Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25851
Today’s hints and tips, by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is the first contribution from Libellule, so I hope you all enjoy it – I certainly did. Once again, the highlighted items link to supplementary information, often the answer to the clue. Don’t forget to let both of us know, via the comments below, what you think. BD
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Across
1a Commander as sir ordering fellow soldiers (8-2-4)
An anagram of “Commander as sir” (ordering) to produce the title of a Biggles book published in 1947
10a A French sign in bar? Strange (9)
French for a, un, plus a musical sign, that is neither flat or sharp to produce a word that is not normal
11a Group who may want better conditions in marriage (5)
A double definition, a group who typically represent the rights of workers and another term for marriage
12a Old woman having good energy? Too old! (7)
Old (O) + Woman (Vera) + Good (G) + Energy (E) is another word for too old
13a A silly girl, a sheep (6)
An anagram of “a” and “girl” (silly) to produce a type of mountain sheep
15a Understanding secured, we hear (4)
Sounds like (we hear) “tacked” (secured) to give a way of dealing with people so as not to upset them
17a Darling girl, a juicy type (10)
The name of the girl from the song, and also a type of mandarin orange , also the first name of the wife of Winston Chuchill
18a Justifying the kicked-out lover? Unlovely at home, not much good! (10)
The kicked out lover is an Ex, unlovely is Plain, at home is In, and a little bit of good, G added together gives another word for justifying
20a Bird’s speed (4)
Double definition, the name of a wading bird and a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour
22a Man to draw back when Her Majesty enters (6)
A man’s name containing ER for Her Majesty and is being drag-ged back
23a One taking test collecting two marks? That’s bad! (7)
One becomes I, a test is an Oral, and if you then pick up a couple of marks (MM) it’s immoral
26a Near back of hut it’s dark (5)
Near is nigh and back of hut is (t), to give night – it’s dark then
27a Starts of newspaper articles responsible for furrows on brows? (9)
Look at the front page of the Telegraph, what’s another name for the caption of a newspaper article, usually set in large type?
28a Why not buy a Ferrari? – result of hypnotism? (14)
My favourite clue for the day, the answer is a the result of hypnotism, but you need to think laterally about the suggestion that you might be interested in buying a new car
Down
2d Weight of dozen getting bigger! (5)
The weight in dozen is oz, if it gets bigger, i.e. if we use its full name and not the shortened version we can expand oz to ounce
3d Rodent on bark of oak, maybe, or palm (6) [Thanks for pointing out the typo, Falcon]
A rat plus a type of oak found in America giving a type of palm
4d Scorn’s curtailed when sweetheart’s brought round tea (10)
Sweetheart is darling, this is placed around a shortened taunt, jee[r] to give a type of indian tea
5d Storage unit contaminated with oils (4)
An anagram of oils (contaminated) to give a structure for storing bulk materials
6d A very small thing – one won’t be changed (7)
A tiny particle usually found in atomic nuclei that is neither positive or negative
7d Pursuit of Saracens leading to one country’s downfall (9)
The sport of The Saracens, ru (gby) and I (one) nation (country) bringing about a state of devastation and destruction
8d Soppy person made one mad – it’s ridiculous (14)
The answer is a “soppy person” sent (made) + I (one) + mental (mad) + ist, a ridiculous it’s
9d Accepted as something worth discussing (minutes earlier?) (3,2,3,6)
Something that needs to be “put on the Agenda”
14d Eastern chap given call, the old man imprisoned being set free (10)
Eastern (E) + chap (Man) , with old man (Pa) inside call (Cite) giving a word that means to set free, emancipate
16d Being modest about page – just a property of the author? (9)
Being modest is coy about a p(age) makes copy, along with right (just) providing something every original author has
19d Brings gas into set area with new development (7)
An anagram of “set area” (new development) that means putting gas into a liquid for example, to make a fizzy drink – [it’s a pity the setter didn’t use the fact that the word is reversed in the clue – BD]
21d A cross that’s primarily a lucky charm (6)
A mule (cross between a donkey and a horse) t(hat’s primarily) giving a lucky charm
24d Member of group gets to call round (5)
Call is ring, round is o, a member of the Beatles. Groan.
25d Aboard boat there’s hard criminal (4)
The boat is a tug, and if you place h(ard) inside it, you get a criminal
28A was indeed a nice clue. At 19D my guess is that the setter (Don Manley if my memory of the DT weekly schedule is right) decided on the ‘Brings gas into ‘ ‘with new development’ structure, and just happened to find the anagram that’s also a reversal. Only a problem for me if highlighting the reversal rather than the anag would have allowed a better clue.
Oh – and Libellule’s report looks fine, as did the other sub’s yesterday. I’m a bit surprised by the lack of comments on these reports, as the readers are definitely out there. The answer analysis in the blog isn’t the whole story – little snippets about your own solving experience, successful or otherwise, make the story more interesting.
Peter, thanks for the comments, appreciated. The idea is try and get a balance between providing the answers in a way that can be understood, and making it too obvious. I think the more we practice this the better we can get.
I enjoyed Libellule’s report. I didn’t look at it until after I had finished the crossword but then it ‘fleshed out’ one or two clues where I had the correct anwer but had initially (and unfairly) thought the clue a bit weak.