DT 31025 (Hints)

74 comments on “DT 31025 (Hints)”

1. Good morning. I struggled to get into this, picking off only a few on the initial read. It took a second coffee and a break before I could make any headway. 1d was a killer and I had to look it up. Thank you for the hints; but I needed them at 0600! Hope the setter will be a tad friendlier next week. Bon weekend

   1. I was still asleep at 6 o’clock!

      1. Well, a very good afternoon to you!

      2. 14a … wrong sport!

      3. Great puzzle today.like 7d I relied more on intuition than logic

         1. A typo in your email address sent you into moderation

2. 1.5*/3.5*. A light and enjoyable puzzle to start the weekend.

   Many thanks to the setter and to CS.

   Many thanks too to Mr K. It’s nice to have the emoticons back!

3. I thought I would get nowhere with this one after having solved only three on the first pass. I think 1a with its references to two other clues put me off. However, it became a steady solve after a couple more fell and a kind of chain reaction began. Before I knew, I had finished and not even half a mug of Taylors of Harrogate drunk. Even 1a made sense once 10a and 22d had been solved. The lurker was very well hidden and it nearly became my favourite but my COTD is the fat cat at 5d.

   Thank you, setter for a shot at The Mythical. Thank you, CS for the hints.

   1. After 8 years of diligent solving every Saturday and Sunday I too thought it was mythical! Lo and behold, mine arrived last week – pure luck of course. Since it is a fountain pen it is unlikely to be worn out by overuse but nice to receive anyway. Keep plugging away and in the process give the little grey cells their daily exercise to ward off the effects of anno domini. Good luck to all

      

      1. Oh well done! Join the somewhat exclusive club. I have won three times but that is over a period of about 50 years and for most of those it was the cost of a postage stamp to send in the entry. I too have a fountain pen – unused- the ball point is more useful to carry in the handbag.

      2. It will have vanished in a puff of smoke by Monday!

         Seriously, congratulations on winning it. Only 8 years? I’ve been doing it for over 50 and not so much as a sniff. 😊

      3. Excellent news. I’ll keep submitting in hope.

      4. I got one after a mere 18 months! Amazing how brilliant it feels when it arrives. Well done!

4. Didn’t think I’d see the end of this one, but sheer bloody belligerence saw me through it.

   Had to check the Greek things as never heard of them, (didn’t cover many Greek dramas at the local comp) but they couldn’t be much else from the clues.

   A truly challenging prize puzzle for a Saturday, tomorrow’s can’t be much harder surely?

   One question though, how do you go about sending it in to be in with a chance of the pen?

   1. Take a picture of the completed puzzle and email it to DT. If you subscribe to DT Puzzles you can enter online but not if you’re using the puzzles app. Then there’s the old fashioned way – post it via snail mail to DT.

      It won’t do any good though, TC – the pen is a myth! 😊

      1. Ta, Steve, what’s the email address for DT?

         1. To enter by email: scan or photograph your filled-in solution and coupon* and send to prize-puzzles@telegraph.co.uk with DT 31,025 in the subject line

            To enter by post: Send to DT 31,045, Telegraph Media Group, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT

            I presume the coupon is the Name and address and email which appears under the grid in the newspaper

         2. For today’s puzzle enter DT 31,025 in the subject line.

      2. Sorry if I’m being a bit thick Steve & this has been covered/explained before. As a digital subscriber to both the newspaper with rolling news & the puzzles app are you saying that the submit button on the app for prize puzzles is pointless & if so why have it other than to stop the clock?

         1. As far as I’m aware, Hunts you have to subscribe to DT puzzles via the DT website in order to submit online. The phone app does not let you submit for the prize. That’s what I gleaned from the previous conversation, anyway.

            This is what Tam said last Saturday.

            “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”.

   2. Whoops, forgot to mention, one of our cats is called the second word of 7d, there, that should stop him howling now!

5. My last one in, which I needed to confirm was correct, was 1d. Apart from that, all quite straightforward.
   Thanks to the setter and to CS.

6. Thanks to the Setter and CS. Tough as you would expect for a Saturday. Bit of a slog but got there in the end. LOI 1d which we had to look up to confirm it was as it said. COTD 1a. Val’s science background helped with 9a.

7. I think my brain has taken the weekend off. Got stuck embarrassingly early. The hints were very much appreciated. Thank you.

8. Great fun to be had here.

   I particularly enjoyed the 1A 10A 22D idea for its smooth surface and wit, while the other ‘longs’ were all rather nice. Another favourite was the 4D corporation, with the adjacent fat cat perhaps squeezing through to take the tape.

   Thanks NYDK (probably) and Sue.

9. An enjoyable solve with some clever cluing. Like others I had to confirm 1d.

   Top picks for me were 1a, 5d, 21a, 9a and 11a.

   Thanks to CrypticSue and the setter.

10. Glad it wasn’t only me that found this decidedly tricky. I had put it down to being muzzy headed and not wholly awake, but I got there, eventually. It didn’t help going down a few rabbit holes and trying to shoe horn unparsed answers into the grid. The two Greek clues in 1d and 20d make my podium with 19d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and CS.

11. As already mentioned that certainly was hard work and it much delayed a gardening session. I love
    Anagrams but struggled with the investigator especially as xxxxxx fitted the second word so well!
    Many thanks to Cryptic Sue as she deals with her tomato mountain and to the setter.

    1. Changing from Jen to Jennie sent you into moderation – both will work from now on

12. Somewhat of a curate’s egg for me. It might belong to NYDK but if there any half-crowns left at the back of my sock drawer they are staying there. **/***

    Standout favourite – 9a!

    Thanks to whomsoever and CS.

13. Went for the wrong option in 9a at first and also had to check on the Greek drama but no particular problems elsewhere. Favourite was a toss up between 1a & 22d.

    Thanks to NYDK, presumably, and to CS for the hints.

14. A good standard SPP not particularly fiendish, but very enjoyable.
    9a, 16a and 21a made up my podium.
    Regarding the answer to 1d, if anyone is interested in learning more about the subject, House Of Names by Colm Tóibín is recommended. Also The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller is very good. Both are written in modern parlence which nakes classic Greek literature very approachable. There are plenty of translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey about these days which are surprisingly readable. You don’t have to be a classics scholar to enjoy them.
    Thanks to our setter and CS.

    1. Classic Greeks were usually “nakes” anyway – at least in the original Olympics

    2. Stephen Fry has written in his usual eloquent but amusing style about Greek myths and legends too.

       download (2)

    3. I read The Odyssey and The Iliad when I was a teen and thoroughly enjoyed them.

15. Very nice puzzle more difficult than average particularly for me i the East. Needed help even with all the checkers for 9a (COD for me)19d and 2d. Although I have the answerI still can’t parse 3 down – struggling with the slang for chap (I got the homophone below). Particularly like the linked clues and all the long outside clues. Thank you setter and CS and any extra hint for parsing 3d more than welcome!

    1. Penny has dropped – I was looking at too many letters for the slang term for chap

16. It’s all Greek to me – well 1&20d were anyway. Tried a few combinations of letters from the clues but not certain until I saw the hint for 1d, 20d was confirmed by Google. As someone else commented Greek literature was in short supply at my school as was Latin which can be a hindrance depending on the crossword setter!

    Apart from that – all fair for a prize puzzle but just found it lacking the humour NYDK usually brings on a Saturday (if indeed it was them)

    Thanks you tho – and to CS

17. Like others I found this prize guzzle hard to get into, probably because I was trying to leave the multi-word clues until last itwasn’t the most enjoyable crossword I’ve ever completed but I liked the long anagrams at 8d and 7d together with the Lego clue at 5d. I’m glde I didn’t follow my first impulse, after reding 1a, qhich was not to even start solving it. Thanks to CS for the hints and to the compiler for his efforts

18. I had to work at this one a bit but enjoyed the challenge with my LOI being 1d that I’ve never heard of.

    My FOI was the 1a/10a/22d comby which was nicely done.

    My podium is 9a (always good fun), 11a (neat) and 2d.

    MT to the setter and CS.

    3*/4*

19. Started slowly but picked up momentum . Sometimes I overthink the clues and it takes a few to get into the mind of the setter. I can submit this one because my rule is that if I have been helped in any way with the hints it is not fair to submit. Liked 9 across but we had had a similar one in the last couple of weeks. Thanks all round.

20. Fairly hard but picking sloes is the answer. completed about half before getting stuck, then went and picked sloes came back and just raced through to finish
    My thanks to setter and CS

    1. We’ve got masses on the farm, but we don’t usually pick them til we’ve had a few frosts. Doing vodka this year

21. Started at a very slow pace today but picked up and eventually finished in **/*** time for me. I’ve got a copy of Richard Burton narrating 8d and its wonderful. Many thanks to all on a rather chilly day in Norfolk. I’m still hoping that Smylers will tell me why they sea was ‘closed’ in Wells!

22. There’s a fabulous jazz interpretation of 8d too, by Stan Tracey.

23. I liked this Saturday puzzle but I’m not sure it is a NYDK puzzle again this week … but it is far better than the last 3 days have been.

    2.5*/3.5*

    Favourites 9a, 10a, 26a, 7d & 19d — with winner 7d
    Smiles for 9a, 10a & 24a

    Thanks to setter & CS

24. Chilly in Wells, Manders? It’s a lovely warm day here in Cambridge but perhaps you have a cool breeze off the sea. I loved this, only did Greek for a year but something must have sunk in, like Slowcoach I cannot fully parse 3d but it has to be so. I liked the fat cat, thought the lurker very well hidden as was 9a, and all four of my great-nephews are 10’s. Many thanks to the crafty Setter and to CeeSue for fitting us into her busy day. Do you think Terence will want to put 1d on The List?

    1. If 3d has to be what it has to be, try looking up the first bit in the dictionary

       1. Thank you – i was looking at an extra ‘a’ for the synonym homophone of ‘A fallen tree’ I can see the parsing now though the synonym for chap isn’t very familiar to me.

25. Not an easy solve but less challenging than either Thursday or Friday’s offering. Chose the wrong Greek play for 1d, my reading of the clue was too complex, so complete messed up the NW corner, hence the need to take a peek at CS’s hints, which put me back on the right track.
    I enjoyed 1a and the investigator at 7d. Even 22d brought a smile.
    Thank you to the setter and to CS for the hints.

    1. Too complex? I see what you did there …

       1. I took made a complex of it, but don’t tell Mama Bee🐝🙏

       2. I didn’t know if I would end up on the naughty step!

26. I found this tough but looking at the completed grid I’m struggling to see why. Did have to check the Greeks and some of the reverse clues were a little tricky.
    3*/4*
    26a favourite
    Thanks to Sue – and 5 bob on NYDK please

27. Thankfully not the brain strain of the last 2 days, but nicely pitched with some chew. I did like 9a once twigged. Confess to using some e help for the Greek drama that I didn’t know . My last one in was 22d which for the life of me I couldn’t work out and in the end used some e help , and was a big ‘duh’ moment when I clicked. Thanks to setter and CS.

28. Tricky in parts (thanks for the hints), but enjoyed the challenge and some v clever clues.

    1a my favourite – the double use of b/Bond made me smile. The sort of clue NYDK specialises in…?

    Thanks CA / setter.

29. Got 9a when the penny finally dropped then followed the instructions on 1d but had to check the answer. We made fairly hard work of most of the rest. Favourite was 9a. Thanks to the setter and CS.

30. 1.5*/3.5* a good Saturday challenge and very enjoyable, way easier than yesterday.
    Favourites include 7d Belgian Investigator, spotty cat at 5d and the lurker at 23a
    Also top marks to quickie pun

    1. And thanks to Sue and setter

31. I really got off to a slow start and went away a couple of times to clear my little grey cells. Having abandoned 1a earlier I suddenly realised that I had completed 10a and 22d and the answer was staring me in the face! LOI was 1d. Must make haste supper guest arriving in an hour! Many thanks to CS and the setter

32. Pretty straightforward other than a need to check both the Greek city & play after completion. Enjoyed the peripheral clues in particular.
    Thanks to the setter & CS

33. 3*/4* …
    liked 7D “One to investigate corrupt hotel croupier (7,6)”

34. Two possible answers for 9a across and I chose the wrong one!

35. Hardest solve of the week for me by some margin. I seem to be the only one who finds some of the Saturday solves at toughie level. It used to be the easiest solve of the week.

    Unlikely to have time to get further than the 8 possible clues solved.

36. I loved this one, definitely my favourite of the week! Very clever and entertaining while still doable (took a second glass)

37. A bit of a slog and thought it was going to be a killer but all’s well that ends well. 1a had to be however was eventually bunged in unparsed as was 3d (chap?), 8d hung fire and I needed MrG’s help for 9a for which hats off to those with knowledge of this. Thank you to whomsoever and CS.

38. Took a while to get going on this … grid looked worryingly blank after first pass. Loved 1A, 7D, 8D.

    VMT Sue & Setter.

39. The setter must have listened to Noddy Holder talking about European Football to come up with the Quick Crossword pun.

    Thanks to CS and said setter from the West Midlands.

40. NYDK job for sure.

    Cheers
    NYDK

41. I had a very slow start but then it all fell into place and was very entertaining. I had to check 1d once I had an answer. I was then out and this was my first chance to comment.

    Many thanks to NYDK and to CS for the hints.

42. On a very small point on the hint to 1 across, isn’t the capital letter in ‘Bond’ relevant to the clue, because I believe I have read somewhere (perhaps only in a film) that Bond was in fact a 10 across?

    1. Your original alias was Howard, both will work from now on

       I did check to see whether he was a 10a but didn’t find anything yesterday to support this. Another check today did say he was there ‘only briefly’.

       What did you think of the crossword?

43. Changed and give myself an alias, It is now Thursday and managed to get through about 2/3 of the clues. Since retiring I’ve returned to tackle The DT without the help of crossword corner our break time group of crossworders, but enjoying the head scratching and frustration between picking it up and down. 1D and 9 A is where I keep returning to as if I crack these two the rest will fall into, place. Plodding on hopefully get it finished before the next one. Thank you CS and the setter for a good challenging crossword.

    1. I like the new alias

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