DT 30614

74 comments on “DT 30614”

1. Well – the first tough one of the week and I agree a ***/***. The anagrams started me off after a rather blank first look. 14a was tricky I thought. 1a and 3d both corkers but my COTD was 17d which had me thinking of naval types for a while before the penny dropped. Thanks our setter and the 2K’s.

2. Fell with two hurdles to go. Defeated by 3d and 14a. Really not sure about 14a being a fair clue; amending to “…making an atmospheric/airborne appearance” would, perhaps, have worked better. Dictionary required for ‘sharecropper’, too!
   3.5*/3*

3. My 8d had it as all one word, that made it difficult. I found some quite easy and the others tricky. I quite enjoyed it but not enormously.

   1. Yes the app version had that as (8) rather than (3,5), unhelpfully.

4. Slow to begin with but once off the mark it all came together quite painlessly with a little bit of outside help. 1a new one on me as is sharecropper for 14a. 20d IMHO is more a fungus than a plant or perhaps a fungus is a plant. Not being a chess player 17d took a while to dawn. 14a unparsed by me. TVM Mysteryone and the 2Kiwis.

   1. Fungi are no longer classed as members of the plant kingdom and indeed have their own kingdom, so in that sense the setter has incorrectly defined the answer. However the BRB persists in defining a fungus as being “a plant of one of the lowest groups, thallophytes”, which I guess gives the setter a Get Out Of Jail Free card!

      1. Quite agree, fungi are not plants and the BRB is definitely wrong on that one! Nothing ‘lowest groups’ about them either. Fungi are quite extraordinary in so many ways and the world would be a ver different place without them.

5. Hummmm. I should not be surprised were there to be some howls of outrage about this Curate’s Egg of a puzzle. On not seeing straight away the first couple of across and down answers I started in the SE and moved pretty swiftly N.

   Too many anagrams (full & partial) for my taste, the enumeration of 8d as (8) is surely wrong, and the trick employed in 14a (“first do X, and then do Y to that answer”) would IMV be more appropriate in a Toughie. Good surfaces throughout, and most of the clues were scrupulously fair in their constructions & instructions, but I felt that the puzzle lacked a certain “je ne sais quoi”. Hon Mentions to 19d, 15d (though outside crossword land, who uses that synonym for hat anymore?) & 27a (for the combined surface read and answer).

   2.5* / 2*

   Thank you to the setter (I have no idea) and to the 2Ks

6. On the whole, rhis was an enjoyable puzzle. I particularly enjoyed the 5d/1d combination and theckever wordplay for the plant at 20d. Howevver, whilst I guessed 14a, I didn’t get the clue at all. Similarly, although I thought of the solution to 8d, I hesitated to put it in until the end becauses of the 8 letter enumeration, which should have been (3, 5). Still, I suppose there’s always a fly in the ointment. Thanks to the compiler and to the Kiwis for sorting out my thoughts on 14a and 8d.

7. A great guzzle and most enjoyable. I wanted to put “racing” as the first word of 11a but I resisted until the correct answer dropped. I must admit that 14a made no sense to me until I saw the hint and even then I had to look at it for ages before I saw it. A bit tenuous, I thought. My COTD is saying nothing in 19d.

   Many thanks to the setter for today’s fun.Thank you, 2Ks for the hints especially 14a.

   A little cooler in The Marches today but pleasant enough with a slight breeze and no rain (yet).

8. A pleasant puzzle with lots of anagrams for those who like them – thanks to the setter and 2Ks.
   I thought that there were a couple of odd clues: In 5a a 4-letter word lifted directly from the clue makes up more than half of the answer and I don’t think that 14a really works.
   The enumeration error in 8d has now been corrected on the puzzles site.
   I liked 3d, 15d and 19d.

   1. Strangely, the enumeration of 8d is correct in the paper, which normally can’t be changed after an error comes to light.

   2. Why does it matter that there is a 4-letter word contained in the answer to 5a as that is irrelevant?

      1. A. I think it’s because the word TAGS is in plain sight in the clue and also makes up 4/7 of the answer – seemingly frowned upon. Not really sure why – in a lurker clue the whole answer appears in the clue. The setter could have just used a synonym of tags (labels/badges perhaps) instead. That’s what I would have done.

         1. José it also depends on how you read it – there are a couple more 4-letter words contained within the answer! I rest my case!

            1. I’m not sure I understand your point? G was referring to the word TAGS in the clue and it also appears in the answer in the same letter order – TAkinGS (constituting 4/7 of the answer). I was trying to be helpful in explaining the relevance of his comment. No other 4-letter words from the clue appear in the answer likewise. What case is it that you’re resting, exactly?

9. Well I flew through this until I didn’t – shocking grammar. I finished unaided but with at least 6 bung ins so nice to see how I got there. 14a had to be but couldn’t parse it at all. Same with 19d. I enjoyed it though so thanks to all

10. It’s a 2*/3* from me today.

    I invented a new word (sprintrace) for 3d but (a) there is no wordplay leading to “in” and (b) even more fundamentally, it doesn’t exist. Fortunately I soon realised the error of my ways,

    “Sharecropper” feels to me as it it ought to be an American word but I can’t find anything to back up that hunch.

    I thought that 5d/1d was weak as the London sight is named after the battle.

    Speaking as a chess pedant, 17d is factually incorrect. A lot of chess encounters end by the resignation of one of the players and many of the games can be draws. “They can become mates” would be accurate.

    Many thanks to the setter and to the 2Ks.

    1. Yes- George said the same thing!

    2. Agree about 17d. In top-level/professional chess and even in club league games (where I used to play) checkmate delivered on the board is a quite rare thing. But in casual/fun games between amateurs it probably happens a lot.

    3. Isn’t stalemate another word for draw?

       1. Peter, stalemate in chess occurs when the player to move cannot make any legal move. Stalemate is one of several ways that a game of chess can be drawn.

11. Coped better than yesterday. Beaten by 23 d and don’t care!
    COTD 14a

12. Tip-top – chucklesome sport throughout. 14a (Marmite, for sure) really grew on me. 17d too. And 19d was great fun. A few too many anagrams, perhaps, but they were goodies and helpful. I, for one, appreciated some mild rule-bending. Many thanks to the setter and the 2Ks.

13. I sharpened my pencil this morning, before attacking this guileful guzzle. It has been a pencil every day for me since Senf gave me some advice about ten years ago. There has probably been about twenty pencils since then. Oh those trees!
    At prep school I used to enjoy being given the task to sharpen all the pencils using a bulky machine that was clamped to the side of the teacher’s desk. Whirring a handle around until the nib of each pencil was like the point of a pin.
    Being ink monitor, though, had its positives and negatives. There was the satisfying gloop sound of the ink dropping into the well, and also some sort of addictive aroma that gave one a headache if sniffed for too long. However, most schoolchild inkwells were grubby, containing dust and pencil shavings, leaving the post-gloop liquid a messy quagmire.

    I did need to check in with the duo from Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu to confirm that my 3d and 17d were correct before I tootled along to finish the remaining glues.

    Thanks to the setter and The TwoKays

    1. Was that a punishment or were you a responsible pupil usually known as a swot?

       1. Not a punishment. I was a goody-two-shoes.

          1. a.k.a. Teacher’s pet?

          2. I’m guessing you were a milk montor too and at senior school a prefect? :-)

    2. We were seated alphabetically and as I began with an A I was always by the door and therefore door monitor, opening it for teachers. In six years I never got to sit by the window – they were T to Z.

       1. In geography lessons, at the top of the 3-storey block, it was a big advantage to sit near the window. It was level with the busy railway embankment just 50 yards away and meant you could get the numbers of all the steam engines towing freight wagons from the local quarries.

          1. In the sixth form, at grammar wchool, I was allocated the task of school lost property monitor. This enabled me tto pull off a stunt to highlight the appalling state of the school dinners. A driend and I purloined the skeleton used in biology lessons ans dressed it inn unclaimed school uniform. Without getting caught, we wwheeled the dressed skeleton along and parked it in the corrridor outside the teeachers’ Staff Room,,,with a notice round its neck saying, “School dinners can do this for you”. Very naughty!

       2. We never had any particular seating, but as I was a constant “wanderer” I was always in the front row where I could be easily seen. It took years for them to realise how short-sighted I was, sitting so close to the blackboard they didn’t know I couldn’t see. It was only a problem with tennis that prompted them to get my eyes tested.

          1. In my final year at the junior school we were segregated in the class with pairs of desks 5 deep in 4 rows. The ‘cleverst’ pupils to the right and at the front of each row. I was was in the fourth row, fourth desk back sat next to Gordon Sutherland, I’m not sure the final desk was occupied. Apart from being a loyal friend of mine Gordon’s main claims to fame were that he was amiable, could speak, recite the alphabet, count to a hundred and also he was a strong lad. I bumped into him many years later slack jawed and living in a hostel, let’s not mince words, for the mentally subnormal. What had they done to him? He was better than that. So sad.

14. A flying start but that didn’t last very long once the ‘curate’s egg’ became apparent – 14a and 17d for example – and as for another incorrect enumeration, the less said the better – ***/***

    I have some thoughts on who the setter might be but with the only certainties these days being Mr Plumb on Tuesdays and Ray T on alternate Thursdays I will keep quiet.

    Candidates for favourite – 28a, 2d, and 19d – and the winner is 19d.

    Thanks to whomsoever and the 2Kiwis.

15. Best crossword of the week so far and not too difficult. The north slightly easier than the south but it all came together quite splendidly. 11 and 14a vying for top spot with 16d.

    Many thanks to the 2Ks and the setter who(?m)soever they may be.

16. Like others, I got off to a very brisk start and then slowed down drastically in the home straight. More training clearly required!
    Like Gazza, I was slightly surprised by the setter’s generosity in 5a and I also think that 14a, whilst eminently solvable, does not quite work.
    Ticks for 19d and 20d with the last two to fall being the 17d/21a combination.
    I liked the Quickie Pun. Perhaps I will have one this evening!
    Very enjoyable. Thank you setter and 2Ks.

17. Didn’t find this particularly rewarding although I did enjoy the illustrations of Ratty & Mole plus The Owl and the Pussycat!
    Top votes for clues went to 28a along with 2&15d.

    Thanks to our setter and to our 2Ks for the review.

18. Started slowly requiring a move southwards, I fairly rattled along and came back to mop up the north. I too had rather a long thought about the sculling rodents before the debts came to me and the enumeration of 8d raised a harrumph!
    Thanks to Setter and the 2Kiwis

19. Found this to be on par with most Wednesday puzzles for me and it wasn’t very inspiring or enjoyable.

    3*/3*

    Favourites 9a, 11a, 2d, 4d & 16d — with winner 4d

    Thanks to setter & 2K’s for once again having to unscramble this

20. A nice enough Wednesday puzzle. Mostly good clues, a middling challenge and an enjoyable solve. No problem with 14a across, but I’d have label it as a “maverick” clue type (and they are not unknown even in the DT) – it doesn’t quite fit into any standard type as far as I can see. Easy enough to parse, though – I quite like it. Favourite: 13d. 3*/3.5*.

    1. As for the clue type of 14a, after considerable thought I concluded that the first two words are wordplay, the next two words are a link phrase, and the definition is “appearance” (with the question mark denoting it is by example) in the sense of phenomenon or apparition.

       1. Yes, I think you’re right! So, a basic cryptic clue type: Some wordplay – a link phrase – a definition by example. Well thought out and thank you for explaining.

          1. Although I am a bit bothered by the fact that the wordplay does not directly lead to the answer but rather to a synonym for the answer, something I don’t recall having seen before.

             1. Yes, it probably is a bit “maverick” but the clue leads incontrovertibly to the answer and appears to be within the limits/freedom of the setter’s/editor’s licence – so it’s OK by me.

21. I very much liked 1 and 5a and 16d but top of the pile 28a. The UFO and the President were bungins and George got the chess clue. He spent 18 months in hospital when he was 19 and was only allowed to play chess and bridge so he became a wizard at both, there was a Czechoslovakian in the sanatorium who was a Master. Actually liked 25a as well. Many thanks to our Setter and Les Touquets.

22. Swift completion was required this morning as I have driven to Heathrow to collect my brother who is flying over from Melbourne to share my round numbered birthday next month.
    Crossword and brain cells obliged, so now I have arrived too early and will have to pay too much for parking. Better than being late.
    Crossword seemed straightforward today,
    although I needed 2K’s explanation for 14a and 19d – perhaps I was in a rush.
    Sorry to learn that I would have been far away from Daisygirl in the classroom, but she would have been the only girl. I wouldn’t have stood a chance, with Ayton and Cawley around her corner. Wimbush and Wordsworth would have surrounded me. Help, I’m regressing.

    1. 🥰. Happy Birthday. I have a big one next month. Very big.

23. This was a slow burner for me, that eventually came together after a fair bit of head-scratching. After a lot of thought, I decided that 14a does work and that was my favourite. The chess clue was my final entry, and I bow to other’s superior knowledge of the great game as to whether or not the clue is viable.

    Thanks to our midweek setter for the challenge, and to the 2Ks.

24. I thought Friday had arrived early when I first looked at this puzzle. Gradually the pennies started dropping and I managed to fill the grid without recourse to the hints. By the time I tackled 8D, the enumeration had been fixed so that didn’t cause a problem for me.

    ***/***

25. Very tricky with DNF for two, 28a and 20d, but I did get there eventually with ehelp. I was fixated on the second word of 14a being dancer, so that held me up for a bit. I liked 2d and 3d, but a lot more stood out as well.
    Thank you setter, wonder who you are? I needed the 2Kiwis to help me finish, so thanks for that.

26. An interesting challenge that I enjoyed as I like setters to mix things up a bit. Fair play to ’em.

    Anyone who gets our Kazak friend into a crossy gets my vote.

    I loved both 14a and 17d which are on my podium along with 19d. Great fun.

    Many thanks to the 2Ks and, I’m guessing, Mr Tumble as he likes to throw us some curveballs.

    2*/4*

    1. Not one of mine today, Tom.
       Do your curveballs need a US indicator? 😉

       1. Touché!

       2. Like it, Mr T. Like it.

27. A DNF for me with 14a and 17d. Having never played chess I don’t feel too bad about not getting 17d.
    Top picks for me were 28a and 22a.
    I had to Google sharecropper and the fungi/plant was new to me too. A real schoolday!
    Thanks to the setter and the 2Kiwis.

28. I got there eventually, with some Google and dictionary help. Chriscross’s escapade with a skeleton reminded me of the time I drove home with a skeleton in the front passenger seat, complete with seat belt of course. The School of Nursing where I worked was throwing him out so I rescued him to give to my husband to use in his school science lessons. Got a few funny looks!

    1. Top story, Sheila, especially the seat belt!

       👏👏

       You didn’t happen to give someone a lift to the nursing school in the morning, perchance? If so, it would have been hilarious if a pedestrian saw you on both journeys, thinking…..what the?

       1. 😂 I honestly cannot remember.

          1. It reminds me of when I saw a Great Dane in the passenger seat of a left-hand drive which was absolutely brilliant.

             1. When we lived in France, it upset the gendarmes to see the “driver” knitting

29. So I finished but there were a couple that I could not parse , which I have just looked at the hints for. Big groan from me re 14a which in hindsight is v obvious. Also 17d which of course I get now with the chess reference. An excellent grid that provided a good amount of challenge and enjoyment – my favourite of the recent ones I think . Many excellent clues – 19d was also another groaner. Thanks to the setter and to the 2Ks.

30. A rare DNF.
    Beaten by 21a,
    Shamefully,
    And 20d.
    Annoyed by misprinted
    clue, as time wasted
    Before the penny.
    Otherwise a taxing but
    Clever puzzle.
    Thanks setter
    And the 2Kiwis.

31. Not on the wavelength at all today. I conceded this was beyond me with less than a third completed.

    Seems I was the odd one out today. Maybe a glass of vino will stir the brain cell later.

    Thanks to all.

    1. Wine did the trick. Managed to almost complete unaided. Needed to look up the president and 17d and 20d needed checking.

       I had the correct answer for 14d but didn’t write it in as I couldn’t parse. Needed the hint to explain. Same for 17d.

       The key clue that helped me progress was 13d. Once I had this much of the south fell in to place.

       Very glad I had a second attempt.

32. Morning all.
    Looks like we’ve got a better day coming up. It is not yet daylight but the forecast is for fine.
    Still pondering who the setter might be as the style is not one we recognise. Maybe they’ll pop in to inform us.
    Cheers.

33. Completed after tackling Robyn’s Toughie & at silly o’clock this morning – couldn’t sleep for some reason & paid for the lack of it with an abject display on the golf course. Enjoyed the puzzle far more than some others. 17d was the last answer in but whys for14a&19d were the final penny drops & they immediately became my top two.
    Thanks to the setter & the 2Ks.
    Ps after Jane’s assertion in yesterday’s Toughie comments that originals are invariably better than covers I’m resolved to pick a cover a day to suggest otherwise. Reckon Al Green’s cover better than the Bee Gees original

    1. Indisputably better, yes. I think the real challenge will be to find a Bee Gees cover that isn’t better than the original!

    2. Yes, Yes but how does Al mend a broken vocal cord?

       1. Welcome to the blog, Grizz.

34. Quite a challenge for me especially in the south but I got there in the end, but only because of the check grid function which got me out of a couple of self dug holes. I spent far too long trying to make 27a an anagram and 19a and 17d took ages and were last in, I was initially flummoxed by 14a. 28a was my favourite. I did enjoy it overall.

    Many thanks to the setter and to the 2 kiwis for the hints

35. Not one for me I’m afraid, too many bung-ins. No real favourite. Thanks to the setter anyway and 2K’s.

36. I was left with two to do. Eventually looked this morning and got them straightaway 16d and 21a. Didn’t know the President but got him from the checkers. Did not parse 14a. Having read the 2Ks short explanation I think it is brilliant. 19d best clue. Thanks setter and 2Ks.

37. 4*/4* …
    liked 14A “Buffoon regularly making an appearance(6,6)”

Comments are closed.