109 thoughts on “DA Confusion on the 1st/2nd of April, 2011”
I finally got it out (not without resorting to a map for 6D), and had to do some Googling to confirm my answers to 13D and 28A. In my defense on the last one, the only thing I know about the AFL is it’s a sort of Gaelic football they play in Melbourne.
I thought it was harder than usual. No real DAisms that I noticed. 8D was nice, and 5A, 11A was clever.
I assume 24A does what it says in the clue? I’d not heard of it.
24A affirmative!
OK. I’ve just started. I have 9A, 7D, 15D and 22A. Can I have some hints please, with 2D and 6D would be nice and also 5, 11A. Thanks!
2D is a double definition, something you do to time, also when you’re not there. 6D is a town in NSW (apparently). Critical goes around politicians and start of electioneer.
5A, 11A is another double definition, something you’d do to get things pressed and to cream (in the sense of defeat).
5/11A: double entendre. One of the last ones I got
2D: phrase with double meaning. Not much I can say…
6D: cool. Letters within a word. Geography knowledge would be good.
Can’t how suspect fits my supposed answer to 12A, but think I must be right, as everything else fits
Can’t you 12A someone for/as a crook?
@robt that’s what I thought for 12A. I wasn’t familiar with the throw sense of it.
Really Rupert! We always used to 12A balls at each other. The other meaning was less obvious to me.
@robt: Again, serves me right for trying a foreign crossword ;)
:)
Hints not helping guys. Sorry. I have totally lost the DA knack. Haven’t done one for a couple of weeks. Clearer hints required. All I can think of for 2D is ‘waste’ something but that’s not right because I have 9A.
2D: 2nd word is “away”.
@robt. Yep. Got that. Assume the first word is something that you might make whisky in?
Alison…nup. Starts with ‘w’.
RobT; Thanks! – got it. (duh, took me long enough). Also got 6D. Stilll trying to figure out 5A and 11A. And just got 1D. Joy.
Hmmm. I thought 24A was something that helped you get through the morning and every (eg) 10th you got one free but my first word didn’t fit!
24A anagram.
5A, 11A when you lose at cards so completely that someone has all your money, what are they doing to you?
Just got a couple to go. Rupert a clue for 28A? I feel embarrassed to ask as you’re OS and not even Oz and you’ve got it.
What is Nth Melb otherwise known as?
Don’t know I’m a Queenslander living in NSW. Will google and come back.
Ah, now I get the NRL bit.
Then 6D would have been sweet! Yin and yang?
Yeh, but again Rupert beat me to it with the wordplay.
got 20D but don’t get the wordplay
robt: Could you help with the wodplay for 5D. I see you’ve got it on the other thread and I was really hoping to find the aha moment myself but …… last one.
Think of another euphemism for “box”. Pretty clever this one.
Also letters of “pianist alternated”.
I take it the ‘box’ is not the first 3 letters. Ahhhhh THAT box. That’s really good! Thankyou.
5 D Had a lot of trouble with that one, before I got the other letters, was working on Liberace, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elton John … wrong.
5D falsetto singer embraces the capitalist mantra
gaudy ……..
I was trying anagrams for liberace for a while too…we walked into DA’s trap I feel sure.
yeah sure did .. then I was stuck on Tiny Tim but I only remembered the ukelele – no piano.
I’m embarrassed to admit I still can’t get 5A and 11A. I assume it’s ‘takes in the (something)’ but am fixated on whipping and can’t get past it. Will have to cheat in today’s paper. Poor effort from me this week. Too hard. HOpe next week better.
Alison, the whole phrase is one probably used more often by men than women, in both senses. Try starting with ‘takes to the … ‘ where men would take their trousers for pressing, and what men (often) say when they’re talking about defeating someone, especially as Rupert said in gambling, or possibly sport.
Sorry to disillusion you Gayle, but most blokes aren’t even aware that the trousers go somewhere – don’t you just leave them on the floor and they magically end up pressed and in the wardrobe?
@ Gayle – yes got it! – had to get husband to help after telling him all the clues. Phew. And I got 28A and 23D. Stuck now though.
I thought 5A, 11A was ‘Flies in the ointment’:(
14A pls?
14A pretty strightforward. 2 words make a new one.
5A, 11A Laughing out loud here. Husband cracking up over GB’s and kk’s comments. Time to put a zip in it?
14A definition is kiddie outfit. two part word. a kind of theatrical work + synonym for agree
thanks gayle, robt, will try and finish now
I’m having trouble getting into the bottom left side.Could anyone help me with 13D? And if I’ve got 28A correct it begins with the word for Nth Melb in the AFL? And has 17A got something to do with Skype?
Conny, 13D is streak, in the sense of stain. The wordplay is a type of club possibly from the 70s, followed by an old word for scowl.
You are correct on 28A. The whole thing is a name for a member of an NRL team in Sydney.
17A does indeed have something to do with Skype. The answer is a padre, in the sense of someone who guides you to heaven.
Oh, I have 13D worked out! Thanks Rupert. I am now puzzling about 26A. It looks like the first word is anaother word for sphere? I’d appreciate some help with 16D also?
Oh, it’s OK I’ve found out 16D!!
. . .and now 26A!
Conny: 26A yep first word mean sphere.
15D: another name for a “local” is…?
I think I have 21D correct [ recent TV series?] but I can’t see how the clue works and I am stuck on 29A
Thanks Robt
Yes connie you are correct.
Party=do. One model= IT Work the rest out?
Ahh..duh…thanks robt. I gettit!
Now I’m down to the right hand bottom corner! I have filled in solutions but I can’t quite see how the clues work. I have never heard of the comedian but I seem to have the name T…F.. so that leads me to 20D with the clue being PASS but I don’t know how salt comes into it. Then there’s 25D. Is this really the town in the Kimberley? I can see all the letters but I can’t work how you’d get them together. And finally with 27A I have the name of a tree but I can’t see how “top starker” works.
Conny, 29 A I had only vaguely heard of her , but googled to confirm. Wordplay is a word for ‘small’ with A = FE (floozie edges) inside (into).
sorry A+FE embedded in synoym for small
25 D red reversed + word for near = Kimberley place
27 A . take the first letter off (top) a word which means starker and you’ve got the tree.
I still don’t get the wordplay for 20A either for the same reasons as Conny. Anyone?
Thanks Gayle. All clear now!
That’s 20 D not A
20D. Salt = AB.
Last 5 letters= synonym for 13D.
Whole thing means “pass”.
Ahh, thanks robt – that salt.
I liked this week’s. Thanks for the help. Enjoyed 17A, 3D, 26A, 2D, 23d
Thanks Robt. I thought AB must have been salt but I couldn’t find in any of my dictionaries. The whole puzzle was good I thought with enjoyable clues. Thanks for everyone’s help.
:)
I liked it too.
got it all out now with help from the above, but can anyone explain the wordplay in 23D?
Liked 26A, 10A and 2A when I finally got the first part of it right.
Not sure about 9A, how do the first two letters fit the clue?
23D: thanks=”ta”. Opposite of “boo”.
9A: if you play the part of someone you appear “as” that person, yes?
I loved 24A and 5D most.
thanks for 9A Robt, 24A was first one I got, thought it was a bit easy. 5D caused me no end of trouble at first. Had the right box, but the wrong alternate letters of pianist so couldn’t make it fit. Spent ages looking for another type of box before coming back to this.
Still don’t get the boo in 23D. I presume ta is one of the contradictory responses but I don’t see why boo is the opposite of it.
12A have never heard of this for throw, but have heard of it with respect to spotting a suspect. In Melbourne we pif things when we throw them, but this didn’t fit the suspect or 8D. Had to look up every possible 3 letter word starting with p before I found out that this word meant throw.
As an old G&S fan I know that “boo” was used like today we would say “go to hell”…well a little nicer than that.
In Sydney we played peggings at lunchtime with a tennis ball. DA went to the same Sydney school I did so I guess it’s a Syd word…?
21D: Party = DO; years = ERA, rager lost years = RR; one = I; model = T.
29A: Star of 30 Rock and noted Sarah Palin impersonator.
Sorry – didn’t notice we’d gone onto a second page and was replying to the bottom of the first page.
And should have been years = AGE.
I’ll get my coat.
Way ahead of you Rupert! :)
thanks Robt. Peg may be an Americanism for throw according to the online dictionary “Informal . a throw, especially in baseball: The peg to the plate was late. “
I found it fairly typical DA. A few meanings words/meanings I wasn’t familiar with, eg peg, sky pilot, Kempsey. I have one outstanding query: 8D – I have OBLIGATED as follows: Alumnus = OB; sued = LITIGATED; tech staff = IT; forced = OBLIGATED. It seems that “bail” is the instruction to remove the IT. But it doesn’t seem right to me.
“Bail!” is the instruction we give our kids to get out of the car, so I’m OK with it as an indicator to take letters out of a word.
Urban dictionary has peg (meaning throw) as an Australianism. As always, with urban dictionary, there’s a definition involving an unnatural act before the one we’re interested in, so no link.
RB I thought it looked funny. Maybe I was comparing with the word “obliged”…but I am sure it’s correct.
bail as in bail out. Remove water from a boat. Also bail out of a plane when it is going down.
I feel sure DA means the legal meaning of bail. It’s an obligation or pledge.
I figured he was using bail in both senses, a bit of a pun?
Maybe…
If he isn’t using bail to indicate removal of IT, how do we know to remove it?
OK. Nobody mentioned 10A, We’re stuck with _ _ N _ M _ R _ L, and no idea of what the definition is, or the word play. Any help would be appreciated.
We’re obviously stuck with 4D as well. R _ _ _ A _ ?. Then we’re finished.
HELP!!
10A is penumbral. A penumbra is a partial shadow around the edge (ringing) the full shadow. Wordplay is peal around number with an e missing. Quite clever this one. The missing e is the direction (east) Peal also means ring and it is ringing (surrounding) the remaining letters from number. Hence the ring ring, could almost have been ring ring ring!
4D is repeat. I don’t have the clue with me but I think the wordplay part said something like about rotten vegetation. about =RE and rotten vegetation is peat.
nm: gaaaa! Hints would have been preferable to blurting out the answers. Thanks a bunch
sorry John, thought we’d all got to the point of explanations as several others have given answers to other questions above. Will try to be more careful next time.
Thanx nn. Had penumbral as a possibility, but couldn’t see the “shadow” as a word play. Don’t know why we didn’t get “peat”. Brain dead I guess!
Doug and Gwyn
I’d messed around with pronumeral for quite a while but couldn’t see how it would fit the clue or how to get rid of one of the first three letters. Did enjoy this one when I finally got it
@John C
Sorry John. Didn’t intend to ruin your brain stretching exercises.
@nn
We tried pronumeral as well – didn’t work. This one was quite brain stretching we thought.
Doug and Gwyn, my fault not yours
@mm: no worries, though hints should always precede explanation and nobody had touched on these two until now
@nn and sorry about perpetually misspelling your name. My phone’s autocorrect us quite insistent sometimes :/
John you are quite right, hints should always come first! (my phone does that too!)
…it seemed a trifle hasty to me…
@robt custard, cake and jelly, quickly thrown together?
like TT on the other thread, my students (and children) are always complaining about my dad jokes!
A tad dad…bad.
a sad lad
He gads!
drives em mad
Undergrad ad!
enough, I’ve had the fad
Why is salt = AB???? – Thanks
from memory old salt is a slang for sailor. AB = able seaman
I finally got it out (not without resorting to a map for 6D), and had to do some Googling to confirm my answers to 13D and 28A. In my defense on the last one, the only thing I know about the AFL is it’s a sort of Gaelic football they play in Melbourne.
I thought it was harder than usual. No real DAisms that I noticed. 8D was nice, and 5A, 11A was clever.
I assume 24A does what it says in the clue? I’d not heard of it.
24A affirmative!
OK. I’ve just started. I have 9A, 7D, 15D and 22A. Can I have some hints please, with 2D and 6D would be nice and also 5, 11A. Thanks!
2D is a double definition, something you do to time, also when you’re not there. 6D is a town in NSW (apparently). Critical goes around politicians and start of electioneer.
5A, 11A is another double definition, something you’d do to get things pressed and to cream (in the sense of defeat).
5/11A: double entendre. One of the last ones I got
2D: phrase with double meaning. Not much I can say…
6D: cool. Letters within a word. Geography knowledge would be good.
Can’t how suspect fits my supposed answer to 12A, but think I must be right, as everything else fits
Can’t you 12A someone for/as a crook?
@robt that’s what I thought for 12A. I wasn’t familiar with the throw sense of it.
Really Rupert! We always used to 12A balls at each other. The other meaning was less obvious to me.
@robt: Again, serves me right for trying a foreign crossword ;)
:)
Hints not helping guys. Sorry. I have totally lost the DA knack. Haven’t done one for a couple of weeks. Clearer hints required. All I can think of for 2D is ‘waste’ something but that’s not right because I have 9A.
2D: 2nd word is “away”.
@robt. Yep. Got that. Assume the first word is something that you might make whisky in?
Alison…nup. Starts with ‘w’.
RobT; Thanks! – got it. (duh, took me long enough). Also got 6D. Stilll trying to figure out 5A and 11A. And just got 1D. Joy.
Hmmm. I thought 24A was something that helped you get through the morning and every (eg) 10th you got one free but my first word didn’t fit!
24A anagram.
5A, 11A when you lose at cards so completely that someone has all your money, what are they doing to you?
Just got a couple to go. Rupert a clue for 28A? I feel embarrassed to ask as you’re OS and not even Oz and you’ve got it.
What is Nth Melb otherwise known as?
Don’t know I’m a Queenslander living in NSW. Will google and come back.
Ah, now I get the NRL bit.
Then 6D would have been sweet! Yin and yang?
Yeh, but again Rupert beat me to it with the wordplay.
got 20D but don’t get the wordplay
robt: Could you help with the wodplay for 5D. I see you’ve got it on the other thread and I was really hoping to find the aha moment myself but …… last one.
Think of another euphemism for “box”. Pretty clever this one.
Also letters of “pianist alternated”.
I take it the ‘box’ is not the first 3 letters. Ahhhhh THAT box. That’s really good! Thankyou.
5 D Had a lot of trouble with that one, before I got the other letters, was working on Liberace, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elton John … wrong.
5D falsetto singer embraces the capitalist mantra
gaudy ……..
I was trying anagrams for liberace for a while too…we walked into DA’s trap I feel sure.
yeah sure did .. then I was stuck on Tiny Tim but I only remembered the ukelele – no piano.
I’m embarrassed to admit I still can’t get 5A and 11A. I assume it’s ‘takes in the (something)’ but am fixated on whipping and can’t get past it. Will have to cheat in today’s paper. Poor effort from me this week. Too hard. HOpe next week better.
Alison, the whole phrase is one probably used more often by men than women, in both senses. Try starting with ‘takes to the … ‘ where men would take their trousers for pressing, and what men (often) say when they’re talking about defeating someone, especially as Rupert said in gambling, or possibly sport.
Sorry to disillusion you Gayle, but most blokes aren’t even aware that the trousers go somewhere – don’t you just leave them on the floor and they magically end up pressed and in the wardrobe?
@ Gayle – yes got it! – had to get husband to help after telling him all the clues. Phew. And I got 28A and 23D. Stuck now though.
I thought 5A, 11A was ‘Flies in the ointment’:(
14A pls?
14A pretty strightforward. 2 words make a new one.
5A, 11A Laughing out loud here. Husband cracking up over GB’s and kk’s comments. Time to put a zip in it?
14A definition is kiddie outfit. two part word. a kind of theatrical work + synonym for agree
thanks gayle, robt, will try and finish now
I’m having trouble getting into the bottom left side.Could anyone help me with 13D? And if I’ve got 28A correct it begins with the word for Nth Melb in the AFL? And has 17A got something to do with Skype?
Conny, 13D is streak, in the sense of stain. The wordplay is a type of club possibly from the 70s, followed by an old word for scowl.
You are correct on 28A. The whole thing is a name for a member of an NRL team in Sydney.
17A does indeed have something to do with Skype. The answer is a padre, in the sense of someone who guides you to heaven.
Oh, I have 13D worked out! Thanks Rupert. I am now puzzling about 26A. It looks like the first word is anaother word for sphere? I’d appreciate some help with 16D also?
Oh, it’s OK I’ve found out 16D!!
. . .and now 26A!
Conny: 26A yep first word mean sphere.
15D: another name for a “local” is…?
I think I have 21D correct [ recent TV series?] but I can’t see how the clue works and I am stuck on 29A
Thanks Robt
Yes connie you are correct.
Party=do. One model= IT Work the rest out?
Ahh..duh…thanks robt. I gettit!
Now I’m down to the right hand bottom corner! I have filled in solutions but I can’t quite see how the clues work. I have never heard of the comedian but I seem to have the name T…F.. so that leads me to 20D with the clue being PASS but I don’t know how salt comes into it. Then there’s 25D. Is this really the town in the Kimberley? I can see all the letters but I can’t work how you’d get them together. And finally with 27A I have the name of a tree but I can’t see how “top starker” works.
Conny, 29 A I had only vaguely heard of her , but googled to confirm. Wordplay is a word for ‘small’ with A = FE (floozie edges) inside (into).
sorry A+FE embedded in synoym for small
25 D red reversed + word for near = Kimberley place
27 A . take the first letter off (top) a word which means starker and you’ve got the tree.
I still don’t get the wordplay for 20A either for the same reasons as Conny. Anyone?
Thanks Gayle. All clear now!
That’s 20 D not A
20D. Salt = AB.
Last 5 letters= synonym for 13D.
Whole thing means “pass”.
Ahh, thanks robt – that salt.
I liked this week’s. Thanks for the help. Enjoyed 17A, 3D, 26A, 2D, 23d
Thanks Robt. I thought AB must have been salt but I couldn’t find in any of my dictionaries. The whole puzzle was good I thought with enjoyable clues. Thanks for everyone’s help.
:)
I liked it too.
got it all out now with help from the above, but can anyone explain the wordplay in 23D?
Liked 26A, 10A and 2A when I finally got the first part of it right.
Not sure about 9A, how do the first two letters fit the clue?
23D: thanks=”ta”. Opposite of “boo”.
9A: if you play the part of someone you appear “as” that person, yes?
I loved 24A and 5D most.
thanks for 9A Robt, 24A was first one I got, thought it was a bit easy. 5D caused me no end of trouble at first. Had the right box, but the wrong alternate letters of pianist so couldn’t make it fit. Spent ages looking for another type of box before coming back to this.
Still don’t get the boo in 23D. I presume ta is one of the contradictory responses but I don’t see why boo is the opposite of it.
12A have never heard of this for throw, but have heard of it with respect to spotting a suspect. In Melbourne we pif things when we throw them, but this didn’t fit the suspect or 8D. Had to look up every possible 3 letter word starting with p before I found out that this word meant throw.
As an old G&S fan I know that “boo” was used like today we would say “go to hell”…well a little nicer than that.
In Sydney we played peggings at lunchtime with a tennis ball. DA went to the same Sydney school I did so I guess it’s a Syd word…?
21D: Party = DO; years = ERA, rager lost years = RR; one = I; model = T.
29A: Star of 30 Rock and noted Sarah Palin impersonator.
Sorry – didn’t notice we’d gone onto a second page and was replying to the bottom of the first page.
And should have been years = AGE.
I’ll get my coat.
Way ahead of you Rupert! :)
thanks Robt. Peg may be an Americanism for throw according to the online dictionary “Informal . a throw, especially in baseball: The peg to the plate was late. “
I see “peg” may be from 14th century!
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pitch
very interesting, thanks Robt
I found it fairly typical DA. A few meanings words/meanings I wasn’t familiar with, eg peg, sky pilot, Kempsey. I have one outstanding query: 8D – I have OBLIGATED as follows: Alumnus = OB; sued = LITIGATED; tech staff = IT; forced = OBLIGATED. It seems that “bail” is the instruction to remove the IT. But it doesn’t seem right to me.
“Bail!” is the instruction we give our kids to get out of the car, so I’m OK with it as an indicator to take letters out of a word.
Urban dictionary has peg (meaning throw) as an Australianism. As always, with urban dictionary, there’s a definition involving an unnatural act before the one we’re interested in, so no link.
RB I thought it looked funny. Maybe I was comparing with the word “obliged”…but I am sure it’s correct.
bail as in bail out. Remove water from a boat. Also bail out of a plane when it is going down.
I feel sure DA means the legal meaning of bail. It’s an obligation or pledge.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=obligation
I figured he was using bail in both senses, a bit of a pun?
Maybe…
If he isn’t using bail to indicate removal of IT, how do we know to remove it?
OK. Nobody mentioned 10A, We’re stuck with _ _ N _ M _ R _ L, and no idea of what the definition is, or the word play. Any help would be appreciated.
We’re obviously stuck with 4D as well. R _ _ _ A _ ?. Then we’re finished.
HELP!!
10A is penumbral. A penumbra is a partial shadow around the edge (ringing) the full shadow. Wordplay is peal around number with an e missing. Quite clever this one. The missing e is the direction (east) Peal also means ring and it is ringing (surrounding) the remaining letters from number. Hence the ring ring, could almost have been ring ring ring!
4D is repeat. I don’t have the clue with me but I think the wordplay part said something like about rotten vegetation. about =RE and rotten vegetation is peat.
nm: gaaaa! Hints would have been preferable to blurting out the answers. Thanks a bunch
sorry John, thought we’d all got to the point of explanations as several others have given answers to other questions above. Will try to be more careful next time.
Thanx nn. Had penumbral as a possibility, but couldn’t see the “shadow” as a word play. Don’t know why we didn’t get “peat”. Brain dead I guess!
Doug and Gwyn
I’d messed around with pronumeral for quite a while but couldn’t see how it would fit the clue or how to get rid of one of the first three letters. Did enjoy this one when I finally got it
@John C
Sorry John. Didn’t intend to ruin your brain stretching exercises.
@nn
We tried pronumeral as well – didn’t work. This one was quite brain stretching we thought.
Doug and Gwyn, my fault not yours
@mm: no worries, though hints should always precede explanation and nobody had touched on these two until now
@nn and sorry about perpetually misspelling your name. My phone’s autocorrect us quite insistent sometimes :/
John you are quite right, hints should always come first! (my phone does that too!)
…it seemed a trifle hasty to me…
@robt custard, cake and jelly, quickly thrown together?
like TT on the other thread, my students (and children) are always complaining about my dad jokes!
A tad dad…bad.
a sad lad
He gads!
drives em mad
Undergrad ad!
enough, I’ve had the fad
Why is salt = AB???? – Thanks
from memory old salt is a slang for sailor. AB = able seaman
AB: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0000430?rskey=V8DmDg&result=2#m_en_gb0000430