Confusion might reign, but here’s where you tear down its benighted rule with enlightening answers.
117 thoughts on “DA Confusion for the 18/19th of January, 2013”
Not a walk in the park this week. An hour in I have 3 and a half of the theme elements, and I have no idea what the theme is!
See you again at coffee time.
The sneaky, *sneaky* bastard!
Got the theme on the way out to the car, and it all fell into place after that.
I’m not clear on 7D – does summit clue the whole first word, and if so, how?
Phew – finally got there after a million different thoughts on theme.
Rupert – for 7D I don’t know but I do not think so. I have a way, but don’t like it much (“rank” gives a 3 letter word for letters 2, 3, 4 – and “summit” COULD (??) give a 7 letter word, which remove last letter and then anagram for letters 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 – but not good.) I will think on it later.
7D: You were almost there, Ray. I think summit, as of a hill, is letters 1 – 4, and rank is letters 5 – 7 (though it’s a collection of ranks, not a rank itself).
Very good and thanks.
All done. Loved the theme. A goody this week Maestro Astle
Very Cool. Liked 23A!
Finished before lunch on Friday – good for me! Absolutely no idea about wordplay for 1Ac though.
1A: First three letters are “supplied”, switched. The rest is lighting, as in barbecue, missing its second letter (G).
It took a while for the penny to drop but when it did it brought a smile to my face (and gave me 30A). Had to confirm 21D.
Ohhhh! Sound of penny dropping a veritable clang!
I am struggling today. Have nw corner and some of ne. Any help with 9d/13a or 16a. Then I can finish top and start to work on bottom. Still no idea at all of theme.
Got 9d/13a now. Still needing help on 16a (and most if bottom half!)
If you’ve got 1A and 8D, you’re a long way towards the theme, at least that did it for me. 16A: don’t forget that numbers can also be words. Can’t think of how to help with 9D/13A; so clever. Pretty literal actually.
Sandy, I took too long with my help.
16A: You need to represent the number as a word, then find an anagram (edited) that means issues.
It’s hard to give a subtle hint on the theme. It really is a wonderful feeling when you get it. Think &lit;
Sandy: 9D / 13A – defn is first word and answer is a 9 letter word (which can be broken up into a 4 letter word and a 5 letter word). The second word in the clue is a defn for the 4 letter word and the third word in the clue works as a defn for the 5 letter word. Hope this is clear!
Thanks for that help Trippers. I now have top half done, but still no idea of the theme and only 26d and 28a in the bottom half. Perhaps some help with 15d, 17d, 19a or 20a could help get me going.
The penny dropped. Needed to have another look at the statement at the top, didn’t I? Have all seven. Also have 19a, 30a and I think 23a, plus a bit of confidence to keep going.
Sandy – if you have the top half fully complete, then you have three of the “seven”. Find those to get theme and then 2 of the others your list above will be realised.
@Sandy,
Re 17D:
Def is first word of clue.
Rocky is an anagrind.
during is a container indicator.
lull periods gives letters 1, 2, 7, 8, 9. (Didn’t like this bit. Poor synonym.)
Used a-z wordfinder to get 21D. Hadn’t heard of this type of photograph. I incorrectly assumed that the ‘-up’ in build-up was a reversal indicator. This threw me right off the track.
Good to be amongst it on a Friday for a change.
Help with 16A would be nice. Also struggling with 7D despite discussion above.
iPuzzled – 16A – anagram of 1,000
Thanks Ray. Got 16A now.
Thanks for all the help. Now finished. Still unsure of last part of word play for 21d and word play of 10a.
IPuzzled, 7d, first word is definition. Letters 1-4 a word for summit of hill., 5-7 a acronym for rank, 8&9 not quite completely.
Thanks Sandy. My problem with 7D was that I read the split as 4,5 instead of 5,4. Basic error leading to major problems!
@Sandy,
Wordplay for 10A:
‘Emptied resin’ means takes the middle out of a three-letter word meaning resin.
‘Semi’ (as in semi-trailer) gives a three-letter word.
‘Stem’ is the def.
The hyphen between semi and stem is misdirection via punctuation.
Re 21D:
A four-letter word that kinda means ‘colour’ gives letters 1-4. A word meaning ‘build-up’ (as in anticipation or publicity before a big event), without its first letter, gives letters 5 to 7.
Any help with 30a would really be appreciated.
Kat – 30A – part of the theme. the “Danes in Hollywood” refers to Claire Danes. Does that help with the spoonerism / answer?
Hi all, finding it hard going. Have a lot of eastern side but… Maybe help with 19d, 19a, 15d and 18d might help?
JS 19D and 15D part of the theme.
19A – defn first word. Anagram (“flexing”) of second word with last letter removed (“bum pinched”).
18D – defn first word. Don’t want to spoil from there. But think of what “streak” may indicate.
Thanks, ray, will mull on them!
Thanks Ray I worked out the Claire Danes but still have not got it.
Omg just got it. Takes a while for penny to drop when in pub!
If 7 d still a prob think of fuel. For summit, what’s a four letter word for the summit of your head? Or think of something parked on your face! When you frown what do you furrow? Enough!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Everybody listen up!
1. Re-read the instructions in bold at the top.
2. Then meditate on them!
3. And on the answers you may have already completed!
4. Falling into place yet?
5. If not repeat 1-4 else whizz through puzzle in a trice!
If anyone’s still struggling with 19 ac the musical (Bob Carr’s favourite!) was based on a political-allegorical US comic strip! Treating the pattern “2’1” as “3” instead (ignore the apostrophe) helps with solving the anagram!
I got three myself and two from Adam Spencer. Now I need help from the cryptic colossi above !!
And boy do I need it. I think it’s going to be a long weekend. Five more from above and puzzled by the rest….
Aha, got 1a and the theme fell into place. I like 23a, but how do I explain it to my eight year old who got punished for such language yesterday?
Another super original from the great DA!
Proceeding very slowly, only ten at the moment. 21D bothers me. Could this be described as a sort of stannum? If so, can not make any sense of ‘Colour build-up masking face’. If I have the correct answer, can someone please explain the clue?
@Arthur, I think you are correct with 21d. First four letters give a word meaning colour (think paint), last three letters are a word meaning build up (as in anticipation) missing the first letter.
Despite above hints and a wordfinder I can’t get 1a.
Lots of other gaps, although I think I have an inkling of the theme as I have one or two solutions that those above say are part of it
Arthur C – 21D: “stannum” is not correct. Refer above ie:
iPuzzled | January 18, 2013 at 4:29 pm |
got 1a now, that helps!
Ray, stannum is an old name for a chemical element, that being the first three letters of the answer. Arthur is correct when he says the answer is a sort of stannum.
Getting there now, have the theme (after much messing around thinking it might have referred to chemical elements!). Bloody hard working out which ones are the theme clues though, not sure how I would have realised which ones with out the above hints
Bit of a DA noob here, about half done and still struggling. (It’s going to be along weekend for me too, haha!)
I think I’ve solved 4D but a bit confused on the wordplay. I’m thinking the definition is “video craze”, first three letters are “odd Tweet”, but not sure how the last three letters come from “gentleman promoted”. Am I on the right track?
found all seven now!
Kim you are correct. Look up for the gentleman.
Thanks, nn, thought it had to be that (in 21D). Still about 14 short, running out of ideas. First word of 25A? 9,13? I tried ‘Inbasket’ but 7D ruined that. 16A? Where is the 1000? Have to leave till later, getting nowhere.
All done, think I understand most of it, but not sure of wordplay for 14a, 23a, first part of 3d and last 3 letters of 15d
Nothing’s clear to me yet! Think brain got fried in yesterday’s 47 degree heat. Don’t want to look above but is the 9/13 link the link, or a mistake similar to one DA made before and apologised for on this blog?
@Arthur, wordplay of first part of 25a, take first 5 letters and it sounds like a word meaning problems (although for mathematically minded, such simple things aren’t really a problem!)
9,13 def is modify as in to change things around.
16a as someone said above 1000 is a word (although to me it is two words, but we are interested in the second word here) answer is an anagram of this.
Gayle 9, 13 isn’t part of the theme if that is what you are asking. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it although you have to be careful that the last letter of 9d is also the first letter of 13a. When I first tried to put my answer in I didn’t realise this so was trying to fit a 9 letter word into 8 spaces.
Double crossed crypt! But what in 22d???
@Julia 22d def is “bit”, abbreviation of first word gives the first letter, rest of it is an insect
Thanks nn, will look somewhere else then. Julia’s comment is intriguing.
Gayle, read the instructions at the top about the seven clues. Memorise them. Read through your answers very carefully and, assuming you have at least one of the theme answers you might notice something. It is very clever, I agree with Rupert’s second comment!
Ah, is it 25A?
@Gayle, yes, 25a is one of them. Once you get it the others are fairly easy to put in if you have a few cross letters.
Yep, got some of the others too. Whew, was running out of coffee.
thanks nn, I thought I was onto something with 15D which I had partially got from wordplay. Couldn’t work out what was missing after the third word. Doh!
Hints for 5d would be great please.
@Gayle, you should be well on the way now, the rest of it fell out fairly easily once I’d put the seven in. Fortunately they were well spread throughout the grid so gave lots of cross letters where I needed them for my other missing answers. Think I’ve worked out all the wordplays now.
And also 15d please
Ah! Thx, @nn. That little one just stopped bugging me…
No DA today. More than half of The Age missing. Our newsagent doesn’t know why. Far from happy. Tried to access it on line and can’t even do that for some reason. Good solving to the rest of you; I’m off to the beach.
@Michelle,
5D and 15D are themed clues. I’ll see what I can do to give you some help without giving away the theme.
5D: ‘Love’ gives the first letter.
Letters 2-8 are close to a a word meaning ‘atomic’, but one of the letters (U) is swapped for another.
15D: ‘Zip’ gives the second letter. (Same letter given by ‘love’ in 5D.)
Letters 1, 3-6 are clued by ‘baggy’.
‘Article’ gives letter 7.
‘nearly marginal’ gives the last two letters.
Hope this helps.
A bit more about 15D:
‘in’ is a container indicator.
‘marginal’ is like ‘wings’ or ‘extremes’ – it means take the first letter and last letter of an adjacent word.
Aha. I got 15D, 25A, and 30A but only because I had enough letters. And because I cottoned on to Astle’s cheeky game. I don’t understand the wordplay though, os I would appreciate clarification if it’s not too much of a spoiler for those who haven’t cracked the DA nonsense?
Aughh seriously I was pulling my hair out over some of these clues… 19D and 30A make sense to me now. :|
Kim, they have no definition. Wordplay only. Does that help?
15D zip = zero = O in a synonym for baggy or loose. Article is indefinite. + outer letters of ‘nearly’
As iPuzzled said.
Gayle, I got that, but was still confused by some of the wordplay. Understand 15D now, thanks to the tips from iPuzzled. For 25A I see the first five letters as explained by nn, but still not the last four letters.
Also, the last bit of 4D makes sense to me now, nn. Thank you, sir (or ma’am!).
Dave R – send me an email.
25A The way I see last 4 letters is synonym for ‘regular’. Is ‘attachment’ superfluous?
25A: The last four letters are a synonym for attachment.
Attachment needed for the surface reading?
I’m still stuck on 23A and I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it.
Edit edit edit!
25A: The last four letters are a synonym for regular. Attachment is just there for the surface (though it has an obvious, if superfluous, meaning in the wordplay).
25A Agree.
And 27 A too please.
23A: There’s a lot of zeros, loves, etc in this crossword. Here’s another. FA (as in sweet f*** all) means nothing, and the answer is a homophone of a word for nothing.
All finished now, but still unsure on the wordplay for several of the solutions. :F
11A: “6s & 7s” seems to be an anagram keyword, but I don’t see how.
23A: First word appears to be definition, I don’t understand “FA broadcasts”.
27A: Again I think the first word is definition, “a gang” makes the first five letters, unsure where the last four letters come from.
3D: Last two words of the clue make last four letters and definition respectively; not sure where the first five letters come from.
26D: I think “spring for” needs to make the last four letters, but I don’t see how.
nn: Seems you’re with me for 23A and 3D, but I can shed light on 14A. First two letters are an abbreviation for “gym” and last four letters are a word for “technique” with the middle letter taken out (“heartlessly”).
27A: First half of the first word is the definition. Second half of the first word gives letters 5 – 8 which have been eaten by a gang.
Ah, thanks Rupert. I was thinking of that meaning of FA but didn’t get the obvious homophone indicator. Parsing problem. I thought that DA was being tricky and the F went with pirates and the definition was A broadcast.
11A: The fodder is all at sixes and sevens.
23A & 27A: See above.
3D: First five letters are a homophone (on the radio) for a chess piece.
26D: Spring gives the last three letters. There are an even number of letters in scavenge, so its hub is the middle two letters.
11 A: At ‘6’s & 7’s’ = topsy turvy
Crossed posts.
3D Funny how you get the right answer sometimes from the wrong path. My favourite ‘piece on the radio’ when I was young, sitting near the old wireless in the days before television, was the answer. I think it was called Randy Stone’s 3D.
Forget comment about 3D, got the wrong answer from the wrong path. (now I’ve got 19A)
All is clear to me now. Thank you, Rupert!
Husband must be sick of hearing me go “ohhhhh”, “ahhhhh”, and “aha!”
nn, thanks for trying to help, but still in a gog. If second word of 16A means dismissed, as I have it, the only first word that fits means broadcasts, but no connection with 1000 at all, as far as I can see. My 9,13 seems an American spelling, dropping the double consonant we’d normally have as letters 4 & 5? If (as I doub) 25A is ‘some seven’, then I have no idea what that means, though it does have the ‘regular attachment’. No idea on 30A, though I have letters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Can’t decide if 11A is a trio or because. Hopeless. Too good for me, this one. Still nine short, maybe ten.
Arthur C. I think all of the clues you mentioned have been addressed above, except maybe for parts of 11A. Definition is at the end. Three is part of the fodder, and four is a homophone.
Finally got it out, well pleased, thanks, all!
ArthurC: Look at your 25A. If it was “some seven”, have you seen that anywhere else in the grid?
Nice challenging one this week. Thanks Ray for the 9D hint.
Almost there and a few had me L(ing)OL today – especially 23A. I have two possible answers in mind for 24D – neither of which ‘click’ with me. A clue please, so I can get on with my weekend?
24D: Clear, fizzy and unsweetened. There’s usually much of these troubles, about nothing (another nothing!).
Arthur, 16a def is “issues” as in issuing a fine (i.e. giving). The whole thing is an anagram of “thousand” (i.e. the word for 1000).
9,13 the double consonant hasn’t been dropped. This fooled me for a while too. There are 9 letters in the answer. 4 of them in 9d and 5 of them in 13a. The last letter in 9d is the same as the first letter of 13a and is your double consonant. If you write 9d answer (4 letters) and then write 13a answer (5 letters) after it, you will get the complete 9 letter word with correct double consonant spelling.
I wonder if the 9 answers that you are short contains most of the seven themed answers?
All I can say is read the instructions at the top. Memorise them, one or two (or three) words at a time and then go back and read through your grid. Keep doing this until you notice something.
Your 25a is correct, it is one of the theme and hence has no definition, which is why it doesn’t make much sense until you get the theme. Go back and read the instructions from the start, they should help you understand this one.
Jokes on us again. I think Rupert has hit on the real theme.
Dr Pepper meets Shakespeare or 7UP and Much Ado about Nothing.
Well, I’m just plain dense. Finally saw the anagram in 16A. Probably only now need 5D second word (-L-A-), 15D (second and third words), 19D (L-A-/ A–), 29A, and 30A (-L-E-/S-A-E). Despite nn’s helpful advice (Ta muchly), do not comprehend the theme information. Back later.
Arthur, 5d is also a theme, read the instructions at the top again and the second word should be clear.
30a, 15d and 19d are also themed, read the instructions carefully two or three words at a time…
I think you have 25A (one of the theme) and I presume you have the other two themed clues (1A and 8d). Read the instructions one or two words at a time for these three.
29a isn’t themed. def is periods (of time), seconds tells you what to do with the other words to get the answer.
Well, that really is fascinating. I had sort of noticed that the words in the introduction were also in the grid, I didn’t realise all were. But now I have a problem again. I had ‘nicks’ (nix), for 23A, taking the FA to mean ‘nothing’, so nicks seemed perfect. If I put in the two words that would fit from the intro, is there any connection with the clue: ‘Territory covered tats’? I think I’ll leave those last three blank, as symbolising my total incomprehension.
Arthur, your 23A is correct, and has nothing to do with the theme.
19D is a four letter word for territory around a three letter word for the stuff used to make tattoos, and is words seven and eight of the theme.
Arthur C: ‘Territory’ gives letters 1,5,6, and 7. ‘tats’ gives the rest. I would have spelled tats with 2 t’s.
What he said!
Thanks, John Carney
I now have this week’s DA. Now, if I can persuade The Age to deliver the Life & Style section of next Saturday’s paper I’ll be really happy.
179 degrees, 59 minutes, 59 seconds! You can’t get much more obtuse than that. Having been spoonfed by nn and others, finally I got it all right. thanks, folks.
Dave R,
You must live in rural Victoria. I have the same problem occasionally with the Life & Style. Frustrating trying to run around to see if other newsagents have The Age with this section in it. Or spend a disappointing weekend reading this site without any idea of what Trippers are talking about… Hopefully next week brings DA for you!!
Not sure about PC’s (or android), but you can access the crosswords on the Age via an iPad app.
What a great puzzle. One of the best in a long time imho.
I agree Ben.
Thanks LJ. I am yet to move to an Ipad… PC prevails here. Great sneaky puzzle this week!
Well blue boy FA could stand for Fanny Adams ;) Thank goodness they have worked out a way to include the theme direction by immbeding it in 1A….for the age app…well done you.
Got started today – great theme – so cool to hide it all in plain view
Not a walk in the park this week. An hour in I have 3 and a half of the theme elements, and I have no idea what the theme is!
See you again at coffee time.
The sneaky, *sneaky* bastard!
Got the theme on the way out to the car, and it all fell into place after that.
I’m not clear on 7D – does summit clue the whole first word, and if so, how?
Phew – finally got there after a million different thoughts on theme.
Rupert – for 7D I don’t know but I do not think so. I have a way, but don’t like it much (“rank” gives a 3 letter word for letters 2, 3, 4 – and “summit” COULD (??) give a 7 letter word, which remove last letter and then anagram for letters 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 – but not good.) I will think on it later.
7D: You were almost there, Ray. I think summit, as of a hill, is letters 1 – 4, and rank is letters 5 – 7 (though it’s a collection of ranks, not a rank itself).
Very good and thanks.
All done. Loved the theme. A goody this week Maestro Astle
Very Cool. Liked 23A!
Finished before lunch on Friday – good for me! Absolutely no idea about wordplay for 1Ac though.
1A: First three letters are “supplied”, switched. The rest is lighting, as in barbecue, missing its second letter (G).
It took a while for the penny to drop but when it did it brought a smile to my face (and gave me 30A). Had to confirm 21D.
Ohhhh! Sound of penny dropping a veritable clang!
I am struggling today. Have nw corner and some of ne. Any help with 9d/13a or 16a. Then I can finish top and start to work on bottom. Still no idea at all of theme.
Got 9d/13a now. Still needing help on 16a (and most if bottom half!)
If you’ve got 1A and 8D, you’re a long way towards the theme, at least that did it for me. 16A: don’t forget that numbers can also be words. Can’t think of how to help with 9D/13A; so clever. Pretty literal actually.
Sandy, I took too long with my help.
16A: You need to represent the number as a word, then find an anagram (edited) that means issues.
It’s hard to give a subtle hint on the theme. It really is a wonderful feeling when you get it. Think &lit;
Sandy: 9D / 13A – defn is first word and answer is a 9 letter word (which can be broken up into a 4 letter word and a 5 letter word). The second word in the clue is a defn for the 4 letter word and the third word in the clue works as a defn for the 5 letter word. Hope this is clear!
Thanks for that help Trippers. I now have top half done, but still no idea of the theme and only 26d and 28a in the bottom half. Perhaps some help with 15d, 17d, 19a or 20a could help get me going.
The penny dropped. Needed to have another look at the statement at the top, didn’t I? Have all seven. Also have 19a, 30a and I think 23a, plus a bit of confidence to keep going.
Sandy – if you have the top half fully complete, then you have three of the “seven”. Find those to get theme and then 2 of the others your list above will be realised.
@Sandy,
Re 17D:
Def is first word of clue.
Rocky is an anagrind.
during is a container indicator.
lull periods gives letters 1, 2, 7, 8, 9. (Didn’t like this bit. Poor synonym.)
Used a-z wordfinder to get 21D. Hadn’t heard of this type of photograph. I incorrectly assumed that the ‘-up’ in build-up was a reversal indicator. This threw me right off the track.
Good to be amongst it on a Friday for a change.
Help with 16A would be nice. Also struggling with 7D despite discussion above.
iPuzzled – 16A – anagram of 1,000
Thanks Ray. Got 16A now.
Thanks for all the help. Now finished. Still unsure of last part of word play for 21d and word play of 10a.
IPuzzled, 7d, first word is definition. Letters 1-4 a word for summit of hill., 5-7 a acronym for rank, 8&9 not quite completely.
Thanks Sandy. My problem with 7D was that I read the split as 4,5 instead of 5,4. Basic error leading to major problems!
@Sandy,
Wordplay for 10A:
‘Emptied resin’ means takes the middle out of a three-letter word meaning resin.
‘Semi’ (as in semi-trailer) gives a three-letter word.
‘Stem’ is the def.
The hyphen between semi and stem is misdirection via punctuation.
Re 21D:
A four-letter word that kinda means ‘colour’ gives letters 1-4. A word meaning ‘build-up’ (as in anticipation or publicity before a big event), without its first letter, gives letters 5 to 7.
Any help with 30a would really be appreciated.
Kat – 30A – part of the theme. the “Danes in Hollywood” refers to Claire Danes. Does that help with the spoonerism / answer?
Hi all, finding it hard going. Have a lot of eastern side but… Maybe help with 19d, 19a, 15d and 18d might help?
JS 19D and 15D part of the theme.
19A – defn first word. Anagram (“flexing”) of second word with last letter removed (“bum pinched”).
18D – defn first word. Don’t want to spoil from there. But think of what “streak” may indicate.
Thanks, ray, will mull on them!
Thanks Ray I worked out the Claire Danes but still have not got it.
Omg just got it. Takes a while for penny to drop when in pub!
If 7 d still a prob think of fuel. For summit, what’s a four letter word for the summit of your head? Or think of something parked on your face! When you frown what do you furrow? Enough!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Everybody listen up!
1. Re-read the instructions in bold at the top.
2. Then meditate on them!
3. And on the answers you may have already completed!
4. Falling into place yet?
5. If not repeat 1-4 else whizz through puzzle in a trice!
If anyone’s still struggling with 19 ac the musical (Bob Carr’s favourite!) was based on a political-allegorical US comic strip! Treating the pattern “2’1” as “3” instead (ignore the apostrophe) helps with solving the anagram!
I got three myself and two from Adam Spencer. Now I need help from the cryptic colossi above !!
And boy do I need it. I think it’s going to be a long weekend. Five more from above and puzzled by the rest….
Aha, got 1a and the theme fell into place. I like 23a, but how do I explain it to my eight year old who got punished for such language yesterday?
Another super original from the great DA!
Proceeding very slowly, only ten at the moment. 21D bothers me. Could this be described as a sort of stannum? If so, can not make any sense of ‘Colour build-up masking face’. If I have the correct answer, can someone please explain the clue?
@Arthur, I think you are correct with 21d. First four letters give a word meaning colour (think paint), last three letters are a word meaning build up (as in anticipation) missing the first letter.
Despite above hints and a wordfinder I can’t get 1a.
Lots of other gaps, although I think I have an inkling of the theme as I have one or two solutions that those above say are part of it
Arthur C – 21D: “stannum” is not correct. Refer above ie:
iPuzzled | January 18, 2013 at 4:29 pm |
got 1a now, that helps!
Ray, stannum is an old name for a chemical element, that being the first three letters of the answer. Arthur is correct when he says the answer is a sort of stannum.
Getting there now, have the theme (after much messing around thinking it might have referred to chemical elements!). Bloody hard working out which ones are the theme clues though, not sure how I would have realised which ones with out the above hints
Bit of a DA noob here, about half done and still struggling. (It’s going to be along weekend for me too, haha!)
I think I’ve solved 4D but a bit confused on the wordplay. I’m thinking the definition is “video craze”, first three letters are “odd Tweet”, but not sure how the last three letters come from “gentleman promoted”. Am I on the right track?
found all seven now!
Kim you are correct. Look up for the gentleman.
Thanks, nn, thought it had to be that (in 21D). Still about 14 short, running out of ideas. First word of 25A? 9,13? I tried ‘Inbasket’ but 7D ruined that. 16A? Where is the 1000? Have to leave till later, getting nowhere.
All done, think I understand most of it, but not sure of wordplay for 14a, 23a, first part of 3d and last 3 letters of 15d
Nothing’s clear to me yet! Think brain got fried in yesterday’s 47 degree heat. Don’t want to look above but is the 9/13 link the link, or a mistake similar to one DA made before and apologised for on this blog?
@Arthur, wordplay of first part of 25a, take first 5 letters and it sounds like a word meaning problems (although for mathematically minded, such simple things aren’t really a problem!)
9,13 def is modify as in to change things around.
16a as someone said above 1000 is a word (although to me it is two words, but we are interested in the second word here) answer is an anagram of this.
Gayle 9, 13 isn’t part of the theme if that is what you are asking. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it although you have to be careful that the last letter of 9d is also the first letter of 13a. When I first tried to put my answer in I didn’t realise this so was trying to fit a 9 letter word into 8 spaces.
Double crossed crypt! But what in 22d???
@Julia 22d def is “bit”, abbreviation of first word gives the first letter, rest of it is an insect
Thanks nn, will look somewhere else then. Julia’s comment is intriguing.
Gayle, read the instructions at the top about the seven clues. Memorise them. Read through your answers very carefully and, assuming you have at least one of the theme answers you might notice something. It is very clever, I agree with Rupert’s second comment!
Ah, is it 25A?
@Gayle, yes, 25a is one of them. Once you get it the others are fairly easy to put in if you have a few cross letters.
Yep, got some of the others too. Whew, was running out of coffee.
thanks nn, I thought I was onto something with 15D which I had partially got from wordplay. Couldn’t work out what was missing after the third word. Doh!
Hints for 5d would be great please.
@Gayle, you should be well on the way now, the rest of it fell out fairly easily once I’d put the seven in. Fortunately they were well spread throughout the grid so gave lots of cross letters where I needed them for my other missing answers. Think I’ve worked out all the wordplays now.
And also 15d please
Ah! Thx, @nn. That little one just stopped bugging me…
No DA today. More than half of The Age missing. Our newsagent doesn’t know why. Far from happy. Tried to access it on line and can’t even do that for some reason. Good solving to the rest of you; I’m off to the beach.
@Michelle,
5D and 15D are themed clues. I’ll see what I can do to give you some help without giving away the theme.
5D: ‘Love’ gives the first letter.
Letters 2-8 are close to a a word meaning ‘atomic’, but one of the letters (U) is swapped for another.
15D: ‘Zip’ gives the second letter. (Same letter given by ‘love’ in 5D.)
Letters 1, 3-6 are clued by ‘baggy’.
‘Article’ gives letter 7.
‘nearly marginal’ gives the last two letters.
Hope this helps.
A bit more about 15D:
‘in’ is a container indicator.
‘marginal’ is like ‘wings’ or ‘extremes’ – it means take the first letter and last letter of an adjacent word.
Aha. I got 15D, 25A, and 30A but only because I had enough letters. And because I cottoned on to Astle’s cheeky game. I don’t understand the wordplay though, os I would appreciate clarification if it’s not too much of a spoiler for those who haven’t cracked the DA nonsense?
Aughh seriously I was pulling my hair out over some of these clues… 19D and 30A make sense to me now. :|
Kim, they have no definition. Wordplay only. Does that help?
15D zip = zero = O in a synonym for baggy or loose. Article is indefinite. + outer letters of ‘nearly’
As iPuzzled said.
Gayle, I got that, but was still confused by some of the wordplay. Understand 15D now, thanks to the tips from iPuzzled. For 25A I see the first five letters as explained by nn, but still not the last four letters.
Also, the last bit of 4D makes sense to me now, nn. Thank you, sir (or ma’am!).
Dave R – send me an email.
25A The way I see last 4 letters is synonym for ‘regular’. Is ‘attachment’ superfluous?
25A: The last four letters are a synonym for attachment.
Attachment needed for the surface reading?
I’m still stuck on 23A and I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it.
Edit edit edit!
25A: The last four letters are a synonym for regular. Attachment is just there for the surface (though it has an obvious, if superfluous, meaning in the wordplay).
25A Agree.
And 27 A too please.
23A: There’s a lot of zeros, loves, etc in this crossword. Here’s another. FA (as in sweet f*** all) means nothing, and the answer is a homophone of a word for nothing.
All finished now, but still unsure on the wordplay for several of the solutions. :F
11A: “6s & 7s” seems to be an anagram keyword, but I don’t see how.
23A: First word appears to be definition, I don’t understand “FA broadcasts”.
27A: Again I think the first word is definition, “a gang” makes the first five letters, unsure where the last four letters come from.
3D: Last two words of the clue make last four letters and definition respectively; not sure where the first five letters come from.
26D: I think “spring for” needs to make the last four letters, but I don’t see how.
nn: Seems you’re with me for 23A and 3D, but I can shed light on 14A. First two letters are an abbreviation for “gym” and last four letters are a word for “technique” with the middle letter taken out (“heartlessly”).
27A: First half of the first word is the definition. Second half of the first word gives letters 5 – 8 which have been eaten by a gang.
Ah, thanks Rupert. I was thinking of that meaning of FA but didn’t get the obvious homophone indicator. Parsing problem. I thought that DA was being tricky and the F went with pirates and the definition was A broadcast.
11A: The fodder is all at sixes and sevens.
23A & 27A: See above.
3D: First five letters are a homophone (on the radio) for a chess piece.
26D: Spring gives the last three letters. There are an even number of letters in scavenge, so its hub is the middle two letters.
11 A: At ‘6’s & 7’s’ = topsy turvy
Crossed posts.
3D Funny how you get the right answer sometimes from the wrong path. My favourite ‘piece on the radio’ when I was young, sitting near the old wireless in the days before television, was the answer. I think it was called Randy Stone’s 3D.
Forget comment about 3D, got the wrong answer from the wrong path. (now I’ve got 19A)
All is clear to me now. Thank you, Rupert!
Husband must be sick of hearing me go “ohhhhh”, “ahhhhh”, and “aha!”
nn, thanks for trying to help, but still in a gog. If second word of 16A means dismissed, as I have it, the only first word that fits means broadcasts, but no connection with 1000 at all, as far as I can see. My 9,13 seems an American spelling, dropping the double consonant we’d normally have as letters 4 & 5? If (as I doub) 25A is ‘some seven’, then I have no idea what that means, though it does have the ‘regular attachment’. No idea on 30A, though I have letters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Can’t decide if 11A is a trio or because. Hopeless. Too good for me, this one. Still nine short, maybe ten.
Arthur C. I think all of the clues you mentioned have been addressed above, except maybe for parts of 11A. Definition is at the end. Three is part of the fodder, and four is a homophone.
Finally got it out, well pleased, thanks, all!
ArthurC: Look at your 25A. If it was “some seven”, have you seen that anywhere else in the grid?
Nice challenging one this week. Thanks Ray for the 9D hint.
Dave R, try this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vswynkf3546pcn/2013-01-19%2014.03.58.jpg
Almost there and a few had me L(ing)OL today – especially 23A. I have two possible answers in mind for 24D – neither of which ‘click’ with me. A clue please, so I can get on with my weekend?
24D: Clear, fizzy and unsweetened. There’s usually much of these troubles, about nothing (another nothing!).
Arthur, 16a def is “issues” as in issuing a fine (i.e. giving). The whole thing is an anagram of “thousand” (i.e. the word for 1000).
9,13 the double consonant hasn’t been dropped. This fooled me for a while too. There are 9 letters in the answer. 4 of them in 9d and 5 of them in 13a. The last letter in 9d is the same as the first letter of 13a and is your double consonant. If you write 9d answer (4 letters) and then write 13a answer (5 letters) after it, you will get the complete 9 letter word with correct double consonant spelling.
I wonder if the 9 answers that you are short contains most of the seven themed answers?
All I can say is read the instructions at the top. Memorise them, one or two (or three) words at a time and then go back and read through your grid. Keep doing this until you notice something.
Your 25a is correct, it is one of the theme and hence has no definition, which is why it doesn’t make much sense until you get the theme. Go back and read the instructions from the start, they should help you understand this one.
Jokes on us again. I think Rupert has hit on the real theme.
Dr Pepper meets Shakespeare or 7UP and Much Ado about Nothing.
Well, I’m just plain dense. Finally saw the anagram in 16A. Probably only now need 5D second word (-L-A-), 15D (second and third words), 19D (L-A-/ A–), 29A, and 30A (-L-E-/S-A-E). Despite nn’s helpful advice (Ta muchly), do not comprehend the theme information. Back later.
Arthur, 5d is also a theme, read the instructions at the top again and the second word should be clear.
30a, 15d and 19d are also themed, read the instructions carefully two or three words at a time…
I think you have 25A (one of the theme) and I presume you have the other two themed clues (1A and 8d). Read the instructions one or two words at a time for these three.
29a isn’t themed. def is periods (of time), seconds tells you what to do with the other words to get the answer.
Well, that really is fascinating. I had sort of noticed that the words in the introduction were also in the grid, I didn’t realise all were. But now I have a problem again. I had ‘nicks’ (nix), for 23A, taking the FA to mean ‘nothing’, so nicks seemed perfect. If I put in the two words that would fit from the intro, is there any connection with the clue: ‘Territory covered tats’? I think I’ll leave those last three blank, as symbolising my total incomprehension.
Arthur, your 23A is correct, and has nothing to do with the theme.
19D is a four letter word for territory around a three letter word for the stuff used to make tattoos, and is words seven and eight of the theme.
Arthur C: ‘Territory’ gives letters 1,5,6, and 7. ‘tats’ gives the rest. I would have spelled tats with 2 t’s.
What he said!
Thanks, John Carney
I now have this week’s DA. Now, if I can persuade The Age to deliver the Life & Style section of next Saturday’s paper I’ll be really happy.
179 degrees, 59 minutes, 59 seconds! You can’t get much more obtuse than that. Having been spoonfed by nn and others, finally I got it all right. thanks, folks.
Dave R,
You must live in rural Victoria. I have the same problem occasionally with the Life & Style. Frustrating trying to run around to see if other newsagents have The Age with this section in it. Or spend a disappointing weekend reading this site without any idea of what Trippers are talking about… Hopefully next week brings DA for you!!
Not sure about PC’s (or android), but you can access the crosswords on the Age via an iPad app.
What a great puzzle. One of the best in a long time imho.
I agree Ben.
Thanks LJ. I am yet to move to an Ipad… PC prevails here. Great sneaky puzzle this week!
Well blue boy FA could stand for Fanny Adams ;) Thank goodness they have worked out a way to include the theme direction by immbeding it in 1A….for the age app…well done you.
Got started today – great theme – so cool to hide it all in plain view