DT No 30327

98 comments on “DT No 30327”

1. Lovely puzzle today with a fair mix of clues.
   My favourites were 16a, 27a and 17d.
   Thanks to setter and StephenL.

2. This has certainly broken the run of easier puzzles that we have enjoyed of late, with some cunning clues and clever twists and turns along the way. I particularly liked 17a and 15d, although there were many candidates.

   My thanks to our setter and SL.

3. What a wonderful Thursday grid — 15D was definitely my COTD, helped by my own second coffee of the day! (With 10A a close second).

4. An excellent, tricky puzzle with a twist to almost every answer. My many favourites include 25a, 27a and 1d.

   Putting my pedantic hat on, in the whisky industry, 10a goes into the washbacks and the resulting fermented wash goes to the stills. However, “still” used as a local abbreviation for the distillery as a whole so in this case the terrific clue does work both ways.

   Many thanks to the setter and hinter.

5. After a slow start, as the checkers began to fall into place and I progressed more rapidly. There were some tricky clues in the NW, which held me up for a time. I like 1a, 27a, 5d, 3d and 5d. Thanks to SL for the hints, some of which I needded to check that I cl had parsed thingscorrectly. Thanks also to the compiler for a nicely balanced puzzle, well-suited to the content needed for a Thursday backpager. Not a refugee Toughie in sight.2

6. Toehold in the SW
   Then diagonal progress
   Leaving NW as final segment.
   Loved 16a for its surface.
   Big smiles at 25 and 18a
   And 8 and 15d.
   Accidentally saw 3d but was following
   Correct parsing rationale.
   COTD 25a, brilliant!
   Thanks to the setter and StephenL

7. I absolutely loved it. So many witty and clever clues requiring a little thought outside the box. I spent as long on the SW corner as the rest of the puzzle but don’t really know why. Finished unaided but did check the synonym in 1a. I liked the misdirection in 10a and 6d. Very difficult to pick ONE favourite but I’ll choose 18a, closely followed by 25a. Thanks to the setter – more please, and to StephenL. I didn’t need your help today, but all you reviewers are much appreciated for your hard work.

8. Simply brilliant, and brilliantly simple….. once you’ve finished and look back at it! and I can honestly say that finishing took an absolute dog’s age today, thought I’d got to the end of my ability with still over half to go, then after staring at it for ages I got one more, and that gave me the foothold to go on.
   Too many favourites to pick just one, many thanks to our setter today, best puzzle in months.

9. That was a bit of a head scratcher for me, but doable. 8d and 27a were my favourites. Thank you setter and SL.

10. A very enjoyable ‘guess the setter’ on a ‘not a Ray T Thursday.’ I have some thoughts on who the setter might be but with great caution my two half-crowns are staying in my pocket. **/****

    Candidates for favourite – 10a, 13a, 25a, 17d, and 19d – and the winner is 25a.

    Thanks to the setter and StephenL.

11. Smashing puzzle and I thought a solid 3 for difficulty and 4 for pleasure.
    Very slow start here but then steady progress throughout.
    Special cheer to the setter!

12. Very enjoyable indeed – many thanks to our setter and SL.
    Amongst the clues I ticked were 10a, 25a, 27a and 15d.

13. I was thinking we might be in for a treat with this one after seeing the first two across clues, which had me giggling before I solved either. ‘Here we go’ was the thought, and so it proved with enjoyable clue after enjoyable clue.

    The first two clues are a great set-up for the rest, and there really are for me so many to choose from in this puzzle that could ascend to the podium — we might need a bigger one — but the cryptic definition at 27 is very good indeed. So brava or bravo. I certainly have my suspicions.

    Thanks Ms/Mr Ron and StephenL for the great blog.

14. Super puzzle, certainly one from the top drawer. A swift and straightforward completion but with plenty of smiles throughout and no specialist/esoteric knowledge requried. Very satisfying indeed. Almost came unstuck with 5d when I saw ‘flymower’ in the anagrist, but fortunately realised an ‘a’ would be leftover, and reconsidered. So many ticks afterwards – 3d, 17d (a laugh out loud on the surface alone), 11a, 16a, 27a .. with 16a beaten to the post by my COTD, 18a.

    1.5* / 4*

    Many thanks to the setter and to Stephen

15. Lovely fun puzzle which I completed. I needed to check the hints for 1a and 15d to confirm the synonym in 1a and the parsing of 15d. My favourite was 27a although it was hard to pick.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Stephen L

16. I’ll join in the applause for this one despite having made a very slow start.
    All my candidates for the podium are grouped together – 10,11,13,16&17a – but I could have selected several others.

    Thanks to our setter – an entry in the Quickie is pushing me towards NYDK – and to Stephen for the review.

17. 2.5*/4*. What a lovely puzzle with 18a the best of a fine selection. Three quarters fell into place very smoothly but the NW corner held out for a while, taking my time over 2*.

    Many thanks to the setter and to SL.

    1. Plainsailing for most of this with North yielding first. Rather a lot of anagrams which are not my favourite thing. 25a was front runner with 8d close behind. Thank you Mysteron and StephenL.

    2. P.S. Can I recommend an outstanding Toughie today penned by our very own Silvanus?

18. Super puzzle right from that opening one-two combo. (It’s not one of mine, Stephen!)

    1. Fooled me again, though I have to say in my defense you and the other strong possibility NYDK have very similar styles, which is a compliment to you both I guess!

       1. You flatter me. He and I both think the best progressive rock album of all time is ‘Close to the Edge’ by Yes, so there is that!

          1. It’s a genre that doesn’t appeal as much as it once did but for me it would be Trick of the Tail.

             1. That’s a great album. On top of Phil Collins having to lead the band from that year on, I think he was also approaching his peak as a drummer around then. His playing with the jazz-rock band Brand X in the same period is excellent.

             2. You have great taste, SL and Tumbleweed. It’s my fave too. All Genesis spods were nervous when they released their first post-Gabriel album. But, the first five seconds of the first track, Dance on a Volcano, put paid to that. What an announcement! The ending of Entangled….marvellous. So sad when Steve left.

                Anyway….

                This was a stellar puzzle. Beautifully constructed and concise clues with great humour thrown in (always a bonus).

                My COTD goes to 25a as ‘Now I see’ is truly brilliant.

                Bravo, NYDK, and thank you SL

                1. Yes the band made a big statement with that album TS but unfortunately they weren’t quite able to maintain it though the following two albums were very good too

                   1. Agreed. And Then There Were Three was their last great album.

                      Mike Rutherford was asked in an interview why they called it that. He looked at the journalist quizzically, asking him for the next question.

                      Hilaire

19. Excellent puzzle – one of the best I have solved for a long time!

    Thanks to the setter, and to SL.

20. Well that’s annoying!

    Usually struggle against RayT on a Thursday, so when I managed to complete a typically cleverly clued and challenging Thursday puzzle without electronic assistance I thought that for once – FOR ONCE! – I could consider I might have come out on top.

    Then I read here that it probably wasn’t RayT. Rats!

    Takes nothing away from the enjoyment and, while I am grateful for SL’s effort in hinting, I can proudly say I didn’t need them. Back to earth next week I am sure, so, StephenL, please be on hand to assist.

    1. One of several best indicators of ‘not a Ray T Thursday’ – multiword clues in the Quickie.

21. An excellent Thursday puzzle. Great clues provided a goodish challenge and an enjoyable solve. From a top-notch bunch of clues I’ll mention 25a and 27a. 3*/4*.

22. I needed help with a couple so not an unaided finish but enjoyable, nevertheless. I had ticks all over the paper – 10a, 13a and 27a to name a few. My COTD is 19d simply because it appealed to me.

    Many thanks to the setter for the challenge and to SL for the hints.

    Finally, I am afraid I have to confirm that Peter Austerberry (LabrodorsRuleOK) died in February. I know many of us have good memories of Peter and it is thanks to Merusa who did a bit of online research that we learn of his passing.

    RIP, Peter.

    

    1. Sorry to hear that Steve, I always enjoyed his typically northern straight-talking and incisive but kind comments. Rip, LROK.

    2. Oh that is sad news. Peter was very kind and sent me several supportive emails when poor little Lola was ill.
       RIP, Peter.

    3. Very sad news. RIP Peter.

    4. Very sad news, condolences to his family.

       I very much enjoyed ‘discussing’ golf with him.

       RIP Peter.

    5. RIP Peter.

    6. Such sad news but thank you for letting us know, Steve. I invariably enjoyed the comments he used to leave on the blog.
       My condolences to Peter’s family and friends.

    7. Very sad news. I remember once mentioning our black labrador puppy’s insane movements while it was sleeping, and he expertly told me that it was either dreaming about food or dreaming about sleeping!

       1. I have missed seeing his comments for some months and wondered if something had happened to him. I’m sad tao hear of his death but thanks for letting us know

    8. Thanks for letting us about LROK, Steve,
       How sad – what a nice man he was – he and I used to have quite long emails about all kinds of things – Labs versus Collies and families mainly – not sure how that started.
       My condolences to his family.
       RIP Peter

    9. Oh dear, that is very sad news. I did so enjoy his comments, and he was very supportive when I was going through a tough time, and I have missed his comments. RIP Peter. Even sadder that we did not know earlier.

    10. RIP, Peter, another labrophile, many lovely chats of our fave furfriends. Godspeed.

    11. Sad, though not unexpected news. I very much enjoyed his comments & observations. RIP

        1. Very sad news if not unexpected we’ll all miss you LROK.

    12. How odd, I was thinking of him earlier – I liked his soubriquet. Sad to lose any of our Crossword friends – condolences to his family.

    13. RIP, LabrodorsRuleOK, and thank you for your comments and being part of the community here.

        Thank you to Merusa and Steve for researching this and informing us all.

23. *One of the many endearing aspects of BD is that we tend to worry if someone doesn’t show up for duty. So forgive my forwardness but I felt it right to drop in the info that we shall be away for a couple of weeks and a bit, and I am not sure how easy, if at all, it will be to keep up to date with all things crosswordy.

    A most enjoyable guzzle.
    The downfall of 16a is a very sad tale of a life turned upside down. It includes all the women used and left in his wake. Terrible decisions and strange situations often accompanied by snatched photographs taken by bystanders in the middle of the night, and followed by the inevitable police mugshot.
    The desperate attempts at rehabilitation (mental and physical); the subsequent strains put upon his broken body. All taking place in public and with the sands of time racing down through the hourglass.
    A career thrown away.

    Thanks to the setter and Dharma of The Dumnonii.

    

    1. I felt quite proud of myself for getting that sporty one. I hope you have a good holiday, and we most certainly would have worried if we had not had daily information about lovely walks, abysmal words to be added to the list and bleats about bits. 😊

       1. Quite right, Daisy! We like to know rather than just have you disappear.

24. What a superb puzzle! I absolutely loved this cracker, full of very clever clues with lots of smiles along the way, more from this compiler please!

    1.5*/5*

    Fav 13a LOI 6d.

    Thanks to setter and StephenL.

25. Such an enjoyable puzzle – like Dryden I thought that I had finally conquered a Ray T puzzle, but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the clever clues. Thanks to the mystery setter, and to StephenL for hints.

26. Had to deviate from my usual starting point in the NW as couldn’t get anything going there. Instead, I worked round from the NE and eventually found myself back at 1a, spending an age staring at the clue before my Eureka! moment arrived. Great crossword – thanks to the setter and StephenL. COTD for me – 15d – but instead of the coffee referenced in the clue I enjoyed my solve while drinking a much superior Nespresso with frothy milk. After years of drinking rubbish coffee, that machine changed my life!

    1. When I retired, knowing my penchant for proper coffee, my colleagues very kindly presented me with a Nespresso machine. It was used several times daily for 10 years before it finally stopped working. A wonderful and much appreciated gift!

    2. We were lucky enough to get ours doing a big sale, for about 2/3rds off the price, and have never regretted it. Apart from the wonderful taste of the coffee, we appreciate its other attributes – I can only have decaf (and yes I still must have my coffee fix) but Peter prefers non decaf, and we can each pick our own, different coffee types. Never flavored, I hasten to add.

       1. I hate those flavored coffees! I like mine as it comes out of the pot, I make it with a French press, nothing in it.

    3. I’m sorry to say that my machine has broken – the pod goes crooked as you push it in. I suspect it will be as cheap to but a new one as get this mended. Lovely coffee.
       (Other machines are available …..)

27. Hello. NYDK here. Thank you for all your lovely comments, and thanks SL for the blog. Thanks twm too for the progtag.

    Sorry to hear about Peter. RIP, and my condolences to his loved ones.

    1. Thanks for another top puzzle.

    2. Many thanks for popping in to claim this excellent puzzle. Thank you for the fun.

    3. A great puzzle, NYD. Thank you for it and for taking the time to drop in on us.

    4. I had a very strong suspicion that this lovely crossword was one of yours.

28. Has all the hallmarks of a Ray T but enjoyable nonetheless. Loved 27a and 4a but needed the hints to explain 28a and still cannot parse 18a.
    Just back from playing at a super golf course in Northumberland in the sun, bliss!
    Thx to all
    ***/****

    1. Was it Slaley Hall by any chance ?

29. Well, goodness me I absolutely love doing this crossword. Started early and gave up but during my second cup of tea I couldn’t believe how much I was enjoying it. I still have three more to go so I’m resisting reading hints from SL. I’ll crack on later this evening. Haven’t enjoyed a crossword like this in ages. Fingers crossed my brain keeps working! Seems to be hotter today but with a few clouds so I’ve managed to get all my seedlings planted in the hope that they’ll survive better than baking in pots. Thanks to compiler too.

30. Very sorry to hear about Peter aka LROK … wondered why I hadn’t seen any posts recently. RIP

    Can’t say this puzzle today really floated my boat and my guess would have been NYDK puzzle as I find his clueing and parsing difficult to follow. In the end this was 3*/2* for me … just my issue I guess as most seemed to like it.

    Favourites … Hmmm??
    11a, 13a, 7d & 14d with my winner 13a

    As for the stuff in 3d …. absolutely disgusting sauce … for me it is the equivalent of orange pulp in Terence’s OJ!

    Thanks to NYDK & StephenL for the much needed hints to complete the puzzle.

    1. 3d, delicious?

       1. Yes – yum, specially when home made!

31. That’s brought me right back down to where I belong – I was doing so well this week . . .
    I should have guessed – I always find NYDK very difficult – never mind.
    I liked 11 and 16a and 3 and 7d. My favourite was the creature on steroids – made me laugh!
    Thanks to NYDK for the crossword, even if I couldn’t do it, and to StephenL for the hints.

32. I’m another one who can never quite crack the NYDK wavelength, and I cannot claim I found this any exception. I got enough answers on my own to not be a write off, but it was hard work from then on. I cannot fathom how exceptional = 1a, and I could not have unraveled 18a or 3d without the hints, thank you StephenL.

33. I haven’t read the comments, I must get my “routine” in before the monsoon stops play. I almost finished this and rather enjoyed it. The NW held me up and I had to go in for hints of a few before retiring. I thought 27a fun, as well as 18a. Lots more could have qualified for the fave spot.
    Thank you NYDK for the fun, of course thanks to StephenL for helping me across the finish line.

34. ****/**** for me (I’m not at the same standard as most here). I completed the RH half with some difficulty that used up all the time allocated so had to resort to first the computer and then to this blog to finish it.

    My COID 27a

35. Fabulous puzzle *****/***** for me as only second Thursday puzzle I’ve managed to complete unaided in last 3 yrs. COTD was 4a and last one in 4d Thanks to NYDK for an enjoyable solve and Stephen for the hints.
    Did anyone hear the segment on solving crossword puzzles on Jeremy Vine 2 days ago ? First time I’ve ever heard crossword puzzles discussed apart from here

    1. Well done Bob, onwards and upwards from here.

    2. No – I didn’t listen to it – I gave up on Radio 2 relatively recently – should have waited . . .

    3. I have given up on Radio 2 also and Jeremy Vine was one of the many reasons. I found him obnoxious. All he did was wind people up.

36. It’s all been said so suffice to say a terrific guzzle. Must admit I didn’t initially peg it as not being a Ray T but began to have doubts & the Quickie confirmed it. Other than a bit of brain fog parsing 3d it all went in pretty smoothly. A plethora of ticks – 16,18,25&27a plus 15&17d.
    Thanks to Donny & Stephen – first saw Thin Lizzy at Reading Festival in 77 (part of their Johnny The Fox tour) when Scot Gorham & Brian Robertson were the twin leads – they blew this then 15yr old away.

    1. Saw them in Manchester, I’m guessing early to mid eighties when the guitarists were Gorham and (Devon’s own) Snowy White. To this day I still think it’s the best concert I’ve been to.

    2. JTF was the first album I bought, saved pocket money for weeks. I too was 15 in ’77 but parental permission (and extra PM) was denied for a trip to Reading

       1. I’d endlessly badgered my mother & got to go to Reading the year before to see Rory – not sure she slept for 3 days until I was safely back. Little did she know I got horribly drunk on Newcastle Brown Ale of all things & had no money left to eat on the last day.

37. Another super duper puzzle today with my new trusty BRB by my side which thankfully I didn’t need. I must say it makes fascinating reading but is too big to take on our forthcoming hols. We leave on Monday so like Terence may not be able to access crossword land while away but I’ll certainly try. We are away 17 days and I really need to do it every day otherwise I find it more and more tricky. Thanks to all – only managed half the toughie, again!

    1. Lucky sticks. I wish I could motivate George to go away, he agrees but then starts putting up reasons why we cannot go. I think he’s frightened to be too far away from Addenbrookes. He says we’ve been everywhere we wanted to go, why go back and be disappointed which is very negative. Ah well. Have fun all you jet setting youngsters.

38. 4/4. I found this to be a tricky puzzle but very satisfying in a masochistic sort of way. My favourites were 8&18a. Thanks to the setter and SL.

39. Good evening
    A day off, and thankfully ample time to get today’s crozzie done. I really struggled with the NW quadrant, and only twigged 11a from today’s Hints; the remaining answers dropped in eventually thereafter. 15d stands as COTD. And, as a Northumbrian (albeit exiled to Didcot), I’d have deserved to be shot if I’d failed to get 13a!
    Oh aye, and “Crikey!” for 25a!
    Thank you NYDK and StephenL

40. Another one confounded by 1a. I got the answer but dismissed it and had to go through almost every possible combination to confirm it was the correct answer.

    Otherwise a signal solve.

    Thanks to all.

41. I tried to justify of course as a homophone indicator as I wanted to put Taiga in 16a
    Another expat Geordie here so 13a joins 18a on my podium.
    Sorry to hear about LROK, we had many a chat about dogs, whisky and hills both on and off the blog, he will be missed.
    Thanks to SL and NYDK
    I hope that the recent sad news from LROK, BD and Rufus along with the distressing events in Nottingham and his own recent brush with mortality is not hampering Robert’s convalescence.

    1. Amen to that, SJB.

       1. Agreed, we can’t take another loss.

42. After a week off on holibobs I feared some rust would have set in but only a couple in NW held me up, with 1a being my LOI.

    Great puzzle, thanks to SL and today’s setter.

43. I solved this corner by corner first in SE then NE then SW and finally NW. Thoroughly enjoyed this absorbing puzzle as I usually do with this setter. Favourite was 27a, there were many other contenders. Thanks to NYD and SL.

44. Nightmare week for me. Trouble with synonyms in every crossword since Monday! Normally manage Mon to Wed without too much trouble. Today 1a, 4d, (never knew that was a synonym for pineapple) 6d
    and 19d did me. Very dejected. Has something changed in the compiling or is it just a bad week for me?

    1. It’s worth committing the pineapple synonym to memory Andrew as setters seem to use it quite frequently. Agree 1a was tricky though.

       1. Thanks Stephen
          I’ll never look at a pineapple in the same way again!

    2. Grenades, especially during WW2, looked like a pineapple. See attached pic.

       

45. Somebody once gave us a gadget for spiralling the middle out of a pineapple. I thought st the time it was an odd gift but it had been invaluable. Didn’t sit down to this until six, busy day – a delicious lunch at The Fox & Duck in Therfield necessitated a siesta on retuning home. So hot. A lovely guzzle and I only needed Stephens hint for 9a and still had to do a reveal. Does a flag come up when I do that? I think I have to say 16a is favourite as I am so ignorant about sport other than tennis, rowing & fencing, I was quite cockahoop to get it. Many thanks to NYDJ & SL.
    I enjoyed reading the obituary to Roger Squires and noticed he went to Wolverhampton Grammar. A friend of ours in the
    next village also went there, went into the Diplomatic Corps, became Ambassador to Japan, was seconded to a year with Prince Charles to prepare him for his state visit to Japan with Diana before resuming the post of Ambassador. They are a delightful couple. It must be an exceptional school!

46. 3*/3* ….
    liked 18D “Fearsomely large creature in gym — on steroids (7)”

47. I don’t understand 4a. What has the part not underlined got to do with the clue? Isn’t it just a single definition and nothing more, which isn’t the point of a cryptic crossword?

    1. You have to read it and the preceding clue together as indicated by the elipses.

Comments are closed.