Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30820
Hints and tips by Mr K
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
BD Rating - Difficulty ***** - Enjoyment **
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I found today’s puzzle convoluted and difficult.
In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a River vessel by centre of loch with relative aboard (7)
POTOMAC: A cooking vessel is followed by the centre letters of LOCH containing (with … aboard) an informal word for mother
5a Heading to port, some called at iconic fortress (7)
CITADEL: The answer is hidden in (some) the reversal (heading to port, i.e, read right to left) of CALLED AT ICONIC
9a Spinner meets artist of the highest standing (3-6)
TOP-DRAWER: A spinning toy with a generic artist who might use pencils or pens
10a Deck trouble confronting sailors (5)
ADORN: A synonym of trouble with the abbreviation for the sailing branch of the armed forces
11a Pack of diamonds fellow regularly dropped by base (3,4)
ICE FLOE: Link together an informal word for diamonds (as gems), alternate letters (regularly dropped) of FELLOW, and the letter used in mathematics for the base of the natural logarithms
12a Vicar in charge blocks up church opening (7)
CREVICE: An informal contraction for a vicar and the abbreviation for in charge are inserted together (blocks up) the abbreviation for the Church of England
13a Guru peels off sticker (9)
SUPERGLUE: An anagram (off) of GURU PEELS
16a Distinctive feature of Barbie's letter opener? (5)
TOKEN: The answer split (2,3) might be how Mattel’s Barbie opens a letter to her boyfriend
17a Reds with power adopt a responsible attitude (3,2)
MAN UP: A contracted form of the name of one of the Premier League football teams known as the Reds is followed by the physics symbol for power
18a Love Handles autobiography by bore delivered (5,4)
SPARE TYRE: The name of Prince Harry’s autobiography with a homophone (delivered) of a synonym of bore
21a A lot of Antipodean guards bit fighter (7)
MATADOR: All but the last letter of (a lot of) the people native to New Zealand contains (guards) a bit or small piece
22a Fun playing with lute in musical (7)
TUNEFUL: An anagram (playing) of FUN LUTE
25a Sound hooter across Italy (5)
NOISE: What hooter is an informal word for containing (across) the IVR code for Italy
26a Outward appearance of group getting on (9)
PACKAGING: A group of wolves perhaps, with getting on or growing older
27a Manage poetry poet barely comprehends (7)
OVERSEE: POET minus its outer letters (barely) contains (comprehends) a synonym of poetry
28a Runner obstructed by Mary cycling ... oh no! (5,2)
DEARY ME: One of the usual rivers (a “runner” because rivers run) containing (obstructed by) MARY with the letters cycled one place to the left
Down
1d Yankee suckers Kensit and Cline caught? (7)
PATSIES: The homophones (caught) of the plural of the first name of Kensit the English actress and singer and Cline the American country singer
2d Shelter close to hut with weapon (5)
TEPEE: The final letter of (close to) HUT with a type of sword
3d Good tooth 60% twisted (5)
MORAL: A large chewing tooth with the last three letters reversed (60% twisted)
4d Hood worn by bishop on the Spanish instrument (7)
COWBELL: A type of hood containing (worn by) both the chess abbreviation for bishop and “the” in Spanish
5d Forecaster following Charlie's boat (7)
CORACLE: A sage or forecaster is following the letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphabet by Charlie
6d Boiler settler stripped at bottom of wood (3,6)
TEA KETTLE: After a type of wood used for outdoor furniture comes SETTLER minus its outer letters (stripped)
7d Gadget from US state briefly in file on locker (9)
DOOHICKEY: All but the last letter (briefly) of a state in the middle of the US is inserted into (in) a contraction that can be a file on a computer, and that’s all followed by the thing that locks a lock (i.e a “locker”)
8d Northern bird below city light (7)
LANTERN: Link together the abbreviation for a Californian city, the single letter for northern, and a sea bird
14d ID numbers attached to rubbish suit? (9)
PINSTRIPE: ID numbers for your debit cards are followed by rubbish or nonsense
15d Criminal pair sends speed (9)
RAPIDNESS: An anagram (criminal) of PAIR SENDS
17d Blokes arrested by London police with old trophy (7)
MEMENTO: A synonym of blokes contained by (arrested by) the short name for London police, all followed by the single letter for old
18d Condition of sheep that is at bottom of ditch (7)
SCRAPIE: The Latin abbreviation for “that is” comes after ditch or discard
19d Worker with helper bottling cold medicine (7)
ANTACID: A usual worker insect and a helper or assistant are sandwiching (bottling) the single letter for old
20d Poem from record carried by electronic signal (7)
ECLOGUE: A record or register is contained by (carried by) the single letter for electronic and a signal or prompt
23d New song about a South African native (5)
NYALA: Join together the single letter for new, the reversal (about) of “a short lyric or narrative poem meant to be sung”, and A from the clue
24d Blond given last of fizzy Sprite (5)
FAIRY: A synonym of blond with the last letter of FIZZY
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: PRONE + COOKED + ALE = PRAWN COCKTAIL
That was a teaser and no mistake. Some very clever clues and a couple of answers that could make The List. I don’t get the relevance of relative in 1a. The first four letters were gettable but not the last three. Once again, I will have to see the hints for enlightenment. I liked the sheep condition at18d because, strangely enough, it has relevance to my profession. My COTD is the rubbish suit at 14d.
Many thanks, setter for a good Friday challenge. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints.
The Quicky pun was delightfully groanworthy.
Minus two here in The Marches so the log fire is blazing
Strange layout of the hints. 😊
Here’s a pusskit for those with withdrawal symptoms.
One of my cats, Poirot, has a small fluffy reindeer and cuddles up to it just like this.
Beautiful
Oc in the middle of ma for 1ac
Other way round I think😉
Got it! Thanks both. 👍
Well I predicted a real stinker for today, and was certainly not disappointed.
To my mind, a lot of these clues were quite easily up to toughie standard.
Last one in for me was 20d, never heard of the word so had to check it, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never use it again (crosswords excepted) unless I decide to join the clergy very late in life and start writing ditties to send my flock to sleep.
Can’t see why 23d works, does say mean song? I’ll need to see the hints to see the why of this one.
As for 7d, are we living in 1950’s Kansas? a dreadful word in my opinion.
All in all a very cleverly constructed puzzle, and immense fun to complete, so many great clues (not 7d) that picking just two seems very unfair, but if pushed I’d opt for 6d and the really great 16a, best clue in ages.
Many thanks to our setter today, a real belter.
TC – if it helps, should you have ‘say’ appearing reversed in 23d, your answer is an east African native people (after whom, the old name for Malawi) rather than a south African native with four legs …
HI TC
It’s a three letter word (reversed) for a ballad, traditionally, sung by a minstrel which will reveal an antelope found in south east Africa.
Solving crosswords has really increased my antelope vocabulary!
One of these days we’re going to get a themed crossword full of every type of antelope …
Apparently there are around 91 species of antelope, but maybe some of those aren’t “true” antelopes. The one featured today is, at least in my long crossword experience, pretty much an old chestnut. Some others would be interesting to clue cryptically; chinkara, gerenuk, klipspringer, oribi, sitatunga – to name but a few.
Ta, but I knew the term Nyasa for the African, and put it in, my question was ‘does say mean song?’ and it was explained by Mr K and then later by Tom. Ta to all on this one.
Glad I am not the only one to find this at the top of the difficulty scale! 7d was a completely new word for me and I wonder whether the Committee will be taking a look at it….otherwise all fair and above board, although like Mr K I thought a number of the clues convoluted (ie I had trouble parsing them even backwards)….BUT I enjoyed the challenge nonetheless, so thanks to the setter, whoever he or she maybe
5*/1*. This was very tough with a few unconvincing surfaces along the way.
I imagine Terence will have summoned the List Committee regarding the abysmal 7d, and my repetition radar bleeped with “at bottom of” appearing twice in quick succession.
I await Brian’s comments with interest.
What was abysmal about 7d? It even had an American indicator, which I thought you’d be pleased about! At least it does if the definition is ‘Gadget from US’ (and then have the ‘state briefly’ without any geographic indicator), which is how I interpreted it.
Alas, RD, I use that word to describe anything I can’t remember the name of. That’s what living here does for our English.
Merusa, I use thingamajig, although I don’t know how to spell it.
Hope you are in better health and that the new year brings you joy.
Thanks Pip. I’ve done with hospitals now, I’m in hospice, in my own bed with Sadie at my side. I’m very comfortable, waiting for a crossword I can do to come along!
Thinking of you, Merusa.
People talk of being on a wavelength with crosswords* but it’s much better to be on a wavelength with people, as we seem to be.
*Predictive text recommended ‘crosswinds’, but I can’t find one to blow me ‘All The Way To America’.
Thanks Pip.
Good you have Sadie, Merusa. Love from the Cowlings and a “woof” from Hudson.
❤️
Thank you
Merusa, you are always in my thoughts. You’ve had a tough year. Stay in touch.
I am glad that I still have some of Arthur Guinness’s finest to restore some brain cells before I get to work on Sunday’s Dada!
Tipcat’s ‘real stinker’ is quite accurate as are Mr K’s ‘*’ assessments.
Smiles for 5a, 3d, and 19d.
Thanks to, presumably, Zandio and Mr K.
Hugely enjoyable, and while appropriately enough a little more challenging for a Friday, quite straightforward with the benefit of a few epiphanic moments – not, in my own view (which ain’t worth squat, of course) anywhere near Toughie level. A few chewier clues in the S, but dragging 20d from the mental depths helped in avoiding an unparsable “eulogie”. 17a – Hummmmm … ‘The Reds’ are Liverpool FC.
But generally superb clueing from start to finish, smooth surfaces, largely a “follow the instructions and you won’t go wrong” sort of puzzle. Plenty of red herrings, a lot of wit & amusement, and ticks all over the place. Great rekrul in 5a, joined in the top three by 21a and 7d, with runner-ups 16a & 27a.
Many, many thanks indeed to the setter (Zandio?) and of course also to Mr K.
Agree on 17a – the team needed for the answer are known as ‘The Red Devils’.
The club in 17a self-identified as “You Reds” in the title of this single they released with Status Quo (a reworking of the earlier Quo song Burning Bridges):
That somehow got to number 1 for a couple of weeks in the summer of 1994, before Wet Wet Wet took over for the next 3½ months.
I think it very much depends upon when and where you were raised. To me, ‘the reds’ will always be the team required in today’s puzzle and ‘the blues’ the ‘other lot’ from Manchester who were, at the time, far lower down in the pecking order.
A really enjoyable Friday-level puzzle (and an excellent groanworthy Quickie pun to boot) – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
Top clues for me were 5a, 9a, 17a, 28a and 14d.
What an enjoyable stinker! (there’s an oxymoron if ever I saw one)
This pushed me to my limit but that’s what I want on a Friday. I was looking good for a 3* finish but the 21a/14d took me aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages.
What a brilliant word 7d is. It reminds me of another top word from the other side of The Pond ‘Boohockey’ which is their equivalent to our balderdash, gibberish, codswallop, gobbledygook and the like. What larks.
20d was a new one for me too but perfectly gettable.
A very pleasing solve that had plenty of great constructions and lots of humour which makes me thinks it’s a Zandio production.
My podium is 16a, 27a and 28a.
Many thanks to Mr Z and Mr K.
5*/4*
A real head scratcher but not happy with 7D *****/**
A fitting end to fantastic week of puzzles. I may have a new favourite word in 7d – sorry to disagree with Tipcat! 20d was also new to me even though I have spent some time teaching poetry appreciation, albeit to primary school children. Therefore I needed electronic help with those two and 1a, which did ring a quiet bell. There was quite a lot of reverse engineering used, but the rest were all successfully parsed eventually. Ticks all over the paper today so no overall favourite but 18a, 26a, 14d 19d and 23d share a crowded podium. ( I don’t care for the synonym of ‘speed’ at 15d. It sounds clumsy). Thanks to our setter for the absolute pleasure and Mr K for sorting it all out.
I agree about 15d, MH. It should ind in “…..ity”. 😊
Tough. Many answers came just because of the checkers. I found it very hard and needed Google to fill in the blanks so to speak.
Tough, as one expects on a Friday, although I think I completed it slightly faster than I did yesterday’s and much of the puzzle was relatively straightforward. The rub, however, came in the form of several new (to me) words at 7d, 20d and 23d. Of those, 23d was further complicated by the need for some research as I hadn’t come across the required synonym before. My COTD was the clever and amusing 18a. Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the help with reverse parsing a few chucked in answers.
That was hard work, and I agree with many of the comments regarding 7d and 20d. Never heard those words before. I’ve heard of Doodah. The clue to 23d was also difficult, but the checkers made it possible to get the answer. Top clues for me were 9a, 18a and 26a. Thanks to the setter for a tough challenge, and for the hints.
As with others I found this very tricky. The west side seemed more doable, especially 17a, my football team. Red devils are United not Liverpool. My top two were 1a and 14d.
Thanks to Mr K and the challenging setter.
Bijou – your comment on Wednesday which I’ve only just seen – I didn’t know I had a password app on my iPhone!
Manders it’s so useful. It saves having to write them down somewhere then lose them!
But suppose my phone gets nicked?
True! But your details would still be available in ‘the cloud’! Magic!!
Will it? The “Cloud” lost all my photos of our trip to Melbourne. 😡
You can set the iPhone to wipe itself after 10 incorrect guesses of your passcode (in Settings > Face ID and Passcode). You can also erase it with Find My.
Another difficult and rather a stinker Friday offering this week. Hard to get going and keep going … along with the fact I have never heard of the 20d or 23d words either. Another puzzle this week that is NOT my cuppa. Maybe it is me, but nonetheless … I did not have a lot of enjoyment with this one.
3*/1.5*
Favourites 9a, 12a, 22a, 3d & 8d — with winner 12a
Thanks to Zandio(?) & Mr K
We didn’t find this too difficult today except for 16a. Neither of us understand why the answer is a distinctive feature.
Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle with thanks to setter & MrK
Presumably because it distinguishes it from missives to other recipients.
I enjoyed it and found it ok after a slow start.
‘Distinctive feature’ is lifted straight from the BRB for the required word.
A DNF for me with 7d and 20d. I enjoyed the puzzle though with some smiles and epiphanies along the way.
Top picks for me were 9a, 6d, 14d, 26a and 28a.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I love that most people are now saying epiphany and have dropped ‘penny drop’.
I wonder how long it will be before Rodge the Dodge cracks on that one? Maybe, he should put together ‘a list’……with a lower case L, of course.
Oh cat of disheartening fish to use your comeback style 😉
Maybe Terence will build an outside shed for all of those phrases to sit and gaze at their navels!
A joy other than the execrable 7d. I hope never to see or hear it again.
I’m amazed that so many people don’t like this word, M and M and M. I think it’s brilliant.
We have so many nuts words which I mentioned in my post above (#8)
The English language is known for it: you don’t need to look any further that Mr Dickens for stacks of examples.
As they say….onwards!
A splendid post, RB 👏👏
Think I’m just going to add ‘ditto’ to RD’s comment – far more polite than I would have managed!
Thank you, Jane. Waaaay beyond my solving capabilities.
Not much fun to be had today thanks to far-fetched references and some obscure vocabulary. Eventually managed the Eastern half but had to succumb to MrK’s help in the NW. 10a deck is becoming a regular. Had to confirm 8d city. 18a new one on me. 15a a bit silly. Although not a soccer fan 17a amused. Thank you Mysteryone and MrK.
P.S. Apologies have just noticed my misspelling of my email address hence moderation.
I had to rescue another of your messages this morning with the same typo
Thanks Sue but I don’t actually think it’s my typo which seems to appear automatically as Email under my Comments
I wonder where the X came from?
It’s probably something I did but how do I correct things so that my pin-name (not proper name) and email always appear correctly?
I had a quick look through the clues this morning…..and printed the Beam toughie from yesterday! Reading the comments and looking at some of the answers, I’m quite glad I did.
Thanks to Mr K for the enlightenment.
I was mightily relieved to see that so many commenters found this difficult, as I was into Toughie time with this solve. Apart from 7d, which I trust will never reappear in a crossword, I thought this was a good challenge without being particularly enjoyable. 18d was one of the few laughs on the journey so I will select that as my favourite. I will add that just because a puzzle is difficult, it doesn’t make it a bad one.
Thanks to our setter and Mr K.
Certainly tricky – actually toughie tricky. Some clever clues though except for 7d which was a dreadful clue for a dreadful word – no place for that in a UK puzzle 😄
*****/**
Is it just me, but on my tablet the hints have lost all their formatting and appear all in one long paragraph?
Thanks to setter And Mr K
It ain’t just you Sim.
You are not alone – a ‘single paragraph’ of hints on my laptop.
Me too!
Me too, earlier. But rectified now.
This is my kind of crossword! Thank you to the setter — and the editor, for including such puzzles, despite clearly not being to everybody’s tastes.
By the metric of ‘number of across answers entered in the first pass’, this was my easiest start to a crossword all week, with enough clues like 17a (“Reds”) and 25a (“hooter”) that went in straight away and provided crossing letters for the trickier clues. Thank you to Mr K for explaining the song in 23d (well, 23u, really). By the metric of ‘number of hints required for parsing’, I still found this easier than Tuesday’s backpager and similar to Wednesday’s (and I didn’t attempt yesterday’s).
For 4d I did actually look up whether ‘mitreel’ was some kind of instrument, until I realized a mitre can’t really be called a hood.
My favourites were the 60% twisted 3d and Barbie’s letter opener in 16a.
Thought I’d purchased the Washington Post in error today.
… that was a challenge. Glad to see it rated five star for difficulty.
Cotd for me, was the well hidden reverse lurker at 5a.
I’m almost ashamed to admit that Mrs N and I never gave the star rating a thought. Tricky enough but we wouldn’t have put it beyond ***.
Just goes to show, in the end it’s always down to whether you are on the same wavelength.
Tricky, but most enjoyable.
CoD for me is the Quickie Pun, closely followed by the reverse lurker at 5a.
I had not come across the Americanism at 7d, but the current Mrs Shabbo knew it.
I will now sulk all afternoon.
Thank you setter and Mr K.
Do I sense some competition in Shabbington Manor, albeit, healthy?
A dnf for me today. I have ground to a halt with five outstanding so I’ll read the hints to see what gave me a headache in trying to complete this puzzle. This was certainly a stiff test, even for a Friday. Thanks to the compiler for the mind mangling and hats off to Mr K for the hints.
I put NIARA for 23 down. An anagram of air for the song, plus A and N. It’s a Swahili forename – and therefore also a ‘South African native’?
I’ve taken the liberty of changing your alias to the one you normally use because ‘Jay’ is the name of a Telegraph setter and would cause confusion.
Second super crossword of the week after Wednesday’s belter. Started bottom up and surprised myself by getting 20d with just a couple of checkers, although did need Google to confirm. Tricky in places but lots of ticks and highly enjoyable. Had vaguely heard of 7d but did need Mr K’s invaluable help to parse that and 18a. The autobiography totally passed me by. Podium places from a strong field for 1a and 3d with top spot going to 16a for the chuckle it provided.
Many thanks to our setter and Mr K.
***/****
How different we all are – I didn’t find this too bad at all but had to employ Mr Google to see if a couple of my answers were indeed real words. I found yesterday’s guzzle much more difficult. Anyway, thanks to the setter and Mr K and Steve for the catpic. Wordled in 2 today despite having zilch on the first go. Good guess.
Hi M
I, along with my wife and two of our children, have started a Wordle competition for the year and I’m not a happy camper. I have had a storming, week, averaging 3.6 buy only won once, thanks to my daughter getting it in two…….twice!
Grrr….
This guy in Instagram, who challenges himself to solve it in under a minute, is the Wordle Wizard
https://www.instagram.com/crackingthecryptic/?hl=en
A master at work.
I wonder if any of the gang know him or he is indeed one of the gang? He’s probably a Times solver but he may deign himself to join us mere mortals.
He is a Times Setter! Mark Goodliffe who sets as Magoo and 13 times winner of Times Crossword championships and a recent Octochamp on Countdown
Re Wordle a lot depends on whether one is fortunate in using a helpful opener.
Sorry that should have been a reply to Tom. Think I had better chuck in my hand for today before I make any more mistakes!
That doesn’t surprise me, Sloops, and ‘Absolutely!’, AV.
I found this tough, but no complaints as it’s Friday and with perseverance I completed it. However 20d and 23d were helped by the digital grid telling me I had them right as they were complete guesses. I needed the hints to see a couple of the parsings. I knew 7d. I thought although challenging the majority was accessible if you followed the clues instructions. I really enjoyed doing battle with it.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.
Like Manders I sailed through this one without too much difficulty until 7&20d. I wanted to put a U in for the 2nd letter of the latter but thankfully saw the wordplay & it then rang the vaguest of bells. Never heard of 7d I’m pleased to say – the opener was pretty obvious & the truncated state eventually dawned but even with just 2 letters to find the file synonym penny drop was a long time a coming – 28a indeed! Mr G confirmations required for both & surely a place in T’s new wing. I did chuckle at 18a even if the surface was iffy, rather liked 1a + 3&14d but my fav was Dolly in the ditch at 18d.
Thanks to Zandio (I’m guessing) & to Mr K
Ps just back from lunch at Harpenden Golf Club in Hammonds End where there was a surprising number out playing a frozen course in positively Baltic conditions – rather them than me. I see Sue has awarded Elgar’s puzzle in t’other place 5*+ for difficulty so am tempted to give it 15mins & see if I get a single clue.
A good, tough puzzle, just the job for a Friday. Nice clues provided a pretty fomidable tussle. No stand-out favourite but I did rather like 3d; not sure why, really. 4*/4*.
So if you are capable of solving a Toughie you have two treats today. If not, you are out of luck as this one today, a ***** to boot, is way into Toughie territory which makes no sense when there is a Toughie for the Mensa folk. Feels like disdain for the regular subscribers to me. Not even any cats to raise a smile. I wish I could claim that I sailed through it, enjoyed it etc. Sadly not. Happily I have a Chalicea saved for just such a day. Thanks for battling through this Mr K, but having solved very few on my own I would have needed far too many hints and thus zero satisfaction.
Convoluted is just the right word Mr K, and I would also add humourless. A real slog with a few awkward words thrown in; sorry to be negative … I usually enjoy Fridays!
Oh, so difficult. I am still a rookie and nearly wept. Some words I haven’t met before ie 2D 7d 20d 23d. However, I am not giving up as clues like 9a cheered me up.
Please don’t weep over a guzzle, Delphine. Another one, more on your wavelength, will be along soon and the more you solve the better you get. 👍😊
Before I joined Big Dave in 2019, I could hardly solve anything.
Biggest teasers for me were 7d, never heard of a doohickey and 20d; a stretch for the unversed! 15d the noun for the adj. Rapid is rapidly. Rapidness does not appear in my OED. Yes, convoluted.
Welcome to the blog, Gerry.
Rapidness is in Chambers which is the Telegraph’s favoured dictionary.
The OED online has ‘rapidness’, with citations from 1650 to 2007, and a graph showing that it isn’t used as much as it was in 1760, but it’s been seen more since a low in 1920.
Which edition of The OED do you have, Gerry? It seems curious that it isn’t included.
Well that was educational. Three new words (including the antelope). A nod to the Reds is always appreciated in this house. Favourite was 18a which I read out and got a chuckle from himself even though I explained it was a homophone. Much thanks to Mr K -there were several I struggled to parse – and to our Setter.
Good evening
A fiveser indeed! Unfortunately I had to hoy the sponge in with 3 solutions left to go. Never heard of a 7d; I should have got 23d because it’s cropped up before; and I could kick myself for failing to twig 26a. A DNF!
I did enjoy the challenge, though. If indeed today’s crozzie is the work of the Mind of Zandio, I won’t be surprised.
Many thanks to our setter and to Mr K.
Well Zandio has usually popped in to ‘fess up by now so either he’s keeping us in suspense or someone else inflicted the doohickey on us.
Wow
How tough was that
5*/1*
Im sorry, but 7d is ridiculous!
With thanks to Mr K for the hints – but 7d makes this a DNF for me
Very frustrating but I’ve never encountered that word before! Is it even a word??
7d is a sufficiently everyday sort of word to me that it didn’t even occur to me when solving that anybody wouldn’t’ve heard of it — let alone lots of people! I’m pretty sure it’s cropped up in The Simpsons and I’ve encountered it in novels (sorry, I can’t remember which ones).
I can certainly imagine using 7d more often than 20d or some of the other words we encounter in crosswords!
20d – solved from the word play, again a new once for me. But 7d – it’s just not possible to solve from the word play – IMHO of course, no offence intended to others
Unusually I didn’t find this as hard as many others. Hard, but not that hard. A good workout for the grey cells.
Living in Canada for a bit helped with 7d, but needed help with 20d. Now that is a word I doubt I will see again soon. Hopefully never.
Thanks to all.
No Terence, no Brian, no setter …
This puzzle has certainly divided opinion.
Evening ‘Dave The Chat’ (that’s never going to take off)
Did you see Smylers’ post at just after 1 o’clock as it’s not like you to not answer a question?
I imagine Brian is lying down in a darkened room in a desperate effort to control himself and Terence’s committee are still in debate.😉
Good shout
I didn’t think I’d get anywhere with this one at first pass. Been busy so dipped in and out a few times and now about 3/4 through without succumbing to hints yet although BRB has assisted. Been hard going but will persist. Is it fun ? ….Well I like the challenge of it if nothing else . Thanks to setter and Mr K
I think everything’s been said, enjoyed this crossword of two halves. West straightforward East toughie territory. Learnt some new words which may or may not be remembered.
Quickie pun really dodgy but right up my street.
Finished but with electronic help and little enjoyment. NHO 7D or 20d. Don’t like 15d and 1a was totally alien to me and I’d ban clues that are football related. *****/- . Thanks to Mr K for his explanations.
Belonged in the Toughies and no mistake, but an enjoyable, if rather slow, solve nonetheless.
23d was too much of a stretch and last one in.
I was doubting my ability until I gave up and consulted this blog to get some answers – literally. I fear my age and 30 odd years of DT Cryptic have given me some bias against setters of this ilk who resort to obscure twists half or quarter words and americanisms to achieve their goal. It was a most unpleasurable crossword to tackle and lacked cleverness, relied on convolution to deliver their product more suited to a “Toughie” or the New York Times
4*/3* ….
liked 18A “Love Handles autobiography by bore delivered (5,4)”