48 comments on “DT 30948”

1. First of all, a huge shout out for the wonderful Quickie pun. I can’t make out a bottom one but the top more than made up for it.

   The puzzle itself was more like Mondays used to be and very enjoyable. I’m not sure about 12a so will need the hints for explanation. I could name many for the tops spot but I will settle for the doctor’s colleague at 27a.

   Thank you, setter for a great start to the crosswording week. No doubt it will be all downhill from now on! Thank you, Falcon for the hints.

2. I agree with Falcon that the E was trickier than the W and 9d was my LOI but also my COTD with good misdirection. The 6 anagrams were helpful and I thought **/*** about right for me. Thanks Falcon and the setter.

3. I think the greeting maybe vernacular Wotcher for 9d
   Cheers and thanks to all.

   1. Thank you for confirming the greeting. I did search for various close approximations but failed to find it because I neglected to try changing the A to an O.

4. Falcon – wotcha!

   A lively British greeting (what cheer!)

   1. Thanks. I’ll add it to my “list” of British terms that are new to me.

   2. I always assumed it was as in “watcha up to?”

5. I’m laughing out loud since the answer to the second part of 9d has just dropped with a very loud clang. I should have learnt long ago not to take notice of capital letters, and it is one that we’ve had before, but obviously I didn’t. I enjoyed the whole puzzle, even though I had to start in the south as 1a didn’t come immediately. No overall favourite but podium places for 10a, 27a 6d and the aforementioned 9d. Thanks to our setter and Falcon.

6. This was a fine start to the week with plenty of nice surfaces.

   I love the homophonous synonym for greeting in 9d. One of the best. I had to biff 12a as I just couldn’t parse it and wouldn’t have in a while, So, props to Falcs.

   I couldn’t get ‘house’ out of my head for 1a until it hit me and I’ve never heard of 18a though it makes complete sense.

   Someone told me a great term for people who are over 50….Sagalouts.

   Isn’t ‘Very’ superfluous in 21d? I’m all for setters adding a word for colour or to make the clue a tad easier but adding ‘Very’ is grammatically a howler. This setter has got enough beans in the jar for me to let that one slide.

   My podium is 26a, 27a and 9d.

   MT to the setter and Falcon.

   2*/4*

7. Nice way to start the week and a cracker of a pun. Even though it doesn’t include the bottom row it suggests the hand of our esteemed editor.
   I sent an email asking if the DT were planning to celebrate the centenary of the crossword, and this is CL’s reply;
   Hello John

   Good to hear from you. Hopefully you’ll be pleased to hear that we are marking the centenary in very comprehensive style. Watch this space!

   Kind regards,

   Chris

   Chris Lancaster
   Puzzles Editor

   1. I look forward to the guzzle of 30th July. 👍

8. What a great start to the week. Full of wit and charm with the odd crumpet scratch to add to the enjoyment. Tough to pick a podium, but I’ll go with 1a, 7d and 9d in top spot which would take the plaudits for the second word homophone alone. Thanks to compiler and Falcon.

   1. Love ‘crumpet scratch’, Prawnus.

      One of yours?

9. A pleasantly enjoyable start to the (non-)work week – **/****

   Candidates for favourite – 1a, 24a, 7d, 9d, and 15d – and the winner is 7d.

   Thanks to whomsoever and Falcon.

   P.S. The event that inspired the ‘Jiggery-Pokery’ song that I used yesterday was Shane Warne bowling Mike Gatting with his first ever ball in an Ashes Test Match, which became known as the ‘Ball of the Century’, at Old Trafford in the first match of the 1993 series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3V-sYH0Sks

10. Well I was completely and thoroughly misled by the deliberately deceiving capitalisation in 9d (especially given the ellipsis linking to 15d!). My German is not good – but having the crossing letters G_T, I was trying to shoehorn guten in there somehow. In the end (when this was my very last one in) I had to resort to a fill-in-the-blanks aid. I think the bruise on my head where I banged it on the desk will last for a while!

    Like Falcon, I also googled the nursery rhyme at 27a and, also like Falcon, this immediately became my CoTD once the penny dropped.
    With thanks to the setter (even though I hate him/her for making me fall for every deceptive trick) and to Falcon.

11. Put house master in 1a but it didn’t affect the outcome . Relatively straightforward but some top class clues .27 my favourite . Thanks to all

    1. Me too, Just bunged it in without really parsing the clue.

    2. And me, until I was forced to acknowledge that the answer didn’t make any sense! Terrific clue, and a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. Many thanks.

12. Like others, I found that the Western part of the grid went in quickly but the East was more problemaatic. I liked the two geographical clues at 7d and 10a, the anagram at 28a and the Lego clue salutation at 19d. Thanks toFalcon for the hints, sounds like the Big Dave night-watchman’s naps are disturbing your rest; perhaps send him an alarm clock. Rhanks to the conpiler too.

13. Plenty of false capitalisation to catch the unwary solver in this one and I have a personal dislike of the lazy greeting in 9d although some people obviously find it amusing. I was rather keen on 13a’s outstanding side so will put that on the top of the pile.

    Thanks to our setter and to Falcon for the review – pleased to hear that the wildfires have somewhat abated.

    1. Unfortunately, the wildfires themselves have not abated and, if anything, have gotten worse. However, the wind direction has changed a bit and someone else is now bearing the brunt of the smoke. Here in Ottawa we are thousands of miles from the sites of the many fires.

14. 27a and 9d were my top picks from this tricky-at-times but enjoyable Monday puzzle. I did wonder if the last two clues on the bottom of the Quickie also constituted a pun. The top pun was outstandingly good.

    Thanks to our setter and Falcon.

    1. The first two words do, certainly.

15. I didn’t find this on the friendly side but that is par for the course for me on a Monday.

    When Iooked at the quick crossword on the website it wasn’t showing all the pun words in italics so I missed the what a shame part.

    My LOI was the wonderful 9d.

    Top picks for me were 1a, 27a, 20a, 7d and 9d.

    Thanks to Falcon and the setter.

16. A lovely, light, and very amusing start to the cruciverbal week. All went in N to S without any real hold-ups, with even the excellent Spoonerism leaping from the page. COTD the outstanding and very subtle 27a, with runners-up 11a, 9d (for the out-loud chuckle) and 26a (great surface).

    Many thanks to the setter and of course to Falcon, too – what a relief it must be that the fires are easing, but this early in the summer it must also be quite a worry as to what may lie ahead.

    1. The smoke has eased here, but not the fires. See my reply to Jane above.

17. Very tough for a Monday, the bottom half went in first while the top was only completed with persistence and hard work! Still, as my Grandmother used to say, ‘patience and perseverance made a bishop of his reverence’ (with perseverance pronounced to rhyme with reverence….

18. A very enjoyable Monday puzzle with a great Quickie pun – thanks to our setter and Falcon.
    Top clues for me were 1a, 12a, 27a and 9d.

19. 2*/5*. This was a lot of fun and made for an excellent start to the week with 13a, 27a & 9d my podium selection.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon.

20. Very light and very enjoyable. Perfect for a Monday.
    27a, 6d, 7d, and 9d get my ticks and I thought the Quickie Pun was brilliant.
    I hope our setter will appear later to take the well-deserved applause.
    Thanks to Falcon for the blog.

21. This week we seem to be back to an easier offering today. Pretty straightforward I thought, with no ‘weird’ words or clueing.

    1.5*/4* for me

    Favourites were many …24a, 27a, 5d, 6d & 22d — with winner 24a
    Smiles for 28a, 3d & 5d
    27a required some knowledge of this TV show from 2015 to suss this out.

    
Thanks to setter & Falcon

22. 9dn deserves an accolade! *****

    Very good Monday puzzle.

    Thanks to the setter and Falcon.

23. Got there in the end but it was a tussle. I said I would mention SWANBOB on our site. He and his wife were in a cafe in Swanage last week and he was working on the Telegraph cryptic. Bob said that he views the Big Dave site and I thought this posting might be a nice introduction.
    Favourite and last in was 9 down. This felt on the tough side for a Monday.
    Thanks to our setter and Falcon.

24. Can’t say I really enjoyed that and certainly had to turn to Mr. Google a couple of times mainly as capitalisation had the intended effect on me. 9d raised a giggle. Thank you setter and Falcon.

25. Fantastic fun, and mostly straightfoward, except for 20a where I managed to to have the agents as ‘reps’ and the solders as ‘OR’, with the agents taking the soldiers back to make ‘repros’ — admittedly more often furniture, but I presumed could be pictures as well. The wordplay fitted so well, I presumed it must be right, until I came up against down entries that didn’t fit!

    My top few included the 10a island, 23a’s fancy uniform, Doctor Foster in 27a, and greeting Dieter in 9d. Thank you so much to the setter, and best wishes to Falcon and all affected by the fires.

26. Most enjoyable with 9d as a brilliant clue … and what an ingenious quickie pun! Thank you compiler and Falcon

27. I thoroughly enjoyed this humorously entertaining start to the week.
    My understanding of ‘wotcha’ is that it derives from a Cockney term of greeting: watch ya meaning I see (watch) you (ya).
    Some very smooth clueing and hard to pick a winner so I’ll throw in 1a, 26a, 27a and 3d 7d and 9d.
    Thanks to Falcon and our excellent setter.

    1. I’d presumed it was a squished form of ‘what are you…?’ — but it turns out we’re both wrong!

       It can be a contraction of “what are ya” in uses like “Whatcha gonna do?”

       But as a greeting dictionaries have “Wotcha” (with various spellings) as coming from “What cheer?”, as in the very start of The Tempest:

       MASTER: Bote-swaine!
       BOTE-SWAINE: Heere, Master. What cheere?

28. A light and enjoyable start to the week. Learnt a new word at 18a. Thanks to the setter and Falcon.

29. Quality puzzle & just right for the Monday slot. ✅s for 1,12&27a plus 6&9d but the Quickie pun was my fav.
    Thanks to the setter & to Falcon

30. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle though I certainly slowed down in. the East. A few penny drop moments. I put Housemaster for 1a and confirming that I didn’t read the clue properly in the first place! Loved the anagrams as they help to give a good foothold into the puzzle as indeed the two lurkers. I never quite understand the Dr Foster clues but ‘nurse’ fitted! I even managed the Spoonerism! Many thanks to the setter and Senf. Sorry to hear about the smoke from the Wildfires, Senf. Very alarming if they should be nearby (as for friends living above Palisades) but still alarming to think how far the polluting smoke can trave.

31. Found today’s puzzle very tricky in parts but very good fun ****/**** 🤗 Favourites 7, 9, & 22d
    Thanks to the Compiler and to the Falcon

32. Only needed a hint to parse 12a. Having said that I found this pretty tricky in places but on completion I couldn’t see why. I did enjoy the challenge though. We tended to use ‘atcha’ in Leicestershire although wotcha was also used. No outstanding favourite but I’ll go with 15d. Thanks to the setter and Falcon.

33. Went for housemaster for 1a but it didn’t affect the other clues. Also, needed the hints for 20a, 21d, 27a (what a diversion!) and unfortunately, 28a as I didn’t know poltergeists made a lot of noise so was only looking for a word meaning “making a lot of noise.” COTD 6d for the construction and surface. ****/***

    1. Just looked at 6d again and you’re quite right, it was beautifully constructed – thank you for making the point.

       1. Thank you, Jane; I always appreciate a comment, particularly the positive ones. Thank you also to the setter and to Falcon.

34. Spent ages trying to find a reason for making 1a housemaster and finally resorted to the hint . Duh! Loved the misdirection in 9d. All in all a really enjoyable solve. Thanks to our setter and to Falcon, especially for posting the Big O clip. I had the pleasure of seeing him on the opening night of his tour with the Beatles at the Slough Adelphi in May 1963. He had so many encores that it seemed the Beatles would never get on the stage. To be fair most of the tickets had been bought before it was known the Beatles would be on the tour so it was rather Big O partisan crowd. Phenomenal singer. He just stood there and filled the place with his incredible voice.

35. I found this tricky but also very enjoyable. Limited time meant that I needed a hint complete but I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle. 9d was clever and my favourite.

    Many thanks to Twmbarlwm (he has claimed it on X) and to Falcon for the hints

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