We’ve already been warned over at DA’s blog that next week’s cryptic will be a mind bender, so I would expect a more leisurely stroll this week.
(No spoilers on this thread until Monday)
Update: My niece’s christening could not keep me from sweet DA:
An amusing DA, although a few perplexities remain despite the filled-in grid.
I definitely didn’t find it a leisurely stroll. More like my walk home from the local on a friday night, an awkward stumble. Couple of wordplays to nut out tomorrow over breakfast. 5D my favourite
Yes, 5d quite good.
1d definitely not a 12a
My morning cuppa was cold by the time I got this one out. Had a good chuckle at 5D, which was my first because he is my favourite poet. I liked 29A because I had a long conversation Thursday afternoon about the fraud and the ‘Black swan of trespass’.
Yes, I’m sure we all liked 5A. Rather enjoyed 11A, 20A and 3D as well. Agree with Ian on 1D. Generally fairly easy. Looking forward to next week.
This is the first DA I’ve finished in less than 2 hours so not a hard one in my book. Like others I though 5D was the best clue. Also liked 23A. Learnt some new words from 4D and 19D. Thought 2D was a bit of a stretch though!
I thought it was a fairly tough DA this week. 5D, 23A my favourites. And 28A now that I have seen AS’s explanation in DA Gold.
mrigeoy: I too thought 2D dodgy at first. But I’m happy with it now. I assume you’re referring to “since” = “whereas”? But “whereas” has two (opposing) meanings: “although” and “since” (or “in view of the fact that”, as used in formal documents).