Monthly Archives: February 2010

Huh? for the First DA of Feb, 2010

Tell us of your confusions below and someone through the aether will respond.

Update: Most of my confusions have already been sorted by you find commenters already, yet I still have this one issue:

23 across: Check issue (4)
I don’t get how issue connects to the answer as stated in the comments.

The Verdict on the First DA of Feb, 2010

Good, bad, indifferent?

I reckon it’s time for a theme. Have I guessed correctly?

(No spoilers on this post until Monday)

Update: It’s a theme all right:

Yes, this one’s a sweet delight, and an excellent head bender even when the key 4-down is put away. I’ve ultimately been held back from taking it all out with what I find most difficult: DA’s short clues.

Part of the Para Pantheon at least.

DA Around the Traps

Ian has got the good stuff:

Enjoy.

Update: And Tony let’s us know that here he is talking about Robert BolaƱo’s newly translated book, Amulet.

And Ian mentions more sightings in the comments.

DA Retrospectively: 18th October, 2004

Yep, here’s another golden oldie to get stuck into:

Discuss how things go in the comments.

And remember: spoilers abound should you pull back the comment curtain!

Update: mic warns in the comments: the answer to 12A is nine letters long, not eight as the clue mistakenly states.

The Golden Ones from DA’s Last of January, 2010

26 across: Harmonious threesomes finally flee such impatient coeds (9)
Brilliant trickery that must have taken a long time to think up: threesomes finally flee such impatient coeds = such – uch + impatient – ent + coeds – eds = simpatico = harmonious.

15 down: Meet single clue — not this type (3, 6)
Despite some protestations, I still reckon this one’s a goodie: single clue — not this type = run across (clue is down, not across) = run across = meet.

22 across: Retired killer gets yonks, strangling flash braggart (9)
Mo seems to be DA favourite of late: retired killer gets yonks strangling flash = retired cain age strangling mo = retired cainamoge = egomaniac = braggart.

21 down: Vaults hoisted by one charter plane (3-4)
Very clever indeed: vaults hoisted by one = atria hoisted x 1 = air-taxi = charter plane.

14 down: … against ex-follower (9)
Such terse elegance: against ex = con former = conformer = follower.

3 down: Stalks onstage, it’s said? (7)
I was too busy thinking of homophones to get this one: onstage it’s said = rhubarb (what actors say on stage to mimic the sound of indistinct background conversation) = stalks.

12 across: Exercise Bureau regularly provides flirtatious apparel (4-2, 3)
A welcome return to the racier side of DA’s oeuvre: exercise bureau regularly = push-up bureau = push-up bra = flirtatious apparel.

The Bullshit from the last of Jan, 2010

4 down: I crack baseball side, well trimmed for online photo (9)
Awkward and bullshit in my book: I crack baseball side, well trimmed = me gap IX well – wl = megapixel = online photo.

A pixel is a little dot that gets coloured to portray an image. Get a whole bunch of them together coloured in a certain way and you have a photo.

The problem: Humans are a collection of atoms. Arrange them in the right way and you have a human. Nevertheless, if I saw human = atoms, I’d say bullshit, just as I say online photo = megapixel is bullshit too.

6 down: Flag emission source (7)
This one is flag = exhaust = emission source.

Not sure about whether flag = exhaust is bullshit or not, though. I think yes one minute, then no. Either way, it’s debatable.