DT 31058

72 comments on “DT 31058”

1. Is it me, or is 8d missing something? I get that the whole thing is a citrus plant, and that 51m base = lime, but shouldn’t there be something after to indicate the second four letter word? Oh well will have to see the hint.

   Also I’ve got an answer for 22d but can’t see why it works, perhaps just not on my game this morning……

   1. Seen the hints, yes its just me being dumb, nowt new there then..

      1. It was a breeze and then it stopped. I got stuck with 17d. It did not help that I did not know Lucky Jim. Now I know the answer, yes, a criminal but umm, tenuous.

   2. Doing the same head-scratching over 8d. Otherwise, great fun. 12 a my favourite.

   3. You’re not the only one who was confused by 8d.
      Many thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle, and to Gazza.

   4. ? Is the setter thinking that you might talk about ‘A lime’ as the fruit or the tree it self.

   5. I have the same problem with 8d.

      1. Me too but I just bunged in anyway!

         1. If it’s the parsing of 8d you’re referring to see my reply at comment #12.

            1. Managing to keep it together, G? Be strong. Be strong.

               (giggling here)

2. What a cracker of a puzzle – a very straightforward N to S solve, but great surfaces, lots of humour throughout, some creative clueing, and all-in-all the perfect accompaniment for elevenses. Big smile at 1a but of many other possibles, honours to 12a, 8d & 21d.

   Many thanks to the setter (Hudson for my fiver) and of course to Gazza – wonderful cartoon selection, as ever.

3. Fun witty puzzle for a dull and dreary Wednesday. I left Madeira yesterday after a couple of glorious weeks weather wise so have been spoilt. Ho hum, at least the puzzle cheered me up. Many ticks on my page, but I’ll pick a podium of 12a, 7d and the Tuvalu car driver in 21d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Gazza.

4. 2.5*/4*. This was good fun. I thought it was a mixture of some relatively easy and some more challenging clues.

   “Holy” in 3d looks like surface padding to me. I don’t think it’s valid to try to justify it simply by adding a question mark.

   The surfaces of 1a and 16a amused me, and my podium comprised 12a, 2d & 17d.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza.

5. Some of the clues were rather difficult to fathom, so you weren’t alone, Tipcat, in finding the parsing tricky. Alot of the parsing fell into place completely only after I had written the answer in and there are atill a few cluess I’m not,sure of. COTD for me was the clever Lego clue made up of homophhones at 7d, followed by the anagram at 9d and the word reversal Lego clue at 12a. Thanks ro Gazza for the hints and to the xompiler .

6. 26a funny? not in my book.

   1. Now I have to disagree, from an age when comedians were funny, even as the “straight man” of the team. He was also a Good Samaritan when our friend’s car broke down, and he helped by giving it a push.

7. A step up in difficulty from the previous two days but not by too much – a little surprised our esteemed reviewer deemed it worthy of a 3rd *. I’m with MG in pegging it as a likely Hudson production & agree it was a 4* + for enjoyment. Ticks aplenty- 11,12,16,18&24a + 7,8,9,15&17d will do for my top 10 with Kingsley in at number 1.
   Thanks to the setter & to Gazza – great cartoons as per.

8. Thanks to the Setter and Gazza for the hints. We found this on the hard side for mid week. Took a while to get going. LOI 23a. COTD 12a.

9. 1a — flummoxed as had the definition as the word(s) on the left, not the right 🤦🏻‍♀️ and that’s why I love referencing this blog. Thankyou setter for the workout and Gazza for your hints and witty pics

   1. I was trying to get aroused as well!!!

      1. 😁😁😁

   2. Somebody on here said many moons ago that the definition is usually at the beginning or end of the clue. My trouble is, I often pick the wrong one 😟.

10. Breezed through this one.
    As a self-confessed jumblefumbler (my word for being bad at anagrams), I found the gently devious nature of many of the clues to be right up my puzzle street.
    I could write in answers and then reverse-engineer any anagrams.
    The only clue that got me today was 7d, which I had never heard of before.
    I always used to fidget or leave the room when The White Heather Club came on the TV.
    Compliments to the setter. I like your style!

    1. Love jumblefumbler!

       1. Me too.
          Scurryfunger my current fav having had to do a bit of it recently

          1. An outstanding word, Hoots.

11. I had quite a few hmms on my paper but seem to be in a minority so perhaps it’s just a ‘feeling grumpy’ day. Having said that, I did find a couple that rather appealed – the two long ones at 7&9d, so they can share the honours between them.

    Thanks to our setter, apologies for not fully appreciating your puzzle, and to Gazza for the review and the cheery cartoons – liked the chap being given advice about the penalties for taking two wives!

12. Thank you to Hudson (claimed on Bluesky) for the fun. I thought 16a’s ‘turned turtle’ hilarious, also particularly liking the 12a Polish party and 21d Tuvalu car driver. I found this a bit trickier than Wednesday often are, with several of the anagrams slowing me down.

    And thank to Gazza for confirmations and explanations, as well as the cartoons. I agree about the Auntie in 6d, and with others about the second word of 8d.

    1. I don’t understand the problem with the second word of 8d. A tree is a plant – the BRB starts its definition of tree as ‘A large plant …’.

       1. Yeah, the definition’s fine. But then it looks like the wordplay only leads to ‘lime’?

          1. LI (51) + METRE (expansion of m) + E (base in logarithms)

             1. Ah, thank you. Sorry, I hadn’t read your hint carefully enough and just had m as m, with the base at the end of the first word rather than the second.

                I think in my brain I’d read “51m” in the clue as “fifty-one metres” then translated that to LI and m, somehow stupidly not noticing that it was m in the first place.

       2. But the word play only explains the first word of the definiton, Gazza.

          1. If you read my hint you’ll see that m in the clue needs to be expanded to metre.

       3. Exactly I interpreted 8d merely by seeing a tree as a plant

13. Some more challenging clues amongst some real gems made this very entertaining . 12a my favourite but it was hard to choose one.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza for the hints.

14. A very enjoyable midweek solve that kept me on my toes throughout. My LOI was the first syllable of 7d as I went through the alphabet for a word meaning ‘took….fight….no….light…nope….might….hmm…night…nope….sight…nah…tight. Then, eureka!

    Maybe Hudson meant funny/peculiar not funny/haha for 26a. You’ve got to love the etymology of ha-ha being a hidden ditch: it’s what you would say if you fell in it if it caught you by surprise. Brouhaha, a truly outstanding word, annoyingly has a different origin that is dull.

    The anagram in 28a took me an age as I hadn’t heard of the word. I kept thinking it began ‘cont’.

    A plethora of clues to select from but I’ll go with 1a, that registered highly on the giggle factor, 18a, and the brilliant 9d.

    MT to The Rock and Gazza.

    3*/4*

15. A curate’s egg for me, especially with the three letter anagram in 19d, and I was a little surprised to read Smylers’ ‘announcement’ that it is the work of Hudson.

    Smiles for 24a, 5d, and 6d.

    Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.

16. Very enjoyable Wednesday fare – blushing I have to confess I am not acquainted with ninja turtles so thank you Gazza for pointing that out, I had the answer but could not parse it. I have led a sheltered life. However, I conquered all the other glues, the lurker was brilliantly disguised by the layout of the print, 9d was my favourite. Many thanks to Hudson and Gazza – off to a U3A lecture now. It’s all go.

17. I too fell firmly into the trap of using the entire clue for 8d to arrive at the fruit and then had nothing left to justify the obvious tree… thanks Gazza for the necessary illumination.
    Thanks also to the setter for the enjoyable puzzle with my cotd vote going to 1a.

18. For a Wednesday puzzle, as usual, I found it trickier than the Mon/Tues offerings.
    Some parsing issues for me, but the cross check letters assisted.

    2.5*/3.5*

    Favourites 14a, 26a, 28a, 2d & 21d — with winner 26a

    Thanks to Hudson & Gazza

19. I’ve read the comments and for me I agree with Gazza regarding the 3* rating. It took me some time to get onto the setter’s wavelength but then it became reasonably straightforward.
    I too needed Gazza’s hints to fully parse 8d. We are too used to abbreviating words to a single letter rather than vice versa, ie writing out the word in full.
    Thanks to Gazza for the hints and the setter for an enjoyable puzzle.

    1. Lovely to hear from you Humph. I’m glad you enjoyed the puzzle.
       I thought it was great fun and a welcome step up in difficulty from Monday and Tuesday.
       Let’s see what tomorrow brings. My loins are being girded as I write this.
       Thank you Hudson and Gazza – great cartoons, as ever.

20. Fell foul of the anagram in 28a and for some reason (probably just a bit thick!) couldn’t sort it. Once looked up 21d fell into place, but until then a mystery. Very enjoyable and a nice mixture of difficulties.

21. A jolt back to reality after being spoilt with friendly cryptics for the past two days. I’m afraid I couldn’t get a firm foothold on this one today and I have zero knowledge of Teenage Mutant Ninjas whatever they might be. My head is still spinning with relief after good news from the doctor today, so a chewy puzzle is nothing to worry about. Thanks to setter and Gazza.

    1. If it’s not too late – so glad you have had a good prognosis. 🥰

22. Northern fun but South was a different kettle of fish. Yet more far-fetched anagram indicators. Pants as per 1a is becoming an unattractive, tortured expression. I overlooked not lucid for 27a and also took in 7d. Have to admit my GK let me down with 21d but got there thanks to Mr. Google. Thanks for the workout setter and to Gazza for being helpfully on hand.

    1. Hi Angelov
       The anagram indicator in 1A is “aroused”…. “pants like this?” is the definition.
       Best wishes, Rob/Hudson

       1. I realised what aroused was used to mean but now see for once pants has a different meaning from the expression overworked on this blog!

23. Great midweek entertainment from Hudson, starting with the hilarious 1A, and with lovely clues at 12A, 16A, 18A and 15D. And it’s always fun to see the setter on this blog. VMT also to Gazza.

24. Late to the game today. North was easy but south was testing and definitely one of the harder ones from the last few weeks. Thanks to the setter and the reviewer. Sadly, no time to look at the toughie.

25. 8d was fairly set.

26. A big step up after the last two days for me © etc. got there in the end. Needed the parsing explanation for 8d like many others but that makes it such a good clue. Never heard of the 7d dance but luckily my bung in when googled revealed the correct answer and a better word for ‘took’ than I had! Loved the arousing pants at 1a and the stubborn donkey at 9d. Many thanks to Hudson and Gazza

27. Needed electronic help for the author in 17d and 28a (a new word for me).

    8d was a bung in and needed the hint to parse 22d.

    Never heard of 7d, nor any of the other types of reel, after getting the answer and doing a google. Amazed anyone outside of the Scottish dancing world would have heard of this.

    Thanks to all.

    1. I could be wrong as am no authority but think Simon Callow’s (Gareth) heart attack & subsequent demise in Four Weddings & A Funeral was brought on by the rigours of dancing one

       1. Interesting. I wonder if the film mentions the type of reel. Reel is a word that comes up frequently in crossword land, but had no idea there were different types. An excuse to watch an excellent film again methinks. 😀

28. A busy day so had to keep returning to the puzzle. Made a stupid mistake on 1a, took the meaning of pants to be rubbish, false instead of its more regular meaning, hence had Plasticated even though there was no ‘p’ in the fodder. As I said a stupid mistake.
    Like others scratching my head at 8d so just put it in. Reading the hints revealed all so that is my COTD.
    Thank you to the setter and to Gazza for the hints.

29. I may need to revise my wood science studies, but I think the large plant at 8d is not exactly the same as the plant where 🍋‍🟩’s grow.

    1. I must say that I never suspected that 8d would provoke so many comments.

       1. I’m guessing that the majority of those confused, including myself, couldn’t see past 51m base = LIME, rather than LIMetreE.
          And yes, a lime tree is a citrus plant.
          As you say, so many comments about one clue. I’m sure the setter is smiling!

          1. *Ian Richardson voice* (as Francis Urquhart):
             “You might think that. You might very well think that. I couldn’t possibly say”

       2. It’s an extremely big plant, that’s all I can say!

          1. I have one on my terrace, it’s barely 2 foot tall

30. It took me a while to get into this but I put that down to a long day out as once I’d got a few clues it flowed.
    Top picks for me were 16a, 21d and 12a.

    Thanks to Gazza, especially for the cartoons, and to Hudson.

31. Good evening from Worcester – a different crew messroom from yesterday.

    By the cringe! That was a crozzie and a half, and no mistake. Full of witty and enjoyable clues: my only issues, such as they were, were a) parsing 8d properly – I’m not alone here, I notice – and b) having to look up “lover of Hero”.

    COTD: joint 2nd are 17d and the sublime 21d. 16a is the winner, though! Did any of our younger solvers struggle with the early 90s cultural reference?

    Many thanks to Hudson and to Gazza.

32. 1.5* / 3.5* A slight step up from the last two days. Took a little while to crack the big ones around the sides especially the last one in and new word for me 28a.
    My likes for today are Alucard at 21d, stretchy pants at 1a and what seems to be the controversial fruit plant at 8d
    Thanks to Hudson and Gazza

33. Add me to the list of those who needed the hint to parse 8d. As far as I know Lime fruit do grow on small trees, not to be confused with the giant English Lime tree. I have 120 foot high examples of them on my shoot and when they come down nothing stops them. Truly impressive. The puzzle was just right for a Wednesday and took some thinking about. Favourite was 24a. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.

34. What on Earth is all this confusion re 8d about?? Limes grow on evergreen trees – which are classified as citrus plants. And the word-play is pretty straightforward, as explained clearly by Gazza at #12 above. Better to comment late than never!

35. 3*/3* ….
    liked 28A “Dogmatic, erratic don I sacked (11)”
    also liked the cartoons to the hints.

36. I had trouble with 6d because ‘elative’ is a grammatical term used for Finno-Ugric languages and has to do with ‘carrying away’ (a noun case expressing what we would use ‘from which’ for in English) rather than elation in the sense of joy. At any rate, it would normally be an adjective and doesn’t mean ‘joy’ in any dictionary I could find. Does anyone use it that way? A cup of coffee in the morning is an elative? Or seeing my loved one happy is an elative for me? That’s not normal English, is it?

    1. Welcome to the blog, Evan.
       The answer is elation, not elative.
       What did you think of the puzzle?

       1. Oh, you’re right – sorry. Otherwise I thought the puzzle was not too hard. Never heard of eightsome reel, though.

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