DT 30741

74 comments on “DT 30741”

1. Excellent Ray T as usual but he beat me because I needed help with five. I simply could not get 13a, 24a, 25a, 1d and 5d. Apart from those, it was very enjoyable with my COTD going to the fish list at 11a.

   Thank you, Ray T for the challenge. It was fun but I just couldn’t work out those five. Of course, I kicked myself when I found the answers. Thank you, Shabbo for the hints.

   The Quickie pun raised a smile.

2. 2*/4*. Excellent fare as usual from Mr Brevity, although unusually I was DNF courtesy of 24a.

   Very tough to pick a podium selection from such a fine set of clues, but I’ll settle on 12a, 13a & 26d.

   Many thanks to RayT and also to Shabbo.

3. Mr T a little less friendly than of late, but still as concise and enjoyable as ever. I cannot better RD’s choice of podium places so I will piggy back his trio of goodies.

   Many thanks to Ray T and Shabbo.

4. Dream Team Thursday – someone on Ynys Mon will be very happy. The Master of Brevity in very good form – 2.5*/4.5*

   Candidates for favourite – 10a, 13a, 27a, 8d, 9d, 20d, and 26d – and the winner is 26d.

   Thanks to Mr T and Shabbo.

   P.S. For me, etc, the Silvanus Toughie was not too tough.

5. Like our reviewer I solved this (laboriously) during a sleep interrupted night in spite of copious 15d assistance. I enjoyed the puzzle much more reading back through it this morning with slightly fresher eyes & a more alert brain. Still thought it a good bit chewier than is the norm for one of this setter’s back-pagers. Top 3 for me – 7d for the surface, 23d because I think it’s a great word & last in 24a as it was quite a head scratch.
   Thanks to Ray T & to Shabbo.
   Ps a super Silvanus puzzle over in t’other place that’s well worth a look at + the added bonus of Robyn in the Graun.

6. I found this more difficult than I usually find a Ray T Thursday puzzle due in part, I think, to so many of the checkers being vowels.( That’s my excuse anyway!) I did wonder at times if Ray had borrowed Dada’s thesaurus since some of the synonyms were certainly not the first that sprang to mind. That said,a thouroughly enjoyable challenge as befits a Thursday. Favourite became 1a simply for the time taken for the penny to drop, with podium places for 13a and 25a, though many others were worthy. Thanks to Ray T and Shabbo.

7. I thought this was an excellent puzzle which caused quite a bit of head-scratching for me this morning, but that just made it all the more satisfying on completion. I think 18D was my favourite. Many thanks to Shabbo and RayT.

   I’ve just read a very scholarly paper from a few years ago on cryptic crosswords. Who knew expert solvers were more likely to be left-handed IT professionals! It credits the Big Dave blog in the acknowledgements. Did anyone here take part in the research?

   Click to access The-Grounded-Expertise-Components-Approach-in-the-Novel-Area-of-Cryptic-Crossword-Solving.pdf

   1. Ah, I’m a right-handed IT professional, so that’s presumably why I’m merely a middling solver.

      Still, nice to know what I’ve been doing wrong all these years. The 12-year-old is left-handed, so maybe I should get them to solve the clues I can’t?

      1. You should definitely get the 12-year old on the case. You can never start too young! Although according to that paper, the most common age for starting is late teens.

         1. We did some crosswords together during one of the lockdowns. Or occasionally if I’ve found one straightforward, I’ll suggested it to them. But I’ve never tried getting them to solve the clues that I find too hard!

   2. Fascinating. Thank you for pointing it out. Recommended reading for all on this site.

8. I too solved this in the s.all hours, during an interrupted night’sleep. I found a preponderance of difficult clues over straightforward ones and the checkers were slow to go in. Not as enjoyable as the usual Ray T but I did enjoy the lurkers at1d and 14a and the insect with horrible guts at 24a. Thanks to Ray Tand to Shabbo for the hints.

9. This was a scrap which I won, though The Home Counties had me on the ropes for a while. 24a, my LOI, is a top word as is 23d.

   I can’t tell you how many different clues I’ve seen for 11a. My fave is this one as it sounds like the start of a Monty Python sketch: ‘Fish go into a chippy…’

   My podium is 13a (a rare lego clue from RayT), 7d with the splendid 26d taking top spot.

   Many thanks to Arty and Shabbs.

   4*/4*

10. Mr T in a less benign mood today, for me anyway. It took me ages to get off the start line and that was with some electronic aid.

    Eventually I managed to fill the grid, but there was a lot of getting the answer from the checkers and then working our why.

    I think Terence should definitely propose that 25A be listed!

    ****/*** for me and no particular favourite. Thanks to RayT and Shabbo

    1. I made a mental note for Terence – 23d!

       1. It sounds like a German swear word.

       2. I remember coming across that word back in 1988, in a guide book to Mallorca, written by a Spanish speaker. I’m guessing that when looking up the translation for fértil, 23D was listed first 🤔.

          1. It is a truly splendid word, my ungulated quadrupedal chum.

             1. It would be remiss of me not to mention Withnail..

                1. A great choice and what a film!

                2. I’d quite forgotten Monty used it – probably why I like the word so much 😄
                   Top notch screenplay recall – Bruce would be impressed

                   1. Ha, how could you have forgotten Monty? “S*** on by Tories, shovelled up by Labour”. The man was a visionary!

11. Cracking puzzle, straightforward (just for you, Merusa!) quite a step up in chewiness from the last few days and causing a furrowed brow on quite a few occasions. MrT really is a master of clue construction and requiring the solver to employ some lateral thought. 13a took an age until I finally dismissed any possibility of there being a homophone: an impressive 4-pieces-of-lego clue in only 6 words. Like Tom and I suspect many today, my LOI was 24a, which arrived with a deafening clang when that particular penny dropped.

    Podium to 28a – great combined surface and answer, possibly the best clue I’ve seen for what has recently become an “old friend” of an answer – 24d and COTD 17d.

    Many thanks to MrT and Shabbo. Hope our Floridians are coming through this battering safely.

12. Mr T as succint and enjoyable as ever – thanks to him and Shabbo.
    My ticks were awarded to 1a, 28a, 8d and 9d.

13. Thanks Shabbo, without your hints I would have been a dnf. I found this one very challenging.

14. At first glance I thought that this was going to be a challenge too far as, on first pass, I had one answer. With copious visits to the thesaurus and some fortunate guesses, I arrived at a halt in the NW. Ashamed that I totally missed the 1d lurker but, following Shabbo guiding me back on the straight and narrow, I completed what I thought an excellent puzzle. A dnf, but given my track record in Ray T productions, I’ll take it. Thanks to him, and Shabbo for the hints.

15. Once again the email has all the solutions exposed. I’ll have to remember to bookmark the site before tomorrow in case this is how it is going to be from now on. I usually wait for the email and use the link to the blog in it as then I can be sure the blog is there for that day.

    A DNF for me today. 9d and 23d were the culprits. 5d I managed to dredge up from the memory banks.

    Top picks for me were 10a, 12a and 8d.

    Thanks to Shabbo and Ray T.

    1. Me too with exposed answers. This is the first time it has happened to me and I didn’t realise how upset I would be! I turn to the hints when I am stuck and only ever do a reveal if I am at my wits end. No one else has mentioned it – is it just we two?

       1. No, me too for the last couple of days.

          1. I am slightly confused. Are you saying that the answers on my blog are not hidden by spoilers?

             1. No, the answers in the blog on the site are hidden. However, the daily email now contains the whole blog, without comments, but with the solutions exposed.
                This started yesterday for me.

                1. OK, thanks. At least it is not me.
                   That issue sounds way above my pay grade!

             2. For the second day in a row, all of the hints are there when you click on the link in the inbox. This was compounded today by having all of the answers exposed as well. Not an issue today as I had fortunately finished before opening the link, but I can see that it could be a real problem.
                Regarding today’s puzzle, I thought it was about right for a Thursday. 24a was also my LOI nd has to be the star of the day.
                Thanks,as always, to Ray T and Shabbo.

             3. My answers in the hints are out in the open – uncovered. Don’t get me started on technology!

                1. May I ask if the same problem applies to my Toughie blog?

                   1. No it doesn’t, at least not for me!

                      1. Not me with Toughie😁

                   2. Second day in a row for me too. And also the Toughie.

                      1. Can I just clarify that, please. Are you saying that the Toughie blog had the answers uncovered when you accessed it via your email?

16. Found this to be tough and had to use a couple of hints. 13 and 24a hard to parse. Thanks to all. Looking forward to tomorrow’s offering. (With some trepidation)

17. I found this tough. On a first read through I just got three. Then with concentration and a glass of wine I gradually began to winkle them out. As I said above, I felt quite discombobulated to find the answers prominently in the hint – not complaining, just saying I didn’t realise how much I relied on working out the answer with the aid of a hint. I do admire the commitment of all the Hinters 🥰. Terence has to put 33d on The List / who would use that? I think 26a was best, made me laugh although I think we have had something similar. Many thanks to Messrs. Setter & Shabbo.

    1. I think a glass of wine would definitely have helped me today, but as I am solving over breakfast probably not an option…

18. As Senf forecast, the lady from across the Strait is very happy – it’s Dream Team day again!
    Thought Mr T had upped his game a bit today, didn’t help that I was awaiting the arrival of a man with a needle – my annual flu jab.
    All done now, as is the puzzle, but the latter certainly wasn’t an easy ride. Much pushing and shoving for places on the podium, my final winners being 12&19a plus 9d.

    Devotions of course to Mr T and many thanks to Shabbo for the review.

    1. I trust there was no pushing and shoving involved in the flu jab!

       1. Fortunately not, but the jab was administered by a fairly large black man who could doubtless have punctured most things placed before him!

19. Nice to have our fortnightly visit from RayT today. Found this puzzle toward the tougher end of his spectrum this week.

    3*/3.5*

    Favourites 19a, 29a, 8d, 9d & 15d — with winner 8d
    Many smiles to be had all over once the pennies finally dropped.
    A couple of chestnuts showed up this week too.

    Thanks to RayT & & Shabbo

20. Toughest for a while for me – I had to reveal the first letter of 24a and d – 24d is a perfectly respectable word, but v much a North of the border one, and just wouldn’t come to mind with just the other checkers, but while 24a may exist in the dictionary I would be pretty confident I have never heard it used…

21. I am sure my absence has gone unnoticed but today’s was my first in three weeks having just returned from an apparently DT free Spain. Or at least the bit we were in. What a treat. I thought Shabbo’s assessment correct and given my recent lack of practice at the top end of ***.
    I did waste a little time on 26d trying to think what Drachma might be in Greek but having decided that too severe the penny then dropped. 25a was a new word for me as I have hitherto only seen it with the ICAL at the end but gettable. My COTD was 17d although there were many good clues. Thanks RayT and our hinter.

    1. Gone unnoticed? Nonsense, NAS!

       Welcome back.

       I hope you had a fab time in La Piel de Toro.

    2. Welcome back, NAS! Hope you had a great holiday.

    3. I must say I’ve always thought that Delirium Tremens was rife in certain parts of Spain. Certainly incompatible with solving RayT crossies!

       1. Whenever I see or hear that phrase I’m reminded of Christy Moore

          1. Sorry to be so unresponsive

             Major issues – amputation of a small part of the hound and transport issues has meant my crossword presence has been even less.

             I shall be hopefully back with you all shortly.

             Forgive me that

22. NE quadrant was toughest for me but once I recalled THRACE as the ‘old region ‘ I was soon finished. Thanks for the parsing of 22d – I just couldn’t see where the CH had come from. Nho ‘spread’ to mean ‘ranch’ before; I did wonder if ranch dressing might have been the spread but had not felt convinced by it. Thanks Ray T & Shabbo

23. For me incredibly tough but very satisfying to finish
    3*/5*
    LOI 24ac – I’m sure it is a word, just a word I’ve never used.
    26d my favourite

24. I think Shabbo’s first thought of **** was right. I found this decidedly more tricky than the usual RayT chewy but fair puzzles. I did great at maths in school until we got to logarithms and then my brain switched off so I was never going to get 4d, 24a is not a word I have ever come across, and was ignorant of 25a despite knowing a lovely evangelical couple many years ago. Plus I found 17d strange. Not been a good week for me, with being a dismal failure at solving so far, crashing in Wordle and spending two exhausting days preparing for Milton. Can’t complain about the latter as there are 3 million people badly affected by it and we down in the southeast were spared again. Writing this in somewhat darkness as we haven’t yet been outside to open up all our shutters yet. At least it looks as if I can still get my CT scan tomorrow. Thanks to RayT but above my pay grade, and to Shabbo.

25. Excellent, as always, from Ray T. Great clues, a tricky challenge and a very enjoyable tussle. Many ticked and I’ll pick 26d as my favourite. 3.5*/4.5*.

26. I didn’t find today any more difficult for Thursday RayT days usually are.
    I liked 12 and 29a and 18 and 24d. My favourite was 7d.
    Thanks to RayT for the crossword and to Shabbo for the hints.

27. I crashed and burned in the SW, second day in a row! I was so off wavelength, I was rubbish. I was encouraged when I completed the NW corner, but I needed help for the NE and SE, then failed in the SW. Is it me? I thought a lot more than ***. I liked the fish, chippy gave it away, the top barristers and the lurking drink at 14a.
    Thank you RayT, I’m on my knees in defeat. Thanks also to Shabbo for solving most of it for me.
    If we had any side effects from Milton last night, I slept through them. Bright sunshine and blue skies today, first time in a week and so welcome.

28. And me Merusa, right from the first across clue … really tough but fair. Thank you Ray T and Shabbo

29. I’m improving on the RayT ones maybe…. thanks all

30. Evening all. Many thanks to Shabbo for the review and to everybody else for your observations.

    RayT

    1. Good evening Mr T, that was quite a work-out you gave us today!

       1. And some … but thanks anyway. May we have the foot a little lighter on the pedal next time please?

    2. Thank you, Ray T for a great guzzle. You beat me today with a few but it was still entertaining. To think that, at one time, I could make neither head nor tail of your offerings. Thanks to Big Dave’s teaching, I now relish them.

31. This was a crossword of four quadrants each one only being separated by only four lights, in the West this made it easier and in the East harder. My last one in was the SE. Brilliant and enjoyable in equal measure. Favourite was 26d, I thought I had the answer for ages but the parsing escaped me until the penny dropped. Thanks to Rayt and Shabbo.

32. Thought this was going to be a DNF as I came back to it several times over course of the day but NW held fast until a few minutes ago when the laggers suddenly began to dawn. Fav 11a when I realised I wasn’t looking for some form of chish and fips however I also liked 8d. Was not aware of 19a as technologically advanced. 22d spread “synonym” a new one on me. Thanks MrT particularly for revealing your identity and also TVM Shabbo for interrupting your sleepless night and more.

    1. I interpreted it to be like a 19a phone or TV are technologically advanced.

33. I found this harder than normal and struggled to get on wavelength, I needed Shabbo to help with the last few. That said it has been a long day. The whole exercise has not been helped by the new puzzle site initially letting me start the puzzle then when I returned none of the puzzles would load and simply had blank screens. This has been the case all day, I have uninstalled and reinstalled the telegraph app and still none of the puzzles are loading. Has anyone else had this issue today? In the end I have used the puzzle app which did work.

    Many thanks to Ray T and to Shabbo for the hints

34. My brain was apparently on a different wavelength, or possibly a different planet today since I stalled about halfway thoruigh this. Eventually gave up and used Shabbo’s excellent hints and then spent quite a while kicking myself. Found a couple of words that I thought were on the fringe, but nothing outrageous. So why did I have so much trouble (rhetorical)? Thanks to Ray T (who beat me) and Shabbo (who rescued me), but overall not a great experience today.

35. I don’t usually do the Thursday puzzle and found this one difficult. Maybe it is me, but I don’t think some of the synonyms are correct. For instance, I don’t think assistant is a synonym of partner, fecund does not mean rich, desperate is neither severe nor rash, and a kiss is not a caress

    1. Welcome to the blog

       This Thursday’s setter is well known for his extremely stretched synonyms

       1. Thanks. Helpful to know that

36. 3*/4* ….
    liked 23D “Rich reserve protecting European Commission (6)”

Comments are closed.