DT 30718

116 comments on “DT 30718”

1. I enjoyed today’s offering even though I needed help with a couple. I will have to see the reasoning behind 13d as it’s one of the ones I needed help with. I can’t make sense of it at all. Plenty to like in the rest of the guzzle, though. I was held up in the north east because I wanted to put “….wheat” for the starchy plant at 10a. The penny dropped once I had the answer for the Chambers at 7d. I loved the leaping accusers at 3d so that becomes my COTD.

   Thank you, setter for a great challenge. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints.

   A thought to ponder. Why are goods sent by sea called a “cargo’ while goods sent by road are a “shipment”?

   1. I still don’t understand 13d!

      1. It does take some working out, Lynne. Think “homophones” for the three parts.

         1. I also had trouble parsing 13d as well as 7d. I got 13d when you wrote homophones of the three parts. I still don’t get 7d after seeing the hints. It took me a while to realise that bay referred to the tree in 24a. Grateful for the hints.

   2. Once again, you’ve said it all for me.

2. Wot no pusskits!

   

   1. Pusskits?

      1. My name for cats when Mr. K. writes the blog. 😊

      2. With a pseudonym like that you will have to get a feline for Mr K’s friends.

3. I found this one very difficult. I managed to answer half of the clues before giving up.

   Better luck next week.

4. Testing but a lot of fun. N faster moving than S. 24a and 13d parsings held out to the bitter end even with hints still are – I’m obviously being very thick! 23d Fav. Thank you Mysteryone and MrK.

5. 4*/2*. A curate’s egg for me today. Several surfaces were somewhat iffy. 27a contains the howler “less than fifty” but obviously the grammatically correct “fewer than fifty” wouldn’t satisfy the wordplay.

   7d & 13d win special prizes for incomprehensibility. I couldn’t parse 13d and I still can’t even after reading Mr K’s explanation. In addition, the defintion is incomplete – the answer is the science of the mind.

   Isn’t “required” surface padding in 2d?

   On Wednesday we had yard = garden, which it is isn’t except in America. This is one that the BRB has got wrong in my opinion. Collins correctly says: “A yard is a piece of land next to someone’s house, with grass and plants growing in it. [US]. REGIONAL NOTE: In BRIT, use garden”.

   3d was my favourite.

   Thanks anyway to the setter and to Mr K.

   1. I was also taught that “less than fifty” was wrong, but was persuaded otherwise by Alexander Armstrong in The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World: it’s one of those things that isn’t actually a rule but just one man’s style guide preference which he started imposing on others.

      I can’t find that book online (and anyway, probably best for a TV tie-in Christmas gift book not to be tret as a serious authority!) — but here’s the respected Language Log on the same topic, with more academic rigour.

      Anyway, it turns out that saying “less than” with countable things is absolutely fine, has been for centuries, and we can all stop worrying about it or correcting others on it.

      1. Thanks for that, S. Interesting stuff.

         Maybe ‘James the Less’, brother of apostle James, was known by a few as ‘James the Fewer’.

      2. Yes, “Less the fifty” is fine but “Road safety leads to less accidents” is not. 😊

      3. Couldn’t agree more, S. And whilst we’re on the subject, the renowned lexicograper/etymologist Susie Dent gave a detailed explanation (earlier this year) on Countdown that the word “sidewalk” strictly speaking isn’t an Americanism.

   2. Mr K please delete if necessary/ not allowed don’t fancy the naughty step but it’s not a prize right? 🙏
      Homophones :
      Wish – sigh
      Shirt- collar
      Wow – gee
      Ta da!!! Hope that helps clarify for all
      Katz 😇

      1. I have “swish”. 😳

      2. I needed that!

         1. You’ve modified your alias so this needed moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

   3. Agree fully with 13d and 27a, both pretty incomprehensible esp the definition of mob!
      I would class this one as a Toughie in Waiting.
      Hard work on many clues.
      In case my comments came too late yesterday, my thanks for all your support esp Falcon who gave me the details of the 50p offer which I have now taken so I will be here for another year all things being equal and my limited mental capacity is maintained.

      1. The criminal underworld is another term for mob, less us under, L in word.
         13 down baffling for me.

      2. So pleased to hear that, Brian. You and I are often on the same ‘pay grade’! Disappointing though that we are to move to the Puzzles Site, which, IMHO, is not nearly to pleasurable.

      3. Good to hear Brian.

   4. As is often the case RD, I agree with all your comments – great minds think alike (or should it be ‘fools seldom differ?!).

      1. Probably the latter! 😉

         1. 🙂

   5. But Collins also has
      “2. countable noun
      A yard is a flat area of concrete or stone that is next to a building and often has a wall around it.
      I saw him standing in the yard.
      Synonyms: courtyard, court, garden”
      I agree that Chambers could probably have “mostly N Am” next to its entry but yard/garden is familiar enough in actual British use in a way that elevator/lift and sidewalk/pavement aren’t. If you were in someone’s terraced house that had a tiny piece of land in front with a couple of pot plants and no grass, would you fall off your chair if the owner said her cat was in the front yard? And if she said the cat was in the front garden, would you tell her it’s hardly a garden with no lawn and a couple of pot plants? I reckon most solvers would find yard clued as “American garden” pretty tiresome.

      1. Hi Mr MR

         I have never heard a garden being called a yard in The UK.

         Have you?

         1. In properties like this (image link), yes. Sometimes called the yard, sometimes the garden. Obviously yard for garden is more prevalent in the US than here, but Chambers Thesaurus has garden under yard and yard under garden, so I think it’s a little finicky to insist on a US indicator despite that.

            View post on imgur.com

            1. Thanks MR

               I have made my peace with a yard existing in The UK like Steve C’s example but I’ve never heard a garden called a yard.

               I think it’s a huge howler from the reference books. Huge.

               I will never accept it as a term in life but will accept it as a synonym for garden in crosswords.

               I wonder if setters occasionally don’t agree with the reference books but use the definition as it makes the clue easier to construct?

         2. The terraced house where I grew up had an area outside the back door that was all concrete. That was “The Yard”. Further down were the Flower beds and lawn. That was “The Garden”. 😁

            1. If you do Duolingo in French. ‘Jardin’ is always translated as ‘Yard’. This is because the App is an American based one, Not a good clue for British readers.

               1. Completely agree, Ken. But, it makes sense.

6. Most of this was straightforward and enjoyable but a handful made me think.

   I missed the homophone indicator in 13d so it now makes sense. Up until reading Mr K’s explanation, I didn’t have a scooby what was going on, thinking that I ought to see a specialist in that field! 7d is certainly an alternative approach from Zandio which I always applaud though others won’t.

   I loved the ‘shared parking’ technique and 21a could have been made a tad tougher.

   I can’t believe that ‘grrrr’ synonym for ‘garden’ has appeared in back-to-back puzzles!

   My podium is 1d, 3d and 5d.

   Many thanks to Mr Z and Mr K.

   3*/3*

   1. Sorry, ‘twice in a week’ not ‘back-to-back’.

7. A fun and relatively quick solve, barring the parsing of 7d and 13d both of which still remain somewhat unsatisfying.
   (7d in total and the first homophone of 13d).
   Many thanks to setter and Mr K.

8. Very tough. 1a my fav and last in. Need to read the hints to fully understand a few. I do think it’s more of a ****/***

9. After thinking that NYDK was Zandio last Friday I am not making any guesses as to who today’s setter is. Even for a Friday, a bit of a brain mangler – 3.5*/3*

   Candidates for favourite – 14a, 21a, and 11d – and the winner is 14a.

   Thanks to whomsoever and Mr K.

   The crossword is not on the back page again!

   

   1. Not being on the back page makes it difficult to fold neatly.

      

      1. Exactly!

      2. I don’t believe that cat picked up the pencil on his own – I think someone planted it there 🤭

         1. Surely not, DG? 😊

      3. Thank you both for slaking my thirst for my kitty pics!! They’re both perfect.

         1. i am surprised no-one has posted a 17a cat yet so here’s one for you

            

            1. What a beauty!

10. A bit of a slog to be honest, with 13d my final entry, finally parsed with the help of our blogger- not my favourite clue my a long chalk, and neither was 7d. That honour falls to 3d.

    Apologies and thanks to our setter and Mr K.

11. I might be wrong but I simply don’t think many people have solved this without some help, whatever comments are made.

12. Very difficult for me today – I got only 7 answers before giving up ☹️. I had 7d as TWINSET

    1. Your alias has morphed from ‘cross’ to ‘cryptic’ so this needed moderation. Both will work henceforth.

13. Barring the final few clues most of this puzzle was gentle and surprisingly straightforward for a Friday. Those final few earned it its place. 7d biffed and still makes no sense to me despite Mr K’s best efforts – setter, please do pop in and explain. 13d doesn’t work for me as I pronounce it as an ‘ology’ not an ‘ollargy’/’ollergy’.

    Almost laughed out loud at 26a given Wednesday’s debate. Such things are standard elsewhere in cryptics and really don’t bother me so long as we don’t descend to unindicated American spellings. Generally great surfaces, a very witty and amusing puzzle. Podium fiercely fought over but ended with 2d, 3d & 6a on top, and runners-up 8d & 12a.

    Many thanks to the setter (I had thought Silvanus, but I’m so often wrong) and MrK

    1. If this is by Silvanus – I’ll eat my hat. That one that Carmen Miranda gave me :-)

       1. At least you would get your “five a day” quota in 😃

          1. Indeed!

    2. Couldn’t agree more. Completed because the answers had to be. The homophone is dreadful and 7d is incomprehensible. enjoyed the rest of the puzzle

    3. No chance Silvanus, his clues make sense!

14. For 7d I thought that perhaps another plural could end in i if it’s in Italian. Another spelling has an e in the plural.

    An enjoyable puzzle and as with others 13d was LOI

    1. Welcome to the blog, jeremy.

15. Well, I’ve stared at the hint for 13D for ages, and I still don’t get the homophones.

    Apart from that I found the puzzle fairly straightforward for a Friday. I have a dead heat for top spot between 1A and 12A.

    ***/**** Thanks to the setter and Mr K

    Here’s a shot of one of our late cats, Shula, guarding our laundry!

    

    1. She’s beautiful. You must miss her, I still miss all my pets except DD1’s blasted rabbit which vandalised the garden.

       1. Thank you. We miss all our cats. The last two were rescue cats and we think Shula was mis-treated by children before we had her as she was very wary of contact. She settled down with us, but was always nervous with strangers.

          1. You must surely have been Archers fans to call your cat Shula!

             1. Yes, she was my first love, until she went off with that prat Nigel! :-)

16. Well up on the Friday trickiness level I thought – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    I can’t see much that’s cryptic about 7d and like Mustafa G the shirt top homophone doesn’t work for me.
    The clues I liked best were 12a and 3d.

17. A curate’s egg for me too. Some lovely clever clues, eg 3d, some with complicated reasoning but a pleasure to work out, eg 6a and some where the clue seems to bear little resemblance to the answer eg 7d! I did think that some of the surface reads were difficult to make sense of, so not the most enjoyable puzzle of the week for me, though I only needed help with the aforementioned 7d and 13d, of which enough has been said. Favourite was 3d with podium places for 1a and 9a. Thanks to our setter and Mr K.

18. A one man’s meat is another man’s poIson sort of guzzle. I went away and came back to it twice and only found 3 clues. To me, most of the clues read like a foreign language, which often hppens when Zandio is thw compiler. Other contributors to this blog seem to like rhis vcrossword, ssso it us obviouslyvjust me that is way off the compiler’s wavelength. Thannks to him and to Mrr K for the hhints, which I shall now read.

    1. Some of my answers were bung- ins with a look at the hints to verify them. I only got 27a because I got 18d.

19. Sorry to say that I rather grumbled my way through this one – worst culprits being 7&13d but neither did I care for ‘required’ in 2d or ‘should be’ in 12a. As for 26a – enough has already been said after its previous appearance.

    Thanks anyway to our setter – Zandio is my guess, and to Mr K for the review.

20. A nice end to the non-work week with this Friday puzzle. No weird words today and a pretty smooth solve.

    2*/3.5*

    Favourites include 21a, 27a, 3d, 5d & 20d — with winners 3d & 5d

    Thanks to setter & Mr K for hints/blog

21. excellent fare today to round off an easy week.. this puzzlewas everything it should be – difficult in parts but definitely solveable . its so much more enjoyable when one overcomes all the setter’s obstacles. i would give this ****?***** my cotd was 13d – genius! lots of fun – thanks to the setter – you are brilliant!

22. Happy Friday the 13th! 😬 🤣
    Fortunately enough for me todays puzzle was thoroughly enjoyable with what I thought were fantastic clues! Agree 7down was tricky but checkers made it obvious for “chambers” (was anyone thinking dictionary rather than definition??) 13 d last in when the penny dropped on realising the 3 homophones! Bit chuffed with myself rattled off in about 40 mins with no help – I usually struggle on a Friday!
    Loved the answer for “girdle” that was probably my head scratcher and fgs clue 🤣
    Enjoying the varied opinions on this!
    “Yard “cleaning time in sunny Northumberland for me – a one which is actually a yard with no grass —— 🤣

    1. Ps had to change my name to Katz or else I can’t post

23. My word, talk about ‘curious ‘ eggs!
    I suppose, thanks to Mr K, that the parsing of 7d is like the expression “I have ten toes, I keep them as momentos”. On the other hand 13d still escapes me: swish and sigh – really?
    Fave is the short 6a. I got Mumtaj Mahal’s memorial place (thanks Shah Jahan) from the checkers, but only then realised it was lurking in the clue! Oh dear – no wonder I’m it no longer!
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K, for at least helping with some of the parsing ( the pussies, of course!).

    1. Missed the pussies of course…but thanks to the commenters!
       (Gosh, the editing on this app is a pain!)

    2. Lol I actually read it as “wish” not “swish” what bonus eh?! Any chance of a typo in the cluing do you think?!

       1. Well at least s-wish has the ‘Ess’ sound! Still not sure about the synonyms or the accent. What do you sigh?

24. Some brilliant clues especially those with homophones – as for 13d …. Well it is Friday 13th so perhaps such a toughie is justified!? Thank you compiler and Mr K

25. Another puzzle that I am surprised and pleased to have finished in one sitting as at first I thought it was going to be a dnf and actually some of the clues were tough and rather clever but not all. Like many others I missed the parsing of 13d and 7d . I just read what Mr K read for 7d and will need to think about that 🤔. Thanks to setter and Mr k.

26. A sense of profound relief that this is complete. Whilst there are some cracking clues, 7 and 13d had me completely stumped. I got 13d through the checkers and my initial answer to 7d had me scratching my head over 12a until it hurt. Resorting to the hints got me straight, but if Mr K had to justify his result by an exam length answer, perhaps the clue was too clever by half. Grumble over. Hats off to the compiler for testing us. My podium comprises 17a, 26d and the witty 3d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.

27. I suppose grottos and grottoes are two plurals of grotto (I did wonder about grotti but the dictionary says no)

28. 7d
    I think Chambers is both hint and definition.
    I don’t have a Chambers Dictionary but I expect it has Grottos and Grottoes as alternative pleurals. Hence noun, one pleural of two.

    1. Welcome to the blog, Martyn.

       1. Thanks.
          Been doing DT cryptic for 50 years!
          Finish it nearly every day with no hints but occasionally like to see the meaning of a clue. Like Shades in yesterday’s.
          But I thought I might help with 7d today as I thought I understood the clue

29. A very nice Friday puzzle which has a marked ambience of the somewhat unconventional Zadio about it. Mostly great clues, a bit tricky in places and cerainly an entertaining solve. I have ticked a few and will go for 6a as my favourite. 3.5*/4*.

30. A DNF for me with 7d being the culprit. Having read the hint and seen the answer I’m not going to beat myself up about it.

    I found this tricky but apart from 7d, doable.
    Lots to like with top picks being 11d, 24a and 17a.

    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

31. Enjoyed this one and for the first time ever seem to have found it easier than most. Albeit that I only got 7d because it fitted and I still do not understand the clue, even with this help. I am not sure that 13d really works, but that could just be for my own mind… Loved 3d, and 11d was COTD for me.

32. Well, good grief is about all I can say!
    I gave up on Fridays quite a while ago until I managed one just by chance (and that was Silvanus) and then went back to trying occasionally – think I’m back to square one by the look of it!!
    I think I did about ten or so but not many more – way beyond me!!
    I liked 1 and 12a and 11 and 18d. My favourite was 3d.
    Thank you to today’s setter for the crossword and to Mr K.

    1. 7 more than me Kath, well done!

33. Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, analyse and discuss. Always greatly appreciated.
    On the subject of 7d, I think Martyn puts it very succinctly: a definition plus a hint. If the definition happens to be the name of our big red dictionary, what does the dictionary say about the answer that is not a definition? I admit it’s a bit of an oddity — one that, from my time editing the Telegraph Crossword, I might associate with Nuala Considine (Excalibur) or Tom Johnson (Busman).
    Regarding 13d, I saw it as a Telegraph Quick pun used in the cryptic. I usually agree with Gazza, but I’m not sure how one could pronounce the answer without it sounding like the pun, but different strokes…
    On the subject of ‘swish’, apologies if the synonym seems too stretched. I try very to avoid obscure answers and stretched synonyms. Sorry if this one was not convincing — maybe should have gone for ‘long’? Sometimes, perhaps, how we see synonyms depends on one’s 13d.
    Thanks again for the interest. Have a great weekend (and try to make time for the Sunday Toughie?).

    1. Thank you, Zandio. Apart from the two that seem to have caused trouble for everyone, It was very enjoyable.

    2. Many thanks to Zandio, I thought this must be one of his. Quirkily playful as ever. I did suspect 13d’s homophones might niggle a few but I didn’t object to any of them. And surely the swish of a curtain, say, is indeed a sigh? I had more issues with 1a’s all-in-one definition but pretty much everyone else seems to have loved it. Each to their own, as ever. “Oddity” is indeed the word for 7d, but twas such fun and it has Zandio’s name all over it. Thanks too, of course, to Mr K.

    3. Despite 13d, a most enjoyable puzzle, so many thanks for that and for dropping by!

34. As I have said, several bungins for me. I wrote out the checkers I had for 13d to find the answer but didn’t connect the collar as being a shirt, but I can see now from Mr K how it can work. 7 d was last one in and again it was a guess and didn’t give me any pleasure. If you press me for a favourite I shall say 15a as I think I am about to take one. It’s very warm here in the conservatory! Thanks to the pusskit providers, to Mr K and of course to the wily setter.

35. Now this was swimming in molasses! I was guessing Zandio, and I see he takes ownership above. I solved 1a right off, a huge help to start, likewise 12a, immediately thought of the famous lady, it had to be. While I did almost complete this, missing a couple in the NE, the parsing of most was way above my head. My tops were 1a, 12a and 24a.
    Thank you Zandio, I can’t honestly say I enjoyed it, and Mr. K for explaining so much!

    A bright moment, Buckingham Palace has issued a bulletin:
    HRH The Princess Sadie is celebrating her 13th birthday today. Please all raise your glasses to wish her a happy birthday.

    1. 1. It’s always good to hear that one, Merusa. It’s one of my favourites (sorry, Kath, I have lots of musical favourites).

          1. Did you say your bit to Sadie?

36. Spent ages this morning commenting using my iPhone motoring back from Aldeburgh but find it has disappeared which is annoying. Anyway, I managed to complete this but needed the hints to fathom 7 and 13d. Enjoyed our little holiday but its always nice to get home again. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K.

37. I loved this puzzle but simply could not get 7 down, so had to cheat. Not sure I fully understand it yet though 😍

38. Having read the comments I am pleased to see that I was not being particularly dim in having not understood my answers to 7d and 13d, all is clear now. As to the rest of it, it was not straightforward for me but it is Friday, I got there in the end and thought some of the clues particularly clever especially 6a and 9a. My favourite was 12a.

    Many thanks to Zandio and to Mr K

39. A tricky test – especially 13d (I didn’t like the shirt top homophone) and 7d (which I still can’t parse even having seen the hint 🤷‍♂️).

    Otherwise enjoyable.

40. Ultimately defeated by 7d which, despite the explanations, I still don’t understand. I wouldn’t have parsed 13d in a month of Sundays and I needed the hint to understand what the sad man was all about. If I had to pick a favourite it would be 11d. Thanks to Zandio and Mr. K.

41. An entertaining puzzle, particularly for a Friday, although there were some decidedly tricky clues. To me, the answer for 7d is somewhat obscure and the wordplay quite enigmatic. I’d be interested to know what proportion of people solved the clue with no checkers. 13d doesn’t work for me. Homonyms can be difficult because of dialectic differences, so to have three in one word is quite ambitious. Similarly, I don’t quite pronounce the famous cook like the answer, but I suppose it is close enough. 26a, ODE: “1. (chiefly Brit) a piece of uncultivated ground adjoining a building, typically one enclosed by walls or other buildings. ■ (N. Amer.) the garden of a house”. I would only use the British version. But there were a lot of good clues, the shared parking being very clever, I thought.

42. Well colour me shocked. I was actually able to solve most of a Friday puzzle, and a Zandio to boot. Just 7d and 13d were the flies in the ointment. Smiley faces for 1a, 3d and 27a. Have to confess I didn’t really understand 27a until I got 18d. But a Friday **** rating, so I’m more than satisfied. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K, and all who posted cat pictures.

43. Chambers = grottos which can also be spelt grottoes. So one of two possible plurals.

44. Wow that was tough!
    Beaten by 7/13d
    27 ac my favourite
    With thanks to Zandio and blogger, although I cant say I enjoyed this much. Sorry.
    5*/2*

45. A brisk grid completion (well for a Friday) but came nowhere close to parsing 7d & didn’t quite peg all of the homophone elements at 13d. Not my favourite Zandio puzzle if I’m honest but as ever still plenty to like. 3d was my fav & also rather liked 12,14&24a plus 5&11d.
    Thanks to Zandio & to Mr K – I’d have had kittens if required to explain some of these so not surprised no time for puss pics.

46. Good evening

    This has been a bad week for me, crozzie-wise; I’ve had quite a lot to do over the last few days, and Tuesday was the only day this week I could find the time to attempt it, until today. And by crikey, what a challenge from the Mind of Zandio this afty! It took me forever to find a way in, then one by one they started to fall, until the very top right-hand corner (and 13d!)

    Now, 13d, it turns out, I guessed correctly, but because I couldn’t parse it, I left it written in the margin. I now see how it works, thanks to Mr K’s invaluable hints. However, 6a I simply didn’t know, and couldn’t deduce. 7d: no chance! Again, thanks to Mr K, I have some idea as to how it works: “Chambers” is the definer; one of two plurals = it can be pluralised as “-os” or “- oes”. I think. Maybe!

    Anyway, it’s a DNF. My thanks to the MoZ for the braincell exercises and to Mr. K.

    I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, God willing. Tenerife awaits! And I can’t buy a Telegraph in Costa Adeje, so I’ll have to make do with the D***y M***. And no, I’m not taking an iPad!

47. Above my paygrade today.
    Still struggling to understand 13d despite all hints etc.

    Does Mind = Psychology? I think psychology is the science of the mind.

    Really struggling, though with Swish = sigh or Psy.
    Anyway thanks to Zandio and to Mr K

48. I didn’t spend too much time trying to parse 13d – I suffer from Triskaidekaphobia (especially on Friday).

    1. ….which, I found out today from Simon Mayo, is Paraskevidekatriaphobia.

       Marvellous

49. Completely and utterly not on the wavelength today.

    Conceded defeat without solving a single clue.

    Here’s hoping Saturday is not a toughie.

50. This was tough but worth it — took longer than I’d budgeted for on Friday, so completed this morning. Thank you to Zandio for the entertainment. I particularly liked 8d’s desperate chap, 3d’s leap, and 25a’s other hand.

    And thank you to Mr K for confirming my thoughts along the way and explaining 20d to me (it was an anagram!), and all the commenters.

51. I got stuck on 7D. Having seen answer, assume Chambers lists grottos/grottoes, as does Collins.

    1. Welcome to the blog, Allan.

52. 4*/4* …..
    liked 3D “Where accusers leap to a foregone conclusion (8,5)”

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