Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2478 – Review
A full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Another hard but satisfying Sunday puzzle, although I do feel that when the first letter is unchecked in 20 of the answers, out of a total of 28, it does make for a difficult puzzle.
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Across
7a A little worried, enters to accept the bribe (9)
SWEETENER – read this as – a little / worried, enters to accept / the bribe; and you get WEE (a Scottish word for little) inside (to accept) an anagram (worried) of ENTERS to give this bribe
8a Shut up and do likewise. That’s the form (5)
SHAPE – a charade of SH (shut up) and APE (do likewise) give this form
10a Contend it holds fifty when full (8)
COMPLETE – COMPETE (contend around (it holds) L (fifty in Roman numerals) gives a word meaning full
11a The new figure entered, enter wrongly (6)
RECENT – ignore the surface reading – the new / figure entered / enter wrongly – a word meaning new comes from C (a figure / 100 in Roman numerals in this case) inside (entered) an anagram (wrongly) of ENTER
12a I get out of it and go off for a jog (4)
TROT – yet again, ignore the surface reading – (I)T (I get out of IT) and ROT (go off) give another word for a jog
13a Getting the idea it’s greedy (8)
GRASPING – a double definition
15a Fit out our own for trials and tribulations (7)
RIGOURS – a charade of RIG (fit out) and OURS (our own) for these trials and tribulations
17a Censor ‘Make a Killing’ (5,2)
CLEAN UP – again a double definition
20a The pill’s ground for one to swallow. It smells pungent (8)
ALLSPICE – an anagram (ground) of PILL’S inside (for … to swallow) ACE (one) gives another name for pimento (or Jamaica pepper), supposed to combine the flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
22a Getting someone to do your work is a bad habit (4)
VICE – one half of this double definition is a cryptic reference to posts like vice-chairman and vice-president
25a Cross one by one this time (6)
TWELVE – a description of XII – I loved this elegant play on the Roman numerals at twelve o’clock
26a Includes giving half of them supports (8)
EMBRACES – this word meaning includes comes from (TH)EM (half of thEM) and BRACES (supports)
27a By mid-June, tie the knot. Marry (5)
UNITE – UN (mid-JUNe) and an anagram (the knot) of TIE give a word meaning to marry –the anagram indicator just about works because of the context
28a He must leave here and now to deputise for (9)
REPRESENT – (HE)RE (he must leave here) and PRESENT (now) combine to give a synonym of to deputise for
Down
1d Chucking the snow ball in, collapse (5)
SWOON – chucking here signals an anagram of SNOW around O (ball) to give a fainting fit (collapse) of the kind that used to happen when the Beatles played live!
2d Will it buck you up in a shake? (6)
PEPPER – a double definition that only just works
3d Watch someone performing an encore (8)
REPEATER – another double definition – on the one hand a repeater watch and on the other someone repeating part of their performance
4d Never gets upset, for instance, by reverses. Is sweet (7)
REVENGE – an anagram (gets upset) of NEVER then EG (for instance) reversed leads us to the saying that “revenge is sweet” – perhaps an allusion to the proverb “revenge is a dish that is best served cold” would have made it too obvious
5d Pick out in each group the leguminous plant (8)
CHICKPEA – a pair of anagrams of PICK (out) inside EACH (group) gives this leguminous plant
6d Speaking out and admitting (7,2)
OPENING UP – a straightforward double definition
9d A time of recession in the region (4)
AREA – A ERA (a time) reversed (of recession) gives a region
14d Making waves on finding the account unpaid (9)
BILLOWING – such a simple charade of BILL (account) and OWING (unpaid) but it works well and gives a word meaning making waves
16d Old hat only brought in to be re-blocked (8)
OBSOLETE – this word meaning outdated, or old hat, comes from putting SOLE (only) inside an anagram (to be re-blocked) of TO BE
18d Recognisable by its passionate singing? (8)
LOVEBIRD – a cryptic definition alluding to this bird and to a romantically inclined person
19d It’s hard. The number is disconnected (7)
SEVERED – it seems strange that a word meaning hard should have such a different meaning by simply adding D (500), our third Roman numeral of the day!
21d A newspaperman, I back the scheme (4)
IDEA – A ED (editor / newspaperman) and I reversed (back) give this scheme
23d One runabout. It’s an old vehicle (6)
CHAISE – CHASE (run) around (about) I (one) gives an old light open carriage – you are, of course, intended to think that run = r
24d The way to make money (5)
MEANS – we end on a double definition – not so straightforward until you manage to work it out
These puzzles have a lot of padding to increase the surface reading, sometimes at the expense of accuracy. As a self-confessed pedant, I can’t make up my mind if this is good or bad – why not have your say?
Just for once I did the Sunday Tel puzzle, but it confirmed why it’s a puzzle I prefer to avoid. I don’t mind initial unchecked letters, but do mind “underchecking” (2 rather than 3 letters out of 5 for example), and that happens 12 times in this grid.
Three examples where the padding is unfair, I think:
7A “A wee”: wee meaning little is an adjective, so “a wee” cannot mean the right thing because articles (a or the) are attached to nouns. (It can be a noun as in the phrase “bide a wee”, but then it means a short time.)
11A: Same issue – recent is an adjective, not a noun. New is not a noun in the dictionary, though you just might remember the TV series and book “The Shock of the New”. If the alternative title “The Shock of Recent” made sense, then the clue would be OK.
1D: “Chucking the snow”. I don’t think it’s fair to expect solvers to realise that the cryptic meaning is actually “Chucking snow”.