Category Archives: General Cryptic Talk

It was a joyous occasion at Arcadia as about ten of us gathered to cruciverbalise and meet our cryptic guru. DA proved to be as disarming as he appears on TV and not in the slightest bit as curly as some of his clues might make him out to be.

Meeting the people who’ve taken part in forming this blog was extra special good, and the added diversion of a film crew made things that little bit stranger and more memorable.

And here we are, right in the middle of listening to one of RC’s fine array of anecdotes:

We took over four tables out the back and I doubt Arcadia will want us back: most of us were still there fours hours after first sitting down, and RC, Ian and I extended that stay to five!

Update: And Ian has kindly sent through his better-quality photo of the event, one in which we’re paying more attention to the photographer:

Further update: And you might notice that the photos above look a whole lot brighter all of a sudden. That’s thanks to the Robin’s fine image manipulation skills, so a big thank you to her.

Further further update: Wiping the egg off my face: Robin is male!

It’s been a bit over three years since this very first post on this here blog, and we figure it’s time to celebrate.

So this Saturday, 13th August, we’re gonna claim a table at Arcadia from 10 AM and have a joyful meet-and-greet cryptic session with anyone who shows up.

At the very least two of the original DA Trippers will be in attendance (RC and me, AS) along with, holy of holies, DA himself!

Yes, DA is coming down to have a powwow with some of his biggest fans and brave watching them attempt his crossword live. DA can’t walk the streets without commotion these days: also in attendance will be some budding filmmakers who are hoping to get a documentary going about cruciverbalists and the joys of cruciverbalising.

If you think you’ll be making an appearance, please let me know in the comments so I can get the reservation numbers around about right. And if you do come, please avoid peeking at the crossword: the idea is to have us all attempting the crossword together and/or simultaneously.

Here’s DA’s take on the glorious event, and here are the details in a nutshell:

The DA Tripleversary Cryptic Powwow
At: Arcadia, 193 Gertrude Street, Collingwood (sorry about the long trek, Sydneysiders)
Time: 10AM (punctual attendance would be great)
In attendance: DA, AS, RC, filmmakers and maybe you!

A very nice stitch-up job by the News of the World crossword compilers.

The old theme crashed and burned for some unknown reason and the blog stopped working.

Now there’s a new visual theme and hopefully the cracks in the software that’s running underneath will remain hidden.

Let me know if there are any problems.

Yes, we’re back to the old layout style. It wasn’t my intention to revert — this is actually a bug that I can’t figure out how to resolve.

I thought the software upgrade I implemented over the weekend would have resolved this issue, but it hasn’t.

I can’t be bothered doing another hack job to make the new layout style permanent, so for now, this old-style layout will be it (unless the bug resolves itself without my doing anything).

Sorry for the troubles.

An hilarious moment on the British edition of Letters and Numbers.

Not for anyone who turns askance at certain four letter words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-IYk7YVW80

It’s still the same DA Trippers, but with a new theme and updated software behind the scenes.

Congratulations, consolations and complaints in the comments.

I have a couple of clues from yesterday’s DP that have stumped me.

I’ve put the answers in the comments so that you can have a go answering the clues yourselves.

2 down: Popularity assessments made by sailors (7)

3 down: Bear to get jockey upset (4)

DA has been immortalised on canvas. Amanda Marburg has painted him up, and the portrait is in the running for the Archibald Prize.

And a while ago now, DA appeared at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. A video was taken, and the Wheeler Centre website has it available.

Jonathan, a frequent commenter on this blog and the supplier of the scanned crosswords each week, is wanting to organise a meet up in Sydney with any of you fine DA fans.

Comment below to organise something, perhaps over a beer or a coffee, and rejoice in anagrams, puns, pangrams, lipograms and what-have-you together.