Special instructions today were "NB - the four marked clues are all 1-across 21-down [sporting cliches]". A little tricky, but not insurmountable once I got back on DA's wavelength. Not completely sure about all of my parses: the "ATA" in 10A feels a bit flimsy; there's no insertion indicator in 24A …
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Sydney Morning Herald 2025-07-25
Surprisingly tame for a DA. Very regional words, however.
Across
- 1
- Opposed to month cycling Caribbean island (7)
ANTIGUA — ANTI (opposed to) reversal (cycling) of AUG (month) - 9
- Green Party’s leader 4-down (3)
PEA — P (first letter of party) EA (4-down [a head]) - 10
- Writer of the first musical …
Sydney Morning Herald 2025-07-18
An improvement over last week's DA offering. I thought 17 was maybe a bit too cute (and a somewhat dated reference for me).
Across
- 1
- Old measure defends shows turned down (9)
MISERABLE — MILE (old measure) outside (defends) reversal (turned) of BARES (shows) - 6
- Rebuff infuriated Bedouin (5)
NOMAD — NO …
Sydney Morning Herald 2025-07-11
Not quite DA's usual precision, but fairly tricky as usual. Some fun clues but I didn't really find it that enjoyable.
Across
- 4
- Stellar warrior captain cut supporter on the ear (9)
CHEWBACCA — C (captain) HEW (cup) homophone of BACKER (supporter) - 9
- (& 28-across) Drunk racing at sea? (5,6,2 …
Sydney Morning Herald 2025-07-04
Late blog, but the puzzle wasn't that hard (I was just busy). Usual DA trickiness.
Across
- 1
- Copper, maybe one who faces the music? (9)
CONDUCTOR — double def. - 6
- Grouse job baffled nurses on reflection (5)
FABBO — hidden (nurses) in reversal (on reflection) of jOB BAFfled - 9
- Hopeful to knock …
Sydney Morning Herald 2025-06-27
Hard! Half the clues went in pretty easily, then a little flurry of mostly-sure answers which gave me enough letters to struggle through the final stretch. Being forced to actually work out the wordplay was a good exercise.
Across
- 1
- Hearing aid to leave back on shelf if pinched? (7 …
Sydney Morning Herald 2025-06-20
I usually avoid DA puzzles because they're scary! A few clues that I haven't quite parsed, and one lookup. There were a couple of two-layered clues, which I thought was an interesting (if rather fiendish) mechanism.
Across
- 7
- Chocolate truffle centre gets stray cheer - twice - or frolic (7,6)
FERRERO …