enigma. Thank you Mysteron and StephenL.

20. A good run out as regards a temperate increase in difficulty, but full of wit and fine clues. I counted only seven anagrams, so probably fair enough. Not sure if there’s a legal limit on these in the DT, whereas The Times, according to their TfTT site, allows five.

    There were for me too many good clues in this to select one for the plaudits, but the frisky horse was particularly nice. All in all an excellent puzzle.

21. As usual, the Thursday puzzle was challenging for me, but I did manage to fill in more blanks before turning to the blog for help. Three words that were completely unknown to me, one of which I could have parsed from the clue, but missed it.

    Needed a lot of help, which reduces my enjoyment I am afraid.

22. An absolutely splendid Thursday offering! Great, mostly concise clues, a good challenge and an enjoyable grapple. The 2 I liked best (which I suppose is just as bad as “joint favourites”) were 1a because it caused me the most headscratching (the hallmark of a really good, devious cryptic clue) and 12a – not massively difficult to parse but a polished and amusing clue. 3.5*/4.5*.

23. That was a challenge but a very enjoyable one. 1d is new I suspect to most of us but my fav was def 8d. Is the clue there when we are not looking? However, probably invidious to pick out clues as there were so many excellent ones as far as I was concerned.
    Such a relief after yesterdays trial. A brilliant puzzle for me.
    ***/*****
    Thx to all

    1. Brian, I have said it before – you astound me. In a good way. Didn’t you find that really tricky?

       1. As I recall, Brian is a scientist and the GK in this puzzle seems to have hit the spot for him!

24. Every day a school day. Unfortunately age means I’m unlikely to remember any of those long words for more than a few hours. Thank you to setter, SL and my electronic gizmo.

25. Most of this puzzle was quite straightforward and beautifully clued, with clever deceit employed throughout. Rather heavy on the anagrams, but some of them were quite brilliant. Ticks aplenty, with Hon Mentions to 10a, 14a, 6d, 8d (would have been COTD but for the bizarre surface), 20d & 22d; COTD instead to 1a, a real laugh-out-loud moment on reading it, let alone solving.

    However, 1d … super though the surface and anagrist are – and with all the checkers in place the answer could have been nothing else – I do think that for such an obscure, unusual and uncommon word to be an anagram is rather unsporting: it becomes a “biff and hope because it’s all that fits” rather than a logical piecing-together of clued elements.

    2.5 / 3 (would have been 4 but for 1d)

    Many thanks to the setter and to StephenL

    1. 1d might have been couldn’t have been anything else for you but it still took muffins here 2 stabs

       1. muggins not muffins

       2. Oh, it took me several stabs, Huntsman – working out the probable last half of the word narrowed the field somewhat, but it was no write-in.

          Smiled at the typo: nothing wrong with muffins – the proper English ones, that is, toasted and served with hot butter, not the ponced up American fairy cakes!

       3. How lovely, guzzlers who act like muffins.

          1. 😀

    2. I totally agree. There were some flashes of brilliance and it was very enjoyable. Re 1D, it was obviously an anagram and the definition was clear. But … I have to say I prefer a tricky clue for a straightforward word, rather than the other way around. Same goes for 1A. Clever, certainly, but oddly irritating. Thanks, as ever, to all.

26. I’ve sort of given up commenting as the regulars seem to say everything I need to and more wittily.
    Another great backpager. Not too difficult as I seemed to have heard of all the long words. Spelling however was another matter. I did manage one across without help but the left and right columns needed several goes. Whats more I missed the sculptor in 8d and still do not know Roman/Greek gods nor do I feel the need to. So apart from a bit of parsing and checking some spellings it was a successful **/**** from me. Thanks to SL and the setter for brightening my cloudy cold day here in Gloucester which has seen no sun for 2 days.

27. Even though this Thursday puzzle has some new words for me as well as some decidedly tricky clues to parse, I found it far easier than last Thursday’s RayT puzzle. Obviously this is not a RayT puzzle, but in the end after using my thinking cap and grey cells, I enjoyed the solve as things dropped into place. Liked the four 3-letter clues as well.

    1.5*/4* for me. Went in top to bottom basically other than the four perimeter clues.

    There were at least 5 new words for me today.

    Favourites include the four perimeter clues, (that had two of the words I had never heard of), along with 11a, 28a, 2d, 5d — with the winner the 8d perimeter clue.

    Thanks to setter & StephenL for hints/blog

28. Hello. Five bob was bet on me above I see. Spot on.

    Thanks to StephenL for the blog, and to all who have commented. I do take your thoughts on board you know!

    This grid appeals to me because if solvers can fill the long lights around it, obvs they have a good start with everything else. With hindsight, of course, possibly the ‘primitive sort’ was a tad esoteric, even though Bromley seems to be full of them :D

    Many thanks
    NYDK

    1. Thanks for popping in and a top puzzle NYDK.

    2. Ouch! You certainly put me through the wringer, NYDK, but I’m the better for it.

       I love cryptic crosswords and 8d is a case in point:

       I got the sculptor and g in a heartbeat, realizing that I needed to put an anagram of scratches around it. But, lacking checkers for a while made it a challenge. I then said the answer one syllable at a time, thinking ‘This cannot be’ as I’ve never heard of it. Sure enough, it is!

       Marvellous

       Very hard to pick a podium as there are so many good runners but I’ll go with the aforementioned.

       Many thanks to Stephen L and the New Yorker.

       5*/5*

    3. Thanks NYDK a puzzle that was doable even for me. Thank you too for 8d which is as good a clue as I have seen in a long time.

29. I thought this was another great crossword, although I probably had an unfair advantage given that it seemed to cover most of my interests. I positively raced through the east side but the west put up more of a struggle. Last in was 28A as my initial solution was a lurker.

    This may not be the place but I thought I would introduce myself. I have been retired for some time. I contracted encephalitis in 2019. I started attempting the cryptic in April 2020 as a self-imposed exercise to try and retrain my brain to compensate for the damage it had sustained. At first I felt delighted if I solved half a dozen clues after a day’s work. Now I am disappointed if I fail to complete the Friday cryptic without a hint. Everything I know about cryptic crosswords comes from reading the comments in this blog so a heartfelt Thank You to you all.

    1. That’s a lovely comment Scientist.

    2. I think we all look to the crosswords for some sort of therapy or escapism. Your experience sounds so uplifting.

       1. Well said, Daisy.

30. All been said. The real slap banger is that Brian enjoyed it! It was certainly a challenge but I love anagrams and there was a wonderful feeling of achievement to put the last one in (1 Down) albeit with help. I do like that word albeit. I liked 7d & lots of others but my one favourite is 25a. Many thanks to Not Your Daughter’s Knickers (I have lots of your trousers in different colours) and to Stephen L. Speaking of different colours, I do like a snappy dresser but I did think Michael Portillo’s red raincoat was a step too far even for Whitby. He looked like an escaped Beefeater.

31. I am chuffed to admit that I managed 1a without an anagram solver. I had all the cross checkers. Similarly one down but I got two letters the wrong way round. I expect he she or if non binary they 🤣 were unpleasant large or small beasts. Otherwise a great puzzle. With apologies to the setter I am not a fan of GK so ** on that front. Otherwise it could have been a **** for me. SL at *** bang on. Isn’t Devon amazing at present? PS even better the little brats (who now all scream and have no boundaries) are back at school. Thanks to our illustrious setter and hinter.

    1. Totally agree Nas (South) West is best at the moment with Devon the jewel in the crown.

    2. Re 1d wonder if they were the same 2 letters that I mucked up

       1. Undoubtedly!

          You were the very good hinter the other day I recall.

32. OK 1a and 1d were anagrams
    But, I’ll say no more.
    Apart, completed eventually
    Fully stretched mentally by this
    Wandering Toughie.
    Relief at the end.
    Thanks setter and StephenL

33. A good challenge. I popped 1across in straightaway. I used to teach an entomology module on insects and there’s a lot of 1a going on there. Likewise 8d was in in a flash. However 1d eluded me despite several checkers and I like many of you resorted to electronic help. Once that was in situ the king toppled quickly.
    My favorite was 2d followed by 25a . Last one in. Thanks to all.

34. Can’t really claim an unaided finish as LOI 1d took 2 stabs. None of the 15 letter peripherals came easily to me & it was a case of wait for the checkers provided by some of the easier ones. Enjoyed the puzzle but not nearly as much as T’s comment on it.
    Thanks to Donny & Stephen
    Off to the Toughie in the safe knowledge of no anagrams & certainly not 15 letter ones.

35. I thought this was friendlier than yesterday, do not interpret that as being “easy”. I used ehelp to solve 1a/1d, I had a snowballs hope in hell otherwise. I have huge sympathies for the cat, so 8d lost some luster for me, but I opted for the right sculptor. Last in was 3d, took a while to get that. I liked 10a, wasn’t that clever?
    Thank you NYDK, I needed your unravelling of a few StephenL.

36. Good grief!
    This was well and truly beyond me.
    Amongst the answers that I managed included 10 and 25a and 6d.
    Thanks for the crossword NYDK and to SL for the much needed hints, not to mention the answers too.
    Happy Birthday Shropshire Lad – lovely to see you Jim and hope all is well for you and family. :smile: to you.

37. My goodness, I am struggling to think of something positive to say. Not sure how this ended up as the backpager, but clearly a treat for those who love two Toughies to do on a Thursday. I confess I didn’t know the word for 1a, and then followed up by 1d…. Can’t even hope to remember that one. I enjoyed the 10 answers I got on my own, so thanks for that.

38. Like others I had to resort to Dr Google for the science clues of 1a and 1d, but otherwise a good fun romp. I knew 8d, being a big fan of Big Bang Theory and its reference seemingly once a series – and thank goodness too, my sculptor knowledge is woeful. Overall I found pretty concise cluing and some great DDs/AIOs. I liked 7d, 10a and 22a taking the tape **/****

    Thanks to NYDK and StephenL

39. Thanks to BD for the Birthday banner – much appreciated. I would also like to thank the various bloggers for their kind words and Birthday wishes. Doesn’t time fly – it only seems like yesterday that I joined the RN and now I’m officially a recipient of the New State Pension!! So please – all you lovely people who are still working – keep it up :good:
    I do hope you are all keeping well and in good spirits :smile:

    1. Happy Birthday from me too, I didn’t even notice the banner!

    2. It appears that I’ve forgotten how to use emoticons D’oh! :good: :smile: No fool like an old fool.

       1. It appears that I haven’t Do’h!

    3. Happy Birthday, Jim.

    4. Happy birthday, Shropshire Lad, and wishing you many more!

40. Well…I suppose they let the setter out of the asylum from time to time and he or she swerves past the editor during half term week to print a crossword impossible for most to solve without a library of reference books to hand. I had to smile, but hope normal service resumed next week.

41. Good evening
    Having been unable to get anywhere near the crozzie for the last two days, I was looking forward to today’s. I’ve got a fairly long break at Plymouth today, so I’ve used that time to finish today’s, albeit with quite a great deal of head-scratching.
    What can I say about the perimeter of today’s grid? 4 astonishing clues; Clue Of the Year (so far) has to go to 8d. That wasn’t just worthy of a “Crikey!” – that one was a step back in amazement and a cry of “Bloody hell!”

    Thanks to NYDK and StephenL

42. Any crossword that has 1a and 8d in it gets my vote! Thanks NYDK! A joy to solve from start to finish.
    Thanks too to StephenL

43. What larks. Even with all the across clues in place 1d was a challenge. I quite liked the puzzle overall.

44. Well, much as I like an anagram, 1d was completely beyond me! And I knew what the answers to 1a/6d were but the spellings needed help.

45. Another busy day, so rather late on.
    This was tricky but I a managed, 1d was last in once ai guessed where the letters might go and checked with google. This was satisfying to finish. 1a was my favourite.

    Many thanks to NYKD and Stephen L

46. I have the utmost respect for the setters of the crosswords we all love solving, but it was ridiculous to have this offering as a backpager. 1a and 1d… seriously… who ever uses these words outside of specialist scientific disciplines.

    Was the crossword editor high when they put this on the back page? Magic mushrooms would do it.

    Rant over. Enjoyed the half of the crossword I could solve unaided.

    Thanks to all (but not the editor).

47. I was going to read through the comments and add my own two pennorth but, after the news about Big Dave, I decided flippancy would be inappropriate.

    RIP, Big Man.

    1. Yes, sobering news. Thank goodness there is a solid core of BD’s disciples/colleagues who will, I hope and pray, carry on the site. It is too important to lose.

       1. Amen to that, Daisygirl.

          1. Amen.

48. Quite tricky but very satisfying to complete.

49. I am so sorry to hear of this. RIP indeed.

50. I was indeed the answer to the quickie pun after solving a few of these unaided and then giving up. As another has commented, thanks to all except the editor.
    I gather from the above that I have written this at a very sad time. RIP.

51. 3*/4* ….
    liked 4D “Sounding chivalrous when vampires prowl? (7)”

52. Didn’t really take 2 weeks to solve this but definitely maximum number of stars for time.
    Even with all the checkers in place in 1d, I also used an anagram app to solve it.
    The ring in 5d was also new to me.
    25a made me laugh.
    Thanks to Donnybrook for the great challenge and to StephenL for the review.
    A very late happy birthday to Jim.

    1. No matter how late a post is, I’ll inevitably read it jean-luc.

Comments are closed.