ST 3286 (Hints)

66 comments on “ST 3286 (Hints)”

1. An excellent, not too taxing Sunday challenge
   2*/4*
   Still not a fan of girls and boys names as answers but all fairly clued
   I like the well hidden lurker and the charged leather today
   Thanks to setter and blogger

2. For me, and I stress for me (™ the usual), it’s important to send congratulations to Senf. A consistently excellent hinter, and a lovely chap too.

   Regarding a fielder getting cold – I recall there was an all too brief window in my schooldays where one played a particular sport and the sun shone and sweaters could be removed and one could concentrate on the game, and the world seemed an idyllic place. The rest of the summer was spent with hands deep in pockets, wearing several outer layers, shivering whilst looking forward to the tea interval. Charterhouse always provided an excellent tea, I recall.

   We three are out to luncheon with my sister’s family today. The bonus is we might miss the first half of the England football match later on.

   Thanks to Da-doo-ron-ron and The Man From Manitoba

3. A pleasant solve on a sunny Sunday after only getting one answer after the first run through the clues.

   Favourite and LOI was 1a. I got the second word but couldn’t think of the pet until the penny eventually dropped.

   Thanks to Dada and congratulations to Senf.

4. I agree, v enjoyable and not too tricky. My fav was 9d. Thought the lurker indicator in 14a a bit bizarre and Mrs B assures me that 1a is kept as a pet but quite why seems odd (any further comment would get me sent to the NS). Not sure that I would describe 13a as a sigh and nor does the BRB.
   Still can’t fully parse 20a.
   ***/*****
   Thx to all

   1. The last word in 20a is significant

   2. Read it backwards…. “Outlines”
      However in any one can help me parse 12 a I’ll be forever grateful!!
      So many fun clues today!

      1. 12a definition is ‘a world leader’ and, as it is a Prize Puzzle, that is all I will give you.

      2. 12a was a mystery to me also Kath.

5. A pleasant solve but it did throw up a few hurdles for me. It took me a while to work out 1a, 18a and 6d. With the latter, I went through every piece of music I could think of but not that one. Ticks all over the paper again but my COTD is the can filled with sauce at 24a.

   Thank you, Dada for the fun. Huge congratulations, Senf for your achievement and the hints.

   I think the Quickie pun would be better without the fourth word because that word is not really a pun.

   1. I had to double check that the fourth clue for the pun was italicised and indeed it is. I presume it is from a well known song in a famous musical and, apparently, this ‘string’ of ‘goodbyes’ does appear in that song. It was probably too much of a challenge to fit clues for Auf Wiedersehen into the puzzle!

      1. I believe it might be from The sound of Music. I hope the pun doesn’t mean something.

         1. That’s a worrying thought. Let’s hope the pun doesn’t mean anything.

         2. Lol no that would have ended “ au wiedersen , good bye!! 🤣🤣

            1. Apologies for spelling to all of German until we meet again 🙀🙀🙀🙀😂

   2. May we have an update on Hudson? How is he today? I hope he’s able to go for a walk. Sending him love.

      1. Thank you for asking, Merusa. Hudson is better but still on a very light diet of scrambled eggs much to his disgust. However, he understands the phrase “sore paw” from when he gets a thorn stuck in his pad. I just say to him when he asks for food “ sore paw in the tummy” and he seems to understand he ain’t getting any. No accidents last night but I’ve confined him to the utility room with newspaper on the floor just to be sure he’s over it. Hopefully back to normal tomorrow but I’ll introduce the food gradually.

         1. Thanks

6. I have to admit that I used an anagram solver to get me going, but after that, everything fell in to place with no further naughtiness. I had to dig deep to dredge 11A from the memory banks, and as Senf pointed out it’s a very long time since a car had one of those.

   I nearly spoilt my chance for the mythical by spelling 6D incorrectly, having not bothered to parse it properly. All fixed though – sorry SC.

   ***/*** Thanks to Dada and Senf.

7. Yeah, I agree, a large number of anagrams does usually make for an easier solve, but 7d did remind me of a favourite detective TV series from the 80’s so I marked that COTD.
   Thanks to Dada for the challenge and well done to Senf for the blogging milestone!

8. An enjoyable puzzle from Dada with an (over)abundance of anagrams. Thanks to him and Senf (enjoy your Thanksgiving!).
   Top clues for me were 14a, 5d and 9d.

9. I found this very hard. I was not on the same was wavelength and it was a slog. ***/* For me.

10. A slow solve for me but I got there in the end having considered giving up on it. Some great clues and I’m glad I persevered.

    Top picks for me were 1a, 14a and 9d.

    Thanks and congratulations to Senf, your hints are always appreciated even if not always needed. Thanks of course to Dada for the challenge.

11. No contest for top of the podium today, 1a wins by a mile with 9d & 26a claiming the lesser places. Most enjoyable Sunday fare and a fitting tribute to our long-serving blogger. BD knew what he was doing when he brought you onto the team!

    Thanks to Dada for the puzzle and to Senf for the hints – off to listen to Paul Simon now.

    1. Do you know anyone who has one as a pet?

       1. When No1 son was in junior school we had to look after the class 1a tank for the summer holidays. Not the most exciting house guests

       2. No but I do know of someone – the son of a work colleague – who kept scorpions.

          1. Madness! I have a friend who had a pet monitor lizard, but it “passed” as they say in the south. She how has an iguana.

12. A real struggle to get into — I found this very hard to start with, probably because there were so many anagrams, only solving one across and two down answers on my first pass (10a, 17d, 25d), and taking a few more passes just to double that to six solved before I resorted to anagram solvers.

    Great fun, though. with 25d’s fancy gateau, the clever 26a, 20a’s reversed outlines, 1a’s wordplay, and 5d’s set-up all fantastic. It still took me longer than average to get through the rest of it — including putting it down and coming back in a second session, but the high entertainment value made it worthwhile, and I did get it all filled and parsed before the hints were published, which has been unusual lately.

    Congratulations, Senf, and thank you to Dada for the entertainment.

    I saw Susie Dent, Rob Eastaway, and Paul Sinha talk at Ilkley Literature Festival yesterday. Paul SInha’s event was at our church. Given that Paul is best known for ITV’s teatime quiz show The Chase, it did amuse me this morning to be back in the same place and our vicar start with something based on Pointless, the rival BBC show. All three speakers were good, though, and recommanded.

13. I found this really hard to get started but once I got a foothold, clues that seemed impenetrable at first glance, began to make sense -a sign of well constructed clues, so thanks to Dada for that!
    Also, thanks and congratulations to Senf – appreciate all the hard work

14. A brilliant lurker took me into *** time. Thank you Dada and please don’t hand over the baton Senf!

15. Not just me then – at least I had Madflower & rp1428 for company. Struggled to get going & once underway it like wading through treacle though finished with a wee bit of a spurt. Think I’ll leave the Toughie until back from work at the course when hopefully my crosswording brain reawakens.
    Thanks to D & S – much admiration & thanks for your blogging milestone.
    Ps for any Steely Dan fans out there I saw a terrific 10 piece tribute band called Nearly Dan at The Stables in Wavendon last night. Can’t recommend them enough…

    1. Great! You’re back at work, so you must be feeling better.

       1. I didn’t stop Merusa – I’m just talking more nonsense than usual on the tee on account of the pain killers. Getting there if still a bit sore. Thanks

16. This took me a while to get into probably due to over-thinking on my part, looking for things that weren’t there rather than following the very clear instructions. Once I was underway, I had very few hold-ups, with the excellent 1a taking top spot from 9d, one of my last two in.

    Many thanks to Dada for a great challenge, and thanks and congratulations to Senf for his consistently helpful hints over the years.

17. Many congratulations, Senf, for such dedicated service to us bloggers. Senf and Dada have become an essential part of Sunday life. Long may it continue – although today’s Quickie pun may indicate cause for concern regarding one half of the double act.

    I found this slightly harder than normal despite the anagram-fest, but enjoyable nevertheless. My rating is 3*/3.5* with 1a my favourite.

    Many thanks to S & D.

18. A nice Sunday puzzle this week from Dada on the ester end of his spectrum this week.

    1.5*/3.5*

    Favourites include 16a, 23a, 28a, 7d & 19d — with winner 23a

    Thanks to Dada & Senf
    Happy Thanksgiving to those that it applies in this blog

19. Needed two stabs to finish this today with a trip to collected chestnuts in between, got there in the end though, can’t say I liked the ‘fielder’ clue, dreadful word, just like the one they use for the person with the bat nowadays, reminds me of baseball!

20. A steady and joyful solve for me today with nothing overly troublesome. Some brilliant clues I thought – 23a and 1a candidates for favourite. I had not heard of the world leader in 12a either ! Thanks to Dada and Senf – keep up the good work (applies to both of you actually).

21. After a very slow (1 answer) start I got my teeth into a couple of the anagrams and then got going. 1a was my favourite having taken a while to see what was needed, but I enjoyed many other clues. Overall a successful day as we managed some gardening and to get the grass cut having been rained off yesterday.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the wonderful and essential hints, congratulations on your milestone.

22. Tricky for me but very enjoyable! I still don’t understand 26a even with our Senf’s excellent hint, I obviously don’t know the board game, but I think my answer must be right. I did need a little ehelp in the SE corner where I was in danger of a DNF. I liked lots, 7d was a treat, though I did have most of the checkers so not a hard solve; 8d was clever; fave was 24a, which was a great help.
    Thank you Dada, what fun that was. Congrats Senf on your anniversary, always helpful hints and so clear, I look forward to your Sunday help. Alas, I’m a bot again and can’t open the Paul Simon clip. Does anyone know why this happens and how I can prevent it? Am I really a threat to humanity?

    1. Merusa, you definitely know the board game! It probably crops up in backpagers a couple of times every week.

       I only worked it out backwards: just look at your answer, take out the theatre principal, and look through the rest of it till you find a man!

       1. Thanks, got it now! I didn’t have the right answer, I should have revisited it once I couldn’t parse it. Remember what BD drummed into us? “If you can’t justify it, it’s probably wrong!”

          1. Glad you got there!

23. Good steady solve.

24. I enjoyed the anagrams, some of which were pleasantly challenging, but they slowed down the solve a bit. 1a was a cracking cryptic and 28 (one for Steve C) was pretty good too. The music clue, 7d fell into place for me, one of my favourites. Many rhanks to Dada for an absorbing guzzle and thnks to Senf, not only for today’s hints but for long swrvice (there should be an award for that 🥇)

    1. I’d like to think I would get a pay rise; but then any per centage of zero is . . .

25. I’m not so sure about Dada being friendly – I found this difficult.
    Even the huge number of anagrams didn’t help to get things going.
    It was such a well hidden lurker that I didn’t think I was ever going to find it!!
    24a was tricky – the only pasta sauce I could think of was a different one.
    I’m still having trouble with the “why’s” of several – never mind, losing the will . . .
    I did like 1 and 26a and 4d (that kind of arch!!) and 21d. I think my favourite 17d.
    Thanks to Dada and to Senf.

    I love Paul Simon but the ‘hinty people’ seem to forget some of the lesser common ones of his – What about “Song for the Asking “

    1. Couldn’t agree more Kath. I suspect most are only aware of the tunes that seem to make it on to the best of compilations which is a pity as there are loads of lesser known gems to be discovered (now much easier to go explore with streaming services) in his studio albums. The Late Great Johnny Ace off Hearts & Bones is one as is the title track off probably his most underrated album, One-Trick Pony

       1. A rather funky PS there but you can see how he went from there to Graceland

26. We’re going to join the small but growing number who found this difficult and not that straightforward. Enjoyed the challenge. Favourite was 24a. Thanks to Dada and Senf, congratulations.

27. At first pass I was tempted to toss this one aside, but decided to allow myself a handful of today’s hints, and that got me going. Helped by a healthy dollop of anagrams and checkers. Surprised that I actually knew 7d, but did not know 9d was one word and not two. More familiar with the four letter word. Thanks to Dada and especially to Senf for looking out for us 401 times to date 👏.

    1. I was so sure that 9d was two words that I looked it up, sho nuff, my dictionary has it as one word.

28. Have to say this wasn’t my cup of tea at all and it took me ages to get going and then it continued to be gnarly. IMHO too many dodgy definitions and synonyms combined with iffy anagram indicators. For instance 11a is not a little window on a car, composition for 7d is pretty broad as is nearer knees for 23a, etc., etc. Unusually I was glad when it was over but obviously many bloggers enjoyed it – so to each his own. Sorry Dada but you disappointed me today but thanks anyway and indded for so many past goodies. My thanks also to Senf and congratulations on your marvellous number of helpful hintings. Oh dear, my apologies for nit-picking.

29. Congratulations to Mister Moutarde on such a milestone – I hope there are many more
    7d and 26a floated my boat today and 11a brought back memories of Dad – who refused to take a company car without 11a as he had a cigarette lit at virtually all times and the 11a ventilating the car was the only thing that allowed me and sisters to breathe. Perhaps they wouldn’t be such distant memories if he put the ciggie out occasionally!

30. Congratulations Senf on all your hard work and imaginative input over the year s. I have been doing the telegraph crosswords for a while now but I still have no idea of who’s who when it comes to setters. Now I have at least one hand on the bike.
    Found today tough but I think I over complicated things today. 1a my favourite today

31. Like some others I had a slow start today but eventually finished.
    A satisfying solve in the end.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf.
    Please keep going, Senf. Sundays would not be the same without you.
    (And I suspect our tastes in usqua bae are similar)

    1. For reasons that might become obvious next Sunday, my 12-year old The Balvenie has been taking a bit of a hit over the last week or so, the 15-year old Dalwhinnie might have to provide some back-up.

       1. Both excellent choices…

          Just take a splash of water with them

          

          1. Of course you have to understand that the reason for the present rate of consumption is purely medicinal!

             1. Double the dose is twice as good

                *Not proper medical advice

                1. Maybe not but what the hell? 🥃😊

32. 11a those small windows on cars [redacted – it’s a prize puzzle – read the instructions in RED below the hints]

    1. I think you are for the naughty step!

       1. And I believe you will be without cake! 🤭

33. Too much of a rush, shamelessly forgot to thank Dada and Senf

34. Apologies for my transgression, I blame an unaccustomed quantity of falling over water at lunch

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