DT 30818

97 comments on “DT 30818”

1. I’m afraid this was not for me. There were some good clues but there were others I just did not understand. I will need to look at the hints to understand 15d. Fortunately, I did know the rib at 13a because I used to get Inter-13a-l cramp, which was not pleasant. No COTD from me today.

   Thank you, setter but I could not do your offering justice. Maybe the lack of sleep last night affected my brain. Thank you, Mr. Mustard for the hints. I will now look at them to find explanations.

   As for the Quickie pun – not a clue.

   1. For a change I pegged the pun immediately. The only reason I knew of the place was because it was the location of the famous Record Plant where some great albums were created – Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life & Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours among them.

      1. I have a copy of Songs in the Key of Life still with the extra record. I bought it on the day our daughter was born for the song “Isn’t She Lovely?” Not played since.

         As for the Quickie pun, I doubt many have heard of the place. Had it been:-
         1a Equine (5)
         2a Pubs (4)
         3a Heavy weight (3)

         I would have got it because it’s where I live. 😊

2. Sublime. Absolutely sublime. The most enjoyable crossword I’ve solved in years.

   This has to be the work of Jay.

   It would be quicker to give you my schmodium as the other 25 are on the podium.

   So, my schmodium is 11a, 2d and 17d.

   Many, many thanks to Senf and Jay (if it’s not him then the solver is in The Pantheon sitting next to him).

   Perfection.

   2*/5*

3. An absolute belter. Delightful surfaces and come clever but scrupulously fair wordplay. 1a and 26a particularly appealed to me. Sweet Quickie pun too. Many thanks to our setter and Senf.

4. I’m with you Steve I didn’t get on with this at all. Too many obscure glues, very much an 8 down.
   Thankyou Senf for your help. You deserve a medal after your late night. Thanks to setter for the challenge.

   1. ²like Bijou and Steve, I found the clues difficult to understand and found the answers by isolating the definition and using the checkers, much like a non-cryptic puzzle. The parsing was often comprehensible in retrospect. Not the most enjoyable gu,zzle i have ever done but I did finish it in the end. The best clues were 5d, 8d and 15a . I enjoyed the anagrams. Thanks to the compiler and to Senf for the hints, which I shall now read to fgure out some of the parsing

5. I encountered a few difficulties, chiefly caused by getting the spelling of 7d wrong initially, which delayed solving 21a and 24a. 26a still eludes me even after seeing the hint! So, I did not enjoy this as much as others. Thanks anyway to the setter, and Senf for the hints

   1. 26a took me ages to see as well, but it was so good when I finally got it! “Evening” is a verb.

      1. Having recently wrestled with a recalcitrant cover to replace an ancient one, the place of evening things was on my mind

      2. Oh dear, finally I got it! Doh!

   2. Oddly enough 26a came to me in a blinding flash and is my favourite! Maybe because I was using it this morning. 7d gave me most problems as I convinced myself 11a was contour (river Ure incomplete) and was working on 7d being ‘voice….’

      1. I confidently entered contour for 11A without bothering to fully digest the parsing. More haste less speed as my mother always told me!

         1. I am trying to imagine Eeyore hastening. Hmmm.

6. I did enjoy this puzzle. I thwarted myself by getting the first word of 1 across wrong initially, using come instead

   1. You won’t be alone in that error.

   2. Me too!

   3. Me three!

      1. I fell inro rhat trap roo

7. I thought this was a terrific challenge that took a little longer than one might expect to complete for a midweek puzzle, but it was beautifully clued throughout. It was one of those when perseverance paid off handsomely. The topical 24a was a favourite, along with 26a. Top entertainment all round.

   Many thanks to our setter and to Senf.

8. If Monday was *** then this is at least twice as hard. The long edges took a while to get which did not help. Enjoyable though.

9. Maybe I’m finally getting to grips with this cryptic crossword lark? I solved my first full toughie yesterday (though I do note many of you found it easy). Today is the first time I’ve managed a Wednesday without a fair bit of head scratching. Some cracker clues in the mix, ticks all over the place. 26a (brilliant!), 23a, 15d and 19d raised big smiles too. Fantastic puzzle. Many thanks Senf and setter.
   ***/*****

10. Cracking puzzle, and I agree with Tom & others: a belter. Tuned-in from the off and flew through, N to S with no delays. A couple of good srekrul, super surfaces by and large, a very witty crossword. Honours to 26a (COTD), 15d & 19d.

    Thank you Setter & Senf – hope you catch up on your Zs!

11. A top-notch puzzle – thanks to our setter and Senf.
    I’ve never heard of the Quickie pun city and after Googling it I find that it has a population of less than 8,000 so not exactly a megalopolis.
    Ticks today for 1a, 26a, 15d, 18d and 22d.

12. Finished without understanding at least 50% of this complex and boring puzzle.
    Not one for me.
    *****/*
    Thx for the hints

    1. What about yesterday Brian ? We missed you

    2. If you think this one is bad, wait till you try the Quickie! For me the worst Quickie in living memory!

       1. My goodness you don’t mince your words – OTT as usual!

13. A really enjoyable puzzle. Loved the numerous misdirections I.e. 14a and 26a. Fav clue was 8d.

14. I’m firmly in the big 👍 club with this one – ✅s all over the shop. 4 terrific peripherals but if pressed for a fav it’d be difficult to look beyond 15d.
    Thanks to the setter & to Senf whose review I shall now read.

15. I really enjoyed this, and I’m counting it as easier than yesterday’s, because I required fewer hints: I’d worked out the 13a rib, but didn’t know the 6d pirate.

    I do like clues like 23a, where if you just do what the wordplay says, the answer appears. My favourite today is the superb 26a. Thank you to the setter and Senf.

16. A bit of a mindbender particularly in the NE due to not being able to fully parse 15d or 17d but finally got there having very much enjoyed the effort required. Surely a bollard is not necessarily as in 10a. Many thanks to whomever and Senf without whose help I did just manage.

17. I think my prediction yesterday about Friday’s puzzle is still well on track, this was very difficult indeed.

    I’m firmly in the not for me camp with this one, 13a and 15d were bung ins for me which always leaves a sour taste, as you finish the puzzle but feel you’ve cheated somehow.

    On the upside though, I did like 23a and the brilliant 26a which was some compensation for the rest of the it.

    1. Whoops, ‘the it’ should just read ‘it’.

18. Managed all but one and a half clues today. MustafaG’s comment that this was a cracking puzzle reminded me, given the news on Greenland, that there is a phrase usually, perjorative, in the Southern States – Cracker. From Wikipedia the following ; his usage is illustrated in a 1766 letter to the Earl of Dartmouth which reads :” I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode.” A perfect description.of a certain Donald.who is a Florida cracker.

    Will we ever get two quickie puns in a row. It seems very difficult to get one.

    1. “Cracking” observation, Corky, in our sense of the word. And he certainly is. In theirs. Not for the first time I’m very grateful for the Atlantic being between us, and I suspect Canada, Greenland and Panama all now wish they had a similar ocean buffer from the buffoon!

    2. A polite reminder about Comment Etiquette Item 8 – red pen at the ready.

19. Tricky but fair I thought, NE corner held me up but all in all very enjoyable some clever clues throughout with 14 and 26a being my standouts.
    ***/****
    Thanks to setter and Senf

20. For me, and I stress for me (™ Senf) this was a tricky blighter and might have been a little easier if one had time travelled from the 1980s. However, I gained strength from my gruel and orange juice with no bits, and completed without help, although I had to take a sturdy guess at 13a (the committee for THE LIST met over Zoom and decided against inclusion, especially with space being limited now, despite the building of the new extension – opened by the Duchess of Edinburgh in 2024).

    26a is a great glue.

    And with that… we are going out to luncheon…

    Thanks to the setter and The Man From Manitoba.

    *Terribly sad at the news overnight from California. We spent several weeks, last summer, in the affected areas; Paciifc Palisades, Topanga, Santa Monica – all of them are wonderful. Love to everyone there, or with friends or families caught up in the disaster.

21. Also in the big thumbs up club 👍. Lots of clever disguises and misdirection. Every day is Epiphany 🤔

22. Sorry, not for me unfortunately. Closest I came to a smile was with 26a & 22d.

    Thanks nevertheless to our setter – Twmbarlwm is my guess – and to Senf for the review. Any chance you’ve still got some of that money left to hand out?

    1. Sorry Jane, all the money was given away to Air Cadets in the town of Russell MB approximately 310km WNW of Winnipeg.

    2. No wonder it’s dreadful. I always avoid his puzzles like the plague. I wish they would leave him in the Toughie.

       1. Ah, Jane you think it’s twbarlwm? In that case I am getting on the wavelength.

          I thought today’s offering was excellent. Especially 26ac and I liked figuring out 21ac.

          Thanks to the setter and to Senf

       2. Agree, never seen one from him that I enjoy yet.

23. I found today’s puzzle entertaining in a more than averagely challenging sort of way, especially in the north which took a while to yield. While I try to not to spend too much time chuckling to myself, I did smile at 26a, at least once I’d worked out what on earth the only possible answer had to do to with the clue (a post-epiphany epiphany?). Thanks very much to the setter and to Senf for a few 9as.

24. Loved it. Completed in the hairdressers without recourse to reference books, internet etc. so, for me, not too tricky. A good mixture of clue types with clever misdirection in parts. Impossible to choose a podium today with so many worthy contenders but my absolute favourite was 26a – a true epiphany! Thanks to our setter and Senf

25. **** / ***
    Trickier than a usual Wednesday, hadn’t heard of 13a meaning, but had to be. Toook a while to get started but finished in reasonable time, thanks to Senf and setter

26. Great Wednesday fare. Tricky in places but, for me, all fairly clued. I did need to confirm 13a as it was new to me not being of a medical bent. Many great clues from which I’ll choose a podium of 10a, 26a and 15d. Thanks to compiler and Senf.

27. Can someone please explain 26a

    1. The supporting device (usually) used when removing creases and wrinkles (evening out) from, say, items of clothing after they have been laundered.

    2. The first word of the answer could be a synonym for evening if evening was also a gerund/present participle rather than a noun referring to a time of day. Took me a while.

28. Seems to me we are back the Wednesday crosswords that I find just frustrating. Poor clueing IMHO and parsing not easily reverse engineered
    Not my cuppa, again for this Wednesday.

    Suggest you try the Dada toughie from Tuesday if this Wednesday puzzle you find aggravating … That one was rewarding!

    Thanks to setter & Senf

    1. Or the Hudson Toughie today – also excellent

29. Golly gosh this was difficult especially, as I have said previously, I got the top left in a right old mess. And yes, I also put come at 1a. But working at it and I have to confess a few bung ins (or should it be bungs in?) which Senf had to explain later. Very satisfying to complete this and thank goodness I could sit and chew at it. I have gone over my allotted lunch hour! Thanks to the wily setter and Mr Senf the Mustard Man. Now back to this blasted Windows10, it is driving me mad. And has anyone else had trouble with Norton? We have been paying up twice a year and only just realised the duplication!

    1. What is wrong with your Windows 10 DG?

       1. I complained that my computer was slow and my next door neighbour came and installed windows 10 which is completely different, I have lost all my icons for google world and Barclays etc(I know I can reinstall them) I cannot seem to send an attachment – generally I am just out of sorts and grumpy. All the times are wrong – on my phone it says an email came in at11.30 on the computer it says it arrived at 05.15 or some such. 😢 I need a 12 year old grandson.

          1. Windows 10? That’s going back a bit. We’re on Windows 11 now, launched in October 2021. Microsoft are only supporting Windows 10 until October this year.

             1. I’ve taken the liberty of changing your alias to the one you usually use (JR) otherwise you’ll be confused with our regular commenter Jose.

                1. That was me! Where did JR come from?

                   1. I’m confused now. That comment went into moderation because it had your alias (Jose) and the email address used by regular commenter JR.
                      I’ll change the alias back to Jose (but I don’t know how the comment has got JR’s email address).

          2. Windows 10? That’s going back a bit. We’re on Windows 11 now, launched in October 2021. Microsoft are only supporting Windows 10 until October this year.

             1. Oh I know. I was going to buy a new computer but my neighbour said might as well put it off until October and in the meantime download 10 and carry on with this. He probably thinks I am so old it is not worth the expense!!

             2. Some of us oldies are still using Windows 7 and very happy with it, thank you! I have installed Edge on it and the combination gets me through everything I want to achieve.

30. This was not easy, but fortunately as I had time today, I was able to keep returning to it and as often happens it then fell into place. I think on another day, with less time, I might not have finished which goes to show that there are many factors which may affect our opinion of a puzzle. I did need to check the parsing of a couple with the hints. The anagrams and lurkers were all excellent and not all spotted in first pass and 26a was my favourite clue.

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

31. I thought I had posted earlier, but it seems that I hadn’t so here goes …

    3*/3*. We have had suggestions that it might be the handiwork of Twmbarlwm or a, sadly rare, appearance these days from Jay, but it didn’t feel like either to me.

    In terms of difficulty, I found the top half reasonably straightforward but the bottom half was a different kettle of fish entirely.

    26a was my favourite.

    Many thanks to the setter for the fun (please reveal yourself) and to Senf.

    1. For anybody still looking, this puzzle was by Twmbarlwm, who claimed it on Twitter last night:

       I set today’s Daily Telegraph crosswordhttps://t.co/Ej5wOwaEgt

       Source of seafood stored by cooks around end of June (6-3)
       Support for the evening? (7-5)
       Wading bird there scratching wings and leg (5)

       — Twmbarlwm (@MichaelEllJay) January 8, 2025

32. Well I did the first half in bed this morning – the RHS. We then drove to Cromer to shop and I spent the whole drive there and back trying as usual to complete it on my iPhone. Telegraph Towers refused to recognise that I am a subscriber and wanted me to pay again! Its not easy entering your email address etc on a tiny little screen going at some speed but in the end managed to change my password (didn’t know I had one) and now I can’t remember the new one. So back home managed to finish off OK on my KIndle and really quite enjoyed the tussle. Thanks to the setter and Senf.

    1. I hope somebody else was driving while you were doing all that, Manders!

       1. No, I wasn’t driving, but massively stressed!

    2. Manders you should be able to find the new password in your password app on your iPhone.

33. I seem to be the opposite the majority all this week, when people say it’s easy I struggle and the inverse.

    Today all done top to bottom in 1 star time – and I have to say I blummin loved it. I found it an absolute Stella production and I doff my cap to the setter, bravo 👏👏👏.

    Just like to say thanks to Sloop JB and Steve C for their assistance with a clue in yesterday’s thread. I did have the right word but failed to fully understand why. You both saved me a lot of agonising – thank you!!

34. An excellent midweek puzzle; fine clues, a decent challenge which was tricky in places and a very enjoyable solve. Favourite: 22d. 3*/4*.

35. I thought this was excellent with some clever misdirection. The easier clues provided some useful checkers for the difficult ones – great fun to solve.
    26a was my favourite today.
    3*/5*
    Thanks to setter and senf.

36. After a first pass through the clues, I’d only managed to solve two of them. I thought I was in for a toughie-in-disguise. But then a few more fell into place and then the rest came thick and fast. Unlike Brian who pegged it as “boring”, I thought this was one of the most entertaining puzzles I’ve ever tackled. I’ll be the yang to his yin. My COTD has to be 26A which I thought was inspired.

37. Not for me, I never enjoy the puzzles from the Welsh Mountain man. No doubt he produces an excellent Toughie for those seeking a more challenging experience, but beyond my skill level I’m afraid. On days like this I try to remember the sage advice from an earlier blogger to ignore the clues and work from the checkers already found. I have no idea how rib and costa equate, and found nothing in Thesaurus to back this up. But I do admit to LOL at 26a. Now that’s my idea of a clever cryptic clue. Hat’s off to Senf for going above and beyond again, and even giving us some picture clues after being up late. We see blue herons frequently here as we back in to a small lake, accompanied by both the regular and Greater White Egrets, plus rare visits from a Roseate Spoonbill. All of which are quite infazed when I stepped outside outside to take their picture.

    1. The muscles between ribs are called intercostal muscles and the ribs are costa.

       1. Nothing to do with coffee then?

          1. No but that’s all you get if you put it in Google. 😊

          2. When you get the bill for 4 coffees + toasties at one of their motorway pit-stops you certainly feel like been punched in the ribs

          3. Or Costa del Sol 😊

38. Goodness me! Haven’t seen such a wide set views on a puzzle for ages. I’m firmly in the camp of thinking this was barnstormer of a puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed it and pretty much sailed through it from bottom to top although there was a bit of tacking across the board as the checkers came in. Lots of entertaining clues with real chuckles for 1a seats and from sniffing out 19d. Loudest applause though goes to the clever anagram for 8d.
    Big thanks to the alternative MR T, if it is he, or to whomsoever the setter turns out to be.
    **/*****

39. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle. Had a few head scratching moments but enjoyed the challenge. Many thanks to the setter and Senf.

    PS Enjoyed the Quickie which I always do as a warm-up but the pun it was a stretch too far!

40. I enjoyed today’s puzzle which I’ve just completed having been out all day on a mystery trip (turned out to be Cheddar, Wells and Glastonbury).

    Couldn’t get the quickie pun.

    Top picks for me were 26a, 1a and 15d.

    Thanks to Senf and the setter.

41. Good evening

    Finished at last! One of those crozzies when it takes ages to find a way in; then you get one half done (ie the bottom half) while contemplating the vast, inkless wasteland of the other (top) half; then finally you narrow it down to a quadrant (the NE).

    COTD is a tie between 26a (oh, for goodness sake! 🤣) and my last to fall, 10a.

    Many thanks to our setter and to Senf.

42. I feared a rough ride with this one but it slowly came together. There were a few clues where I had the answer but had no idea why, so thanks to Senf for enlightenment! I thought some of the anagrams were clever, especially 14a. I liked 26a which was my first one in.
    Thanks to the setter.

43. Did this in several goes so just finished. Have to say I enjoyed it , found it quite challenging but not too difficult. Loved 26a – just looked at the hint as couldn’t parse it – doh – brain fog ! Did not know the rib but worked it out. Always good to learn a new word. Thanks to setter and Senf.

44. I thought this was a brilliant puzzle with lots of really good clues 1a 15d 26a were my favourites. Defeated by 10a despite guessing that ‘fellow’ indicated ‘don’, Bit of a gripe regarding 13a – in what universe is the noun ‘costa’ used to mean ‘rib’. Never heard it in 30 years of medicine. Closest I can get is the adjective ‘costAL’ as in ‘costal cartilege’ or ‘intercostal artery’ or in french ‘côte’ as in ‘côte d’agneau’. I can see the dictionaries have it but it still feels a bit obscure.

45. Those spare ribs costa fortune.

    Come on. Give it to me…

    1. You are officially awarded one gold groan! 😄

       1. I will happily take it.

          Thank you.

46. I thought 4d meaning silent was stretching it a bit but overall I enjoyed this puzzle. My top spot goes to 1d for the surface reading. Thanks to the setter and Senf.

47. Blimey that was hard but it was a bit like doing your own dentistry. No real favourite but if pushed I’d go for 5d. Thanks to the setter and Senf.

48. I shall change my name to Brian. I thought this was dreadful. I never used the hints but did this time and my opinion has remained the same.

49. 4*/3* ….
    liked 22D “Wading bird is there scratching wings and leg (5)”

50. Thanks for the explanations. One question – In what sense does “upright” indicate the lurker should be reversed?

    1. It only works as a reversal indicator in a down clue
       s
       o
       p
       h
       I
       s
       T
       I
       C
       A
       T
       e
       d

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