Solution for 3 June cryptic crossword clue

Took one’s seat with one’s party, to general contentment (12)

Solution – satisfaction

This is an example of a charades clue. 

The part of the clue that sets out what the meaning of the solution will be is “to general contentment” – Satisfaction is a good match for that.

The first part of the clue needs to be broken down into 3 parts:

Took one’s seat = sat

With one’s = is (i is often used where a 1 is referred to – just because of the similarity of shape I guess)

Party = faction – often used in the sense of a group within a political party.

Solution = sat+is+faction

Cathedral Cove

If you come to New Zealand.  Don’t miss going to Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula.  It is about a 2 hour drive from Auckland but then takes a bit of a walk to get to the cover so it isn’t really day trip material.  It is about 45 minutes each way.  You can get there by kayak from Hahei – too much like hard work for me.  The walk down to the cove is steepish but there is a good path – you need quite a bit of puff to walk back up to the carpark.

When you do make the effort to go down there, this is what you find.

Yep – really beautiful.  And unless you are there at the height of the season, you won’t be too crushed by other people.  You need to take your own water down there with you and any food you want, there is no shop or anything down there.  There is a food truck in the carpark.

The Maori name for Cathedral Cove is Te Whanganui-A-Hei.  The Cove was used as a location in one of the Narnia films.

Other posts you might find interesting:

My travel bucket list (not including NZ)

Top 10 places I have visited in New Zealand

Top 10 places I have visited outside NZ

St Morand – patron saint of vintners

Today is St Morand’s day.  

He is the patron saint of vintners (wine makers).  The reason for this is that he apparently spent one Lent during which he only ate one single bunch of grapes.  Not exactly a wise or balanced diet.  The common image of him suggests that he generally ate a lot more than that!

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow

Took one’s seat with one’s party, to general contentment (12)

Source of clue –Sydney Morning Herald

If you think you know the answer, put it in a comment to this post. I won't publish any comment with the right answer until the solution is available to everyone. I'll visit your blog (or email if you provide it) and let you know that you were right. And I'll give a shout out to the first to get it right in the solution post. Get puzzling.

Solution for 2 June cryptic crossword clue

Hustle around a common detective (6)

Solution – sleuth

An anagram clue today. The word that suggests an anagram is involved is “around”. (For more about this type of clue see the sidebar under the list of popular posts)

And because the solution has 6 letters the only possible words to have their letters scramble are “hustle” and “common”

The solution will mean something to do with “detective” A common word for a detective is “sleuth” – which is an anagram of “hustle”.

Leonardo Da Vinci - what a guy!

 You’ve got to love Leonardo da Vinci, artist, inventor, scientist, all around genius.

He also had quite a way with words.  Another of his quotes:

"Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest."

He did so many famous works.  The Last Supper (painted over 3 years).  The original is in Milan, Italy.  It captures the emotion of the moment with uncanny human accuracy:

The Mona Lisa – well, what can you say?  This image seems to have captured so many hearts over the centuries.  Its proper title is La Giaconda.  It was painted in oil on a wooden panel.  It was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and was thought to have been lost to the world.  But it came to light 2 years later when the museum employee who stole it, tried to sell it to the Uffizi gallery in Florence.  He wasn’t the brightest spark in the box…

Some of his lesser known works are also stunning:

Madonna with a carnation

Ginevra de’ Benci

Lady with an Ermine

Other posts on international artists that you might be interested in:


Botticelli
Gaugin
Picasso

This is how I do it....