There’s always confusion to be had when confronting a DA.
Here’s where you have the confusion resolved.
68 thoughts on “DA Confusion for the 30th November/1st December, 2012”
Just a couple left to go after breakfast, but lots of confusion, including one where I understand the wordplay but not the definition!
Back after coffee.
All done. 12A was the last one in, which I got from 1A rather than the other way around.
28A: How does “burnt over” fit into the wordplay?
30A: Is “bubbles” meant to indicate a state in cookery that most emphatically does not involve any bubbles? Otherwise I don’t get the wordplay for the first five letters.
18D: Is the swarm similar to the vermin, only smaller?
20D: Apart from letters 2 and 3, I don’t get this wordplay at all.
20D: For letters 1 and 4-7 – take the nucleus of ‘terror’ out of a word that means ‘plan’.
20D: Thanks, Flexicon. I don’t think cell is the right word for DA to have used here.
18D: I think so – at least that’s how I got there.
9D: Would apprecaite help with word play. Believe I have 4 letters that can fit in multiple places of the first seven, but cannot construct the rest. Thanks.
9d: first four letters an anagram, then a two word homophone
28a: I took “burnt over” to indicate losing every second letter and reversing
28A: OK on “burnt”, but if “over” is the reversal indicator, what is “Retiring”?
Thanks Ian.
Rupert, for 28a I took ‘over a long time’ to be the meaning, but really the ‘only’ is only needed to make the surface sense work. I agree with Ian that ‘burnt’ means taking away the ‘regulars’.
I am still confused by some wordplay, but have everything done except 1a and 12a. Any help with those?
The two clues have a lot in common.
12A: Definition is the first word, in its military sense. Alloy is an anagrind. Insets is fodder and direction.
1A: Definition is the first word. Outfit is fodder and direction.
Thanks Rupert,
I should have thought about brass in that way! I knew trumpet didn’t fit :)
Thanks to the above I also have the word play for 9d and 20d which both confused me. Still not sure of the ‘kick’ in 23d. Also not sure of 7d wordplay.
My favourites were 10a, 21/15a and 13a.
7D is a five letter word for lament minus DA’s favourite word for a second.
23D: I don’t get the wordplay here, either. “I kick back” would be neat wordplay for TOO BAD, but the kick here is not as obvious.
Rupert / Sandy – 23D – the way I read – “I” last 2 letters. “KICK” – (a bit of a stretch) but 4 letters of a shortened version of an 8 letter word for a type of kick in RL, RU, AFL – and then “BACK” says direction. Hope I am right / it helps.
Sorry – 7 letter word.
Thanks Ray. A bit of a stretch indeed!
Googling the abbreviated kick on its own yields nothing but towns in Scandinavia. Googling it plus kick brings up “Do you mean …” the unabbreviated kick. But it does seem to be used, abbreviated and on its own, so I guess it’s fair.
Nearly caught up with the front runners! Next Fri I’ll get up at dawn. Or not.
16A last in and my fave. Agree with Rupert that 1st 5 letters of 30A are a bit of a stretch.
And 1st 4 of 22D is fair only for Mexicans…
All done except 1a (even with Rupert’s hint) and first word of 16a. Maybe I’ve got 9d wrong.
Help welcome.
Don’t get word play for 9d, or 2nd word of 29a. Was mystified by a few others as well before reading above.
I need help please with 18d,24a and 26a – which is interesting since no-one else seems to have had a problem with them!
1a-definition is 1st word, letters 1,2,6,7 – 12a’s are an example of a military one of these, letters 3,4,5 come from “outfit” (break it into two words)
9d was explained above but definition is words 1&2, letters 1-4 are an anagram, the rest are a homophone meaning in favour of taking a break (it’s quite clever since the clue is past tense but the homophone is present tense)
16a -letters 1,2,6-9 are the bathroom fixture, letters 3-5 are an abbreviation for excessively.
I also don’t get wordplay for 29a and 22d.
For 22d I did wonder if it was somehow broken into 3×2 letter words reading upwards. 1st two 2 letter words would basically mean “I am about to do something” but I couldn’t then explain the remaining 2 letters. I don’t like the explanation using the 7 letter word for kick because what’s telling us to drop the last 3 letters of it?
OK worked out 24a and 26a. Think I’ve got 18d too but not sure of the wordplay.
For 29a does “audience” mean homophone for the 1st word? And then the 2nd word is the act of bowling a type of ball in cricket.
Yes, Julian, 18d reading upwards is one short vermin inside others. And yes for 29a too.
Have you tried feeding the first letter of a nine-letter word into wordfinder? Tried that with 19A, came up with a list of 2217 possibles. Obviously need some more letters, but have only solved six clues so far, so much work to do.
Have about a dozen now. A question: does 16A refer to an actual bathroom item, such as a wash basin (I know it isn’t that!). Hint required. I tried fitting pb in somewhere, but no joy.
@Arthur C. for 16 see Julian at 11:57 yesterday. defn is the last two words.
Arthur,16a is a Bathroom feature with 6 letters plus “excessively” Definition is lead (Pb) cooler. There is one still in Melbourne an example of old technology
Now thoroughly confused about 16A, I thought I hadit with ‘seat cover’ excessively (over) carried lead cooler (c), though I couldn’t see where the seat fitted into the clue. Most unforch. Will have to relook at Julian contribution, didn’t convey anything at first glance.
And still doesn’t, sadly. I know its against the rules, but could someone give me a hint as to the second letter of 16A, please. I was looking at photoemission for 9A, because of the e in seat, which was appently wrong. Think I need a brain transplant, DA is getting too hard for me.
@Arthur C. see Ian’s hint for 9 at 8:09 am yesterday, and defn is first two words. The fourth letter, i.e. the second of 16, is part of the anagram Ian refers to.
after 20 minutes and not having the faintest idea about any of them I came here to find that their appear to be lots of the sorts of cobbled together wordplays that I hate. Shredder for this one, I’ll spend the day in the garden.
Thanks Julian for 1a (still not there though) and 16a and wordplay for 9d – nice
Arthur C how are you going with 19a? You don’t really have to go further than the clue itself – look closely.
sb – 1a isn’t a word I have heard much before. The 1st 3 letters actually form a much more common word that could almost be the answer too.
Arthur C – photoemission is indeed wrong for 9d. Although some of your starting letters are correct. And for 16a lead means the element (Pb) rather than the start of something. Like you I also tried to fit the letters pb into the answer for a while but that turns out to be wrong this time.
Hi Rupert. Sorry to impose on you once more. We didn’t get our DA today.
Could you please email it to us ( if you still have our email address, that is.)
Thanks
D & G
Cricket has begun, DA discarded, doubt if I will look at it again, clearly beyong me, this one.
duh! Thanks Rupert and Julian – I was looking for 12a as the whole word for 1a – in fact I’m not sure what I was thinking – got it now. That’s it.
BTW I enjoyed DA’s Omega this week too.
Till next week.
Returned during lunch break in cricket, wishing I hadn’t. The helpful clues above re 16A, not helping this confused old man. Bathroom feature? No idea? 19A? Tried anagram of grimantic, no word appears. Tried phosphoresced for 9D, at least the shop repair was there, but nothing else I can relate to the clue. Will probably leave till Monday morning, see if I can work out then how the clues related to the answers. Thanks for trying to help, folks. My mind just isn’t coping any more, certainly not with this one.
Got it all quite quickly, but had to google 19a, which is not in my Macquarie. Still at a loss as to word play for 7d.
@Arthur C say phosphoresced without the phos. In the clue for 9 the answer is literally there in front of you. 16 – think what a shotgun cartridge contains.
@Dave R for 7 see Rupert at 3:27pm yesterday.
Thanks, JC (and Arthur). I think the definition is a bit far-fetched, though.
Agreed, I can think of better ways to clue that word. Still, generally a less controvertial DA than last week, methinks.
Arthur C – looking for an anagram is working too hard – as JC said, it’s right there in front of you.
Enjoy!
Still befuddled. South west corner Blank. Any clues for 14d, 23d, 25a? 28a remains a mystery.
@Julia 14 is an upside-down word for left, followed by an anagram. I believe the definition is technically flawed – it’s a matter of how accurate a definition should be. 23 defn is for the interim, but I don’t like the wordplay, which is discussed above. 25 defn is only just manage. 28 is also discussed above.
Well, silly me. I finally went to dictionary, and found monster, a word I had never seen! (didn’t think there were any – joke, joke). Deswpite people telling me the answer to 9D is right there in front of me, I can’t see it. Phosphoresced seemed fine, fitted with the across letters nicely. Shot cover for 16A??? Is that the item in a shot-gun cartridge JC referred to above? If so, where does the bathroom feature fit in?
Arthur, as Chamollie mentioned above there is a 16a still in Melbourne. Think lead making and word play will follow.Any more help with 1a,4d23d,13and 30a would be great.
Arthur C, You’ve haven’t got 16a yet. Think of a common bathroom item carrying an abbreviation. BTW, lead cooler is exactly what this thing does.
I am also struggling to get the final few letters is 9d… maybe it’s my accent. Close enough!
@megse Maybe you can help me with 24a.
1a well covered above. out is an anagrind. into a container.
4d is a bit like when DA tells you to take the second letter of each word, but here the instruction is “at heart” and applies to the three words that follow.
23d well covered above.
30a covered above to some extent. I am reasonably happy with the word play based on a line “the soup is simmering or bubbling away”
Deryn 24a hub is used like heart referring to first word, plus a, plus meaning for faux. Retreat is the definition.Thanks have 4d now.
Arthur C – the ‘right there in front of you’ that JC and I mentioned was for 19a, not 9d. I too was distracted by ‘cover’ for 16a but Julian and Chamollie put me on the right path
Megse – how are you going with 13a? Def is 1st 2 words.
Thanks sb found 13a at last. As usual easy once you get it. Still stuck with 23d and 30a despite everyone’s help.
Thank you JC, a good dinner and a little tipple of ‘upside down left’ let me 25a this weeks DA. What a manticore!!
megse – 23d is a latin expression that I’m not familiar with – does that help?
30a last word is definition; first two words (on the stove) give first 6 letters; 3rd and 4th words give last letter.
Thanks sb all done now. To echo Julia I now need to 30a myself in an 24a to prepare for the next instalment.
The purpose of 16a isn’t to cool lead, it is to make it spherical. You can cool it much more easily without dropping it from a great height!
16A: But if it didn’t cool it, it would splash when it hit the bottom, rather than staying spherical. So you drop it to make it spherical, you drop it from a height to make the sphere cool.
Put the final word in at 2030 last evening, think its all OK, amazed at my stupidity in not seeingwhy my 9D was correct, not understanding the helpful hints I was being given. Not sure I liked 26A as I felt it should have ended in ing rather than the four letter ending, though that would have required a different clue. Also, don’t think the letters 3-10 don’t agree with cream, to me. But that is hairsplitting, I guess. I had just about consigned this one to the bin early on, glad I came back to it.
Phew! Finally got it out. In contrast to last week, this was a great DA. Plenty of real posers, but nothing that didn’t make sense in the end. I particularly liked 24A – a very nice interplay between the surface and definition. DA gold in my book.
Re 20a. It seems to me that the wordplay can go either way, with ‘hacktavist’ ‘ or ‘plan’ being the definition. These often cause me trouble (as do the words that can be turned upside-down, like trap/part). Is there a sure fire way to tell?
If you didn’t need it to be perfectly spherical you wouldn’t drop it at all, you’d just pour it into a mold and let it cool, much cheaper than building a great big tower.
About 2 hours over the weekend and only had five answers. Thanks for the help in avoiding just opening Saturday’s paper for the answers.
I had to four the last few.
I haven’t heard 1a as a sneak since some cartoon show in the seventies.
I knew the hackivist but I don’t see the wordplay even from above.
By the way, I used to put my books under my pillow like in Sydney’s non sequitur…
20D: Plan = ARRANGE. Replace “terror cell” (RR) with “stops sides” (SS).
A DA mistake? Or a printers error? Or am I misunderstanding. 18D, today’s paper says ‘SCIMITAR’. I had put in the alternative spelling, ‘scimetar’ which to me is much better, since it incldes mice among the revolting rats. If you think epidemic is the reference intended, scimetar is still better than scimitar. What say ye, gentle folk?
Everyone on this site must have been doing DA’s crosswords a long time to solve them so quickly. They take me days! Have one clue to go 28a – looks like eons but no idea why? Can anyone help? Thanks.
Have finally realised why the answer is eons! Silly me!
18D: “one” is the second I; “other swarm” is MICE; “possibly reduced” is MIC[E]. When the whole is reversed, that gives CIMI as letters 2 – 5.
I might take my scimetar and cut your head off, Rupert. Or maybe not.
Thanks again … I only got the ‘ss’.
I’m having as much trouble with Saturday’s cryptic… Oh we’ll, it’ll keep me occupied until DA again.
Rupert, hope you and your family have escaped the storm devastation in Auckland.
Thanks, Bernie. We’re all fine. Add tornadoes to the list of things no-one ever tells you about New Zealand until after you move there.
Just a couple left to go after breakfast, but lots of confusion, including one where I understand the wordplay but not the definition!
Back after coffee.
All done. 12A was the last one in, which I got from 1A rather than the other way around.
28A: How does “burnt over” fit into the wordplay?
30A: Is “bubbles” meant to indicate a state in cookery that most emphatically does not involve any bubbles? Otherwise I don’t get the wordplay for the first five letters.
18D: Is the swarm similar to the vermin, only smaller?
20D: Apart from letters 2 and 3, I don’t get this wordplay at all.
20D: For letters 1 and 4-7 – take the nucleus of ‘terror’ out of a word that means ‘plan’.
20D: Thanks, Flexicon. I don’t think cell is the right word for DA to have used here.
18D: I think so – at least that’s how I got there.
9D: Would apprecaite help with word play. Believe I have 4 letters that can fit in multiple places of the first seven, but cannot construct the rest. Thanks.
9d: first four letters an anagram, then a two word homophone
28a: I took “burnt over” to indicate losing every second letter and reversing
28A: OK on “burnt”, but if “over” is the reversal indicator, what is “Retiring”?
Thanks Ian.
Rupert, for 28a I took ‘over a long time’ to be the meaning, but really the ‘only’ is only needed to make the surface sense work. I agree with Ian that ‘burnt’ means taking away the ‘regulars’.
I am still confused by some wordplay, but have everything done except 1a and 12a. Any help with those?
The two clues have a lot in common.
12A: Definition is the first word, in its military sense. Alloy is an anagrind. Insets is fodder and direction.
1A: Definition is the first word. Outfit is fodder and direction.
Thanks Rupert,
I should have thought about brass in that way! I knew trumpet didn’t fit :)
Thanks to the above I also have the word play for 9d and 20d which both confused me. Still not sure of the ‘kick’ in 23d. Also not sure of 7d wordplay.
My favourites were 10a, 21/15a and 13a.
7D is a five letter word for lament minus DA’s favourite word for a second.
23D: I don’t get the wordplay here, either. “I kick back” would be neat wordplay for TOO BAD, but the kick here is not as obvious.
Rupert / Sandy – 23D – the way I read – “I” last 2 letters. “KICK” – (a bit of a stretch) but 4 letters of a shortened version of an 8 letter word for a type of kick in RL, RU, AFL – and then “BACK” says direction. Hope I am right / it helps.
Sorry – 7 letter word.
Thanks Ray. A bit of a stretch indeed!
Googling the abbreviated kick on its own yields nothing but towns in Scandinavia. Googling it plus kick brings up “Do you mean …” the unabbreviated kick. But it does seem to be used, abbreviated and on its own, so I guess it’s fair.
Nearly caught up with the front runners! Next Fri I’ll get up at dawn. Or not.
16A last in and my fave. Agree with Rupert that 1st 5 letters of 30A are a bit of a stretch.
And 1st 4 of 22D is fair only for Mexicans…
All done except 1a (even with Rupert’s hint) and first word of 16a. Maybe I’ve got 9d wrong.
Help welcome.
Don’t get word play for 9d, or 2nd word of 29a. Was mystified by a few others as well before reading above.
I need help please with 18d,24a and 26a – which is interesting since no-one else seems to have had a problem with them!
1a-definition is 1st word, letters 1,2,6,7 – 12a’s are an example of a military one of these, letters 3,4,5 come from “outfit” (break it into two words)
9d was explained above but definition is words 1&2, letters 1-4 are an anagram, the rest are a homophone meaning in favour of taking a break (it’s quite clever since the clue is past tense but the homophone is present tense)
16a -letters 1,2,6-9 are the bathroom fixture, letters 3-5 are an abbreviation for excessively.
I also don’t get wordplay for 29a and 22d.
For 22d I did wonder if it was somehow broken into 3×2 letter words reading upwards. 1st two 2 letter words would basically mean “I am about to do something” but I couldn’t then explain the remaining 2 letters. I don’t like the explanation using the 7 letter word for kick because what’s telling us to drop the last 3 letters of it?
OK worked out 24a and 26a. Think I’ve got 18d too but not sure of the wordplay.
For 29a does “audience” mean homophone for the 1st word? And then the 2nd word is the act of bowling a type of ball in cricket.
Yes, Julian, 18d reading upwards is one short vermin inside others. And yes for 29a too.
Have you tried feeding the first letter of a nine-letter word into wordfinder? Tried that with 19A, came up with a list of 2217 possibles. Obviously need some more letters, but have only solved six clues so far, so much work to do.
Have about a dozen now. A question: does 16A refer to an actual bathroom item, such as a wash basin (I know it isn’t that!). Hint required. I tried fitting pb in somewhere, but no joy.
@Arthur C. for 16 see Julian at 11:57 yesterday. defn is the last two words.
Arthur,16a is a Bathroom feature with 6 letters plus “excessively” Definition is lead (Pb) cooler. There is one still in Melbourne an example of old technology
Now thoroughly confused about 16A, I thought I hadit with ‘seat cover’ excessively (over) carried lead cooler (c), though I couldn’t see where the seat fitted into the clue. Most unforch. Will have to relook at Julian contribution, didn’t convey anything at first glance.
And still doesn’t, sadly. I know its against the rules, but could someone give me a hint as to the second letter of 16A, please. I was looking at photoemission for 9A, because of the e in seat, which was appently wrong. Think I need a brain transplant, DA is getting too hard for me.
@Arthur C. see Ian’s hint for 9 at 8:09 am yesterday, and defn is first two words. The fourth letter, i.e. the second of 16, is part of the anagram Ian refers to.
after 20 minutes and not having the faintest idea about any of them I came here to find that their appear to be lots of the sorts of cobbled together wordplays that I hate. Shredder for this one, I’ll spend the day in the garden.
Thanks Julian for 1a (still not there though) and 16a and wordplay for 9d – nice
Arthur C how are you going with 19a? You don’t really have to go further than the clue itself – look closely.
sb – 1a isn’t a word I have heard much before. The 1st 3 letters actually form a much more common word that could almost be the answer too.
Arthur C – photoemission is indeed wrong for 9d. Although some of your starting letters are correct. And for 16a lead means the element (Pb) rather than the start of something. Like you I also tried to fit the letters pb into the answer for a while but that turns out to be wrong this time.
Hi Rupert. Sorry to impose on you once more. We didn’t get our DA today.
Could you please email it to us ( if you still have our email address, that is.)
Thanks
D & G
Cricket has begun, DA discarded, doubt if I will look at it again, clearly beyong me, this one.
duh! Thanks Rupert and Julian – I was looking for 12a as the whole word for 1a – in fact I’m not sure what I was thinking – got it now. That’s it.
BTW I enjoyed DA’s Omega this week too.
Till next week.
Returned during lunch break in cricket, wishing I hadn’t. The helpful clues above re 16A, not helping this confused old man. Bathroom feature? No idea? 19A? Tried anagram of grimantic, no word appears. Tried phosphoresced for 9D, at least the shop repair was there, but nothing else I can relate to the clue. Will probably leave till Monday morning, see if I can work out then how the clues related to the answers. Thanks for trying to help, folks. My mind just isn’t coping any more, certainly not with this one.
Got it all quite quickly, but had to google 19a, which is not in my Macquarie. Still at a loss as to word play for 7d.
@Arthur C say phosphoresced without the phos. In the clue for 9 the answer is literally there in front of you. 16 – think what a shotgun cartridge contains.
@Dave R for 7 see Rupert at 3:27pm yesterday.
Thanks, JC (and Arthur). I think the definition is a bit far-fetched, though.
Agreed, I can think of better ways to clue that word. Still, generally a less controvertial DA than last week, methinks.
Arthur C – looking for an anagram is working too hard – as JC said, it’s right there in front of you.
Enjoy!
Still befuddled. South west corner Blank. Any clues for 14d, 23d, 25a? 28a remains a mystery.
@Julia 14 is an upside-down word for left, followed by an anagram. I believe the definition is technically flawed – it’s a matter of how accurate a definition should be. 23 defn is for the interim, but I don’t like the wordplay, which is discussed above. 25 defn is only just manage. 28 is also discussed above.
Well, silly me. I finally went to dictionary, and found monster, a word I had never seen! (didn’t think there were any – joke, joke). Deswpite people telling me the answer to 9D is right there in front of me, I can’t see it. Phosphoresced seemed fine, fitted with the across letters nicely. Shot cover for 16A??? Is that the item in a shot-gun cartridge JC referred to above? If so, where does the bathroom feature fit in?
Arthur, as Chamollie mentioned above there is a 16a still in Melbourne. Think lead making and word play will follow.Any more help with 1a,4d23d,13and 30a would be great.
Arthur C, You’ve haven’t got 16a yet. Think of a common bathroom item carrying an abbreviation. BTW, lead cooler is exactly what this thing does.
I am also struggling to get the final few letters is 9d… maybe it’s my accent. Close enough!
@megse Maybe you can help me with 24a.
1a well covered above. out is an anagrind. into a container.
4d is a bit like when DA tells you to take the second letter of each word, but here the instruction is “at heart” and applies to the three words that follow.
23d well covered above.
30a covered above to some extent. I am reasonably happy with the word play based on a line “the soup is simmering or bubbling away”
Deryn 24a hub is used like heart referring to first word, plus a, plus meaning for faux. Retreat is the definition.Thanks have 4d now.
Arthur C – the ‘right there in front of you’ that JC and I mentioned was for 19a, not 9d. I too was distracted by ‘cover’ for 16a but Julian and Chamollie put me on the right path
Megse – how are you going with 13a? Def is 1st 2 words.
Thanks sb found 13a at last. As usual easy once you get it. Still stuck with 23d and 30a despite everyone’s help.
Thank you JC, a good dinner and a little tipple of ‘upside down left’ let me 25a this weeks DA. What a manticore!!
megse – 23d is a latin expression that I’m not familiar with – does that help?
30a last word is definition; first two words (on the stove) give first 6 letters; 3rd and 4th words give last letter.
Thanks sb all done now. To echo Julia I now need to 30a myself in an 24a to prepare for the next instalment.
The purpose of 16a isn’t to cool lead, it is to make it spherical. You can cool it much more easily without dropping it from a great height!
16A: But if it didn’t cool it, it would splash when it hit the bottom, rather than staying spherical. So you drop it to make it spherical, you drop it from a height to make the sphere cool.
Put the final word in at 2030 last evening, think its all OK, amazed at my stupidity in not seeingwhy my 9D was correct, not understanding the helpful hints I was being given. Not sure I liked 26A as I felt it should have ended in ing rather than the four letter ending, though that would have required a different clue. Also, don’t think the letters 3-10 don’t agree with cream, to me. But that is hairsplitting, I guess. I had just about consigned this one to the bin early on, glad I came back to it.
Phew! Finally got it out. In contrast to last week, this was a great DA. Plenty of real posers, but nothing that didn’t make sense in the end. I particularly liked 24A – a very nice interplay between the surface and definition. DA gold in my book.
Re 20a. It seems to me that the wordplay can go either way, with ‘hacktavist’ ‘ or ‘plan’ being the definition. These often cause me trouble (as do the words that can be turned upside-down, like trap/part). Is there a sure fire way to tell?
If you didn’t need it to be perfectly spherical you wouldn’t drop it at all, you’d just pour it into a mold and let it cool, much cheaper than building a great big tower.
About 2 hours over the weekend and only had five answers. Thanks for the help in avoiding just opening Saturday’s paper for the answers.
I had to four the last few.
I haven’t heard 1a as a sneak since some cartoon show in the seventies.
I knew the hackivist but I don’t see the wordplay even from above.
By the way, I used to put my books under my pillow like in Sydney’s non sequitur…
20D: Plan = ARRANGE. Replace “terror cell” (RR) with “stops sides” (SS).
A DA mistake? Or a printers error? Or am I misunderstanding. 18D, today’s paper says ‘SCIMITAR’. I had put in the alternative spelling, ‘scimetar’ which to me is much better, since it incldes mice among the revolting rats. If you think epidemic is the reference intended, scimetar is still better than scimitar. What say ye, gentle folk?
Everyone on this site must have been doing DA’s crosswords a long time to solve them so quickly. They take me days! Have one clue to go 28a – looks like eons but no idea why? Can anyone help? Thanks.
Have finally realised why the answer is eons! Silly me!
18D: “one” is the second I; “other swarm” is MICE; “possibly reduced” is MIC[E]. When the whole is reversed, that gives CIMI as letters 2 – 5.
I might take my scimetar and cut your head off, Rupert. Or maybe not.
Thanks again … I only got the ‘ss’.
I’m having as much trouble with Saturday’s cryptic… Oh we’ll, it’ll keep me occupied until DA again.
Rupert, hope you and your family have escaped the storm devastation in Auckland.
Thanks, Bernie. We’re all fine. Add tornadoes to the list of things no-one ever tells you about New Zealand until after you move there.