DT 31006

78 comments on “DT 31006”

1. I found this a bit of a struggle. I’ve never heard of Zatopek so I had to resort to Mr. G. to find out. Rather like “number” in Ray T’s puzzle yesterday “plane” caught me out today. Favourites were the over sensitive person at 24a, the compilers means of communication at 27a and the usual occupants of the pit at 4d. My COTD is, however, the sister with the drink problem at 11a.

   Thank you, setter for the Friday challenge. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints.

   I thought the Quickie pun was neat.

2. That South East is resisting so I shall take help from your clues. Thanks!

   1. 4d and the cryptic definition art 18aThe SE of this guzzle was a hard nut to crack, but, having always enjoyed watching athletics, Zatopek immediately came to mind and the NE fell into place easily. I really liked the two long Lego clues at 3d and 9d, even though the former caused a loud clang rather than a PDM. Thee lurker at 8a were great clues roo, the latter being my COTD. Many thanks to the compiker for an enjoyable solve and to Mr K for the hints .

      1. Maybe I am looking at the wrong grid but I cannot see an 8a in grid 31006. Can anyone help?

         1. You’ve changed your alias so this needed moderation. All three of your aliases will work from now on.
            What did you think of the puzzle?

         2. Crisscross meant 4d – we often get our numbers, crosses and downs mixed up.

            1. Thanks Steve. Another Stanley Unwinesque muddle on my part. Yes 4d is what I meant.

3. Was up to usual Friday standards. 18a my favorite, 19d close second.

4. A bit of a mixture for me today, quite a few bung-ins, and several that needed more thought.
   The topical mention of drivers over 70 in 18a was the one that caught my eye.
   The popular sandwich in 25a and the English scoff in 15d were worth shouting up and the book clubs clue at 19d had a fine surface read.
   My thanks to the setter and Mr K.

5. Hands up who else had to google 6a!

   Great puzzle, great fun, my two of the day were the wonderfully misleading 13a and 18a.

   Getting a bit nervous now as I’m in for cataract treatment tomorrow, oh well, fingers crossed…..

   1. Yep – I googled!

      I had my cataracts done a few years ago. A simple procedure and it made my sight 100% better.

   2. Yes, Mr.Google was called upon serveral times. Good luck with the op. I have had cataracts in both eyes successfully operated on – 10 years apart.

   3. I certainly recalled the East European athlete’s name and thought I remembered watching him in action on our old black and white TV.
      Couldn’t have though, I’d have been too young as I discovered when I ran a Czech.

      1. ????

         1. That should be a laughing emoji!

            1. Cheers, Granners.
               I was quite pleased with that one meself.

   4. Oddly enough, I got Zatopek straight away although I am the least sporty person you could meet, apart from tennis. And a bit of rubbed off rowing and fencing phrases. My brother must have followed him in the distant past

   5. Don’t be nervous about the cataract treatment. Peter had his done 20 years ago, and me 2 years ago. I was prescribed several eye drops afterwards to aid with recovery, so needed to make sure I followed the short term regime, and no complaints whatsoever.

6. If you didn’t know what day of the week it is, you would after tackling this puzzle. Most definitely a Friday puzzle – 3.5*/4*

   Candidates for favourite – 11a, 27a, 5d, and 22d -and the winner is 5d.

   If it was set by a member of the Friday triumvirate then I would say it was a Zandio production, ‘outside’ of the Friday triumvirate I would say a Karla production. So thanks to whomsoever and Mr K.

   A kitty ‘leaving early’ from the 4d performance?

   

   1. It may or may not be relevant but Karla set today’s Toughie.

      1. Life was so much better when we had advance notice of the Toughie setters!

7. A cracking puzzle which I really enjoyed – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
   I particularly liked 6a (Zatopek was a hero of mine when I was growing up), 11a (amusing surface), 14a (shock separation – brilliant!), 3d and 9d.

   The DT Vintage Series has now reached 1973 and today’s puzzle (Vintage 19) is great fun and not too tricky. Why not give it a go? Rossophile will be blogging it later.

8. 3*/4*. Once again I can think of reasons why this was not set by a member of our regular Friday threesome.

   I did enjoy it although the solving difficulty varied enormously. The first three quarters of this flew into place remarkably quickly but that progress came to a juddering halt in the SE corner which was very tough indeed.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

9. I was stumped by the SE corner and resorted to the hints, so a dnf unaided. My problem was in solving 23a but with that sorted the rest fell into place. Other than that hiccup, a great Friday offering. I particularly liked the exercise guru but it misses out on a podium spot to 1d, 13a and 2d. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.

10. Thank you again – another day with a highly entertaining puzzle to solve

11. Apart from having to google Zapotek, the rest flowed very nicely.
    Favourite was 18a – I liked “drivers over 70”.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

    I hope Karla is in a friendly mood on the other channel, as I feel a little jaded this Friday.

12. This is the first time I have solved a puzzled deemed 4*. Feeling pleased with myself

    1. I’ve changed your alias to your usual one to avoid confusion because we already have a regular commenter called Chris M.

13. I was on wavelength today, and I managed to complete without any real holdups . Nicely chewy I thought and enjoyable, and yes I googled 6a , but didn’t really clock his Christian name but solved it by parsing , so feel vindicated. For some reason the parsing of 9d completely eluded me , but it is actually quite obvious – doh ! Thanks to the setter and Mr K

14. A steady solve with 17d a LOL, as young folk used to say at the start of the current century. Like others, I slowed down in the S and particularly in the Home Counties. I also had to google the Czech fellow, it being a long time since I collected the Cleveland(?) petrol stickers issued to coincide with the Munich Olympics. Thanks very much to the setter and to Mr K.

15. Most enjoyable, thank you setter (Zandio?) – broad smile at 11’s surface, honours to 9d, 13a, 14a and 24a.

    Thanks also of course to Mr K

16. I too had to Google the athlete. It was nice to see our old friend 4d making a return.
    For me it was the NW corner which held out longest and the SE was quite straightforward. Funny how we all differ.
    Top picks for me were 11a, 24a, 3d and 17d

    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

17. A steady, if not exactly swift, solve today. Some great clues. The intersecting 24a and 3d my picks of the bunch. Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

18. I found this one easier than many Fridays once I got into it. Like others I did not know 6a and needed google confirmation of my educated guess. I liked the clue mix and had 3d as my favourite.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.

19. Worked my way through it whilst watching the VJ Day service, so somewhat distracted by some incredibly moving stories. It seemed somewhat incongruous to be enjoying the freedom of doing a crossword at leisure when you hear some of those brave men’s memories, but thanks to them I can.
    Like others SE corner held me up but for some reason my LOI was 1d – just didn’t see it.
    Great puzzle, with 24a my favourite – thanks to setter and Mr K
    ***/****

20. On first pass it was looking very much like a resounding defeat – especially the entire right hand side. After a second cup of coffee I was suitably caffeinated to complete with a speed I thought beyond my solving abilities!

    A great puzzle – a lovely challenge. Some super clues – 13,14 &18 across were my favourites.

    Thank you very much setter for a great tussle. And thank you to Mr K for the hints/review

21. Really enjoyed this although found it quite challenging in places. Put me down as another who simply didn’t remember 6a – apologies, Gazza!
    Tough battle for podium places with eventual winners being 14,25&27a.

    Many thanks to our setter and to Mr K for the review.

22. Definitely on the setter’s wavelength today. Very enjoyable puzzle. And I’m old enough to have known of E Zatopek!!

    1. You’ve changed your alias so this required moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

23. I enjoyed the ride in the Western park but the East was quite a different story and needed much prompting. I just couldn’t get on wavelength so was not surprised to find there were numerous far-fetched solutions. I will refrain from enumerating them all. Smooth surfaces do seem to be few and far between these days. I guess Anno Domini counts as I had no problem remembering Zatopek although it did take while to recall first name. TVM setter and MrK.

24. The most straightforward Friday puzzle I can remember; my fastest solve of the week (and probably the month). Thank you to the setter. I particularly enjoyed ‘Put up with’ in 25a, ‘Move over’ in 1d, and my favourite was the ‘Parting shot’ in 14a.

    Thank you to Mr K for explanations, confirmations, and fixing the issue affecting the site layout earlier in the week.

25. For me I found this Friday puzzle rather hard and tricky so I am thinking likely a Zandio production as I have trouble with his puzzles. I am no expert though.
    Lots of parsing I could not fathom either, a trademark with him too.

    3.5*/3* for me today

    Favourites 11a, 5d & 8d — with winner 11a

    Thanks to setter & Mr K

26. Yes I pretty much raced at this until suddenly brought to a halt. I felt sure the shock was hair but never thought of parting. 27a was my last one in, but on the whole I think it has been a gentle week. I posted my thanks late last night (perhaps too late for some) so once again, huge thanks to my ITAE (IT advisors extraordinaire) – do you know, I have no idea what IT stands for! Intelligent Transmission maybe.or Impossible Terminology. Who knows. Who cares. Anyway my email issue is now sorted. Wordle in 2 yesterday and in 3 today, I am on a roll. . Many thanks to our Setter and Hinter – I don’t know about Serengeti and Orchestra but I wouldn’t mind a pound for every time we meet an editor. Have a good weekend everyone.

    1. Information Technology ☺

27. Thanks to the Setter and Mr K for the hints. Tough one for us especially the SE corner. COTD 17d which made Val lol! Used a couple of hints to finish off. Gary and Val

28. Such a long time since having the telegraph puzzle because we have been in France preparing for the sale of our house which went through yesterday. Although physically exhausted, what a joy to reunite with a puzzle that was totally on my wavelength. Favourite has to be 6 a as I saw him run an under 4 minute mile at the White City stadium soon after Roger Bannister had made that achievement. How we roared and clapped. Ticks everywhere. Feeling grateful to be back on the Big Dave site. Thanks to today’s setter for such entertainment and Mr. K.

29. My normal method is start at 1a, and if that doesn’t work, hit the downs that lead from it and go back to it if I can. On days where that works well, I build out from clues that now have checkers. If unsuccessful, I revert to reading each across clue one by one then the downs likewise. Today, for whatever reason things were not working well and I read all the downs followed by the acrosses. After that, I had only about 5 downs and 3 acrosses. Suddenly though, the SW fell followed by the NW, then the SE held out a while but fell and it was the NW that proved the most troublesome.Ticks went to the night-time working at 3d, the pit occupants at 4d and the clear 9d. Also ticked the 14a remarks and the 27a comms. Great misdirection and composition throughout and whilst much more difficult than the last few days, hugely enjoyable.

    Would put a small wager on Zandio, many thanks to whomsoever and Mr K.

30. That was a challenge for me……….it took a long time, but I was pleased to eventually solve it without hints or Google required. I only fully understood the parsing of 14a and 20d when I saw the hints and comments, but luckily I had solved them anyway!
    As with others, I spent most time in SE corner, with 15d and 27a the main culprits.
    My favourites were 6a Zatopek and 11a Sister.
    Thank you setter and Mr K

31. Really enjoyed this wittily clued puzzle. Quite challenging in the south with the 3d / 24a combo holding out longest. Not sure I’ve come across the definition for 24a before. Top clues for me were 11, 25a and 4, 9d. My first one in was 6a. I did know the incredible Zatopek, the only man to win the 5 and 10,000 metre races and the 7d at the same Olympics. (Clever juxtapositioning of the clues I thought). Unlikely anyone will do that again! Many thanks to our setter and to Mr K for the blog and his continuing work behind the scenes for which I’m sure we are all grateful.

32. I was on wavelength today, which has not always been the case this week, and resulted in my fastest ever Friday solve. No hold ups anywhere. This added to the enjoyment rather than detracting from it. Some absolutely cracking clues making it hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with 11a. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

33. What an absolute belter of a crossword. Slightly above average difficulty which makes it especially satisfying to complete. 14a was wonderful,as were many more. Bravo to the setter and thanks to Mr K.

34. I reported here the other day that my keyboard, apart from the enter key, no longer worked in the Panagram on the website. I raised a case with Telegraph Towers and this is part of their response:
    This is a known issue that has come up, there is a active technical ticket raised and our technical team is working on resolving the issue, I apologise for any incontinence’s caused, for the meantime please can you utilise the mouse click rather than the keyboard,

    Until I nearly wet myself at their choice of words, no doubt auto-correct induced, there were no incontinences caused!!!

    1. They’re just having a wee joke.

       1. 

35. A nice finish to the week which wasn’t that testing.

    Being a person who likes to spoil a good walk, I enjoyed 1a and it went from there.

    6a and 7d crossing each other was neat. What an achievement by him in the Helsinki Olympics: Gold in the 5.000m, 10,000m and 7d. He only entered 7d at the last minute, having never run one before!

    It was nice to see 4d make an appearance again. ‘Serengeti’ is waiting in the wings, gargling….

    My podium is 13a, 18a and 7d.

    MT to the setter and Mr K.

    2*/4*

36. Happy Friday – have been away from the blog for several months – has much changed ?
    Enjoyed all the guzzles this week – loved the longer clues especially in this one
    3d and 14a were favourites

37. Good afternoon

    Like Mr K, I really struggled with the SE quadrant; I had to resort to my regular tactics of putting the crozzie down, going and doing something else, then returning with a brew – and, of course, my Lucky Green Pen.

    Strangely enough, Mr Zatopek was my first one in. My last to fall was my joint COTD, 27a. T’other contender is 18a – superb!

    Enjoyed the challenge this afty. I’m never any good at figuring out our setters (except, of course, the Mighty Mr T) but if I were a betting man, I’d put ten bob on The Brain Of Silvanus.

    Many thanks to whomsoever, and to Mr K.

38. Setter here.
    A rare foray into back-page territory for me. Thanks to everyone who has commented, as always, much appreciated.

    1. Thank you for a great Friday challenge, Dharma and for popping in.

    2. Hello — nice to see you here. And what a surprise! Well done to Rabbit Dave for suggesting it wasn’t by one of the regular Friday trio.

       More like this would be most welcome.

    3. Excellent Friday puzzle, Thanks

    4. VMT Dharma – superb all round, and I’ll be chuckling over 17D all weekend.

39. Difficult but fun, 1d gets my vote for best clue. Thank you Dhama and MrK

40. I don’t often attempt the Friday Puzzle but today sitting in the shade the top half was solvable, down in the South it was a different story! ****/*** Favourites 18a & 17d Thanks to Dharma and to Mr K the Quickie was quite difficult as well

41. A brisk solve in between teeing golfers off so a little surprised at the rating & comments about difficulty in the SE. Not sure how but knew Zatopek’s first name. I did however wrongly think he was Dustin Hoffman’s idol in The Marathon Man. Ticks against a whole raft of clues – podium spots for 11,14&18a
    Thanks to the setter & to Mr K

    1. Just seen it was a Dharma puzzle – a very welcome addition to the back-page setter ranks

42. Great Friday workout. 14A, 18A, 24A and 3D all worthy contenders, but 17D was magnificent.

    VMT Setter and Mr K.

43. I must have been on the wavelength today as I found this enjoyable solve straightforward. Not as difficult for me as a normal Friday.

    Not heard of 6a but must have been the answer once I have the checkers.

    Thanks to all.

44. When 1a and 1d went straight in I thought that was going to be a fluke, it being Friday after all. But contrarily I found this one of the friendliest puzzles this week, and by far the friendliest Friday for ages. Perhaps I am more awake, doing this over lunch rather than breakfast. I did have to google 6a to identify the gentleman, and 25 was my LI. Too many great clues to pick a COTD. Thanks very much to the setter for upping my confidence, and to Mr K.

45. Had to work at this one but finished unaided so feel very pleased! An enjoyable challenge. Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for some enlightening explanations.

46. Too hard for me but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. I smiled at 17d and needed help with 14a which was very clever. Top stuff for a Friday! Thanks Mr K and Setter.

47. 1.5*/ 4* Very enjoyable Friday challenge, I found it quite straightforward apart from a couple in the SE. Like my athletics so 6a no problem and I’ll put it on the podium with 18a (been caught a few times) and 24a sensitive person
    Thanks to Dharma and Mr K

48. This one totally destroyed me….3D was brilliant though…Thanks for your help…Not the most enjoyable puzzle but only because the setter was to clever for me…When I saw the answers I have no complaint…thanks…

49. I loved this! A proper confidence restorer after yesterday’s DNF.
    COTD the shock separation.
    Many thanks setter for the wavelength, and MrK.

50. Late on parade again, I rarely begin to solve until late evening. I thought this just the right level for a Friday, many of the solutions needed teasing out. Last one in 14a which is also my favourite, thanks to Dhama and Mr K

51. Started very late last night and finished off this morning. That was a challenge but a worthy one. I had completed about 80% of the grid and like others came unstuck in the SE corner at which point had to refer to the hints. Some really great clues and for me the stand outs were: 11a, 14a and 18a and 3d. Very clever.
    Thank you to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.

52. 3*/3* ….
    liked 18A “Drivers over 70 would certainly want to avoid these ? (5,7)”

53. So sorry this is such a late comment, Dharma.
    What a delightful puzzle! Solving it was a pleasure from start to finish.
    Strangely enough, although I am no athlete, Zatopek’s name has stuck in my memory for many years. So I had no problems with 6a — and it is my fave. 11a, 13a, 18a and 27a are also on my podium. As are 4d, 9d, 15d, 17d and 19d. Trouble is there are so many ticks to choose from…
    Many appreciative thanks to Dharma for the enjoyment, and to Mr K for the review.

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