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brendan

14th July 2019, 02:02
Well this is definitely a mixed bag of a crossword. On the the one hand there are some very easy write ins, but then there's a few which, to be honest, still have me confused.

1a is a prime example - assuming I've got it correct! As far as I can see it's just a person's name that's connected to flying ("I wish I could fly") and, obviously, Orville - but why is that cryptic, and why 'declare' "I wish I could fly"?

Also 12a Europe to show disapproval of amount of data needed for downloaded literature. (1-4) - Again, the answer is clear, with the "K" derived from 'amount of data' but I've only ever seen data expressed as in terms of bytes, as in Kb, Mb or Gb etc, never just 'K' on it's own.

As for 2d, I have the answer (I think!) but can't see what the definition is supposed to be.

I think 16d might cause some problems also, with the word "entertainer" possibly being a deliberate misdirection?

Credit where credit's due, though - there are some excellent clues and it was good to be reminded of a T Rex classic by 26a, and I think 9d is as good a clue as I've seen in a long time.

All that said, I know for the last few crosswords I've been somewhat out of step with the general consensus of opinion, so I'll be very interested to hear the views of others.
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mamya

14th July 2019, 03:06
2d Def - Expected.

Agree, a bit of a mish mash today.
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brendan

14th July 2019, 04:31
Thanks Mamya, i completely missed that definition
I'm still puzzled by the parsing though - if "those elected " = IN, then where does "store" come from?. The only thing i can think of is that "those elected" = INS and" "ran" = TORE, but can "in" be pluralized in that context?. I know you can have the "ins and outs" of something but that's not really the same thing.
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phil10000

14th July 2019, 08:00
Hi Brendan. Yep, more inconsistent than ever this week. I actually got 1A immediately for the first time in months (usually, I think the setter deliberately places the head-scratchers in the NW), and I thought 27 and 28 were quite elegant. But thereafter I had to resort to cheating for quite a few. I reckon your parsing of 2D is probably correct; and if that's the case, I agree it's a shocker. Also, I've never heard of the dog breed, which doesn't help, especially as getting the answer purely from the clue demands making the link with a brand name, which is not exactly fair. I completely agree with you about 16A -- can only think the setter used 'entertainer' in order to mislead. However, I thought 9D was terrible. It's almost impossible to get from the clue with no letters in place (what are the chances of choosing the right resort?). And, incidentally, either the setter has used it before or they've lifted it from someone else, as the answer is available online if you google the whole clue (which I had to do in the end).
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simond9x

14th July 2019, 08:47
Can't see 16 but don't really care. I keep meaning to stop doing the Everyman as they really aren't much fun these days but I notice he's got various 'rights' around the perimeter.

I think the 'I wish I could fly' was misdirection - didn't that wretched Orville ventriloquist's dummy sing that song?
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richardk

14th July 2019, 08:55
So the “complete list of dog breeds” on a website named dogtime.com is not in fact a complete list! Had vaguely heard of the breed but even then I didn’t know it was two words.

Some awful clues today.
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jack aubrey

14th July 2019, 09:00
Apropos the pluralised “In”, there is a similar usage in the AZED this week - 4d, where the indication is “the Government”. If it’s good enough for the magisterial Mr Crowther, who am I to demur?
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aoc

14th July 2019, 09:18
phil10000 — all papers’ clues are routinely and immediately harvested for websites with clue databases, so this charge could be made of any clue!
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richardk

14th July 2019, 09:53
In Private Eye, Cyclops frequently uses “elected” for “in”. I got that part of the clue, the problem was parsing the second word to make “expected”.

When I use the phrase, it’s usually at the start of an event or other gathering - I’ll ask the host or leader... “what have you got - - - - - - - for us today?” In that respect, it hardly means “expected”!

Maybe a better clue would have been “those elected ran reserve?”
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elle

14th July 2019, 10:44
@RichardK. regarding the dog breed...
I don't think it is that uncommon.... I know quite a few.
Yes, it is two words.....altho Chambers chooses to hyphenate them, whereas Collins and my Dog Breeds book don't .
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