DT 31022

89 comments on “DT 31022”

1. Slightly on the tricky side I thought with the old grey cells needing to work some overtime to get over the line. The brass hat’s three-wheeler was neat as was the PM’s drive at 30a. It was quite clever of the setter to get four army ranks into the peripheral clues. My COTD is the one day cricket at 6d.

   I liked the Quickie pun today because it took a while to get it.

   Thank you, setter for the challenge. Thank you, Gazza for the hints.

   1. .. Colonel Blimp eh .. made a change from the other one!
      This was an enjoyably solve .. with 1a being my last end. I couldn’t have told you either that Captain Marvel was an Avenger .. I was into DC comics away back then and I’d never heard of the “halo” in FI .. although my interest in motorsports, as a whole, rates along with my interest in tiddlywinks .. ie not a jot! Thanks to setter and Gazza .. roll on Thursday.

   2. 6d is a decent clue, but I’m finding it hard to think favourably of anything related to one-day cricket after going to Headingley yesterday. But I suppose that was really more like half-day cricket. (The final over was bleakly enjoyable, though.)

2. Firstly, no I didn’t spot the officers which is brilliant. There is certainly no need for you to drop and give me 20, Gazza. You never miss a thing. Sir, yes sir!

   A midweek masterpiece from, I guessing, the new midweek master, Hudson?

   Lots of fun to be had with 1a kicking things off very nicely. I love the punctuation mark idea. I didn’t know the creator’s name and where he was from but I do now.

   I knew 9a with the -ar ending but not this one. I also hadn’t head of the tech in 26d.

   Socrates taught 15d who taught Aristotle and their initials spell ‘spa’ where I can see them ruminating, reflecting on life, all those years ago.

   My podium is the 28a for its humour, 30a as I couldn’t get network or service out of my brain and the brilliant lurker 19d.

   MT to the aforementioned and Gazzeroony.

   3*/5*

   1. Another useful thing to remember!

      1. I am here to serve, Splitseeze.

   2. I only got 9a accidentally by misspelling/misremembering a similar word with ‘m’ instead of ‘nn’! I’ve now read the definitions for both words, and I think there’s almost no chance of my learning which is which …

      1. It ain’t easy, S.

         I’ve just looked up the etymology of 9a with both endings because I’d’ve thought it would be one n and I was right!

         This is what it says: “ring-shaped,” 1570s, from French annulaire or directly from Medieval Latin annularis “pertaining to a ring,” from annulus, misspelled diminutive of Latin anus “ring”.

         So, I blame some medieval clown for adding an n.

         There endeth today’s lesson.

         Father Tom

3. I enjoyed this. Needed Gazza’s help parsing 1a and 26d. Hadn’t spotted the army ranks around the edge so thanks Steve C.
   Top picks for me were 2d, 8d and 29a.

   Loved the cartoons!
   Thanks to Gazza and the setter.

4. Unlike Gazza I thought this was quite straightforward for a wet Wednesday puzzle. 1.5* / 4*. Really enjoyed the solve, don’t like musicals or super heroes but got them both so quite pleased.
   Favourites include the musicals at 21a, all out at 8d and operation at 30a
   Also liked the quickie pun
   Thanks to Gazza and setter

   1. Wow, I’m No.4 in the batting order, back to tail ender tomorrow

5. TThe military officer theme in the long peripheral clues waas clever and i particularly enjoyed the Lego clues at 1a and 30a. I didnt know whothe person in 19d was apart from a vague udeavit wwas a football clue, thank goodness for the clever lurker. COTD, hhowever was the everly camouflaged East End London bough at 22d. A rather tricky solve but a satisfying guzzle do complete.

   1. Oh CC I do love you! I think udeavit is a terrific word. 🥰

      1. We aim to please 😊 After all, if you are going to have an annoying gap in your field of vision, it might as well give folk a good laugh! If life gives you lemons make kemonade…

         1. It’s an affectionate laugh, of course!

6. no sweat today but enjoyable nevertheless. my biggest stumbling block was rhe quickie pun so thanks for lifting the veils from my eyes on that.

7. I got into this reasonably quickly, filling the lower half and the perimeter first. The upper half filled itself once the perimeter was tackled. 9a, 16a and 21a were the most fun with 9a being COTD for me. Thanks to Gazza and the setter.

8. A very nice puzzle with the pleasing and clever theme in the long peripheral clues. For me it was just medium challenging and about right for Wednesday. I was helped by lots of the four letter clues (which I tend to find tricky) going in. I always though that 29a were 1960s (not 1950s) so I learnt something. COD the borough at 22d. Thank you setter and blogger.

   1. I had 20d as a double definition with the first exclamation mark being a misdirection and the second for the stretchy definition of ‘former journos’. Thanks Gazza for parsing 1a which I certainly couldn’t

9. 2*/4*. This was very good fun. My only qualm is that it is quite a while since Tuchel was manager of 19d so the clue uses the wrong tense as pointed out by Gazza.

   I took 20d as a double definition plus wordplay.

   Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza.

10. Do you guys have an expression that means “I’m confident I have the correct answer but don’t have the foggiest why it is”. That was my situation with 1a, until eventually the penny dropped. There is was: hiding there in plain sight 😊

    1. Yes, it’s called a bung-in! 😊

       1. Ah, that’s what that means! Thank you.

11. I read 20d as a triple definition. The exclamation mark seems to be a clear separation between “quick” and “train”. Finished this in record time ( for me, that is). Thx to Gazza and setter.

    1. I had it as a triple definition, too!

12. Definitely more tricky than recent Wednesdays but, for me, not as tricky as my Wednesday co-blogger seemed to find it – 2.5*/4*

    Excellent mis-direction in 22d had me checking boroughs on this side of ‘The Pond’!

    Candidates for favourite – 17a, 21a, 29a, 6d, and the aforementioned 22d – and the winner is 21a.

    Thanks to whomsoever and Gazza.

13. Most enjoyable with a few tricky clues to keep us on our toes.
    1a is an excellent clue, despite me being unfamiliar with David Low. Although the cartoon dates from way back in 1934, I am assuming that most would be familiar with the character’s name?
    I was delayed slightly at 30a by trying to use MAY as the former PM. In my defence, there have been quite a few former PMs recently.
    My favorite clues were the four long ones, even though I missed the military connection, as usual.
    Good puzzle. Thanks to Gazza and Hudson(?).

    1. Tsk! Tsk! Shabbo. Favorite?!

       1. I hang my head in shame!! I will blame spell checker, of course, but that is still no excuse. Off in search of birch twigs…

    2. 1934 was a very good vintage.

       1. Good shout, DG.

       2. I am far too polite to mention it, but it did occur to me!

14. I had always thought the card game in question in 1d was of South American origin which is why I bunged it in. Coincidence?

    1. Welcome to the blog, Simon B.

       1. Thank you!

    2. Welcome, Simon and please comment again. According to Wikipedia, the game originated in Uruguay.

       1. My point was that “South America” appeared to be part of the definition as well as the “fodder”. I don’t know if this was intentional?

          I’ve been tackling the DT cryptic for a few years and have learnt / am still learning from the wonderful analysis provided on Big Dave!

          1. We play Canasta once a week with friends. We also play Rummikub

             1. Welcome from me, too, SB.

                I love cards and boardgames but have never played Canasta (my parents were big fans).

                Poker is a great game but isn’t a patch on Bridge.

                I play Rummikub with my children which they hugely enjoy.

                South America is certainly the ‘go to’ for SA but we’ll never know if the setter was aware that the game originated from there……unless they jump on to tell us. Excellent knowledge, btw!

                I look forward to your next post.

                1. Thank you for your lovely comments.

                   Rummikub is my favourite game. Years back my son wrote a app for our first ipad which makes the scoring easier and we play against the clock; 45 seconds to complete a turn.

                   Although Canasta is fun there are many different versions so before one plays one has to clarify which rules one is to follow

15. I was a little stumped by 14d as I had entered STYLE as my solve – bit miffed really as I’m originally from Derbyshire

16. I found this pretty straightforward to solve, but missed the full parsing of 1a (I took the low as an insult, and missed the punctuation mark’s importance). Clearly not thinking in my haste, tut, tut. This is one of the side effects of solving on the iPad instead of my usual dead tree: the clock ticking away adds another element of pressure, and I really should have spent more time enjoying! 21a was my favourite of a very good crop.
    Thanks to our setter, and to Gazza for yet more enlightenment.

17. Thanks to the Setter and Gazza for the hints. Val knew the game that 1a features in, which helped. Fairly straightforward solve. Didn’t pick up on the military ranks framing puzzle until reading others comments. COTD 8d.

18. This one didn’t really float my boat but that could be down to a lack of interest/knowledge in several of the topics raised. I would, however, agree that it was a clever move to fit in all the army ranks. Top clues here were 18&21a plus 6d.

    Thanks to our setter and to our lovely Gazza for the review and cartoons – the Matt contribution was excellent, as ever.

19. 2.5*/4*
    Needed a little e assistance to check 1a and definitely a step up in difficulty from yesterday.
    Liked both lurkers today
    Thanks to Gazza and setter

20. I thought that this was quite tricky in places. Needed Gazza’s hints on a couple, so a dnf unaided from me today. Cotd for me is 24a. Thanks to compiler and Gazza.

21. Coming from a family of ‘crossworders’ I thought I knew a thing or two but I’ve learned so much more about cryptic crosswords by reading this blog. Thank you to all.

    1. Welcome to the blog

    2. Welcome, LDS to the merry throng. I hope you carry on commenting. 👍

    3. I agree, my solving ability has greatly improved since we found this blog. It really helps.

22. Thanks Setter and Gazza. Not wishing to nitpick but the tree in 10a is not a conifer.

    1. You should take this up with the editors at Chambers because they define conifer as ‘any tree or shrub of the group Coniferae, including yews, pines, firs, etc., which typically bear cones’.

       1. But that tree is not a conifer. It is a member of the Euonymus genus which belongs to the flowering plants, a separate group to the conifers.

          1. This is either quite witty or you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. On the off-chance it’s the latter, the answer is defined by ‘slender rod’ not ‘small conifer’, with the conifer only contributing part of the answer.

             For anyone still in the dark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euonymus_europaeus

             1. Thanks – I now understand what Lord Luvvaduck was on about. If you have doubts about a clue it’s always useful to check what the blogger has underlined as the definition (in this case ‘slender rod’).

23. A definite increase in difficulty today. But doable all the same. Going through it afterwards I can really appreciate the superb surfaces with 7d and 5d causing a laugh. 19d was my clue of the day – brilliantly clever.

    Thank you to the setter – a fabulous job. And thank you also to Gazza on what I’m sure I’m about to discover will be an equally fabulous job!

24. I enjoyed the Southern half but had to leave it to MrG to complete the top for me. Missed the military connections. Presume 16a is in fact a word but new to me. Sport and show business theme helped with a few. IMHO competition for novel anagram indicators is getting out of hand e.g. “panned”. 21d a no-no – clothing perhaps. Could not parse 1d unaided. Not a barrowload of fun. Thank you nevertheless setter and Gazza.

25. Enjoyable and just right for a Wednesday. I did spot all the ranks round the outside

    Thanks to the setter and Gazza

26. Right up my street, and not just because 24a and 21d are such fun words.
    My LOI was the first I looked at, 1a. Didn’t know the creator’s name and after looking unsuccessfully for a bovine connection assumed the character was considered low.
    The showtime portmanteau at 21a, the adopted drive at 30a and the brass hat in 8d were my top three.
    Thanks to our setter and to Gazza for clearing up regarding the cartoonist.

27. DNF for me today, 1a being the holdout. Never heard of the moustachioed military man or his creator. 21a my favourite today. Thanks to Gazza and setter

28. Enjoyable puzzle. Re ranks and seniority, an interesting observation is that ‘captain’ in the army wouldn’t be considered a senior rank. The RN equivalent would be a lowly lieutenant. The confusion arises as Captain in the RN (or Group Captain in the RAF) would be equivalent to a full colonel in the army.

    

29. I can’t say this puzzle really floated my boat as there were many parsings I could not fathom out. Definitely a hard Wednesday puzzle, with little enjoyment overall. Maybe just me.

    3.5*/2.5* for me

    Favourites 16a, 17a, 23a, 28a, 19d & 21d — with winner 21d

    Thanks to setter and Gazza

30. Rather a tricky guzzle; delighted to see 19d. Of course, they should be referred to as ‘The Mighty *******’ but we shall let that pass. My last one in was 14d because I became fixated on Ely. Once one solves it, the answer is absurdly obvious.

    With H out at a meeting and The Youngster also out and about, I gave myself the luxury of a lie-in. The house was miraculously quiet and peaceful. I read and snoozed, then ‘enjoyed’ my gruel and orange juice with no bits, at noon. It will probably be another five years before such an opportunity occurs again.

    Thanks to the setter, and the former midfielder for Gansu Tianma.

31. Lovely puzzle, perfect for a Wednesday, reasonably swift solve, only delay my LOI, 29a, where my first thought was, unaccounably – and unparseably – Blahnik.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza, especially for Captain Pugwash and a return to more youthful and innocent days!

    1. ‘Unparseably’ – a nice word – I’ll note that one for later. I also thought the same but misspelled it as blannik !

32. Thoroughly enjoyed that one – completed my first **** 😊

    1. Welcome to the blog

    2. Congratulations, Alan and welcome to the blog.

33. Definitely a notchup today but I managed to get an early foothold , so it was a steady solve for me. As many I didn’t get the definition of 1a. I managed to parse it , but thought the definition was ‘low’ which I didn’t understand so thanks Gazza for clarifying. Interesting use of the word character in the definition and parsing. I needed electronic help to find out who Tuchel was , once I realised that it wasn’t an anagram. I spotted the ranks . Very clever . Thanks to the setter and Gazza.

34. Playful and utterly delightful — and I found this at the more straightforward end of the range. I particularly appreciated that the journalists in neither 20d nor 22d were eds, and that 14d didn’t involve Ely.

    I’ve learnt that 7d is an Avenger, and that Tuchel used to be at 19d. I did have to look up the answer to 1a to check the Low. He’s only one vowel away from another cartoonist: David Law, who created Dennis the Menace.

    I particularly liked the punctuation mark in 1a (once Gazza had explained it — thank you!), the combined musicals in 21a, 28a (“eww!”), and the quickie pun. Thank you to the setter.

35. Good afternoon

    Well, I’ll go to the foot of my sock! I would never have thought of incorporating a punctuation mark into a clue, so I’ll start by commending our setter for ingenuity, and saying thank you Gazza for the explanation of 1a, my last to fall and joint COTD.

    The other two joint COTDs are 19d and 6d, which I thought were splendid.

    Although Gazza has given this four stars, I’m going to mark it as a threeser. Thank you to our setter for an enjoyable solve, and thank you again Gazza.

36. I got stuck at the beginning until I realised that Low character didn’t refer to Arthur whom I think has an e on his surname.
    After that sailed through – finally an F1 related clue.
    My thanks to the setter and Gazza

37. When Gazza wrote “quite tricky” above my head sank, thinking what chance did I have then? But happily I found most of the clues doable, except for 1a, never heard of him – I don’t think I was reading cartoons that long ago. I’m not a fan of musicals so that held me up in 21a, having only heard of the first one, and 7d completely out of my realm. Otherwise thoroughly enjoyed, tricky enough to be satisfying but not so tricky as to be bin worthy. Thanks to the setter and to Gazza for the very helpful hints when I needed them.

    1. Forgot to say that 8d as definitely my COTD.

38. Well, I could have sworn I made a comment before cataclysmic rain overran the gutters and came crashing through the bow window, buckets and towels out and a call to the builder. Then next door but two rang to say ( his garden runs way back at an angle and hits our garden ) there is a badger run going through his hedge into our garden to eat the fallen apples on our tree. Badger expert coming tomorrow. Before I retire to a darkened room with eau de Cologne on my forehead I must say thank you to Setter and Hinter. Great guzzle, loved the All Out clue. 45mins to G’nT.

39. 3*/3* …
    liked 13A “Ms Reeves’s boundless longing (4)”

40. I don’t know about anyone else but my comments are taking anything up to 30 seconds to upload.

    Actually, this one took 90 seconds. 🤔

41. Super puzzle – completed having walked in after hole 14 from the point furthest from the clubhouse in high wind & driving rain. Liked the army ranks in the peripheral clues & thought the wordplay at 1a very inventive. All I knew about the character was from the Powell & Pressburger film & needed Mr G to tell me about the cartoonist. Agree with Gazza’s observation about 19d & his parsing at 20d having assumed the ! was just there to mislead. Top 3 for me were 29a plus 8&22d.

42. 5D and 8D hilarious, but 1A’s tribute to the great cartoonist wins my COTD.

    Many thanks to Setter and to Gazza.

43. Just finished having had to drive to Heathrow to pick up daughter after her Far Eastern excursion. A steady solve and full completion without the need to consult any references, including the hints. So feeling quite pleased especially after Gazza gave it a **** rating for difficulty. Two standout clues for me today, 1a and 30a, both bringing a smile when the penny dropped, with 30a being the final entry.
    As always, thanks to the setter and to Gazza for the hints, which I will now peruse.

    1. Just having a quick perusal of the hints and the Low character at 1a. Obviously I was on the wrong track but immediately reminded of the Warmington-On-Sea Home Guard and a certain Captain who epitomised such a character.

44. Quick first read then out of the house for Tai Chi. Just too wet to go to Ardingley Antiques Fair afterwards. Definitely a challenge today. Usually coming back later to the puzzle gets the job done but not so smoothly today.
    I did finish unaided there were a couple of bung-ins and it was satisfying to have Gazza to explain.Favourite was 13 a as so pertinent and had almost forgotten about 29 a. High quality puzzle and would not be out of place on a Friday.

45. I found this very entertaining and clever, I did not know 1a so needed to google after. I failed to spot the military 4, well done Gazza. I had 10a as my favourite.

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

46. Oh dear what happened to my comment I’ll try again.
    I usually struggle on a Wednesday but I coped quite well. Needed the hint to parse 1a, hats off to those who didn’t, and needed to check the creator. Hadn’t heard of 9a or 26d but fairly clued. No other major hold ups, there were a few minor ones admittedly. Favourite was 21a, once I’d got ‘notices’ out of my head. Thanks to the setter and and Gazza.

47. Initially, this looked very difficult but I persevered and I thought I had solved them all apart from 8d and 29a. I then went to the hints, saw the reference to the senior officers in the introduction, returned to the crozzie without reading anymore of the hints and solved 8d, followed by 29a. Unfortunately, I then discovered my answer for 2d, “lilo” was incorrect (I thought I had only misunderstood the parsing) so this was not quite a full solve for me and I had a real battle with it. COTD 21a for the surface. ***/***. Thanks to the setter and Gazza.

48. Initially, I thought this was very difficult but I persevered and thought I had almost solved it, apart from 8d and 29a. I then went to the hints, saw the reference to the senior officers in the introduction, returned to the crozzie without reading anymore of the hints and managed to solve 8d followed by 29a. Unfortunately, I then discovered my answer to 2d “lilo” was incorrect (I thought I simply hadn’t understood the parsing) so this was not quite a complete solve from me. COTD 21a for the surface. ***/*** Thanks to the setter and Gazza.

49. Sorry for the repeat above but the first one didn’t seem to go through.

    1. Posting comments has become beset by gremlins, JF.

       1. Thanks,Steve.

Comments are closed.