(in blue pen are the answers we missed)
On a DA scale of difficulty, I’d give this one about a seven: not too hard, but hard enough that a team of three consisting of me, RC and JC couldn’t complete it in a couple of hours over a Friday night dinner.
In a word: satisfying.
Posted in DA Reports
I must express with a heart full of sorrow that I have lost the DA cryptic from the 2nd of January.
RC and I got together in his backyard and had a go at it, although we felt somewhat ashamed at our poor efforts after having left about ten clues undone. Soon after, we could hear each other’s groans across the southern suburbs when independently we checked the answers and found we missed blogosphere and dishwasher amongst others.
EC also reported from Katherine that agnus dei is a DA Error: Agnus Dei is Latin for lamb of God and most definitely is not a Christian sect.
If anyone would like to email me a copy of their crossword, I’d gladly put it up.
Posted in DA Reports
RC, NC, EC, PC and JC have all been mentioned or actively contributed to this blog.
But is that C a coincidence?
Does the C predispose one for cryptic crosswords?
Does C in any (or all) of these cases actually stand for cryptic or crossword?
Posted in General Cryptic Talk
A special thanks to AL for his sterling efforts deciphering DA and inspiring me to write up this DA Gold post.
21 down: #1 ranking immune to upset? (3, 4)
Read top spot backwards. And read go hang a salami, i’m a lasagna hog backwards for the fun of it while you’re at it too.
Great palindrome clue from DA, with #1 ranking = top spot = immune to upset.
7 down: My stretched cats…
I couldn’t figure out a place to start with this, and so it remained unstarted. Thankfully, AL came through with my = gee and stretched = long, giving my stretched = geelong = cats.
So short and ever so sweet!
Posted in DA Gold
I had mentioned to TH that I had spent an unhealthy amount of time making acca-dacca x jokes with a friend at a party, as in “a person who masturbates to ac/dc is an acca-dacca whacker”.
About a week later, TH texted me from country Victoria on Boxing Day to let me know that I would enjoy DA’s themed crossword. Not long after, I could confirm he was correct in his supposition.
Let there be rock, let there be DA.
Posted in DA Reports
10 across: Directly opposed to Milne capturing live music intro (5)
There’s Steven Milne the footballer and AA Milne the author, but I don’t know the answer to the clue.
12 across: Ruthless lord lodged protest rally, unseating friend in power (9)
Umm…?
22 across: Indigenous people from Grafton in crime report (5)
We figured this was Sioux just because it fit with the cross clues, but we had no idea why.
24 across: See you later for Spooner’s dog advice (6-3)
It hurt not being able to solve this Spooner, but unsolved it remains.
27 across: Wardrooms switch in favour of man astride a steed? (9)
???
28 across: Suffering inertia? Not in the extreme! (9)
Looks like an anagram of inertia could be involved…
29 across: Twisted, bit like Camp David guest (5)
Again, hmmm…?
5 down: Silent, cruder, gutless orator? No way (7)
Nothing.
7 down: My stretched cats… (tempt) (7)
???
21 down: #1 ranking immune to upset? (3, 4)
Top spot looks good, but I have no explanation.
23 down: Part of the team pawns post (2, 5)
???
24 down: Bantu speakers regularly tour around 21-down (5)
No clue really.
Posted in DA Confusion
Me and TH met at Sicilian Orange the Sunday closest to its release date. We didn’t last long at the cafe, mostly because the thought of doing the DA while watching the cricket was too tantalising a prospect on the fifth day of the WACA test.
Sadly, though, hardly any wickets fell on the last day and South Africa won comfortably. Equally sadly, we only got halfway through the DA, we don’t have the answers and I didn’t get around to posting it until now.
Posted in DA Reports