DA Confusion for the 17/18th of June, 2011

Posted on by AS

Here’s where you have your confusions sorted out.

Ask away and, via the power of the internet and the collective intelligence of cruciverbalists throughout the world, your questions will be answered.

Enjoy.

107 thoughts on “DA Confusion for the 17/18th of June, 2011”

  1. Hiya. I have only 2 to go this week.
    21A: I think I have 21A but it seems a bit dumb. Is it as easy as it seems?
    11D: I have all the letters (except perhaps 21A) but don’t know this personage. Should I?

  2. 21A: Is a double definition. I didn’t get it right away, so I don’t know about easy.

    11D: I don’t have his first name, yet. There’s a common first name that fits the cross letters, but I can’t get it from the word play. I don’t know anyone with that spelling of the last name, so I assume this is some Aussie.

  3. Mmmm. I have whacked 21A in. I also see a common man’s Christian name so am trying out. I think I have the last 4 letters of the surname.

  4. 21A: TV presenter and president of an AFL club, apparently. The spelling of his last name is conventional – I’d missed an indicator.

  5. @Rupert: Thanks for that.

    I think you meant “11D”. It’s a very clever clue.
    21A: I had “triple” as the secnod word so have now fixed it. It’s a pretty dumb clue.

    Finished now.

  6. Sorry – I did indeed mean 11D. I thought 21A was quite good. The whole puzzle is relatively easy this week.

    Didn’t like 15A for technological reasons.
    18D seems unnecessarily obtuse. Unless “books top place” has some meaning I’m missing, this is almost an indirect anagram (it’s a rotation, but still).

  7. 18D: I am seeing the first word of the answer described by the first two words of the clue…but can’t then work out the last word.

  9. Belay that, got mixed up with another clue. RobT, you want a 6-letter word for vote, then move the books

  11. @Rupert: what are your technological reasons for not liking 15a? I had “web must” as the definition, does that fix things?

  12. @Ian: I agree on your defintion of 15A, yet here I am, using the http protocol without one.

  13. 18D: Thanks, @Ian. I seem to have a blind spot when it comes to this replacement for books.

  14. Found this week’s pretty easy and no need for assistance .. which was just as well. 15A outtage. Liked the anagram fodder for 14A and the double duty for ‘dual’.
    Don’t get the wordplay for 13D. Thinking it might be a manipulation on a synonym for ‘corrupted’ . Have tried to remove a university from the remaining letters but can’t see it. And 2D, is that a Cockney reference? But not a homophone?
    11 D the favourite this week.

  15. 13D: It starts out by removing U from a synonym for impure, then a dress and a circle.

    2D: Yes, it’s Cockney profiling again, meaning drop the aspirant from the start of the swimmer. I think this always implies a homophone of the remainder.

  16. 13D: Oops, gave it away, sorry. I meant a synonym for corrupted. Hopefully no-one will read it too closely!

  17. Thanks Rupert. My vision was ‘impaired’. And seeing more into the ‘non U’ than necessary.
    Got 2D now too. Again thought it was more complicated than that. By coincidence, the word mispronounced is the aspirant.

  18. Have completed the crossword but unsure of the wordplay in 11d (which came to me as I watched TV)

  20. @Peta: 11d is two separate homophones divided by the initials of a large Melbourne sporting venue

  24. David H, that’s impressive. Uncountable mysteries. I’ve only heard of the 39 steps.

  26. @Robin 1A Hard one to give good hints for. For one of the ‘sub’ cultures think Collins Class. Don’t want to spoil it for the Melburnians

  29. 1 to go thanks to help from the clues above. Stuck on 6A. Any hints appreciated. Thanks.

  30. got 7 or 8 at first go this week. Challenge is to get it done on one cup of coffee. Quite liked 24A and 11D. Got side tracked with 7D at first thinking it had something to do with coffins, had a bit of a laugh when i got it. Not sure if i have 20A right. Am assuming that bout is the definition but don’t get the word play

  33. thanks Grant R. I now have a word for saying for 20A but can’t see the wordplay for that either!
    (I have 1st and 3rd letters from down clues)

  34. Thanks David H, I think I’ve got the answer after much head scratching and use of an online thesaurus but I don’t particularly like the clue. I guess it works if you think of old English style pubs but most pubs these days use compressed CO2.

  37. thanks Grant, very clever. Just when I think I’m getting better at spotting this sort of trick, DA gets me again!

  39. Thanks, Grant. I’d read 20A as ’bout, indicating dropping the first letter, but b-out is cleaner.

  41. Sorry, meant to add that some of the best beer I’ve ever had was served off gravity dispense. The pub (whose name I forget, but is somewhere on the outskirts of Basingstoke) has the cellar a half floor above the bar, so barrels on the floor against the intervening wall have a very short run to the taps, which are mounted in decorative barrel ends.

  42. Can anyone explain wordplay in 17A? I think I have it all except for the presence of a letter M in the middle of it.

  44. got them all out now (only took two cups of coffee this week). A few too many names of people for my liking, although at least I’d heard of them all. Would have been harder for non-Melbournians and especially overseas DAers.
    Not clear on some wordplays (1D, 19D, 9A, 17A, 16A). When I get them I suspect I’ll groan and blame my lack of understanding on one or more 3Ds.
    Favourites 24A, 23D, 27D (at least I got DA’s enfolded trick in this one), 14A

  45. Thanks David H and Rupert for tips on 1A last night. Rupert, your ‘iwi’ got me there very quickly.

    Today I finally got the reference to 39 books which last evening, to me, were only something you could sit on. Very good but ‘unnecessarily obtuse’ as you put it, Rupert.

  46. 12A was my favourite this week; I imagined DA grinning as he thought about how to give a clue for the last 4 letters! Luckily there was a suitable sports venue’s location for him.

  48. Robin 1 A
    to boot = a 3 letter synonym for also or additionally. J is inserted in it.

  50. Thanks Gayle for 1D, that must be it. Not the best of wordplay clues though, why didn’t he just say “invading also”?
    Or maybe “loved to invade”

  51. Well, thought I’d just have a quick peep at DA Trippers. Was five short, bugged by the showman one. But a clue up there ^ gave me a name, the rest just fell into place. Started badly, couldn’t get a run on. But some inspired guesswork, and Voila! Finito! For us old blokes (82), easy to remember General Hideki xxxx.

  52. nn I liked 1D. The way I read it, “Japanese leader” is doing double duty – both the defintion and in the wordplay, and the indicator ‘invading’ and ‘boot’ carry on the reference. + !

    Onya Arthur C!

  54. Gayle I liked the Japanese leader too, think I prefer my “loved to invade” to carry the reference on, though, if it had been Mussolini, the boot might have been more appropriate!
    I also agree that also would also have been too easy to boot!
    Arthur, I’m 30 years shy of you so don’t remember him from the time, but well known enough that it was an easy one to get.

  55. Thanks Gayle, 1D is very good from a few angles.

    By the way, with DA’s penchant for things nether in mind, will we see reference soon to a dance made popular in the 1920s? (5,6). I will look forward to his twisted clue for that one! Arthur C will remember it perhaps? ‘Non-PC’ might be in it?!

  56. 11D looking again at comments above on the wordplay, I’m getting the stadium acronym and the ‘bug’ homophone, so that takes care of the surname. However, Ian thought there were two homophones, i.e. one for the first name too; or does the other Melbourne stadium sponsored by the UAE airline company come into it too?

  58. @Robin the homophone for turn in 11D is a bit weak I think, spin or twist might have been better. Re your dance, might we also see reference to a Queen song of the late 70s (3,6,5)?
    DA if you are reading, maybe this could be the stuff of a future theme crossword?

  59. And has anyone ever heard of the fish in 22D? wasn’t hard to get with a bit of help from google and I am reasonably familiar with many species, but not this one. Although I’m not an angler, so maybe it is well known in angling circles? Google tells me it is common in Europe and North America, never heard of it here.

  60. That YouTube video is amazing, Gayle! Yes, you found it. Weren’t those Flappers and Sheiks demanding? And the guys from WorkCover would have a fit seeing those roof workers in action!
    Thank goodness someone strayed from ‘The Great White Way’ and saw those ‘colored kids’ imitating a cow stuck in the mud. How things have changed, I thought Monty Python was bad at this sort of thing.
    Thanks for the missing homophone by the way, a bit poor I think, now it’s been explained.

  61. nn, if you watch Gayle’s video you’ll see a lot of Queen’s (3, 8, 5)’s in that! 8, not 6, because there is senior journalist on the end of it…!

  62. thanks Robin, another 3D for me if it is 8 not 6.
    Alternative explanation is that there are three sorts of people in the world, those who can count and those who can’t.

  63. I managed to get it all yesterday, without access to computer, but a lot of the word play still alluded me. Most of that I have since either worked out myself or got with a bit of help from DA trippers. But 9A still alludes me. The ‘dough’ is simple enough for the surname. But can anyone help me with the word play on his first name. I have never seen Glee, perhaps that’s what I’m missing.

  64. Sandy 9A lasts in cultish reputation then, gives HNN (last letters) this is in Joy (Glee), nothing to do with the show (which I’ve never bothered to watch either!

  65. Sandy
    9A the final letters of clutish reputation, then is HNN joins glee is JOY for dough CASH

  67. Your ‘three sorts of people’ made me laugh, nn. I’ll try and remember that.
    I had a friend explain the rotten first name of the singer in 9A. I had read DAs clue ‘lasts’ as meaning the last TWO letters of the next two words and so had SH followed by ON. I overlooked ‘then’ altogether. So I’m going through singers called SHARON.
    Gee, this wastes your time doesn’t it?

  68. Robin, I initially did the same thing with lasts. Worked out the last name from the cross letters and hence the first name. Took a little while longer to get the wordplay

  69. Rock on Gayle!
    If someone had told me at breakfast that you, Gayle, would be posting a Queen video link by last orders, I could have been knocked down with a feather.

  70. And here’s one for nn – but there’s also an oblique reference to yours Robin. (Time I went to bed!)

  73. Thanks folks. After being called to dinner, and then distracted by all the youtube links, I have finally got how the boy named Sue joined Glee!
    And though Robin’s link to the theme song of this web page (having lost you at the beginning) had nothing to do with DA’s penchant that began the flow, it was definitely my favourite.

  74. Far be it form me to question Google’s algorithms, but why is the top suggestion next to the ring of fire video “Pingu is babysitting”?

  75. @Robin: but the line “she took me half way there” is less appropriate. Most weeks it’s more “I got myself half way there and they took me the rest of the way.”

    @nn: The fish in 2D is quite common in England. I’d have to check online to see what its actual range is, but I imagine it’s quite widespread in the North Sea and North Atlantic, so long as it hasn’t been hunted to extinction.

  77. I do know the 2D fish very well and I really can’t think why.
    I am pretty sure it would not have been served at any greasy spoon I went to or was sold as take-away fish and chips, wrapped in the Daily Mirror and drenched in vinegar.
    It may have featured on Players’ ‘cigarette cards’ that were swapped at primary school… or did the cards come in packets of Brook Bond PG Tips tea from Ceylon?

  79. 18D Not only has DA failed to separate politics and religion but sport is there to boot.
    Bernie

  80. Hi All, Got it all out except 18d. despite help given here. I take it books is OT, democrat is D.dont get the rest. Maybe I have a wrong answer somewhere, can someone please help.

  81. BH , 18D.
    D + the rest of the wordplay: vote is BALLOT. Move the OT to the top: OTBALL

  82. Despite my ultimate triumph, as trumpeted in the new post, I also struggled with 18d. I spent a long time thinking the answer had to be Don Chip.

  84. Just realised that I’ll never know the answer to 27A . Got all the rest with little help so fairly triumphant! Could some kind cruciverbalist tell me the answer – strangely none of you seemed to have a problem with this one.

  87. Thanks for 18D Gayle, have never heard of the word, but have since learned it is a cricket term.

  88. Susan, the definition for 27A is ‘general embargo’ and if you have the fish and the garden you’ll probably guess the second word is BAN. So the first word describes the ban, it being of a ‘general’ nature. This is where DA introduces the distraction.
    The first 5 letters of the word are a synonym for ‘clear’.
    The final 5 letters are made up from TAB and EN. Well you know where the B, A and N are already so the 2 words end either …..ET BAN or …..TE BAN
    If you can find the word for ‘clear’ you’ll be there. Mind still blank? I hope not ☺

  89. Thank you Robin! I certainly have it now ! But i was so certain that fish was a shad and so couldnt fit in a 3letter word starting with D. I even tried to work on “blanket” but no go.
    Definitely a 3 down!! I AM very senior and never really use that 27A expression – but no excuses!

  90. Last words on the subject ! – A shad is also a fish! What a lot we learn with DA – at least Ido.
    Always interesting and so good for seniors too we are told!

  92. Susan at least I’d heard of a shad! Couldn’t make that fit the clue though!

  93. BH, 18D sorry, I didn’t realise you were also asking for the definition. As someone has probably explained, it’s how you mark the grid on the score sheet for a ball which doesn’t score any runs, ie with a ‘dot’. I had to learn that very quickly when taking my turn at scoring for son’s cricket. Until then I used to think Saturday was a nice slow day sitting in the sun and reading the paper (before I discovered DA) …… but when half a dozen things result from one ball it’s really hectic for the scorers .. more of a mess than filling in DA.
    Just occurred to me that 18 D may be a return to last week’s DOTS.

  94. Susan and Robin,
    “They” say that using aluminium saucepans (which I grew up with) will increase the chances of Alzheimers .. and that smoking helps prevent it. So , what do you do?
    Do crosswords and eat fish .. that’s my 20A.
    If you can remember you’ve forgotten, you haven’t got it ( Alzheimers that is).
    And as the Lama said (not the Dalai on Master Chef) .. you don’t see lettuce growing above 20,000 feet.

  95. Hi guys, am I correct in concluding that the use of the term “audience” in 11d suggests we should be looking for homophones?

    Also, can someone please help with “saying bum”

    Thanks & regards, Grant

  96. Audience does mean homonym but I can’t really see how turn (or turn to) can mean Eddie (eddy). Saying is the definition, bum (bottom reversed, b-out) is part of the wordplay.

  97. Hi Grant. 11D “audience” .. you’re right . There are a couple of DAstractions in that clue which could mean a signpost for a homophone, including audience and outspoken. There are 2 homophones. Turn is ‘eddy’ , homophone EDDIE. And ‘bug’ outspoken (homophone) = wire> UIRE.
    20 “saying bum”. The definition is ‘saying’ . Bum ‘turned’ is a reversal of ‘bottom’ , bout is b-out, ie minus b. Bottom, reversed, minus b is motto.

  100. Hi, I need help with another please: “Democrat books … without a run”. How do we go from d ballot to dot ball? Thanks, Grant

  101. Grant, you need to move the books, in this case the 39 books of the old testament (OT).

  102. Ah ha. Thanks Rupert. I can’t remember the clue in its entirety. What was the indicator to move the OT? Thanks, Grant

  103. Grant, I could help out with 18D being at home with the paper not yet in recycling.
    Democrat books top place in vote – without a run? (3,4) DOT BALL
    ‘top place’ is the indicator to move the OT in BALLOT to the front. I think Rupert called it a ‘rotation’ in an earlier hint.

  104. 18D: For the record, I think that operation sucks. I don’t like such rearrangement of letters unless it’s an anagram or an upside down word (and indicated as such). I don’t like the ‘two step’ nature.
    Perhaps I am too old-school: I love hard clues (perhaps the harder the better) but I don’t like that ‘sort’.

  105. Thanks Gayle. I had no idea how to solve that one. Perhaps in line with RobT’s comment, do you think “books” is doing double duty here as a synonym and a verb indicating movement, with “top place” being the destination? Also, is “books” a pretty standard reference to the works of the bible in cryptics? Regards, Grant

  106. Grant, I thought the surface reading in 18D really good, partly for the clues you’ve mentioned. And ‘books top place’ as in pre selection , or in making a reservation. Also the double meaning of ‘without a run’, ie electorally or in cricket.
    I tend to agree with RobT in general about some of DA’s instructions to move parts of words around and between and on top of etc. This one is fairly straightforward, once you’ve done a few, and I’m still learning, but some of DA’s manipulations I find convoluted with little chance of solving them or enjoying them. He makes them up! But someone here is usually on the ball.
    Yes, books OT, or NT are common abbreviations in cryptics. There are quite a few websites to give you an idea of the more common ones which you could find by googling. However, different countries and different compilers have their own specialties.

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