DT 30724

72 comments on “DT 30724”

1. Lots of fun, 19d my favorite. I thought the bottom was harder than the top of the puzzle and had to guess a few. Advantage of the online version perhaps.

2. Mr K, for 9 don’t you mean all but the first letter?

   1. Yes, I did. Now fixed. Thanks!

3. Ran into trouble in the NW corner, but fortunately Mr K’s clue gave me 1a immediately, and the rest fell shortly thereafter. Found this one pretty tough all round, but very satisfying. ****/***

   Speaking of 1a, the story about that video is quite amusing. The US Navy was struggling to recruit and let the video shoot go ahead on the USS Missouri. They’d been led to believe Cher would be wearing quite a lot more than she was (she could hardly have been wearing *less*), but it was too late when she strode out in front of several hundred baying matelots. Despite a round of pearl-clutching from the usual suspects, it generated more interest in the Navy than the previous 5 years put together!

   1. I’d quite forgotten that video. How, I’ve absolutely no idea …

      Thank you for the trip down memory lane Mr K & Anorak. Just think, MTV at first banned that video and when it relented, imposed a 9pm watershed. Nowadays it would be considered quite tame – eg Miley Cyrus & Wrecking Ball.

   2. Well, I am surprised that no one else has posted it yet!

      1. What a woman!

         1. Bet she can’t still do the splits though!

            1. Why not? She’s only 78!

               1. Not all of her is 78!

                  1. i’m trying to work out the significance of those guns.

4. Just right for a Friday back pager and I am putting two of my shiny new King Charles Loonies on the setter being the ‘smooth’ member of the Friday triumvirate.

   Candidates for favourite – 1a, 16a, 28a, 8d, and 23d – and the winner is 1a – Anorak’s tale at Comment 3 sealed the deal!

   Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever in the unlikely event that my Loonies go down the drain, and thanks to Mr K.

   1. P.S. The mention of a Scottish football club (4d) is also a good indicator of who the setter is/might be.

5. For me (and I stress etc etc) the setter was benign and this proved to be the swiftest completion of the week. Finished with 18a where the answer was evident from the definition & checking letters, so the cleverness of the clue eluded me until reading the blog. Great puzzle, clear instructions, good surfaces throughout, plenty of humour. A near perfect ratio of anagrams to clues (1:10). Podium to 28a, 12a, and 4d, but many could as justifiably have taken their places.

   Thank you setter (Silvanus?) and Mr K

6. A very entertaining puzzle – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
   I liked 5a, 11a, 26a and 28a but my favourite has to be 14d.

7. Looked pretty ugly at first, but I got used to it (easy to slip in a cheap comment here, but I’ll resist the urge today….)

   Took a while took get on the wavelenght but once I was off it seemed to just get easier, except 9a which was the last one in and took a bit longer to twig the meaning of ‘second’ here.

   Loads to choose from today, but my favourites will have to be 12a (which I always thought was spelt differently) and the brilliant 1a, pure cryptic bliss!

8. What a great way to finish the week.

   I agree with Senf when it comes to who the setter is. Like Anorak, I also found the NW tricky but, when I got 11a, all was well in the world (the third letter was v handy). I always love four pieces of lego in a seven letter word (18d) and a nod to the US detective scores another point. ”Just one more thing…”

   There is so much to like about this teasing tester meaning that selecting a top three is tricky. But, I’ll go with the tiny-tongued dog, the Green politician and the Welshman. It sounds like the start of a joke….A Welsh politician walks up to the bar with his tiny-tongued dog and says…

   Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

   3*/5*

9. Very slick and lots to like. The Spooner’s as smooth as could be, 12a is smart and 26a is a cracker. And a spot of mild Carry On to boot! Many thanks to our setter and Mr K.

   1. 3d was my first entry so was a bit disappointed that the first 3 words in 9a wasn’t the wordplay for a ark used in computer programming

      1. mark not ark

10. 24a should read Columbo. Telegraph wrongly gives 12a as haliard. Thanks to Mr K and setter.

11. Enjoyed this puzzle, the right level of difficulty. A few of them took me a while (and looking at the hints) to parse correctly. Is 19d not quite right, at least not with the spelling of the last word? 6d and 26a are my COD.

    1. Spooner clues may implicitly involve homophones. So Spoonerizing “dad bet” can give a homophone of “bad det”

       1. That makes sense, and thanks for the hints

12. I refrained from commenting until I had seen what others thought. You all like it thus far so I am alone.
    It was not for me I’m afraid.
    Thank you, setter but I could get nowhere with your offering. Thank you, Mr. K for the hints and cheering me up with the pusskits.

    1. You are not alone Steve. I couldn’t really see my way into this one and only filled in a few before calling it a day. 28a made me chuckle! I still have the Beam toughie from yesterday which looks a bit more approachable.
       Thanks anyway to Mr K and to the setter.

       1. I hated it too but mostly because of this horrid horrid app. Will probably give up the crossie altogether.

          1. Oh no, don’t do that!

    2. .. I was wondering where you’d gone.
       I thought this was a great puzzle and just right for Friday even although it included a Spoonerism which I normally struggle with .. not today!
       Lots of good clues but my favourite was 12 across .. answer fluttering out after I’d played around with a foot and a half!
       Thanks to setter and Mr K but hints not needed today!

    3. I found this very tricky, DNF in the NW, needing Mr. K’s help. I also got a couple of bung ins wrong! I can’t say I didn’t enjoy what I solved, but I found it beyond me.

    4. No, no, no you are not alone Steve. Apart from too much cricket, several weird synonyms (hack=mercenary) needing to know where a certain rock group comes from, and a missing last word in 1d, I found this quite impossible. Having read all the comments of benign fun and slick I would never do another cryptic if I was a newcomer.

13. I found this a struggle but when I parsed some of my answers it became clear how clever it was. I even liked the crickety clue!

    Top picks for me were 9a, 18a, 21a, 6d and 14d.

    Thanks to Mr K (cat pics appreciated) and to the setter.

14. I see a trend here, (for me), as once again for the third day this week, it took persistent clue reading to get this Friday puzzle cracked open. Once I had a foothold all went smoothly.

    2*/4* for me today.

    Favourites include 13a, 21a, 28a, 1d & 19d — with winner 1d with a laugh!
    Smiles and chuckles also from 28a, 17d & 19d

    Thanks to setter & Mr K.

15. Not for me today.
    Threw in the towel after struggling through about half of it.
    But what do I care ? My son and his wife are coming home for the weekend which is always a joy.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

    Back to the baking etc !

    1. Enjoy their visit, Ora!

16. Like others, I steuggled at the start in the NW. Then I did the Panagram, came back , andstarted at the bottom.bit took me muxh less rime to finish this than it did yesterday’s guzzle. I liked 1d with the missing letter, the 20d anagram and the lego clues at 6d and 13a. Thanks to tge aetter– was it Silvanus? Rhanks also to Mr K for the hints and pusskit photos

17. Fairly straight forward for us – so 3*/3*.
    5a has to be what it is – but I still don’t quite see how mercenary translates to the 1st 4 letters of the answer.
    Not 100% keen on 1d – never heard one of these referred to as just the answer. Always a ******* pot.
    Thanks to setter and MrK

    1. Hi Pommette. The BRB has mercenary listed as one the definitions of the required word as an adjective.

    2. We got there in the end! Used to work Fleet Street, newspaper trade! As engineer in payroll operation!
       “Hack” was a term for any reporter going freelance, is not employed at any paper, sending reports into various papers, if they were published they earned a fee! Not well liked by the employed reporters, on a salary, so we’re referred to as “Hacking around” !I
       Local pub’s were entertaining as well!!

18. I got there eventually with a little help and I appreciate the cleverness of many of the clues but I didn’t really enjoy it, but that’s down my shortfalls not the setters.

    Thanks to all as ever

19. I found this rather heavy going particularly in the North but softly, softly catchee monkey. Several crafty clues from which my Fav was 12a (although not a sailor) followed up by 5d and 8d. Slow in the uptake in parsing 9a. 17d has become popular recently. Thank you Mysteryone (Silvanus?) and MrK. What a mixed bag of weather for us today in West Sussex with torrential rain and lightning earlier but now beautiful, bright sunshine however thank goodness for DT Cryptic when locked indoors.

20. A top-notch puzzle with excellent clues providing a moderate challenge and much enjoyment. Out of many fine clues I’ll give a special mention to 26a and 14d. 3*/4.5*.

21. Many thanks to Mr K and to all those commenting already/later.

    Sorry for those non-cricket fans for including two “crickety” clues, but perhaps it’s an appropriate day for them, given that Surrey today clinched the County Championship for the third successive year. I know that RD, for one, will be celebrating.

    May I wish everyone a good weekend.

    1. Indeed I am! I first went to The Oval in the mid-50s as a very young boy, when Surrey were in the middle of their seven successive County Championship titles. I have been a loyal follower ever since. Members of their 1956 squad that I can still remember vividly were Stewart, Clark, Constable, May, Barrington, the Bedser twins, Laker, Lock, Loader, Surridge and McIntire.

       1. Micky Stewart, the only one of those still with us, was 92 earlier this week.

       2. Even in Jamaica my cricket-mad brother and friends would chatter about the Bedser twins! And Barrington, wasn’t he WIndian? That was a thousand years ago!

          1. One of Lesley’s cousins married one of the Bedser twins.

             1. Steve, my understanding is that Alec and Eric Bedser were lifelong bachelors who lived together for all of their adult lives.

                1. Ok but Lesley’s cousin married one of the Bedser family. I’ll find out whom.

          2. Hi Merusa. Ken Barrington was as English as it was possible to be. His connection with the West Indies is that he died of a heart attack in Barbados at the tragically young age of 50 whilst touring there as Assistant Manager of the England team.

             He was without doubt one of world’s finest ever batsmen based on his Test average just shy of 60. To put that into context, an average of over 40 is considered excellent, and only five batsmen have ever exceeded an average of 60 in Test cricket based on playing in a minimum of 20 matches.

             Four of those five had averages only slightly better than Barrington’s, but the best by far was the freak Sir Donald Bradman of Australia whose Test average was 99.94.

             1. I knew there was a WI connection! That was an incredibly young age, especially for a fit man – which one supposes he was. Derek and his chums talked cricket nonstop, so I was well-schooled in the names du jour. Not just Derek, in Jamaica if there was a test match anywhere in the world, when you greeted someone the first words out of your mouth were “what’s the score?” Then, later on, came the transistor radio …

22. That was chewy in the top LH corner, at the beginning I could only think of Ilex for the tree. 22a was very good once I had stopped thinking of a fathom. I am torn between 25 and 27a so will not nominate a favourite today – to keep Kath sweet. I was tied up all day yesterday but looked at the comments this morning in bed and it looks as if it was a stinker. Terence was invoking the wrath of the gods which usually means I would have struggled as well ! Many thanks to the Setter and to Mr K for sorting out the guitar player and for the dear little street cats. I always wanted to adopt them all. The Spoonerism was a good one. Meeting our new MP this afternoon to introduce her to our almshouses!

23. I’m in the sorry, but not for me camp. Struggled to get any traction even with the hints. My corner threw in the towel with a few scattered completed clues. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K for the hints.

24. Tough but fair was my initial reaction on completing this excellent puzzle, and probably at the harder end of our setter’s spectrum for a backpager. 4d was my pick of the clues, and for once I remembered the ‘space’ that was required to get the answer. Great fun.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

25. For those who may be interested, the concert we attended last night in Birmingham, including Beethoven 9, was recorded for Radio 3 for broadcast next Monday evening, therefter on BBC Sounds. It was quite sensational, with a standing ovation at the end which was wonderful to see from a full house. Well worth a listen if you get the chance.

    1. Thanks, YS. 👍

    2. Thanks for the tip. I will try to remember to tune in on Monday. A wonderful piece of music.

26. I’m another one who struggled to get a foothold but once I did everything progressed smoothly, albeit slowly, to completion. I really enjoyed the challenge with the bonus of managing to parse everything. Favourite was 12a as it took me a while to get on wavelength. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.

27. 4*/5*. I found this challenging, particularly in the NW corner, but it was great fun to solve with the two cricket related clues 2d & 14d fighting it out for first place.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.

28. I really struggled to get going with this and had only 4 clues in for ages. I have been away and returned 4 times and have now finished. it is amazing how often that happens. I must admit that I had a read of some of the comments (not the hints) and may have got some help from them, and was encouraged when I saw that others (particularly Steve who is my benchmark) had found it challenging. Now it’s complete I can see it is a thing of beauty with so many excellent clues, I2 a was my favourite but 25a made me smile.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K for the hints and pics.

29. A great Friday solve which I found enjoyable and fairly challenging but without too much pain. Last quadrant in was the NE for some reason , with the wonderful 8d going in last. Thanks Mr K and for the cat pics – I love them even though have now defected to doggo camp. Thanks Silvanus too for a splendid puzzle.

30. This was off my wavelength, though I suspect it was just my tiny brain. It is Friday, after all. I did complete all except the NW, with copious ehelp, when I had to get Mr. K’s help. I had 5d wrong, a bung in, giggles at 6d, another bung in at 22a, and so on. There was some good stuff here; 12a was so clever, more giggles at 14d and 28a.
    Thank you setter, fair clueing (Silvanus?) but a workout for me, and Mr. K for his help along the way. The pussycats are the winners today, hands down!

31. This was off my wavelength too. I managed the top right corner but struggled elsewhere. 5a and 20d appealed to me. So I’m grateful to Mr K and the pusscats were a delight. Also thank you to the compiler for the workout.

32. Found this tough and a DNF for me until Mr K helped with 1a.
    Lots to like in the south – the spoonerism, broker and boy criminal amused. With thanks to Silvanus and Mr K for the hints.

33. That was difficult but I got there in the end and thought it extremely clever – once Mr K had explained the bits I’d inserted from checkers. All much appreciated especially the cat pictures

34. Never give up! A partially filled grid is a learning opportunity
    Hints, anagram solvers, word solvers, help from others on the blog and last of all in desperation, Danword but please complete it.
    Also if you do it on line you can reveal the odd word to help you.

35. This great puzzle had Silvanus written all over it. A couple of cricket clues, but no knowledge of cricket was required, so all perfectly fair in my book.
    Good stuff. Perfect for a Friday.
    Thank you Silvanus and Mr K.

36. Having wrongly thought yesterday’s puzzle was a Silvanus production I’d have happily chanced a few bob that this one is but wouldn’t have gone all in. As ever hugely enjoyable & with a good proportion of the clever clues requiring the wordplay needing to be decrypted after the answer. Ticks in abundance – 9,11,13,18&21a together with 2,5,14,15&19d my top 10. Great guzzle.
    Thanks to Silvanus & to Mr K
    Ps 16a’s cereal definition immediately made me think of the fine actor Warren Oates & his two films with Peckinpah, The Wild Bunch & Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia. I wonder if Silvanus pegged the connection

    1. Thanks, Huntsman. I always appreciate your contributions. No, I didn’t have Mr Oates in mind, but I agree he was a fine actor. One who sadly died relatively young (53).

37. Very late to the party having had ‘one of those days’. Fortunately, I’d solved this before everything kicked off and just knew it had to be from the pen of Mr Smooth when the ticks started to rack up on my paper. Despite a serious attempt at pruning, I’ve still finished up with 4 in each direction that certainly floated my boat – 5,12,17&28a plus 2,8,15&20d.
    Thank you so much, Silvanus, your puzzles are always highlights for me. Thanks also to Mr K and his Turkish friends.

    1. I guess that just goes to show how good the clueing is – you’ve picked out 4 across clues & not one of ‘em matches my 5.

38. 4*/3* ….
    liked 19D “Spooner’s father wagered money owed, never paid back (3,4)”

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