DT 30916

52 comments on “DT 30916”

1. I didn’t think that The Gable Endies would ever appear in the DT crossword but here they are today. A couple of my other haunts to in 13a and 23d.

   Favourite has to be the 9d river which often confuses new solvers.

   Thanks to today’s setter and Mr K.

   1. Forgot to mention, but my uncle during his student summer break, drove 8d around the Scottish Highlands when he was here for the grouse shooting one year.

      1. That is a tremendous famous story, DP!

         Your uncle must have been praying that the car didn’t break down.

         1. Knowing my uncle, he would probably have rolled up his sleeves and fixed it with the help of his passenger! Hopefully if it it was from the passenger’s company it would not have had any issues.

            1. For sure.

               He must have filled his boots and them some with the sales of the Model T Ford.

               That really is a great story. You or a family member wouldn’t happen to have a pic of uncs with him?

               1. Sadly not.

                  1. A shame. Still, I’m sure he has dined out on it.

                     I’m not bad on footy nicknames but I’ve never heard of The gable dooberies and I love the story behind it too!

2. Thank you Mr K for the hints which I needed to understand 5a 17d and 23d fully. Some great clues with 22d being my favourite and 16&20d excellent. I thought 21a amusing. All in all **/****. Thanks to our setter.

3. Identity of the setter immediately ‘given away’ by 1a! A most enjoyable Friday challenge – ***/*****

   Candidates for favourite – 5a, 12a, 14a, 3d, 9d, 20d – and the winner is 20d.

   Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

   We haven’t ‘seen’ 18a for a while, but if you don’t know what this antipodean native looks like:

   

   1. Saw one on an excursion to see wildlife after a work conference in Melbourne some years ago.
      I thought 20a and 20d were among the best clues. Agree with the difficulty rating.

   2. Almost forgot, a kitty illustration for 16d:

      

4. 3*/5*. Senf has beaten me to it with his opening remark. The setter was obvious at the outset from 1a, and it brought a big smile to my face!

   Cryptic crosswords don’t get any better than this. It was a joy to solve from beginning to end with ticks by all the clues.

   Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.

5. Nice work from Silvanus though I had to work hard for it.

   New words for me were the meaning of ‘long’ in 24a, a dirk, the Cambridge exam (biffed) and the bird.

   Lots to choose from for the silverware but I’ll go with 13a, 6d (for the giggle factor) and 17d (nice construction).

   MT to S and K.

   4*/5*

   1. The etymology for the name for the Cambridge exam is not certain, but one thought (which rather appeals to me) is that it was derived in the 16th century from the three-legged stool that students sat on during an oral examination (nothing to do with dentistry!)

      1. I do hope that’s true as it’s a belter.

6. Perfect fare for a Friday. Nicely accessible but with a fair few clues to test the grey matter so I needed Mr K’s confirmation on a couple to assure me that I wasn’t drifting off course. So many contenders, but I’ll plump for 20d as my cotd. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

7. I can only echo Rabbit Dave’s comment. This was one of the best and I loved solving it. I’ve never heard the word at 11a before, but then I don’t move in circles where it might be used! In fact, I don’t move much these days but my daily crossword fix keeps me sane. I wanted to justify ‘ pines’ for 24a, my LOI, but quickly saw the error of my ways. I’m not going to even attempt to choose a podium trio today. There are too many options. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

8. For me, the trickiest puzzle of the week shows up on Friday. Tough to get going and parsing difficult too.
   3*/3*

   Favourites 13a, 15a, 18a, 21a & 9d — with winner 13a

   Thanks to setter (Silvanus?) & Mr K.

9. What a superb Friday back-pager from Mr Smooth. I did need to investigate the Cambridge exam and was very amused at the thought of the king wanting to subsidise the car manufacturer but my top marks went to 13&20a plus 14&20d. Gold medal awarded to the humorous 20d.

   Many thanks to Silvanus and also to Mr K for the review.

   1. Jane, lovely to have you back after a few days’ absence. Great puzzle to come back for!

10. An excellent Friday puzzle – thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.
    My ticks went to 16d, 20d and 22d.

11. Enjoyable.14d last in,not a word I’ve heard before. Some tricky down clues I thought.

    1. You’ve changed your alias (from rp1428) so this needed moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

12. An cracking Friday puzzle which my goddaughter sent me promptly meaning she must be on an early shift today instead of her usual late. Hence I can comment in real time, so to speak. Fine, pretty concise clues provided a decent challenge and a satisfying solve. I have lots of ticks and it’s difficult to isolate an absolute favourite. So, I’ll just mention 6d because the assumed pronunciation of the definition and that of the required homophone for the answer are quite different and give good misdirection – I like that in a cryptic clue. Also, the surface read is very humorous in a schoolboyish way. 3.5*/4.5*.

13. Absolutely first class. Take a bow, Silvanus. Perfectly pitched for a Friday as well.
    There used to be a London based touring veterans rugby team called Old 11a, who always wore splendid striped blazers and brightly coloured ties. I suspect that they no longer exist, following the sad passing of two stalwart members.
    Back to the puzzle…too many great clues for a podium so I will just go with 11a as my CoD, largely for sentimental reasons.
    Great stuff. Many thanks to Silvanus and Senf.

    1. Not me!

       1. Oops. Sorry. Thanks to Mr K.

14. A very good puzzle indeed. I often duck Fridays, because they can be tricky and I may have been out on a Thursday night, but today’s offering will encourage me to make the effort more often. My favourite was the very smart 22d, but there were plenty of other smiles along the way with a special mention for 20d. I had never heard of an 18a but I have now and shall commit the egg-laying mammal that isn’t a platypus to memory. Thanks very much to the setter and to Mr K.

15. It was difficult to get a foothold, particularly in the NE but I got there in the end. I know absolutely nothing about Scottish football but, fortunately, 1a was a superb reverse lurker. I also liked the bird Lego clue at 14d and the card game Lego clue at 16d. 17d was a lovely anagram too. Thanks to Silvanus for a plethora of fine clues and to Mr K for the hints.

16. Arrrrgggg, was careless with the last letter of 21a, which prevented me getting 20d! What a plonker. Great puzzle though. Never heard of the bird and probably never will – not my specialist subject! Ticked 5a, 12a, 6d and 22d but all fall behind the fantastic use of “discovered” in 17d. I had the answer but couldn’t see how to reduce the number of letters in the fodder. Splendid!!

    Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

17. Despite a plethora of GK clues – from obscure Scottish football teams to Australian egg laying mammal -much enjoyed and finished without help – a rare Friday event.
    My thanks to Setter and Mr K

18. Sitting in Waitrose restaurant (other supermarkets are available, this is closest!) waiting until I have to go and pick up George from his cataract operation. Very har work but a satisfying solve, haven’t quite finished but thought I would clock in as I shall probably be in ‘nurse’ mode for the rest of the day! 27a made me think of Bogarde, who I saw frequently in my two years in the film industry. I lusted after him, but Miss Roberts told me I was wasting my time. I had no idea what she meant. So 27a is favourite at the moment. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Kay.

    1. Me to with Dirk Bogarde DG. My older brother informed me that he ‘batted for the other side’ – I had no idea what he meant either!

       1. Brilliant!
          Have’nt heard that term for yonks.
          Not sure if it is PC nowadays, but it had me laughing.

19. An excellent workout today, enough chewiness to keep you honest whilst still remaining enjoyable 👏
    You can tell its hot out by the abundance of tic(k)s mentioned by many posters.
    Thanks to both.

20. Back in crossword land after a busy time. Trying to sell our house in France is necessary, poignant and rather difficult. Certainly it feels as difficult as a tricky Friday puzzle.
    Failed at 20 down and had to go to our site for help. Nice though to be solving a fun puzzle especially as it stops one thinking of other problems and is therefore a total relaxation. Thanks to all.

21. Great crossword with general knowledge for once right up my street. In my opinion not quite as tricky as most Fridays. One query though- I think 1a is in a different division to that implied by the clue. May be it’s wishful thinking!

    1. That was my first thought but the P is for Proffessional which covers all 4 leagues. The top league is the SPL where the P denotes Premier!

22. Good guzzle today although I had to look up all the Scottish football teams. Great WI visit to the local cheesery yesterday and some brilliant cheese tasting. The prettiest cows I have ever seen! No particular hang ups today and no particular favourites so thanks to all.

    1. Pretty cows

       

       1. Very pretty, but not 13As though!

23. I am clearly having an off day as I needed help to complete this and now cannot see why. I did not know the exam, the dirk or the bird so ai have learnt some new words today. I had 8d as my favourite. There were lots of beautifully constructed clues as ever.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the excellent hints which I needed today.

24. Great way to end the week.
    A good variety of clues with some humorous surface reads, particularly 6d.
    Today’s honours go to 3d, 20d and 22d.
    Thanks Mr K and Silvanus.

25. Excellent crossword with nothing I didn’t know or couldn’t parse but I still has think quite a bit though. Hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with the splendid 20a. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.

26. Many thanks to Mr K and to all solvers and commenters.

    A very good weekend to everyone.

    See you all again soon.

27. What a terrific puzzle to get me back into the solving world after a busy few days of this and that. It was obvious who our setter was from the off, so many thanks to Silvanus for a real belter and to Mr K.

28. A lovely puzzle, thank you Silvanus – I felt you were being very gentle with us for a Friday! Trademark surfaces, great variety of clues, all GK within (my, at least) grasp, much humour throughout. Honours to 22d, 23d & 10a.

    Many thanks also to MrK

29. Lovely puzzle. 13A, 21A, 8D for the best laughs. VMT Silvanus and Mr K.

30. Good evening

    Missed out on the last two days’ crozzies, so very much looking forward to getting stuck into today’s. By crikey, it was a challenge! I got ’em all in the end, but I had to have a quick look at the hints to twig 14a. That then, thankfully, disabused me of the (daft) idea that my last to fall, 14d, was SHELDRAKE. Of course it bloomin wasn’t!

    COTD is 22d.

    Many thanks to the legendary Brain Of Silvanus and to Mr K.

31. Fieldfare done me…thanks for your help…

32. Found this tricky even allowing for Friday, 3.5* / 3.5*. My favourites are 14d bird, strange animal 18a and 27a dirk

    Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K

33. 4*/3* ….
    liked 6D “Wind you and I have that’s audible ! (5)”

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