DT 30219

94 comments on “DT 30219”

1. Very enjoyable and with the possible exception of 10a, which was obtainable from wordplay and checkers, reasonably straightforward.
   Of course it would be remiss of me not to point out the reference to an actress born over a hundred years ago at 16d but even I’ve heard of her and I have to say I liked the clue and thought it clever.
   Top three for me were 14&22a and the very good lurker at 2d.
   Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

   1. What an excellent challenge. The rekrul in 8d is outstanding.

      I only recently learnt the Rainbow Nation’s nine provinces. So, I’d’ve been at a loss before then.

      Stephen L, is having somebody from a long time ago a no-no, in your eyes? I love seeing names, things and events from the past in crosswords, as long as the answer is within reach, courtesy of the parsing.

      3*/4.5*

      1. I’m not a huge fan of dated artistic references, I’d much rather they be contemporary as I think the former may be off-putting to younger people who are new to the art and the latter keeps the puzzles fresh and topical. Having said that I did remark that I liked the clue and I hope you were able to detect a degree of “tongue in cheek” to my comment.

         1. Understood though I’d be surprised if it would put them off.

            My guess is that people of all ages would like to pick up bits and bobs from days of yore.

            But, we all have our personal tick boxes when it comes to crosswords.

            Thanks for clarifying.

            1. Just chipping in in this. I am very much on the ‘let’s make the clues more contemporary’ side. I well remember Doris but I think many younger people would not have any idea who she was. I too liked the clue but wonder if Daniel Day Lewis, for example, could have been substituted in some way. He was born 50 years later.

               1. Hmm, interesting.

                  Many under 30s wouldn’t have heard of Eric Morecambe from yesterday’s puzzle.

                  It would be a shame not to see the likes of him in a crossword. They could then ask their parents who he was which can be no bad thing.

                  It’s all a balancing act between making 95% of the audience smile with yesterday’s answer against the 5% who aren’t aware of who he is.

   2. I agree about 10a, but I knew Doris Day! I am a lot older than you clearly.

      1. Me too, Joyce. She did so much for the animals, how can one forget her!

2. With Ray T on Toughie duty today, as his alter ego Beam, I have to think that today’s back pager is by a member of the Friday triumvirate appearing a day early again – 3*/4.5*

   5d and 10a caused a little head scratching.

   Candidates for favourite – 12a, 25a, 1d, and 21d – and the winner is 12a.

   Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if it is not he, and thanks to Mr K.

   P.S. Has everyone seen the late comment from Jay on yesterday’s blog saying the puzzle wasn’t his and he is scaling back on his setting activities.

   1. Yes, I saw it. That’s disappointing!

      1. I agree – very disappointing as Jay is probably my favourite setter – but he must have his reasons.

   2. Oh dear, that is a shame. Just as I was getting to like his puzzles, as well. Anyway, as PeakyC says, he must have his reasons and I wish him well.

3. 5*/4*. What a contrast in terms of difficulty to the previous back-pagers this week. I found this very tough, particularly in the NW corner, and several orders of magnitude harder than yesterday’s Toughie. I felt relieved to finish it but, on reflection, I did enjoy the challenge.

   I wasn’t sure about the synonym of “performance” needed for 3d but it is in the BRB (definition 17!)

   My podium comprises 1a, 12a, 14a & 6d.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

4. A nice variety of clue types plus a sprinkling of General Knowledge made this more intriguing than a lot of puzzles and it was by no means a doddle. Some of the lego type clues were quite intricate in their construction. I liked the cryptic definition at 12a and the lurker at 2d. COTD, however, was the geographical clue at 10a. It’s so.etimes hard to keep pace as place names of colonial origin are testored to their indigenous African ones, so I had to check the spelling. When I studied A -level geography, it had another name of Afrikaans origin. Thanks to the compiler and to MrK for the hints.

5. Well that was a different kettle of fish to the previous two days, but nonetheless enjoyable. Took me ages to get started as ,this time, 1a escaped me! First one in 8d, followed by 12a and all fell into place. Took me ages to get 10a as I got it in my head that the synonym for ‘estimate’ was ‘guess’. Favourite today was 1a for the penny drop moment. Thanks to our setter and Mr K for the fantastic cat pics and for helping me to parse 11d.

6. Top-notch puzzle for 95% of the way for me, but 10a took some Googling and considerable anguish for me (isn’t that where our friend Huntsman is enjoying his golfing vacation currently?). I could not free my mind of ‘guess’ for ‘estimate’ and so I dithered and dallied and finally Googled a map of S Africa! Is that a DNF? I guess so.
   Otherwise, I really enjoyed the toughness of the challenge throughout (much tougher than the Beam today, which I finished in half the time this one took). Too many podium winners to list them all, but my COTD is the lovely and shifty 21d. Thanks to Mr K and today’s setter, who (except for 10a) reminds me of Silvanus. ****/****

   1. Robert, I was ‘guessing’ with you. I simply had to do a reveal – I was totally blank even though I had 5d.

   2. It is indeed Robert & I’m not a happy chappie. As a fairly regular visitor (pre pandemic) I know there’s always the risk of an afternoon thunderstorm (which is why we play early) but the weather over the last few days has been miserable. But at least it’s warm so there’s always the consolation of not being stuck indoors worrying about the heating bills….. Oh the steaks & red wine are a fraction of US prices too

7. I found this relatively straightforward, although when I finished realised that my answer to 27a was incorrect (letters 7 and 9 the wrong way around) and failed to completely parse 9a.
   Good fun nevertheless.
   Many thanks to Mr K for the parsing of 9a and of course the setter

   1. Thanks for mentioning 27a. I got it wrong. Never gave it a second thought!

8. I tend to agree with others that this was a couple of notches higher up the degree of difficulty than of late. It was a fair and most enjoyable challenge, though, with solid wordplay making even the trickiest clue solvable. From a wide selection, I liked the well-disguised reverse lurker at 8d the best.

   My thanks to our setter and Mr K.

9. Pleasant and enjoyable with the exception of 10a.
   I’m not too bad on general knowledge but the other 8 provinces of South Africa remain a mystery and quite frankly I have no intention of committing them to memory.
   To be quite 1a , fungi are not plants but in a kingdom of their own.
   I liked 1a and 11d.
   Thanks to all concerned.

10. I found this really hard!
    Although I eventually got all right letters in the right places (reassuringly confirmed by the digital version) I needed google for 10a and help with understanding the parsing of 9a, 10a, 21d, 24a and although I got the correct word missed it lurking in 8d!
    I feel very pleased with my effort and can see great improvement as a I initially thought I could not get going at all today.
    Mr K I love the cat oriented pics to help us, we have 2 of our own. They are rarely helpful and more often than not a hindrance in completing anything and occasionally are responsible for prematurely hitting send when they walk on the I pad.
    Many thanks for your help Mr K and to the setter

11. An enjoyable puzzle with only the (for me) unknown South African region causing a delay – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    For my podium I’ve selected 1a, 12a and 21d.

12. A fun puzzle for me today with a good degree of challenge – thanks to the setter. There were a few clues – particularly the longer ones (eg 3d) – where I was confident I had the right answer but it took me a while to parse them. I like references to figures from popular culture even if dated and my COTD was 16d. Thanks to Mr K for the hints and the cat pictures.

13. We are being spoilt this week. Another enjoyable puzzle with just the right amount of head scratching needed along with straightforward write ins. 1a went in immediately and that is always a good sign. It was an excellent clue as well and earned a Perks of approval. The only one I would never have solved in a month of Sundays is 10a because my brain refused to move away from “guess” as the estimate. Apart from which, I had never heard of the region. I solved 11d but I still cannot parse it despite the hint. My COTDis, unusually for me, a short one – 26a because I just loved the brevity and the smile it produced when the answer arrived.

    Many thanks to the setter for the fun. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints and wonderful pusskits – Perks is beside himself!

    Beautiful day in The Marches and I feel Spring is in the air.

    1. Steve 11d… between “Un” (a French) and the usual SteamShip abbreviation insert a verb meaning to cure or remedy and an adjective meaning poor as in not being fulsome, plus the E for energy. I hope I haven’t just rewritten Mr K’s excellent hint!

       1. Thank you, SL. All is now clear.

    2. I hope Hudson isn’t jealous. Don’t forget he came first.

       1. Hudson is getting all the fuss he needs, DG plus I always make sure I feed him first despite the loud protestations from Perks.

          We have just came back from a long walk in the sunshine and he is lying content at my feet.

          1. Our cat at the time, a feisty grey tabby – Merlin, was always jealous when we took Toby, our yellow lab, for a walk. He would follow at a distance, meowing loudly. We would turn, and encourage him to join us, at which point he would sit down. Clearly insisting we turn back. We didn’t and would find him at home waiting for us, and very surly too 😊.

14. I thought I sailed through this until the NE. I had to look up 10 in a list of SA regions. Happily there were not many on the list. That enabled me to get the last two. I carelessly got 27a wrong – transposed 7th and 9th letters. Favourites 1, 9, 12a. Mr WW and I are going to Deal this weekend (in Kent not drugs or cards). Has anyone any tips on the town or area? Thanks in advance and thanks Mr K and setter.

    1. Walmer Castle
       Can’t remember the name but I seem to think there’s a nice fish restaurant in Deal
       Canterbury isn’t the city it was but well worth a visit for the cathedral

       1. Thanks CS. I believe I have found the fish and chip restaurant which will certainly fit the bill for one meal, and we’ll definitely go to Walmer Castle. I wanted to go to Chartwell but the house doesn’t open until the 25th.

          1. Shame you won’t have any grandchildren with you as Deal Castle is perfect for young people, not least because the children’s audio guide sends them on a different direction to the grownups

             1. Yes my daughter is upset they can’t come but they had prearranged to stay with friends in Hampshire. I’m sure we’ll do that in the future. As they live in SE London it is very accessible to them.

    2. Wanda – seeing your comment from this morning on yesterday’s puzzle made me smile: I had completed this puzzle with a Parker 51, still one of my favourite fountain pens.

       1. I’ve still got mine!

          1. You must have taken good care of it! The ’51 is iconic, a quite beautiful pen. My original got passed around at a dinner to sign the menu for someone, and was never returned to me, so I had to get a replacement about 15-20 years ago. I also use a couple of Parker 75 fountain pens, but my “go to” is a Conway Stewart from the early 1950s. Nibs for the ’75 are near impossible to source these days, but there are still a few good specialists who at least can service and repair older fountain pens.

15. An excellent puzzle. I think that the alternate to 27A referred to in comments 8 and 9 above is a valid correct answer.

    1. That makes me feel better

16. Well, Wanda – You won’t be far from Canterbury which is full of interest if Deal doesn’t do it for you. Lovely guzzle although I was completely at a loss regarding 10a and as someone else has said at this stage of the game I don’t want to put any more obscure knowledge into the untidy filing cabinet which is my brain. Thanks for the hints Mr K and you have excelled yourself with feline frolics today, and thanks to Mr Setter as well – I liked your lurker but my special daisies went to 1,10&24a and 7d. But the best was 7d cos it reminded me of The Embankment and of Egypt.

    1. Thanks Daisy. I think we’ll visit Canterbury. I have been before but not for a long time. I was fascinated by your wartime experience. How scary. When my parents visited her Aunt in London during the war my mother always refused to go in the Anderson shelter. My two childhood memories do not equal yours but are very fresh in my mind. The first was getting lost at Blackpool when I was 3 and the other was thinking I was drowning in the Serpentine lido when I was 7.

17. Definitely not my favourite type of puzzle. Far too wordy with unknown region and very clumsy wordplay.
    Last in was 21d which was the poorest clue of all.
    ***/*
    Thx for the hints

    1. Too wordy? Gosh, at an average word count / clue of only 6.7 the setter was almost in Ray T territory!

18. A largely most enjoyable puzzzle, though 5d really bugged/bugs me because I spent ages trying to justify and parse my answer, so much so that I put something else in at first until crossing clues no longer made that answer in any way possible. Fungus is not a plant, whatever the BRB might say, it’s part of an entirely separate kingdom, neither plant nor animal. Grrrrr!

    Ah well, the rest of it was straightforward, I remembered 10a and laughed/smiled at many of the clues, and there was enough that was a little different in the constructions to give it more teeth than an early-week puzzle.

    2 / 3

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K

    PS – on reading the late night comments on yesterday’s backpager I was saddened to note that Jay is reducing / having to reduce the number of backpage puzzles he provides to the DT. So not only was yesterday’s (excellent) puzzle not one of his, we will see fewer Jay puzzles in future anyway.

    1. You may be interested to look at an article by Imogen Mellor on the website yesterday saying that James Brydon aka Robyn is the new Wednesday setter.

       1. Thanks for that, Tony, interesting piece – given how difficult I sometimes find it to get on Robyn’s Toughie wavelength, it will be interesting to see how his backpagers settle down. And as Jay said he was reducing, not stopping, his puzzles, I wonder whether he will be alternating with Robyn or just flipping between days. The Mellor article for those who may be interested:

          https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/2023/02/08/telegraph-crossword-gets-new-regular-setter/

          1. Thanks for including that MG – it had passed me by. Love JB’s puzzle so it’ll soften the blow of Jay stepping back

    2. I absolutely agree with you on 5d, fungi are not plants! Curiously, there was a fascinating programme on BBC4 last night about fungi and well worth a watch.

       1. Me too re fungi/plant.

19. Many thanks to Mr K once again (excellent feline pics) and to everyone who has commented, I think Robert is right that Huntsman is indeed in 10a at the moment, which perhaps he’ll confirm later. At least he must have solved that particular clue quite quickly!

    I must admit I agonised somewhat over 5d too, but if Chambers (and Collins) calls a fungus a plant I can’t really go against that. Chris Lancaster suspected that it might provoke some discussion and, as usual, he was correct! Perhaps future editions of both dictionaries will change their respective definitions.

    I look forward too seeing some of you over in Toughieland next week.

    1. Aha, ’tis you indeed! Another one of those dream-team days, with you and Ray T-as-Beam giving us such word-magic! Thanks for joining us and for yet another splendid puzzle, although I rather lost my marbles over Gauteng. I hate it when that happens.

    2. Very unusually for me I did the Toughie on the iPhone sheltering from yet another monumental downpour after the hooter sounded & forced us off the course. I’ve only just completed this one after a great meal & perhaps a little too much to drink but still had sufficient wits about me to peg it as likely one of yours. Yes I’m in Joburg (Gauteng province) so the answer was immediate though the parsing came later. Top notch as always with a host of ticks. 1a terrific but if pressed I’d pick the lurker at 2d as my favourite. Oh & I liked 5d too.
       Thanks & to Mr K for the review which I’ll now read before nodding off.

20. Phew that was more than 2 star hard for me. I had never heard of 10a either. Really enjoying the cat pictures particularly the white cat (showing off) lying upside down by the door. Appropriately positioned too. Needed Mr Ks explanations for some of my bung ins.

21. Late in for me as I’ve had a couple of girlfriends over to share a sandwich lunch and a good, long natter – just what I needed!
    I did smile when I reached 10a in this one, knew that it would be right up Chriscross’s street. Like others, I had to check on the regions of South Africa to nail the answer.
    Excellent surface reads and some intricate wordplay pointed to one particular setter and I see that he has now popped in to claim it.
    Top three here were 1&12a along with 16d.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and also to Mr K for another feline-filled review – I particularly liked the pic of Bambi with kitten, please tell me it wasn’t a photo-shop production!

22. That was a lot of fun with just the NE delaying things a bit mainly due to my having to look up 10a plus one or two bung-ins. 17a hint illustration is somewhat broad but charming and must have taken some staging! Fav was 21d once fathomed with 4d running up. Thank you Silvanus and MrK.

23. Well a DNF for me for the first time in ages. I had the great pleasure of living in Cape Town for 9 years and I have never heard of 10a – indeed I did not realise there were so many name changes but at least Western Province is still Western Province, for the moment. Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle and some wonderful pics – I love the chickens looking at the rather overweight cat. Thanks to all involved. At least Huntsman will be enjoying much warmer weather than us. If you read this Huntsman, see if you can get hold of a couple of jars of Pecks Anchovette and I will pay for postage.

    1. Had no idea what it was & just googled it to see it has been discontinued otherwise I’d have gladly brought some back

24. I don’t start out with high expectations on Thursdays, and have to be content with what I get. Actually surprised with how many answers I got today, especially the long ones. But with answers like 10a, and unfathomable clues (for me) like 14a and 24a this was never going to be all my own work. COTD goes to 16d, as I am just glad I am just old enough to remember her. Thanks to Mr K for the pictures, especially 17a and 5d, delightful 😊.

    1. Hi, BL. Remember Dodo (as she was affectionately known) as Calamity Jane? She was Oscar-nominated for that one, but she brought such style, wit, and talent (I still love her recording of ‘Secret Love’ from CJ) to the screen.

25. I struggled somewhat with this puzzle, again due to some confusingly worded clues.
    3*/3* for me again today.

    Unknown words in 10a and 21d and 5d not a word in common everyday conversation, all led to difficulties for me.

    Favourites include 1a, 14a, 19a, 25a, 8d & 13d

    Thanks to setter and Mr K for the well received hints today.

26. Good afternoon
    A day off means an earlier finish – but by crikey, there were some moments where cheating was required, ie typing letters into a solving app and/or calling on Dr Google. This was the case with 5d, 21d, and 10a. And a “Crikey! 😱” for 12a, I think. Many thanks to Mr K and to our compiler

27. Thanks to the setter for a challenging puzzle, which I did manage to complete eventually (this is becoming a bit of a habit). And huge thanks to Mr K for the parsing, without which I’d still have been saying ‘why’ to so many answers.

    My main issue today was being forced onto the new site as my subscription has just renewed. Yes, I know, it’s a sign of getting old when you hate change. I’m sure I’ll come to love it in the end!

28. Lovely puzzle again – we had a laugh at some of the clues and scratched our heads at others, particularly 10ac that was a region we had not come across before. 2*/4* for us.

29. Sheer delight and my smoothest solve of the week. There was a hitch as I tried to crowbar the lovely Glenelg (Scottish or Australian) into 10a. Turns out there is another Glenelg in 10a.
    COTD 12a as the solve was quick but the penny-drop parse was slow.
    Many thanks setter and MrK.

30. I enjoyed this one, though like others needed Google assistance with the deer in 5d and the SA region for 10a. I was fine was the Doris Day reference, she’s someone who spans the ages for me. I liked 4d for the misdirection and 8d for the reverse lurker which I took a while to spot, with 12a topping the podium. **/****

    Ty to Silvanus and MrK

31. A top notch back-pager. Great clues, a toughish challenge and a very enjoyable solve. Had to google to confirm the SA region. I’ve ticked a fair few and my favourite is 1a. 4*/4.5*.

32. I struggled though this and then ground to a complete halt at 5d and 10a, which I felt were a combination of obscure knowledge and difficult wordplay. Above my pay station I’m afraid.
    It’s not often that I don’t enjoy a crossword, but this one didn’t float my boat.
    That said, thank you to Silvanus for the challenge and Mr K for providing light where there had been darkness.

33. I really struggled! When the clock stopped I had 7 still unfilled. Due to time constraint I resorted to a naughty look at hints. Had hoped it would be a three after that.

34. I’m with RD, this was a lot tougher than the past puzzles this week, I always seem to have difficulty with Silvanus’ offerings. My geography is pretty good but never heard of 10a. I needed quite a lot of help with this. I suppose 21d means shifty but I thought it had a different meaning, I’ll look it up later. I had no answers when doing across but was much better with the downs. My fave was 12a, helped a lot by mr. K’s accompanying pic, in fact, all the pics were superb, you outdid yourself there. I liked 16d, she did so much for animals.
    Thank you Silvanus for the workout and Mr. K for unravelling most of it.

    1. Hi Merusa. There’s a lovely and appealing kind of rakishness in anyone who exudes ‘loucheness’, I think, and ‘shifty’ doesn’t even approach its charm as a word, and I wonder if Silvanus would agree. The ambiguities there are what make it one of my favourite words.

       1. I would agree, Robert. I think it’s a great word!

       2. When I come across that word I immediately think of Terry Thomas.

          1. Got it in one, Huntsman! He’s the perfect example, one of my fave words.

35. Was off to a good start by getting 1a and sailed along but couldn’t get 10a both reference books clearly out of date! Liked 8d the reverse lurker, 16d brought a smile to my face, enjoyed the anagram at 27. Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K. Enjoyed the challenge and the cat pictures.

36. Another fail on 10a! (Did come back to it after returning from work and had better luck, but I eliminated some half-parsed guesses first so can’t claim a clean solve.)

    Aside from the notaplant in 5d, liked the rest of it – but wouldn’t have pegged the setter.

    Thanks to he, Silvanus, and to Mr K.

37. I found this very tough and DNF. The South African region and the carefree berliner did for me even with all the checkers.

    Great cat pics as usual.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K

38. Another boo and a hiss for 10a and a slight hmm for the non plant but it was one of my first in so I shouldn’t complain. Everything was fairly straightforward. Favourite was 7d. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.

39. Apologies, but even with the explanation, I still can’t get 24a. I got the answer, but wasn’t confident as I couldn’t work it out. Can anyone help please?

    1. Welcome to the blog, Alister.

       INST (the abbreviation used in business/legal correspondence for ‘this month’) is followed by LEAD (star performer) without L (the abbreviation for left) so it’s INST + EAD.

       1. When I started out in the legal profession it was normal yo use inst. for this month eg 9th inst. and ult. gor last month instead of the name of the month.

       2. When I started out in the legal profession it was normal yo use inst. for this month eg 9th inst. and ult. for last month. Didn’t use next month often but think it was prox.

       3. Many thanks, have never heard of inst used as substitute! Much appreciated.

    2. Welcome, Alister! Hope to hear from you again. 👍

40. Last in, after many returns to this difficult puzzle, 10a and 5d.
    How have I lived all these years without knowing them?
    Luckily guessed the former correctly from the word play.
    Got the second component of 5d but whilst understanding the first, too lazy to find which plant.
    So, a self-inflicted DNA.
    Apart, enjoyable and satisfying.
    Many thanks Silvanus and Mr K

41. Hi all. Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for their contributions to the blog. I’m fairly new to cryptics and as a Canadian anything related to cricket, British or Australian slang is completely beyond me. If it weren’t for the blog I’d have given up long ago and although I very rarely finish one I very much look forward to my daily struggle.

    1. Hello, Bubble, and welcome to the site. We’re all happy to hear that the blog is increasing your enjoyment of cryptics.

42. I thoroughly enjoyed this one accept for 10a and 5d which had me at a complete loss.

43. Well I made great progress last night and then very slow progress this morning. I couldn’t get 10a or 12a but thoroughly enjoyed the crossword, especially as the anagrams gave me such a good start. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K. I seem to have woken with a streaming cold and huge amount of sneezing. Memo to self to spring clean bedroom!

44. This was way beyond my pay station, but thanks to Silvanus. Special thanks to Mr. K for the wonderful catpics, which made my day after struggling with the guzzle.

45. 12 across Musical chairs favourite. Couldn’t do 10 across or 5 down. Thought provoking and enjoyable.

    1. Your comment went into moderation because you used what is your actual name rather than the alias you used last time you commented (some time ago). Both should work from now on.

46. 3*/4*….
    liked 21D “Shifty student that’s sore over bet being exposed (6)”

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