DT Cryptic No 25862 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT Cryptic No 25862

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25862

Today’s hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

It’s Thursday today, so Gazza’s back again.  Don’t forget that the full analyses for last weekend’s puzzles are due to be published at noon.  You may have already seen the Saturday review as it was released last Friday after being published online by mistake; some small revisions have been applied, mostly to give all the answers as well as the wordplay.   BD

I thought that this was an entertaining crossword with some interesting clues and not too difficult, though it does contain one word I’d never heard of.

 

Across Clues

 1a  A charge applied to knight’s combat (6)
Knight is K (as in KBE) and this has A and a charge (a predecessor of the Council Tax) following (applied to) it to form a Japanese martial art (combat).

 4a  Terrible mistakes in personal objectives (3,5)
These are targets you set yourself (personal objectives) but when you score them you shoot yourself in the foot or, more accurately,  put the ball in your own net (terrible mistakes, “shocking” as Alan Hansen would say).

 9a  Sun rising – day off, and getting cover (6)
A clever clue. Sun rising is DAWNING – take the D(ay) off to get something which protects you from it (cover).

10a  Overwhelm single sister with romantic assignment (8 )
Single sister is I NUN. Add to this (with) DATE (romantic assignment) to form a word meaning overwhelm.

 11a  Performances preset to a schedule (9)
An anagram (triggered by schedule – a new anagram signal to me) of “preset to a” to produce musical productions (performances) of the kind Gilbert & Sullivan used to write.

 13a   Animal that lives in temperate latitudes (5)
There’s a hidden word inside (lives in) “temperate latitudes” giving the name of a badger-like animal, also known as the honey badger, living in Africa and India.

 14a  Stamp on fraudulent schemes in sport (6,7)
SQUASH (stamp on) RACKETS (fraudulent schemes) – the official name (can also be spelt racquets) of a strenuous game (sport) played in an enclosed court.

 17a  Malay pipe fish cooked for game (5,8 )
An anagram (cooked) of “Malay pipe fish” to produce a children’s card game where Master Bun often puts in an appearance.

 21a  One doesn’t like to give out a gentleman’s address – no time (5)
A way of addressing a gentleman is MISTER – take away the T (no time) to get a Scrooge-like person (one who doesn’t like to give things out).

 23a  Some of man’s best friends are mercenaries! (4,2,3)
A term for troops for hire (mercenaries) originating in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (“… let slip the DOGS OF WAR”), and dogs are of course some of man’s best friends.

 24a  Extol the virtues of a miner’s union tincture (8 )
LAUD (extol the virtues of) followed by A and the initials of the national miner’s union once led by Arthur Scargill produce the name of a tincture of opium.

 25a  One covered in rice – just a thin coating (6)
A type of long-grained rice (no – not Uncle Ben’s!!) – this is PATNA. Include an I in it (one covered) to get a surface film or sheen (thin coating).

 26a  Despatched, having included a 10 cent deposit (8 )
Despatched is SENT and this has inside it (having included) DIME (a 10 cent coin in the USA). The resulting word means dregs (deposit).

27a  Honourable climb down, but lacking sense initially (6)
Climb down is DESCENT. Take out the S (initial letter of sense) to form a word meaning honourable.

 Down Clues

1d  Warning from king over loose organisation getting disheartened (6)
The K of 1a has now achieved a rapid promotion to king, and is on top of (over, in a down clue) LAX (loose) and the outside letters (disheartened) of OrganisatioN to form the trade name of a warning hooter.

 2d  They almost won a type of bean drink! (7-2)
Combine a type of bean (I know there are hundreds of types of bean but the one we want is RUNNER) with a word meaning to drink (used mainly in Northern England) to make a term meaning those who finish a contest close to the winner but do not actually win.

3d  Say no, supporting heavyweight cover (7)
“Say no” means that we want a syllable that sounds like (i.e. as is said) no. In this case it’s “NEAU”. This supports (comes under in a down clue) TON (heavyweight) to form TONNEAU (a word I’d never heard of) meaning the cover that goes over an open car or secures the goods on the back of a truck.

5d  Rig wins and fund new sport (11)
The setter knows that you’ll soon spot that this an anagram, but he/she wants you to fall into the trap of thinking that the trigger word is “rig”. Actually the trigger word is “new” and the anagram is of rig, wins, fund to produce the name of a sport where you ride on a sailboard.

 6d  Information on cooking rice of a particular type (7)
Information is GEN and this followed by more rice but it’s an anagram of rice this time (signalled by cooking) to form a word meaning pertaining to a group or class of things.

 7d  Stop a good book on a good man (5)
A good book is the Authorised Version (AV) of the bible on (that down construct again) A and good man (a good man in cryptic crosswords is nearly always ST – a saint). These come together to form a command at sea to stop or cease.

 8d  Regard daughter to a lower extent, having no offspring (8 )
Regard is SEE, daughter is D and to a lower extent (lower is used both in the sense of decreased and under in a down clue) is LESS. Put together they make a word often used of grapes without pips (having no offspring).

12d  Trust son and go out and count sheep (4,3,4)
An anagram (go out) of “trust son and” to form a phrase meaning to move around restlessly in bed if you cannot sleep, possibly whilst counting sheep.

 15d  Quondam Welsh rite re-enacted (9)
An anagram (re-enacted) of Welsh rite to form ERSTWHILE meaning former or one-time, as does the latin term quondam.

 16d  Quietly walks casually into a scene of utter chaos (8 )
Quietly is SH (i.e. keep it down!) followed by AMBLES (walks casually) to form a word which people often use (utter) to describe a chaotic situation.

 18d  Measure of ale and a case of rum – it’s needed for sailing (7)
This measure of ale is three feet long! – add A and the outside letters (case) of RuM to form a word meaning part of a sailing ship’s rigging. Traditionally you were allowed to have a drink once the sun was over this!

 19d  I get angry about working during this period (4,3)
I RAGE (I get angry) including (about) ON (working, i.e. switched on) to form the term used for the prehistoric period which followed the Bronze Age.

 20d  What might set bra off? (6)
This is what’s known as an &lit clue. In cryptic crosswords, &lit is a term applied to clues where both the definition and the cryptic parts are the whole clue itself, and not separate parts of the clue. These clues are usually signalled by a ? or a ! at the end. The answer is an anagram (off) of set bra, and the answer is a part of the body which a bra is designed to support (I can’t supply a visual clue for this one I’m afraid!),

 22d  Team unhappy about question (5)
Unhappy is SAD and this contains (about) QU (abbreviation of question) to form a term used for all the players (team) at a sports club and not just those on the pitch at any point in time.

If you agree, disagree. like or dislike any of the above please leave a comment. The more comments we get the better we like it.