DT 30622

57 comments on “DT 30622”

1. Top end **/**** for me. At first I sensed trickiness but the 4 anagram based clues and lurkers enabled a steady and enjoyable solve. 25d was a new one on me to be stored away but easily parsable. 1a was great but 1d my COTD after stopping thinking about those who eat less. Good misdirection. Thanks Mr K and the setter.

2. Back-to-back belters.

   This has to be the work of Silvy Wilvy in a very benevolent mood.

   1a kicked things off nicely but then I got thrown by 1d, going down the fasting route. Great fun. My LOI was 22d as I hadn’t heard of this pud which looks like a calorie fest…..and then some!

   My ‘pud’ium is 26a, 28a and 14d.

   Many thanks to the supersetter and Mr K.

   2*/5*

3. I dashed through this highly entertaining puzzle before going across to New Road for the first day of a county match only to find the start is delayed until twoish if we are lucky. Anyway, back to the puzzle. Not difficult, but a joy to complete, with smiles all over the page. For a favourite, I will go for 14d followed by 28a.

   Thanks to, presumably, Silvanus, and apologies to whomsoever did compile it, plus grateful thanks as always to Mr K.

4. I am going to disagree with TomD and YS on the identity of today’s setter and put my Toonie on proXXXXimal for providing a most enjoyable Friday back pager with an ‘X’ in each quadrant – 2.5*/5*

   Candidates for favourite – 10a, 23a, 4d, and 8d – and the winner is 4d.

   Thanks to proXXXXimal and thanks to Mr K.

   1. Ah, well spotted, S! There are no flies on you.

      Hats off to Proximal for restricting himself to an X in each quadrant as it can’t be easy.

      Very commendable.

5. Very enjoyable and entertaining – thanks to the compiler and Mr K

6. 100% a ProXimal in my view, too. At first glance, and for a little while thereafter, thought this was going to be more challenging than turned out to be the case once the first few answers had gone in – the rest came in a steady and rapid flow. Many great clues and for my podium 1a, 10a (COTD), 26a & 16d.

   2.5* / 4*

   Many thanks to ProXimal and MrK (you make it clear every week that the internet was made for cat lovers!)

7. Top notch puzzle. 1d was LOI, only managing to parse it after much post-puzzle thinking over my cornflakes. Dieter being, it seems, a teutonic gentleman not a weightwatcher. Very clever given ‘Otta’ or ‘Klaus’ could have been used instead.

   Favourites were 7d and 25d, the latter because it always feels good to get a word right and then look up what it means! ***/****

8. A most gentle, but very enjoyable Friday puzzle.
   My first thought when I wrote in 25d was a type of boat, but on reflection, that would be proa!
   Many thanks to proxxxximal (is my guess).
   1.5*/4*

9. 2*/4.5*, I am probably wrong but it seems like an age since we had a Friday back-pager from Mr 4X, and what a pleasure this one was to solve. 1a, 13a & 21a were my top picks.

   Many thanks to proXImal and to Mr K.

   1. I’ll match your ‘an age’ with ‘quite a while’!

10. I got off to a good start with 1a which made me laugh, and have got about halfway. Annoyingly I have to stop as we are going out to lunch with friends. But just stopped by to say yesterday I went to Afternoon Tea at Carriages in Fen Drayton. ( a friend rang me whilst I was there and I said I would ring her back – she thought I said I was in Claridges). Anyway, well worth a visit it is an old railway station closed by Dr Beeching and four old Pullman carriages have been lovingly converted. The entrance and booking office is a delight. Am I the only one who remembers windows which opened with a wide leather belt? Been there lots of times and always fun. Mama B and H would love it!

    

    1. You are not alone on the train carriage windows with the leather straps/belts!

       1. I remember thoae windowsand all the smoke abd smuts frim the steam engine. That smell is unforgettable and recalls the thrill of a train journey and the unfamiliar destination. Must find a Carriages near us, Daisy!

    2. We have a similar place on the east coast mainline just north of York called The Sidings
       Some old carriages turned into a nice Restaurant and Mama Bee and I have been often
       And yes I do remember the old leather straps and suicide doors

       1. If we can’t get in there the NT tearooms at Beningborough are nice too

          the-sidings-hotel-york-gallery-014-2b34040c

       2. We’ve often stayed at The Sidings. Great place!

          1. Never Stayed, we live nearby but it is a good place to eat for sure

    3. No you’re not on the leather straps front!

    4. I remember those windows and leather straps from my school days, Daisygirl. Sometimes in a flash the windows would shoot straight-down and cause much alarm!

11. A really enjoyable Fridaycguzzle, with 1a providing a good kaugh to start me off . The 8d homophone and 28a lego xlue were good too and, of course, I loved the anagrams. Thanks to Proximal for a well balanced crossword and to Mr K for hints and kittens.

12. This has to be the work of Mr Castlemaine and a very pleasant time was had during its consumption (can you still buy it here?)
    Dieter was the one that fooled me until I remembered my German lessons
    Thanks to MrK and proXimal

    

    1. I too thought of Castlemaine (full flavoured my eye) & also took a while to realise1d had nowt to do with weight watchers.

       1. Ha yes, my pleasant time was in the consumption of the crossword not the tasteless Aussie lager – have you had a glance at the toughie yet? Am I right in saying that Troon is an Open Host?

          1. You are indeed – this year’s venue & if it’s anywhere near the last time it was there in 2016 when Stenson beat Phil Mick it’ll be worth watching. It also features one of the shortest holes in pro golf – The Postage Stamp.
             Haven’t looked at Osmosis (above my pay grade) – only just got round to yesterday’s Django. How was Bruce ?

             1. Brief synopsis of Bruce…
                Never Wetter, Never Better
                He started with Waitin’ on a Sunny Day! In stairods that kept it up all night
                Highlights for me included The River and Racing in the Streets but not really a dud all night

13. A lovely puzzle today with lots of smiles. Had to confirm 25d as it was new to me but otherwise quite straightforward. I read Dieter as it was meant to be so didn’t go down the ‘faster’ path and it was only reading the blog that I realised it could be read the other way. Strange how sometimes we fall into the misdirections and sometimes we sail past them. All good fun.
    Top picks for me were 1a, 12a, 28a and 1d.
    Thanks to Mr K for the.blog and kitty pics and to Proximal.

14. Completed without too much difficulty, but I failed to understand the parsing of 4d and 20d. Silly me.
    Slight delay was caused by 28a, which required some thought.
    Many thanks to proXimal for a good workout and Mr K for clear explanations.

15. For a Friday puzzle this was easier then the last couple have been and was a decent solve for me. I note that this was Mr K’s assessment too in his intro. A couple of clues, (as there usually is), that caused some head scratching to get there, but overall a much more pleasant puzzle.

    2.5*/3.5* for me

    Favourites 10a, 18a, 26a, 2d 14d & 17d — with winner 26a

    Thanks to setter and Mr K

16. I am amazed if it was Proximal puzzle as I usually have real difficulties with his but this, whilst more tricky than a ** was nevertheless solvable provided you knew some archeology and managed to parse 4d.
    Certainly one of the better Friday offerings that was not an escaped Toughie.
    Thx to all
    ***/***

    1. It must be proXimal – an X in each quadrant is one of his signatures as is an Xless pangram and many of his Sunday Toughies start with a Spoonerism

17. Somewhat gentler than recent Friday puzzles but well up there for enjoyment – thanks to proXimal and Mr K.
    I liked 21a, 26a and 16d but top clue for me was 1a.

18. Good afternoon

    An excellent challenge, probably worthy of another star in the difficulty rating, in my humble opinion! Especially when it comes to the SW quadrant. Also: note to self – think before ink! I rushed to write in the male version of 28a before realising that I was two squares shy! It took me a while to twig on….

    COTD: 4d is runner-up; for the classic piece of misdirection in 1d, this is the winner!

    Many thanks to our compiler (proXimal?) and to Mr K.

19. I found this more difficult than most commentators. Whilst the west went in relatively swiftly, the east was more of a challenge and to complete I resorted to Mr K’s hints. Nothing particularly obscure, just a wavelength issue, I feel. Thanks to Proximal for the challenge and Mr K for the valuable hints.

20. Excellent! I did need the hints for 14d, though. I had the first part but simply could not suss out the second bit. Crossword Land’s pet beetle turned up again as did the picture. 1d was very clever but my COTD is 1a for two reasons. One, it went in straight away and, two, it made me laugh.

    Thank you, proXimal for an enjoyable teaser. Thank you Mr. K. for the hints and pusskits.

    Here’s hoping for good weather for tomorrow’s Beer Festival at our local village of Kinnerley! 🤞🍺

21. Mr 4X in very benign mood, I thought, with just the synonym for ‘sharp’ and the scholarly sign holding me up towards the end.
    Think I’ll go with our reviewer and award medals to 1&13a with the addition of 12a ‘just because’!

    Thanks to proXimal for the enjoyable puzzle and to Mr K and his felines for the review.

22. Excellent and enjoyable 2dword. Two in a row, I didn’t do yesterday’s until this morning. Hard to pick a favourite but I’ll also go with 1d for the misdirection. Thanks to ProXimal and Mr. K.

23. Whoa, didn’t anyone tell them it’s Friday? What happened here? A joy all the way and a full complement of pussycats, plus a D-O-G! My cup runneth over … forgive the gushing, I’m such a happy girl. Where to start, 1a went in without a thought. I did get 5d wrong, I bunged in an answer as I couldn’t think of the right one, and I didn’t want to break my unaided solve by using help. Having all the checkers, I got 1d easily, when I had my epiphany with Dieter, I had a good laugh. So much good stuff, I think the tops are 1a and 12a, but many more could qualify.
    Thank you proXimal for all the fun. And Mr. K for all the delightful pics and explanations.

24. Thanks to Mr K for the review and to commenters for comments.

    1. Many thanks for popping in and for such a superb puzzle.

    2. Thank you for popping in, you’re a STAR!

    3. Thank you, proXimal. I don’t often get far with yours so I’m grateful for one that gives me some insight into your way of compiling. Most enjoyable. 👍

    4. Thanks for dropping in, and thanks for a fine puzzle to solve and to blog.

25. A Friday feast! Very enjoyable with humour too, especially 1a. It took time but was worth being patient. Loved 20d kittens. Thankyou Mr K and our compiler.

26. I did enjoy 1a

27. Quite good. 1d I parsed by taking dieter to be Jane (plan,) and the s and m (source) but that left an I. So needed the hints to properly parse. Not heard of the answer to 20d and only vaguely recalled the name of the ancient structure. I agree with the above post regarding the synonym for sharp.
    **/***

28. Enjoying this puzzle but still about a third to go. The North flew in but much slower in the South. I’ll have time later hopefully to finish after walkies. Found yesterday’s and Wednesdays slow going. I managed to finish yesterday’s late last night big gave up on Weds with a quarter to go. I usually persist if I’m enjoying it but I threw in the towel defeated. I did look at the comments and felt comforted that others felt the same.

    1. Dog walk must have blown away the cobwebs. The remaining few went in easily after that. Thanks to proXimal – a really great puzzle and Mr K.

29. Surprisingly gentle for proXimal & for a Friday (oh I forgot we had that on Wednesday) but hugely enjoyable. 1a&d got us off to a cracking start & remained my top 2 though there were plenty of ✅s elsewhere.
    Thanks to Mr XXXX for the puzzle & for popping in & to Mr K

30. Nice puzzle surprisingly solvable for a Friday 😃***/ *** Nice to see Fen Drayton flagged up a fine RSPB Reserve 👍 Favourites 1a, 10a and 14d. thanks to proXimal and to Mr K, hopefully the weather will treat you kindly for yet another Bank Holiday 🌞

31. Are you near Fen Drayton Jaylegs? Very pretty villages round there. Finally finished this satisfying Friday guzzle. Cannot believe that another week has gone by, where does the time go? 1a Is still my favourite although 1d is also neat. Many thanks to ProXimal for the mental workout and to Mr K for the delightful kitties. Have a good weekend everyone.

32. Never a 2* difficulty this one for me at least. I’m still learning but I’ve been finishing more than not lately but I’ve only managed about half of this one. Clearly not on the setter’s wavelength at all. Not enjoyable

33. A lovely Friday puzzle, completed unaided. 1a was my favourite and 25d was a new word to me.

    Many thanks to ProXimal and to Mr K for the hints.

34. Really enjoyed this solve. It’s been a while since I’ve said that about a Friday solve.

    Penultimate one in was 22d. I’m not a dessert person so needed to check my answer was correct. 28a was then straightforward.

    Thanks to all.

35. Apart from the XXXX this didn’t really feel like a proXimal to me or perhaps he was just on a different wavelength today and it took me a while to find that. 1a was an encouragingly humorous kick-off and it in fact eventually became my Fav. Thank you proXimal and MrK.

36. Just up my strasse. Brilliant and made me think it was Monday. Lots to like.

37. 3*/3* ….
    liked 2D” Snappy mongrel (5) “

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