17D – defn = first 2 words (think particularly on context of “Vintage”). “complains noisily” = homophone for letters 1,2,3,4,5. “bigwig” = synonym for letters 6,7,8.
Good morning, folks. Getting along, half done, as usual getting answers without understanding clues. Still haven’tsorted first four letters of 4D, don’t know Australian painter, have to search Google diligently, but there are hundreds of them there. Thought 25A clever, not sure where that term came from.
10A was my last one in. I hadn’t heard of her, either. She was from NSW, and died in 2011.
4D: Apply “oddly” in its usual sense, and don’t stop until you flip.
DA does push the boundaries of vocabulary for a family newspaper, yes. On the other hand, if you’re mature enough to try solving DA, you’re mature enough to deal with the language.
Andy W: I agree that the top half was relatively straight-forward even if I’m not sure of all the wordplays.
I’ll have to google later to find the painter in 10A.
I have most of the top half done and am so delighted! Clues getting solved Pop! Pow! Bang! I have to go out and run errands now which is a bummer – bah shopping. Here’s hoping the bottom half is just as satisfying so I can enjoy this beautiful day beachside without distraction.
Thanks for pointing out1D/12A Rupert, I hadn’t even noticed. Got it with cross letters and def.
Finally finished. SE corner was last in and, to me, most difficult. 18a was a gimme for this resident of Wagga, once I had the first letter!
Regarding the vocabulary discussion earlier, the ‘over-fussy’ part of 6a was a little cheeky, wasn’t it? 🙂
6A: somewhere in the region of cheeky, certainly.
18A: I worked out the fodder early on, but had to go through at least half a dozen permutations before I found the town. Why can’t Australia have proper names, like Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu?
Fairly straightforward today, although it took me ages to sort out the word play for 24A, long after I’d written it in. Still struggling with 20A, 21D and 23D. Enjoyed 1A, 15A, 16D and 17D.
21D: I think “split” is supposed to indicate discarding half the previous word, and “jam” is an anagrind.
23D: Not so much part of brain, as what the brain does, without its first letter and around the first word.
Hey perhaps a dumb question – how can I grab a copy of the crossword when I’m overseas? First time this has happened to me since I developed a DA habit. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Thanks, Mort and Rupert. As soon as I got 29A, I knew 21D (one of my heroes). With 23D I was too hung up on removing a letter, in accordance with “without first dreaming”, so I was way off track.
At 0900 had opnly eight to go, SE corner empty. Though I’ve scarcely looked at it since, nothing has changed. I think I have first word of 28A, not second. Similarly, second word of 17D. Is i7D a slang term for masturbation? I think I have the right space station in 15A, but apart from the ‘astronomy tips’ I can’t justify my answer. Tried anagram solver on 16D, but no result, so mayber my space station is wrong? Mystifying!
17D: Only in the intellectual sense
16D isn’t an anagram
15A: tips in this case is just the last letters of the previous words, and the carton contains tins of beer.
Now only five (or six, if 15A wrong), finally saw 20A and 21D (clever clue). Is 16D a non-English expression, or foreign location/ Must close down now, arvo-tea time, then pool table. Check back later.
I particularly like 1D, 12A, as it reminds me of the great Canadian comedians Wayne and Shuster. In “Rinse the Blood off My Toga,” they had a lot of fun with this expression and a couple of others concerning the same city.
Still hopelessly lost on 16D and 24D. Tried to find anagram for 16, hopeless. May have 24A, but can see no connection with clue. Still lacking second word of 28A. Will have to leave till tomorrow, unless someone can help with one or more of these.
Arthur: 16D is a foreign phrase I think. It is ‘spilt beer’ nuts so you are correct in looking for an anagram.
For 24D definition is the first word, 3-2, but ‘modern prof’ is more like 2-3.
The second word of 28A sounds like a word for turkey, but is cued by ‘stitched’.
Ann, that was very helpful, but I still have no idea of what the 16D expression is. I thinlk that;s the only one I need now, so will leave till tomorrow. No, I just found the expression, I had inserted ARE in 24A instead of what I now see to be correct answer. So, all is now complete.
megse – 23A – defn = 1st word. “in” = letters 1,2. “time pre-Xmas” = letters 3,4,5,9,10,11.
“suppress” = container indicator. “secrets now and then” = letter 6,7,8.
25A – defn = 1st word. “prepared” = anagrind. Fodder = “ribs” for letters 1,2,3,4. And “ribs” are not the type of food for this “consumer” = letters 5,6,7,8,9.
megse 23A includes a type of calendar used at Christmas after “in” and includes “secrets now and then” Definition is first word.
25A is a (new to me) slang term for a resident of Queensland. Letters 1-4 are from “prepared ribs” and the next five are from “ribs for wrong consumer”.
Indy – do exactly as Ray says – really hard to help if you don’t know another word for 3 d, though! I need help with the middle letter of 24a – What is the def?
Top half mostly done but stuck on 2d 11a and 3d. Have an answer for 1a and 3d but don’t get the wordplay for either. 16d a complete mystery, despite reading all above hints amd using anagram solvers operating in several languages. Have to go out soon so may have to leave it until tomorrow.
Mort – When there, you do as they do; you can have that one. But all roads lead there; you can’t have that one. I have an LP with it on and I still often play it and the other 3 skits on the disk.
Thanks trippers.
One of my best results- only missing 16D. However I have an answer to 25A which fits the wordplay but which I don’t understand. If it’s right it’s an expression I’ve never heard despite living in Australia all my life (64 yrs). Can anyone explain without giving the game away?
1A: I originally thought the wordplay involved a relationship between the North Yorkshire town in the first 6 letters and the Durham town of Washington, but it’s simpler than that.
Definition is the first two words. behind = 1, 2, 5, 6; Washington = 3, 4; the favoured one = 7 – 9.
2D: Definition is the first two words. Young soldier is one still at school. Remove his first two letters, which mean “roughly” to get letters 1 – 3. Fond gestures are found at the end of a letter or email.
21D: Definition is the first three words, famous for Alice’s Restaurant. Guys split = 1, 2; their jam = 3 – 7.
24D: Modern means in the last couple of thousand years.
26A: (you should get this from the answer and additional cross letter from 24D)
28A: Pay TV not the sort you get from the sky, but from the street. A turkey is a foolish person.
25A: It’s an ironic nickname associating a town specialising in entertainment tourism with a much more famous American example. Over here we do the same thing to poor little Rotorua.
After a good sleep I got a few more in but throwing in the towel for 26A,27A, 23D and 24D. I’m not sure my second word for 28A is correct. Thanks Rupert for showing 1A, I’d got that by definition but was thinking of Washington the wrong way.
Finally out with 10A. However, could not understand “upstart fled emirate” until I fed the correct letters into a search. Keep forgetting these embedded clues “up start”.
Come someone please explain 17D to me now, I have never seen wanker in a crossword before and wanted to know the answer, has long enough time passed to put me out of my misery?
17D: Jason, wanker in the general sense of an obnoxious person. “Vintage wanker” is someone who is obnoxious on the subject of vintages, i.e. a WINE SNOB.
DA Trippers 
Top half done…on record pace!
All done except 17d…any help please.
Have first word of 17d
17D – defn = first 2 words (think particularly on context of “Vintage”). “complains noisily” = homophone for letters 1,2,3,4,5. “bigwig” = synonym for letters 6,7,8.
Got it..all done now…if I can do it quickly then I’m sure it must be an easy DA today. Good luck all.
Liked lots of clues today. Nice combo of surface, misdirections and humour. ..17D, 20A, 25A, 7A, 6A, 16D.
Good morning, folks. Getting along, half done, as usual getting answers without understanding clues. Still haven’tsorted first four letters of 4D, don’t know Australian painter, have to search Google diligently, but there are hundreds of them there. Thought 25A clever, not sure where that term came from.
10A was my last one in. I hadn’t heard of her, either. She was from NSW, and died in 2011.
4D: Apply “oddly” in its usual sense, and don’t stop until you flip.
For once, I think I understand all the wordplays!
Oh dear! Just realised last word was clue in 10A.
A bit more challenging than usual: 14D was very cleverly clued and I could only parse it after I had the answer.
Never heard of the expression in 25A but a search engine confirmed the correct answer.
Good morning all
Only have one so far, 16d
Looking forward to a challenging morning!
Any clues for 1 d?
1D/12A: “perhaps” is an anagrind.
Thanks Rupert
Or should I say molto grazie
A bit of discussion about 17dn so far. Is the use of ‘wanker’ in the clue a problem for anyone ? Isn’t it a bit juvenile ?
DA does push the boundaries of vocabulary for a family newspaper, yes. On the other hand, if you’re mature enough to try solving DA, you’re mature enough to deal with the language.
Andy W: I agree that the top half was relatively straight-forward even if I’m not sure of all the wordplays.
I’ll have to google later to find the painter in 10A.
I have most of the top half done and am so delighted! Clues getting solved Pop! Pow! Bang! I have to go out and run errands now which is a bummer – bah shopping. Here’s hoping the bottom half is just as satisfying so I can enjoy this beautiful day beachside without distraction.
Thanks for pointing out1D/12A Rupert, I hadn’t even noticed. Got it with cross letters and def.
Just got 7D, so that’s NE corner done.
I found a painter I think fits – is the first name shortened?
Skip previous comment last name is only 5 letters, not 6!
Stuart, the answer to 10A is not the name of a painter. Instead, the painter’s surname surrounds the “upstart fled emirate”. Definition is last word.
Thanks Mort, I think the painter is the one I had
Finally finished. SE corner was last in and, to me, most difficult. 18a was a gimme for this resident of Wagga, once I had the first letter!
Regarding the vocabulary discussion earlier, the ‘over-fussy’ part of 6a was a little cheeky, wasn’t it? 🙂
6A: somewhere in the region of cheeky, certainly.
18A: I worked out the fodder early on, but had to go through at least half a dozen permutations before I found the town. Why can’t Australia have proper names, like Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu?
Fairly straightforward today, although it took me ages to sort out the word play for 24A, long after I’d written it in. Still struggling with 20A, 21D and 23D. Enjoyed 1A, 15A, 16D and 17D.
Dave, 20A “heard” indicates sounds like then words that sound like “twist” and “story” gives a climbing animal.
21D: I think “split” is supposed to indicate discarding half the previous word, and “jam” is an anagrind.
23D: Not so much part of brain, as what the brain does, without its first letter and around the first word.
Hey perhaps a dumb question – how can I grab a copy of the crossword when I’m overseas? First time this has happened to me since I developed a DA habit. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Sean, send me your email address.
Thanks, Mort and Rupert. As soon as I got 29A, I knew 21D (one of my heroes). With 23D I was too hung up on removing a letter, in accordance with “without first dreaming”, so I was way off track.
At 0900 had opnly eight to go, SE corner empty. Though I’ve scarcely looked at it since, nothing has changed. I think I have first word of 28A, not second. Similarly, second word of 17D. Is i7D a slang term for masturbation? I think I have the right space station in 15A, but apart from the ‘astronomy tips’ I can’t justify my answer. Tried anagram solver on 16D, but no result, so mayber my space station is wrong? Mystifying!
17D: Only in the intellectual sense
16D isn’t an anagram
15A: tips in this case is just the last letters of the previous words, and the carton contains tins of beer.
Now only five (or six, if 15A wrong), finally saw 20A and 21D (clever clue). Is 16D a non-English expression, or foreign location/ Must close down now, arvo-tea time, then pool table. Check back later.
16D is originally from a language other than English
Rupert 16D is an anagram
16d is a foreign expression
I think it is an anagram
Slow going for me this week. I’ve only just clicked as to what is meant by ‘anagrind’. It has puzzled me for some time, if you’ll pardon the pun.
Slow start only 3 in so far but keep getting interrupted
Will try again later when I get some piece and quiet
I particularly like 1D, 12A, as it reminds me of the great Canadian comedians Wayne and Shuster. In “Rinse the Blood off My Toga,” they had a lot of fun with this expression and a couple of others concerning the same city.
Glad to discover 16D isn’t Klingon. Any hints for 23A? Also is 13A an anagram? I have one but it doesn’t fit a definition I can make fit.
Crypticrochet – 23A definition is first word. Pre-Christmas time is a holy time. 13A is no anagram. The answer is in the words.
Thanks Jack, I needed to drop the line of thinking I had. Finding new path.
Still hopelessly lost on 16D and 24D. Tried to find anagram for 16, hopeless. May have 24A, but can see no connection with clue. Still lacking second word of 28A. Will have to leave till tomorrow, unless someone can help with one or more of these.
Arthur: 16D is a foreign phrase I think. It is ‘spilt beer’ nuts so you are correct in looking for an anagram.
For 24D definition is the first word, 3-2, but ‘modern prof’ is more like 2-3.
The second word of 28A sounds like a word for turkey, but is cued by ‘stitched’.
Ann, that was very helpful, but I still have no idea of what the 16D expression is. I thinlk that;s the only one I need now, so will leave till tomorrow. No, I just found the expression, I had inserted ARE in 24A instead of what I now see to be correct answer. So, all is now complete.
Jack, if you like 1D/12A, you can have it! Big Julie has no use for it any more…
I also loved that skit.
I’ve got all but the SW corner. Top half was much easier.
23, 25, 27A; 14, 19, 22D.
Haven’t found this as easy as early posters. I’ve had runs and long stops. Loved 6a,17d and 21d. Any extra clues for 23a and25a may see me finish.
As per usual as soon as I posted I got a bunch. I like 25A.
Just 14D and 27A now.
megse – 23A – defn = 1st word. “in” = letters 1,2. “time pre-Xmas” = letters 3,4,5,9,10,11.
“suppress” = container indicator. “secrets now and then” = letter 6,7,8.
25A – defn = 1st word. “prepared” = anagrind. Fodder = “ribs” for letters 1,2,3,4. And “ribs” are not the type of food for this “consumer” = letters 5,6,7,8,9.
megse 23A includes a type of calendar used at Christmas after “in” and includes “secrets now and then” Definition is first word.
25A is a (new to me) slang term for a resident of Queensland. Letters 1-4 are from “prepared ribs” and the next five are from “ribs for wrong consumer”.
Now just 14D, but I suspect 13A is wrong now.
Indy 14D “devil” is letters 2-4, which stops “devilish neglect an”. Last letter of answer is “open start”. Definition is same as 3D
Indy – 27A – defn = 1st word. “pirouetting” = reverse indicator. So “trainee” = letter 5. “noble” = letters 4,3,2,1.
14D – “Devil” = letters 2,3,4. “stops” = container indicator. “devilish” = 8 letter synonym. “neglect, an” = remove “an” for letters 1,5,6,7,8. “an open start” = letter 9. Defn = “to be 3-down”.
Indy, 13A is hidden in clue. Definition is “all over the place”
All out, though I needed help on 14D. Not a word I’ve encountered before.
Indy – do exactly as Ray says – really hard to help if you don’t know another word for 3 d, though! I need help with the middle letter of 24a – What is the def?
Julie 24A definition is Airhead. Middle and last letters come from “skips” after taking out a word meaning “rest”.
Top half mostly done but stuck on 2d 11a and 3d. Have an answer for 1a and 3d but don’t get the wordplay for either. 16d a complete mystery, despite reading all above hints amd using anagram solvers operating in several languages. Have to go out soon so may have to leave it until tomorrow.
THANKS Mort – all done. (I took out two ‘s’s and tried to double the ‘a’).
16D, nn be of good spirit when attacking 16D. It’s a foreign phrase.
2D you may need if you have too much good spirit.
11A the moon does this – half the time.
3D Definition is first word. Daft-hearted gives letters 1-3; balance is from a word meaning legend.
Sorry, nn, re 3D “daft-hearted” gives letters 1-2.
Mort – When there, you do as they do; you can have that one. But all roads lead there; you can’t have that one. I have an LP with it on and I still often play it and the other 3 skits on the disk.
16d also a very good racehorse and is now a successful stallion.
Mort, thank you for the hints for 2d and 11a – I’d been staring at them for hours and just could not get them. one led to the other. all done.
Yay.All done thanks to a little help from the Trippers.
All done and an enjoyable DA this week. I have all the wordplays except…
2D baffled by this one and don’t think it’s been mentioned.
And 23D? Not sure at all even after help above.
10A is very good, great deception. Clever wordplay!
25A I think this came after the – – – – Vegas tag for the place didn’t it?
It always helps… Post then penny drops …
2D young soldier roughly missing = 1-3, and fond gestures = 4 and 5 right? Roughly meaning about …
23D. Had another look at your entry, Rupert, at 12:52 and have the word for brain now, thanks for that. All done!
Thanks trippers.
One of my best results- only missing 16D. However I have an answer to 25A which fits the wordplay but which I don’t understand. If it’s right it’s an expression I’ve never heard despite living in Australia all my life (64 yrs). Can anyone explain without giving the game away?
Thanks Mort and others. I have the top half done but don’t get word play for1a and 2d.
Bottom half completely blank except 18a amd14d
Just 24d, 26a and second word of 28a to go. Also don’t get word play for 1a, 2d and21d
Might sleep on it
1A: I originally thought the wordplay involved a relationship between the North Yorkshire town in the first 6 letters and the Durham town of Washington, but it’s simpler than that.
Definition is the first two words. behind = 1, 2, 5, 6; Washington = 3, 4; the favoured one = 7 – 9.
2D: Definition is the first two words. Young soldier is one still at school. Remove his first two letters, which mean “roughly” to get letters 1 – 3. Fond gestures are found at the end of a letter or email.
21D: Definition is the first three words, famous for Alice’s Restaurant. Guys split = 1, 2; their jam = 3 – 7.
24D: Modern means in the last couple of thousand years.
26A: (you should get this from the answer and additional cross letter from 24D)
28A: Pay TV not the sort you get from the sky, but from the street. A turkey is a foolish person.
25A: It’s an ironic nickname associating a town specialising in entertainment tourism with a much more famous American example. Over here we do the same thing to poor little Rotorua.
After a good sleep I got a few more in but throwing in the towel for 26A,27A, 23D and 24D. I’m not sure my second word for 28A is correct. Thanks Rupert for showing 1A, I’d got that by definition but was thinking of Washington the wrong way.
No I was correct. Only error was last two letters of 19D.
The last two came to me shortly after breakfast. Will have a look at Rupert’s explanation of wordplay when I get back to the paper. Thanks Rupert
1a 12 Excellent anagram.
24d How does modern = 1 2?
FHF 24D AD – anno domini
Mort, anno domini does not mean modern. Is 1066 AD modern?
Finally out with 10A. However, could not understand “upstart fled emirate” until I fed the correct letters into a search. Keep forgetting these embedded clues “up start”.
Come someone please explain 17D to me now, I have never seen wanker in a crossword before and wanted to know the answer, has long enough time passed to put me out of my misery?
17D: Jason, wanker in the general sense of an obnoxious person. “Vintage wanker” is someone who is obnoxious on the subject of vintages, i.e. a WINE SNOB.
Aha, thank you.