Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31020
Hints and tips by Smylers
Hello and welcome to autumn — or spring, depending on your hemisphere. Thank you to Falcon for covering for me last week when we were on holiday. And Happy Labour Day today to Falcon and everybody else in Canada — or indeed Bonne Fête du Travail, depending on where in Canada. And the same but without the ‘u’ for those in America.
We had a lovely week in Wells-next-the-Sea, on the north Norfolk coast. It’s the 8th time we’ve stayed there in 11 years, always in the same home. The familiarity makes it easy, I naïvely commented to a colleague. That was before we discovered our favourite animal park at Norfolk Lavender has closed; that our hosts no longer have a beach hut (which we’d enjoyed using on previous visits); and that on a day we’d turned up at the beach, the sea was closed — that’ll teach us not to be complacent and to plan and research properly next time!
Anyway on to today’s crossword. Hints and explanations for each clue are below, and you can use a Congratulations! You are today’s lucky clicker! blob to reveal the answer. Comments are welcome, especially from anybody new — don’t make me misidentify an antelope every time just to provoke newcomers to leave a message! Do read Big Dave’s etiquette guide.
The teenager (it’s a new thing in our household to have one!) and I are going to Headingley tomorrow to watch England men play South Africa. That means I’m heading into the office today, instead of my usual Monday working from home, and allowing time for commuting means an earlier finish writing this blog. Which is why the illustrations below are all videos, because they’re quicker to add than pictures. Photos should be back next week (by which time our youngest will have had their first day at secondary school).
Across
1a Mobile stolen nearby – might this get people talking? (7,5)
BLARNEY STONE: A deftly deployed anagram indicator to start with: make the letters of the next 2 words mobile.
8a North American saying to turn around long seat (7)
OTTOMAN: ‘Saying’ here is a saying, not the verb. Put it after the abbreviation for ‘North American’ and then turn the whole thing around to read backwards.
9a Sanctioned audibly in speech (7)
ALLOWED: ‘Sanctioned’ is a contronym. One of its meanings is audibly the same as a word meaning ‘in speech’. And vice-versa; the number of letters in the grid tell us which is the answer and which is the soundalike.
11a Article about Lineker ultimately backing female football pundit (7)
SHEARER: This takes a couple of stages. First assemble a grammatical article, one of the abbreviations indicating ‘about’, and the ultimate letter of ‘Lineker’. Then put that all after a pronoun used for somebody who’s female.
The pundit used to be a footballer, and by co-incidence I was thinking of them today when I heard on the radio that Newcastle United had sold a player for £125M, a new UK record; when the same club bought the answer, the £15M they paid was a world record — a sum that seemed massive at the time but would clearly be nothing today. I claim to have published the exclusive on that transfer: I was co-editing the school-produced newspaper when a pupil managed to interview Kevin Keagan, because their parents owned a Chinese restaurant where he regularly dined. He said this was the player he most wanted to acquire, I splashed with that as the headline … and a mere 2 years later, it happened!
12a Offensive order in the course of row (7)
NOISOME: The order here is an honour bestowed by the monarch — or rather, its abbreviation. It appears inside a row — as in a din, not a line.
13a Last bit of fish Paul oddly rejected (5)
FINAL: Start with a part of a fish’s body. Given the setter has specifically specified fish, it probably isn’t going to be ‘head’. End with what’s left of ‘Paul’ after rejecting the letters of his name that are in the odd-numbered positions.
14a Items in the distance, old British coins (9)
FARTHINGS: Here we need an adjective meaning ‘distant’ and a generic word for ‘items’. Together they could be ‘items in the distance’, but also if you remove the space they become some coins.
16a Note women’s rent – it’s surprisingly put down again (9)
REWRITTEN: Enter in order: a musical note, as taught by Maria; the abbreviation for ‘women’; and a surprising order of the letters in ‘rent it’ — note the apostrophe-S is a linking ‘is’ and not part of the anagram. If you haven’t got it, try a different meaning of ‘put down’.
19a Relative eating first serving of Indian corn, perhaps (5)
GRAIN: The “first serving of Indian” means its first letter. That leaves 4 letters for the relative who goes round the outside, eating it.
21a Producer of Hairspray under pressure? (7)
AEROSOL: Ignore the italics and capitalization, and indeed the clip I’ve inserted below; this is a cryptic definition of something related to literal spray for hair.
23a Went past England’s opener, run out (7)
ELAPSED: The opening letter of ‘England’ is followed by a synonym of ‘run out’, in the sense of membership of an organization perhaps.
24a Daughter accompanying comedian Joan in clubs (7)
DRIVERS: This requires the surname of a New York comedian called Joan who died in 2014. Put the abbreviation for ‘daughter’ before it.
25a Tolerate high-flying summer visitor (7)
SWALLOW: The name of something which visits the UK in summer is also a verb which can mean ‘tolerate’.
26a Bent copper failed to get top spot (5,2,5)
PRIDE OF PLACE: Bend the letters of ‘copper failed’ to get the answer.
Down
1d Marsh bird seen in freezing cold November (7)
BITTERN: Here we need a word used to describe what it’s like outside when it’s freezing, and the letter indicated by ‘November’ in the Nato alphabet. The entire clue could also work as the definition: according to Pensthorpe, where we saw many other marsh birds last week, the answer appears in cold winters.
2d Navy officer and rising US city lawyer touring border (7)
ADMIRAL: There’s a bit of work to do with this one: we need a US city — one with a short name (or an abbreviation) given what else we need to fit in, and an abbreviation for an American lawyer. Those tour a word for a border, one on either side, then the whole thing rises up the grid to be written backwards.
3d Amateur in good shape for charity (3-6)
NON-PROFIT: The answer sounds like an adjective to me; Oxford label the noun used for a charity or similar organization as “mainly North American English”. The amateur here is made up of a term that means the opposite of amateur and a prefix which negates it. Follow it with a word that could describe somebody who’s in good shape — because they exercise, perhaps.
4d Long, spun-out story entertains European (5)
YEARN: The abbreviation for ‘European’ is entertained by a story that’s spun out. It may also be long, but that’s got nothing to do with the definition.
5d All this is absurd, pretty implausible (7)
TALLISH: Make an absurd spelling of ‘all this’. The answer is a word that can mean ‘implausible’ (though often in a specific phrase, and it has another meaning that’s much more common) with a suffix which accounts for the ‘pretty’.
6d Amphibian that hurt tip of nose in Telford, for example (3,4)
NEW TOWN: I didn’t know this about Telford. There are’s a choice of amphibians with few enough letters, so maybe start at the end with the tip of ‘nose’ (its first letter). Before that put something somebody may yell when something hurts then. Then pick the amphibian which makes the whole lot into a phrase.
7d Rugby player insecure, then over-confident (5,7)
LOOSE FORWARD: I had to consult a list of rugby positions to verify the first word. Actually I consulted two lists, happily discovering the answer is used in both league and union, so there’s no need to take sides here. We simply need a word meaning ‘insecure’ and one meaning ‘over-confident’.
10d Carpeting which may be done on casual Friday? (8-4)
DRESSING DOWN: In this double definition, ‘carpeting’ is the angry sort, and the other one refers to what happens in some offices on the last day of the working week
15d Athletes in Three Peaks Race who come 2nd and 3rd? (7-2)
RUNNERS-UP: Those participating in a race to the top of the Three Peaks (for instance) could whimiscally be described the same way as those who don’t win.
17d Wicket, dreadful error besetting one anxious type (7)
WORRIER: Start with the abbreviation for ‘wicket’. The rest is ‘error’ in a dreadful order besetting the Roman numeral for ‘one’.
18d Alternatively, I set an amended crossword at last (7)
INSTEAD: ‘Alternatively’ looks like an indicator to take every other letter, but ‘IEAAEDD’ is too vowelly and ‘STNMNE’ not vowelly enough, so it must actually be the definition. Start with the I from the clue, then amend the order of ‘set an’, and finish with the last letter of ‘crossword’.
19d Going north abroad, an Argentinian takes in part of Spain (7)
GRANADA: ‘Going north’ indicates writing upwards and ‘takes in’ that the answer is lurking in the clue — specifically in the words that aren’t accounted for by the indicators.
20d What you do here to support sailor is clear (7)
ABSOLVE: My least-favourite usual crosswordese for ‘sailor’ is followed by what we’re all doing here, specifically to this puzzle. The answer is a verb.
22d Animal caught by loop occasionally – this? (5)
LASSO: The outside of this answer is some occasional letters from ‘loop’, so we have two choices of how to alternate them. Those catch an animal inside, so with simple arithmetic we can deduce it needs to be a 3-letter animal. The definition is just ‘this’ because it refers back to the wordplay, the loop that may occasionally catch an animal.
Quickie Pun
The first 3 clues are italicized in today’s Quick Crossword, meaning their answers can be said aloud to form a another word or phrase:
PEAR + PUP + HOT = PEPPER POT
Recent Reading
The Artist is a stunning debut by Lucy Steeds. I was lucky enough to get a proof copy for attending an event including the author at last year’s Ilkley Literature Festival, and if I’d known it was going to be this good I wouldn’t have taken so long to get round to reading it.
Last time I implored you all to read No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done for the selfish reason that I didn’t understand it and want somebody to explain the twist at the end to me, but I recommend The Artist entirely so that you can have the pleasure of reading this captivating historical novel, set in the countryside of 1920s Provence.
A journalist seeks an interview with renowned artist Edouard Tartuffe, a recluse who suddenly gave up his life in Paris after a rumoured falling out with Paul Cézanne. Domestic power struggles and stealthy cunning combine with lush descriptions of the rural setting, the painters’ still lifes, and the food they are based on. Lucy Steeds’s writing is so beautiful that I feel I can’t do it justice in this review. Treat yourself.
It took a while to get into today’s offering, which I thought to be on the tough side for a Monday. Still, after a wonky start, it became a steady solve but I didn’t understand the parsing in a couple. For example, I can’t see where “touring border” comes into 2d but I am, no doubt, missing the obvious. The distant items at 14a have been seen before but it’s still a good clue. I remember, albeit vaguely, the football pundit otherwise I would have had to use Mr G for it such is my lack of knowledge regarding football.
My COTD is casual Friday at 10d with the Quickie pun coming a close second.
Thank you, setter for the fun challenge. Thank you, Smylers for your usual informative hints.
Thanks, Smylers for explaining 2d. 👍
A nice crossword to open this week’s proceedings that should please most punters whatever your level.
11a will grate non-footy fans but the parsing should get you across the line.
My podium is three of the longies: 1a, 26a and 7d.
MT to the setter and Smylers
2*/4*
I just accepted that I wouldn’t have a clue about 7d or 11a. I’m just a girl! 🤭
Good shout
Took a while to get to grips with this puzzle. Consequently it was a bit of a stuttering progress to completion. 1d and 10d raised a smile. Podium places go to 3d, 11a and 19d. Thanks to compiler and Smylers.
This was a tricky offering and, whilst the bottom half went in quickly, it took a while to get into the top half. I didn’t know the football pundit, the rugby position or the golf implement but was eventually abke to get them from the wordplay. I liked th 1a anagram and the 1d Lego marsh bird and the 19d geographical reverse lurker. Thanks to Smylers for the hints and to the compiler.
I didn’t realise 19d was a reverse lurker, CC. I solved it from checkers so no wonder I couldn’t understand it. I should have remembered the motto “If all else fails look for a lurker”.
It’s 2*/4* from me for a great start to the crosswording week with 10d my favourite joined on the podium by 11a & 7d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
Good fun but held myself up a bit by putting Grenada instead of Granada for 19d
A very enjoyable Monday puzzle, thank you to both the setter and to Smylers. Some lovely surfaces and plenty of leap-off-the-page answers.
I enjoyed this, this morning. Got half of it on the initial read. The anagrams were easy enough and the lower left corner was finished quickly. 11a took a moment to parse; favourite clues were 13a and 14. Thanks to the setter. Needed this after yesterday’s efforts……
A great start to the crossword solving week. I found the N considerably trickier than the S. My favourites were the clever double definition at 10d and the animal loop at 22d. Thanks very much to the setter and to Smylers.
An enjoyable start to the week with a host of different sports getting a nod.
Some very smooth surfaces and a great rekrul at 19d.
The bent copper deception in 26a raised a smile but the football punditry clue at 11a hit the back of the net for me.
My thanks to Smylers (top job choosing the Meatloaf tune to illustrate 14a) and our setter.
Hi, Frankie. Glad you liked the musical choice.
I’m also glad you liked 19d, but please check point 13 in the comment etiquette; most regulars here will know that a ‘rekrul’ is a reverse lurker, but some folk new to cryptic crosswords may not and I suspect that’s the kind of jargon which Big Dave wished to discourage, to make this place as inclusive as possible to all.
Hi S
I’ve used the term rekrul a huge amount of the years and no blogger has said anything.
Is it a no-no?
Yeah, I’ve noticed! I have been waiting for you to use it on a Monday so I could gently point out the relevant etiquette point. (It feels rude to police comments on other bloggers’ posts, particularly since I’m still very much a junior member of the team.)
As it happens, Frankie used it before you did, but the above applies to you even more so! I feel this is particularly important on Mondays’ comments, which may attract more beginning solvers than other days, as historically the beginning of the week crosswords have been less challenging.
Hi S
Lurker and reverse lurker are mentioned all the time bye everyone.
So, shouldn’t ‘What are a lurker and reverse lurker?’ be a FAQ?
Well said on the dreadful term for a reversed lurker Smylers. Personally, I consider that it should be specifically added to Item 13 of Comment Etiquette!
When I first came across rekrul I asked the blog what it meant and had many helpful answers but I agree the use of jargon can be off-putting to those who are new to cryptics.
Gosh. These comments have thrown me.
I guess the terms BRB and Nina were put in FAQs to help rookies. So, why can’t ‘What is a lurker and rekrul?’ be a FAQ too?
If I was new to crosswords, the term rekrul would intrigue me as I’d love to find out what it meant? It would make me more determined to be part of this exclusive club so I could use it.
Has anyone complained about them being used? My money is on ‘No’ or one or two, max.
Senf, may I ask if you are okay with Nina, Guzzle, Floughie Lady and The List that are all FAQs and why you hate rekrul so much because crosswords are all about wordplay?
Yes to all!
I consider that the term for a reversed lurker is on a par with the dreadful portmanteau term for anagram indicator that is mentioned in Item 13 of Comment Etiquette.
A little more on Floughie Lady – in my recollection, BD was the regular blogger of the Tuesday Toughie for which Chalicea was a regular setter. Initially, because he considered that her Toughies were not that tough, he referred to them as Floughie Toughies which evolved into her being called the Floughie Lady.
Big Dave set the tone of this site and came up with the etiquette guide. I’m sure he thought about these things more than I have, so I don’t think we should get into a detailed discussion on individual terms. Let’s just trust in Big Dave and follow the guide as it’s written.
But to me rekrul is the same as nina.
The FAQs get updated periodically. So, I propose that ‘What are a lurker and reverse lurker?’ be added as they get used all the time.
If that is agreed, then slipping in brackets after ‘reverse lurker’ ‘aka rekrul’ in brackets would make sense.
Rekrul is a superb term that I’d love to keep using. I appreciate that some people may not like the term but loads of us use it. I think that, if the masses like it, BD would’ve made it a FAQ.
As Senf alluded to above, ‘rekrul’ is clearly like the other jargon mentioned in the etiquette guide for describing clues, which Big Dave specifically didn’t want.
As I said above, I don’t want a discussion on the etiquette guide in these comments. I mentioned it as something to be followed, not something to opine on.
Gazza, one of this site’s custodians, has confirmed my interpretation. Any further meta-comments about commenting or what should/shoudn’t be 9a in them will be deleted. (At least, they will if I have the relevant blogging permissions to do that; it isn’t something I’ve tried before. Hopefully we won’t have to find out.)
Comments on today’s crossword, my taste in music, mistakes in hints, autumn, and what’s going on in your life, are all still encouraged!
I have no wish to enter into this discussion but, for me, it’s Big Dave’s house so it’s Big Dave’s rules. They should be followed out of respect for his memory.
Well said, Smylers. Big Dave was very keen (as it says at the top of our home page) to have ‘crosswords clues explained in plain English’.
Blimey, I’ve lit a fire!
I first read the term here ages ago, pondered it, and worked out what it meant. I’d have thought other cryptic solvers would do the same. I’d never have considered it a breach of etiquette myself. Still fair enough Smylers, my knuckles are rapped. I shall in future desist.
I really don’t understand what’s going on here, Lion.
It’s been mentioned for years and then, out of the blue, it’s a no-no.
No worries, Frankie! I was going to say it at some point, so please don’t feel bad it happened to be your comment that it was in response to.
Just a friendly reminder — we don’t do knuckle-rapping round here! If you’re really lucky, there might be some cake left from the weekend’s prize puzzles …
I really don’t feel bad about it Smylers.
Just a bit bemused that the word has suddenly been censured after being permitted for so long, and not been called out on numerous other occasions.
(Not sure if the site is playing up, but recently I seem to be having trouble posting. I hit the ‘Post Comment’ tab, and nothing seems to happen. Concerned that when it finally sends, it may be in duplicate).
That’s been happening with me too & occasionally the comments just vanishes
Me too.
If the use of rekrul is being cogitated over, perhaps the discussion and clue giving on the quickie can be added as per comment etiquette. Just asking for those who do the quickie after reading comments for the cryptic 😏
What a splendid start to the week. On my honeymoon there was more than my husband to kiss and it was 1 a. So lots to love in this puzzle and ticks abounding. We all have our weak spots and for starters it is rugby and football for me. Had to check 7 d. Many thanks to our setter and Smylers.
Like our blogger, I did have to investigate the rugby player, not a term I’ve come across previously. I did, however, know the football pundit – goodness knows why! Think my favourite was the oldie but goodie 14a with mentions for the cold marsh bird and the golf equipment.
Thanks to our setter and to Smylers for the review – enjoyed that version of The Drunken Sailor.
Glad you liked The Longest Johns, Jane. We saw them last year (touring with Bellowhead) and when they announced Drunken Sailor my mind immediately went back to singing it at primary school and playing it on the recorder; I thought I didn’t like the song, but it turns out to sound much better when performed by professional musicians than a class of schoolchildren!
‘Back in the day’ (horrible phrase I never use) 14a was the Serengeti of its time. It cropped up so often.
I’m with you on “Back in the day”, DG. I first encountered it in one of Lee Child’s Reacher books and I thought it was a stupid expression.
A little less challenging than recent Mondays but just as enjoyable – **/****
For me, the 7d term for a rugby player was, to borrow from the clue, ‘insecure’!
Candidates for favourite – 14a, 25a, 3d, and 20d – and the winner is 3d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Smylers.
I enjoyed today’s puzzle. I didn’t know the rugby position so had to check that.
Top picks for me were 20d, 6d and 14a.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
Having been away for the weekend I’ve yet to do the weekend offerings. However, Smylers I did finish the “No one would do what the Lamberts have done” book. It was a very unusual book and I too am baffled by the twist at the end. So much so that I’m going to re-read the last chapter to see if I can work it out.
Wow — thanks, Madflower! I’m both impressed that you actually read it and feeling like I probably shouldn’t be abusing my power as a blogger like this.
Please be assured there’s no ulterior motive in today’s book review. I see that after I’d started reading the book it won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize — if only I’d read it a month earlier, I could have looked like a trendsetter rather than merely a follower!
I know this is far too late in the day (week) but hope smylers you have an alert thing on any reply!
I ordered the Sophie Hannah book you mentioned from my library – and whilst waiting thought I’d read a couple of her previous titles – just finished Did you see Melody? And thought it was nice and twisty and then resolved itself neatly – untill it didn’t – and now I am confused. I’m sure I have the solution correct of sorts but not to the satisfactory completion I’m used to in murder mystery (if that is what it is). Have you read it ?
Well after starting back on Sat and Sunday after a long break I was priding myself on being able to solve them without any hints, so today feeling very optimistic I printed off my crossword, I like it on a piece of paper 🤣 I stared blankly at all the clues, so I’m going to leave it til later when my brain may have woken up!!!! At the moment my mind say ‘two stars’ ?!!!
Hi, Pepsib. I have a confession: today’s crossword is rated ★★ for difficulty because I used last time’s as a template and didn’t get round to considering whether I should change it.
However, I see that it took me a little longer than often to complete (even allowing for time spent writing hints), so probably ★★⯨ would have been fairer. I didn’t get many clues in my first pass through the grid either (and one of those was 6d, with a definition I was only guessing at), so don’t be discouraged! And remember, it’s perfectly acceptable to look at some hints — there’d be no point in us writing them otherwise …
Thanks Smylers, for words of encouragement, nice to meet you, I was for a few years a regular on the daily chats and the Saturday club where I was often on the naughty step!!!!
A pleasant puzzle very suitable for Monday – thanks to our setter and Smylers.
I had ticks for 21a, 3d and 10d with my favourite being 1d.
As usual on a Monday delay in finding wavelength made for a laboured start but once underway in the South all went smoothly thereafter. Not much cop on football (11a) but fortunately RU is OK by me hence 7d came on board and was a useful contributor. 22d obvious but rather dubious clue. Fav convoluted 6d. Thank you setter and Smylers.
Help! I have obviously made a boo boo but can’t fill in gaps in Quickie 19a.
Good afternoon angelov,
I too struggled around the quickie clue 19a!
Try compatible not comparable for 9d, then 19a just needs a “u” and an “s” to provide another word for scrap, as in “fight”.
Lovely Monday mind shaker,
Thanks to all involved.
A very interesting puzzle which I thoroughly enjoyed but as others have said a bit more tricky than some Mondays. I did not know the rugby position so had to check it after, I had 10d as my favourite and completely missed 19d as a reverse lurker (hence had trouble parsing it).
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the, as ever, comprehensive hints.
Got straight onto the wavelength today – why do we never get onto the frequency ☺!
Found this a relatively gentle stroll and didn’t have to break from expanding on solved clues to reading through them all. Particularly liked the 14a old British coins. I also solved 19d without spotting the reverse lurker (won’t go near the other word, which like a commenter above, I decoded when I first saw it) until trying to parse it.
Many thanks to the utter and Smylers!
Well, after waiting almost an hour after the supposed midnight release of the puzzle, I was able to finally get it just before 1am UK time. (Although this was 5pm in my time zone, it disrupted my schedule somewhat.
However, I fairly romped through this Monday offering.
2*/3.5*
Favourites 1a, 14a, 25a, 5d & 15d — with winner 1a and runner-up 14a
Thanks to setter & Smylers
P.S. Smylers — The hidden answer in 26a has a spelling mistake in the first word … FYI
Thanks, Portcoquitlambc. Now fixed.
With tremendous help from Smylers, thank you, I have completed this but being very rusty for me it was a three or four star today, I remember when I started doing these Rufus used to set the Monday crossword and he became my favourite setter of all 👍🏻
Fav today for me has to be 14a
Smooth start to the week here. COTD was 22d, only partly because I (partly) mis-parsed it (I didn’t intend to write a tongue-twister when I started, honest …). I thought the ‘this’ was referring to the question mark that follows it, which in a certain light could be said to look like the answer, no? Anyway, thanks Smylers for putting me right – your interpretation makes a lot more sense. Thanks also to the setter, of course, for a lovely puzzle.
It has been a busy few days with trip back to JL tech desk, calls to Moroccan technicians and visiting local IT gurus I have lured into my net. I have managed to scan Saturday and Sunday’s guzzles to the printer and send them off but I am still ploughing through molasses with the new machine. I needed your help for 7d and 11a and was convinced that penny had to fit into 26a. An amusing guzzle – I liked 10d and 17d and smiled when I met a very, very old friend at 14a. Once as ubiquitous as elephant or orchestra. Anyway, with a bit of help from my friends I managed to get to the finishing post so many thanks to Setter & Smyler.
Thanks to the Setter and Smylers. Gentle start to the week. Val likes the longer clues so 1a, 10d, 7d and 26a amongst top picks, but 10d is our COTD. Gary and Val
Got my contrary head on today. Despite romping through the weekend prize puzzles I found this Monday offering decidedly tricky, as evidenced by the long hints. Only a handful of answers going at first pass and most of the rest were the benefits of working with the checkers. Not for me today. Thanks to setter and Smylers. Hope to find time to change the new avatar which has been assigned to me.
Hi, BusyLizzie. The long hints are not evidence of anything other than my writing style! I’m confident many other bloggers would have explained the same clues far more succinctly.
Yeah, I see what you mean about the avatar. You’ve been unlucky to have that one randomly assigned.
Hi Busylizzie was beginning to think it was just me that found today’s puzzle tricky after finding the weekenders pretty straight forward, I changed my avatar today and found it quite easy to do, as Gazza pointed out to me it tells you how to do it in FAQ no 22 I think, good luck
Good afternoon
Today’s crozzie was one of those where you have to keep looking for a way in. Then when you’ve found a way in, you stare at the grid for a little while, then eventually start writing in solutions. Then…..a dead stop. Oh crikey, you think, I’ve peaked a little bit early!
So you trust in your tried and tested tactics. Time, tea, and a change of pens to Lucky Green. And in the end, you get there.
COTD: a tie between 11a and the rekrul – oops! – sorry! – the arse-aboot-front lurkington at 19d.
Many thanks to our setter and to Smylers.
I spent ages trying to get a foothold on this one. Got a few in ,and decided to eat a sandwich. Then it all took off and the answers just slotted in. Maybe it was because I had used my brain power in finishing the prize toughie I started yesterday by mistake, and needed to refuel ? 12a was a new word for me. I was pleased to come up with the right footballer having most of the checkers in place for 11a (not the S even). My last in was 7d. Having got the second word , it was a trawl through the alphabet, discounting , toast , roast , noose and then landing on the right word – a new rugby term for me also. Still waiting for a clue involving say a netball term?? Interesting to see the reverse lurker discussion – said unmentionable term I’m not familiar with being a relative newcomer to the blog, but think I’d work it out. Thanks so much to the setter and Smylers.
Hi, Jenny. I don’t think I’ve encountered a netball-related clue in a cryptic crossword, but maybe we’ll get one at some point? Appearances of particular sports, hobbies, cities, rivers, and films is more often down to how useful they are for wordplay than popularity or setter bias.
I did once get a netball-themed question into Only Connect though, after the producer mentioned they didn’t have many questions on traditionally female topics; I looked round the question-writers meeting and everybody present was male. (That was over a decade ago, so hopefully it’s better now!)
Ha ha. My netball comment was a little tongue in cheek , and of course my knowledge of cricket , golf rugby etc terms grows seemingly everyday , so that can only be a good thing. Usually the parsing gets me to the right answer , or some guesswork . I am interested to hear you are /were involved in Only Connect. That’s a great show with some very very clever people well above my pay grade.
Weirdly, I unexpectedly got recruited after leaving a comment on a blog. Unpredictable things, these blog comments — once your words are out there, you never know what will happen …
2*/3* …
liked 10D “Carpeting which may be done on casual Friday ? (8-4)”
Hello, Robin. You’re early!
How do you expect to have the final word if you comment on the same day as the crossword‽
Circumstances beyond my control !
Took awhile to get into this tricky Monday offering but eventually they almost all fell – apart from the first word of 7d as I have almost no Rugby knowledge. Apart from that one I did not need the hints. COTD 22d for its construction. **/***. Thanks to setter and Smylers
Nearly dodged the weather today then got drenched on hole 15 after a biblical downpour. Fingers firmly crossed for better weather in Suffolk over the next 3 days for our jaunt to Thorpeness.
Enjoyed today’s puzzle (which I didn’t find any trickier than usual) & particularly the peripheral clues.
Thanks to the setter & to Smylers
Ps can anyone remember if Aint No Sunshine was used to advertise Harmony hairspray – I’m sure that’s how I first heard the great Bill Withers but can’t find any evidence of it.
Not sure about the ad, H but Lovely Day by Bill Withers gives me claustrophobia and I have to turn it off the moment it starts. I had a fever as a child and I felt the ceiling and walls closing in on me. There was a long drawn out sound in my head similar to that in the song. Other than that, I like his songs but his repetitions grate on me a bit such as “and I know, and I know, and I know…..”.
Enjoyable Monday Fare but quite a few needed assistance ***/*** Favourites 21a & 15d. Thanks to the Compiler ? and to Smylers and also for the smorgasbord of videos!
The most Monday puzzle on a Monday for some time and most welcome it was. All fairly clued and not without a little humour. Favourite was 19d, only joking. Favourite was 15d. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
1*/3.5*a very enjoyable start to the week with no real problems.
Favourites include 11a record premiership goal scorer, distant items at 14a and the elusive marsh bird at 1d
Thanks to setter and Smylers
Setter here. Thank you to all solvers and commenters, and thanks to Smylers for the review.
Thank you for commenting and claiming this puzzle. I wasn’t sure who today’s setter was, but the more data points we collect, the better I hope to get at working it out. You’ve now been both extremes of the quick-crossword difficulty scale, so I can eliminate that as being any use for identifying you!
Didn’t remotely peg it as one of yours T,
Nice puzzle – thanks for popping in & letting us know
Great Monday puzzle, thanks
Thank you, Tumbledown Mountain for a fun puzzle. I should have guessed it was you from the quirkiness. Loved it.
Various visits to this puzzle throughout the day and finally solved. Spelling mistake at 19d, e instead of an a, didn’t help which meant a look at the hints for a couple in the SE corner. Favourites today, 1a, one of those moments of inspiration and 14a, not difficult but brought a smile.
As ever, thank you to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Shouldn’t 7d really be l****head*******?
Do like a Twmbarlwm. Always makes you work but always a sense of achievement when completed.
Thanks to the aforementioned and Smylers.