DT 31011

51 comments on “DT 31011”

1. Very enjoyable. A bit chewy in places as befits a Thursday, but lots of ticks on my page. I took far too long in trying to find an answer to 13d that involved a slice of fruit in a cocktail, so was disappointed in the actual answer. Never having been on a ship bigger than a cross channel ferry, the opportunity to participate in something far too energetic on board has passed me by.
   Of the plethora of great clues, I’ll pick a podium of 11a, 25a and the pirate in 7d. Thanks to compiler and Shabbo.

2. Had two answers that were right but didn’t know why, so the hints helped for these, turned out I’d missed
   the synonym for perfect, and completely misjudged the meaning of key.

   Great fun nonetheless, really enjoyed it, well done Mr whoever (I’m sure someone will say who it is today)

3. Fine fare indeed. 11a, 18a, 3d, etc. 24d made me smile too. Best thanks to setter and Shabbo.

4. I found this very hard to get started on, I really only got going on the downs and then it was very stop start. That said I am very pleased to have completed it and enjoyed the battle. I thought there were some very challenging clues and a couple I could not parse eg 7d and 25a for which I needed the hints. I had not heard of 13d so it was an educated guess. 11a was my favourite.

   Many thanks to the mystery setter and to Shabbo for the hints.

5. I have to agree with our illustrious blogger that, with Beam on Toughie duty, this back pager is probably not the work of the other half of our Ynys Mon correspondent’s ‘Dream Team.’ Nevertheless a good example of a Thursday back pager – ***/****

   Candidates for favourite – 9a, 11a, 2d, and 15d – and the winner is 11a.

   Thanks to whomsoever and Shabbo.

   1. There may be a hint as to the setter in the comment from Karla on last Friday’s Toughie:
      Back-pager duty next week, but obviously I won’t say exactly when…

      1. Good work, Sherlock!

      2. Thanks Gazza – I had forgotten that clue from Karla.

6. This took a bit of work so was therefore satisfying to solve.

   3d took a while to land as I had ‘perfect’ as an adjective not a verb. A very neat clue that went on to my podium.

   As the setter has chosen Chorley, I wonder if they’re Lancastrian. If not, then I love its randomness.

   The other two on the podium are 8d (love it and love your comment Shabbs) and 17d.

   MT to the setter and ‘The Shabster’.

   3*/3*

   1. Tom, 23d – better late than never! The setter may be from Lancashire but my guess is that Chorley was the first town they thought of/came across that had an R at its centre. Now, you’ve set me off – I’ll have to think of another town that would fit!

   2. Aldershot – easy!

      1. There you go!

7. A very enjoyable puzzle. My rating is the same as that of Shabbo.
   I didn’t like 13d, which was my last one in, despite seeing the sea synonym early on.
   I have not seen the crossword fish at 22a for a while or its partner in crime heather… whilst talking of heather, where is erica hiding these days??

   Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.

8. This was delightfully testing in places and a terrific challenge. I am torn between 1 and 8d for a favourite, so I shall select both. I hope very much the setter will pop in to claim ownership of this little gem.

   Thanks to whomsoever and Shabbo.

9. Anybody else having trouble accessing and posting or is it just me?

   1. Not just you. Very slow here as well.
      I thought it was my wifi, but 5g the same, just on this site.

      1. Me too.

   2. Ditto – I was thinking it might be water in the pipes from our overnight thunder storm.

   3. I had a post disappear on Tuesday and an ‘Error’ messagee appearwd, then a mdessage to say they were trying to rectify problems on the Big Dave site.i didnt try to post again, nor did I post yesterday, as I was really busy. Today’s was OK but there was a long delay before it appeared.

10. It was hard to get a starrt in this cleverly clued puzzle and some guesswork and retrospective parsing was involved. However, I got great satisfaction from completing it. Joint COTD’s are the super lurker at 1a and the equallyclever Lego clue at 11a. Ialso enjoyed the Lego/anagram at 18a, although the sport itself sounds a bit hit or miss, given the movemwnt of the vesseland the danger of lost balla. Thanks to the mystery compiler and to Shabbo for the hints.

11. I found this tricky and am partly blaming it on the late night and travelling back from Sir Tom Jones’ concert last night. He actually mentioned Sister Rosetta Tharpe who I hadn’t heard of yesterday but doubt he will be mentioning the pirate who I didn’t know today!

    I see on the puzzles site there are some Thursday Murder Club puzzles ready for the Netflix release next week. I’m booked in at a tiny cinema to see it in advance tomorrow as I don’t have Netflix or any of the similar offerings. I’m hoping they haven’t ruined the story.

    Back to the puzzle, top picks for me were 12a, 14a and 17d.

    Thanks to Shabbo and the setter.

    1. It is indeed truly remarkable that Mr Woodward mentioned the singing nun, Crazy River.

       Tom’s voice at 86 is bonkers. He, Daisy, Mr Attenborough and Mr ‘Gawd bless yer, Mary poppins!’ Van Dyke should go on a ‘Defying Age’ tour.

    2. Enjoy the film, Madflower. We’re seeing it a week on Sunday. Given how few cinemas are showing it (Richard Osman said on social media it’s basically the fewest they can get away with and still count it as a film), we were delighted to discover the cinema that’s barely a minute’s walk from our house is one of them. That’s also tiny — the bigger room seats 57 and the smaller 41.

       I’ve done the themed cryptic crossword and enjoyed it. It was mostly a quick solve, with a few at the end which took me a little longer to sort out. Recommended to anybody who enjoys the books (and knows the characters).

       1. I also enjoyed the themed cryptic Smylers although to begin with I was worried my fictional detective knowledge would be lacking. Got there in the end though.

12. Oh dear I have a host of chores awaiting attention but got hooked on this enjoyable enigma which I was determined to finish. I did so in the end but without parsing 3d. Can’t believe I still dither over china (as per 11a) after the number of times it appears cruciverbally in this context. 7d was a bit of a bung-in (to quote our blogger!). Thank you mysteryone and Shabbo.

13. Thought it was RayT when starting with the quickie … but changed my mind very quickly. Entertainingly difficult with the slice into the drink as last one in. Thank you compiler – and Shabbo for explaining the logic of the deceit clue.

14. I did like the image of the pirate of East Street, as it brought to mind the Legendary Steve Van Zandt.
    Many thanks to Karla and Shabbo.

    

15. Some retrospective parsing required to nail the pirate – either didn’t know or had forgotten his name, but fairly plain sailing elsewhere. Top clues for me were 11,18&27a.

    Thanks to our setter – could be Karla from what Gazza has noted, and thanks to Shabbo for the review.

16. Well, once again for me on RayT’s week off, I found the mystery setter harder to follow in this puzzle.
    For me there was a new word in the NW for me, as well a a few clues where parsing eluded me even when the answer was sussed out.

    3*/3* for me

    Favourites 1a, 12a, 28, 15d, 17d & 23d — with winner 15d
    However I got smiles from all the rest of my favourite candidates.

    Thanks to setter & Shabbo

17. A mixture of clues to keep most people happy I’d have thought.
    My favourites are the lego ones which all have fine surfaces, so I’ve ticked the avian alarm in 11a, the lazy Sunday afternoon in 25a and the dodgy boozer in 15d.
    My thanks to the setter and Shabbo.

18. I thought this very tricky in places and almost gave up so pleased to have finished – although I’ve made a mistake. Close but no cigar today!
    4*/4*
    Thanks to shabbo and setter

19. Thanks to the mystery Setter and Shabbo for the hints. We struggled with this puzzle but persevered. LOI 13D. COTD 11a purely because every time we hear this word in a TV commentary it makes us smile ????. Late lunch and then out into the Devon sunshine. Gary and Val

20. Enjoyed this. I needed Shabbo’s help with parsing 25a and 7d. 8d made me smile and is my COTD. I do like a humorous surface.

21. Where is RayT when I need him? Very much above my pay grade today. Don’t mind admitting that I only got 6 answers at the first pass, and all of them downs. Just couldn’t tune into this one, and not helped by the rugby clue. So any despairing lurkers, don’t despair, you are not alone in thinking you are working on the Toughie by mistake – I had to check twice that this was indeed the cryptic offering. Only know 22a across without the e in the middle, and a Google search agreed with me. Probably because I am across the pond. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Thanks to setter and Shabbo.

    1. You’ll find RayT over in the other slot wearing his Beam hat – very enjoyable and not particularly tough. Just remember, no anagrams in the Beam puzzles but all of his trademarks in evidence.

22. Not for me today. I just wasn’t on the same wave length. Sometimes after getting the feel of a puzzle with some clues in place it is easier to follow the logic of the setter. Got most of it done but threw in the towel towards the end. My lack entirely. Tomorrow is another day and am pleased that so many enjoyed today’s offering.

23. That was a challenge and in need of the hints today. No particular favourites today. That said, thank you to the setter and to Shabbo for the hints.

24. Another sleep interrupted night with a 2.30 am solve. A brisk completion bar 13d which I couldn’t twig & left until the morning proper but the time it took for the penny to drop exceeded the solve time on the rest of the puzzle. Had to ask Mr G about the pirate parsing but otherwise ok. Very enjoyable indeed – lots of likes with podium spots for 14&18a plus 3d. 13d’s exclusion is sour grapes.
    Thanks to Karla (if it’s one of his) & to Shabbo.

25. Magnificent Thursday puzzle. Loved the ‘leaves container’ and the ‘perfect place of debauchery’, but ‘slices going into the drink’ wins it for me. VMT Setter and Shabbo.

26. This was a great one, difficult but mostly doable by the less able (me I mean). Got the answer but foxed on the parsing on 7d and on 14a I couldn’t work out what key I was looking for. So thanks Shabbo and setter.

27. 1* top half 3* bottom /4*, flew through the north , then ground to a snail’s pace at the south. Last one in 13d, good clue though. Favourites the young 22a, 18a cuts and the diagram at 10a
    Thanks to setter and Shabbo

28. A dnf for me as i needed the hint for 3d.

    Found this rather hard. Not sure i found the wavelength fully.

    13d was a new term for me. I dismissed the answer for 9a as I couldn’t see why it was plural.

    Much of the NW corner took longer than the rest of the crossword. Once I finally got 1d, all but 3d were solved relatively quickly.

    Thanks to all.

29. Good evening.

    That was toughie standard, in my view. I enjoyed the challenge, but I have to declare a DNF with 3d, 13d, and 18a left to go. There is no way in the world I’d have got 18a anyway; 3d was a synonym or two too far! Not even my Lucky Green Pen could save me today!

    Many thanks to our setter and to Shabbo.

30. Just back home from playing cricket so late to post today.

    My rating is 3*/4* for an excellent puzzle although there were two clues which didn’t cut the mustard for me. I think “local product” is a dodgy definition for 1a; and in 27a I don’t think “he” can be pluralised.

    Overall though, this was a lot of fun with too many ticks to list them all.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.

31. Not managed to do the guzzle today because I’m in Gloucestershire for a couple of nights staying with a university friend. I will, therefore, be absent until Sunday. Play nicely.

32. Had an on and off battle with this at various times today and almost finished unaided: could not solve 13d (but knew it involved something going in the sea) and needed the hint to complete 27a (agree with Rabbit Dave that “he” can/should not be pluralised so I kept trying to force “men” into “lust”). Also, didn’t like the second “e” in 22a but eventually worked out that it had to be there and needed the hint to fully parse 25a after solving it. Finally, also like Rabbit Dave, I didn’t like the like the “local product” in 1a even though I solved it easily. COTD 11a for its construction. Thanks to setter and Shabbo. ***/***

33. A late post from me as I started earlier and then went out. I found this to be quite tricky in places but not quite sure why now, and there were a few parsings that eluded me. I got the anagram at 16d but didn’t know it meant august. I also just checked the hint for 25a – of course I see it now. Last one in was 13 d , and being a cryptic definition was a total guess at the answer , not being familiar with the sport
    – the app telling me when I got it wrong . I too spent a while thinking about lemons but thought it must be to do with the sea ! Agree too local product at 1a is iffy. Thanks to setter and Shabbo

34. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and, with a newly-sharpened pencil, the barriers to DT 31,011 were felled with unusual alacrity. Nice puzzle – */****

35. A belated thanks to Shabbo for the excellently thorough blog and to all who have commented. I was gallivanting about the Edinburgh Fringe yesterday so didn’t get chance to pop in. A very busy day in the city with thousands of AC/DC fans arriving for the gig at Murrayfield. I bet there wasn’t as much foul language at that performance as there was at the Miriam Margolyes one I attended the previous evening. See you all soon. And have a great BH weekend.

36. 3*/3*
    liked 8D “Attractive naked gents on top of cake ? (8)”

37. I think this may be the first occasion I’ve attempted one of Karla’s puzzles. I enjoyed it a lot and agree with Shabbo’s rating.
    I found the construction of the clues interesting. I also thought there were some unusual synonyms, such as the one for ‘males’. For me, the synonym for ‘forward’ isn’t one that immediately comes to mind, but other solvers are no doubt conversant with it. Anyway, I thought there was a fresh feel to the puzzle.
    I have lots of ticks on my printout. Starting with the acrosses, I particularly liked 5, 11, 12, 18 and 22; for the downs i enjoyed 8, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 24. Re 24d: while nothing can top that very famous Roger Squires clue, I think Karla given us a fresh interpretation.
    Many thanks to Karla for the entertainment. Many thanks to Shabbo for an excellent review. Greatly enjoyed your comment for 8d re DG!

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