DT 30387

76 comments on “DT 30387”

1. I found this a tough exercise at top end *** struggling for a while with 23d&27d before the pennies dropped. Thank you Shabbo for explaining the solutions to 17a and 16d. No particular favourites here and it will be interesting to discover who our setter is. Thanks to that person for the challenge. I need a rest after all the head scratching.

2. 3*/5*. Five stars for enjoyment are not enough to describe how good this puzzle was. I had a lot of ticks yesterday, and even more today with 16d finishing just ahead of all the rest.

   The slang meaning of ripped in 14d was new to me but confirmed by a BRB check. Shouldn’t 9a be enumerated (5,4)?

   Many thanks to the setter, surely Silvanus – our Mr Smooth, and thanks too to Shabbo.

   1. 9a should indeed be (5,4), RD.

      What a great puzzle. Such excellent surfaces does suggest it’s the work of Silvanus.

      The lurker in 1d eluded me for a good while. I took an age trying to make psalms the answer (PS and Alms) but it then revealed itself.

      Very difficult to pick the medal winners but I’ll go with the aforementioned, 18d because of the relevance of Chay and the winner being the beautifully constructed 17d.

      Well done Shabs or, going along with your most excellent shout, ‘whale done’.

      Many thanks to the compiler.

      3*/5*

3. Challenging! Got there in the end, but a bit of a grind, and even after completion found a handful of the clues hard to parse. GK helped a good deal, but in places it was a deep trawl of the memory bank…. Many thanks.

4. Very enjoyable, as our blogger says lots of fun throughout the solve.
   My only tiny quibble is 5d where I thought using two random given names to make up the anagram fodder somewhat contrived.
   My ticks go to 13,20,24 (giving the setter a degree of artistic licence with the homophone) &26a plus 8,14&16d (for the surface read).
   Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo for an entertaining puzzle and blog.

   1. I did wonder whether Tim & Alec are the christian names of well known climbers that I’ve never herd of

5. I found this much more enjoyable than yesterday’s offering but I, personally, found it slightly strange. I could see the parsing of many clues but only partially. I could not make the parsing give that final “click” thus showing how it all works. An example of this is 9a where I got the word for “magnificent” but could not work out the member of parliament. Still, an entertaining guzzle with plenty of ticks. A couple that raised smiles are Fred’s neighbour at 17a and the gutted fish at 10a. However, my COTD is the cruise at 21a.

   Many thanks to the setter for the fun. Thank you, Shabbo for the hints.

   1. Ok, I now understand the parliament but I have always associated that particular collective noun with rooks.

6. I was let down by my weak grasp of popular culture in 16d. But I got the Teletubby reference (to my shame). Another fun one.

7. The excellence
   Continues. For example
   9, 11 and 21a and even
   In the lurker at 28a.
   Good to see the leaves in
   19a yet again serving their
   Useful purpose.
   Too long on the SE corner popped
   Me into 3* time.
   Thanks to the setter and Shabbo, nicely
   Illustrated review.

8. Another superb back-pager that was an absolute delight from start to finish, pleasingly tricky in places, and full of great surfaces. I found it very hard to pick an outright winner from such a choice, but 16d just came out on top.

   My thanks to our setter, surely Silvanus, for such an enjoyable challenge, and to Shabbo.

9. Yet another tricky puzzle but most enjoyable,last in was 3d which I failed to parse-thanks shabbo.
   Favourite was 17a ,the definition was confirmed by my ancient Chambers, next in line was 21a, a top draw clue, The member of Parliment in 9a made me smile- better than the existing cabinet!
   Going for a ***/****

10. I absolutely loved this although I got off to a very slow start. Hands up if you googled ‘bowl’ to see if it was a member of Parliament? I then saw my mistake. Had to google the tellytubbies too, but all in all it went quite smoothly. 3d was a bung in despite thinking of Mr Macron. Many thanks to the setter for a delightful guzzle and to Shabbo

    1. I knew nothing about Teletubbies!

11. A not too difficult guess the setter on a ‘Not a Ray T Thursday’ – two half-crowns on the member of the Friday triumvirate who regularly moonlights on a Thursday when it is a Beam Toughie day – 2.5*/4.5*.

    Candidates for favourite – 10a, 26a, 25d, and 27d – and the winner is 26a.

    Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if my five bob goes down the drain, and thanks to Shabbo.

12. A really enjoyable puzzle – thanks to our setter and Shabbo.
    For my podium I’ll take three out of 9a, 10a, 14d and 16d.

13. Like, Calder Chris, I found this guzzle a bit of a grind and like Steve Cowling found several clues, where I could inly see part of the parsing, enough to make the solution gettable. There were some really enjoyable clues, the best being a couple of lego clues with Heneral Knowledge involved, 10d and 22d and the 23a homophone, my COTD. My thanks to Shabbo for the hints, which helped me to unravel some of the more impenetrable parsing and to the compiler. I had to sing the Teletubbies song before I ccould remember their names and got a few strange looks from my husband, Jim.

14. A restless night meant I got an early start at this and solved it without the aid of caffeinated stimulants, good fun, especially the Parliamentary one. Thanks to Shabbo and setter but sleep still eluded me so i had a go at the toughie and ran into trouble parsing several. I shall ponder over coffee breaks until the toughie blog pops up

15. A real struggle to get started! Then quite hard work and a lot of time taken.
    Satisfying to finish and maybe a relief. No favourites from here.
    At least a 3?
    Thanks to setter and others.

16. Absolutely wizard, wouldn’t be surprised if the setter was Roy Wood.
    Yet again slow to start, but accelerating towards the end like Josh Kerr last night. Some really clever clues with great misdirection in 9a, last in for me was 27d which is always galling if it’s a four letter with only two adrift, needed to think German pronuciation to make it click. Mein Favourites today war 21a and the brilliant 6d. Thanks to Shabbo and Mr Wood.

17. This setter is a master of misdirection leading to a shower of pennies dropping this morning. He even managed to hoodwink with the very clever anagram at 6d. The SE corner held out the longest even though 29a was an easy old chestnut, but once I’d cracked the alcoholic daughter all fell into place. Very difficult to choose a favourite today – I loved it all – but honourable mention for 21a, 8d, 16d and 17d. Thanks to our setter and to Shabbo for showing me a new slang word for ‘drunk’!

18. A laboured start but it developed into an enjoyable enigma with smoothest run in West. 3d turns up yet again as is inevitable I guess for regular cruciverbalists. Bunged in clever 6d as I stupidly failed to recognise doctor. Not up on Teletubby names so took while for 23d penny to drop. Joint Favs 9a and 21d. Thank you Silvanus and Shabbo.

    1. Sorry I of course meant 21a not 21d.

19. I thought yesterday’s puzzle was good, but this was absolutely cracking, quite superb. I tuned in to the setter’s wavelength very quickly, it seems, for it fell steadily and without pause going clockwise from the NW, making for a very speedy solve over the morning coffee. Clearly I’ve absorbed far too much popular culture, because 17a came to mind instantly, and 23d not long after!

    My page is littered with ticks, with 11a, 21a, 26a, 4d, 6d, 8d, 14d and 23d all vying for the podium which ended up being topped by 16d. Super fun throughout, thank you so much to the setter (surely Silvanus?) and Shabbo.

    1* / 4.5*

20. Loved this. Lots of clever misdirection (eg 9a, 11a, 16d) and popular culture references – luckily I am still a child at heart and am fully up to speed on Tellytubbies, The Flintstones and Munstermen. LOI was 3d and this was my COTD for the glorious penny drop moment when I finally worked it out.

21. Top notch as per. I always reckon Silvanus guzzles best of week thus far & this one certainly a close call with yesterday’s back-pager. If betting on the photo finish I’d have 5 bob on a dead heat. Couldn’t begin to pick a fav as pretty well liked ‘em all & loved the Quickie pun too. The Teletubby vaguely rang a bell but needed confirmation, the drunk synonym unfamiliar & I’d forgotten that the great JH was deservedly knighted so that was last in.
    Thanks to Silvanus & to Shabbo for an excellent review.
    Ps I have a mug listing some super Scottish words & phrases to describe a state of being Brahms & Liszt – blootered, wellied, moroculous, gassed, Buckied, steamin’, stocious, cabbaged, fleein’, fu’, reekin’ & my fav which is oot the game.

    1. Up yem in Northumberland we’d say palatic, mortal, mortalious, or away wi’ the mixer!

       1. Ooh I like the last one

       2. In Grimsby, where I grew up, we would say “kaylied”.

22. So much fun in this one that I had to set up an extra podium – one for the winners and another for ‘smilers’. The former hosts 21&24a plus 2&16d whilst the latter gives a platform for 10&19a plus 23&27d.
    Has to be a compilation from our own Mr Smooth!

    Thanks to Silvanus for making my day and thanks to our very competent reviewer, Shabbo.

    1. Forgot to say – thought you might have mentioned the provenance of the 9a member of parliament, Shabbo!

       1. I was rather hoping that you were going to ask that question, Jane! Thank you!
          This is a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl that we saw on our trip to Kenya in June. A fabulous bird and the biggest of the African owls.

          1. A truly magnificent creature – you were so lucky to get such a good sighting.

             1. We had a brilliant local bird guide!

23. I am not usually a fan of GK in crosswords, nor sporting references, but I did get the assorted ones in this lovely puzzle.
    How embarrassing to know the names of all the Teletubbies at my advanced age!
    Lots of smiles and minimal head-scratching over the beautifully crafted clues.
    I thought 18d was clever, and 11a particularly devious.
    A lovely way to pass my time on a dark and humid morning on the south coast.

24. I needed the hints for 9a and 11a and I am unaquainted with Teletubby characters.
    Is blarney a synonym of cajole ?I would say it is just talking romantic rubbish.
    21a is my favourite.
    Thanks to the setter and Shabbo.

    1. Hi Una, according to the BRB, blarney can be used as both a noun and a verb so I reckon our setter is on safe ground.

25. A top-notch puzzle. Fine clues, a decent challenge and an enjoyable tussle. Favourite of an excellent bunch: 17d. 3.5*/4.5*.

    *It’s strange what people quibble about. What’s wrong with 5d? All anagram fodder is contrived – using TIM/ALEC (which are mere words) is no more contrived than using any other two words being in full view in the clue. One man’s meat, and all that …

    1. Agreed, got it straight away which is more than could be said for some of the clues.

    2. I’m with you all the way, Jose as opposed to ‘No way, Jose’ (I can’t stop myself).

       If they were a famous duo then it’s a Brucie Bonus.

26. What immense fun! I thought this was going to be a DNS (Did Not Start) as first one in both a and d was 19a, but from them on it was a joy to complete in longish breakfast time with the checkers helping. Spent a long time trying to get Cantab into 11a, despite having seen it v many times on visits to that Cambridge! But that then meant I could abandon ‘crab’ in 3d and look at ‘my’ president instead of some biblical one. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I recognised all the cartoon references though some during parsing after the event.
    I suppose my COTD has to be 19a as it finally put me onto the setter’s wavelength.
    V many thanks to Silvanus (if it is indeed you) and to Shabbo.

27. Seems Thursday puzzles whether they be RayT or like this week another setter, they are difficult to get into and/or work out … be it parsing or deciphering the clue. Took a while to get going and slowly it unravelled.

    3*/3* for me

    Favourites include 9a, 11a, 15a, 17a, 5d, 14d & 23d with winner 14d
    Smiles from 9a, 11a, 17a, 26a, 14d & a big chuckle for 23d … that was a good one!

    Thanks to Silvanus(?) and Shabbo for hints/tips

28. Not one for me esp at the top. Too many American and religious references for comfort. Found this really tricky and really just a tedious slog.
    ****/*
    Thx for the hints

29. Good afternoon
    It’s half-two and I’m on my way into work – I’ve been scratching my head and chewing my pen (which isn’t easy, seeing as it’s a Parker Jotter and it’s all metal…) since half 10. I genuinely thought I’d have to hoy the towel in, and then: CLUNK! 11a dropped in – what a superb piece of misdirection, equalled by 9a which was the penultimate to fall. So many contenders for COTD, or for a “Crikey!”, OR, in extremis, an “FFS!!!” but I’m going with 9a.
    Many thanks to our compiler, and to Shabbo.

30. Not having seen a whole episode of the three unfunny programmes or watched more than a few moments of what the Americans mistakenly call a sport I started off at a disadvantage.i managed 13 on my own before needing Shabbo to explain the rest. The Teletubby remains a mystery but I guess Herman and Barney are the other two.

    When we were in the US in 2009 it was interesting that many people had become football fans. The reason being that they could watch a sport for 45 minutes without interruptions for adverts. It was there that I developed an intense loathing of American football which was backed up by an article in the New Yorker on head injuries and dementia.

    Of those I managed none were outstanding because I had no idea of why. They just had to be that. Thanks to Shabbo for unlocking the parsing of the ones I failed to get. What a strange store of knowledge you must have to have to parse some of these clues especially the children and baby references. Now Top Cat and Tom and Jerry like all quality children’s stories and films can be enjoyed equally by adults. Thanks to our setter with his eclectic store of knowledge.

31. Many thanks to Shabbo (settling into the blogger’s chair extremely well, I reckon) and to all those taking the trouble to comment.

    I would not normally include quite as much GK in a puzzle as appeared in today’s, but it generally seems to have been received well and so I might repeat the exercise in the future. I enjoyed watching The Flintstones growing up, but I never knew until researching the puzzle that Fred’s next-door neighbour was actually called Bernard (Barney was his nickname, apparently). Every day is a learning day, they say!

    1. Thank you for a terrific guzzle, silvanus.

    2. Bernard – surely not! Next thing you’ll be telling us is that Father Christmas isn’t real……….
       Thank you for another excellent puzzle, Silvanus, very much enjoyed.

       1. Have no fear, Jane – Father Christmas is real! :good:

          1. Thank goodness for that – my grandchildren would have been devastated!

             1. Never mind the grandchildren – I would be devastated! :grin:

                1. I still watch Miracle on 34th street every Christmas……..

                   1. And It’s a Wonderful Life….

    3. Thanks for dropping by Silvanus, and many congrats for a lovely puzzle!

    4. Thanks Silvanus I’m still reeling from this one! There has never been a crossword where there were so many answers I eventually guessed correctly but had no clue about how they were constructed. 9a, 13a, 28a, 3d (and I live in France but didn’t think of that Emmanuel!) 16d &17d. Many thanks to Shabbo for the explanations and cringe-worthy flintstones joke.

32. Just completed and feeling quite pleased about it as I struggled yesterday. I enjoyed the challenge and need the checkers a lot and did not understand all the parsing but I got there. Too many enjoyable clues to have a favourite today. I am particularly pleased I remembered Parliament and leaves which have come up before….maybe my memory is not all bad. I also found myself singing the theme tunes to The Flintstones and Teletubbies, next we will be having Trumpton and Camberwick Green!

    Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo in advance

    1. You’ve got me singing Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble & Grub now.

       1. They don’t make them like they used to!

33. A great puzzle Silvanus but it’s always those little clues that get me … as with 27d today! Good old Barney Rubble loved that cartoon so much! Thank you Shabbo as well

34. I couldn’t solve a single clue with this.

    A toughie for me that I will leave to everyone else.

    Thanks to all.

    1. Thank goodness! I thought it was only me that found this hard and virtually impossible. My only real solve was 14 d and I must say the thought of alcohol is an enticing one!

    2. Strange isn’t it, Bananawarp? I found yesterday’s puzzle impenetrable while the majority loved it. Today, I loved this one and others couldn’t solve it.

       1. Steve a penny for your thoughts. How on earth do people for whom money is tight cope with dental care. I’ve just been striped 80 notes for the privilege of a very pleasant lady looking into my mouth, prodding my painful abscess, taking an x-Ray & prescribing Amoxicillin, which is what I knew I wanted before I went in but couldn’t get a prescription without an examination.I dread to think what some people presumably have to put with

          1. About thirty years ago the then government changed the remuneration system for the dental profession. I told my colleagues at the time that it was the start of the government getting rid of dentistry from the NHS. Nobody believed me. Then they forced a stupid system on the profession – UDAs. These were Units of Dental Activity and were worth a certain amount depending on the treatment. A filling, for example, attracted a certain number of UDAs -I believe it was three. However, get this – if we did nine fillings in the same course of treatment we still only received 3 UDAs. Naturally, dentists left the NHS in droves because a dental practice is expensive to run and being paid the same amount for nine fillings as one was economic suicide. Would you expect to go into a shop, buy five pairs of shoes and pay for only one pair? The shopkeeper would give you short shrift.
             I’m afraid the prediction I made back in the 1980s has materialised. NHS dentistry has been overtaken by corporate organisations who care about nothing but profits and their practices are manned by dentists who are inexperienced.
             I’m afraid excellent dentistry on the NHS is dead and, if you want a good standard of care, the only way is to join a scheme such as Denplan.
             It’s not an ideal situation by any means and my colleagues and I have been frustrated for years by the attitude of the Department of Health.
             What breaks my heart is the number of children who cannot get treatment.
             Sorry for the rant, Huntsman but you touched a nerve.

             1. Guessed as much Steve

             2. A double filling on my last visit was £180 and that is on top of the 20 quid a month to be on his books, I do miss NHS dentistry but at least he is brilliant and much better than some of the dentists i went to years ago

                1. Forgive me, SJB but that sounds wrong. I too have to have a dentist and I pay about £30 a month to Denplan. For this I get most treatment for free.
                   Having said that, if you have a dentist you trust then stick with him or her because such professionals are disappearing.

35. Can’t say I was overly keen on this. In my parlance an 8d is a powerful person more than a wealthy one. I had never heard of 23d, or the required meaning of ripped. I know little about America, so 11a was always going to catch me out. Overall too much GK I didn’t have for me to enjoy this. To me, the Toughie was better, which I managed unaided for all the clues bar 2, one of which is wrongly clued in the new puzzles site. I am not sure why the back pager should consistently be at the same level or less approachable than the Toughie, but that’s how it is for me this week. Perhaps I am more on the wavelength of some setters than others.

36. Many thanks to Shabbo and Silvanus for today’s most pleasurable puzzle although 3 d was a bung in. Yesterday was also a delight, and without telling the circumstances it was a necessary diversion. Top spots to 9,11 and 26 across.

37. I found this harder than the Beam toughie. I had to look up the names of the Teletubbies and I hadn’t heard of hair product either. I had the answer to 16d for ages but couldn’t parse it until the penny dropped making it cotd just edging out 21a. Thanks to Silvanus and Shabbo.

38. Very tough today, and DNF. Got most of the bottom half over breakfast, then having a second look this evening after work, brain just not in gear. Thanks Silvanus for the challenge, and Shabbo for making things clear.

39. A very enjoyable, tightly clued puzzle. Many thanks Silvanus.
    I came here to understand parsing of 3d, I had assumed Emmanuel was an unknown word to me of Oxbridge college- so many thanks Shabbo.
    And thanks also for the excellently groanworthy joke at 17a.

    1. Thanks, Gordon. I thought the joke at 17a had gone unnoticed, or maybe it just isn’t funny?!

       1. Ha ha!! This comment made me go back to read the hint for this clue – well worth the visit! It is funny 😄

          1. Me too

40. 3*/2* …
    no stand out clues for me.

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