DT No 30339

135 comments on “DT No 30339”

1. First read though and I flashed to the score of zero, thought about leaving it then and there, but as it had started to rain I battled on. Soon began to get the setter’s gist and then the answers came thick and fast (a bit like my cat Nimrod)
   Held up a bit as I was determined to force a certain sausage like dog into12a. Still can’t see how a few parsed, namely 1d, so off to the hints now to check. Favourite today was 23a. thanks to our setter, very clever clueing!

   1. thought was easy apart from fact i got stuffed by 26ac, but not helped by having legend (key) leg end (cut of meat ) for 19d

      1. Welcome to the blog, Argyle Socks.

2. Got 19d wrong despite spending half my life in IT. Aways forget the “key” word which should have pointed me in the right direction.

   Didn’t have a problem with the 26a football team as the proximity of the ground to the motorway soon had me heading north after the final whistle on my journey round the 92 league grounds.

   If I am allowed a COTD after a DNF, it must be 20a.

   Thanks to the setter and StephenL for several explanations such as 11a.

   1. All credit Dave for completing that particular feat – if I recall from one of your recent posts you’re in (northern?) Scotland, so it’s a very dedicated achievement indeed. You must have been relieved that there are relatively few league clubs down here in the south west!

      1. Torquay were still in the league at the time and one week of the season had Torquay, Exeter (midweek) and Plymouth all at home. We took a week off and went to Land’s End, Eden Project, Heligan, etc as well. Saw a lot of England and Wales and visited lots of interesting places – not just football grounds. (We are just north of Aberdeen so Carlisle is a 460 mile round trip)

         1. You must have spent a phenomenal amount of time planning your tour, working out how many clubs in close proximity could be sensibly visited in a single trip. I well recall driving from Cornwall to Keith some years ago, a drive that felt never-ending, even if it had the bonus of being book-ended with beautiful scenery.

            1. The planning was half the fun.
               Hope you went to Kynoch Park when you were in Keith. I have been a supporter there for over 50 years.

               1. I was up there for other reasons, arriving on a Sunday evening, departing the Saturday morning, in early/mid December, so no football I’m afraid! I’d forgotten quite how little daylight there is at that time of the year, but some absolutely stunning scenery and I’d recommend Keith as a ‘base camp’ for anyone visiting that area.

3. Reasonably straightforward and absolutely spot-on for a Thursday, I thought: good wordplay, nothing bizarre – no words for Terence’s list, some clever anagrams. I felt that many of the surface reads were somewhat strained – if one applied the “pub conversation test” I think there might be a few quizzical looks. And of the very few things which would bring that Hertfordshire town to my mind, I can’t say football is one!

   Having said that there were a good few ticks scattered across the completed board: 9a, 6d, 18d & COTD 14d for the excellent rekrul.

   2.5* / 2.5*

   Many thanks to the setter (absolutely no idea, not even for an E/W bet, so the fiver stays in my wallter) and to SL

   1. Hmm, not convinced it was “reasonably straightforward” myself. You’re a better man than me! This could easily have been an early/mid week Toughie, I thought. Certainly, it was no easier than Django’s brilliant offering yesterday, which I have to say I enjoyed rather more than this. Re the Herts town, isn’t that strictly a DBE? Django yesterday DBEd skates/fish which I didn’t think was really necessary (though he did kindly explain his reasoning) so, on that basis, at least a question mark in today’s 26A would have been fairer, no? The clear parsing made it blindingly obvious but still … not a football team that readily jumps to mind. Not mine, anyway! But thanks to all, as ever. They’re always fun.

      1. I’m inclined to agree re 26a, ALP (and that the skates yesterday were a DBE), but I’m no expert and would be among the last to pronounce on the definitions of clue types! For example would it only have been a DBE had the name of the town appeared in the clue, and the answer been “football team”? I have no idea.

         Surprised by many of the comments below, so evidently today I was extremely fortunate to tune-in from the off – “O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

         1. Ha – you were clearly on fire! I’m no DBE expert either. One sees skates for fish quite a bit, without any qualifier, but there are probably almost as many football clubs as there are fish! And a skate is undoubtedly a fish (as well as the obvious, of course) but S——– is rather more than just a club. You also don’t generally see anagrams like 6A away from the Toughies. What these kinds of grind are called, I have absolutely no idea. Yes, the clue was fairly obvious, but not usual back-page territory. But, aside from all that, huge congratulations re having your smarts on today!

4. Not quite 8d but not far from it either. Reckon there’ll be a few ET (escaped toughie) comments. I’ll chance five bob on a Donny production with a small saver on Silvanus on an away day. Like Tipcat the first read through yielded little but slowly they fell & all eventually parsed albeit in Toughie territory completion 🕰️. Lots of contenders for fav but the 7d game wins it for me – am thinking of taking it up as it has to be easier than golf. Didn’t think there was a dud in there & had ticks against just about all of the clues. Very enjoyable indeed.
   Thanks to the setter & to Stephen

   1. When we lived in Lordship Farm we had a full sized croquet lawn in the curve of the moat. Fortunately it was seldom very deep (centuries of mud & leaves) as the family were always having to fish my balls out. We had a special long stick with a bowl wired on the end, no one liked playing with me!

      1. I’ve played Garden Croquet & ‘Proper’ Croquet, but never, ever, ‘Moat Croquet’ – it sounds fun, if damp!

      2. 😀 Only ever played it once & it was great fun

5. 3*/4*. This was quite challenging in parts but good fun all the way with 6a my favourite and 10a runner-up.

   Many thanks to the setter (particularly for the American indicator in 1a) and to SL.

6. Bit slow today and blaming self but tally for difficulty brings relief!
   Got through it, though did wonder if that guessed town even had a football team. Had to overwrite 19d when the true answer dawned.
   Thanks to the setter as ever.

7. Very tough for me and , unfortunately, not that enjoyable. So it’s a DNF, basically because with 4 clues to go I was losing the will to live. I lshall look at the hints now as I was unable to parse many of the clues, which I bunged in. I auppose an after the Lord Mayor’s Show moment was bound to come after the three really enjoyable guzzles earlier this week. Thanks to SL and the compiler.

8. This took me longer than the Beam Toughie (which has some very amusing clues so do give it a go if you’re a Ray T fan) but it was worth the effort. Thanks to our setter and SL.
   Clues appealing most to me were 1a, 5d, 14d and 15d.

9. Phew that was hard work..
   I’m watching a young thrush taking a bath in the garden.
   6d, 16a and 12a on the podium .
   Thanks to StephenL for decoding 12a and thanks to the setter.

   1. Lucky stick having a thrush. The Scottish word for it is my name, but sadly I don’t sing like one! We don’t see many round here.

10. I can usually solve most days with a little help from reference books but that was ridiculous.
    Too obscure. Waste of time, even with the rain!
    score zero

11. A stellar week of back pagers continues and, with Beam on Toughie duty, we have a guess the setter Thursday and, with the two element homophone in 7d, my two half crowns are on this being a Silvanus production – 2.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 1a, 22a, 6d, 7d, and 17d – and the winner is 7d.

    Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever just in case my five bob goes down the drain, and to StephenL. Now all we need to round out the week is a pro_imal or proXXXXimal tomorrow.

12. Very Thursdayish.
    The long and perhaps
    Gifted 13 and 16a
    And 3 and 6d helped
    Considerably.
    The brilliant 23a is my COTD.
    So, 2.5*/5*
    Thanks to the setter and StephenL

13. An enjoyable crossword but most definitely a Toughie

    Thanks to the setter and Stephen L

    1. I’m so glad you agree. Out of curiosity, if it had been a Toughie, how many difficulty stars would you have given it?

       1. Probably 2* or 2.5*

          1. Thank you, Sue. Good to know. And spot on, as ever!

14. Hats off to Mustafa for finding this ‘strsightforward’! For me, this was the most difficult for a long time but none the less enjoyable for that. I couldn’t get started at the top at all so my first in was 13a which helped with getting the lower half started. I needed the hints today for two or three and I found some of the parsing difficult. I enjoyed the clever misdirection throughout the puzzle. Favourite today was 1a once the penny had dropped. Podium places for 13a, 16a, 7d, 17d and the brilliant lurker at 4d – can’t believe I needed the hint for that – if in doubt ………..! Thanks to today’s setter for the absolute pleasure and StephenL for the much needéd hints.

15. More chance of knitting fog than solving this thing! Definitely an escaped Toughie. I do hope the experts enjoy their two puzzles today.
    As for the rest of us, there’s always tomorrow!
    *****/0
    Absolutely no enjoyment to be had from this puzzle for me.
    No idea who the setter is but I sincerely hope never to come across another of him/her offerings again.

    1. Oh Brian – unless you give up DT puzzles completely, I would put five bob on your hope never being realised and you will ‘come across another of his/her offerings again.’

    2. Oh Brian indeed!

    3. Agree, a Toughie that got lost.

16. Well, that’s it, Stephen! I put up with your ‘music’ choices uncomplainingly week after week and you repay me by slagging off what are to me the most beautiful dogs in the world, three of which I’ve been privileged to own. I may never forgive you………..

    OK – rant over – onto the important business of the day, namely this excellent puzzle in which the parsing of 13a took a very long time and, like John F, I wondered whether 26a actually had a notable football team – certainly didn’t feature on my dad’s football coupons!
    Laurel wreath and gold star went to 12a with 6,13&16a plus 5&19d joining it on the podium.
    Many thanks to our setter for a great Thursday challenge and begrudgingly to Stephen for a very comprehensive review.

    1. It’s all in the eye of the beholder!

    2. I’m sure your dogs were very lovely in every way Jane 😊

17. 7d. Surely, there is a mistake here? THAT should be WHAT.

    1. I believe that the “quet” is a homophone (one hears) of “that” in Spanish.

       1. Vince’s issue is that qué is often translated as “what” in Spanish but when used as a relative pronoun it’s translated as “that”

          1. If that’s the case, is “one hears” a homophone indicator or just padding to give the surface a meaningful coda?

          2. And where does the T in QUET come from?

          3. I really, really prefer the crossword when it is on the back page.

             However, what I can’t figure out is why companies would pay to have a full page ad on the back page when I can see very few occasions when it would be looked at

             1. I totally agree, JD! Much prefer to fold the paper so the guzzle presents itself in A4 than have to wrestle with the back page because some well known firm has paid to advertise their wares.

       2. I think “that” in spanish is “ese” or “esa”, depending on gender. “Que” is “what”.

          1. From Collins

             RELATIVE PRONOUN
             1. que
             the man that came in el hombre que entró
             the book that I read el libro que leí
             the houses that I painted las casas que pinté

             1. The man “who” not “that” (the book or the houses that)!

                1. No, it should be “what”! As in Ernie Wise’s “The play what I wrote”.

                   1. 😄

          2. I thought that Quet = what and Que = that. So, the QUET in the answer is homopnone of that (QUE) in the clue. Otherwise, where does the T come from? Have I got a brain-freeze on this?

             1. ¿Que?

             2. Greetings from Spain! The quet in the answer is indeed a homophone of que in Spanish, which can translate as what, that, or which, depending on the context. Which can also translate to cual, which is obviously not the case here. The setter has it spot on.

                1. Thank you for the clarification, J. The only problem I still have (see #31 below) is that on the internet translator audio (which can be inaccurate sometimes) the T in QUET is pronounced – sounds like KATE – so still a homophone of QUE?

                   1. But quet is not a word in Spanish. How would you pronounce parquet flooring? Or Croquet?

                      1. Thanks J. It must be a duff answer from the online Spanish/English translator – it gives Quet = what – and audio of a woman pronouncing it! So it is just the syllable QUET is a synonym of QUE. It’s quite obvious now – my brain was frozen on QUET must be a Spanish word and the translator sent me further up the garden path!

             3. The T in Qué quet or croquet are all silent so the homophone works either way

                1. Thanks SJB. Yes, of course, I know the syllable QUET in CROQUET has a silent T but I was misled by the online translator into thinking that QUET is a Spanish word (see my reply to Jezza immediately above here).

18. Enjoyed a southern walk in the park but the northern half was a different story caling for too many unparsed bung-ins e.g. 1d, 4d, 5d and 7d. Took a while to dismiss mushrooms from my thoughts for 6d! Several nicely crafty clues but no particular Fav(s). Thank you Mysteron and. StephenL.

19. A tricky and slow start so full on *** not quite **** for me. High quality but not as fun as yesterday’s so I am going to be mingy and give a *** for fun.
    1a,6a,1d and 19d my favourites in that order although I did think 7d clever as well. What a great week our setters are giving us. Finished on the ferry from the Barbican to the Royal William Yard on a lovely day in Plymouth enjoying SL’s Devonian weather. Thanks to him and the setter.

20. Forgot to say I shared SL’s thought about the random football team! The parsing was straightforward so fair enough. Looking back on my lawyer life one might equally and – with temerity setter – have more appropriately chosen Land Registry! Slightly fewer of them than football sides.

21. I found this one difficult, although I am a newcomer. I could do about half unaided, but even then with a fair amount of thought. Thanks for the explanations StephenL, especially on 12a, 23a, 25a, 1d, 6d (never heard the informal word before!), and 8d. On 17d I suspect where you say “… the abbreviations for Large and American sit inside (wears) IN …”, the words ‘sit inside’ are intended to mean ‘contain’. I could see the Spanish word for ‘that’, which Manual used a lot. But there is a letter in the answer I can’t presently account for. Key lesson for me today: cryptically speaking ‘banker’ can mean river, i.e. a noun with -er on the end can mean something that has the preceding as a feature. I don’t know why, but Baldrick’s definition of ‘Irony’ popped into my mind.

    I had learnt what the substitute for song is which is used in this puzzle. I don’t think it’s in the usual suspects (so I’ve not said what it is in case that’s something I shouldn’t say here, but perhaps to say as in, I think, a piece by Bach arranged by August Wilhelmj), but I have seen it a few times. For other newcomers, the two letters for artist is in the usual suspects.

    I eventually got 19d, but I felt both definitions were quite obscure. I didn’t really like the informal word used in 11a, 25a seemed a bit awkward, and re 26a – lots of towns have a football team of some description (and this clue isn’t even limited to the UK). But overall a good puzzle (is a contraction of that ‘guzzle’?!).

    1. Mark….sit inside means “contained by”. I suspect the letter you can’t account for in 7d is the T and that’s because it’s a homophone not a direct synonym.
       Banker (something with banks) and flower (something that flows) are often used to denote a river.

    2. Hi Mark – while ‘good puzzle’ for ‘guzzle’ is an inspired thought, the explanation is rather more straightforward. A short while back Chriscross inadvertently typed guzzle rather than puzzle in one of their comments – the typo stuck, and then (if it’s not an oxymoron) gained traction, becoming a more widely used reference, such that clarification has now been provided at No.34 on the lst of FAQs!

    3. If you could do half of this unaided as a newcomer, then you are certainly good at these. I could only manage 3 without hints ….

22. I got about half with a struggle then had to rely on the hints. Far too obscure for me and not at all enjoyable.

    Thank you Miss Treesetter but not for me I’m afraid. Thank you, SL for making sense of it for me.

    1. Hi Steve.
       Hope Mrs C is feeling better.

       1. Thank you, SL. She is feeling a lot better now and not as shaken as she was yesterday.

          1. Hope you are giving her lots of TLC.

             1. But of course!

                1. Glad she’s feeling better hut a fall like that does shake you up. Keep up the TLC, Steve.

                   1. Will do, Chriscross.

    2. Glad to hear Mrs C is feeling a bit better. Bungalows, or “single family homes” as they call them here, are very much the norm here in South Florida, apart from condos of course, and some houses in later years. We’d be pretty useless if we had to climb the stairs at night.

       1. Thank you, BL Mrs. C is feeling a great deal better after a day of rest. Her appetite has returned, which is good and we hope to go out to lunch tomorrow.

23. A relly good, challenging puzzle, probably at the lower end of Toughie difficulty – and there’s nothing wrong with that in a Thurs or Fri back-pager. Great clues and a enjoyable tussle. Fav of an excellent bunch: 1a – and perhaps, in this case, the American indicator is reasonable, but I would want to have seen it if it was a actually Toughie puzzle. 3.5*/4.5*.

    1. *Should read: “wouldn’t want to have …”

24. Liked this one a lot. Tough(ie) but enjoyable with precise clueing throughout. My ten bob on “guess the setter” is (rather tentatively) on NYK Doorknob… which usually results in Silvanus popping in to claim the honours…

    Many thanks to the setter and to Stephen for unravelling a few of the bung-ins.

    1. May meet you in the queue at the payout window….

       1. Or the bar (commiserating…)

25. Found this a tough Thursday puzzle today. Almost tougher than last weeks RayT

    2.5*/3*

    Favourites include 16a, 20a, 3d, 6d & 15d with winner 16a

    Thanks to setter and StephenL for hints/blog

26. Well – this one gave the old grey cells a thorough workout. Got there in the end but definitely not ‘straightforward’ for me. COTD for me was 19d – I don’t usually opt for a double definition as my favourite but I thought this was particularly clever. Thanks to the setter for the tough but enjoyable challenge and to SteohenL for the hints. Roll on Fridays puzzle!

27. It’s funny but although on a first read through it looked impenetrable I latched onto Eric, know all about sequins so that was easy, the artist was easy and George got 16a. I did t stand a hope in the hot place of getting 26a even though it is only 20 odd miles away and I also needed Stephen’s hint for 19d. 6a was my favourite, very clever and the lurker was well disguised. We finally had the much needed rain last night, my garden is singing with joy. But no doubt the grass will need cutting as well. Greetings to Robert if he checks in. Oh, and thanks to Setter & Hinter 🥰

28. Found this tough, but very enjoyable so I persevered to completion. Needed hints for some of the parsing, thanks StephenL. And thanks to the setter, unlike some others I’d be more than happy to try more of your puzzles.

29. Many thanks to Stephen for his usual excellent Hints and Tips and to all those commenting.

    I’m sorry that some of you found this quite so challenging, it certainly wasn’t my intention. I felt that there were enough straightforward clues (I’d put 9a, 20a, 22a, 5d, 19d and 21d in that category) to give a sufficient number of checking letters to help solve the more complicated clues. I cannot agree at all that the puzzle was akin to “knitting fog”.

    As someone who has set Toughies for nearly five years now, had this been intended as a Toughie I would almost certainly have made each of the six clues listed above much more complex and changed a few others too, I think it’s a pity that certain commenters think they are better at scheduling puzzles in the right slot than the Puzzles Editor is.

    1. Many thanks for both popping in Silvanus and for another in a long line of top puzzles, much appreciated.

    2. Thanks Silvanus. I thought it was a great crossword with all the right scratching while watching Test Match. But 26ac too obscure for me and I am ashamed to say I needed hint for 19d (I’ve used the key all my working life).

       Thanks also to SL for blog.

    3. Thank you for the puzzle, Silvanus. I didn’t get on with it but that is not your fault. Please ignore those who think they know better because the majority of us appreciate all that you and the other setters do.

       1. Hear, hear!

    4. I should have known better. You were my first thought then changed my mind three quarters of the way through. As they say on The Chase always go with your first thought. Still the small saver meant the bookies weren’t in profit & Senf wins the spot the setter bragging rights. Ta for yet another top notch guzzle & ,with apologies to Kath, joint fav with Robyn’s yesterday as best of the week thus far for me.

       1. I’ll let you get away with that as long it’s not too often or a sneaky way of having two favourites every day! I’m watching . . .

    5. Sylvanus, none of you august setters can do wrong in my eyes. You entertain us week after week and yet some people carp and complain – too simple, old chestnut, was used in a different puzzle last week, or too hard. Volunteer Hinters take pains to dissect and explain the construction of the clues. No pleasing some folk. Like Dame Edna, I love you all – even when you baffle me. Which is quite often!

    6. Thank you, Silvanus, for a very challenging cryptic puzzle!

       ps. He seems to know very little about cryptic crosswords, but I wonder if our knitting friend knows the difference between purl and plain?

    7. Well, I found it challenging but highly entertaining! Loved 12a (there i was, reciting my Greek alphabet in my head), well done for not cueing 20a with reference to the recidivist prince. 3d sent me to my list of countries which somehow failed to include Norn Iron. Most enjoyable. Now to create fridgeree (leftovers supper)

    8. 19d did get one of my stars. Well done Silvanus. More pls.

30. Gosh but that was difficult! Lots of bungins which proved to be correct. No way could I parse 13a
    Lucky DG with the rain. I don’t know about StephenL but our part of South Devon remains obstinately dry.
    I did like 16a

    1. No rain as yet here either JB….but we are apparently due a splash tonight

       1. More than a splash for us up on’t moors!🤣

31. What a great workout! I breezed through the west but then ground to a halt.

    As always, some excellent surfaces and clever wordplay. You can add me to the lists of those who couldn’t parse 13a and not getting 19d. That is the last time ‘Key’ catches me out like that!

    My COTD is 12a as it conjures up a most random scene.

    Thank you to ‘The Ss’

    4*/4*

    1. TS65. 7d – do you speak Spanish? I did study Spanish at A-Level but have forgotten most of it. I don’t get it – is it just that QUE can mean “that” and QUET in the answer is supposedly a homophone of QUE? Or is there more to it? Any enlightenment, please …

       1. Exactly as you’ve said. There is nothing more to it, Jose!

          1. Thank you, S. So, I think I was basically right all along in #17. Wasn’t I? The only thing still troubling me is that on the internet translator audio the T in QUET (meaning what) is pronounced!

       2. I’m not your hombre, Jose, and, looking at your name, I thought you would be and….you are!

          I’m prone to a bit of the dead language and etymology.

          1. Hola,Tom! Yes, you’d think so – considering my full name is Jose Torres!

32. Thought this was a fair challenge for the Thursday back page spot. No obscure words to make me grrr. Took a while to get going. But as the long ones fell and checkers appeared others tumbled in. Lots of great clues.16a and 23a on my podium. LOI 19d as I’m used to key being used to show how one appears on a keyboard not what they stand for. Lesson learnt!
    All in all a great accompaniment to cricket watching. Come on England!
    Thanks Silvanus and SL for the entertaining review

33. Great workout Silvanus, and Stephen I needed five of your explanations! 15d and 16a as very good clues

34. Phew – I have to say that this one was way too difficult for me – my excuse was a very late birthday party!
    I really, really, really couldn’t do it at all – never mind!
    Thanks to Silvanus for the crossword (that I couldn’t do) and to StephenL.

    1. Happy belated birthday.
       All my love.
       Jl

35. So recently we’re having Toughies that should be dailies and now vice versa? Something is afoot. Possibly on the end of a leg. Anyway, a fully-engaging solve for a daily for me, but it id a Thursday. Thanks Mysteron and blogsmith.

36. I don’t comment much ,but feel the need to today.
    I fully expect to be challenged towards the end of the week, as was the case today. I got there in the end (fully parsed). I put this down to reading this blog on a regular basis plus having a lot of time on my hand in the morning!
    The joy to me is successfully completing the crossword each day. I struggle nearly every day because I can get stuck on really stupid things.
    I admire all of the setters for providing a combination of challenge and enjoyment in different ratios and the people providing the hints which is always a learning experience.
    Many thanks to Silvanus and StephenL L

    1. Thanks Chris, that’s a nice comment.

    2. Well said, Chris O. 👍

37. I usually enjoy a Silvanus puzzle but this one was way beyond me. I see even the brilliant Cryptic Sue reckons it’s toughie standard, so that makes me feel better about it!
    Thanks anyway to Silvanus and StephenL

38. Way out of my league today. Have put in the checkers in for 3 clues but have come to a hard stop otherwise.

    I may come back later, but I doubt I will get on the necessary wavelength.

    Thanks to all.

39. Truly disappointing. Having been out for breakfast and shopping this morning it was a very late start for me on this crossword. Got the grand sum of 2 on my first pass. A quick look at a handful of hints shows me that I would need to spend too much time trying to unravel this. With too much else waiting to be done, I’ll pass. Expected it to be harder today, harder than Tuesday’s Toughie by far. Off to Wordle and Spelling Bee where I hope to have more success.

    1. I Wordled in three today, BL What is the spelling bee? Is it like Squardle?

40. Definitely on the tougher end of the spectrum for a Thursday but still plenty of fun and satisfying to finish unaided. Personally I found the south about normal, but the north more toughie territory – not helped by only being able to get 1 of the 4 long clues on the first pass (16a). I did actually get most of Silvanus’ “easier” clues early on, but they just didn’t assist me much! 16a made me smile, 15d worked really well, and I thought 7d very clever once I had it explained to me by commenters above… COTD though to 6d ***/****

    Thanks to Silvanus, StephenL and Jezza @17 too 👏👏

41. Slow and steady won the day, it took several visits but eventually the fog began to lift (maybe Brian knitted it away) Do our foreign correspondents know what a 16a is? Seemed very British to me but that is as it should be
    Thanks to Silvanus and Stephen,
    I am not sure there are enough minutes left in the day to tackle the toughie today. I am still teasing out the Django from yesterday

    1. Now that fog has cleared, SJB will it be mist?

42. Late to this after a day at work, a very enjoyable challenge with quite a bit of lateral thinking required. 17d made me smile and brought back memories of making up such concoctions when I first qualified, with Mist Morph et Ipecac being a particular favourite!

    3*/4*

    Fav 17d LOI 19d.

    Thanks to Silvanus and StephenL.

    1. The term “lateral thinking” often appears on the blog. I have used it myself many times but what is it really?
       The term was coined by Edward de Bono in 1967 and describes a method of solving problems that does not rely on step by step logic. It is a kind of creative problem solving.
       I love it and may I offer you all a question that requires lateral thinking?

       “Someone falls out of a thirty story building, but lives. With luck and their landing pad not being factors, how could they have survived the fall?”

       1. They fell from the first floor! Simples!

       2. You don’t say which floor of the building they fell from – possibly the ground floor?

          1. Reminds me of a time at college when I didn’t read a question thoroughly & laterally thought my way down a rabbit hole for a couple of hours & ended up having to resit it! 😂

          2. You can’t fall “from” the ground floor – you can only fall onto it.

             1. You can fall from a window on the ground floor.

                1. Yes, I was just being rather tongue-in-cheek and getting into the spirit of lateral (or maybe mischievous) thinking. Most of these things depend on context and individual judgment. I suppose one could argue that if you fell from a window located in a ground-floor room, you would be falling from the window sill not from the floor. You could go on for ever with this sort of stuff …

       3. They may, purely by coincidence, have happened to be wearing a parachute at the time! Is that lateral or just silly thinking?

43. Very late to this today and needed the hints for the final 4 as I have run out of steam. I am very pleased with what I achieved now I have seen that it was generally found to be tricky. I thought it was all very clever but needed a lot of thought. It was not a good one to have left so late but I have got so frustrated with not being able to garden with the broken foot that I decided it must be possible somehow. So with the immobilising boot in a plastic bag, to protect it, I crawled around in a most inelegant fashion but did achieve quite a bit of weeding and pruning! So all in all a successful day although I am not sure what the neighbours must be thinking. My favourite is 1a today!

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Stephen L for the needed hints

    1. You did some gardening with a broken foot, MTF? You have my greatest admiration. If I had a broken foot it would be my excuse to not do any gardening.

       But, then, I am a man! 😎

       1. The problem is the weeds are going mad now we have had some rain and hubby is recovering from surgery so it just had to be tried! Not sure I would recommend it.

44. Add me to the really difficult list. I had to look up Millais. Oh well! I’ve heard of him now. Favourite was 16a. Thanks to Silvanus and SL.

45. Had the same feeling about 26a.
    Didn’t even realise that this town had a football team of its own.
    Loved 13a.
    Great crossword.
    Thanks to the setter and to StephenL for the super review.

46. 5*/2* …. appreciated the entertaining hints …
    liked 25A “Left off scratching head and relaxed (5)” … which is what I shall now do !

    1. Thanks Robin, pleased you enjoyed them.

47. Taking up residence in a car park for the rest of the day, I reached for the stash of printed crosswords only to find they had all been completed. Oh noes! Disaster!

    Cue my first solve using the Puzzles App on my phone. Took a bit of getting used to, being only able to see one clue at a time and inaccurate typing came back to bite me when I failed to notice a typo that severely hindered the solving of 19d.

    End result: rather chuffed with having completed that in 3* time; moreover as I was solo today.

    Thanks to Silvanus (didn’t feel like a Toughie to me!) and StephenL (the hint for 19d was what revealed my careless typing).

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