DT 30592

128 comments on “DT 30592”

1. That was harder than solving a quadratic equation in the dark when you’re drunk.
   If it had been any sunnier outside I’d have given up on this one after about
   three clues, but sheer bloodymindedness made me stick at it till the end.

   Still can’t see how 2 and 5d work, so will see the hints.
   Slight niggle with 27a though, if I went up the bookies today and bet on all the
   odds-on favourites, are they really ‘certain’ to win? I’d be a very happy punter if that were the case, maybe ‘likely’ would have been better, but what do I know from clueing.

   Apart from that bit of pedantry, a very clever crossword and certainly Friday fare (if not edging into toughie territory)
   Loads of great clues today, but my two favourites must be 4a and the Freddie ‘parrot face’ Davies style 1a. Brilliant!

2. 5*/3*. This proved to be a tough nut to crack even for a Friday, especially in the NE corner. Although it was hard work and there were a few strained surfaces, I did enjoy it on the whole. I suspected a pangram might be on the cards, but it didn’t materialise.

   I wasn’t sure what the “currant squares” in 11d might be but Googling them revealed they are what my mum used to call “flies’ graveyards” – delicious in spite of the name! That clue is also one of my podium picks along with 6d & 8d.

   Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

   1. Our NE corner was vitually empty too and gave up in the end as we were totally stuck. Very unusual for pommers to give in

3. I got 1a straight away and thought it an excellent clue. Great I said to myself off to a good start. Not!

   After the first pass I had solved only two more. I did the usual trick of walking away, doing something else for half an hour but it did not work at all. I still could not get anymore. In the end I lost the will to live and gave up and, not having admitted defeat for ages, felt annoyed with myself. I have quite a lot on today so I’m afraid I resorted to Dan Word. Some of the clues are clever but others remained a mystery.

   I wonder what Brian is going to say? 😁

   Thank you to the setter but you knocked me for six today. Thank you for the hints and pusskits, Mr. K.

   1. What’s Dan Word Steve?

      1. https://www.danword.com/

         1. Thanks

      2. A site that gives answers and I rarely use it because it defeats the object of guzzles, which is to entertain and test the grey cells. However, I resorted to it today.

         1. Danword is intriguing. It has to be some sort of AI behind it all, but a quick Google search doesn’t reveal much on how it works. Sometimes if I’m up just after midnight, I’ll go to Danword to see how quickly the solutions appear and they start trickling in very quickly after a puzzle has been released. The early “solutions” are often incorrect or very close though.

            On the “new” site, the “Reveal” button is a faster alternative to Danny and it will always be correct.

         2. Ta, might have a look, but won’t use it, because as you say, it rather defeats the object.

            1. I have used it once or twice, but I’d rather go to the hints. At least with the hints you have a second chance to solve, then if that fails you can reveal the answer. Why bother to go to all that trouble when you can just click on a button?

         3. I looked at DanWord, thought it was rubbish, oh well, least I’ve seen it.

            1. Agree with many of the comments here, the hardest one I have ever done, evidenced by the fact that it’s Monday morning and I’ve only just finished it!

               I’m glad I persevered, some wonderful and clever clues.

      3. If you Google Dan Word, you’ll find a clue solver, or if you Google the clue, Dan Word will appear amongst others.

   2. No reason to feel annoyed with yourself Steve. This crossword had no business being offered in anything other than the Toughie slot.

      1. we’ve heard this many times before. i disagree. it was hard but well worthwhile

4. I really enjoyed today’s offering. I concentrated on getting the long ones first, I liked 3d. I also had trouble with the NE corner.

5. A stiff challenge that one. Got the South done, but left with six in the North which needed some heavy hints. The NE in particular was very tough.

   Still, given the 5* rating from Mr K, I’m actually pretty satisfied. So many great clues, especially for the long answers. I didn’t know that 11d was a broadly recognised term, but rather a Big Dave special. I got that one, though, and I’m making it my favourite. ****/****

6. That was a very tough crossword, but once solved I looked back through all the answers and parsing and have to say 11d is one of the best clues I have come across, so for me it’s a 5*/5*.
   Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

7. As a bird-watching old crooner might have sung, “21Ds, I’ve had a few” … Cracking puzzle. The middle and three corners were all decent Friday-level challenge, but for me the NE was certainly late-week Toughie Territory verging on “as old boots”. All in all, though, a properly testing Friday back-pager. So clever throughout, very witty, and lots of very loud clangs as pennies the size of drain-covers dropped. Great surfaces, all entirely fair, but I’d struggle to consider the item in 8d ‘clothing’, unless it’s a very wide old 1970s ‘kipper’ tie! Hon Mentions to 4a, 22a, 2d & COTD 11d.

   4* / 4*

   Many thanks to the setter & to MrK – one of those cats is slacking, it hasn’t filled in a single clue!

   1. MG. You raise an interesting question: is a tie an item of clothing or a mere “accessory”? I would (just about) say yes – but I’m far from sure. And what about belts? Discuss!

      1. The former an (increasingly rare) accessory, and the latter – for me at least – a necessity as much as an accessory!

      2. i gave all my ties to a charity shop the day I retired ;D

   2. Hi MG

      ”I’d like a kipper tie” is what Noddy Holder would say when asking for a brew.

      A bit like Day Zee, the oldies are the best.

      1. Oh grief, I’m still groaning at that one, Tom ….

8. Judging by the number of ‘hmms’ on my paper, I should think this was penned by Zandio. No point in harping on about it, better to simply say that my top two were 12a & 6d.

   Thanks to our setter and to Mr K and the felines for the review.

9. This was harder than the average toughie!

10. A most intriguing and absorbing puzzle but pretty tough. The lego clues at 15a and 3d were good fun, as eas the lreverse lurker at 14d. However, the brilliant cryptic definition at 24 d was the best of the clues in my book. Thanks to the,swtter and to Mr K for the hints and the pusskits

11. Great puzzle. 4*/5* imo.

12. Excellent puzzle! Feels like a Zandio production to me but I could be wrong. Fine clues, a good/tough challenge and an enjoyable tussle with a real sense of achievement/victory at the finish. My only slight niggle is the use of “certain” in 27a – whatever the odds, there’s never any “certainty”. Too many great clues to isolate to favourite so I’ll just give a special mention to 11d. 4.5*/4.5*.

    1. Re certain, see my comment earlier, almost a carbon copy!

       1. Yes. And your “likely” would have been better.

13. A proper Friday-level puzzle with wit galore – I wish the weekend back-page ‘prize’ puzzles were more like this.
    Amongst the clues I ticked were 1a, 20a, 2d, 6d, 8d and 11d.
    Many thanks to our setter and Mr K.

14. Like Steve Cowling, I got 1a immediately but things went downhill from there. Found the NW and SE fairly straightforward but by no means easy, then after a break managed to struggle through the SW. However the NE defeated me and I had to resort to Mr. K’s terrific hints. So ***** for difficulty (or is it time?) and *** for enjoyment. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

15. Yep, I also thought of Zandio from the outset: quirkily brilliant. The outrageously cheeky 1a just seems very him. 5d took me an age to parse – very clever. Loved 6d and 11d’s great fun. 24a appealed to me too. Definitely trickier than your average Friday but why not?! Loved it. Huge thanks to the setter and Mr K.

16. Jeepers!

    Tough, tough, tough. The Beast from the North East gave me a good seeing to…..if you know what I mean. But, once I got 4a the rest dropped fairly quickly (‘fairly quickly’ is certainly a relative term today).

    My podium is 1a (such fun), 7d (crossword cluing at its very best) and 11d.

    Many thanks to Jane’s favourite compiler and Mr K.

    I need to lie down.

    5*/4*

17. I suppose ite easy to criticise something thats too difficult for you, but as a relative newcomer to crosswords it was too hard for me.
    I can sometimes finish without hints but I usually need help on 2 or 3, today it was 9 + parsing on another 2.
    So for me this belonged in TT(Toughie Territory)
    Very many thanks for hints!!

    1. Worry not. I am far from a relative newcomer to the DT Cryptic, the other end of the spectrum in fact and you are quite correct in your assessment of where this puzzle belongs.

18. Brilliant puzzle today full of crafty and original clues plus plenty of wit. Right up my Strasse. 11d is superb. As others have said, the NE corner was trickiest.

    Not sure who the setter is Robyn? Ray T? Whomsoever they deserve a round of applause. Thank you to them and Mr K.

19. That was tough…to say the least. An awful lot of bung-ins followed by increasingly desperate attempts to parse.
    Total failure on 25a….
    But despite all the above, curiously satisfying.
    Favourite 1a….used to live fairly near Thouthend.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K. Great pics as usual.

20. Oh my. 5* / 3* for us including a DNF – very rarely do we give up but we were 5 missing from the NE corner.
    Thanks MrK for the blog and the kitties. And to the setter for totally foxing us today.

21. Whew!
    Northwest was the trickiest sector and needed a bit of e-help, but the single clue that baffled me was 11d. I managed to get the right answer, but couldn’t work out the logic.
    Thank you Mr K for explaining and thanks to the setter for an entertaining challenge.

22. Brilliant, a true Friday puzzle. I needed the hints today for the NE corner. It would have taken me days to work out 4a and 5d. The long answers were helpful but even with ‘crossword’ in place I didn’t see ‘floor’ as a verb until the ‘z’ ckecker was in. 11d made me laugh and is my favourite today. So many clues are worthy of mention but I’ll highlight 20a, 24a, 6d and 14d. Thanks to our setter and to Mr K for his much needed help today.

23. Phew feel like I’ve been put through the mangle and hung out to dry. Failed on 10a and 11d. Needed hints to explain a few of my bung ins and thought a few were a bit stretchy ( ie I couldn’t see the logic) and certainly raised my 11a. Thanks to all.

24. I’ve been doing DT crosswords, and others, for 30+ years, and think 1a is the most ridiculous clue I’ve ever seen!
    In 13a my elastic broke trying to get from DRUNK to HAD?

    1. Hi Vince

       I absolutely loved 1a. It’s hilarious and such fun. Saying that, I understand that it won’t be everyone’s cup of Rosie.

       One man’s poison and all that caper.

       1. I thought there was a misprint, but couldn’t work out was it was supposed to be.

25. Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve and discuss. Thanks, Mr K, for the lovely pictures and excellent analysis.
    Anorak wonders if the answer to 11d is used outside of the Big Dave blog. I suspect not — I think these clues are usually called ‘hiddens’, which isn’t nearly so much fun.
    One of the best exponents is the great Brian Greer, who used to compile the Sunday Telegraph cryptic. The Telegraph Centenary Crossword Collection includes this gem from Brian:
    ‘Gambling device from casino near Med band itself extracted (3-5, 6).
    I had the pleasure of editing Brian’s Sunday Telegraph cryptic for about ten years, and learnt a lot from him. But what I appreciated most of all was his maxim when dealing with the crossword editor: ‘Don’t argue with the referee!’
    Thanks again. Have a great weekend.

    1. Thanks for a brutal workout, Z.

       I keep giggling at 1a.

       Playing with words like that is such a hoot. I think you are almost as bonkers as I am.

       1. no no Tom, he’s not. trust me

          1. 

          2. You’re right, Banksie. I got a tad carried away.

    2. Thanks for the guzzle, Zandio. It was way above my pay grade but that’s just a case of my having to work harder.

    3. Great puzzle Zandio, thank you! Even though the NE was so chewy I agree with Gazza, it was good to have the step-up in challenge and I too wish weekend back-page puzzles were more like this. Super 11d from Brian Greer, as you say.

26. Well my brain cells have certainly had their exercise for today. I liked the puzzle with the NE taking me the longest to break.
    Top picks for me were 1a, 15a, 29a, 2d and 11d.
    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

27. That was properly Tough and no mistake. I was delighted that the vast majority of earlier comments reflected that view. I completed it either side of lunch, and the brain food did the trick. Lots of really clever and sneaky clues, with my favourite being 11d.

    Thanks to Zandio for the workout, and to Mr K.

28. I am in full agreement with Mr K. that this is another somewhat difficult Friday puzzle this week again, with some parsing issues as well as tricky clues. Took a long time to get through this one.

    3.5*/3*

    Favourites include 1a, 18a, 1d, 3d & 11d — with winner 1a
    Smiles for 1a, 2d, 3d & 17d

    Thanks to Zandio for my brainache & Mr K. for hints/blog

29. Well that was hard work. Early on I wasn’t sure if I was enjoying the experience but as I progressed and certain clues suddenly came to me I began to appreciate Zandio’s (as I’ve just seen the post) skill and enjoyed the work out!!
    COTD 11d
    Thanks to Mr K and Zandio

30. Well that took three visits and the combined might of me and Mrs B. About a 1/3 we didn’t understand fully but what we did see was very clever. Absolutely no fun at all except for the satisfaction of completing the grid. There is no place for puzzles of this difficulty on the back page, it’s just pandering to the experienced setters who should be doing the Toughie anyway.
    *****/*
    Thx for the hints
    PS Is anyone else failing to have their details saved or is it just me?

    1. It’s a problem for us all, Brian. If the saving names feature is turned on we get the dreaded error message and the site goes. Mr. K. is working on it.

    2. Brian there are lots of us with the same detail saving problem but MrK is kindly tirelessly working on it.

    3. I too found this very difficult but I do not see why we cannot have a so called ‘toughie’ on the back page from time to time. I never even try a toughie but if they appear on the back page I give it a go and who knows I may even progress to doing a toughie. Having said that one now and again will do for me!!
       Douglas

       1. Hear hear!

31. Have gone through stages with this one. Initially staring at a mostly blank grid thinking I was done with only a few clues solved. Then started working a few out and making some progress. I think I’ve now done all I can. Have about 3 quarters done with the upper right remaining bare. At least I can console myself that this was given a fairly rare 5* rating

32. Very masterful, elegant but an utter beast of a puzzle. I had to resort to Mr K’s hints after my corner took pity on me and threw in the towel. Like others, I thought 1a was a total giggle, but after that progress was pitifully slow. I tip my hat to Zandio for the elegant beasting and Mr K for the hints.

33. I knew this was a Zandio offering on reading 1a. I solved exactly one clue, but that could be due to lack of interest. I’ve tried but I can’t find anything to commend this puzzle. Not one for me. Your brain must work in weird ways Mr. K if you could solve this. On the other hand, thank you so much for the pusskits, all is forgiven.

34. I have done about a third, and as it was proving so hard to get going I popped on to see if I was alone. I can see from other much more.advanced guzzlers than I that this is going to probably defeat me. I will return later to look at the hints after having another go.

    It is days like today that I really appreciate this site and cannot imagine having to solve such a tricky ouzzle and provide hints in a timely fashion, hats off to Mr K who must need a rest after wrestling with IT issues and such a challenging puzzle.

    Thanks to Zandio for the puzzle, even if it defeats me, and to Mr K in advance as I am sure I will need your hints!

35. I have thrown in the towel on this brainstorming horror but am relieved to see I am not alone in my judgment and even 5 stars have been allotted to it by MrK. Thank you but no thank you Zandio and TVM to MrK for making me feel better about myself.

    1. A fellow dissenter! Tennis beckons.

36. A real toughie today and like others the NE section was particularly difficult to start, the cockney drunk in 13a was at least iffy.
    A *****./*** for me and I cannot say that I really enjoyed it

37. Having seen the comment from Mr K, my loins were well and truly girded as I sat down to tackle this beauty. Yes, it was tough, but my diary says that it is Friday today, so we should expect that.
    I made steady, if not spectacular, progress finishing in the tricky NE corner.
    So much to enjoy, starting with the gorgeous 1a, but ticks all over the place. Take a bow, Zandio.
    Thanks to Mr K for unravelling it!

38. Certainly up a notch or two in difficulty and needed the hints to parse 1a, 5d and 11d. I stuck at it and got there in the end despite the bung-ins. Some brilliant clues with 3d taking top spot. Thanks to Zandio for the mental beating and Mr. K for the explanations.

39. Any crossword that needs 5 detailed explanations, and a ***** difficulty rating is quite blatantly not a backpager, but a masquerading Toughie. As there is one of those on offer today, I see little or no justification for today’s placement. Having solved four on my own, I too have lost the will to live, and will move on to something more enjoyable, such as ironing…. Thanks Mr K, you are truly brilliant to be able to solve clues like these, and once again, your pictures are the only good thing about the Friday puzzle.

    1. Hear hear!

       I buy the Telegraph mostly to do the crossword, for fun. Once the fun has disappeared, I start to wonder why I am spending so much each month.

       I think the Telegraph could do with a crossword editor who makes sure that horrors such as this tough Toughie don’t end up on the back page.

40. Very good and quite hard, although Friday is perhaps a safe day for daily compilers, as they are unlikely to be approaching the ‘statistical density’ of an Elgar (which I also liked, just to be clear). So: tough but not harder than the Toughie.

    Yes okay Mr K, I’ll go with you for the ants. Great work-out, many thanks setter.

41. I agree. I know it is Friday but as you say there is a toughie to be had. Hard work for Mr K too, he is a star, he manages to cope with all situation. I definitely needed his hints today. Thankyou.

42. That was a reply to Buzy Lizzy!

    1. I guessed as much 😊.

43. Really, really tricky – during the first 20 minutes or so I managed about 6. I did finish in the end without hints but had to read several of them later to understand how I got there. I cannot access the new puzzle site so can no longer attempt the Toughie and soon I guess the cryptic will move over. I’m so frustrated as I am a subscriber and nothing seems to work although can access from my phone but won’t bother. Thanks to Zandio for the brain mangling and Mr K.

44. Wowzers Zandio that was hard. First pass through I got very few , and at one stage almost gave up. Luckily the rain came so I sat with my dog trying to work it out rather than gardening. In the end I needed help with 3 to complete – I don’t think I would ever ever have worked out 4a . Did I enjoy it ? 🤔Well I think to have completed albeit with some help means I feel a little bit satisfied. Thanks Zandio for the workout and Mr K for the much needed hints.

45. Just the six solved before flinging in the flannel!

    1. You phantom, flannel-flinger of old London town, you.

       1. You a fan of The Goons? 😄

          1. Being born in 1965, unfortunately I missed them but heard all the shows when I was a teenager.

             They were the trailblazers. All four were superb in their own right.

46. My word that was the toughest back-pager I’ve ever seen. Thought like others that have spotted 1a straight away that things could only get better. In the end had to rely on Mr K’s hints to finally crack the NE.
    Liked 24a and 24a, but have to give the gold medal to 11d for mentioning my antecedents.
    V many thanks Zandio for the challenge and to Mr K for the much needed help.

47. Great fun, with another massive list of potential favourites. I found I’d completed all of the ‘main diagonal’ from NW to SE before getting a single answer in either of the SW or NE ‘triangles’ that are only loosely connected to the rest of the grid — many passes through the clues required, often just picking up a few each time.

    This wasn’t trivial, but I clearly didn’t find it as hard as some: there are plenty of backpagers that I never manage to complete at all, so this didn’t seem off-the-scale. I just didn’t know the 12a growth, which meant that For Me℠ this was considerably easier than Tuesday’s Toughie.

    1a (“Thouthend”) is probably my favourite, but it could be 2d (“what horses eat”), or 20a (“feelings of love”) — or one of many others. Thank you to Zandio and Mr K.

48. On first read through I only got 3 answers. Like others, I went off and reoccupied myself before returning 3/4 times having hopefully refreshed the grey cells but I needed to refer to many hints before eventually finishing. It’s a Friday, it’s Zandio so I will not be too disheartened. Many thanks to Zandio and especially Mr K for all his help and entertaining pictures.

49. I have noticed that we haven’t heard from Daisygirl today. Not sure if she was seeing the medics today for fresh dressing to her hand. Thinking of you Daisygirl and hope all is as well as it can be at this present time.

    1. I’m checking and will report when I hear from her

       1. Thank you.

50. It’s always nice to see Zandio pop in with anecdotes from his time as editor or explanations of how crosswords work. This was quite tough, particularly in the top right, but I managed it with a bit of help from Mr K (thanks Mr K). One I needed a hint on was 5d. I wasn’t going to get on the right track because I thought the middle value was the median, and the average can be a fair way off. For example I read that last year the average savings in the UK was £76,301 per household. But the median household savings in the UK was £12,500. 1a was a good start though. I had heard a joke using the same device in a seminar back in a time that now seems quite halcyon.

    1. Hi Mark

       My guess is that Zandio was referring to something in the middle, eg I had an average round of golf today: not brilliant but not bad.

    2. Hi, Mark. I also spent ages trying to get ‘median’ into that clue!

       The quantity the newspapers reported as the average is more specifically the mean. We were taught that ‘average’ is an umbrella term that can refer to any of the mean, median, or mode. So, while it most commonly means the mean, it’s fine for Zandio to use average to mean the middle value.

       1. Hi Smylers. Thanks. I didn’t realise that the newspapers had broadened the meaning of average to include mean, median and mode. I looked average up in the dictionary and that says it is informally a synonym of typical or normal which aren’t really synonyms of centre. It’s a bit like the difference between middle and middling, although I suspect someone is going to say they mean the same thing nowadays! But if in the newspapers average can mean median, so be it. Zandio will know as he was crossword editor, but I didn’t. This reminds me of a discussion on the blog about the difference between tactics and strategy. Someone on the blog was saying that he and his cricket mates had evolved the language so that now they both mean the same thing; so now we have the words plans, strategies, tactics and stratagems all serving the same purpose. To me, the erosion of precision in the language is disappointing, even though it might help with crossword surface reads!

51. Total nonsense crossie today.
    When i cheated at 1 across and saw the ansther (joke) of Ethics i thought to myself the garden needs some attention…not for me i’m afraid…Doug.

    1. If the garden needs attention, Smithy, then surely you’re called, Dug?

       On that note…..goodnight!

       (until the next opportunity pops up)

52. My utmost respect to you Mr K.
    How you work those out baffles me.
    GARRISON for goodness sake..Out of my depth today…well done mate..Doug.

53. I knew this wasn’t going to be a crossword for me but I was intrigued when I saw 1a and had to look at the answer…..I can’t decide whether it is brilliant or truly awful!
    I’ve just done Rahmat Ali’s Rookie Corner from earlier this week, it’s a very enjoyable crossword.
    Thanks and well done to Mr K and apologies to Zandio, not one for me, I’m afraid.

54. I was doing one of my longish London walks today, 5 miles or so on Green Chain section 10. It bucketed down for a while and my map and instructions got sodden so was not a happy puzzler Dave when I got home. I was not surprised that the first stab at this got me no more than 3 or 4 so like others went away and came back. Even the quicky was quirky… But eventually it started to fall into place and even though I cannot fathom the logic in some clues I seem to have got there by hook or by crook with a few smiles on the way. What are we coming to when we have crossword clues referring to ‘lurkers’ and ’15×15′ that only a crossword addict would understand. Maybe some to go into ‘the list’ today Terrence?

    1. Hello Puzzler Dave, thanks for giving this one a go, always greatly appreciated.
       Regarding 11d, I would like to think any clue should be solvable by a first-time solver. In fact, a first-time solver may be more prepared for lateral thinking than a regular solver, who will look for familiar abbreviations, indicators and so on.
       If you know that ‘hiddens’ are sometimes known as ‘lurkers’, then hopefully 11d is amusing. But I don’t think it requires specialist knowledge to see that ‘ants’ is lurking in ‘currant squares’.
       My sister has never attempted a cryptic crossword and never read the Big Dave blog, but she likes riddles — she solved 11d (given the checking letters).
       Similarly, would you need to be a crossword solver to guess what ‘that’s black and white, 15×15’ describes?
       But … different strokes for different folks!
       All the best, Zandio.

55. Finally finished, with a peak at the comments and the hint for 4a it fell into place. 11d was my favourite.

    Many thanks again to Mr K for the hints and to Zandio for the challenge

56. I was pleased to complete this. Very few answers on a first pass. But then it just seemed to all click slowly into place. It has a 5*, which is a bit surprising. Other puzzles have totally floored me at 3 level. I suppose everyone’s brain runs along different threads or tracks. This one suits mine …. I wonder why?

57. Danword is helpful for the prize crosswords if you want to confirm an answer AFTER solving it

    1. I’m with you, PG.

       I use it to confirm an answer when I don’t have the patience to wait until 11 o’clock.

       It’s very useful.

       1. No doubt Dan Word is helpful, but it’s also an easy way for people to fill prize puzzle grids without much effort, which isn’t fair on genuine solvers.
          There are already two big sites where you can ask for help or a hint with a clue, so it’s a pity that data-mining sites are proliferating now.
          Not sure what to do about it apart from IT security changes. I note Dan Word doesn’t carry FT or Private Eye solutions.

          1. Interesting.

             Maybe the newspapers could suggest that they shouldn’t have any answers to prize crossies….if they haven’t done so already.

             Products always need tweaking.

             For the rest of the time, it’s an excellent resource. There are some others too but I forget what they are.

             1. I’m no expert, Tom [Everyone: “You don’t say!”], but the answers for the puzzles that I set for the DT appear on the Dan Word site around 11.30pm, half an hour before the puzzle appears on the Telegraph site!
                My guess is that these sites can trawl for and identify the solution data files that newspapers have to have for their interactive online puzzles to work. That might explain why the FT and Private Eye solutions don’t appear there.
                I hope someone in IT here can confirm or correct me.

                1. Hmm, tricky.

                   Thanks for your thoughts, Tumbleweed, especially this time of the day.

                   Respect.

                   Your crosswords are great, btw. You are a natural…..something.

                   1. Natural born filler. Of grids.
                      🙄

                      1. 👏👏😆

             2. I doubt the answer-only sites (there are a few rival ones) would be responsive to suggestions, especially ones that result in them having answers for fewer clues.

                They exist to get advertising revenue from people clicking on them for common search terms: they are optimized to show up as high as possible in search results, and carefully constructed so that the excerpt on Google or whatever shows you the clue but not the answer, so that you have to click through (and trigger the adverts).

                Basically they are leaches, making money from others’ creativity with automated systems they can run cheaply. Don’t give them the satisfaction of clicks — be strong, and wait patiently till 11:00 for the Big Dave hints!

                1. I’ll try, Smylers. I’ll try…

                2. I think the saddest thing is that fourteen years ago, if you typed a whole Telegraph cryptic clue into a search engine, the first site to be listed was Big Dave’s blog. It is how I and many others first discovered this site. Now it doesn’t seem to appear at all

                   1. That is sad.

                      I’ve just typed in ‘Crossword blog’ and our man is the first result which is good news.

                      It’s such a wonderful blog, it really is. You and the team do a brilliant job, Sue. I am so grateful.

58. A nice old-school high standard puzzle. It helped thinking out some answers as a whole rather than overanalysing. Anyway, I finished it though certainly not easy. Liked 4a, 6d, 11d and 13a in particular.

59. Oof. I was looking forward to this on a Friday evening and really struggled. I am usually able to navigate through the dailies. This was extreme Toughie IMHO. ☹️

60. Wow, that was a real workout, and just finished whilst sipping my Ardbeg Corryvreckan (again). Maybe if I started on the whisky earlier in the day I would complete the puzzle sooner🤔

    I actually prefer the challenge of completing something like this rather than the straightforward 1* puzzles.

    As with many others, the NE corner held out the longest.
    Thank you to Zandio for the puzzle and Mr K for the hints.

61. After staring at this puzzle for a couple of hours this evening and filling in 8 answers, I decided to give up and go to my local for a few 🍺 instead.

    Thanks Zandio for the brain workout and Mr. K for the required hints on my return home.

62. When I download a cryptic puzzle I get annoyed when it turns out to be a Toughie.

63. So tough that I needed a good sleep before whittling it down to three unsolved clues this morning at which point Mr K came to my rescue. A brilliant challenge with the ants lurker as my favourite… thank you Zandio !

64. s=ut+½at2. Algebra is a lot easier to understand than this ***** puzzle. Got there in the end, don’t know how.

65. Crikey that was certainly chewy. 11d was last in eventually but a helluva while after the rest of it. Liked the 2 long ‘uns but top of the bill for me was 2d.
    Thanks to Zandio & to Mr K

66. Some help for a beginner please folks.
    12a what has larkspur got to do with the Def growth
    13a. Is Had a crossword thing for Drunk. Never come across it directly being used in that way in my 71yrs on this planet. Indirectly or obscurely yes with additional comment.

    Cheers

    1. Hi Sam,
       As a flowering plant, larkspur could be an example of a growth. I don’t recall seeing had=drunk before, but I think the example in my detailed explanation shows that it works.

67. 4*/2* … not a lot of laughs …
    no stand out clues for me.

68. I don’t expect anyone to read this, but I often revisit partly completed crosswords at a later date. I managed to complete more than half of this without help and when I consulted Big Dave I was quite pleased with my efforts when I saw the 5* rating. Eventually, with some help, I finished (albeit several days late!). I enjoy a challenge these days so, if the compiler reads this, many thanks! Also, thanks for the hints, which were most definitely needed!

    1. I am glad you kept at it
       It is so rewarding when a puzzle finally succumbs and this was certainly at the trickier end of the spectrum,
       Don’t worry about later comments either, everyone who writes a blog gets an email when a new comment comes in.

       1. Thank you!

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