DA is synonymous with confusion, and here is where you can have your confusions sorted out.
71 thoughts on “DA Confusions for the 15/16th of April, 2011”
Typical DA. Some good ones, some groaners and some “how the hell was I supposed to get that without Google”s
I hadn’t heard of 9A or 17A, or 27A in its Chinese sense. 18A is apparently a word, though I’ve never heard it used. 16D is simply impossible to get from the wordplay.
1D I think mostly of as a physicist, and was going to complain about DA’s arts background again, but it turns out he did plenty of chemistry, too.
20D is a good word. I wonder how common it is in Australia? I’ve only ever heard it used by my US-ian in-laws.
I liked 7D, 8D, 17D and 13A. Hard to believe he got 19D in a family newspaper!
20D was last in. The wordplay gave me the answer but I had to check it. Also had to check first part of 9A.
19D is very Paul-like. (And I like Paul)
27A is a fairly common coll. term
OK. I can’t get 9A. I have 1st, 3rd and 5th letters so it’s a personality but can’t figure it. Which sport?
The other I don’t have is 6D but will get it once I have 9A! I can feel it in my waters.
27A is the common Aussie term for this place. Kewl!
Some easy, some hard in this one. A real mixed bag.
ps 20D no idea. But I guessed it and it was right.
D’oh! Got 9A and 6D. I like 6D…
RobT: Glad we could help!
6D and 14A were both clues where I got the answer early on and then had to struggle for ages to work out why. DA does that to me a lot.
Hehe. Can you explain 3D and 4D though (cryptically obviously!) if possible?
3D is no + writer in a (rather strained) description of what a shoe lace (or the person lacing the shoes) is.
4D is someone who drugs racehorses without the middle letter.
Did I get that right? I thought you were asking for an explanation of the wordplay rather than a clue to the answer. It’s hard to do the latter cryptically.
Gotcha. And gotcha. Thanks. With 3D I was using “o” rather than “no”.
still cant get 9a. can someone give me a hint re what sport?
Hi Robyn,
I wouldn’t be thinking about sport.
No it’s not a sport. Sorry for my red herring…I thought it was but saw the error of my ways. But still think ‘winger’…
Peta, thanks got it!
3D Rupert, shouldn’t that be lacer? Tried to find an alternative wordplay but can’t see it. There’s a more obvious wordplay possible with 1,2 and 8,9 letters . Get the feeling I’m missing something.
Would never have got 9A without google and the right guess for winger – after straining other half’s brain for famous footballers. As Peta says – not sport – or any person, including aviat/ors/trixes. Although Gabby Kennard was looking good there for a while.
3D: The only thing I could think of is that a lace XXXs two halves of the shoe together, hence it’s a XXXr. However, Mr. Google tells me that lace XXXr is a fashion thing.
Just solved it – my first DA!! Can’t quite understand 5 down, though it might be my favourite clue :o)
like 5D too, still can’t get 23 A or 16D. Well done, brendan, you’ll never go back xD
3D Thanks Rupert. That makes sense on both counts.
16 Think of a polite word for bull, or more commonly bull+expletive, and the wordplay with the usual letter for ring inside the usual letters for directions (lots of them). I liked this one. (At least I think that’s right – still working on SE corner.)
5D is an anagram of Warne inside a fizzy drink, and the definition is a short sleep.
16D Gayle is right.
23A This is the period in your life when you’re in year 12. It’s a word for observed outside a word for incident.
14A If I’m right with this: synonym for Titanic outside a synonym for debris with the first letter removed, isn’t the definition a bit off? Need to get it right to get 15 D and the rest of the corner. Does 15 D start with a G?
15D Is the novice usually applied to the military? Or am I on the wrong track?
Getting there but with quibbles. 23 A Disagree. As a Queenslander with a birthday in December it doesn’t apply to my Year 12 period.
14A, yes it usually means generosity. But if someone gives you a present you can thank them for their 14A.
15D you are on the right track
23A I wasn’t 23A at any point in my Lower 6th year, either. But most of my classmates were.
Thanks Rupert. I’ve really thrown out SE corner by a completely wrong answer for 18A that led me to something I never knew. I had anagram as nutmeg which Google told me was psychoactive (daze). So that’s why Grandma’s rice pudding was so yummy. But 7D told me the u was in the wrong place. Still haven’t got it though.
Ah, now I’ve got 19D and 27 A – got 18 A and 15D. They’re all good – and funny. Must have been too early in the morning to see the humour,
All done now.
Enjoyed this week’s, but one last quibble. Yet another DA mispronunciation and similar to his Rohrschach one. 5A I’d guessed correctly what was probably part of the Spoonerism but discounted it. Someone needs to tell DA that the English fronted /a/ sound is used in only a couple of languages in the world.
Stats for today’s DA:
Solve time: 40 mins (bang on average for a 30-clue unthemed DA)
Liked: A number of good nests here. Must have been the influence of 9A. Some good sneaky defs too (17A, 9A). 7D my fave with the nicely worked food theme, closely followed by the neat artifice in 8D.
Disliked: Not much to hate here. At 18A I might have used stun instead of daze, but that’s minor.
Other: 1A and 17D could also have been Reverend clues, but I’m glad DA chose other recipes. Like the rhymes at 19D and 27A.
Spot=ad is perhaps a Nina for DA=tops!
Rated: 8/10
Are you okay Rupert? Just heard of another quake. Seems like this weekend’s DA is not earth-shattering. Hope all’s well over the Tasman.
I’m fine, thanks, Gayle. I’m in Auckland, so tremors in Christchurch don’t bother me (and we aren’t due a major volcanic eruption for another 4,400 years). We did have friends in Christchurch, but they’ve upped sticks to more solid ground, so we look on events there with more abstract, though still genuine, concern.
Glad to year you’re okay Rupert. Only heard later that there was also one at the same time in NQ where my son is camping out of mobile phone range. Hope our northern friends are okay as well. Don’t know if we have DA Trippers up there.
I’m coming in late having been away and I’ve filled in everything except for the top right corner.
I am still at a loss for 9A. I seem to have RAGING or REGENT for the first word and it makes no sense.Is 7D and anagram of “cuisine has to” with the t knocked off? If it is, I can’t get what sort of dressing it is. 5A has me stumped also. I did like most of the others although I still don’t know what 20D is although I think ketch mush fir in somehow. It must be a word I just don’t know for grouse.
I’ve just had a thought. Is 9A a bird?
Conny 9A You’re right about REGENT. It’s something that flies.
7D it’s a staple in my cupboard or fridge for Chinese cooking.
5A is another kind of Asian food.
20D you’re right about the ketch + 5 has to go in there. It’s a Yiddish word meaning to complain.
Yes
Hi all
I’ve just got to Friday’s DA. I’ve just cheated and looked up the answer to 9A. Never even heard of it and can’t get wordplay. Can I please have a hint for 24A? I really liked 3D, 5D, 7D and 11D clues.
Is all right just figured out 24A!!! Because I got 24D. Joy.
Gayle, thanks, I worked out 9A and the cooking one.The only one I’ve got left is 6D. I think it must be that game played with a board in pubs, but I can’t understand how the clue works.
I thought 19D was really funny and smart!
I think that 9a is anagram of BREW (beer) BENDER TO RIG
Conny, you are riight for 6D. ‘Fiddle’ is a total understatement for what must be the most highly esteemed instrument in the collection!
Thanks for your comment on 6D, JD, but I am still baffled….
up = reversed.
Oh….jeepers…thanks JD.
A slight modification of Gayle’s earlier comment about 9A – I think it would be more accurate to view it as BREW backwards (“knocks back beer”) inside an anagram (“toss”) of BENDER TO RIG. Only a tiny modification maybe, but it does ensure that the clue obeys the convention of not having an indirect anagram.
have been away all weekend so only just got to it. Took a while to get started but once I had a few it wasn’t too bad. But if not for above hints on 9a would have had a lot of trouble. decided it was a bird pretty quickly and had albatross as the second word, messing around with anagrams including toss, but couldn’t find a type of albatross with 6 letters for the first word. After Connie’s hint giving regent as the first word I soon had it right. (I have heard of this bird, so I guess that helped a bit). Quite a few that I got out but took me a lot longer to get the wordplay (eg 14A, 3D). Did like 8D, although went down the wrong track at first trying to get a couple of Bs out of other words such as bubble.
Would never have got 20D without the above help. I personally think that one was a bit unfair. If we are going to have foreign words there should be some sort of indicator to that (as is always the case when we get French or Spanish bits).
5D, 19D, 24A, 27A were good
Kvetch is of Yiddish origin but no more obscure in the US than a word like bagel or schmaltz and therefore ok in my opinion without a foreign word indicator – especially in this day of American TV, movies & books.
For mine the surface reading of Warne romp and the double b deletion to get indulge were the pick of the clues.
JK if I lived in the US, I might agree, but (unlike bagel or schmaltz) have you ever heard anyone use it in Oz? From above comments, I’m not the only one who has never heard of it. Maybe I don’t watch as much American TV as some of you?
Well I finally got it out after several days on and off. It’s only the second one I’ve managed, but I guess practice will make perfect. 4D had me stumped for a long time, but that was because I had the second word of 1A as “top”. I was thinking veneer as in bench top–a bit silly really with the “spray on” clue.
Interesting crossword. 9A quite misleading but totally fair.
Liked 5D — a nice surface reading w/o disrupting the word play.
23A easy but v. dodgy: does anyone think “Year 12 period” is even close to a reasonable definition of “seventeen”? (Where’s the DA Bullshit category when you need it?)
MF 23 A I’m with you on the BS category. Spent a lot of time working on schoolies (week), stu week, study vac, muck up week, etc. 17 was never an option – not for me anyway. Although the wordplay was reasonably clear.
9A wasn’t fair. The wordplay was convoluted, the definition a bit of a guess, and the solution a lot of us hadn’t heard of. Took me ages to work it out even after getting the answer from the letters available and google. I guess that’s the advantage DA has. He knows the answer!
A good puzzle. I nearly got it out alone, except I decided that there must be an Australian netballer playing wing attack or wing defense called Regina Something.
I didn’t know what Op Art was and didn’t like fizz = pop, but I seem to be alone on these.
@RC: Exactly what I thought about the sport thing. i was looking for a Regine in the Matildas and in hockey etc. Strangely, I didn’t have any luck at all!
I didn’t know what Op Art was but like to discover new words via cryptics…that’s part fo the appeal for me.
9A: I got that it was a bird straight away, then googled it, because my knowledge of Australian birds peters out pretty quickly after emu and kookaburra. I think it would have been possible with all the cross letters and a bit of patience to get it from the wordplay, unlike 16D.
Anyone still there? Can you please explain 14A? Expect it’s a duh, but I just can’t see it.
Hi Jill,
The definition is “Present” in the sense of “Gift”
Debris is “MESS” and when defaced (ie losses its face or front) is “ESS”
Titanic as a common noun rather than a proper noun can mean “LARGE”
aboard is the indicator that the “ESS” is inside/aboard “LARGE”
LARG[ESS]E = gift or present (which I find a little tenuous.)
Thanks, Peta.
Wow…no wonder I didn’t figure that one out! Well, I sort of had most of it, but wasn’t convinced, and still think it’s a dodgy, overly complicated clue, in an otherwise enjoyable puzzle.
Jill agree the definition is off.
Are you – or is anyone working on this week’s 22/4. It’s not posted yet.
Only 2 to go – and it’s a looonnngg weekend.
22/23rd: got out. Not too hard but a few I don’t get esp 4D. Also, 14A is perhaps not what I think but I have taken the “lounge” part as my guide.
Ps I quite liked 18A. Don’t understand 8D. Anyhoo.
robt
14 a I saw as double definition. noun (colloquial) for head and verb for lounge
8D the trick is in the ‘does’ – if that helps, don’t want to give it away to soon.
Can you give me a slight hint for 18A it’s one of the two and two halves I have to go.
A hint for first part of 18 D would help, I’ve been googling maps of Tasmania – did DA get that right or has he made a mistake? (Must be me, DA can’t be wrong : )
Gayle
18A lacks def (or the whole clue is the def – is that a &lit?)
18D is downstream from Launceston
robt
same here – I have an answer for 4D but can’t explain it. (i have the “rejected bars outright” part but can’t resolve the rest – except very very weakly)
Peta
Thanks for 18D – should have known that, went to that part of the world for my honeymoon. Was looking in the wrong part of NE TAS. I liked that one – even when I had only half of the solution. tricky clue – female horse nayyyy!!
Got 18A now.
4D hard to give wordplay without giving it away, but everyone will probably get it anyay as we did without it:
anagram for spring outside a reversed word for bars minus a letter
4D another tricky clue. the bars is not the typical DA operation. Went down the wrong path there for a while.
4D: I see two different types of bars, a couple of rejections and Spring. Not sure…
Gayle…thanks for explaining 8D. And I have never heard of a head called that, but have hear of melon and bonce. Maybe I need to get out more.
Typical DA. Some good ones, some groaners and some “how the hell was I supposed to get that without Google”s
I hadn’t heard of 9A or 17A, or 27A in its Chinese sense. 18A is apparently a word, though I’ve never heard it used. 16D is simply impossible to get from the wordplay.
1D I think mostly of as a physicist, and was going to complain about DA’s arts background again, but it turns out he did plenty of chemistry, too.
20D is a good word. I wonder how common it is in Australia? I’ve only ever heard it used by my US-ian in-laws.
I liked 7D, 8D, 17D and 13A. Hard to believe he got 19D in a family newspaper!
20D was last in. The wordplay gave me the answer but I had to check it. Also had to check first part of 9A.
19D is very Paul-like. (And I like Paul)
27A is a fairly common coll. term
OK. I can’t get 9A. I have 1st, 3rd and 5th letters so it’s a personality but can’t figure it. Which sport?
The other I don’t have is 6D but will get it once I have 9A! I can feel it in my waters.
27A is the common Aussie term for this place. Kewl!
Some easy, some hard in this one. A real mixed bag.
ps 20D no idea. But I guessed it and it was right.
D’oh! Got 9A and 6D. I like 6D…
RobT: Glad we could help!
6D and 14A were both clues where I got the answer early on and then had to struggle for ages to work out why. DA does that to me a lot.
Hehe. Can you explain 3D and 4D though (cryptically obviously!) if possible?
3D is no + writer in a (rather strained) description of what a shoe lace (or the person lacing the shoes) is.
4D is someone who drugs racehorses without the middle letter.
Did I get that right? I thought you were asking for an explanation of the wordplay rather than a clue to the answer. It’s hard to do the latter cryptically.
Gotcha. And gotcha. Thanks. With 3D I was using “o” rather than “no”.
still cant get 9a. can someone give me a hint re what sport?
Hi Robyn,
I wouldn’t be thinking about sport.
No it’s not a sport. Sorry for my red herring…I thought it was but saw the error of my ways. But still think ‘winger’…
Peta, thanks got it!
3D Rupert, shouldn’t that be lacer? Tried to find an alternative wordplay but can’t see it. There’s a more obvious wordplay possible with 1,2 and 8,9 letters . Get the feeling I’m missing something.
Would never have got 9A without google and the right guess for winger – after straining other half’s brain for famous footballers. As Peta says – not sport – or any person, including aviat/ors/trixes. Although Gabby Kennard was looking good there for a while.
3D: The only thing I could think of is that a lace XXXs two halves of the shoe together, hence it’s a XXXr. However, Mr. Google tells me that lace XXXr is a fashion thing.
Just solved it – my first DA!! Can’t quite understand 5 down, though it might be my favourite clue :o)
like 5D too, still can’t get 23 A or 16D. Well done, brendan, you’ll never go back xD
3D Thanks Rupert. That makes sense on both counts.
16 Think of a polite word for bull, or more commonly bull+expletive, and the wordplay with the usual letter for ring inside the usual letters for directions (lots of them). I liked this one. (At least I think that’s right – still working on SE corner.)
5D is an anagram of Warne inside a fizzy drink, and the definition is a short sleep.
16D Gayle is right.
23A This is the period in your life when you’re in year 12. It’s a word for observed outside a word for incident.
14A If I’m right with this: synonym for Titanic outside a synonym for debris with the first letter removed, isn’t the definition a bit off? Need to get it right to get 15 D and the rest of the corner. Does 15 D start with a G?
15D Is the novice usually applied to the military? Or am I on the wrong track?
Getting there but with quibbles. 23 A Disagree. As a Queenslander with a birthday in December it doesn’t apply to my Year 12 period.
14A, yes it usually means generosity. But if someone gives you a present you can thank them for their 14A.
15D you are on the right track
23A I wasn’t 23A at any point in my Lower 6th year, either. But most of my classmates were.
Thanks Rupert. I’ve really thrown out SE corner by a completely wrong answer for 18A that led me to something I never knew. I had anagram as nutmeg which Google told me was psychoactive (daze). So that’s why Grandma’s rice pudding was so yummy. But 7D told me the u was in the wrong place. Still haven’t got it though.
Ah, now I’ve got 19D and 27 A – got 18 A and 15D. They’re all good – and funny. Must have been too early in the morning to see the humour,
All done now.
Enjoyed this week’s, but one last quibble. Yet another DA mispronunciation and similar to his Rohrschach one. 5A I’d guessed correctly what was probably part of the Spoonerism but discounted it. Someone needs to tell DA that the English fronted /a/ sound is used in only a couple of languages in the world.
http://www.enjoythaifood.com/talkingmenu/noodles.php
for a bit of fun – or you can just say the numbers on the menu for fear of embarrasment – a bit risky/risque with some Thai dishes.
Stats for today’s DA:
Solve time: 40 mins (bang on average for a 30-clue unthemed DA)
Liked: A number of good nests here. Must have been the influence of 9A. Some good sneaky defs too (17A, 9A). 7D my fave with the nicely worked food theme, closely followed by the neat artifice in 8D.
Disliked: Not much to hate here. At 18A I might have used stun instead of daze, but that’s minor.
Other: 1A and 17D could also have been Reverend clues, but I’m glad DA chose other recipes. Like the rhymes at 19D and 27A.
Spot=ad is perhaps a Nina for DA=tops!
Rated: 8/10
Are you okay Rupert? Just heard of another quake. Seems like this weekend’s DA is not earth-shattering. Hope all’s well over the Tasman.
I’m fine, thanks, Gayle. I’m in Auckland, so tremors in Christchurch don’t bother me (and we aren’t due a major volcanic eruption for another 4,400 years). We did have friends in Christchurch, but they’ve upped sticks to more solid ground, so we look on events there with more abstract, though still genuine, concern.
Glad to year you’re okay Rupert. Only heard later that there was also one at the same time in NQ where my son is camping out of mobile phone range. Hope our northern friends are okay as well. Don’t know if we have DA Trippers up there.
I’m coming in late having been away and I’ve filled in everything except for the top right corner.
I am still at a loss for 9A. I seem to have RAGING or REGENT for the first word and it makes no sense.Is 7D and anagram of “cuisine has to” with the t knocked off? If it is, I can’t get what sort of dressing it is. 5A has me stumped also. I did like most of the others although I still don’t know what 20D is although I think ketch mush fir in somehow. It must be a word I just don’t know for grouse.
I’ve just had a thought. Is 9A a bird?
Conny 9A You’re right about REGENT. It’s something that flies.
7D it’s a staple in my cupboard or fridge for Chinese cooking.
5A is another kind of Asian food.
20D you’re right about the ketch + 5 has to go in there. It’s a Yiddish word meaning to complain.
Yes
Hi all
I’ve just got to Friday’s DA. I’ve just cheated and looked up the answer to 9A. Never even heard of it and can’t get wordplay. Can I please have a hint for 24A? I really liked 3D, 5D, 7D and 11D clues.
Is all right just figured out 24A!!! Because I got 24D. Joy.
Gayle, thanks, I worked out 9A and the cooking one.The only one I’ve got left is 6D. I think it must be that game played with a board in pubs, but I can’t understand how the clue works.
I thought 19D was really funny and smart!
I think that 9a is anagram of BREW (beer) BENDER TO RIG
Conny, you are riight for 6D. ‘Fiddle’ is a total understatement for what must be the most highly esteemed instrument in the collection!
Thanks for your comment on 6D, JD, but I am still baffled….
up = reversed.
Oh….jeepers…thanks JD.
A slight modification of Gayle’s earlier comment about 9A – I think it would be more accurate to view it as BREW backwards (“knocks back beer”) inside an anagram (“toss”) of BENDER TO RIG. Only a tiny modification maybe, but it does ensure that the clue obeys the convention of not having an indirect anagram.
have been away all weekend so only just got to it. Took a while to get started but once I had a few it wasn’t too bad. But if not for above hints on 9a would have had a lot of trouble. decided it was a bird pretty quickly and had albatross as the second word, messing around with anagrams including toss, but couldn’t find a type of albatross with 6 letters for the first word. After Connie’s hint giving regent as the first word I soon had it right. (I have heard of this bird, so I guess that helped a bit). Quite a few that I got out but took me a lot longer to get the wordplay (eg 14A, 3D). Did like 8D, although went down the wrong track at first trying to get a couple of Bs out of other words such as bubble.
Would never have got 20D without the above help. I personally think that one was a bit unfair. If we are going to have foreign words there should be some sort of indicator to that (as is always the case when we get French or Spanish bits).
5D, 19D, 24A, 27A were good
Kvetch is of Yiddish origin but no more obscure in the US than a word like bagel or schmaltz and therefore ok in my opinion without a foreign word indicator – especially in this day of American TV, movies & books.
For mine the surface reading of Warne romp and the double b deletion to get indulge were the pick of the clues.
JK if I lived in the US, I might agree, but (unlike bagel or schmaltz) have you ever heard anyone use it in Oz? From above comments, I’m not the only one who has never heard of it. Maybe I don’t watch as much American TV as some of you?
Well I finally got it out after several days on and off. It’s only the second one I’ve managed, but I guess practice will make perfect. 4D had me stumped for a long time, but that was because I had the second word of 1A as “top”. I was thinking veneer as in bench top–a bit silly really with the “spray on” clue.
Interesting crossword. 9A quite misleading but totally fair.
Liked 5D — a nice surface reading w/o disrupting the word play.
23A easy but v. dodgy: does anyone think “Year 12 period” is even close to a reasonable definition of “seventeen”? (Where’s the DA Bullshit category when you need it?)
MF 23 A I’m with you on the BS category. Spent a lot of time working on schoolies (week), stu week, study vac, muck up week, etc. 17 was never an option – not for me anyway. Although the wordplay was reasonably clear.
9A wasn’t fair. The wordplay was convoluted, the definition a bit of a guess, and the solution a lot of us hadn’t heard of. Took me ages to work it out even after getting the answer from the letters available and google. I guess that’s the advantage DA has. He knows the answer!
A good puzzle. I nearly got it out alone, except I decided that there must be an Australian netballer playing wing attack or wing defense called Regina Something.
I didn’t know what Op Art was and didn’t like fizz = pop, but I seem to be alone on these.
@RC: Exactly what I thought about the sport thing. i was looking for a Regine in the Matildas and in hockey etc. Strangely, I didn’t have any luck at all!
I didn’t know what Op Art was but like to discover new words via cryptics…that’s part fo the appeal for me.
9A: I got that it was a bird straight away, then googled it, because my knowledge of Australian birds peters out pretty quickly after emu and kookaburra. I think it would have been possible with all the cross letters and a bit of patience to get it from the wordplay, unlike 16D.
Anyone still there? Can you please explain 14A? Expect it’s a duh, but I just can’t see it.
Hi Jill,
The definition is “Present” in the sense of “Gift”
Debris is “MESS” and when defaced (ie losses its face or front) is “ESS”
Titanic as a common noun rather than a proper noun can mean “LARGE”
aboard is the indicator that the “ESS” is inside/aboard “LARGE”
LARG[ESS]E = gift or present (which I find a little tenuous.)
Thanks, Peta.
Wow…no wonder I didn’t figure that one out! Well, I sort of had most of it, but wasn’t convinced, and still think it’s a dodgy, overly complicated clue, in an otherwise enjoyable puzzle.
Jill agree the definition is off.
Are you – or is anyone working on this week’s 22/4. It’s not posted yet.
Only 2 to go – and it’s a looonnngg weekend.
22/23rd: got out. Not too hard but a few I don’t get esp 4D. Also, 14A is perhaps not what I think but I have taken the “lounge” part as my guide.
Ps I quite liked 18A. Don’t understand 8D. Anyhoo.
robt
14 a I saw as double definition. noun (colloquial) for head and verb for lounge
8D the trick is in the ‘does’ – if that helps, don’t want to give it away to soon.
Can you give me a slight hint for 18A it’s one of the two and two halves I have to go.
A hint for first part of 18 D would help, I’ve been googling maps of Tasmania – did DA get that right or has he made a mistake? (Must be me, DA can’t be wrong : )
Gayle
18A lacks def (or the whole clue is the def – is that a &lit?)
18D is downstream from Launceston
robt
same here – I have an answer for 4D but can’t explain it. (i have the “rejected bars outright” part but can’t resolve the rest – except very very weakly)
Peta
Thanks for 18D – should have known that, went to that part of the world for my honeymoon. Was looking in the wrong part of NE TAS. I liked that one – even when I had only half of the solution. tricky clue – female horse nayyyy!!
Got 18A now.
4D hard to give wordplay without giving it away, but everyone will probably get it anyay as we did without it:
anagram for spring outside a reversed word for bars minus a letter
4D another tricky clue. the bars is not the typical DA operation. Went down the wrong path there for a while.
4D: I see two different types of bars, a couple of rejections and Spring. Not sure…
Gayle…thanks for explaining 8D. And I have never heard of a head called that, but have hear of melon and bonce. Maybe I need to get out more.
robt going over to 22/23 now
…do you need a hint? These were easy-peasy.