DT 30938

61 comments on “DT 30938”

1. Best puzzle in ages, right at the top end of my capability, any harder and it wouldn’t have got done.

   Very, Very cryptic, last one for me was 24d, couldn’t see how Carmen equated to the three middle letters, but it dawned on me about an hour later when making a cup of tea, funny how the mind won’t let it lie.

   My two of the day were 24d, 25d and the brilliantly crafted 6d.

   Take a bow Mr Setter, a masterpiece.

   1. Reminds me of the days when we did lots of fancy dress parties. On one occasion the theme was Opera. One of our friends turned up in ordinary clothes and we all pounced on him for letting the side down. Not at all, he said. He was a perfectly legitimate opera. We puzzled for ages until he pointed out he was wearing an AA tie. Carmen!

      1. Love it!

2. A bit of a curate’s egg for me at **/**. I needed the hints to understand the answers to 6d and 26d the latter which I thought referred to 11a so put “raft” in for a while which distracted me. 24d was a new word for me but just guessable. I did enjoy 20a as a nicely deceptive partial lurker and my COTD was 27a. A two pipe problem. Thanks Senf and our setter.

   1. Apologies for any more confusion than is generally inherent in my ramblings: I have just noticed that my reference to 26d should have been to the preceding number.

3. 4d why is hell pot!! Surely it’s hot so the answer would be not a country bumpkin?

   1. Hell is a PIT

   2. The answer isn’t a country bumkin, it’s a Spoonerism of helll ( pit) and the Devil (Nick)

      1. And it means the same as the definition CAVIL.

4. R&W but 20a and 24d worthy of a mention.

5. A brilliant crossword with lots to make the solver smile so I have a fair idea as to who set this one

   Many thanks to him and Senf

   1. I found the parsing of some clues in this guzzle difficult tto fathom and had to move aeay from the top and start at the bottom. Once a few checkers went in, I was able to use them, the definition and old-fashioned guesswork to complete the grid. I didnt feel on the compiler’s wavelength as much as some contributors obviously did. I did like the three geographical clues at 15a, 18a and 16d and the 1d and 1a anagrams. Thanks to Senf for the hints and to the compiler.

6. Very gentle for a Wednesday but very enjoyable nonetheless. The four longuns certainly helped in setting the remainder in place and even the Rev was straightforward. 20d was clever and forms part of my podium with 4d and 20a in top place. Thanks to compiler and Senf.

7. 2*/4*. A shame about the unindicated Americanism in 3d which took the gloss off an otherwise excellent puzzle.

   Thanks to the setter and to Senf.

   1. Pants as trousers is only “esp N Am” in the BRB, RD, but surely in this case as it is the everyday-UK slang for nonsense/rubbish being used as an anagram indicator, the question of whether it is exclusively or just especially an Americanism is somewhat academic? It resulted in a rather stilted surface read, regardless.

      1. Rabbit Dave is referring to the American word for what we would call a launderette

         1. Which I also identified in the hint 😊

            1. Ah-ha… not needing them, I hadn’t read the hints today (sorry Senf!) and thought it was an objection to ‘pants’! The answer leapt to mind on reading the clue so I wrote it in, moved on, and forgot about it entirely.

   2. But at least it prompted an excuse to play a bit of Rory – as if I needed one

      1. 👍

8. Took a couple of tries before solving this very enjoyable puzzle. Really well crafted clues and a fair smattering of smiles. Top work setter.

   Thanks to them and senf for the hints although I found it a bit harder at ***/**** – probably because I’m not as expert.

9. Late on parade today because of having to take the car to the garage. I did the crossword while having coffee and lemon drizzle cake at Booka in Oswestry. Booka is a book shop where you can browse books while having your drink. Fabulous place. I have to take the car back tomorrow so I will be paying them another visit.

   As for the crossword, I have mixed feelings. It all went well to begin with then I ground to a halt. I had “Rawlock” for 5d so that messed up 1a. I have never heard the item called that before but I’m not a rower. There were a couple I didn’t understand such as 22a so will look at the hints for explanations. My COTD is the Rattle in 9a – a nice Lego glue.

   Thank you, setter for the guzzle. Thank you, Mr. Mustard for the hints.

   Strange that the third clue in the Quickie pun was part of the answer.

   1. I always thought the word was ‘Rowlock’ as used by Fraser to great effect in Dad’s Army, glad you mentioned the car, wondered why I was first today!

      1. As I’m taking the car in again tomorrow, TC you may well be first again. 😊

         1. No chance Steve, that much excitement will only make me dizzy 😉

   2. George, who is (was) an oarsman having rowed at Henley and in The Head of the River, says rowlock is screwed on to the side of the boat whereas an oarlock he thinks is cut out of the side of the boat. He says it is uncommon.

10. I found this a very entertaining and enjoyable puzzle with a few in the south east that took longer to fathom. The lurkers and anagrams were excellent, and several of the short clues went straight in which is unusual. I will have 24d as my favourite today.

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

11. There is a special wing on THE LIST which is reserved for five letter entrants, thus we welcome 24d as it is nestled into place between obeli and tarsi.
    There have been some comments from visitors about the cold and gloom in the Five Letter Wing but these artefacts must be kept at a constant temperature and protected from the sunlight. Your visitors’ guide (£35 from the gift shop) has more details.

    For me, and I stress for me (© Senf), I thought this was an excellent guzzle – I chipped away at it glue by glue. Great fun.

    Thanks to the setter and (former jetsetter) The Man From Manitoba

    1. We’re back to the old question of should proper nouns go on the list? Mind you, it’s your list so you can do what you want with it 😂

12. Superb. Absolutely superb.

    So much to like with stacks of great constructions on display. I’m guessing this is the work of Rock (Hudson) but it could be Silvy Wilvy. CS often comments when it’s the former. So, my money’s on him.

    19d and 24 have been added to the crib sheet and it was nice to get a name check in 8d.

    Check out what apt word is in the middle of these two (apologies if this gets redacted) Peru Inca

    My podium is 24d, 25d with top honours going to the brilliant 21a.

    MT to ‘The Rock’ and the Big S

    2*/5* (I’ve tuned a blind eye to the Americanism as the setter has accumulated so many beans in the jar)

    1. I should’ve put the most excellent 27a on my podium. A touch of class, baby. A touch of class.

       Which reminds me of…..

       I loved that Lee encouraged the ball to get up onto the green. He’s such a great guy who’s known for talking too much and this anecdote sums him up perfectly:

       Tony Jacklin said to him, at the start of the final round of the 1972 Open at Muirfield that Lee won, ” Lee, I’d rather not talk during today’s round” to which Lee replied ”No problem, Tony. Don’t talk. Just listen”.

       Brilliant!

       1. Great clip

    2. I also forgot to say how much I loved the pun.

       Right up my strasse.

13. A cracking puzzle full of clever touches – thanks to the setter and Senf.
    I have masses of ticks on my printout including 21a, 28a, 4d, 6d, 20d and 24d.

14. A very straightforward and mostly enjoyable puzzle, with the only slight annoyance being the appearance of two Disneys. 13 and 20a were my co-favourites.

    Many thanks to our Wednesday setter and Senf.

15. A lovely puzzle with just the right amount of chewiness.
    Lots to like and top picks from me are 9a, 13a, 20a and 24d.
    I also liked the Quickie pun.
    Thanks to Senf and the setter.

16. A swift and gentle but absolutely cracking puzzle. Honours to 28a, 20d, 24d & 25d.

    Many thanks to the setter (Hudson would be a good call, but with the early Spoonerism, so too would be Twm.) and to Senf.

17. 24d ! What a bobby dazzler, worth the paper money for that alone .By the way I didn’t understand until I saw the hint .A superb offering today . Thanks to all.

18. Something of a mixed bag for me today and I certainly don’t want to get into a debate about the ‘talent’ of the 28a singer. My knowledge of 24d was confined to the character in Harry Potter, didn’t know he was also a heavenly body!
    Top clues here were 9&15a plus 8d.
    Thanks to our setter and to Senf for the review and Sir Simon’s rendition of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

19. Got there thanks to much bunging e.g. failed to parse 13a. Not keen on multiple uses of pants these days as per 3d. Altogether an amusing solve so many thanks to setter and to Senf for being on hand.

20. Joining all those giving plaudits to this excellent puzzle. Whilst the North was pretty much read and write, the South was trickier but yielded nicely with some very humorous PDM’s. I wonder if anyone added ‘ette’ as a bung in for 3d given the lack of indication?

    Liked the 22a BRICS definition, the spore down foonerism, the construction of 20d although I wasn’t aware of that synonym and the 24d PDM for “Carmen” – superb.

    Thanks to the setter – whomsoever and Senf for the blog.

21. I liked this puzzle and thought it not too hard for a Wednesday. Some clue recycling seems to be going on, both 12a and 13a having appeared (verbatim?) very recently in other puzzles. Thanks to Send and setter.

22. Very enjoyable.
    Ticks for 9a, 23a, 27a, 28a, 1d, 6d, 8d, 25d and 25d.
    Thank you setter (Twm, perhaps?) and Senf.

23. Another enjoyable midweeker, 1.5* / 3.5*, lots of excellent misdirection and smiles. Not sure why I took so long to get the county though!
    Favourites 28a, 27a group and the brilliant crimson at 6d
    Thanks to setter and Senf

24. I found this Wednesday puzzle this week quite approachable and relatively trouble free. Like a regular Monday puzzle almost.

    1.5*/3.5*

    Favourites 15a, 20a, 4d, 7d & 16d — with winner 16d
    Smiles for 12a, 15a (I lived there for 8 years of my life), 18a, and yes it can be glacial in winter & 25d

    Thanks to setter for a fun solve & Senf for hints/blog

25. Not struck on this one Iam afraid. I thought 4d was a bit weird and 3d I only sussed because it was an anagram ( not a word I have ever heard used) and I have never known 5d called that before – the first three letters are different. I did enjoy most of the rest of it, but as soon as I get something I don’t like, I am afraid it spoils the whole thing for me! Sorry.

26. A bit of a mixed bag for me, some delightfully cryptic clues, and some using words I had to Google to verify their definition, such as BRICS and cavil having never heard them before; likewise the answer to 19d. 4d was almost LI as I have an aversion to all things Spooner. But the rest fell into place nicely, so a good Wednesday, and enjoyable. Closer to ** than * IMHO. Thanks to setter and Senf.

27. Late again I’m afraid. How can I not get to do the things I want to do? Anyway, I really enjoyed the guzzle when I got round to it – last one in was 9a and I was just about to turn to Senf for help when I remembered Simon! What a brilliant clue, I love it. The four long clues were very useful. What sort of setter decides to incorporate 19d into a guzzle? So much fun. Many thanks to both Setter and Senf – I always wanted to go to Calgary as a fellow classmate from my school in Wimbledon, Anne Marrable, moved out there in the 50’s. I wonder if she is still there.🤭!

28. I was going to reiterate Busy Lizzie’s opening words. It helped getting 1d and 8d quickly but I slipped up by putting Warlock for 5d despite being advised to shed weight! This error delayed me getting the anagram at 1a for quite some time though I had moved on elsewhere in the puzzle. 17a brought a smile.
    22a did cause some head-scratching as I had never heard of BRICS and didn’t have time to look it up but got the right answer! Last one in was 25d. I spent ages trying to see the connection with 11a! Light bulb moment. DOH! Many thanks to the setter and Senf.

29. Didn’t help maybe that I tried to solve this half asleep at 3am having awoken at 1.30 & unable to get to back to 💤. In any event I plodded through it until a blank at 24d – I didn’t know the stars, couldn’t fathom what to put into my party, lost patience & looked up constellations & was then immediately irritated that the Carmen context hadn’t dawned on me. Odd that the same word popped up in the Quickie.
    A proper read through this morning yielded a much better appreciation of the puzzle’s merits. Ticks aplenty – 9,13,18,27&28a along with 4,16,19&20d particular likes.
    Thanks to the setter (Hudson presumably if Twm took ownership of Monday?) & to Senf.
    Ps Diamonds Are Forever was the first Bond I ever saw (aged 9) in the cinema in a double bill with You Only Live Twice having devoured the books at boarding school. Watching it years later Shirley belting out Don Black’s lyrics is the best thing about it.

30. Enjoyed that – unusually gentle for a Wednesday I thought.

    Intrigued that a word I didn’t know was an answer in both the Quick and the Cryptic puzzles today.

31. Hi Senf

    I have only just seen your picture of Mitchell Johnson’s run-up.

    Great find!

32. Very enjoyable canter through the clues after a difficult day. Many thanks to Senf and the compiler. Got all the way on my own bar 24D then the old trick of putting it aside, letting the little grey cells do their stuff and bingo!;

33. It is beyond me that this is a one * for difficulty. New words in 4d, 20a and 24d. Also some challenging clues, for me at least.

    I’ve done a fair bit of paddling/boating and never heard of 5d before. I’ve always called it a rowlock (pronounced rollock).

    I needed to reveal the answer to 20a. Much of the SE corner then fell in to place.

    Thanks to all.

34. Few may see this in the UK, but I see many comments about people never having heard of oarlock. I, on the other hand, had never heard of rowlock. Quite understandable as, according to Collins, the British term is rowlock and the US and Canadian term is oarlock. Another word for Rabbit Dave’s list.

    1. Interesting, Falcon – and, what with the Americanism in 3d as well, maybe the setter is American or at the very least Transatlantic / has spent some considerable time in the US?

    2. But in the BRB there is no geographical attribution just an indication that oarlock is ‘rare.’

35. Came to a grinding halt in the SE corner, mainly due to 20a & 20d. Due to my sketchy mythology knowledge, I needed the hints for 20a.
    Great puzzle.
    Thanks Senf and the setter.

36. 2*/5* …
    liked 20A “Female rock singer (7)” , amongst several others.

37. Far too many General Knowledge Solutions and Clues!

    As the original Big Dave used to say frequently: this is not a General Knowledge Crossword!

    1. You’ve changed your alias so this needed moderation. All the aliases you’ve used will work in future.

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