DT 30817

87 comments on “DT 30817”

1. A steady solve today with quite a number of epiphanies along the way. There seemed to be a lot of anagrams but I haven’t bothered to count them. I can’t see the parsing of 22d – I get the clubs but not the “became needy” so I’ll need to check the hints. I liked the greedy errand boy at 11a but my COTD is the novel way of cluing an old favourite at 10a.

   Thank you, setter for a satisfying solve. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.

   A crisp and cold morn in The Marches. The roads are treacherous. I saw a gritter go past but it wasn’t gritting.

   1. I didn’t get 22d either until later, when I realised I was chasing the wrong sort of became.

2. Enjoyable, and a lesson from the Prof in how to construct a perfectly crafted, satisfying, and yet very gentle puzzle. Podium places (among many highlights) 4d, 21d & 23d

   Many thanks to setter & Huntsman both.

3. Elegant surfaces as always and typically gentle, from 1a on. 4a’s Spooner is a cracker. Many thanks to our setter and Huntsman. I had money on 23a and T-Bone never goes amiss.

   1. Am surprised that the bookies didn’t price 23a up as no offers. For my money the best rock album of all time. Annie Nightingale played my request for Baba O’Riley on her Radio One Sunday afternoon show in the 70s – the theme song to which was Steely Dan’s Duke Ellington cover.

      1. Yep, can’t argue with that. Baba O’Riley, eh? Hats off. You are, as we all know, way cooler than me. I’ve only sent in one radio request in my life … for Showaddywaddy. The horror. My only excuse is that I was just seven at the time!

         1. Ken Bruce played Baby O’Riley today just before PopMaster, and it still sounds epic. How come it wasn’t a hit — wasn’t it released as a single in the UK, or didn’t it sell to people of Your Generation?

            PS: For anybody wondering why I go to the bother of putting song titles in italics, this is why.

            1. That’s brilliant, Smylers, and I’m so glad I didn’t have a mouthful of coffee when I opened the link!

               1. Great shout, MG!!! 😂

            2. Love the Avril Lavigne pic! Very funny.

               You’re on fire this week, S 👏👏

      2. My greatest claim to fame is when Tony Blackburn played a request I mailed to him on Radio Caroline back in the 1960’s. Made even sweeter as my Dad had scoffed that I didn’t stand a chance of my request being played. Can’t even remember which song I asked for now, probably something by Adam Faith or Tommy Steele. I just remember sitting there doing my high school accounting class homework and suddenly hearing my name mentioned. And we still listen to Tony Blackburn now 😊.

4. As I say every week – superb music choices.
   Nick Lowe is one of our greatest (under-rated) songwriters. Having secured a ‘bundle’ from the soundtrack of The Bodyguard, he doesn’t have to please record companies, or anyone really, except himself. This relaxed approach has led to a magnificent catalogue of work over the last twenty-five years or so.

   I enjoyed this guzzle as it fell into place quite neatly for me (and I stress for me, ™ Senf). A delight to need only ‘normal’ words and no need to call in THE LIST committee.

   Thanks to the setter and Andy Squelching Past The First Tee.

   1. I gave up trying to squeeze ‘Bathsheba Everdene’ in to the five boxes for 29a but with teeny writing I almost managed ‘Lucetta Templeman’. The ‘an’ had to go into the margin, but I believe this counts as a completed crossword.

5. Thoroughly enjoyable guzzle today with just one or two head scratchers. Thank goodness for a sunny day as there are two men from Manchester fixing our conservatory roof. They were gobsmacked watching the pink feet geese fly over, thousands and thousands of them for at least 10 minutes. If they are still here at 3 pm they will see them on their return flight. Eat your heart out Shabbo! I think my COTD is 15a as they are such delightful creatures. My thanks to the setter and to the Hintsman

   1. Sounds fantastic! Very jealous.
      It’s a lovely day here now, so time to get out and about.

6. A very enjoyable and not too taxing Tuesday puzzle (although I lingered longer than I would have liked over 18a and 19d). Thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the triple dose of the Dan and the clip of a pleasingly errant example of 15a. It’s probably fair to say that the film adaptation of the Hardy novel from which that still was taken was more popular with my schoolfriends than the original text.

   1. I managed to scrape a C for English Lit thanks to the TV adaptation of The Mayor of Casterbridge!

   2. Agree, we had to read it too in high school and it put me off Hardy for good.

      1. Yes we had to read for Eng Lit. The one scene I recall vividly is the morning after Henchard has sold his wife. He wakes in the marquee to bright sunshine and a buzzing bee. Why that has stayed with me over the years I have no idea.

      2. Never studied it & not my fav Hardy by a long chalk but still enjoyed it & remember Alan Bates in the BBC adaptation. I did Tess at A level & loved the book, unlike Mansfield Park which put me off reading Austen for life. Have you seen the remake of Far From The Madding Crowd? It’s very good & well worth checking out though I’ve still a soft spot for the original.

7. I find it hard to disagree with any of the earlier comments as this was just a very pleasant, well-clued and largely straightforward Tuesday puzzle. Unusually for me, the Spoonerism was my favourite clue this sunny morning.

   My thanks to AP and The Hintsman.

8. A pleasing and well-rounded puzzle which put up a bit of a struggle on occasion, but never fought hard enough to draw blood. Very satisfying, with the favourites being 5d and 10a for the lovely surfaces.
   Huntsman: The puzzle rating gets the Anorak’s Righteous Seal of Endorsement. Ahem. **/****

9. Once again I must voice my strong objection to Spoonerisms which have no place in a crossword. **/*

   1. Why not?

   2. I must disagree, and share Steve’s mystification: a well-crafted Spoonerism such as this one – old friend though it might be – can be an amusing piece of wit & creativity, and certainly has its well-deserved place in cryptic puzzles, alongside all the other tools and tricks in the setter’s box.

   3. I don’t mind ’em, great to get a bit of variety to stretch the grey stuff, if it was all vanilla clues I’d give up.

   4. I’m not a fan but they have a place the same as the sports, rare birds etc. Can’t please all the people…

   5. Especially when the given phrase to work from is as foolish as this one.

      1. Foolish? Moi?

         1. Like it, Squippeak. Like it.

10. Typically Tuesdayish although my LOI 22d slowed me down at the end and 17d received quite a large Hmm – 2.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 20a, 14d, and 19d – and the winner is 19d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.

11. An agreeable puzzle which didn’t cause too many problems – thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
    Top clues for me were 4a, 19d and 22d.

12. A very enjoyable crossword, satifying to solve, and with some funny clues. I particularly liked the spoonerism, but also 17d. Many thanks to the setter, and for the hints.

13. 2*/5*
    Tuesdays are becoming my favourite day in the cross word week. Good balance between easier and trickier clues with enough penny drop moments.
    4a, 17d, 7d and 14d favourites today.
    Thanks to AP and Huntsman

14. 2*/4* from me for delightful Tuesday fare with 10a my favourite.

    Many thanks to AP (?) and to Hintsman.

15. Hurray for another brill Tuesday puzzle. Always encouraging when 1a and 1d go straight in and then North half followed in quick succession. 21d uses, I think, a first time indicator. Numerous goodies from which 5d, 17d, 19d and 21d stood out for me. Thank you AP for such a fair and likable assignment and to Hintsman whose hints were not called upon today.

16. Thank you Huntsman and setter. I found this very pleasant and just the right level. It’s snowing here so I’m tucked up warm until later when I’ve got to walk a friend’s dog. Completed the crossword in fits and starts in between creating a huge pot of minestrone and baking a sun-dried tomato and olive loaf to go along with it.

    1. Sounds delicious – my soup shop bought though not canned.

    2. Oh, I’ll be round for lunch then 😉

17. I found this harder than yesterday’s but finished in reasonable time. 22d slowed me down but 4a raised a smile so is my favourite. Thanks to setter and Huntsman.

18. Very light until 22d slowed me down at the end. It’s a lovely clue, though.
    I also enjoyed the Spoonerism.
    Enjoy your walk, Huntsman and don’t forget to pop into The Cross Keys for a pint as well. You have earned it.
    Thanks to setter and hinter.

19. Another in the prof’s succession of enjoyable Tuesday puzzles with something for everyone. Top three for me were 15a plus 4&17d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and also to Huntsman – enjoy your walk around the Common.

20. Another tougher one than normal today, if this trend continues, Friday’s may as well be in Cantonese or Urdu.

    Took two stabs to get this one done, but got there in the finish, intrigued to see who the setter is as I’m rubbish at recognising them.

    My two of the day were 10a and the tricky 19d. Last one in was the very misleading 22d.

    Lets see what tomorrow brings….

21. All pretty straightforward but good fun too. Last in was the dreaded Doctor at 4a but actually when the penny dropped it made me smile!
    **/****
    Thanks to AP and Huntsman

22. What a great crossword! It had everything.

    The pen flowed across the paper. Such fun.

    Not an easy task to ‘pick a pody’ as there are stacks to choose from but I’ll go with 4a (nop totch), 20a (neat) and 7d (for creating a great scene)

    Many thanks to The Prof and Hoots Mon!

    1*/5*

23. I am with the majority here in being very happy with today’s guzzle. Last one in for whatever reason was 22d and favourite is the bird from Portugal. Sitting in the conservatory it is very cosy (men from Manchester, Manders? No one closer?) so feeling like nodding off. George came into the bedroom as is his wont chanting ‘hot water, hot water’ which he does at 6.30 every morning. I struggled out of sleep – it is half past b——- four I said. He was convinced he had heard the radio come on – what am I going to do with him? He has already dropped off to sleep at the table, hope he does not fall off his chair. 😌. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & The Hintsman.

24. Another one happy today, that was a pleasant solve with enough to keep Tuesday as a day for a fine balanced crossword.
    Loved the music – especially Stormy Monday but here is something Tuesdayish to go with a stroll.

    Thanks to Mr P and Hintsman

    1. Crikey it’s a long time since I’ve listened to that

       1. The YT algorithm sent me there this morning?

    2. Well it seems I am vastly outnumbered – I found this much tougher than yesterday. Failed with 7d (got the – itive but couldn’t get ‘demure’. Not sure I fully ‘got’ 17d although I had the right answer!

       Thanks to the setter, and many thanks for the hints – a couple of them put memout of my misery!

25. I parsed 1d differently, using a synonym for Papa.

    1. Good spot Droolie – I suspect my parsing is the setter’s intention but can’t see owt wrong with yours given they use it over the channel. Well Nicole did anyway

    2. Ah, thanks — so did I, though I found the unindicated French term somewhat unsatisfactory. By the time I’d completed the puzzle I’d forgotten to check, but your comment reminded me and I like Huntsman’s explanation better.

       1. In my head Papa was a French indicator, thanks to Nicole, so it worked nicely. But I agree that Huntsman’s explanation makes better use of ‘before’.

26. Nicely challenging. Along with others, my loi was 22d having put in two answers that fitted the checkers, but were rubbish, so it’s
    thanks to Huntsman for putting me straight. I seem to recall a very similar doggy related Spoonerism recently, so that certainly helped. I’ll pick 15a as my cotd. Thanks to AP and Huntsman

27. A typical Tuesday puzzle for me this week, and as Huntsman says in his blog, I agree 100% that it is easier than Monday’s puzzle. A nice solve, with clear clueing throughout.

    1*/4.5* for me

    Favourites 4a, 15a, 25a, 29a, 4d & 8d — with winner 4d
    The rest of the favourites all brought a smile or chuckle for me .. esp. 4a, 29a & 17d

    Thanks to AP & Huntsman

28. Some very nice clues here and a lot of variety, though the ‘regularly’ equivalent in 22d was new to me and I spent almost as long on that clue as the rest of the puzzle, which was a bit irritating.

    Great Spoonerism!

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

       1. 👍

29. I’m with Matthew Williams in finding this harder than yesterday’s, and needed Huntsman to explain a couple of answers.

    Thank you to him and the setter. I particularly enjoyed the 4a dog suggestion, the 15a birds from Portugal, the 21d jumper, and 29a’s Hardy Girl — the latter of which also brought to mind Micawber’s fantastic “‘ardy girl ‘ad no ‘elp throwing caber, I ‘ear – manly stuff! (12)”.

    1. Brilliant 😀

    2. Fabulous clue!

    3. Brilliant – I do miss Micawber’s puzzles.

    4. Thanks for this, S.

       His answer to the question ‘What makes a successful clue?’ is genius….

       ‘It should make you scratch your head, furrow your brow, then split your sides.’

    5. I think I have the answer but I’m not sure. Any chance you could explain it as it’s driving me.mad!!!

       Many thanks

       1. test…..ne. 😊

       2. The D’urberville lass chucked ‘er own caber

          1. Thanks for the pointers – i did have it right – just couldn’t fathom where the error comes into it??

             Thanks to sloop & Steve I now get it. Really appreciate your help as it was bugging me 🤔!!

30. I got stuck for an age in the north east, but went away and eventually it all fell into place. 5d was my last in as I was not using the correct fodder which definitely did I not help. I liked the spooner but my favourite was 22d. I thought this a little tougher than some recent Tuesdays but that may be due to the fear that the word Spooner seems to cause.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.

31. Good afternoon

    I failed miserable to even start yesterday’s crozzie, so I had to get back into the swing of it this afty. By crikey, it showed that I’d missed out on a day’s practice – very slow on the uptake today, with the NE quadrant proving very sticky, and 22d, my last to fall, taking forever to reveal itself.

    For that excellent piece of misdirection, 22d takes joint honours as COTD with 13a.

    Many thanks to the Prof and to Huntsman.

32. 17d is a lovely clue. Thank you compiler and Huntsman

33. Another nicely challenging crossword. After I looked over yesterday’s X-type I couldn’t see why I find it on the tricky side. It really wasn’t. And I remembered that when I started to stall today. Once I got sufficient checkers on the grid I was up and running, with LI being 22d, where I think we were cleverly led astray by became. Overall, thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman. And now I have a yearning for some minestrone soup, thanks to FatController 🍜.

34. Nice Tuesday puzzle 😃 ***/**** Favourites 1a, 23a, 4d, 8d & 17d 🤗 Big thank you to Anthony Plumb and of course to the Huntsman 👍
    As Brian hasn’t shown up yet, I am going to have a moan, halfway through reading the comments I thought I would listen to some of the Huntsman’s musical gems only to be told that to prove I wasn’t a BOT I would have to sign in!!! Surely someone doing the DT back pager and actually completing it is proof enough that I am certainly not!!! Unless AI is creeping in. End of moan 😳

    1. I get that a lot, JL. I leave it a while and try again and it sometimes works. I agree it’s annoying, though.

    2. End of man more like and woman.

    3. I got the same message on the iPad so listened to ‘em on the phone instead. Just checked now & they play no problem. It’s a relatively recent thing & bloody irritating

35. Enjoyed that, and the bathwater isn’t even cold.
    TMI 😱
    A lovely day for golf but seems, like Huntsman’s, most courses are struggling to stay afloat!
    Thanks to the setter and aforementioned.

36. A lovely puzzle. I completed it early this morning and then went out for the day.
    I struggled with the Spoonerism because I’ve always used the phrase Tootle pip rather than toodle so it didn’t make sense to me.
    Last in was the great 22d.
    Top picks for me were 17d, 18a and 22d.

    Thanks to Huntsman and the setter.

37. As most have said this was an enjoyable solve and for me it was less tricky than yesterday’s. I always groan when I see a spoonerism , and usually skim over them until later but this one was relatively obvious . Thanks to setter and Huntsman

38. Finally, I have had the time to finish the cryptic crossword on the same day and didn’t encounter a problem with the Spoonerism! A number of times over the festive period I have almost got there but either run out of time, couldn’t get 2/3 or couldn’t even get going. No paper on Sunday because of the snow enabled me to complete Saturday’s offering (out all day). Many thanks to the setter Mr Plumb and Huntsman for all the enjoyable clips. It must be very frustrating paying for a year’s membership and then keep getting rained off. The grounds here are absolutely sodden and that was before the snow.

39. I have come across that before as a spoonerism so it came to mind more readily. Pretty straightforward puzzle and it was good to have a different ancient city.Thank you Huntsman for being there although no help needed for once.

40. Thanks to setter and hinter. I much prefer Steeleye Span to Steely Dan.

41. *** / **** Plenty of subtle misdirection throughout, which I enjoyed.
    Would have been ** without 23d, thanks to setter and Huntsman

42. I struggled a bit in the NE but on completion I couldn’t see why. Still enjoyable though. Favourite was 4d. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.

43. I do enjoy Spoonerisms, they are usually amusing and frequently cause a laugh. This one was particularly enjoyable as the clue was so clever, so it is of course my COTD. Thanks to AP and Huntsman for setting and hinting.

44. Thanks to the setter for a challenging puzzle. Also for the hints, interesting how we arrive at the same solutions via different routes.
    Our top picks are 7d, 15a and 27a
    Gary and Val

45. 2*/4* …
    liked 4A “Spooner’s suggestion for dog is so long (6-3)”

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