DT 30739

79 comments on “DT 30739”

1. An enjoyable Tuesday offering with just the right number of write-ins and ponderers. I liked the ancient Scot at 12a and the pub cleaners at 3d. It took ages for the penny to drop at 18d because I pursued the wrong old hat. My COTD is the husband being put out by a bun at 1d.

   Thank you, setter for the fun. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.

   I have not heard of the substance in the Quickie pun.

   I have just found out, after doing so for years, that bread should not be kept in the fridge.

   1. Nor eggs.

      1. I have a friend who is a chef. He keeps eggs for frying and poaching etc in the fridge. For baking he keeps them at room temperature.

         1. Talking of keeping things cold, years ago I asked my Mum how long I could keep a chicken in the freezer, and she said about two months.
            So I put it in, and then checked on it the next day only to find it had died!
            Parents eh?

            1. Ah, the things we learned at our mothers’ knees. 🤣

         2. Don’t worry, there’s no hard and fast rules. Based on decades of pragmatic experience, I keep loaves in the freezer and a few slices, wrapped in plastic to prevent drying out, for daily use in the fridge. I also keep eggs and tomatoes in the fridge. That’s my enduring system and it works best for me.

            1. Suposedly tomatoes lose flavour in the fridge.

         3. .. for baking and boiling . otherwise they crack.
            Also not keen on 12a .. the Picts were on seen before the Scots arrived from Ireland .. hence Picts no relation per se to the Scots other then the land they live(d) in. .. ancient inhabitants of North Britain … is more apt! Pedantry over.

   2. Regarding the Quickie pun, I have a different answer so no wonder I’ve never heard of it.

   3. Really? I found my home made bread going mouldy in the tin, bought a new one, still went green so now keep it in the fridge. What is wrong about that ? I obviously don’t put preservatives in the mix. Now I’m worried.

   4. I’m a bot again, Steve!

      I keep bread in the freezer. A loaf lasts me a few months, even in the fridge it’d go mouldy long before I could finish it.

2. Is it by chance or design that the answer to 28a is also an answer in today’s Toughie?

3. For me, a big step up in difficulty from yesterday and easily into ** territory….I got 1a from the checkers but couldn’t parse it though it of course makes complete sense now….for that reason, it has to be my COTD

4. I thought the quickie crossword pun was Shea butter – still struggling with the cryptic but enjoying it so far. Miserable and rainy at the moment so a coffee break beckons and then another try at the cryptic.

   1. That’s what I had for the pun, GH.

   2. I’ll amend accordingly. No wonder I didn’t peg it – never heard of the stuff. Many thanks.

      1. Nor me re pun Huntsman.

5. For me this was problem free apart from the very clever parsing of 1a – thank you Huntsman! I take issue with 1d since a bun is not a haircut, rather a style used when hair has not been cut. Good clue though. So many ticks on my paper today and, surprisingly for me, the anagram at 28a takes top spot.( I’ll now go and search for it in the toughie. Thank you Tipcat) Podium places for 21a and 16d. The quickie pun doesn’t work for me. I’ve always pronounced it, obviously incorrectly, with a hard C. Thanks to Mr Plumb.

6. The NW corner was particularly tricky in this enjoyable guzzle but starting at the bottom yielded a good few checkers and the grid quickly filled up. The 28a place for quacks was my favourite clue and I also liked the lego clue for the poet at 8d and the misdirection at 9a. Thanks to Huntsman for the hints and to the compiler for an interesting guzzle. I find a ceramic breadbin works well for my home made loaves

   1. I had a wooden one then a metal one. I think you may be right about earthenware but where would you get one?

      1. You could get an earthenware one from a garden centre – there’s nothing to say that you can’t bread in it just because it was meant for plants!

7. This was a very gentle offering from the prof.

   1a kicked things off nicely, as it’s an excellent clue, and sits atop my podium with the other silverware going to 9a and 12a.

   Many thanks to the aforementioned and Hintsman.

   1*/3*

8. An enjoyable and light puzzle once I’d started in the South, which for the second day in a row I found quicker & more straightforward than the QC – I really need this added practice of dredging up synonyms without the extra cryptic hint as to what they might be. Last two in were the bun and nursery, and kicked myself for not seeing either sooner. Honours to the male relatives, ancient Scot, and denied Republican – a good red herring of a clue.

   Many thanks to both Setter and Huntsman

9. A lovely puzzle with great mis-direction. A tad harder (for me) than yesterday’s but that it only right as we move through the week.

   Agree with Mhids that a bun is a style not a cut.

   Top picks for me were 1a, 28a and 1d.

   Thanks to Huntsman and the setter.

10. How can Mhids say that 1d is a ‘good clue’ after saying, rightly, that a bun is NOT a haircut but a hairstyle. The answer spoilt my enjoyment of this crossword.

    1. Hi Ashley

       Mhids is saying that it’s a nice surface and/or construction.

       1. Thank you, Tom!

    2. Set my teeth on edge too. A bun is a hair style, not a cut. No one has ever gone to a hairdresser and asked their hair to be cut into a bun.

11. For me, etc, as Typically Tuesdayish as it can get and that it is an Anthony Plumb production confirmed by the two grids – **/****

    Ditto, with Mhids and Madflower, on the sliced bun.

    Candidates for favourite – the oldie but goodie 18a, 27a, 3d, and 20d – and the winner is 20d, is that the longest single word definition ever?

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.

12. 1a’s smart, 26a’s sharp and 18d’s fun. The oddly familiar 28a tickled me, as per Tipcat. I must agree with Mhids and Madflower – 1d is definitely more of a do than a cut. Many thanks to our setter and Huntsman. Cagney and Cash, eh? Marvellous.

13. No real problems this morning although I tend to agree with those who questioned the bun/haircut clue. That aside, all good fun with some clever clueing making this a fun if rather swift solve. For a favourite I have selected the rather wordy but clever 28a.

    Thanks, presumably to AP, and The Hintsman.

14. Very enjoyable if a little slow going.17d my fav although I thought it was not quite awful.

    We keep our bread in the fridge so the dog can’t get it. Too many mornings of finding empty wrappers on the kitchen floor.

15. Not sure I understood all the clues, definitely one to find the definition and ignore the wordplay.

    Still at least it’s better than the quickie which is full of slang terms! Are setters really that bereft of vocabulary that they have to resort to slang terms?
    Thx to all
    ***/***

16. An enjoyable challenge for a damp Tuesday. Apart from 1d, where it’s all been said, I thought this was fairly clued throughout. My podium comprises 28a, 8d and 12a in top spot. Thanks to AP and to Huntsman.

17. 2*/3.5*. I’ll pinch Senf’s description that this was “typically Tuesdayish”. It was light and fun, apart from the bun.

    1a was my favourite.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Hintsman.

    P.S. I don’t agree about bread storage. After careful experimentation and observation, I’ve established that a sliced seeded loaf stays fresh twice as long if kept in the fridge rather than at room temperature.

    1. The trouble with keeping bread in the fridge is it causes the starch to recrystallise and lose moisture making it go stale faster. Well, that is what I was told. It is also better to buy a whole loaf rather than sliced and slice it from the middle and not the end so the two sections can be placed together cut surface to cut surface. I can’t slice bread very well but I have a bamboo contraption that gives perfect slices.
       This is the topic of conversation in the morning at the village shop.

       

       1. Well at £4.50 a loaf I get my multi seed sourdough from Simmons sliced & put into 2 bags – most of it is then immediately frozen & I take out as required – too expensive to chuck away & I usually toast it anyway.

          1. Toast is our main use for bread too.

       2. In my experience of pre-sliced bread, the fridge wins hands down. Perhaps a proper unsliced loaf behaves differently?

          In the days long before bread was sold sliced, my grandmother would slice the crust off, butter the exposed surface, and then cut the next slice with the butter already in place. As a five-year-old, I was absolutely fascinated by this process.

          1. Yes, my Gran did the same thing. I met her for the first time when I was 10, we lived opposite sides of the pond, I wasn’t used to English ways so she surprised me with lots of things! It didn’t take long to realise where my Uber-Brit Mum got her ideas from.

          2. Wow — mind blown by the idea of buttering bread before slicing it!

             I think that with bread (and tomatoes) whether fridging or not is better depends on what failure mode you’re guarding against: if you’re trying to avoid it going mouldy, then the fridge keeps it unmouldy for longer. But if the rate at which your household would naturally consume it is such that you’d get through it before it goes mouldy anyway, then it probably keeps its original taste better not in the fridge.

             So both sides are right; they’re just trying to do different things.

             As so often in life, do whatever works for you, and ignore anybody who says you’re doing it wrong!

       3. We don’t have a choice with bread storage here in South Florida, especially if there is just one or two of you. I get freshly baked, sliced loaves and divide them into three, double bag them in freezer bags, and store in chest freezer. We don’t eat a lot of bread, so every other day I move one package to a ceramic, lidded pot where it defrosts nicely and tastes great. Doesn’t keep in a metal bread bin, and quickly deteriorates in the fridge. I think it all depends where you live.

18. Not too keen on 1d which seems to be taking ‘setters’ licence’ a bit too far, but happy enough with the rest of the professor’s work on our behalf today. No doubt he’ll be pleased to hear that!
    Favoured clues all in the across section – 1,9,12&27a being presented rosettes.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and to Huntsman for the review.

19. Considerateness? (20d) never heard of the word – surely made up – but no – every days a school day (still think it’s a ridiculous word) I digress, an enjoyable and pleasantly tricky puzzle, have to give a shout out to 1a got it without realising why then suddenly it hit me – very clever.

    Thanks to setter and Huntsman

20. I agree Sim, I balked at considerateness. Nasty word, I shall never use it. I enjoyed everything else and only needed to consult the Hintsman for 18d – I think the old hat was wearing the Bishop not the other way around. So much to like, 18a is an old chestnut but still good, 19a, 28a and 17d. 21a favourite. I’m off shortly to do my quarterly Profile for the village magazine – that means coming home to a long typing session. Never a dull moment chez nous. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Hintsman.

21. Definitely a bit trickier today – unless my brain’s having a rest, which is always a possibility.
    It took me ages to get 1a and then even longer to see why.
    We’ve had 8d quite recently – otherwise I woudn’t have got it!
    I liked 11 and 27a and 17 and 25d. My favourite was the quacks in Harley Street.
    With thanks to whoever set this one and to Hintsman too.
    Off to have a rest . . .

22. It’s over 9 hours since I completed the puzzle and I can’t really remember which area gave me trouble, but I think it was Cornwall.

    1A also gave me some bother as I used the wrong first word to begin with. However, when I corrected it, that clue became my favourite by far.

    **/**** Thanks to the setter and Huntsman. Sorry about the weather you are suffering. It’s wonderful here in Kef.

23. I found this pretty much a typical Tuesday puzzle.
    A bit of head scratching all over the grid, but eventually it all came together.

    2*/3.5*

    Favourites 9a, 13a, 19a, 28a, 5d & 14d — with winner 28a

    Thanks to AP (presumably) & Huntsman for blog/hints

24. Just to say, if they log on, that I hope that Merusa and BusyLizzie stay safe as Milton passes. It’s a big one.

    1. Hear, hear! 👍

    2. We’re still in the low that’s causing endless rain, not in the hurricane yet. I think it’ll miss us with just some outer bands bringing more rain. I haven’t put the shutters up, I hope that doesn’t put a goozu on me!

25. Very much enjoyed today’s puzzle. I couldn’t understand how the answer to 1A was constructed and I had to read the hint a few times before the penny finally dropped. It then became my favourite clue.

    Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

26. 50% (mainly in the South) went in smoothly but then a definite pause for deeper thought. Wrong kind of relative in 1a caused problems until alternative dawned. 18a certainly is a bad penny recently. Not sure I would want an unqualified “quack” if visiting 28a. Agree with all the reservations about 1d bun. Initially bunged in wrong start to 3d. Last in 6d. Consideration for 20d but considerateness ugh! Thank you MrP and Hintsman.

    1. Agreed re 28a. I doubt whether a Harley Street doctor would be best pleased at being referred to as a “Quack”.

       1. AP must have had Mr John St John Long, The Handsome Hoaxer of Harley St, in mind when writing the clue – tried & found guilty of manslaughter (quack treatment for consumption) at the Old Bailey in 1830 only to be fined £250.

27. I agree with the ‘slightly chewier than usual for Tuesday’ description but it’s an enjoyable chew. Thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
    My podium boasts 1a, 13a and 18d.

28. Very enjoyable throughout with the nursery as last one in. And I’ve now learned lots of things about bread in fridges! Thank you compiler … and Huntsman for the music (including a reminder of the great Zombies)

29. I thought this was on a par with yesterday, but I found that a bit tricky to start. I had a problem parsing some answers that “had to be”, eg 1a and 28a, took ages to find out it was an anagram! Those two are now my top picks, along with the Native American at 11a. Why is 1d a bun, on the contrary, if you have a 1d, what’s left for the bun?
    Thank you setter for the fun, and Huntsman for his help understanding some. I hope you’re on the mend. Pouring with rain again today, and this isn’t even the hurricane! That’s not due until tomorrow. Fortunately, I’m a bit higher, but parts of Miami must be flooded. Yesterday sustained winds of Milton reached 180MPH, can you imagine that?

30. A speedy start, then a sudden stop, and it took ages to get the last few. Thank you to Huntsman for explaining the wordplay for the long ones along the top and bottom, which I didn’t understand even once I had them.

    My top few were 26a’s bag-packing, 1d’s bun (I’m too ignorant to know the difference between a haircut and a hairstyle!), and 20d’s considerateness. Thank you to the setter.

    1. You & me both re hairstyle & cut. In reply to the “how would you like it”? always asked by the barber I usually reply just try to make me look vaguely respectable – a challenge in itself.

       1. My barbers have now stopped asking me what I want, and just get on with it.

          This did cause an issue last year when they took on a new colleague who, quite reasonably, asked what I wanted. I commiserated that that they were the first new person to cut my hair in over 5 years, and I’m not used to having to say what I want — but added that I’m not fussy so they should just do what they felt like, and that would be fine. They looked rather startled and unsure of what to do, but the owner (cutting somebody else’s hair at the next chair) took pity on them and outlined what he usually does.

31. Is 20d ‘considerateness’ a real word..?

    1. Much to my surprise yes it is.

32. This felt definitely more tricky than yesterday but was a steady and enjoyable solve. Could not parse 1a so thanks Huntsman for the explanation. I also am in agreement with others for 1d that a bun is more a ‘do’ than a cut , so the last 3 letters I had left unsolved until nearly the end. Thanks to setter and Huntsman.

33. Can’t say I enjoyed this, finding it decidedly more tricky than a typical Tuesday. 1d was incorrect in that it is a style, certainly not a cut. And when we lived in England 28a was not somewhere you went looking for a quack. Perhaps times have changed, or I misread the clue? 8d has never been on my reading list, so all in all, not a good day for me. Thanks to setter and Huntsman.
    Thankfully, this far south, it looks like both Merusa and I will be spared this storm. However I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday which may or may not happen, per the hospital. Will depend on what Thursday is like, so torn between keeping fingers crossed for Friday and rescheduling.

34. Good evening from Exeter, where I am coming to the end of my break, sat sitting in the train crew messroom.

    Just finished today’s crozzie; I genuinely thought I was going to have to hoy the sponge in, because the NE quadrant was causing me some issues. I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to twig 10a and 19a!

    COTD is a tie between 1a and 28a. Many thanks to Mr P and to Huntsman.

35. I’ve had a scan through the comments in case someone had picked it up, but I think the quuckie pun is “choux butter”

    1. Does such a thing exist ? – Mr G hasn’t heard of it & my knowledge barely extends beyond Lurpak

    2. Shea butter is a cosmetic, I think. The ladies would know more.

       1. Not just the ladies – I lather it where the sun don’t shine before cycling

          download

          1. Too much information, SJB! 🤣

    3. I think Granny Helen has it
       Shea butter – Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer or lotion. It is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries.
       Vaguely heard of it in cosmetics (it is the main ingredient of the udder cream I use in my cycling shorts) TMI perhaps

36. As has been said elsewhere, a very Tuesday sort of puzzle, some straightforward and others needing a bit of brainwork.
    I enjoyed the solve but listening to the music afterwards was even better. Thanks to Mr P for the 7d and Thanks to AH for the explanations and banging tunes

37. Reading the comments I was surprised to find so many people, including some of whom I regard as being well above my solving ability found this ‘a bit chewy’. I suppose it’s a bit like being on ‘The Chase’ and being asked all questions you know the answer to or ones you don’t. You either breeze through and look clever or crash out and look stupid. I’ve done both, at home obviously. Despite finding this as straightforward as they come it was still enjoyable. Favourite was 1a. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

38. Only just got to this after a very illuminating and interesting day at Bletchley park (it was rather rainy). I found it on the tricky side but still enjoyed it, 1a my favourite, I was a little puzzled by 1d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints

39. Quickie pun = Ciabatta ? Maybe, someone has spotted that, but a quick scan of the comments did not reveal anything, I think.

    1. That was my original answer Hugh but I was far from convinced it was right & changed it to Granny Helen’s & Steve’s suggestion. I guess we’ll never know as this setter never pops in to clarify anything.

       1. The solution of this quickie, next to today’s in the paper version, gives it as Shea Butter.

40. 2*/4* ….
    liked 9A “Travel’s awkward after hip breaks (9)”

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