| Comments on the clues |
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| 1. "A long and arduous journey every other Monday?", asks Denys |
| 1. | Poor Denys, with parents who couldn't spell |
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| 2. A long and arduous quest to make dyes with soy |
| 1. | Can you make dyes with soy? | | 2. | Nice to see a straight anagram but a shorter definition may have resulted in better surface? |
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| 3. A long journey is a necessary part of everybody's Seychellois holiday. |
| 1. | Nice hidden, although Seychelles residents might take a holiday locally so wouldn't have to make a long journey. | | 2. | Nice surface, but ‘holiday’ is superfluous to the wordplay | | 3. | Unfortunately the word "holiday" is not used in the clue. | | 4. | What's wrong with 'Seychelles holiday'? | | 5. | Holiday pads |
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| 4. Agreed to return after oddly disregarding goodbyes for this long journey (7) |
| 1. | Surface is a bit forced. |
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| 5. Alright to say, "Without a party, revolting is an adventure" (7) |
| 1. | I prefer "All right". Odd thing to say anyway. | | 2. | Doesn't make a lot of sense! | | 3. | Alright is almost always not altogether all right |
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| 6. An epic tale of Ulysses, who left for date, stripped, and penetrated Troy’s rear |
| 1. | Makes no sense to me | | 2. | I fear this crosses the line between risqué and distasteful. | | 3. | No points but it got a chuckle | | 4. | Troy’s rear would be Y , not OY , I would think | | 5. | Ulysses didn't do 'dates' | | 6. | Clue far to9 long |
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| 7. At start of this, king leaves Troy, eats last of sacred cattle, then captures Calypso's heart and finally kills suitors |
| 1. | Great summary, but it kind of removes the need to solve the wordplay | | 2. | Even with the explanation, this is practically impossible to untangle. | | 3. | Still too long…. | | 4. | Clue far, far too long | | 5. | A valiant attempt. |
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| 8. Averting this trip might have reshaped voyagers’ destiny. |
| 1. | Best of the compound anagrams, but I wish there was a better anagrind than "might have reshaped". | | 2. | Good spot and well signalled so not impossibly difficult to solve | | 3. | Cleverly done but I still don't like composite anagrams | | 4. | Nice compound anagram but I don't feel the 'might have reshaped' works as connector 'might be reshaped' could work but throws the surface. |
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| 9. By end of 'tomo' Dyson mostly sure about long-distance travels? (7) |
| 1. | I don't get this. Is "tomo" a made-up abbreviation for tomorrow? | | 2. | Odyssey is singular so why not just 'travel'? And what is tomo? | | 3. | "tomo" and Dyson are a bit clumsy |
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| 10. Classic island-hop? Certainly Seychelles are good enough to return |
| 1. | Chambers justifies SY for Seychelles, although elsewhere it's given as Syria. Original definition deserves credit. |
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| 11. Do say yes to travel, but not a long journey |
| 1. | Best clue. Excellent wordplay and topicality. | | 2. | Neatly constructed anagram | | 3. | The better of the ‘do say yes’ clues for topicality | | 4. | very smooth | | 5. | Nice try at being different while remaining fair to the solver. |
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| 12. Do say yes, wanting a relaxed journey |
| 1. | The surface doesn't quite work, and unfortunately 11 uses the same idea more convincingly. | | 2. | Not quite as good as 11. ‘Journey’ alone is a weaker def. |
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| 13. Donkey's years at sea spent mostly narked, upset |
| 1. | A compound anagram with a superfluous letter doesn't work for me, sorry. | | 2. | Really needs to be ‘spending’ for the wordplay |
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| 14. Epic topless figure's fine all around (7) |
| 1. | "Epic" is an odd word to use about, presumably, a semi-naked torso. |
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| 15. Epic trip… take too much..? too right… reflect… cut out half the E |
| 1. | Shouldn't it be "cut out half the E's"? | | 2. | Half the E ? |
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| 16. Epic voyage of discovery, say, odd characters might make |
| 1. | ‘X odd characters’ not the same as ‘odd characters of X’ | | 2. | It's a pity 'odd characters' is a bit in-your-face as an indicator |
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| 17. Even Homer half nods sleepily gutted by, at last, surprisingly long journey |
| 1. | "Even Homer" is not OE. | | 2. | Sleepily gutted? | | 3. | Four pieces each requiring an indicator! To me that's 2 or 3 too many |
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| 18. Everybody's Seychelles tour includes a long and eventful journey |
| 1. | Nice hidden, pity "tour" adds nothing useful to the wordplay. | | 2. | Unfortunately ‘tour’ is superfluous to the wordplay | | 3. | Tour is redundant . | | 4. | The word "tour" has no function |
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| 19. Excessive trip indeed, returning after years |
| 1. | Almost brilliant, but alas only "yrs" can indicate years, not "Ys". How about "… years exhausted"? | | 2. | ‘Excessive trip’ very good, but Ys for years doesn’t work | | 3. | Presumably "excessive trip" is meant to indicate overdose, hence OD, but it's rather a stretch. | | 4. | Good concise &lit clue | | 5. | Clever to link trip=drugs=OD, but I thought it was typically depressants/opiates, rather than 'trippy' drugs, which lead to ODs? |
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| 20. Exciting Sydney holidays, not handily involved long journey |
| 1. | Surface is a convoluted way of saying that Sydney is a long way away. (It depends where you start from, of course.) | | 2. | Surface needs to sound more natural |
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| 21. Extremely old story describes executions once journey ends |
| 1. | Needs ‘describing’ or ‘that describes’ for an accurate definition | | 2. | Hard to really fault this, although "extremely" is hackneyed and it requires familiarity with Homer's Odyssey to appreciate. | | 3. | Simple and accurate | | 4. | ok but the overall definition is a bit weak | | 5. | Excellent. Nice to have an all-in-one which doesn't give the game away too easily |
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| 22. "Ey! Dos-sy-do! Swing! Men cast off! Circulate! One man returns! Lines!" |
| 1. | I think this would leave most solvers nonplussed | | 2. | I'm all for originality, but "ey" isn't a word and the rest of the clue is way outside acceptable cryptic crossword conventions. |
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| 23. Famous return of Homer as headless corpse. Quite a bit of Simpson’s back! |
| 1. | Ingenious but rather forced allusion to the Simpsons cartoon series. |
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| 24. Farmer abandons sod, yes, yearning for thrilling journey… |
| 1. | What’s the farmer doing in the wordplay? How does ‘yearning’ = y? | | 2. | I don't see any role for "farmer" in the wordplay. |
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| 25. From the east, truly, barren Sicily and party narrate their journey |
| 1. | This left me wondering who "Sicily" is. |
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| 26. From time to time through good eyes I see my long journey. |
| 1. | Rather meaningless surface. |
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| 27. 'Goodbye Sister!' read regularly before starting your adventure. |
| 1. | ‘Start of your’ would be better | | 2. | "Goodbye Sister!" is too obscure, despite some internet references to funeral poems. | | 3. | maybe should be ".. start of your .." | | 4. | 'Starting your' = Y does not work for me."…beginning of your…" would fix this. |
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| 28. Heading off, contingent's certainly travelling west, resulting in long, eventful journey |
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| 29. I agree to go to extremely sexy party in return for a trip (7) |
| 1. | "extremely silly" would have made the surface more plausible, imo. |
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| 30. Itinerant does initially spend a couple of years wandering |
| 1. | Itinerant is not needed | | 2. | Different but 'does' is a bit awkward in the surface reading. |
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| 32. Lengthy rags to riches story, unpredictable and ultimately moving? |
| 1. | Very well crafted | | 2. | A nice clue, but was it really a rags-to-riches story? | | 3. | This could describe many stories, and at same time it's a bit of a stretch to describe the homeward journey of a king as "rags to riches" |
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| 33. Long March days… somehow nothing can replace April's first fine comeback |
| 1. | ‘Long March’ definitely needs a ? |
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| 34. Long rambling poem |
| 1. | I'm not sure that either of the two meanings of "rambling" really applies to Homer's Odyssey. | | 2. | Very nice. Could also be a double definition. | | 3. | ??? Where’s the clue? | | 4. | Is seafaring rambling? |
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| 35. Long trek oddly does stay extremely unknown (7) |
| 1. | Implausibly implies that Homer's Odyssey is "extremely" unknown, otherwise which long trek is being referred to? |
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| 36. Long wandering goodbyes regularly brought about expression of joy (7) |
| 1. | Implausible surface: what is a "wandering" goodbye, and why would the outcome be joyful? |
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| 37. Oddly uses very regularly quoted passage (7) |
| 1. | Weak definition, and I'm not sure how "very" regularly differs from just "regularly". | | 2. | Nice misdirection by 'oddly' |
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| 38. Poem about, at heart, Ulysses getting back from Troy |
| 1. | Nicely done, but the def. is a bit obvious | | 2. | Conventionally, "at heart" indicates only the central letter or pair of letters of a word. | | 3. | One of many clues with the same construction. | | 4. | Good spot for YSS It's a pity 'at heart' is an overused indicator | | 5. | ODYSSEY and ULYSSES both closely related to ODYSSEUS, so shared letters no surprise | | 6. | Well crafted, but much too obvious as an &lit. | | 7. | The best clue by far – excellent. |
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| 39. Poem about climax of journey on ship, ending in victory (7) |
| 1. | One of many clues with the same construction. | | 2. | Best of the poem clues, I think. |
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| 40. Poem about end of Troy and ship completing journey. |
| 1. | Similar idea to 39, but "coming to end of journey" instead of "completing journey" would be a better way to indicate the last letter. | | 2. | One of many clues with the same construction. |
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| 42. Poem about years on a boat at end of Troy |
| 1. | Simple and clever. (Minor quibble – ship would be better than boat). | | 2. | About the best of the poem clues, though I’d have preferred ship to boat | | 3. | Isn’t Y Year a d not Years ? |
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| 43. Poem concluding after shots discharged between axes |
| 1. | The separation of "ode" into two parts like this doesn't work for me. |
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| 44. Poem involving unknown ship at end of journey |
| 1. | Shades it for me amongst the ‘poem’ clues | | 2. | One of many clues with the same construction. |
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| 45. Poem on yen to get back from Troy, the core of Classics |
| 1. | Not keen on ‘get’ as a container indicator | | 2. | Ingenious, but it really needs a better containment indicator than "to get". |
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| 46. Risqué lady mayoress may cause alarm with this story? (7) |
| 1. | Nice anagram, but I don't much like risqué as an anagrind (it means blue, suggestive, off-colour etc.) | | 2. | Definition is a bit weak | | 3. | Original anagram, plus a fluent surface. Five points. | | 4. | Is anagramming risqué? |
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| 47. Saga trip, perhaps only for the adventurous |
| 1. | Homer's Odyssey is a saga, an odyssey is a trip, but neither is a "saga trip". |
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| 48. Sally boldly asks Beryl, ignoring the odds (7) |
| 1. | Ingenious construction but a sally is a quick attack, not a long journey. | | 2. | "Sally" by itself seems inadequate as the definition | | 3. | Most original definition. Surface just a little weak to score top 5 for me. | | 4. | I like "Sally". |
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| 49. Second dose ends in very many restless for extended travel |
| 1. | Very good topical clue | | 2. | Clever anagram, and the implied Covid vaccination story is plausible. | | 3. | Nicely topical but the indication of the anagram fodder is a little too indirect I think | | 4. | Very good clue – topical, good word play and fair definition. |
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| 50. She eyes Syd over the counter, partial to a long trip home. |
| 1. | I have discounted any clues that refer to random people called Syd or Denys. |
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| 51. Somebody's Seychelles trip? |
| 1. | No hidden indicator | | 2. | Commendably brief but I don't like somebody's / some body's. ("Part of somebody's Seychelles trip?", for example, would work.) | | 3. | Great device, but "trip" by itself seems inadequate as definition | | 4. | The best of the Seychelles holidays | | 5. | Best of the Seychelle hidden answers |
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| 52. Song about my last ship on year-long voyage (7) |
| 1. | A pity about the hyphen |
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| 53. Such a trip with Karen could take donkey’s years! |
| 1. | Random person called Karen makes this rather unconvincing. | | 2. | I don't normally like composite anagrams but this is excellent |
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| 54. This European history's original composition might be seen in Sydney Opera House (7) |
| 1. | "History's original" is not H, and the Sydney Opera House has no obvious relevance to Homer's Odyssey. | | 2. | Long composite anagrams are a pain |
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| 55. Told yesterday’s wandering what could be latter-day version |
| 1. | I don't think it's fair for compound anagrams to include abbreviations such as D = day. |
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| 56. Trip over the fronts of your shoes, twice, and don't exchange? Ridiculous |
| 1. | An unlikely scenario however you interpret "exchange". (Take them back to the shop? Put on a different pair?) | | 2. | Nice try at being different but 'trip' on its own is just too broad a definition. |
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| 57. Voyage over days without a sure return |
| 1. | Wordplay seems to indicate SEY SYD O | | 2. | Rather weak surface. |
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| 59. Years and years of wandering curiously near and (primarily) far away? |
| 1. | Convoluted wordplay and a very forced surface. |
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| 60. Yes, do say "Not a problem," but really, it is a very long story (7) |
| 1. | Not keen on "problem" as an anagrind , and "but really, it is" has no role in the wordplay. |
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| 61. Yes, Dyson’s detailed movingly an epic spiritual voyage |
| 1. | Not a spiritual voyage in any sense, and I don't like "movingly" rather than "moving" as an anagrind. | | 2. | The explanation hasn't convinced me that 'spiritual' is adding anything to surface or definition |
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| 62. Yes! Return after headless body's journey |
| 1. | Needs "returns" for example to indicate reversal, but unfortunately makes little sense anyway. |
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| 63. Yes, say heartlessly party has to go west for a long journey |
| 1. | Surface reading is important – this is garbled. |
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| 64. Yes! Syd Onassis offers return 10 year cruise full of adventures! |
| 1. | The shipping magnate was known as Aristotle, Ari or Aristo, but not Syd as far as I know. |
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| 65. Yes, westbound to South Yorkshire, returning following overdose. It was quite a trip! |
| 1. | Overdose=OD undoubtedly useful, but if not careful you end up with surface that's a bit dark for my taste |
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| 66. "Yes, yes,…" – one returning after weird-sounding trip |
| 1. | A more natural parsing of this would be ODYYSEY, but the surface isn't convincing. |
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| 67. You could make OK tv with this epic from Dostoyevsky (7) |
| 1. | Great anagram spot, though an unorthodox spelling of Dostoevsky | | 2. | If only Dostoyevsky had written Homer's Odyssey this would be excellent. |
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