DT 31019 (Hints)

90 comments on “DT 31019 (Hints)”

1. What a delight today’s SPP was. I will admit to checking the spelling of 13a because I always put one of the letters in the wrong place. The Scottish footballers liking frogs at 3a raised a smile as did the graduate away from the sea at 4d. However, my COTD is the county rowing crew at 22a.

   Thank you, setter for a great start to the day. Thank you, CS for the hints.

   I have been submitting via the puzzle app recently but I have just read in BD’s FAQs that online submissions are not included in the draw. So, back to sending in a photograph in the vain hope of The Mythical appearing.

   1. It might be worth checking about online submissions as that particular FAQ would have been written many years ago.

      1. Thanks, Sue. I checked the DT website and it says:-

         “Please be aware that puzzle prize draws are not accessible to those who have subscribed through the Telegraph Puzzles app”.

         1. Google AI states: “Yes, completing the crossword online via The Telegraph Puzzles website makes you eligible for prize draws, provided you are a subscriber and have opted-in to the draw through the designated prompt after completion. However, you must be a subscriber to Telegraph Puzzles and not just someone who has subscribed through the Telegraph Puzzles app, as the latter does not grant eligibility for prize draws”.
            A bit of a minefield. Thankfully I’ve been submitting via the puzzles website. It hasn’t made any difference though, I still haven’t bettered getting a notebook and ballpoint pen consolation prize when posting in hard copy several years ago!!!

            1. Oh, right, well maybe I’m not wasting my time then. Thanks Tam

            2. Thanks for the clarification, Tam. I do subscribe to DT Puzzles so I should be able to continue submitting online. However, I will continue to solve using the paper.

         2. Thank you, Steve for that snippet of information. I enjoyed this prize puzzle very much and submitted it via my online subscription, hoping as ever, for ‘the mythical’. However, I now realise that I’ve been wasting my time! Shan’t do that again then…
            Thanks compiler for the fun and thanks crypticsue for the hints.

            1. Yes thanks for the info. I have been submitting via the app and waiting for a pen to thud on the doormat.

               Why on earth are app users excluded from the draw?

               Thanks as always to CS for the Blog.

         3. Looking at this page, I would say that puzzle subscribers are in with a chance of a prize. ???

            https://www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/faq/#prizePuzzles

      2. I enjoyed this one, mostly. The initial read gave me confidence, but there were 4 or 5 scattered throughout the grid which had me flummoxed! I had to check the spelling of 13a, which is a new word for me🙈

         1. You have managed to use an emoji, Conor. Are they now back? 🤔

            Yes, they are. 🥳

            1. I didnt know that they had disappeared; still very popular in this part of the world!

               1. Apart from 24 A, the rest were easy. 😃

   2. And overseas subscribers are not eligible to get the mythical even if they win… something about the postage costs.

   3. I had no idea certain entries were not eligible for the prize. I fear I may have been wasting my time too. To be honest, I can’t remember how I originally subscribed, whether via the website or the app, but I always use the app. They tell me my renewal fee each year, I ring them up and they reduce it to something more reasonable. So how do I know whether my entries will be eligible for the mythical?

      On the plus side, this was a very enjoyable puzzle, even with the tricky spelling of 13A, so thanks to the compiler and the hinter.

   4. I have to admit to having received two mythicals from submitting the crossword via the website, at one per year I think I am due another one from this very straightforward Saturday prize puzzle.

2. Either the B12 injections I have had three times a week for the past two weeks have improved my aging brainpower or this was one that anyone could tackle. I was straight in and straight through. Just three I had to think about to get the parsing, Usually I’m too late to comment. Favourites 1 and 10a and 5 and 7d. Least favourite 8d. Thanks setter and CS.

   1. I’d definitely go with the injections WW.

3. Pangrams are always good fun and very useful as I was struggling with the 24s until I worked out the final letter that was missing.

   17d has to be the easiest anagram to have graced a crossword. But, who cares as it was a nice clue.

   I’ve never heard of the Shetland Island that has an ironic name.

   My podium is the cryptic 7d and 23d plus 24d as I kept trying to put left inside a synonym for the noun jar.

   MT to the setter and she of the crypt.’

   2*/3*

   1. Think about it …. it’s not ironic if you live in the Shetland Islands .. and believe it or not the Orkneys also have (redacted)
      Enjoyed today’s offering especially since it was a pangram. Cotd 22a.

      1. I daresay they do but please don’t mention the solution when it’s a prize puzzle

      2. Ooh, think you will get redacted when CS spots your comment!

         1. Sorry, your comment wasn’t there when I put mine! But I was right.

      3. Hi BE

         The place name on an island has a bit of irony as its definition distinguishes it from an island or peninsula, i.e the ******** is an island.

4. Noticing it was a pangram helped me to finish off my last 2, which both shared the missing letter.
   Many thanks to the setter (Cephas is my guess) and to CS.

5. Very enjoyable but pretty much a read and write until I got to 24A which just wouldn’t reveal itself to me. E-help just made me feel incredibly stupid. I’m sure I’ve got the right answer for 4D but I only managed to partially parse it.
   Thanks for the hints and to the setter.

6. Almost as comfortable as the armchair, I am sitting in, thank you for the Saturday puzzle

7. A very fine pangram hugely enjoyable. Fairly flew through. Some good humour scattered throughout that made me think of a disguised NYDK but on balance probably not.

   Huge thanks to the setter and CS.

8. A very enjoyable Saturday puzzle with 4d needing confirmation after.

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

9. The Vet’s, two cats, two jabs, 20 minutes, £154. Did I ever choose the wrong career!

   Anyway, to the puzzle, I don’t usually think all one word answers but this puzzle was brilliant, not a duff clue anywhere, my two favourites today were 27a and 7d, great Saturday fun.

   1. We paid £750 once in London to have a grass head taken out of a cockapoo’s ear. Same thing in France a year later was about £120. Such a rip off.

10. Hi Sue, any idea why my Avatar face thing has changed, and can I have the old one back?

    1. Mine has changed too. No idea why.

    2. Just checking to see if mine has…..

       1. ……it has – actually I prefer it!

          I wonder if it has something to do with the reappearance of the emojis?

          1. If you get a WordPress account you get Gravatar too and can make your own

          2. Probably. I updated several components of the site software last night that were long overdue for it.

             As SJB says above, it’s easy to make your own gravatar. See the site FAQ for details. I’ll see if it’s possible to get the old randomly assigned avatars back, but many things changed in the upgrade, so it may not be.

    3. Oh yes. Mine is new too. Think I prefer it.

11. Enjoyable but either I was just on the right wavelength, I am slowly improving or this was a very gentle puzzle. That is until it wasn’t and I froze on 24a & 24d. I missed the link clues and the Reverend’s absence though many will think otherwise. Favourite was the huge beast at 18d and 13a (because it reminded me of Hinge and Brackett). Thank you as always to setter and CS

    1. Yes I did too —on 24a and 24d. ..was barking up 2 wrong trees

       The rest of the puzzle I enjoyed once I got started !

12. Very enjoyable Saturday fare. Didn’t twig the pangram until I read the comments above, but given the Q and Z should have been on alert. Overall a fairly gentle solve with many smiles along the way. My podium comprises the rowers in 32a, the Shetland graduate at 4d and the frogs at 3a in top spot. Thanks to compiler and CS.

13. Think my last two were the same as Jezza’s – if I’d thought about it being a pangram, which I never do, they’d have fallen far more easily! A jolly SPP although the surface read of 3a was ridiculous. My favourite was 22a with 15d in reserve and a special mention for the 7d illustration.
    Thanks to our setter and to CS for the hints.

14. 1*/4* from me for a delightfully light pangram with 22a my favourite of many ticked clues.

    For the first time in my solving career, I can say that the American indicator in 24a is not needed!

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS.

15. Like others just sped through this one.
    4d Straight in and COTD, but I lived near there for many years.
    Thanks to setter and CS for a great puzzle and hints respectively

16. Another one on the speedy solver list. All lovely fun and some super surfaces. Only annoying thing is I failed to spot the pangram – probably because I am forever forgetting to look for them. One day…!

    Thank you to the setter and to CS who’s hints I shall now peruse

17. A very enjoyable Friday evening challenge. Like Steve C, I did verify the order of those three consonants in 13a. **/****

    Candidates for favourite – 3a, 27a, 7d, 15d, and 24d – and the winner is 7d.

    Thanks to whomsoever and CS.

18. Very pleasant, and not too difficult, solve. Had to seek help on a couple, one of which I kicked myself for when the answer hove into view. Having spent some time in that northern archipelago over forty years ago and done the trip from the northern tip of Unst to Sumburgh on several occasions, 4d for the memories is my COTD along with the 7d, the hooter. That made me smile.
    Thank you to the setter and to CS for the hints.

19. A very enjoyable puzzle! So pleased that we didn’t have to endure linked clues and the reverent!
    As is often the case, I am out and about, and doing the puzzle on the app on my phone. Given the discussion above, I think I will wait until I get home and submit it using the computer. This clearly explains why I don’t have a small mountain of pens, and somehow didn’t get invited to Bletchley Park!
    Many thanks to the setter who, if NYDK, more like this please! And if not he, then more of whoever this was please! And of course to CS for the hints which I found very helpful in confirming that I was on the right lines…

20. Would ‘trivial’ be the right word? Thought the first ones in were almost too easy and there’d be harder clues to redress the balance but no.

21. Hi Sue, 🤗 first time back for ages, was pleased to find I could solve all but one, so thanx for your help on what should have been an easy one🙄 16a, our gig cancelled today with the weather being so bad so what else to do ….

    1. How lovely to see you back! As you say, it has been a long time and we’ve missed you!

       Hope you are well, and please do keep on commenting.

    2. Good to see you back, Mary. Please don’t disappear again!!

    3. How nice to see you, Mary, it’s been far too long!

22. Terrific guzzle today. 16a last one in but realising it was a pangram spotted I hadn’t used the remaining letter. If I send in my completed puzzle, I click the box after I have finished that appears. Perhaps that is why I’ve never seen the mythical. Anyway, thanks to the setter especially for no linked clues and Spoonerisms and also to CS

23. Thanks to the Setter and CS. Orkney does indeed have 4d. I stayed there before going out to Auskerry, a small island friends owned. Pick of the clues 22a and 3a. For a Saturday puzzle this was an easy solve. Gary and Val

24. I am thinking that this is not a NYDK production this week but it is a pangram, and it has been a while since we have had one. Quite tricky in places today, but all came to light in the end.

    2.5*/4* for me

    Favourites include 10a, 13a, 14a, 28a, 2d & 4d — with winner 4d
    Smiles for 14a, 28a, 8d & 9d

    Thanks to setter & CS

25. Very ST trad crossword. Almost read and write but I stupidly forgot debt in 3a and so frogged badly. Corrected only when 7d was impossible despite making up 3 or 4 brand new words for a hooter. Missed the Pangram ! Still done and dusted in xxx

    1. Hi, Andy. We tend not to mention solving times because it can put off novices. Especially if they are still struggling after hours of trying.😊

       1. Noted ! Sorry..

26. A pleasant afternoon diversion proving yet again that they don’t have to be mind numbingly difficult to be enjoyable. Favourite was 22a. Thanks to the setter and CS.

27. Hello
    This is a great blog and very educational.
    I’ve been reading it for some time now.
    Regarding the comments to prize entry
    via the puzzle subscription. I spoke to customer services today and they said if the option to submit the puzzle pops up when you complete the puzzle then the entry is valid.
    Thanks to all concerned for the blog

    1. Welcome to the blog

    2. Welcome from me, as well Steve8. Thanks for checking about prize submissions with customer services and please do keep commenting. 👍😊

    3. Welcome Steve8 and thanks for clarifying re the prize puzzle and the app. I was just beginning to feel all hoighty toighty. And that’s a phrase I ve never used before. Did I spell it right ?

       1. I think both gh’s are not required.
          Hoity-toity according to the BRB.
          Just before Hojatoleslam and Hokey Cokey. I know of the dance but the Iranian rank just below ayatollah was a surprise

          1. Ha ha – thanks SJB. I’ll know next time. Actually I was rethinking and I wondered if I was getting hoity toityness confused with high horseiness ? Anyway you get my drift ..

             1. How is this for a clue to Hojatoleslam?

                Joe’s mall oath offensive to those under the Ayatollah (12)

                1. Is “offensive” an anagram indicator, SJB? It beats some of the strange ones we have had in recent weeks. 😊

                   1. I don’t think even Elgar or Osmosis will be cluing Hojatoleslam any time soon, but I thought the offensive oath added to the surface. I agree we have seen stranger anagram indicators

28. Thought this probably aimed at novice solvers as I glided seamlessly through most of it but without realising it was a pangram as is often my case. Made life difficult for myself by bunging in wrong ending for 3a which threw a spanner in the works for 7d. Fav clue was 22a – I lived in the county for many happy years. 12a is a bad penny but this clue is hardly cryptic. Thank you setter and CS.

29. I mainly enjoyed this pangram except for the anagrams – 3/4 letters and 17d! I misread that and already had the answer!
    1*/4*
    24d LOI and favourite. 3a – lovely word, bizarre surface!
    Thanks to Sue and ?new setter

30. Nice, and very easy, for me at least. Realising it could be a pangram made it even easier, so not long before this one gave up its riches, which were nonetheless considerable.

    Many thanks Sue and setter.

31. A very enjoyable puzzle which just about filled itself in for the top half, but I had to put more work into the south, with 20a being my LI. Didn’t know the 16a plant as it is not seen here in the South. Thanks to the setter for a lot of fun today, and to CS. Can’t say I like my new avatar. I really must find time to create my own (including how to do that).

    1. Hello, BL. Guidance for creating your own avatar is found in #22 in the FAQ which is an entry in the menu accessible from the top of every page.

32. A great solve , which I had not spotted was a pangram. Spent far too long on my last one in 16a until the penny finally dropped. Thanks to setter and CS.

33. A brisk solve in 1.5* time but it would have been a fair bit quicker still had I been on pangram alert – the final 3 to yield being 16a then 24a&d. Gentle but very enjoyable nevertheless. 22a my favourite – I’m golfing there next week.
    Thanks to the setter (Cephas presumably) & CS

34. For once, I spotted the Pangram and, what’s more, it helped me fill in my last clue, 16a, a diabolically clever COTD . I also enjoyed the 18d Lego clue and the 13a anagram. Thanks to the compiler for an enjoyable and relaxed SPP and to CSCfor the hints. It slmost felt like Chalicea at her best to me.

35. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle and just had 5 left to do before going out for a late lunch. Much to like I think the Quickie might have taken me longer to complete, earlier this morning! 22a made me smile and COTD 16a, as last one to fall into place! Many thanks to the setter and to CS. Lovely sunny morning but wet and windy this afternoon. Early, dark nights drawing closer. Hopefully, sunny spells tomorrow.

36. 2*/3.5* a good Saturday workout without any real hold ups apart from 24a + d, seeing the pangram would have helped !
    Favourites include 16a plant, breathless 22a and the simple but effective small hooter at 7d
    Thanks to Sue and setter

37. Very enjoyable puzzle, with good laughs from the Scottish footballers at 3A, and lazing around with the Tory at 20A … but the East Anglian rowers at 22A win my COTD. VMT Sue & Setter.

    1. Glad to see so many enjoyed my crossword

       1. It was fun, many thanks 🙏

38. I was very entertained by this splendid puzzle, the simple but clever 32d was my favourite. Thanks to Cryptic Sue and setter, now to try and finish the fiendish quickie

39. Jolly good 😊 and thoroughly enjoyed👍…with emojis back 😜
    If I’m ‘across the water’ and in with a shout for the ‘mythical’…can I offer to pay the postage?😎
    Cheers!

40. Does anyone know whether an obviously corrected letter in the grid disqualifies one from winning?

    1. Welcome to the blog

       I would have thought if the correct letter/solution was clear, it would be accepted

       1. thank you!

          1. Welcome, OB. As Sue says, so long as the correction is clear it will be fine. For example, the use of Tipp-Ex is acceptable.

             Please comment again 👍

41. That was right up my street! Thanks.

42. 2″ /4* …
    liked 20A “Laze around with Tory as showing fanaticism (8)”

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