DT 30934

45 comments on “DT 30934”

1. I had a lot of bung-ins today where the parsing eluded me but the answer could be nothing else. 10a and 20a are cases in point. Still, I got there in the end but did need some e-help with a couple. There were plenty of clues to like such as the son with face at 14a, the Italian banker in 24a and even the good Reverend at 3d. My COTD is the rage at 19d.

   Good to see Senf get a mention at 7a.

   Thank you, setter for the Friday challenge. Thank you, Mr. K for the hints, which I will now read to see how some of the clues work.

   1. Tough but enjoyable. Proud to have finished it.

2. We have been thoroughly spoilt this week, at least I think so; especially with the Master of Brevity yesterday, and today’s puzzle must surely be the work of the Master of Smooth – 2.5*/5*

   Candidates for favourite – 7a, 12a, 7d, 9d, and 19d – and the winner is 7a, although I think that it is unlikely that he will commit any murders.

   Thanks to Silvanus, or to whomsoever in the very unlikely event that it is not he, and to Mr K.

   A discerning kitty choosing Bombay Sapphire for 9d:

   

   1. P.S. Yesterday, I took temporary ownership, from the Winnipeg Library, of Iona Whishaw’s twelfth ‘episode’ of Lane Winslow’s escapades – The Cost of a Hostage. I don’t think that I will need the full three week loan period to read it!

      1. Amazing the amount of villainy that occurs in her vicinity.

3. This wa a real challenge. Like Steve, I found it difficult to parse some clues and only did so after I’d putt the anseer in, using the checkers and not a little guesswork. I liked the 1a double meaning clue, the,geographical clue at 22a, the 9d anagram and my COTD, the 24a Lego clue with a geographical twist. Thanks to the compiler for this rather unusual puzzle and to Mr K for the hints.

4. Although three-quarters of this puzzle flew in (courtesy of 1a,1d,7a,7d), for me this was certainly the chewiest back pager of the week as the last 6 or 7 clues in the E took me as long again. Great crossword, with plenty of red herrings and many super surfaces. A lovely gentle Spoonerism, clever clueing and surely nothing contentious, just some cleverly concealed instructions.

   Honours to 21a, 24a & 7d, although to be fair another dozen could join those three on the podium.

   Many thanks to Silvanus or whomsoever else the setter may be, and of course to Mr K

5. Like others have already commented – spent most of the time trying to parse the answer. Not a whole heap of fun to be honest but certainly challenging. Not sure I quite ‘get’ 4d.

   Thanks to the setter and to the hinter

   1. 4d The setter has capitalised Poles to try to mislead you into thinking of people from Warsaw.

      1. Thanks Gazza – pretty weak clue in my opinion!

6. As D. P. Gumby would say, ‘My Brain Hurts’!
   I was worrying that some of my marbles had departed for good as I struggled with today’s offering. It took me quite some time to enter anything with any confidence and I had to get a fair bit of help from an electronics friend to make headway.

   If I had to choose a favourite, it would have to be 19D, where the answer is also the name for the dialect of that city!

   Thanks to the setter for the workout and Mr K for the hints.

   

7. An enjoyable finish to what has been a splendid week of crosswords.

   This has to be the work of Big Silv as his trademark ‘banning outsiders’ and ‘periodically’ techniques are on show.

   Lots to choose from for the spoils but I’ll go with 1a, 1d and 13d.

   MT to the aforementioned and Mr K.

   3*/4*

   1. Thank you. I think “banning outsiders” is more of a proXimal trademark than one of mine, but I do quite like it.

      No Scottish football clubs today, but I’m not done with them yet!

      1. You love it!

         I think the one that you favour is the alternate letter lurker or rekrul that is great fun.

         Oh, whilst I have you….re Australia, is there a possible clue along the lines of an anagram of trail inside A USA? Something like…Messy trail being in ‘a state’ (a USA) down under.

         Sorry, not the smoothest but you get my drift.

         I’m assuming that state is a synonym of country.

         1. Yes, in theory that would work, but a five-letter anagram where only one letter changes position isn’t the best!

            1. Fiar enough

8. Phew, that was tough on the brain cells. On first pass I had just the one clue solved. It then turned into a solve working widdershins from the SE. The NE held out for ages. I got 5d from the checkers, then realised it was an anagram. I think that by then brain fade had set in. That said there were some cracking clues and a gentle spoonerism. My podium comprises 17d, 19d and 3d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.

9. My favourite type of puzzle. Struggled on the first pass only getting 3 or 4 clues then I nice steady really satisfying solve with lots of PDMs. An appearance from Mr Spooner always a bonus for me and the Cluedo reference was a nice trip down memory lane (though a struggle for non UK readers and anyone under 30 I guess). Thank you to setter and blogger.

   1. The Colonel also appears in the North American version of the game known by the shorter name of Clue.

10. Delightful, as always. 21a, 5d and 9d especially tickled me. Lovely Spooner too, of course. Best thanks to setter and Mr K.

11. I seem to find the Friday puzzles the hardest to fathom out the past few weeks. Lots of the clues I cannot work out the parsing even when the answer is in place with cross checking letters.
    I’m just not on this setters wavelength today.

    3*/2.5*

    Favourites 1a, 18a, 20a, 19d & 21d — with winners 1a & 19d

    Thanks to setter (Silvanus?) & Mr K.

12. The trickiest back-pager of the week (as befits Friday) and very enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    My ticks went to 8a, 10a, 23a and 7d.

13. Yippee, it’s another Friday compilation from the smooth member of our end of week team. So much to enjoy with my only slight hesitation coming from what was, for me, an unfamiliar ending to 13d. Clues worthy of podium places in my opinion included 1&7a plus 7&18d.

    Many thanks to Silvanus for his hard work and to Mr K for the review.

14. That’s a dodgy pun today!

    1. I thought it was a lorra lorra fun.

    2. Yes, I thought it was decidedly ‘stretchy’ particularly coming from this setter.

    3. Yes – for me (etc.) there is one too many syllables in the answers vs the supposed pun!

15. I got onto the wavelength today which was a change for a Friday. Too often I have to complete them in more than one session with a brain rest between. One try was all it took today, though a bit of reverse parsing was required. Super puzzle . Thanks to Mr K and setter.

16. Before too much of the day ticks by, may I post a recommendation for today’s Toughie, from Karla. It is most definitely not in traditional Elgar/Osmosis (or even Karla) Friday brain-mangling mode, and is clever, amusing, and a very satisfying solve.

    1. Thank you for this recommendation. I printed it out and worked through it this morning. It was a super puzzle which I thoroughly enjoyed solving. It would suit me greatly if there were more Fridays this accessible.

17. I started at a pace and then came to an abrupt stop. Got there in the end though. Took what seemed like forever to spot the 18d lurker. LOI was 4d.

    Top picks for me were my local city 19d, 21a and 14a.
    Didn’t get the quickie pun either.

    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

18. How did I struggle earlier in the week with a puzzle that was deemed a 1 star and sailed gently through a 4 star today ? Loved the murder suspect and that Sandi Toksvig stooped to make an appearance. Had watched a TV prog. about Monaco so that made me feel comparitively smart and got me over the line.
    This must have been quite a lot of work for Mr. K. Many thanks to him and our devious setter.

19. Thought this was tricky, but significantly easier than yesterday’s. Mind you, I only finished by remembering “if in doubt, check for lurkers” after staring at 18a for far too long. Some terrific clues with the piscine 5d being LOI. CotD is 22a because the surface made me smile. ***/****

20. Good afternoon

    Fortunately, I don’t work on Fridays any more, and where I would normally go out and get the Big Shop in, I’ve spent that time hunched over the crozzie with tea and my Lucky Green Pen.

    Definitely needed the LGP today. Definitely deserves all four of Mr K’s stars today.

    Once my braincell got into gear, the solutions began to reveal themselves – gradually!

    Several contenders for COTD, most notably 18a, 9d, and 18d; 20a aces it, though. I did have to look up 17d, though – not someone I’m familiar with it.

    Many thanks to our setter; consensus would seem to indicate the Brain Of Silvanus. A terrific challenge today!

    Many thanks also to Mr K.

21. Too tough for me, I didn’t even get the 19d lurker! Thank you MrK and our fiendish compiler

    1. Hear, hear although I did get 18d

22. Tough and challenging for me but I got there in the end with a great sense of achievement. I did need the hints to parse several (20a and 10a to name 2) and nearly missed the well disguised lurkers. Overall I enjoyed the challenge and was glad I had time to stick at it.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints

23. Some fine surfaces in a very entertaining puzzle. The first three across clues fell easily to set the platform for a reasonably straightforward anticlockwise solve.
    The lurker was well disguised and the Spoonerism uncontentious.
    My COTD was 22a, with Dick and Reg enjoying their holiday in a Winnebago. I hope they found time to give this worthwhile diversion a go.
    Thanks to Mr K and presumably Silvanus.

24. After a good week, found this very difficult. Needed Mr K’s hints for 17d and had, as I suspected, never heard of the composer. Basically, it was a DNF as I needed the hint for the b****y lurker at 18a – defeated by a lurker – all power and respect to the setter!! That became my clue of the day due to the relief at finding out. Plaudits also went to the 24a extended Italian banker, Mr. Spooner’s fantastic 3d advice, yes please after the 7d astonishment at my lack of spotting the 18a lurker.

    Thanks and respect to Mr. K and the Setter (Silvanus?)

25. Many thanks to Mr K for his Hints and Tips and to all those solving and commenting.

    If I had any toonies I might well have wagered one that Senf would like 7a.

    For those in the UK, may I wish you a good Bank Holiday weekend. See you all again soon.

26. I got on rather well with this one – a minimum of crumpet scratching though some of the whys arrived on a later bus but that’s par for the course for me. The usual classy Smooth production with a high quota of ✅s my favourite of which was the Rev’s plonk. Loved the Quickie pun too.
    Thanks to Silvanus & Mr K

27. I’ve been out all day so very late on parade. This magnificent puzzle provided a fitting finale to a wonderful week of back-pagers. In fact I would venture to suggest that this has been the best week since I found this indispensable website in 2012.

    For me this was 3.5*/5* – challenging and great fun. I could have ticked all the clues, but 1a takes first place simply because it made such brilliant start.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.

28. Had to come back to this puzzle today and needed a lot of help from the clues to finish. A very good challenge. Many thanks.

29. 4*/3* ….
    liked 7D “Watch stage of glass-making process, it’s astonishing (4-7)”

30. Wonderful puzzle and not at all difficult – except for 7 across. 😃

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