Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25936 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A very straightforward puzzle with only a couple of points to delay experienced solvers. One new answer for me, and only a few puzzling clues. Grid grumbles: none! A bit of a geography exam, but I doubt these entries caused serious trouble.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | She might learn from her sister (7,5) |
| STUDENT NURSE – pretty good CD with puns on learn and sister. | |
| 9 | Drink firm has the French backing (4) |
| COLA – CO.=firm,LA=the French. Straightforward charade once you realise that “backing” means “going behind” rather than “being reversed”. | |
| 10 | Strength siphon has as pipe-cleaner (5-4) |
| FORCE PUMP – a rather tame charade of Strength=FORCE,siphon=PUMP. Both seem to mean exactly the same in the answer – a pump for clearing blockages in pipes. This was the new answer for me, but not much of a challenge. | |
| 12 | Hesitantly check first canopy (6) |
| TESTER – a canopy above a four-poster bed. A poor clue here, where “hesitantly” is supposed to represent “ER”. I have no objection to “hesitation” for ER or UM, but “hesitantly” just doesn’t cut the mustard. If the setter doesn’t know better, the editor should. The preceding {TEST=check} is fine. | |
| 13 | More like hot food cooler (8 ) |
| CHILLIER – which is supposed to be a gag based on “chilly” sounding food being hot. This could do with a question mark to indicate that “more like hot food” is pretty cheesy – something like “Cooler, or more like hot food?” | |
| 15 | On it quite a revolutionary way of riding (10) |
| EQUITATION=riding – anag. of “On it quite a” – a fancy term like natation for swimming, and possibly guessable from a resemblance to “equestrian” – both come from equus=horse. | |
| 16 | Believe wide embankment encompasses it (4) |
| DEEM – hidden word | |
| 18 | Oriental church dignitary still (4) |
| EVEN = E=East=oriental,VEN.=Venerable – title given to Archdeacons. The Dean used in a couple of recent Saturday puzzles must be on holiday! | |
| 20 | Half of them fellows get story right about cheese (10) |
| EMMENTALER – (th)EM,MEN,TALE,R – one of the cheeses in a properly done fondue. Clue rather spoiled by the word “about”, which is padding for the sake of the surface and does nothing in the cryptic reading. | |
| 23 | Fire group of people in which competitors are at a handicap (4-4) |
| SACK RACE – the handicap being the obvious difficulty of making progress in this event. SACK=fire,RACE=”group of people”. The cryptic reading works but the surface reading is weak. | |
| 24 | Shake injured leg after run (6) |
| JOGGLE = shake – JOG = run,GLE = injured (i.e. jumbled) “leg”. | |
| 26 | Pound Dawn waved throughout (2-3-4) |
| UP AND DOWN = “in various places throughout” – COED. Anag. of “Pound Dawn”. Another weakish surface – who’s Dawn and why should she be waving this pound? – Q’s that make the anag. fodder rather obvious. | |
| 27 | Welshman, one pro (4) |
| IFOR – I=One,FOR=pro – it’s that man again! We had him in a Saturday puzzle a couple of months ago. Is there something wrong with ICON, IDOL and IRON as possible answers? | |
| 28 | It doesn’t come as much of a blow (6,6) |
| GENTLE BREEZE – gentle CD! – a curious choice for this position in the grid as it forces final G,B and Z in other answers. The even-numbered letters in GENTLE BREEZE would be much friendlier to the setter! | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Disguise welcome during rescheduled tryst (8 ) |
| TRAVESTY – AVE=hail (Lat.)=welcome, in anag. of TRYST. “disguise” as a def. appears only in Chambers, not COED or Collins. | |
| 3 | Stupid spending day at back of ship (4) |
| DAFT – D=day,AFT=at back of ship. “spending” is more surface padding. | |
| 4 | Another rook, leaving egg behind, fluttered over the country (5,5) |
| NORTH KOREA – anag. of “Another rook” after removing O=egg. | |
| 5 | Old record-player (6) |
| NEEDLE – cryptic def., which now leads to STEREO too, if all your CDs are in the attic and replaced by an iPod with docking station. | |
| 6 | Way out in daily round (7) |
| ROUTINE – ROUTE outside IN. Another poor clue – “A out B” does not mean “A outside B” except in cryptic crosswords. | |
| 7 | Where to sell things out of the country (6,6) |
| EXPORT MARKET – another gentle CD | |
| 8 | Nosh cooked in unfinished hut on island (6) |
| HONSHU – anag. of NOSH in HU(t). Honshu is the largest island of Japan. “island” is a vague def but that seems OK in the context of an easy puzzle. | |
| 11 | City named after a rock? (2,10) |
| ST PETERSBURG – CD referring to the punny Bible quote “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church”, the Greek petros, from which the name Peter comes, being “rock”. | |
| 14 | I combat mob rioting – with this? (6,4) |
| ATOMIC BOMB – anag. of “I combat mob”, with a surface meaning suggesting that CS gas or rubber bullets might not be so bad after all. | |
| 17 | Violent storm, it comes before last character goes to tourist centre (2,6) |
| ST MORITZ – anag of “storm it”,Z=”last character”. Another weak def that’s not a problem in context – (2,6) is a considerable help for a start. | |
| 19 | He can remove trendy shackle (7) |
| ENCHAIN = to shackle. Anag. of “He can”,IN=trendy. “Remove” seems a poor anagram indicator | |
| 21 | Los Angeles hoodlum in lake (6) |
| LAGOON – L.A.+GOON=hoodlum | |
| 22 | Said path of weddings (6) |
| BRIDAL = “bridle”. A bit naff – “bridle” is a type of path, but to mean the path itself, needs “way” adding. | |
| 25 | Some significant earnings expected from stake (4) |
| ANTE=(poker) stake – hidden word. Maybe a better clue without “expected”. | |