Confused about early Christmas decorations. You won’t get to the bottom of those here. But you will solve the DA.
67 thoughts on “DA Confusion for the 4th of November, 2016”
Morning all. Just triggering the email posts, then going back to bed: busy day today. Happy solving!
I think one of the easier DA’s for a while. Just flowed for me today and all done and dusted. Enjoy.
Stalled in the SE corner.
Found the stumbling block in SE. Isn’t 29 A 3,4?
Oh, that crime. I was looking for a pirate :-) Nice misdirection in 20D. All done.
Late start, slowed up in SE corner as well. Any h I nth for 17d or 29a?
*hints
17D – Defn = 1st 2 words. “fuse” = anagrind with fodder “in car” for letters 2,3,4,5,6.
Rest should follow and 29A will be clearer.
Thanks Ray, got both now.
All done, but didn’t find it as easy as Ray today. Good luck solving today.
Assuming I’ve solved 21d correctly, it has been mis-clued. The heart of “commits” could be m or mmi, but not mm. I’ll gently chide DA for this, especially because a few years ago he put in a personal appearance here to apologise for a similar instance and promised that it wouldn’t happen again! ?
Geoff – it is half of’mm’
Sorry Geoff – I see your point!
Well, I had to have another look. More farewells than …. Solved about ten, 3D seemed obvious, but cannot match with clue? Proceeding slowly (very).
Started off well, but now stuck on 13D and 23A. Any hints?
Ann,
13D:
defn = Saw off
as reported = homonyms for proper and bind
23A:
defn = strongman
letters 1-4 = text sucks in a
letters 5-6 = performing
Managed to work out 23A once I realised I had an incorrect 20D.
Thanks, Dom. I’ll re-think 13D.
Finished fourteen short, no light at end of tunnel. May look again next week.
Ann, for 13D think goodbye rather than lop….
any help with 5d and 28 a please?
5D/28A is an anagram of a former political slogan, using the first four words.
20D is the best of the bunch today, very clever.
Alice. It’s an anagram of what many would see as a government advertising campaign rather than a political message.
Alice: 5D/28A is an anagram of the first four words. It was John Howard’s advice to Australians regarding terrorism.
Found it very hard today.
Cannot parse 16A/1A or 14A. Any hints?
11A: is bore really a synonym for letters 3-6?
29A: is two words in my book (OED).
I did like 12A. Very good.
Just checking – 17D is from a well-known song, yes?
Carol, No – see Ray’s at 6.47
Rob B. 16/1A An anagram with a word for ‘lead’ at the start of the third word. 14A – put an acute accent over the ‘e’ in Rose, and note I would not myself use the last 5 letters as a synonym for a word in the clue. I enjoyed 12A too, along with 27A and others.
Glad you decided on another come-back tour, Arthur. Your fans are always pleased to see you!
Thanks Mike, got it now. I had Major Tom. (Fuse – jam backwards and Car – ‘motor’ scrambled. Well it almost works…)
Thanks Mary (1306), I have left the cricket (Warner out, 97), to look again. Still eight (at least) to go.
Found 19A, baffled by 17D, despite reference above to fusing ‘in car’. Also baffled by the 104 horses in 27A (for which I have letter 3) . Still looking for seven. Maybe check back this evening.
.
Arthur, 27a, break up 104 into two numbers and ‘horse around’ with the second. Answer is an island
17d: ‘crated’ means to put it in a … Answer is a current TV scientist.
And I would like some help with my two remaining clues – 21d and 22a
Twigged 22a. Still working on 21d
Sandy, 21d, marshall is an anagrind, grist commits halfheartedly, (but see comments above at 7.39 onwards about the m’s) Definition is last four words.
22a, text is 1,3,4, performing 5,6, see Dom at 10.25
I think I have 21d from cross letters. Definition doesn’t make sense to me, though I suspect Friends and Capital should be capitalised.
Thanks Mary. I only just saw your post. BTW, it was 22a that I was needing help with (though I now have it) not 23a which you described.
Oops! I’d filled in the first letter of my answer to 23a over the numeral in the corner, so I misread it as 22 – sorry.
All out but 3D. Did everyone else find this easy? How do I do it?
Mike 1.01pm. A belated thanks for the excellent explanation.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Ben. Biblical haven is the definition. As sound means homophobes. Experienced ones give first word . Storyline gives second word. Storyline in the sense of a story element that continues across a series of episodes. A story ***.
Darn auto-correct! That should read homophones, not homophobes. Although same-sex couples would not have been welcome in that haven. :-)
Sandy -re your post @ 2.43 – D.A. is telling you to use one. And its good you have you back , as well as Arthur!
Rob B
Hmmm, snails, worms, plenty of hermaphroditic couples would have been on that vessel.
Finally got it down to last twom in SE. Back to the cricket for me.
Finally got it down to last two in SE. Back to the cricket for me.
ArthurC.
Arthur, my last two were 14A & 15D, are they yours, too?
No, Celia, 20D and 29A. Got those other two early on.
Dear Arthur, I so wish I would be able to continue at your age! 20D I guessed with the cross letters and assuming the definiion was ‘main’ (that has many senses). Letters 4,5,6 are a TLA – three letter acronym – that I had never seen before.
29A, as remarked above, could – or should – be 3,4. ‘Behind’ is a noun here.
AHA! Mike, I wish I’d seen that last night, but turned off after my last post. Certainly, 20D was a very clever clue. Maybe come back next week.
Got 19 across but don’t understand wordplay.
Got it now. was on thfe wrong track thinking comic was part of an anagram.
Captain Ken re 19A
Split the clue thus:
“Perverse humour largely” letters 1-5
“tragic shemozzle without causing end” letters 6-10
Defn is “of our government”
Are there any other Saturday morning solvers. don’t get time to do it on Fridays.
We often do it on a Saturday morning. Certianly did this week
I’m still here and, despite various hints above, completely lost with SE (14, 18, 22A; 15D) and 23A. I have a tentative answer for 18A but don’t get wordplay.
SB
a hint for 14A “Rose’s finish”
SB
15D “drag” is 1,2,4 or 1, 3,4; love is 2 or 3
SB
18A “First, name in royalty [1-2], OR last [3-4]
22A “rap” is anagrind, anagrist follows
23D text 1,3,4, a 2, performing 5,6.
btw SW not SE corner
Oops, yes, SW. Thanks Celia – all done now except 23A
AHA. All done. Thanks again Celia
If anyone is still around, any help with 6D would be appreciated?
LJ 6D definition is “inconspicuous”.
Base = 1-3 : think of base as an adjective not a noun.
Imporant gives 4-6.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Adroit. Penny finally dropped. I had first word (as not too many options given I had letters 1 & 3). And eventually got (& understood) the 2nd word when I realised it wasn’t ‘set’.
That’s good.
All in except for 4D. No idea how the clue fits together!
Oh! We realise we got 10A wrong. That makes it much easier!
Morning all. Just triggering the email posts, then going back to bed: busy day today. Happy solving!
I think one of the easier DA’s for a while. Just flowed for me today and all done and dusted. Enjoy.
Stalled in the SE corner.
Found the stumbling block in SE. Isn’t 29 A 3,4?
Oh, that crime. I was looking for a pirate :-) Nice misdirection in 20D. All done.
Late start, slowed up in SE corner as well. Any h I nth for 17d or 29a?
*hints
17D – Defn = 1st 2 words. “fuse” = anagrind with fodder “in car” for letters 2,3,4,5,6.
Rest should follow and 29A will be clearer.
Thanks Ray, got both now.
All done, but didn’t find it as easy as Ray today. Good luck solving today.
Assuming I’ve solved 21d correctly, it has been mis-clued. The heart of “commits” could be m or mmi, but not mm. I’ll gently chide DA for this, especially because a few years ago he put in a personal appearance here to apologise for a similar instance and promised that it wouldn’t happen again! ?
Geoff – it is half of’mm’
Sorry Geoff – I see your point!
Well, I had to have another look. More farewells than …. Solved about ten, 3D seemed obvious, but cannot match with clue? Proceeding slowly (very).
Started off well, but now stuck on 13D and 23A. Any hints?
Ann,
13D:
defn = Saw off
as reported = homonyms for proper and bind
23A:
defn = strongman
letters 1-4 = text sucks in a
letters 5-6 = performing
Managed to work out 23A once I realised I had an incorrect 20D.
Thanks, Dom. I’ll re-think 13D.
Finished fourteen short, no light at end of tunnel. May look again next week.
Ann, for 13D think goodbye rather than lop….
any help with 5d and 28 a please?
5D/28A is an anagram of a former political slogan, using the first four words.
20D is the best of the bunch today, very clever.
Alice. It’s an anagram of what many would see as a government advertising campaign rather than a political message.
Alice: 5D/28A is an anagram of the first four words. It was John Howard’s advice to Australians regarding terrorism.
Found it very hard today.
Cannot parse 16A/1A or 14A. Any hints?
11A: is bore really a synonym for letters 3-6?
29A: is two words in my book (OED).
I did like 12A. Very good.
Just checking – 17D is from a well-known song, yes?
Carol, No – see Ray’s at 6.47
Rob B. 16/1A An anagram with a word for ‘lead’ at the start of the third word. 14A – put an acute accent over the ‘e’ in Rose, and note I would not myself use the last 5 letters as a synonym for a word in the clue. I enjoyed 12A too, along with 27A and others.
Glad you decided on another come-back tour, Arthur. Your fans are always pleased to see you!
Thanks Mike, got it now. I had Major Tom. (Fuse – jam backwards and Car – ‘motor’ scrambled. Well it almost works…)
Thanks Mary (1306), I have left the cricket (Warner out, 97), to look again. Still eight (at least) to go.
Found 19A, baffled by 17D, despite reference above to fusing ‘in car’. Also baffled by the 104 horses in 27A (for which I have letter 3) . Still looking for seven. Maybe check back this evening.
.
Arthur, 27a, break up 104 into two numbers and ‘horse around’ with the second. Answer is an island
17d: ‘crated’ means to put it in a … Answer is a current TV scientist.
And I would like some help with my two remaining clues – 21d and 22a
Twigged 22a. Still working on 21d
Sandy, 21d, marshall is an anagrind, grist commits halfheartedly, (but see comments above at 7.39 onwards about the m’s) Definition is last four words.
22a, text is 1,3,4, performing 5,6, see Dom at 10.25
I think I have 21d from cross letters. Definition doesn’t make sense to me, though I suspect Friends and Capital should be capitalised.
Thanks Mary. I only just saw your post. BTW, it was 22a that I was needing help with (though I now have it) not 23a which you described.
Oops! I’d filled in the first letter of my answer to 23a over the numeral in the corner, so I misread it as 22 – sorry.
All out but 3D. Did everyone else find this easy? How do I do it?
Mike 1.01pm. A belated thanks for the excellent explanation.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Ben. Biblical haven is the definition. As sound means homophobes. Experienced ones give first word . Storyline gives second word. Storyline in the sense of a story element that continues across a series of episodes. A story ***.
Darn auto-correct! That should read homophones, not homophobes. Although same-sex couples would not have been welcome in that haven. :-)
Sandy -re your post @ 2.43 – D.A. is telling you to use one. And its good you have you back , as well as Arthur!
Rob B
Hmmm, snails, worms, plenty of hermaphroditic couples would have been on that vessel.
Finally got it down to last twom in SE. Back to the cricket for me.
Finally got it down to last two in SE. Back to the cricket for me.
ArthurC.
Arthur, my last two were 14A & 15D, are they yours, too?
No, Celia, 20D and 29A. Got those other two early on.
Dear Arthur, I so wish I would be able to continue at your age! 20D I guessed with the cross letters and assuming the definiion was ‘main’ (that has many senses). Letters 4,5,6 are a TLA – three letter acronym – that I had never seen before.
29A, as remarked above, could – or should – be 3,4. ‘Behind’ is a noun here.
AHA! Mike, I wish I’d seen that last night, but turned off after my last post. Certainly, 20D was a very clever clue. Maybe come back next week.
Got 19 across but don’t understand wordplay.
Got it now. was on thfe wrong track thinking comic was part of an anagram.
Captain Ken re 19A
Split the clue thus:
“Perverse humour largely” letters 1-5
“tragic shemozzle without causing end” letters 6-10
Defn is “of our government”
Are there any other Saturday morning solvers. don’t get time to do it on Fridays.
We often do it on a Saturday morning. Certianly did this week
I’m still here and, despite various hints above, completely lost with SE (14, 18, 22A; 15D) and 23A. I have a tentative answer for 18A but don’t get wordplay.
SB
a hint for 14A “Rose’s finish”
SB
15D “drag” is 1,2,4 or 1, 3,4; love is 2 or 3
SB
18A “First, name in royalty [1-2], OR last [3-4]
22A “rap” is anagrind, anagrist follows
23D text 1,3,4, a 2, performing 5,6.
btw SW not SE corner
Oops, yes, SW. Thanks Celia – all done now except 23A
AHA. All done. Thanks again Celia
If anyone is still around, any help with 6D would be appreciated?
LJ 6D definition is “inconspicuous”.
Base = 1-3 : think of base as an adjective not a noun.
Imporant gives 4-6.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Adroit. Penny finally dropped. I had first word (as not too many options given I had letters 1 & 3). And eventually got (& understood) the 2nd word when I realised it wasn’t ‘set’.
That’s good.
All in except for 4D. No idea how the clue fits together!
Oh! We realise we got 10A wrong. That makes it much easier!