Ladies and gentlemen, one of our newest cruciverbalists has stormed onto the scene, as she and I put in a near-perfect performance.  TT, take a bow.  This poolroom’s for you!!

She kicked it off by getting the theme, unassisted.  I did have to chip in with a few 007 references, as she grew up without the disturbing influence of TV, but took the honours again with some of our final clues.  Unfortunately there is no one known as JIMMY COCKBAR, but it hardly matters!

Feel free to comment here about your own DA moments that need to go straight to the poolroom!!

The DA Poolroom was inaugurated not too long ago when RC completed his first unassisted DA, just he, the pen, the paper and DA.

I’ve noticed that a few of you have clocked in personal bests for this week’s DA, so I figure RC shouldn’t be the only one to have his efforts recorded for posterity: if you’ve got a PB, share the thrill among people who know the feeling.

You can comment about your exploits here; or, better yet, you can email me a photo or scan of your hard-fought efforts with DA and I’ll post it on the blog for the DA faithful to marvel at.

The address to email me at is in the sidebar to your right. If it’s a personal best, whatever it is — the time you got past halfway; the time you completed the DA and only cheated twice; the time you vanquished DA tag team with a friend; the time you completed the DA solo; the time you finished the DA in under thirty minutes —  just send it through to the DA Poolroom and your efforts shall be immortalised.

Update: I’ve just got to post my crossword of victory:

It’s been a long while since I’ve completed a solo vanquishing, and I needed to immortalise it here. Although RC didn’t help me directly with clues, I couldn’t have done it without his moral support on the Sunday when I was just about willing to throw in the towel.

Also on the sheet is the scorecard of my victory against my dad in πινάκ, which is a Greek version of Rummy. It was a big weekend.

Ladies, gentlemen, and DA,

I am very excited to announce my first ever solo, unassisted, no-dictionaries, no-internet, no nothing, just me, DA and the pen, letter-perfect completion.  What with AS away for the past few weeks, I came close several times, but today victory is mine.  I have popped the pinada!

In celebration, I thought I would start this post, under which anyone with a DA-related achievement is welcome to boast, gloat and be lauded.  Did you get your first DA clue?  Crack your first theme?  Finish the whole thing on the Friday/Saturday morning ferry/tram?  Were you blindfolded and solved it all by smell?  Whatever the case, crow about it here!

Well done in advance,

RC