Comment Away on the 17th of April Edition

16 Responses to Comment Away on the 17th of April Edition

1. DebS | April 17, 2009 at 5:35 pm |

   As usual, many fantastic clues but I really liked lithely and sweet reminds me of my teenage children)

2. haiku | April 17, 2009 at 8:13 pm |

   A DA error: that should be crime writer Lynda, surely?

3. TT | April 17, 2009 at 10:50 pm |

   Can’t get three.

   1D: Maybe STANDS or STAVES?

   11A: No idea.

   13A: Maybe TWO or DUO?

   Got what I think are the right answers, but can’t work out why.

   9A: TRAIL

   12A ANAEMIC

   My favourite.

   17D: Minor ménage à trois? -> TRIFLING

4. haiku | April 18, 2009 at 6:56 am |

   1D is quite clever: Tolerates = PUTS up, passport = ID, which gives us being dense = STUPID

   11A: Criticise = PAN a dope = A DOLt (the not should be read as “no T”, which gives painkiller

   13A: ferrieD yoU tO terminals = DUO = couple

   9A: tale’s opening = T. Story-teller = LIAR. Twist it around to give TRAIL = follow.

   Someone else will have to chime in on 12A!

5. AL | April 18, 2009 at 8:51 am |

   re 12 ac:
   “A”+ tight = mean “WHEEL”or turn around gives “NEAM” + “HUB” of “VICE” gives “IC” and voila you get “ANAEMIC”.
   Some pretty classy stuff from DA this week. My favourite was 24 ac:
   “UPSET” (set = pit as in “pit against”) turn this “up” and you get “TIP” + “LOUD” (a new version of “on the radio” “vocal” etc) “JUMPER” gives “TOAD”
   (sounds like “TOED” hence “TIPTOED”. Good stuff!

6. JG | April 18, 2009 at 8:55 am |

   12A: ‘tight’ = mean, ‘wheel’ as ‘wheel around’, so ‘tight wheel’ = naem’, ‘vice hub’ = ic, and ‘a’ = ‘a’, so ‘anaemic’ = ‘lacking colour’.
   But what’s with 16D PRACTICE? And does 24A really depend on a toad being a jumper, or is there a better solution?
   A number of delightful constructions, 28A, 21D, 23D, and 15D is good, too.

7. AL | April 18, 2009 at 10:48 am |

   re 16d:
   “PLOY” = “TACTIC” start off gives “ACTIC” in “HOLY” = “PURE” and “TURN OUT” = minus turn ( as in U-turn) gives “PRE” hence practice.

8. TT | April 18, 2009 at 12:03 pm |

   1D: Ironic I was too stupid to get STUPID. Sometimes you look at a clue one way and it never occurs to you to look at it the other way. Thus it was here, where I was stuck on “tolerates” for the tell, and not “dense”.

   11A & 13A: Had I sussed STUPID I would certainly have got these duo… sorry, two.

   9A: Back to stupid. I looked at RAIL every which way, but still never spotted LIAR from “story-teller”.

   16D: At school we called footy/cricket practice “turn-out”. But the answer via “it makes perfect” had to be PRACTICE, so I didn’t dwell on the clue’s architecture.

   24A: Agree that “loud jumper” is an iffy TOAD.

   21D: Sold me a dummy. “both openers initiate” = IN. “dour order” = SECT. “cricket type” = INSECT. That threw me for ages for TIPTOED and CRACKDOWN.

9. JG | April 18, 2009 at 12:31 pm |

   10 out of 10, AL, for 16D, but talk about convoluted! Does anyone have another solution?
   For 24A, I reckon ‘upset’ = ‘tip’, as in ‘tip over’.

10. JD | April 18, 2009 at 10:51 pm |

    I did okay this week, I missed on 3 clues completely and had “close to’s” for a few. I was trying to fit in ‘ff’ and ‘roo’ for loud jumper, and couldn’t see past them to get it right. I fitted in anaemic and practice without having a clue why they were right.
    No cross references at all! That would have to be a first.

11. RB | April 19, 2009 at 12:42 am |

    DA very much in form this week! I thought TRIFLING the pick of the bunch. SWEET, STUPID and OAKS were pretty good too.

    24A: Like JG, I justified “upset” = “tip” as being a simple synonym rather than the more convoluted (but very DA-ish) explanation offered by AL. But I definitely concur with AL about “loud” being the indicator for “sounds like” and “jumper” = “toad”. So “loud jumper” = “sounds like toad” = “toed”. I don’t share concerns expressed above about “toad” = “jumper”. It’s what you have to expect from DA! I thought his “cricket type” = “indoor” in 21D was much more iffy.

    4D: Agree with haiku that Linda should be Lynda. Looks like a DA error to me.

    16D: PRACTICE. I have the same explanation as AL for this, but I admit it is a bit convoluted. So, since this is a DA crossword, it’s probably correct!

    21D: TT – I liked your answer of INSECT – I think it’s better than DA’s answer INDOOR!

12. AL | April 19, 2009 at 7:21 am |

    re 21D: I like the insect solution too but I think DA is pretty clear on this one ( an oxymoron?) “both openers INitiate DOur ORder ” gives INDOOR, a type of cricket. He’s a tricky bugger but that’s what makes his puzzles so good.

13. RB | April 19, 2009 at 1:56 pm |

    Ah yes (re 21D), I agree that INDOOR is a valid answer to DA’s clue (and it’s also the correct answer, of course). It’s just that INSECT can also be justified as a valid answer, and its only drawback is that it’s not the correct answer! And therein lies one of the difficulties of DA’s crosswords – his clues are sometimes so oblique or convoluted that you can’t always be sure you’ve got the right answer. But that’s one of the (many) reasons we’re addicted to DA crosswords, I suppose.

14. NC | April 20, 2009 at 4:53 pm |

    What a difference a week makes. I am only 5 short this week (4D, 6D, 17D, 18D and 26A). Unlike last week’s pitiful effort.

    I am proudest of getting 24A which I got before 20D then became evident.

    I will now trawl through the above comments in the hope of further enlightenment.

15. NC | April 20, 2009 at 5:14 pm |

    Groan!

    17D Minor ménage à trois = TRIFLING!!

    I think that’s great. I agree with RB. That’s DA Gold for me.

16. RY | April 21, 2009 at 3:08 pm |

    Completed – but it’s always a communal family affair over a couple of days – TIPTOED was the one we had most trouble with and PRACTICE was written in long before we knew why! Agree that TRIFLING is a DA Gold.