DT 30735

76 comments on “DT 30735”

1. A bit on the tough side bit it is Thursday. I enjoyed it tremendously with its mix of straightforward and head scratchers. I liked those proud of their mummies at 18a and trying to eat the whole vegetable at 25a. My COTD is the banana factory at 5d.

   Thank you, setter for the fun challenge. Thank you, Shabbo for the hints.

   The Quickie pun was nice and groanworthy.

2. More than once I thought I’d have to abandon this one as the progress ground to a halt, but there was just enough hope each time to keep creeping ahead.
   Finally got to the end of it with 16d being the last one in, vaguely knew the word from way back, but can’t for the life of me see how the clue works, so will have to see the hint.

   Turned out to be a real cracker of a Puzzle, with many really clever and twisted clues.

   My two favourites of the day were 9d, and the brilliant 10a, which took me ages to see where the footballer came in, dawned on me eventually though.
   Many thanks to our setter today, a real gem (in the end)

3. I thoroughly enjoyed this, even if some of the parsings went over my head, 10a being a case in point. I had the answer from two checkers, but had to resort to Shabbo’s hints for the reasoning. Likewise the answer to 12a is not the first synonym that comes to my mind for livid. That said, it was a steady progress to completion. My podium comprises 18a (where I desperately wanted the answer to be embalmers), 24a and 16d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Shabbo.

4. 3*/5*. Surely we have Dream Team Thursday today – a Silvanus back-pager coupled with a Beam Toughie.

   The LHS went in steadily, about 2* for difficulty, but I found the RHS much more of a challenge at 4* difficulty. With super-smooth surfaces, this was a joy to solve.

   Picking a podium was a tricky task but finally settled for 10a, 5d & 9d.

   Many thanks presumably to Silvanus and to Shabbo.

   1. Today’s Toughie is set by Prime

      1. So it is! I should have gone to Specsavers.

5. Not plain-sailing but for a Wednesday just nicely stretching for the old grey matter. 9d attractive took while to dawn (thanks MrG). 19d as biased did not occur to me (thanks Chambers) and 15a was unparsed by me (thanks Shabbo). 11a was Fav smiler. TVM Mysteryone and Shabbo.

   1. Wednesday? did I miss a day?

6. Very enjoyable puzzle today. Only hickup was 15a, which resulted in 16d starting with K. When the penny dropped 16d suddenly made sense. I liked 18a and 10a. Many thanks to the setter and for the hints.

7. Initially terrifying, but very satisfying to solve, piece by piece.
   With reference to the clue for 17d – not long ago a Post Office was a major establishment building in the centre of a town. To work behind the counter was considered a decent job. For the customer, one would find several counters in operation and receive a respectful service from the clerk
   Today, we go a single counter in a corner store, where an uninterested bloke doesn’t make eye contact, and has an air of someone who wishes you could be evaporated on the spot. Then he charges you fifteen quid to send two sheets of paper as a recorded delivery. Instead of giving you a receipt, he flashes an image on a handheld device in front of your eyes and says “Done!”
   This is an indication that it is time for you to leave so he can carry on his WhatsApp conversation on his phone. You feel like you were a major interruption to his day.

   Thanks to the setter for the challenge (™ Steve Cowling) and Shabba-dabba-doo

   1. You must live near me. Exactly my experience at the PO last week. 😂

   2. I do feel sorry for the Post Office & once mighty Royal Mail. Brought low by trades unions, rendered near-redundant by technology. First class standard & large going up by about 25% on Monday, having already gone up in April. Before the October ’23 increases a first class letter was £1.10 – from Monday it will be £1.65. 50% inflation in one year.

      Who would bother posting anything other than parcels and items requiring Recorded (not worth the money IMV: the postman signs to say he’s delivered, which defeats the object, and the item’s not tracked through the system anyway) or Special Delivery?

      1. Afew years ago, I sent a Christmas parcel to Pittsburgh , with presents from my cousins twins. It was returned 6 weeks later with the explanation rhat nobody was home. The toubg mirher of the twin babies didn’t accept this and had hoo phone calls tonunform her tgerw was a parcel. I took ot to the local Post Office, now at the back of the bewagents and was told I would have to pay to send it again and it was no longer theur respinsibility as Parcels were dealt with by RoyalvMail not the Post Office. GRR.

         1. Recently Ikea were advertising a full English breakfast as ‘cheaper than a first class stamp’.

            1. Ha! Arguably better value, too, and at least you’re guaranteed to get the breakfast when you expect it.

   3. We do have proper post office buildings over here, but they are totally unreliable in our town. A couple of times a week we get someone else’s mail, or we don’t get ours. They have this system whereby they email you to let you know what is being delivered that day. Great, except now you know what you didn’t receive, instead of being blissfully ignorant. Did I mention that envelopes containing cheques regularly go missing? This is not usual, as we have exemplary service in other towns. We are just unlucky to have a bad facility here, despite constant public complaints.

8. The two long anagrams helped with untangling this puzzle. 13A gave me the most trouble and I didn’t fully get the parsing until reading the hint. I originally used the alternative spelling so it’s a good job it wasn’t a prize puzzle.

   ***/*** for me and I’ll give 5D my vote today.

   Thanks to whoever and Shabbo for the hints.

   1. I didn’t know that 13a had an alternative spelling!

9. What is going on!!! Today I downloaded the paper and there was no puzzles page at all. It was bad enough having to go to the last page and then click on the link to enjoy the puzzles, be told I was already a subscriber and then access the puzzles. But no more – there is no link to the puzzles. Phoning Telegraph Towers was of absolutely no help at all. Apparently its my fault! I am a fully paid up subscriber and would like to see the whole paper – what the hell is wrong with that. Anyone else having this problem?

   1. This has also happened to the rest of us. The puzzles have been removed form all digital versions (not the paper version) despite us saying that is not fair. All the puzzles including the crosswords now have to be accessed through the puzzle site. If you are a digital plus subscriber you will have free access to the puzzle site. This is located on the bar at the bottom of the home page.
      If you are only a digital subscriber then I think there is a fee which they were saying would be 50p for the year. All very annoying!

   2. As a fully paid-up (I think) subscriber, I find the quickest way to the puzzles is to go direct:

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/

   3. Hi Manders. This happens to me about every 4-6 weeks on the Puzzles site I have to delete the app then reinstall it. It means resetting everything and it’s extremely annoying! Hope this helps….. and perhaps there is a remote chance someone from Telegraph Towers is reading this.

      1. Don’t hold your breath MsGlad but thanks!

10. What’s not to love? 10a and 13a are especially brilliant. I did think 16d’s “would” was a tad cheeky, mind! Super clue, though. Many thanks to our smooth setter and Shabbo.

11. Lots to enjoy (other than there being too many anagrams and one or two rum surfaces) in this witty baa-lamb in wolf’s clothing – first glance suggested it might be a bit testing, but it all swiftly fell into place without much angst, other than when trying to parse 10a, at which point I had a Catherine Tate (as Lauren) moment. Overall a good mid-week grid. Highlights 3d, 9d & 11a.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.

12. A splendid Thursday crossy.

    I had to work at it, plodding around each quarter at a steady pace which made it a satisfying solve.

    I say ‘solve’…..I had to wave the white flag at 16d which I wouldn’t have got in a squillion years. I’m all for specialist knowledge as long as the rest of it is within reach. But, when two bits of it are new to me, I didn’t stand a chance even though the parsing was straightforward.

    Lots of goodies to choose from but I’ll go with 10a, 13a (Lego on steroids) and 9d that was a fabulous anagram.

    Many thanks to the setter and Shabbs.

    3*/4*

13. I found that a tough but very enjoyable solve. I did not know the American writer at 10a, and was unable to work it out from the clueing and it was that that led to my problem with the whole of the NE corner, despite 11a being my first one in. The pesky 6d required a reveal so this became my first DNF for many a month. Favourite was 13a which took a little working out but is my sort of clue. Likewise for 7a and 16d which share the podium. Thanks to our setter and Shabbo, whose help I certainly needed today.

14. For this non RayT week puzzle, I found this relatively easy to get into, with a few hold ups along the way. Had a couple of clues where the parsing did not come to me, but they had to be what they were.

    2*/3.5*

    Favourites the two down long ‘uns, 7a, 8a, 11a & 5d — with winner 7a

    Thanks to setter & Shabbo

15. Congratulations to Silvanus on his (small) Nina and pun-worthy milestone crossword

    1. Presumably this means Silvanus has hit his ‘ton’ of back pagers? In which case congratulations Silvanus, and thank you for so many great puzzles – keep ’em coming, please, whether back page or Toughie!

    2. Well spotted, Sue!

16. Very hard. I need to study the hints as some I only got some through checkers. At least the digital version tells you if it is wrong. *****/* for me and I didn’t particularly like any of them

17. This was just briliant, with a gridful of beautifully composed clues, making it an insult to just pick out one as a favourite. The two long clues went in fairly quickly and formed the basis for a most satisfying solve.

    Many thanks to Silvanus for a great puzzle, and to Shabbo.

18. A very enjoyable not a Ray T Thursday challenge from Mr Smooth – 2.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 8a, 24a, 3d, and 16d – and the winner is 8a.

    Thanks to Silvanus, congratulations on your 100th back pager (assuming I have decoded CS’s comment correctly), and thanks to Shabbo.

19. I had got most of the east side and only some of the west before resorting to your hints. My mind is strange. I had to laugh at 13a which I spelt wrong as I thought the rogue was one of those people who sit in the H of P. I am getting better at these puzzles now.

20. Found this one ok, must have been on the setters wavelength. Never heard of the film in 23a (super song from the Stones tho) but thought 10a a poor clue as the tenses seem wrong. I think this is a classic find the definition and ignore the rest of the clue.
    ***/****
    Thx to all

    1. The Stones single was Charlie’s final recording with the band & agree it’s great. But surely the clue merits mention of probably the most famous song to emerge from my home city, Coventry, that was wrongly assumed to have been written about it

21. A bit trickier than usual for Thursday and very enjoyable – thanks (and congratulations on reaching the ton) to Silvanus and thanks to Shabbo for the hints.
    I’ve picked 7a, 10a and 24a for my podium.

22. Well that was an absolute corker of a guzzle. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many ticks on the page. Not that it was all plain sailing, I needed Shabbo’s help to parse 10a and 13a.

    Top picks for me were 24a, 5d, 15a and 18a.

    Thanks to Shabbo and the setter.

23. What a lovely guzzle – a good two meals worth, (brekky and lunch) fun but chewy in parts. And I learnt something too: for the last 60/70 years I’ve always assumed livid meant bright red rather than 12a.
    Liked the longuns, 7&9d, and the mommy’s boys!
    Had trouble with 15a and 16d, having biffed ‘liked’, but did finally remember the dancing saint, but had no idea he was so young!! (Was a boxer in my youth so no excuse for not getting 15a!)
    Also liked 1d, actually my first in, which could only be one of the two cheeses I know with lots of the anagram fodder, which in the end also helped to get the spelling right…
    Too many to like to name a particular fave, so just v many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo for the helpful hints and comments.

24. A significant leap in terms of difficulty from the previous three days which I was relieved to see reflected in our esteemed reviewer’s rating. 16d was last in & pegged via the wordplay & though it rang a vague bell I doubt I’d have been able to define the word without the benefit of the definition in the clue. Podium spots for 10,13& 23a. An enjoyable solve.
    Thanks to Shabbo & congrats to Silvanus – I was far from convinced it was one of his & someone will need to tell me where the Nina is.

    1. I may be wrong and often am but I think the Nina consists of the first letters of 1, 2 and 3 down. CS did say it was small.

       1. The first three lights in the top row of the grid

25. A very enjoyable challenge from Mr Smooth to mark his setting milestone, what achievements we’ve seen from some of our erstwhile Rookie Corner contributors, BD would be so proud.
    Had a sticky moment with the parsing of 16d as I wanted the ‘surface’ to be ‘the top of’ but fortunately the answer was obvious from the checkers.
    List of podium contenders includes 13,18&25a plus 9&22d – humour awards going to 25a&22d.

    Man thanks and congratulations to Silvanus, thanks also to Shabbo for the review – what, no pic of the butterfly!

    1. That butterfly is rapidly becoming the replacement for the National Park in Tanzania!

    2. Sorry. Couldn’t resist the comma. Very childish, I know.

26. If at first you don’t succeed, go and make another mug of tea, then look at the clues again. It worked!
    Although I was confused by some of the parsing all fell into place at this second attempt.
    Now, seeing the problems faced by Post Office customers (who are always right…?) I wish to add my latest grumble. My home insurance renewal letter arrived and stated: ‘If you want to cancel or change your card details, please call us at least five working days before your renewal date’.
    I have a new card (that’s another saga, which after long ‘phone calls seems to be resolved), so I rang the insurers. After the usual tedious robotic voices had eventually finished I spoke to a person who I believe was human (?).
    Twenty minutes later, after prolonged interrogation, she told me she would have to charge my new card immediately. Renewal is not due for 3 weeks, and I do not want to pay yet for cashflow reasons. I have to ring them back nearer the time. Grrr!

27. I found this harder than yesterday’s Toughie, in that there were a couple I needed Shabbo to explain (10a’s reviewed book and 13a’s Times claims), and a few things outside my vocabulary: 12a was my first in based on the wordplay, but I didn’t know that meaning of ‘livid’; having discovered it was correct, I then started wondering if ‘barge’ was some kind of reminder I hadn’t heard of either for 11a …

    16d is a word I’m unlikely to remember; I resorted to letter-matching a wordlist then looking up definitions until I found the right one, because I thought I didn’t know the saint either. Except I should’ve remembered REM singing “Have you ever seen the televised St Vitus subcommittee prize investigation dance?”:

    My favourite was 3d (“one century out”). Thank you to Silvanus and Shabbo.

    1. Great lyric recall.

       1. Well, it would have been great if I’d recalled it in order to solve the clue, rather than only after I’d seen the answer!

28. Needed the hint to understand 10a Found this relatively benign for a Thursday. Some super clues 4d and 13d possible contenders for clue of the day.
    Thanks to all

29. Difficult for me today but I got there….but didn’t get a lot of the parsings.
    I spell the drummer with a Y rather than an i….but this made no difference in the paper version.

    Thanks to the setter and to Shabbo

    1. Thank you to the folks who commiserated with me and the antibiotics on Tuesday.
       I have finally finished the course…..not sure the infection knows that yet, though, so another trip to the surgery looks to be on the cards……sigh….

30. Many thanks to Shabbo for another excellent blog and to everyone commenting and offering congratulations.

    A very proud day for me, second only I think to the day when my first puzzle was published. It was in February last year that No. 50 appeared, so the next fifty has come up in very quick time, thanks to the opportunities afforded me by Chris Lancaster, whom I cannot thank enough.

    For those interested in such things, the century of puzzles has included fifty different grids, with appropriately today’s grid being the one I have used most often (seven times).

    See you all again soon, I hope!

    1. Thank you for the puzzle, silvanus and many congratulation s on your milestone. Please keep them coming. 👍

    2. Aha! It was you, can’t mistake the style! Thanks, but you did make me work for it!

    3. I rarely pay much attention to particular grids but have to say that this one has a very pleasingly well-balanced layout.
       Wonder which milestone you’ll have reached by this time next year?!!

    4. Thanks silvanus for the fun and many congratulations n the milestones, may there lots more!

31. Lovely puzzle although pretty chewy. I had to consult the hints to fully explain 4 of my answers, 5 if you count not realising that one was an anagram. Very satisfying to solve. Thanks to the very clever setter and to Shabbo for the explanations.

32. I have to admit that this one is such a long way beyond me as to be embarrassing – Thursday or otherwise!
    Congratulations to Silvanus on his milestone – at least I can understand my problems – I always find him difficult!
    I found the right side almost ‘doable’ whereas the left side was nearly impossible!!
    I liked 11 and 13a and 5 and 19d. I think my favourite was 25a.
    With thanks and more congratulations to Silvanus for the crossword and thanks to Shabbo for the hints.

33. Yup, our wake-up call! South was kind to me but north required far too much ehelp, I have no idea why. The cheese at 1d was a fave when I lived over yonder, so that opened up that corner, as did the American writer. Little by little I gnawed away at it and shocked myself by finishing. I liked the cross at 8a, and the banana. If you just follow the instructions, everything falls into place; gotta be Silvanus.
    Thank you Silvanus for the fun, and Shabbo for his hints and pics!

34. A fine Thursday puzzle. Great clues, tricky in parts and an enjoyable tussle. I have ticked several and will pick 13a as my favourite – very clever! 3.5*/4.5*.

35. I’m satisfied that I managed to get half done sans help, being a Thursday puzzle. Definitely a mixed bag, an a food I don’t like, 1d (every cheese but that one) and a vegetable I love, 25a, that I use all the time. COTD to 18a for being delightfully cryptic. Thanks to Silvanus and to Shabbo. Girding my loins for Friday.

36. Found this on the hard side
    Liked the Egyptian mummies

37. I thought the anagrams were extremely well hidden! Pleased to have managed it (eventually)

38. My previous comment went missing. I found this tricky but having persisted I got there eventually. I needed the hints to explain a couple of them, I really enjoyed the anagrams particularly the two long ones and 18a. I did not know the author in 10a.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and congratulations on the milestone, long may you continue to provide us with such entertaining puzzles. Thanks also to Shabbo for the hints.

39. Good evening

    By the cringe!! That was a serious braincell buster, and I am not in the least surprised to see that today’s grid was the work of the Brain Of Silvanus. I genuinely didn’t think I’d get anywhere near the finish line, since after half an hour of deliberation I’d only entered four solutions.

    Time, tea, and my Lucky Green Pen saw me through. Far too many contenders for COTD today; I am going to plump (if, as they used to say on Call My Bluff, plumping is allowed) for a tie between 10a and 16d.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Shabbingtons.

40. Excellent crossword. Not easy but very logical – hence good clues. Have just read a book by the American writer, which helped. I liked the 9d anagram. 16d rather clever. All in all enjoyable.

41. 1a – cryptic clue + cryptic answer, I got it but …. . One could argue that 13a is not actually a musician, just a tub thumper. What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians – a drummer. 😁 Enough of the joshing. I did enjoy this. Favourite was 3d. Thanks to Silvanus, and congratulations, and Shabbo.

    1. Karen Carpenter, who was a great drummer and an excellent musician, might take issue with you. In a poll of the best drummers she ranked higher than Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and that really pissed him off. Not only could she drum but could sing at the same time, which only a few drummers can.

       1. I’ve never noticed that playing the drums ever stopped them singing, albeit badly, the best thing to do was turn their microphone down. It doesn’t make them real musicians, still tub thumpers even if they can sing. 😁 In mitigation in practise sessions if the drummer ever has to leave the room everybody else would rush to get on the drums. How can you tell if the stage is level? – The drummer drools out of both sides of his mouth. 😁

42. Thought a good sleep would allow final parsing of three stubborn clues … but no luck this morning with 2d especially being a great elusive lurker. Congratulations Silvanus on your century and of course Shabbo

43. I wonder how the difficulty stars awarded to each crossword are arrived at as I didn’t find this one any more difficult than those given 3 stars.

    1. Hi JD
       The difficulty/enjoyment stars are purely a subjective judgement by the blogger and intended to generate discussion. Everyone will have a different view on how difficult or enjoyable a puzzle is.

44. 4*/3* ….
    liked 11A “Reminder of having nothing on around the third of August (5)”

45. A late comment for me as I printed off the crossword and saved it for later.
    And what a treat this excellent puzzle has been! No need to guess… my far and away fave is 20d!. This is followed by 10a, a brilliant clue. There are many other ticks on my page, too many to enumerate.
    Big appreciative thanks to Sylvanus, and much appreciation to Shabbo for the review.

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