DT 30658

52 comments on “DT 30658”

1. I think the only thing that’s happy about the rain here in Sandhurst today is the brown thing that was once called a lawn, glad I did my spell of gardening yesterday where the sun at lease made an attempt to shine. At least Emma will have a chance to play under the roof today if the weather keeps it up.

   The puzzle, yes very hard even for a Friday and wouldn’t have looked like an impostor on the toughie page.

   Glad I learnt the word for the gas at school, as well as being an avid reader of the author at 3d, the books are much better than the films, which I think lost the plot after YOLT.

   Lots of really great clues, but my two of the day are 16a and 3d, many thanks to our setter today.

2. That was a wee bit of a wrestling match in places. Last in was 25ac not helped by somehow spelling 12 down with an ‘E’ instead of ‘I’ but a great ah ha moment with it. 17 was fun to build up. 3d was also cleverly crafted. All in all, V enjoyable.

3. At first sight I despaired but the couple of anagrams at 12d and 26a were my salvation. I almost feel guilty admitting that after how often I voice my dislike of their overuse! Working up the grid all fell into place leaving only 18a unparsed. Ticks all over the place but I’ll go for 1a, 16a and 24a for my podium. I did like the simple homophone at 4d. Thanks to today’s setter for the absolute pleasure and MrK for sorting out the overcomplicated 18a for me.

4. Well, I completed it but thank you for explaining why the answers are the answers; far from obvious in places and one or two I found to be extremely contrived. I hadn’t heard of that name for the gas but that was the least of my worries.
   I’ll go with 8A as a favourite…not just because I knew what I was doing with that one!

5. Thought this was going to be a lot more challenging than it turned out to be, so evidently I was fortunate to tune-in to the setter’s wavelength, for the only real delay encountered was in the SE – needed the BRB for 22a, which was to me an archaic name not in use for many years. Otherwise straightforward, reasonably light, with generally clear instructions, mostly good surfaces and some very timely answers – inc. 22a!

   I thought 9d’s “”unfortunate outcome” a very mild synonym of the answer, and have this morning heard no representatives from two particular parties describe their election results as having just been an “unfortunate outcome” ! Podium places to 8a, 25a, 9d & COTD 17d.

   2.5 / 4

   Many thanks indeed to the setter and to MrK

   1. 9d – straight out of the BRB!

      1. I know, and you’re quite right, but I still think the one is extremely mild compared with the other. A white t-shirt being accidentally dyed a fetching shade of pink in the wash is an unfortunate outcome. An expensive cashmere sweater getting accidentally shrunk from XL to XS in a hot wash is a 9d!

         1. Tough going, needed two hints to complete. Thanks to the setter and Mr K ……. But ……. Wot no pics?!

         2. Not if it was my husband’s favourite white T-shirt, he would call that a new duster 😊.

6. A very enjoyable challenge for a Friday which, if it is the work of a member of the Friday triumvirate and even though he was on Toughie duty yesterday, has to be a Silvanus production. So, one of my Toonies is being polished accordingly. 2.5*/3.5*

   Candidates for favourite – 1a, 24a, and 20d – and the winner is 1a.

   Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever it is not he and my Toonie goes down the drain, and thanks to Mr K.

7. A great crossword which smacks of Mr Smooth himself.

   1a kicked things off nicely and it flowed from there. Anyone who can get the legend Matt into a clue gets an extra nod from me.

   Very hard to pick the medallists but I’ll go with the two above and 5d.

   Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

   3*/4*

8. Just the job to alleviate post-election blues – a perfect example of the cruciverbalist’s art . A 5* puzzle for me not too difficult but, importantly for me, not too easy either. Well done to the setter!

9. Well, it’s definitely Friday! My first trawl through the clues yielded nothing until 9D and then it all started coming together.

   I finished in a reasonable time, but with no hints available when I tackled the puzzle, I had to do without parsing 16, 18 and 25A. I spent quite some time trying to squeeze a Northern European area into 8A before the penny dropped!

   3*/3.5* for me. Favourite was 1A. Thanks to the setter and hinter.

10. I found this fairly gentle for a Friday but also very enjoyable. The one that took me the longest to parse was 5d.
    Many thanks to Silvanus. 2*/4*

11. Thank you to Silvanus for the crossword, and Mr K for the hints and explaining it all — I couldn’t have done it without you. The Quickie pun did make me smile, and I now have a mental image of being mid-wrapping a present and frantically searching for the tape, while being watched by giant gorilla there next to me, eating a bowl of porridge.

    The 11-year-old and I are walking up 2 of the 3 Yorkshire Peaks tomorrow, as part of a group fundraising for our church’s ‘West Wing’: the community rooms used by youth clubs, the food bank, and various local community groups. It’s further than the 11yo has ever walked before, so we decided just to aim for 2 this time. It also counts as the Physical component of an extra-curricular award at school.

    Personally I’m most concerned that the person offering us a lift is picking us up at 04:50 tomorrow morning (something I didn’t learn about until after signing us up!). Specifically what time alarm(s) to set, and how on earth to get up and ready at that time without waking my spouse! Any donations gratefully received on the above link — either for the hill-walking, or in sympathy for Spouse’s disturbed sleep.

    Have a good weekend, all. Speak to you next week.

    

    1. I tried to donate, Smylers but it doesn’t seem to be working. It’s stuck on “submitting payment” and has been for over ten minutes.

       1. You are top of the list now Steve, your donation must have gone through

       2. Thank you so much, Steve. It’s now showing you on the donors list, so I presume it worked in the end.

          1. It was supposed to be anonymous – oh well, not to worry. I must have forgotten to tick the box. 😊
             Good luck tomorrow especially to your youngster.

12. Very enjoyable. There was lots to like including Flanders catching an American at 8a and the fool in court at 20d. It took me a while to see the old padded seat at 7a and I cannot for the life me understand why as it was practically staring me in the face. I haven’t heard the gas at 22a for ages. It took me back to old films set in coal mines after a roof fall trapped some miners. 22a would appear eventually much to the dread of all concerned.

    My COTD is the recalled county at 24a.

    Thank you, setter for the fun challenge. Thank you Mr. K. for the hints. As there are no pusskits today please allow me to add one.

    

    1. Thank you Steve, I needed that, I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms.

13. I reckon Silvanus is a good call for this excellent and pleasingly tricky puzzle. There was a terrific lurker at 19d, but my favourite was 3d. Great entertainment.

    Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

14. 1a’s Deal is just brilliant and set the tone. 16a’s very smartly constructed. First Alex and now Matt in the same week! I did wonder why the setter chose opening rather than intro for 13a but tis neither here nor there. Buckets of fun. I’m with Jezza – for a Friday, I did think this was pretty gentle. And nowt wrong with that! Many thanks to the setter (was this really Silvanus? My smooth radar has been wildly off of late so it probably was) and Mr K.

15. Well, so far people seem to have found this straightforward. I found it tough, but struggled through, only needing E help for 22a.
    However, parsing of these clues evaded me, so thank Mr K for explaining how I arrived there: 16a, 18a, 3d, 5d and 6d.
    And thank you to the setter for the challenge.

16. I found this a puzzle of two halves. Part straightforward, the other distinctly tough. I would not have completed it without Mr K’s hints. My podium comprises 7a, 8a and 16a, the latter being top spot. Thanks to compiler and Mr K for the hints.

17. Found this a little more stubborn on the parsing front than Mr Smooth’s Toughie of yesterday so pleased to read that others experienced a few tricky moments. There was, as always, much to enjoy and admire with my biggest ticks going to 16&28a plus 3,15&23d.

    Many thanks to Silvanus for this week’s double whammy and to Mr K for the review.

18. At the most difficult end of what I can complete, so feeling very pleased with myself, though it took me a while to find my groove.

    For several of them, I found parsing very tricky despite being certain of the answer. 1d, 5d, and 16a all had me staring at them for a goodly while until the penny dropped. Glad to see – through the magic of Mr K’s hints – that I disentangled them correctly. The parsing of 18a beat me all ends up, though!

    Top slots for 1a and 25a. ****/****

19. Great stuff – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    My likes included 8a, 3d and 20d with my outstanding favourite being 1a.

20. I can’t say I enjoyed this puzzle at all. Far too out there with parsing that was unfathomable.

    2*/1* for me today

    Very few favourites too … 14a, 25a, 12d & 20d … with winner 12d

    Thank to setter & Mr K for hints/blog

21. A mixed bag of a puzzle for me today but still enjoyable. I couldn’t parse 5d and hadn’t heard of the gas so when I Googled it it was a great surprise to be correct. I sat looking at 18a for ages trying to parse it and then it finally fell into place.
    Top picks for me were 1a, 8a and 16a.
    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

22. More Mondayish than Fridayish for me and none the worse for that. I must be on Silvanus wavelength and none the worse for that. Started with 1a with no pause for thought. Parsing more difficult when annoyingly I failed to spot a lurker. Not sure about one or two synonyms. Favourites 1 an and 1d and 9a. Thanks Silvanus and Mr K. More like this please.

23. Like earlier commentators solving was one thing but parsing was another altogether. I sort of managed all but 5d but most were retrospective. Still I got there in the end. Favourite was 24a. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

24. Good afternoon

    By the cringe! That was HARD! But enjoyable. One or two solutions which I managed to deduce, but was lost when it came to parsing: 16 & 18a, plus 8d.

    Too many to choose from for COTD, so I’ll end by saying thank you to The Brain Of Silvanus (if indeed it is he; I’m fairly sure that it is) and to Mr K for the hints and valuable explanations.

25. Sorry .. but I’m needing to ask .. where is the deal in Kent Town? Self flagellation ready!
    This was a “stinker” for me and I needed Mr K to get me through it. Friday eh! .. but I suppose sitting up half the night didn’t help… I just hope the end out come is not going to be painful.

    1. Deal (capital D) is the name of a town in Kent.

       1. Groan! I should have remembered that.

    2. .. thanks for that .. I’m thinking trading, cards and timber .. a town eh! .. who knew? I must brush up on the geography of my neighbour😊

       1. I twigged the town in Kent about two hours after I’d finished the puzzle!

26. Got to be Silvanus but at his most obtuse! As usual, the info is all there, you just have to find it. I’m DNF with two, 4d and 20d, thank you Mr. K for solving those for me. I solved 5d, but even with the hint, I’m totally at sea at the “why”. Whoohoo! I got 16a, one of my faves, he’s so clever, and thanks for the Flanders at 8a, a great help with checkers. So much here to like, 21a amused, thank goodness I knew it, 7a was a smiler too.
    Thank you Silvanus, I hope, and Mr. K for helping me along.

    1. 5d was a brute to parse. “US state in a frenzy over rising city hospital cuts”.

       Frenzy = AMOK (as in run amok); Over = O; City = LA; Hospital = H. Reverse AMOK\O (“frenzy over rising”), and insert (“city hospital cuts”) LA\H to get OK\LAH\OMA. Phew!

       1. Jiminy Crickets!! I believe you, thousands wouldn’t!

27. Many thanks to Mr K and to all those commenting. I thought the clue for 7a might give Mr K the perfect excuse to illustrate it with one of his favourite creatures, but they seem to be rather reticent today. Thank you to Mr Cowling for compensating a little.

    1a falls within the constituency of a certain MP named Starmer, a very strange coincidence that the solution should appear today of all days!

    May I wish everyone a good weekend.

    1. Thank you, silvanus for an entertaining guzzle and for popping in. I wish now I had chosen a pusskit to go with 7a. 😊
       Have a good weekend yourself.

28. Well I got there, but as usual for me on a Friday, it took a while to get going and I did find it at my limits of ability. I needed Mr K to help me parse several and the anagrams were essential in getting me going. I did not know the gas but managed to work out the answer. 1 year ago I would not have got even half way through this so the blog has done a great job in training me!

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K for the as always helpful hints.

29. I solved 1a straight away and the rest was a steady solve. I didn’t think it was as difficult as a usual Friday personally. That said some of the parsings eluded me and I’ve just checked the hints. ‘Repeatedly discovered’ (25a) was a new one for me. My favourite is 18a , which was a bung in, and having looked at the hints , it’s simple but genius. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

30. Oh dear, it’s Friday again, although not the toughest Friday we have had. Had to succumb to the hints half way through, finding several clues too obtuse or convoluted to fathom. Didn’t know the 22a gas, and have never come across kitchen = cuisine. I always thought cuisine was what came out of the kitchen. You live and learn. And a lot of answers thankfully provided by the checkers. But not impossible, so can’t complain. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

31. Very pleased to have completed this puzzle without checking the hints.
    Enjoyed it very much.

    Thanks to Mr K who I needed to parse Oklahoma….never would have figured that one out in a month of Sundays.
    And thanks also to Silvanus.

    And thanks to Steve for the pusskit pic.

    I haven’t posted for a wee while due to family commitments, but I have looked in from time to time and have missed Daisygirl .
    Does anyone know if she is OK ? Hope so.

    1. Daisy and her family had a bereavement and I suspect that is keeping her loveliness away for a day or two.

32. Typical Silvanus, extremely difficult and very little fun. Far too complex. Yet another in a long line of escaped Toughies. And for the record I did complete it!
    On the whole a very poor example of a crossword in my opinion.
    *****/*
    Thx for the hints.

    1. As I have said before, Brian when you present us with a guzzle you have compiled that compares to the standard of silvanus I will take your comments seriously. 😊

33. Late getting round to this & despite very tired eyes managed a respectably brisk completion in ** time. All parsed ok albeit one or two arrived on a later bus (18&22a). 1a was a cracker & my fav from a good number of ticks.
    Thanks to Silvanus & to Mr K

34. 3*/4* …
    liked 20D ” Fool around in court? (6)” … amongst others.

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