DT 30371 (Hints)

106 comments on “DT 30371 (Hints)”

1. This took me a while to get into but it was very satisfying once it got going. A number of old timers, such as 11a, along with some clever ones – 13a. For some unknown reason, 20a took me an age to decipher. A good workout over the coffee with my COTD being, unusually for me, a four letter answer, that of 6a.

   Many thanks to the setter (Cephas?) and to CS for the hints.

   After comments recently regarding submitting through the puzzles app, I took a photo of the guzzle and emailed it to Telegraph Towers. I even took the precaution of changing the file format from Apple’s annoying new .heic to .jpeg.

   I have also received new pentagram from Amazon so The Mythical has no chance!

   Wet and windy in The Marches but the storm hasn’t really touched us.

   1. I think when you get that women waving the flag and saying bravo on completion you have a link to admire the puzzle or view the prizes from the different ways to submit.

      1. Thanks, SJB. It proves The Mythical cannot be summoned via the puzzle app.

      2. You don’t get the lady with the flag when you complete the prize crosswords.

         1. I think you might if you use the ‘new’ Telegraph Puzzles site

         2. I agree. Just for fun, I have just submitted this SPP on the ‘new’ web site – no flag waving lady.

            1. I just did the mini crossword and the flag waving lady appeared. Perhaps she doesn’t when it’s a prize – after all she would tell you your solution is correct.

               Sorry, Laurence – I didn’t see your post before I posted this.

               1. On a prize puzzle you don’t get the flag-waving lady, just a ‘Good Luck’ message.

2. Gentle fun. I liked 1d.

   Thanks to CS and today’s setter.

3. I found this Prize Competition more challenging than Friday’s Cryptic. What a puzzling week!

   The dreaded Dr appeared again so I needed the hint to fully parse 3d.

   No real favourites today.

   Off to see Keith v Clachnacuddin in the Highland League this afternoon. Fine roofed enclosure at Kynoch Park in case this morning’s monsoon returns.

   Thanks to setter and crypticsue.

4. Quite a straightforward guzzle rhis Saturday, with just a few teasers but nonetheless enjoyable for that. I liked 22a asit conjured up an amusing image of a female relative well-known for spitting feathers, whendispleased. 1d was small but cunning and I spent a while reviewing types of feline. The wordplay in 1a is also good fun. I can’t choose between them. I missed the pangram again. Thanks to the compiler and to CS for the hints. So far it has rained steadily all morning in South Oxfordshire and the forecast is for thunderstorms at lunchtime. What happened to the sizzling summers that were supposed to be a fixture iin the future, after last year’s scorcher?

   1. Raining in Cambridge also☹️

   2. I thought you chaps were praying for rain a few weeks ago!

      1. A little rain wlould be fine, Merusa, but, after a dry May and June, July and August have been so wet, it’s beginning to look like the biblical 40 days and 40 nights. Where’s Noah when you need him?

         1. Oh dear, there goes summer!

            1. It’s the Shrewsbury Flower Show next weekend and, to friends around The Wrekin, that means Summer is over.

5. Nice prize puzzle, some chestnuts but 17d did it for me, I did notice the full stop and it was nice to see so here are a few more………..
   Even the Rev. Spooner didn’t frighten me today.

   Thanks to Cephas (presumably) and CS

6. Gentle puzzle today. I like the picture used to accompany 2d. That is the exact reaction I get from my 2d! Thanks CS.

7. Good fun and not too exacting on a miserable morning here in Shropshire. No particular favourite, but I did like 17d, particularly when put alongside our least popular reverend at 3d.

   Many thanks to our setter and CS.

8. An odds-on two half-crowns on this pangram being a very enjoyable Cephas production – **/****

   Candidates for favourite – 11a, 28a, and 15d – and the winner is 15d.

   Thanks to Cephas and CS.

   1. I’m rubbish at guessing the setter, but I thought Chalicea while solving it.

9. Back down to earth with a bump following the birthday euphoria of yesterday and having a meal served to me in a restaurant flooded with sunshine! Could be beans on toast by candlelight today!
   1a puzzle from our setter today but no particular favourite to mention.

   Thanks to Cephas, presumably, and to CS for the hints ‘n pics.

   1. A belated happy birthday from me too, Fridays are a bit chaotic here at the moment and I missed yesterday. Glad you had a great day

   2. Glad you enjoyed your birthday treat. Beans on toast is Peter’s favourite dinner, he’d be th first to say there is nothing wrong with that. Clearly he’s an easy to please husband 😊.. I do add chopped up spinach and mushrooms to make it a little more interesting.

10. Oof!
    Defeated by the parsing of two today. Finally figured out 6a by myself (duh!) – it’s often the shorties that cause the most problems, but needed CS to parse the Spooner, 3d. My excuse is that I’ve lost a couple of senses on the way!
    I think I’ll make 3a the fave, followed closely by 22a!
    Many thanks to the setter for the challenge at breakfast and to the wonderful CS for making sense with the blog at lunchtime!

    1. Thanks, Chalicea!

11. In keeping with the rest of this week today’s exercise was a pain-free smoothie. 7a school and 8d jounalist seem to be frequent bad pennies. Fav 6d thanks to a nudge. Here in West Sussex we wait with bated breath for the possible arrival of storm Antoni. Thank you Mysteron and CS.

12. I’ve just started using the online crossword site and I pressed enter competition- or something like that before I had time to check my answers! Oh well I’m off to do it again in the paper version- surely I couldn’t have got all the answers correct first time. Also I can’t remember anything that I liked or found difficult so will just thank CS and setter for much enjoyment. The sun has just come out after a morning of rain in Surrey- but probably won’t hang about for long!

    1. If it is a prize puzzle it will not let you know if any letters are incorrect. You could put “Z” in every square and it will let you submit it.

    2. You’re braver than me, I’m still sticking to pen and paper.

       1. Me too. Especially now I know The Mythical cannot be got via online submissions. All those spells and incantations gone to the Four Winds! 😭

          1. Thanks- it seemed too good to be true and after reading the hints I knew I had made a few mistakes- so back to the trusted format and when oh when will I win that blasted pen! Might start to emulate SC and his incantations! Rain, thunder and lightning here and goodness me but I’ve been looking for hot water bottles- where on earth did I store them?

          2. You might want to double check that Steve. If this is the right web page, it seems you can win the mythical “online” (i.e. telegraph.co.uk/puzzles): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/contact-us/prize-puzzle-prizes/ . You can’t win it via the “app”.

             1. Just had a quick glance at the link, Mark – thank you for posting it – but it seems submission online via the app results in a £50 voucher only.

                Anyway, I’m taking no chances! From now on, I submit a photo by email. I will change the format from the objectionable Apple format to JPEG. I will give my name, address, telephone number and shoe size and anything else the oracle demands.

                I will possess The Mythical! Hahaaaa!

                (Oh, he’s off again. Call sister and tell her to bring the straight jacket. It’s going to be a long night). 😁

                1. 😀 Yes, that is right, you can’t win the mythical (being the pen) by the app, but you can win it on telegraph.co.uk/puzzles. But anyway, I think it’s safer doing it the way you do it. The number of times that I’ve accidentally touched the electronic key pad and changed a letter!

                2. By the way you might want to try settings>camera>formats> change to most compatible. The i-Phone will then take photos in the jpeg format.

13. Satisfying exercise on a soggy Saturday. Lots of fun and a few which took a while to click. I needed CS to explain my answer to the scary Spooner but otherwise it was fairly plain sailing. 1d was my favourite, both mine are curled up staying warm and dry.

    The weather here in the Chilterns is currently more like mid winter with steady rainfall, I feel so sorry for all the people trying to have school holidays. A very quick trip to the paper shop is all that will be happening outside today.

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints

14. Well this seems to me like a Cephas production today and it being a pangram as well, seems to seal it. I’ll throw my 5/- into the kitty on it being one of his today.

    2*/4* for me

    Favourites include 13a, 22a, 28a, 7d15d & 17d — with winner 13a

    Got some chuckles from 11a, 22a, 1d 7d & 17d just to name a few.

    Thanks to Cephas and CS for the blog/hints today

    1. I went to try to edit a couple of typos and it seems that editing is no longer allowed or maybe a function that was lost when host site was changed…???

       1. I can edit ok, pcql. I may be teaching Granny to suck eggs but do you refresh the page after you have edited?

          1. I do. Just didn’t work today.

15. Yes that was a very nice end to a very nice guzzling week. Several smiles, one or two groans and some applause. It makes up for the miserable weather. As you are all no doubt waiting to hear, I don’t think my finger is broken after all but may be slightly dislocated. George still says rubbish. It’s not HIS finger. Many thanks to the setter and the indefatigable CS

    1. Hopeit gets better soon Daisy. Injuring a hand in any way is so awkward.

    2. Thank goodness it isn’t broken, DG or worse, fractured! 😉

       I remember breaking my toe when I stubbed it on the lawn mower. The pain was terrible so you have my sympathies. As for George saying rubbish? Well, that’s men for you and I speak with knowledge and experience.

       I hope it soon feels better. 🌹🌹

16. A little like yesterday’s ‘as straightforward as they come but none the less enjoyable for that’. Spotted the pangram early on. Favourite was 8d. Thanks to the setter and CS.

17. Angelov’s pain free smoothie description sums this Cephas (presumably) pangram up perfectly. Very nearly completed in clue order with all the across ones yielding bar 22d before embarking on the downs. Can’t say I’m one of the some who’s ever referred to the skilled woodworker as a chips but it made for a neat surface read & think I’d have preferred sauces rather than sauce is at 25d. An enjoyably gentle guzzle – particular likes were 1,14&16a plus 1&3d
    Thanks to the setter & to CS

    1. 🙂

       1. Yes indeed re sauce(s).

    2. Yes, did wonder where the saucy s came from.
       I think chips was a navy expression that has transferred over to xwordspeak.

18. Good fun and very enjoyable.
    Thx to all
    ***/*****
    PS Anyone know why my login name and password is not retained by the site?

    1. That happens on my iPad, Brian but not my MacBook.

    2. Brian, the site changed recently, and I too had to log in again and check the box.

    3. It happens to me too periodically.

       1. I have the same problem Brian.

    4. Never retains mine even when I tick the box – it used to back in the day

    5. Mine hasn’t been retained for ages but I use IPhone.

       1. My iPhone retains my details, WW.

    6. Nice to see you back Brian ,been on holiday .

    7. Just guessing as I don’t login and I’m not a techie expert, so this could be wrong, but perhaps it may be to do with cookies? If the site changed it might need to place a new cookie, also if your settings change (say after an update or you use a different browser) a relevant cookie might be getting deleted?

19. Straight-forward cryptic, but cannot understand the quickie pun – the middle word seems to have baffled me (and Google). How is a Ree a female bird? Can anyone help (a google link would be excellent)? Thanks

    1. It is the name for the female ruff, a wading bird that is a kind of sandpiper

       1. Thank you. Now found it. Apparently an archaic word, now replaced by Reeve, which I also didn’t know in this context. Clearly need to swot up on my birds!

          1. Or do more crosswords – she does turn up on a fairly regular basis

             1. First time I have come across her and I’ve been doing the DT puzzle for fifty years. Mind you, I hardly concentrated for the first forty!

          2. I had a problem too, all I could think of was “hen” and that produced no fun-pun.

       2. And is almost normal for Norfolk and the nearby Ouse delta.

20. Nice and easy does it.
    Only hesitation 3d.
    As my brain turns to jelly
    When I see Spooner cited.
    But all’s well that ends well.
    Thanks Cephas and CS.

    1. Apologies Cephas, thanks Chalicea.

21. Very enjoyable pangram from Cephas. A straight run through without any hitches. Thank you setter and CS. The sun has just come out in Buckinghamshire. For how long I wonder?

22. Apologies to Cephas who is getting the blame for my pangram – I know they are his speciality and I don’t do them normally – I suspect that this one just happened. Even more apologies to those of you who have lost your five bob (especially Senf – I’ve done it to you again!) I am so glad you are enjoying the puzzle – I wish I could send you some of our sunshine too! Thanks, of course, to CS. I did love your sheep.

    1. I knew it wasn’t Cephas but hadn’t quite got as far as risking my 50p

       As for the sheep, there’s another one in my NTSPP review which will appear in the morning

    2. I enjoyed this so much I suspected it was one of yours today, thank you for a great start to my Saturday.

    3. Thanks Chalicea. You win some you lose some. I don’t think I can buy anything for 43¢ these days!

    4. I thought it was you, so enjoyable.

       1. I wondered if it was you. Thank you for avery enjoyable SPP, Chalicea.

    5. Thank heavens I resisted going all in on a Cephas production. Nice to see you popping up in the slot – much too infrequently for my liking. Lovely guzzle so we’ll forgive the sneaky pangram to throw us (well many of us) off the scent. Wonder if it was that little known feathered friend in the Quickie pun that alerted our reviewer that it was one of yours

    6. Have to admit that I just assumed this was from Cephas but lovely to see you back in the Saturday slot, Chalicea. As I said in my comment – it was a very 1a puzzle!

    7. My oh my! When I say it’s Cephas it turns out to be Chalicea. When I say it is Chalicea it turns out to be Cephas!

       Thank you so much for the great puzzle, Chalicea. You may well have placed The Mythical within my grubby little fingers! 🤣

23. 2/5. Very enjoyable puzzle which was likely to become a pangram from very early on. Favourites were 6,13&16a and 3&25d although I’m usually not keen on spoonerisms. The winner was 13a. Thanks to Cephas (I guess) and CS.

24. Enjoyed every bit of this from start to finish. Not surprised that this is one of Chalicea’s offerings, she never fails to please, and never makes me feel thick as two planks. Did bung in the wrong answer at 26a but 21d soon set me straight. Too many favourite clues to name one, and I’m not going to break Kath’s rule 😊. Thanks to Chalicea, come back soon, and to CrypticSue.

25. A very enjoyable puzzle – done in front of my log fire, after lovely lunch at the Greenhouse…..who could want for more….is it really August?

26. An enjoyable crossword with just a couple of head-scratching moments. I stiffened when seeing 3d and the Rev Spooner appear. I usually struggle with those type of clues and as I got the answer straightaway now wonder if it is correct? Oh ye of little faith! Many thanks to Cephas and CS. Have a nice weekend everyone despite the rain ☔

    1. Not Cephas. See comment 22

       1. My apologies to Chalcea! Many thanks CS.

27. Good steady solve.

28. Another gem from Chalicea! What is happening? A full week of pure enjoyment, I’m worried I’m going to wake up soon. I loved it, perfect for a Saturday. I got stuck in the SE, noting it was a pangram, I started looking for the missing letter. Got it, and everything else fell into place. My heart dropped when I saw the unmentionable at 3d, but I got it without knowing the why; thanks Sue.
    Thank you Chalicea, such a treat to have you visit again, and thanks for your hints and pics CS.

29. I zoomed through these but found myself stuck in the NE with Id and 10a. Main reason was that I failed to check for pangram and had wrong word in 12a. I even parsed my answer. Meanwhile I spent time looking for breeds of small domestic cars and the names of wild cats, and I had found an unknown to me synonym of lyric. Favourites 11 and 13a and 15 and 25d. Thank you Chalicea and CS.

30. Drawn a complete blank on 6a. I have made the, probably erroneous, assumption that this is a double definition. I can find at least 2 words which match ‘strike’ but neither, as far as I can determine, has any correlation to ‘attend’. I’m 80 years old and pride myself on having a fairly extensive vocabulary but this has me completely foxed.

    1. You’ve changed your alias since your previous comments in 2018 so this needed moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.
       You need to think of ‘attend’ as two words (2,2).

       1. Sorry, I was unaware that I had an alias. I just used my name. Apologies once more and thanks for the tip though it’s yet to dawn on me!

          1. Click! The grey cell eventually fired! Thanks again.

31. An entertaining puzzle. Needed the hints for four clues. Still don’t understand 25d fully (there’s a letter I can’t properly account for), and wonder whether some words might have dropped off CC’s hint for that. Thanks Chalicea and CrypticSue.

    1. Nothing wrong with CS’s hint, Mark, could be more a case of you forgetting about apostrophe marks!

       1. Thanks Jane. I should remember that I am in crosswordland! As I understand it in proper usage, an apostrophe can indicate missing letters, but when used before an “s” indicates the possessive except in the case of “it is”. So the “sauce’s” would be something the sauce possesses (like “the sauce’s aroma”) rather than something it is (i.e. not “the sauce is aroma”).

    2. CS’s hint is quite correct. You need to think of an abbreviated way of saying “sauce is” from the clue.

       1. The abbreviation you are looking for would, as I see it, result in a possessive thought Philbert. See my comment above. You refer to “CS’s hint” correctly as a possessive after all!

          1. The apostrophe before an ‘s’ does not always indicate possession. It can also be used to indicate a contraction of ‘is’ and is not restricted to ‘it is’. Example “Dinner’s served”. Probably only used informally though. It may have been better if the clue had used the plural ‘sauces’ instead…

             1. “Dinner’s served” makes me wince! But even if that is acceptable grammar, contracting “is” by using an apostrophe should be avoided in any case where it could also result in a possessive. Perhaps I’m not on the same page as the rest of you, but that’s my view.

                1. I’m with you, Mark. To me, “dinner’s” means something belonging to dinner as in “Here is the dinner’s gravy, so!”

                   1. 😀👍🏻 Thanks Steve. I didn’t think of “the dinner’s gravy”! Thinking about it, I imagine expressions involving stages of the meal such as the dinner’s aperitif, first course, entrée, might also be used quite commonly.

32. Re 21d and CrypticSue’s clue: what is the BRB?

    1. You’ve changed your alias since your previous comment (in 2012 – where have you been?). Both aliases will work from now on.
       The BRB is Chambers Dictionary – see FAQ #12.

       1. Gosh! I can’t remember 2012! 🤣
          What was my Nom de Plume then?

          I still look at BDCB when I want to check Parsing or when I’m stuck.

          Thanks btw.

          1. You were xtw2 in 2012.

             1. Ah, yes, I still use that, and was thinking of doing so here! Thanks.

33. 2*/4* …
    liked 1d “Dirty and gloomy small cat (6)”

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