Have your confusions sorted out for this week’s DA.
55 thoughts on “DA Confusion for the 5th of August, 2022”
Done – but still working on a few wordplays – 2D, 7D, 21D.
FOI 23D – but was incorrect.
So first correct one in was 18D.
LOI 20D.
Really struggled today as found a lot of wordplays tricky eg: 11A, 4D, 14D, 24D/10D.
Liked 1A, 5A, 15A, 25A, 27A, 1D, 8D.
Pick for best was two – 25A and 27A.
Got 7D – found a new word for me.
21D – wow – got it but again tough wordplay.
When I had a quick look at the first 3 across and the first 3 down I wondered if there were missing special instructions. Couldn’t get an in, so went to the SE and got going from there.
Just waited until I had enough crossers for 11A.
Thought 4D def was a bit wide and didn’t know the answer as one. Nice misdirection though. Tried the usual 3 letter words for the first word, to no avail.
Can’t account for the 5th letter (or maybe more?) of 18D, and yet to parse 15A and 21D.
Not familiar with the Spanish in 2D.
Never heard of 2A or 20D, but clear enough from cluing. Liked 27A, 26A, 8D. As with others here yet to fully parse 21D, 18D.
FOI 1D, 3D. LOI 19A, 20D.
Have now got 21D as well. Agree it’s a bit tricky.
21 D It’s the grammar of the surface misdirecting. Have to pause in a couple of places for the wordplay.
Oh, got 15A, not so tricky, and 2D. 18D still holding out.
Gayle – 18D – last 3 are “not snagging”.
Appreciate help with 2D – the last I need to understand.
DAJ, In the end I googled talk and Spanish for 2D. Should have known/remembered it.
I suppose the other thing with 2D is it looks like there are 2 possible homophone indicators. As with several clues today, DA’s put in some unusual word order for indicators.
Still puzzling over 18D despite help, thanks DAJ.
18D – 1,2,3,4 = “Twice move on vacation” and 5,6,7 = “not snagging”.
Far out! No wonder I couldn’t get 18D. After DAJ repeating the ‘not snagging’ tip I checked the replica/printed version and found it is different to the online version.
The online version is “Twice move on vacation to get souvenir”.
The replica/print version is “Twice move on vacation, not snagging souvenir”.
To return the favour, DAJ, have you got 2D or need another tip?
I hope I’m not intruding on your private conversation, DAJ & Gayle!
I started slowly today, and was considering abandoning ship, but then things picked up. My favourite (came close to a chuckle) was 8d. There has been some spirited intercourse on Fifteen Squared in recent days concerning dodgy homophones and there’s definitely one in this puzzle. (I won’t say which, so early.) 25a was new to me, only ever having encountered it at Luna Park. I don’t like clues that don’t specify the order of the wordplay elements, as 7d.
Easy starters perhaps are 1a, 1d 16d & 18d. I get my crosswords onine, and mine didn’t have the error for the clue for 18d mentioned above.
Despite using Google translate, which listed several alternatives, I cannot see how 2d works.
Gayle – thanks but not needed as the penny finally dropped.
Like you I should have recalled earlier, but pronunciation was letting me down.
Thanks anyway.
Morning Graham M! Speaking of homophones, are you a rhotic speaker? If so, 2D won’t work for you.
Know what you mean about the order of the elements in 7D, which held me up, but I think I could pay ‘getting’.
Re the online version of 18D. Are there different versions for the apps?
I do mine on a desktop.
No Gayle, I’m not rhotic. (Nor erotic.) The discourse on Fifteen Squared included mention of rhoticity. The clue for “Ali Baba” used “barber” as a homophone, and various Scottish people were not amused.
So I’ll have to be content with not understanding 2d, until, perhaps, later in the day, when you might be able to give me a more lucid explanation.
I’m an SMH subscriber and download my puzzles from “Today’s paper”. I then print them out, as I like to have white space for doodling, and compiling my “Huh?” list.
Re SMH site – once you log in, the drop down menu gives:
Today’s Paper
Daily Crosswords and Sudoku
If you go into the paper, it is in the form on the hard copy. You can then find the Puzzles page for the Crosswords etc. That’s what I use (and sounds like Graham M too) and today it has the correct 18D.
If you go the the Daily Crosswords and Sudoku, you can see the Quick and Cryptic – where today it has the incorrect 18D.
As for apps such as for iPads, I do not know – maybe they are different again.
Graham M. Yes, ‘Today’s paper’ is the replica/print version. It’s the interactive one that has the wrong clue.
Actually I’m totally wrong. Sorry. A rhotic speaker would be happy with the Spanish infinitive ‘to talk’ or chatter. There are 2 r’s in the Spanish word and 2 in the answer in the same positions. Non rhotic speakers drop them both.
First lot 1a,13a,17a,55d,6d,18d. LOI 11a. Quite a few question marks (for dodginess) against clues today, including 2d which I think should be Catalan, not Spanish (at least according to Google Translate).
No real favourites today although 8d raised a smile like Graham M.
Gayle, now you’re talking. Google translate works when I try Catalan. Also French, and quite possibly a few others. But definitely not Spanish, thank you DA.
No, ’twas Tim who suggested I try Catalan. Thank you Tim.
Really, if 2dn comes with the baggage of different dialects of Spanish, then it’s a dud clue. It might make DA look clever but does the solver no favours.
DA loves to collect and write about foreign words in his columns, but he’s not a linguist and I think he might have a bit of a tin ear, or very little ear at all as he relies on the written word. Despite years of dodgy homophones of foreign words, and no doubt reading people’s comments, he’s not fazed. I get the feeling he’s just tickled and enjoys tickling us.
I don’t think those from Catalunya would be impressed by Catalan being described as a dialect of Spanish. :)
For reasons that I can’t explain, I found today’s crossword the easiest in weeks. FOI were 13A and 28A; favourite is 8D.
If you look at the final credits on any movie, you’ll see 7D.
I have a liking for 4D; it’s a movie that’s rarely shown, but I remember enjoying it greatly when it was released in 1959; the strip on which it’s based was also great.
I’m not much enamoured of 2D.
That’s where I’d seen 7d Jack, although I’m not sure it’s a stagehand (another of my ?).
I was determined to complete today’s without cheats (long time since) but, alas, 25A eluded me. There may have been a neural path once, but…
Then, thanks to various Trippers for meeting my parsing needs (2D, 7D).
And general agreement here on everyone’s little beefs and smiles (and reason for paper preference Graham!)
Well, I’ve soldiered through NW, NE, and SW, with SE to go (22A, 26A and 20D, and not sure about 16D); also 9A wordplay eludes me.
Enjoyed 8D, 25A and 27A.
OK I now have 26A, which means my 16D was wrong. Should help
All done, most understood. Till next time
All done, still parsing a couple.
For 25a it helps of you know Lord of the Rings.
Parsed the ones I was missing. It didn’t help that 18d was clued incorrectly in the in the app.
Some tricksy ones today.
Tim C, as a theatre mechanist, I agree.
The clue should have been “Sound stage hand”.
You obviously have a good grip on your job Noni. :)
Noni,
Interesting. My man worked on developing theatre automation desks for things like Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Best, and the State Theatre in Victoria.
Having been studying Spanish for the last few years, I got very excited by 2D. “Talk” had me thinking of hablar (to speak) or decir (to say). Eventually we guessed the answer and then browsed the dictionary to find the Spanish. But several sources prefer charlar to the word in question for “to chatter”, so I think I’d call it an obscure usage. Still, nice to see a foreign language clue that isn’t just an article or conjunction.
I still can’t parse 1-3 of 21D. Clue above too obscure for me
Riffing off Gayle’s hint, Bernard (9:20 yesterday; the only one, I think),
* pause after ‘Naturalist’ then after ‘off’.
* perhaps put an ‘a’ before ‘tree’
The consequence of the 3 (4) words between your pauses is 1-3.
It’s only Saturday – practically still Friday! I’m wary of being less obscure!
D’oh! It’s the consequence of the 3 words on ‘(a) tree’!
Bernard, it involves a five-letter tree.
Nah, I reckon it’s late enough. Don’t want to leave Bernard in the dark. It is a very obscure clue.
‘Bark’ relates to the word ‘chose’ ie the outside letters of ‘chose’.
Instruction is to remove the outer two letters of ‘chose’ (chose bark off) from the 5-letter tree.
There you go, Bernard, from ‘Els Tres Amics’ [NOT ‘Los Tres Amigos’ :-) ], if I may be so bold, G and G.
Tail gunner as usual Foi 1a
Into the home straight in SE corner with
19a 20d 23d and 28a to go
Liked 8d and 26a Learnt a new word for 25aIanS
I’m relieved to hear I wasn’t alone in solving some of the wordplays. All I can say Jack must’ve been in the zone!
I still get hard copy home delivered so don’t have the serious differences to worry about.
Ha ha. Took me a long time but I got it! Appreciate the hint(s). Guess I could say I could finally ‘see da’ wood for the trees
Nearly finished, but how the heck is sticks ‘pokes’??
Carol, there is a slang usage such as ‘I’ll stick him in the eye with this!’ meaning I’ll poke him in the eye.
Thanks Jack. All done now – LOI was the 25A rabbit, which I’d never heard of.
Now that we are beyond hint zone, I am wondering if anyone is still there to explain two word plays:
25a I am assuming the last letter is ‘initially reduced by 90 percent’. But how is ‘bucks’ ‘cone’?
7d I understand the critical key but what is the word for flu sounds like grip?
Ok, went to Zinzan and worked it out. The old Roman numeral maths for 25a. I should have realized ‘initially’ has only 9 letters, not 10.
And I had never heard of grippe. It’s hard to guess what to put into dictionary to work out homophones.
Sandy, in 25a, the first letter (“initially”) is reduced by 90%. In Romand numerals from M to C. With an M the word means “bucks”.
Done – but still working on a few wordplays – 2D, 7D, 21D.
FOI 23D – but was incorrect.
So first correct one in was 18D.
LOI 20D.
Really struggled today as found a lot of wordplays tricky eg: 11A, 4D, 14D, 24D/10D.
Liked 1A, 5A, 15A, 25A, 27A, 1D, 8D.
Pick for best was two – 25A and 27A.
Got 7D – found a new word for me.
21D – wow – got it but again tough wordplay.
When I had a quick look at the first 3 across and the first 3 down I wondered if there were missing special instructions. Couldn’t get an in, so went to the SE and got going from there.
Just waited until I had enough crossers for 11A.
Thought 4D def was a bit wide and didn’t know the answer as one. Nice misdirection though. Tried the usual 3 letter words for the first word, to no avail.
Can’t account for the 5th letter (or maybe more?) of 18D, and yet to parse 15A and 21D.
Not familiar with the Spanish in 2D.
Never heard of 2A or 20D, but clear enough from cluing. Liked 27A, 26A, 8D. As with others here yet to fully parse 21D, 18D.
FOI 1D, 3D. LOI 19A, 20D.
Have now got 21D as well. Agree it’s a bit tricky.
21 D It’s the grammar of the surface misdirecting. Have to pause in a couple of places for the wordplay.
Oh, got 15A, not so tricky, and 2D. 18D still holding out.
Gayle – 18D – last 3 are “not snagging”.
Appreciate help with 2D – the last I need to understand.
DAJ, In the end I googled talk and Spanish for 2D. Should have known/remembered it.
I suppose the other thing with 2D is it looks like there are 2 possible homophone indicators. As with several clues today, DA’s put in some unusual word order for indicators.
Still puzzling over 18D despite help, thanks DAJ.
18D – 1,2,3,4 = “Twice move on vacation” and 5,6,7 = “not snagging”.
Far out! No wonder I couldn’t get 18D. After DAJ repeating the ‘not snagging’ tip I checked the replica/printed version and found it is different to the online version.
The online version is “Twice move on vacation to get souvenir”.
The replica/print version is “Twice move on vacation, not snagging souvenir”.
To return the favour, DAJ, have you got 2D or need another tip?
I hope I’m not intruding on your private conversation, DAJ & Gayle!
I started slowly today, and was considering abandoning ship, but then things picked up. My favourite (came close to a chuckle) was 8d. There has been some spirited intercourse on Fifteen Squared in recent days concerning dodgy homophones and there’s definitely one in this puzzle. (I won’t say which, so early.) 25a was new to me, only ever having encountered it at Luna Park. I don’t like clues that don’t specify the order of the wordplay elements, as 7d.
Easy starters perhaps are 1a, 1d 16d & 18d. I get my crosswords onine, and mine didn’t have the error for the clue for 18d mentioned above.
Despite using Google translate, which listed several alternatives, I cannot see how 2d works.
Gayle – thanks but not needed as the penny finally dropped.
Like you I should have recalled earlier, but pronunciation was letting me down.
Thanks anyway.
Morning Graham M! Speaking of homophones, are you a rhotic speaker? If so, 2D won’t work for you.
Know what you mean about the order of the elements in 7D, which held me up, but I think I could pay ‘getting’.
Re the online version of 18D. Are there different versions for the apps?
I do mine on a desktop.
No Gayle, I’m not rhotic. (Nor erotic.) The discourse on Fifteen Squared included mention of rhoticity. The clue for “Ali Baba” used “barber” as a homophone, and various Scottish people were not amused.
So I’ll have to be content with not understanding 2d, until, perhaps, later in the day, when you might be able to give me a more lucid explanation.
I’m an SMH subscriber and download my puzzles from “Today’s paper”. I then print them out, as I like to have white space for doodling, and compiling my “Huh?” list.
Re SMH site – once you log in, the drop down menu gives:
Today’s Paper
Daily Crosswords and Sudoku
If you go into the paper, it is in the form on the hard copy. You can then find the Puzzles page for the Crosswords etc. That’s what I use (and sounds like Graham M too) and today it has the correct 18D.
If you go the the Daily Crosswords and Sudoku, you can see the Quick and Cryptic – where today it has the incorrect 18D.
As for apps such as for iPads, I do not know – maybe they are different again.
Graham M. Yes, ‘Today’s paper’ is the replica/print version. It’s the interactive one that has the wrong clue.
Actually I’m totally wrong. Sorry. A rhotic speaker would be happy with the Spanish infinitive ‘to talk’ or chatter. There are 2 r’s in the Spanish word and 2 in the answer in the same positions. Non rhotic speakers drop them both.
First lot 1a,13a,17a,55d,6d,18d. LOI 11a. Quite a few question marks (for dodginess) against clues today, including 2d which I think should be Catalan, not Spanish (at least according to Google Translate).
No real favourites today although 8d raised a smile like Graham M.
Gayle, now you’re talking. Google translate works when I try Catalan. Also French, and quite possibly a few others. But definitely not Spanish, thank you DA.
No, ’twas Tim who suggested I try Catalan. Thank you Tim.
Really, if 2dn comes with the baggage of different dialects of Spanish, then it’s a dud clue. It might make DA look clever but does the solver no favours.
DA loves to collect and write about foreign words in his columns, but he’s not a linguist and I think he might have a bit of a tin ear, or very little ear at all as he relies on the written word. Despite years of dodgy homophones of foreign words, and no doubt reading people’s comments, he’s not fazed. I get the feeling he’s just tickled and enjoys tickling us.
I don’t think those from Catalunya would be impressed by Catalan being described as a dialect of Spanish. :)
For reasons that I can’t explain, I found today’s crossword the easiest in weeks. FOI were 13A and 28A; favourite is 8D.
If you look at the final credits on any movie, you’ll see 7D.
I have a liking for 4D; it’s a movie that’s rarely shown, but I remember enjoying it greatly when it was released in 1959; the strip on which it’s based was also great.
I’m not much enamoured of 2D.
That’s where I’d seen 7d Jack, although I’m not sure it’s a stagehand (another of my ?).
I was determined to complete today’s without cheats (long time since) but, alas, 25A eluded me. There may have been a neural path once, but…
Then, thanks to various Trippers for meeting my parsing needs (2D, 7D).
And general agreement here on everyone’s little beefs and smiles (and reason for paper preference Graham!)
Well, I’ve soldiered through NW, NE, and SW, with SE to go (22A, 26A and 20D, and not sure about 16D); also 9A wordplay eludes me.
Enjoyed 8D, 25A and 27A.
OK I now have 26A, which means my 16D was wrong. Should help
All done, most understood. Till next time
All done, still parsing a couple.
For 25a it helps of you know Lord of the Rings.
Parsed the ones I was missing. It didn’t help that 18d was clued incorrectly in the in the app.
Some tricksy ones today.
Tim C, as a theatre mechanist, I agree.
The clue should have been “Sound stage hand”.
You obviously have a good grip on your job Noni. :)
Noni,
Interesting. My man worked on developing theatre automation desks for things like Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Best, and the State Theatre in Victoria.
Having been studying Spanish for the last few years, I got very excited by 2D. “Talk” had me thinking of hablar (to speak) or decir (to say). Eventually we guessed the answer and then browsed the dictionary to find the Spanish. But several sources prefer charlar to the word in question for “to chatter”, so I think I’d call it an obscure usage. Still, nice to see a foreign language clue that isn’t just an article or conjunction.
I still can’t parse 1-3 of 21D. Clue above too obscure for me
Riffing off Gayle’s hint, Bernard (9:20 yesterday; the only one, I think),
* pause after ‘Naturalist’ then after ‘off’.
* perhaps put an ‘a’ before ‘tree’
The consequence of the 3 (4) words between your pauses is 1-3.
It’s only Saturday – practically still Friday! I’m wary of being less obscure!
D’oh! It’s the consequence of the 3 words on ‘(a) tree’!
Bernard, it involves a five-letter tree.
Nah, I reckon it’s late enough. Don’t want to leave Bernard in the dark. It is a very obscure clue.
‘Bark’ relates to the word ‘chose’ ie the outside letters of ‘chose’.
Instruction is to remove the outer two letters of ‘chose’ (chose bark off) from the 5-letter tree.
There you go, Bernard, from ‘Els Tres Amics’ [NOT ‘Los Tres Amigos’ :-) ], if I may be so bold, G and G.
Tail gunner as usual Foi 1a
Into the home straight in SE corner with
19a 20d 23d and 28a to go
Liked 8d and 26a Learnt a new word for 25aIanS
I’m relieved to hear I wasn’t alone in solving some of the wordplays. All I can say Jack must’ve been in the zone!
I still get hard copy home delivered so don’t have the serious differences to worry about.
Ha ha. Took me a long time but I got it! Appreciate the hint(s). Guess I could say I could finally ‘see da’ wood for the trees
Nearly finished, but how the heck is sticks ‘pokes’??
Carol, there is a slang usage such as ‘I’ll stick him in the eye with this!’ meaning I’ll poke him in the eye.
Bernard@9.22pm LOL
Thanks Jack. All done now – LOI was the 25A rabbit, which I’d never heard of.
Now that we are beyond hint zone, I am wondering if anyone is still there to explain two word plays:
25a I am assuming the last letter is ‘initially reduced by 90 percent’. But how is ‘bucks’ ‘cone’?
7d I understand the critical key but what is the word for flu sounds like grip?
Ok, went to Zinzan and worked it out. The old Roman numeral maths for 25a. I should have realized ‘initially’ has only 9 letters, not 10.
And I had never heard of grippe. It’s hard to guess what to put into dictionary to work out homophones.
Sandy, in 25a, the first letter (“initially”) is reduced by 90%. In Romand numerals from M to C. With an M the word means “bucks”.
In 7d, “grippe” is an archaic word for influenza.
We crossed over. Glad you sorted it out!
Thanks Graham.