105 thoughts on “DA Confusion for the 8/9th June, 2012”
Good one so far. I’m no expert on 7Ds (definitely a 15/19 man), but I recognise most of the thematic elements.
Just finished. Lots of fun today. Some googling required for theme. Unsure of wordplay for 26A.
Re26: got it now……..playing card reference!
3D was the last one in. While (unsuccessfully) Googling various electronic note taking systems, I found a school maths program called e-asTTle. I wonder how much DA paid for the naming rights?
Thanks for the hint on 26A, Mike. I was stuck on a place by the sea one goes to get warm, even though it would have made 27D wrong.
@Rupert: What’s your take on the 6 asterisks in 3D. And why the capitals in 15,19D? Red Herrings?
3D: I think they’re just there for the surface. Punctuation may be ignored in the wordplay, as it is here.
15/19: Again, I think capitalising the letters improved the surface (possibly something related to WOMAD, which showed up a couple of weeks ago?).
Re3D: perhaps on the surface he’s suggesting a seven letter expletive beginning with f that is often heard around our house on a Friday decrying the Astle cryptic.
The capitals alert us he is giving us a rebus. I saw an Araucaria puzzle in the Guardian years ago which clued it as BAC SID SID SID (5,4,3,5).
Help with wodal please!!!!!
Or better yet … Help with wolad pls!!!! Knowing it’s a rebus didn’t help
It’s actually wol ad. That is low (as in height) in reverse, plus &’s peripherals.
I need more hints for wolad this is killing me!!!!!!!
So … Short something and sweet?
It can’t be sweet because that doesn’t fit with the crossletters in 31a…unless I have it wrong
You are doing better than me!! I am completely stumped with theme and wolad
Same, as far as I can tell 31a isn’t themed.. I haven’t solve any of the clues that reference 7d
I got it!!!! That relief
Ok so share your joy … What clue can you give me..
Sometimes if you can’t get something you have to cut your losses, or, as Wall Street says, take a haircut.
Thank you thank you
Finally cracked WOLAD after musing on and off all afternoon. The Rebus chatter above helped. Robyn – think grooming. Good luck. Now for the rest of it!
Sorry – should have refreshed my screen before I posted.
Just cracked WOLAD. Oddly enough, I had one at lunchtime! (Before it gets too cold)
Okay I feel like I’m missing something really obvious here… I can deduce the answer of 7D from 15-19D and the crossletters I have, but I can’t work out the wordplay…. any hints?
I’m with zac. Finally got 15/19d with all of the help above. But still struggling with 7d and therefore the rest. Any help out there?
Re 7d: 1st 4 letters equal ” so-called career” as in sounds like a word meaning “go swiftly or wildly”. 2nd 5 letters equal “means to get over” as in a small structure used to get over a fence.
Re8D:A fearful Bob Marley had such 7D on his mind!
Just missing 16a and 17d. Any clues? Odd that the first clues I solved were 26a and 15 /19d but no one else has had a problem with 16a and 17d.
Re16A: capital equals upper case.
I love these themed puzzles. Almost finished now.
I think I got 25d, from the “small brick” part, but don’t get the “gazebo’s edge” part of the clue.
Thanks Mike H, I had gotten the theme, but never really understood 7d. Pretty convoluted.
Pat, I only got 17d with a list of 7ds in front of me, rhymes with another, more well known 7d, and involves two different garden aids of Rev Spooner, rather than one.
I think I have all the answers filled in. But so much word play I don’t get: first part of 1a; 2d; 11a; the large number in 18d; the Australian in 20a; the middle of 24a. And I am OT at all sure about 25d or 21a. That is a lot of uncertainty. Enjoyed the theme though. And laughed out loud when I got 16a.
Bob Marley? Redemption pls. What song?
Not any song, Kk, but every film clip, head shots anyway.
Are you allowed to give the full answer? I have a word, it fits with 16A, but I can’t see how the first part works. Marley made me think of dreadlock, but that fits with nothing.
I just read the posts (far) more carefully and saw Robyn was referring to 8d with bob marley, not 7d. Sorry, Sandy, thanks too, makes sense now (a bit)
What a ripper! Got stuck with six to go, though. There are some theme items that I don’t know about. (Like Rupert, I’m a 15D/19D person – very practical 7D, especially in summer.) Spent 15-20 minutes on WOLAD, considering scores of possibilities. Seeing the letters DA in there made me think that it was referring to the setter. That line of thought sent me off down the wrong track for 5 minutes or so. In the end the plural-ness of 26A gave me the extra letter I needed.
Top left corner is tricky for me. I suspect 1A is an uncommon word. Is the def ‘neglect’? Would help if I had 1D, I suppose.
Can’t identify the def in 12A either.
Used various internet resources to complete the NW corner, which is a bit dodgy IMO but necessary for sanity. 1A was rare, as I suspected. (The answer reminded me a an old clue involving Puck and a broom – referring to characters in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.) There were some more obscure (to me at least) 7Ds in that part of the grid.
Liked 9D and 3D. 15D/19D forced my brain into a higher gear, which is what it needs.
More French in 31A. If DA keeps going the way he’s been going the past three or so weeks with this European language I might have to start learning it. There are other 1000s of other languages out there. Is it an older English crossword tradition that there is such a focus on this one language? Did DA holiday there recently?
25D: The wordplay confused me for a bit, because I saw both edges of gazebo and was trying to make that fit. But “on” is a cricketing term, and only one edge is required.
@Sandy:
1A: First three letters are is something the first half of 1D can be served on
2D: Elipses refer to 7D in the previous clue. Reports as in the sound of an engine backfiring.
11A: Elipses refer to the last word of the previous clue. Multiplied just means there are a lot of these in the answer.
18D: Large number = loud musical piece, giving letters 4-7.
20A: Australian = belonging to the setter and the solvers, giving the last three letters.
24A: Both hands = letters 1 and 7. Grab = a six letter word for acquire. Pole evicted = remove the last letter (S or N) of that six letter word.
21A: Double definition – thin and at an angle.
@Rupert,
25A: ‘on’ is such a subtle little word in the clue, but provides 75% of the answer. I too looked to fit both ends of gazebo into the answer.
All done except the 7 in the NW corner having got the theme from everyone here. Toughest wordplay I would say is 25D for the ones I’ve done – well done Rupert working it out. I liked 9D.
I have a 7D for 1D made of two 4-letter words. It’s an unusual 7D but the first word would be familiar as the first word of another 7D. Am I on the right track?
Thanks Rupert,
A few bits I had since worked out. But lots of it seems obscure for me this week (like ‘reports’ as in an engine backfiring? And his identification with Australian – how did you find that?). If it hadn’t been for a list of 7ds I am not sure I would have got through at all.
I had the wrong answer for 25d thinking I could somehow link an advertising symbol with a small brick! But your hint above helped me to the right answer before checking today’s paper.
Robin,
Not sure about what you are asking on 1d. It could be two words, but I don’t know any other ads with the first word. The whole thing could also be a description of an agricultural landscape.
That should have read “I don’t know any other 7ds with the first word”
@Robin,
Not sure that you have the right first word. Then again, I’m not an expert on 7Ds. You’re right about 1D consisting of two four-letter words, though.
For poor humour I brainstormed with lead balloon, lame joke, sick joke, dad joke and pun, but all of these were wrong. However lame joke, sick joke and dad joke are all examples of the first four letters of 1D.
12A: very weak def. Among the weakest I’ve seen in recent months. The def given in the clue could refer to so many things, and the answer could be described in dozens of better ways.
Having said that, I suppose the def for 15D/19D is pretty weak too, and I loved it!
Ahh! Help! The crossword section didn’t make it to Mildura – no DA. Feel completely lost…D
Finally!! Except for 3d .. Any help?
3D:
‘cryptic’ is an anagrind. ignore asterisks.
notes is def.
Terrible! After best part of two hours, had three answers (maybe four). With regard to WOLAD, is this something we’d associate with Sweeney Todd? If so, I now have four answers. Will have to read through the above clues. Don’t like clues that refer to other answers. 7D needed, others depend on it.
No, ripped to shreds and definitely not trying further. Too hard for this old man. Probably not coming back, retiring utterly defeated.
@Arthur C. I think you’re on the right track with Sweeney Todd, assuming that you’re not referring to the homicidal aspect of the myth.
Done with help of Trippers re 15/19 which I liked, and Ian’s/Araucaria’s alternative.Enjoyed the theme. Agree with comment about 12A def …. a bit of an underdone mishmash. Liked 9D.
Agree with MikeH’s reading of the surface for 3D suggesting frustration expressed in expletives over DA’s crosswords. That was the first thing that came to my mind and sent me down the wrong path for a while. I think the asterisks may have been a sign to think of another kind of symbol or notation. eg Eb Eb Eb
Thanks Ipuzzled – I only get 3 or 4 completed by sat am per year -woohoo -this was one of them!!!!
I had a 7d yesterday that is not included. Could be clued “anaesthetist there about 7d (6,3)”
Oops (7,6)
Still can’t get to right!! (6,5) double check (6,5) That’s right
Like Arthur, after two hours I have three answers. No idea on WOLAD, hence totally stuffed with three quarters of the others. Have 23D and can see the cheese, but don’t get where letters 2 and 3 come from.
Will read the above in the hope of some enlightentment, otherwise will be following Arthur’s shredding
Have read first half of the above and now have WOLAD and hence 7D so have some hope of the rest. I am in awe of anyone who managed to get WOLAD out. Of the 9 cross letters nearly half of them refer to 7D, which in turn rely on WOLAD. Bordering on the unfair IMO, as I don’t see how you could work out what WOLAD means without quite a few cross letters. I’d managed to work out the 3rd word and a bit of a guess at the second, but that was it. Was doing a lot of 3D-ing!!!
Will have a go at the rest now.
Most annoying thing is that the rest of the family have just come home after having a 7D!
Hang in there, nn. Very slow start for me too, and lots of wrong turns. My tiny contribution: re 23D, the letters sandwiched in the cheese are the second letters of the two words preceding ‘seconds’.
Thanks Gayle, just back from football. One more done thanks to your notes.
Still stumped on 1D even after all the help. Might join Arthur…
20A thanks for explanation of Australian above. That is a pretty long bow. Cockney time might have been better. Am only getting somewhere with this with a googled list of 7Ds, most of which I’ve never heard of. Have a fair bit of the bottom half now, but still missing half of the 7ds even with my list (might be time to google another list!)
Thanks Gayle for 23D. Not sure why I didn’t see that. When I first looked at the clue I was looking for second letters to give me the whole thing, but got nowhere. Didn’t help that I’d forgotten how to spell the answer.
Sorry about the defeatist outlook exhibited above. But I did destroy the thing completely, just felt it was hopeless. Must try again next week though, the DA uses up a fair bit of a weekend most times. I think I mentioned last week being poisoned with pills. Now have to do a fasting cholesterol test! In this icebox!! Seemingly can’t take Lipitor any more, don’t know what is going to happen. That’s enough to make anyone a bit cross, DA this morning didn’t help.
Keep at it Arthur!
I’m still going after 3 and a half hours on this one. Have 8 to go. No idea on 16A or 17d
Being follicularly challenged, the theme needs to much googling!
12a is awful. I can see to and is, but where to the other three letters come from?
Still stuck on 9D.
Where do last two letters of 31A come from?
17 D is a portmanteau, a French word, as is the first part of the solution. (Try googling list of 7D). The sp0onerism is on two of the most common gardening aids. I was tickled to learn this word. Good name, for it, particularly wrt young male wannabes who tend to sport this.
thanks Gayle, got 17d and 16a now, just stuck on 9d plus some wordplays
31 A .. French/foreign .. if it’s not Australian it’s gotta come from (the last 2 letters)
Is 9d an abbreviation? Don’t get the wordplay, am presuming that the first four words are the def
9D I liked for the multiple possibilities of the def which is the first 4 words, and is an abbreviation. Hope that’s not too much of a hint .. a deletion is involved in the wordplay.
Thanks Gayle, I think he’s pushing it a bit there!
Sounds like you’ve got it nn.
Thanks Gayle, I think I have the right answer for 9d then and it is a clever def, but I still don’t get the wordplay. I was presuming a deletion of at least a letter from a word, but can’t see what the word is.
And as soon as I posted that, I saw the word! It is about time I got around to finding it :-)
All done now I think.
@BrianB: Do you have the crossword yet? If not, post your email address or drop me an email and I’ll send it to you. J
Robin, you may have got 1D by now… first 4 letters = poor humour. Second 4 letters is homophone of a synoym for ‘increased’. A 7D often sported by Afro-Americans and said to resemble the solution. I wouldn’t have got this one or 17D without a list of 7Ds.
I don’t get the ‘half of’ in 1A.
12A: Letters 1, 4 and 5 come from “turn” as in food that goes off.
16A:
The whole clue could be considered as one long def. It would still match the answer. Or, the first and second words qualify as one def, while the remainder of the clue qualify as another def. Maybe that’s the ultimate in smooth surfaces.
Thanks Rupert for 12a that makes a bit more sense.
Gayle half of in 1a refers to the first four letters of 1d. These clue letters 1-3 of 1a
nn, I’m stuck in the same place you were with 9d – still can’t find the word to leave something out of.
Filled everything in, but still befuddled with some wordplay. Where do the last two letters of 31 come from? And why are letters 4-7 of 18d described as a large number? They’re often short, quiet and subtle!
Glad to be introduced to the word in 17d.
I don’t turn my 12a, I stir it.
Mary 9d think planets, leave out the rebel leader.
31A last two letters are an abbreviation for anywhere not in Australia. I presume the French phrase is the (pretty weak) hint to this.
Agree with you on 18d
I don’t think much of 12a either.
All done, looked the last two up! Agree with comments above about 12A
Thanks, nn.
Arthur, great to see you back on the horse, for next week anyway.
I’ve been known to stick at it for weeks.
Still missing 1a, 12a, 1d, 4d and 9d, despite all the clues. Clues (but not spoilers) welcome!
I suspect my 10a might me wrong – to do with getting in touch?
sb I suppose you could say 10A would let you make contact.
1a think spiders
12a is a dish
1d is two words joined to make a 7A. First word is connected to first 3 letters of 1a. Second word is a homophone of a word meaning increased (as in getting higher).
4d last word in clue is def
9d is an abbreviation, first four words in clue are the def, you might need to turn a few pages of the paper to find it.
Hope these are enough of a hint not to spoil.
Ay, Sandy, just got your 7D. Husband came home with a # f (Australian).
many thanks nn. All done now except 1a and 1d. It’ll come I’m sure.
Bye for now
sn 1d first part all those sorts of jokes are _ _ _ _ Y, think vegetable. You will probably need to google for the 7D connection. This in turn should help you get 1a or at least help blow the cobwebs away.
Thanks this week too.
12 is sooo vague.
So many across 7d relied on 7d.
I can see most of it.
Can’t get the word play for 24a
Still stuck on 13a and 6d …
There was a 9d in the SMH once which referred to someone who regularly solved DA.
At the time I wished I could occasionally !
We have an answer for 6D, but do not understand the word play – other than “quick is in there, and where did the “OS” come from in 31A?
Also can’t see the definition in 25D?
Jupiter, 24a, the two hands are the first and last letters, between them is a six-letter word for ‘get’ (I think the ‘grab’ is a bit of a stretch, but presumably it’s there partly to mislead) with its last letter, a Pole, omitted.
13a first word of clue is definition, audit is a homophone indicator, credit as in believe.
6d anagram of one quick gale, but with letters of long omitted.
Doug and Gwyn, 6d as above. I also don’t see where the OS comes from. 25d definition is first two words of clue, third word gives first three letters of solution – think cricket.
Thanx Mary. Think you gave us the explanation last week.
Mary Doug & Gwyn, someone above has explained the OS in 31A comes from. I think the idea is that as the last part of the clue is in French, this is supposed to indicate overseas, hence OS. I think if this is it, it is a pretty poor clue, so I’m hoping we’ve missed something and someone has a better explanation.
Mary and nn, if I remember your previous posts correctly, I think you were both born OS … which may be why it’s not a term that comes to mind as readily for the Oz-born. But as an Oz-born, who travelled overseas to Europe (by ship) in the era when ‘OS’ was the phrase in vogue, I’m with you … creme de la creme (+/-accents) doesn’t evoke in either French or English, the sense of OS. I think DA may be asking for indulgence with the question mark.
@ jonathon, thanks very much for offer, but I seem to have survived the weekend (and my wife has seen more of me!) so I’ll wait for next week. Having read Arthur’s posts perhaps I was lucky to miss out!
Went to a talk by DA during the week, and he warned us of this crossword, and told us we’d ‘get a real buzz once we found the theme’. How right he was!
I was looking for CREW CUT, FLAT TOP and MULLET, but they didn’t appear.
Thanks . I worked them out and reverse engineered all but 24a and 13a. I didn’t understand audit as sounds like.
I actually like 31a although I would never get it from the wordplay. Creme de la creme is a phrase for best somewhere else.
I got 6d from the polar disaster and then worked out the anagram …
I think I’d be disappointed if it didn’t take half the weekend !!
So I finally got around to wrestling the DA on Saturday night at the local RSL as I was waiting for the Wallabies test to kick off. As I’m sitting there being driven to madness by WOLAD, I caught a few words of the conversation going on at the table behind me. Sat there was a local jazz musician I know due to us both being Rabbitohs supporters – and he’s discussing the WOLAD clue with his mate! I pointed out they were talking about the exact clue I was trying to unravel and we had a great conversation about how much of a sadist DA can be. We discussed the clue for a while, but none of us could get it. About 2min after he left, the cognitive clouds parted and the answer suddenly hit me. Alas, not in time to gloat.
Hi,
I still get WOLAD. Could someone help please.
Thanks, Grant
Oh I see now.
And capitals customarily indicate a REBUS clue?
Not really. But it’s a hint that there’s something other than a definition going on.
Good one so far. I’m no expert on 7Ds (definitely a 15/19 man), but I recognise most of the thematic elements.
Just finished. Lots of fun today. Some googling required for theme. Unsure of wordplay for 26A.
Re26: got it now……..playing card reference!
3D was the last one in. While (unsuccessfully) Googling various electronic note taking systems, I found a school maths program called e-asTTle. I wonder how much DA paid for the naming rights?
Thanks for the hint on 26A, Mike. I was stuck on a place by the sea one goes to get warm, even though it would have made 27D wrong.
@Rupert: What’s your take on the 6 asterisks in 3D. And why the capitals in 15,19D? Red Herrings?
3D: I think they’re just there for the surface. Punctuation may be ignored in the wordplay, as it is here.
15/19: Again, I think capitalising the letters improved the surface (possibly something related to WOMAD, which showed up a couple of weeks ago?).
Re3D: perhaps on the surface he’s suggesting a seven letter expletive beginning with f that is often heard around our house on a Friday decrying the Astle cryptic.
The capitals alert us he is giving us a rebus. I saw an Araucaria puzzle in the Guardian years ago which clued it as BAC SID SID SID (5,4,3,5).
Help with wodal please!!!!!
Or better yet … Help with wolad pls!!!! Knowing it’s a rebus didn’t help
It’s actually wol ad. That is low (as in height) in reverse, plus &’s peripherals.
I need more hints for wolad this is killing me!!!!!!!
So … Short something and sweet?
It can’t be sweet because that doesn’t fit with the crossletters in 31a…unless I have it wrong
You are doing better than me!! I am completely stumped with theme and wolad
Same, as far as I can tell 31a isn’t themed.. I haven’t solve any of the clues that reference 7d
I got it!!!! That relief
Ok so share your joy … What clue can you give me..
Sometimes if you can’t get something you have to cut your losses, or, as Wall Street says, take a haircut.
Thank you thank you
Finally cracked WOLAD after musing on and off all afternoon. The Rebus chatter above helped. Robyn – think grooming. Good luck. Now for the rest of it!
Sorry – should have refreshed my screen before I posted.
Just cracked WOLAD. Oddly enough, I had one at lunchtime! (Before it gets too cold)
Okay I feel like I’m missing something really obvious here… I can deduce the answer of 7D from 15-19D and the crossletters I have, but I can’t work out the wordplay…. any hints?
I’m with zac. Finally got 15/19d with all of the help above. But still struggling with 7d and therefore the rest. Any help out there?
Re 7d: 1st 4 letters equal ” so-called career” as in sounds like a word meaning “go swiftly or wildly”. 2nd 5 letters equal “means to get over” as in a small structure used to get over a fence.
Re8D:A fearful Bob Marley had such 7D on his mind!
Just missing 16a and 17d. Any clues? Odd that the first clues I solved were 26a and 15 /19d but no one else has had a problem with 16a and 17d.
Re16A: capital equals upper case.
I love these themed puzzles. Almost finished now.
I think I got 25d, from the “small brick” part, but don’t get the “gazebo’s edge” part of the clue.
Thanks Mike H, I had gotten the theme, but never really understood 7d. Pretty convoluted.
Pat, I only got 17d with a list of 7ds in front of me, rhymes with another, more well known 7d, and involves two different garden aids of Rev Spooner, rather than one.
I think I have all the answers filled in. But so much word play I don’t get: first part of 1a; 2d; 11a; the large number in 18d; the Australian in 20a; the middle of 24a. And I am OT at all sure about 25d or 21a. That is a lot of uncertainty. Enjoyed the theme though. And laughed out loud when I got 16a.
Bob Marley? Redemption pls. What song?
Not any song, Kk, but every film clip, head shots anyway.
Are you allowed to give the full answer? I have a word, it fits with 16A, but I can’t see how the first part works. Marley made me think of dreadlock, but that fits with nothing.
I just read the posts (far) more carefully and saw Robyn was referring to 8d with bob marley, not 7d. Sorry, Sandy, thanks too, makes sense now (a bit)
What a ripper! Got stuck with six to go, though. There are some theme items that I don’t know about. (Like Rupert, I’m a 15D/19D person – very practical 7D, especially in summer.) Spent 15-20 minutes on WOLAD, considering scores of possibilities. Seeing the letters DA in there made me think that it was referring to the setter. That line of thought sent me off down the wrong track for 5 minutes or so. In the end the plural-ness of 26A gave me the extra letter I needed.
Top left corner is tricky for me. I suspect 1A is an uncommon word. Is the def ‘neglect’? Would help if I had 1D, I suppose.
Can’t identify the def in 12A either.
Used various internet resources to complete the NW corner, which is a bit dodgy IMO but necessary for sanity. 1A was rare, as I suspected. (The answer reminded me a an old clue involving Puck and a broom – referring to characters in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.) There were some more obscure (to me at least) 7Ds in that part of the grid.
Liked 9D and 3D. 15D/19D forced my brain into a higher gear, which is what it needs.
More French in 31A. If DA keeps going the way he’s been going the past three or so weeks with this European language I might have to start learning it. There are other 1000s of other languages out there. Is it an older English crossword tradition that there is such a focus on this one language? Did DA holiday there recently?
25D: The wordplay confused me for a bit, because I saw both edges of gazebo and was trying to make that fit. But “on” is a cricketing term, and only one edge is required.
@Sandy:
1A: First three letters are is something the first half of 1D can be served on
2D: Elipses refer to 7D in the previous clue. Reports as in the sound of an engine backfiring.
11A: Elipses refer to the last word of the previous clue. Multiplied just means there are a lot of these in the answer.
18D: Large number = loud musical piece, giving letters 4-7.
20A: Australian = belonging to the setter and the solvers, giving the last three letters.
24A: Both hands = letters 1 and 7. Grab = a six letter word for acquire. Pole evicted = remove the last letter (S or N) of that six letter word.
21A: Double definition – thin and at an angle.
@Rupert,
25A: ‘on’ is such a subtle little word in the clue, but provides 75% of the answer. I too looked to fit both ends of gazebo into the answer.
All done except the 7 in the NW corner having got the theme from everyone here. Toughest wordplay I would say is 25D for the ones I’ve done – well done Rupert working it out. I liked 9D.
I have a 7D for 1D made of two 4-letter words. It’s an unusual 7D but the first word would be familiar as the first word of another 7D. Am I on the right track?
Thanks Rupert,
A few bits I had since worked out. But lots of it seems obscure for me this week (like ‘reports’ as in an engine backfiring? And his identification with Australian – how did you find that?). If it hadn’t been for a list of 7ds I am not sure I would have got through at all.
I had the wrong answer for 25d thinking I could somehow link an advertising symbol with a small brick! But your hint above helped me to the right answer before checking today’s paper.
Robin,
Not sure about what you are asking on 1d. It could be two words, but I don’t know any other ads with the first word. The whole thing could also be a description of an agricultural landscape.
That should have read “I don’t know any other 7ds with the first word”
@Robin,
Not sure that you have the right first word. Then again, I’m not an expert on 7Ds. You’re right about 1D consisting of two four-letter words, though.
For poor humour I brainstormed with lead balloon, lame joke, sick joke, dad joke and pun, but all of these were wrong. However lame joke, sick joke and dad joke are all examples of the first four letters of 1D.
12A: very weak def. Among the weakest I’ve seen in recent months. The def given in the clue could refer to so many things, and the answer could be described in dozens of better ways.
Having said that, I suppose the def for 15D/19D is pretty weak too, and I loved it!
Ahh! Help! The crossword section didn’t make it to Mildura – no DA. Feel completely lost…D
Finally!! Except for 3d .. Any help?
3D:
‘cryptic’ is an anagrind. ignore asterisks.
notes is def.
Terrible! After best part of two hours, had three answers (maybe four). With regard to WOLAD, is this something we’d associate with Sweeney Todd? If so, I now have four answers. Will have to read through the above clues. Don’t like clues that refer to other answers. 7D needed, others depend on it.
No, ripped to shreds and definitely not trying further. Too hard for this old man. Probably not coming back, retiring utterly defeated.
@Arthur C. I think you’re on the right track with Sweeney Todd, assuming that you’re not referring to the homicidal aspect of the myth.
Done with help of Trippers re 15/19 which I liked, and Ian’s/Araucaria’s alternative.Enjoyed the theme. Agree with comment about 12A def …. a bit of an underdone mishmash. Liked 9D.
Agree with MikeH’s reading of the surface for 3D suggesting frustration expressed in expletives over DA’s crosswords. That was the first thing that came to my mind and sent me down the wrong path for a while. I think the asterisks may have been a sign to think of another kind of symbol or notation. eg Eb Eb Eb
Thanks Ipuzzled – I only get 3 or 4 completed by sat am per year -woohoo -this was one of them!!!!
I had a 7d yesterday that is not included. Could be clued “anaesthetist there about 7d (6,3)”
Oops (7,6)
Still can’t get to right!! (6,5) double check (6,5) That’s right
Like Arthur, after two hours I have three answers. No idea on WOLAD, hence totally stuffed with three quarters of the others. Have 23D and can see the cheese, but don’t get where letters 2 and 3 come from.
Will read the above in the hope of some enlightentment, otherwise will be following Arthur’s shredding
Have read first half of the above and now have WOLAD and hence 7D so have some hope of the rest. I am in awe of anyone who managed to get WOLAD out. Of the 9 cross letters nearly half of them refer to 7D, which in turn rely on WOLAD. Bordering on the unfair IMO, as I don’t see how you could work out what WOLAD means without quite a few cross letters. I’d managed to work out the 3rd word and a bit of a guess at the second, but that was it. Was doing a lot of 3D-ing!!!
Will have a go at the rest now.
Most annoying thing is that the rest of the family have just come home after having a 7D!
Hang in there, nn. Very slow start for me too, and lots of wrong turns. My tiny contribution: re 23D, the letters sandwiched in the cheese are the second letters of the two words preceding ‘seconds’.
Thanks Gayle, just back from football. One more done thanks to your notes.
Still stumped on 1D even after all the help. Might join Arthur…
20A thanks for explanation of Australian above. That is a pretty long bow. Cockney time might have been better. Am only getting somewhere with this with a googled list of 7Ds, most of which I’ve never heard of. Have a fair bit of the bottom half now, but still missing half of the 7ds even with my list (might be time to google another list!)
Thanks Gayle for 23D. Not sure why I didn’t see that. When I first looked at the clue I was looking for second letters to give me the whole thing, but got nowhere. Didn’t help that I’d forgotten how to spell the answer.
Sorry about the defeatist outlook exhibited above. But I did destroy the thing completely, just felt it was hopeless. Must try again next week though, the DA uses up a fair bit of a weekend most times. I think I mentioned last week being poisoned with pills. Now have to do a fasting cholesterol test! In this icebox!! Seemingly can’t take Lipitor any more, don’t know what is going to happen. That’s enough to make anyone a bit cross, DA this morning didn’t help.
Keep at it Arthur!
I’m still going after 3 and a half hours on this one. Have 8 to go. No idea on 16A or 17d
Being follicularly challenged, the theme needs to much googling!
12a is awful. I can see to and is, but where to the other three letters come from?
Still stuck on 9D.
Where do last two letters of 31A come from?
17 D is a portmanteau, a French word, as is the first part of the solution. (Try googling list of 7D). The sp0onerism is on two of the most common gardening aids. I was tickled to learn this word. Good name, for it, particularly wrt young male wannabes who tend to sport this.
thanks Gayle, got 17d and 16a now, just stuck on 9d plus some wordplays
31 A .. French/foreign .. if it’s not Australian it’s gotta come from (the last 2 letters)
Is 9d an abbreviation? Don’t get the wordplay, am presuming that the first four words are the def
9D I liked for the multiple possibilities of the def which is the first 4 words, and is an abbreviation. Hope that’s not too much of a hint .. a deletion is involved in the wordplay.
Thanks Gayle, I think he’s pushing it a bit there!
Sounds like you’ve got it nn.
Thanks Gayle, I think I have the right answer for 9d then and it is a clever def, but I still don’t get the wordplay. I was presuming a deletion of at least a letter from a word, but can’t see what the word is.
And as soon as I posted that, I saw the word! It is about time I got around to finding it :-)
All done now I think.
@BrianB: Do you have the crossword yet? If not, post your email address or drop me an email and I’ll send it to you. J
Robin, you may have got 1D by now… first 4 letters = poor humour. Second 4 letters is homophone of a synoym for ‘increased’. A 7D often sported by Afro-Americans and said to resemble the solution. I wouldn’t have got this one or 17D without a list of 7Ds.
I don’t get the ‘half of’ in 1A.
12A: Letters 1, 4 and 5 come from “turn” as in food that goes off.
16A:
The whole clue could be considered as one long def. It would still match the answer. Or, the first and second words qualify as one def, while the remainder of the clue qualify as another def. Maybe that’s the ultimate in smooth surfaces.
Thanks Rupert for 12a that makes a bit more sense.
Gayle half of in 1a refers to the first four letters of 1d. These clue letters 1-3 of 1a
nn, I’m stuck in the same place you were with 9d – still can’t find the word to leave something out of.
Filled everything in, but still befuddled with some wordplay. Where do the last two letters of 31 come from? And why are letters 4-7 of 18d described as a large number? They’re often short, quiet and subtle!
Glad to be introduced to the word in 17d.
I don’t turn my 12a, I stir it.
Mary 9d think planets, leave out the rebel leader.
31A last two letters are an abbreviation for anywhere not in Australia. I presume the French phrase is the (pretty weak) hint to this.
Agree with you on 18d
I don’t think much of 12a either.
All done, looked the last two up! Agree with comments above about 12A
Thanks, nn.
Arthur, great to see you back on the horse, for next week anyway.
I’ve been known to stick at it for weeks.
Still missing 1a, 12a, 1d, 4d and 9d, despite all the clues. Clues (but not spoilers) welcome!
I suspect my 10a might me wrong – to do with getting in touch?
sb I suppose you could say 10A would let you make contact.
1a think spiders
12a is a dish
1d is two words joined to make a 7A. First word is connected to first 3 letters of 1a. Second word is a homophone of a word meaning increased (as in getting higher).
4d last word in clue is def
9d is an abbreviation, first four words in clue are the def, you might need to turn a few pages of the paper to find it.
Hope these are enough of a hint not to spoil.
Ay, Sandy, just got your 7D. Husband came home with a # f (Australian).
many thanks nn. All done now except 1a and 1d. It’ll come I’m sure.
Bye for now
sn 1d first part all those sorts of jokes are _ _ _ _ Y, think vegetable. You will probably need to google for the 7D connection. This in turn should help you get 1a or at least help blow the cobwebs away.
Thanks this week too.
12 is sooo vague.
So many across 7d relied on 7d.
I can see most of it.
Can’t get the word play for 24a
Still stuck on 13a and 6d …
There was a 9d in the SMH once which referred to someone who regularly solved DA.
At the time I wished I could occasionally !
We have an answer for 6D, but do not understand the word play – other than “quick is in there, and where did the “OS” come from in 31A?
Also can’t see the definition in 25D?
Jupiter, 24a, the two hands are the first and last letters, between them is a six-letter word for ‘get’ (I think the ‘grab’ is a bit of a stretch, but presumably it’s there partly to mislead) with its last letter, a Pole, omitted.
13a first word of clue is definition, audit is a homophone indicator, credit as in believe.
6d anagram of one quick gale, but with letters of long omitted.
Doug and Gwyn, 6d as above. I also don’t see where the OS comes from. 25d definition is first two words of clue, third word gives first three letters of solution – think cricket.
Thanx Mary. Think you gave us the explanation last week.
Mary Doug & Gwyn, someone above has explained the OS in 31A comes from. I think the idea is that as the last part of the clue is in French, this is supposed to indicate overseas, hence OS. I think if this is it, it is a pretty poor clue, so I’m hoping we’ve missed something and someone has a better explanation.
Mary and nn, if I remember your previous posts correctly, I think you were both born OS … which may be why it’s not a term that comes to mind as readily for the Oz-born. But as an Oz-born, who travelled overseas to Europe (by ship) in the era when ‘OS’ was the phrase in vogue, I’m with you … creme de la creme (+/-accents) doesn’t evoke in either French or English, the sense of OS. I think DA may be asking for indulgence with the question mark.
@ jonathon, thanks very much for offer, but I seem to have survived the weekend (and my wife has seen more of me!) so I’ll wait for next week. Having read Arthur’s posts perhaps I was lucky to miss out!
Went to a talk by DA during the week, and he warned us of this crossword, and told us we’d ‘get a real buzz once we found the theme’. How right he was!
I was looking for CREW CUT, FLAT TOP and MULLET, but they didn’t appear.
Thanks . I worked them out and reverse engineered all but 24a and 13a. I didn’t understand audit as sounds like.
I actually like 31a although I would never get it from the wordplay. Creme de la creme is a phrase for best somewhere else.
I got 6d from the polar disaster and then worked out the anagram …
I think I’d be disappointed if it didn’t take half the weekend !!
So I finally got around to wrestling the DA on Saturday night at the local RSL as I was waiting for the Wallabies test to kick off. As I’m sitting there being driven to madness by WOLAD, I caught a few words of the conversation going on at the table behind me. Sat there was a local jazz musician I know due to us both being Rabbitohs supporters – and he’s discussing the WOLAD clue with his mate! I pointed out they were talking about the exact clue I was trying to unravel and we had a great conversation about how much of a sadist DA can be. We discussed the clue for a while, but none of us could get it. About 2min after he left, the cognitive clouds parted and the answer suddenly hit me. Alas, not in time to gloat.
Hi,
I still get WOLAD. Could someone help please.
Thanks, Grant
Oh I see now.
And capitals customarily indicate a REBUS clue?
Not really. But it’s a hint that there’s something other than a definition going on.