DT 25940

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25940

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Categorising a puzzle as difficult or easy is problematic, in that one which is easy for a veteran solver who knows all the conventions and has probably seen variations on many of the clues before, can be very difficult for a novice. So the “BD Difficulty Rating” at the top of all our reviews is not meant to be an absolute judgement but is a personal opinion of how this puzzle compares with an average one in this category.

I found this puzzle to be slightly easier than the normal Telegraph Cryptic (and therefore an ideal one for someone starting out), but with many well-constructed and entertaining clues – but that’s just one opinion – leave us yours via a comment!

Across Clues

1a  Items logged by head of Swiss guards (8 )
{SENTRIES} – Items logged are ENTRIES – precede this (by) with the first letter, i.e. head, of Swiss to produce a word meaning guards.

5a  Sort of kingdom where the soul has left (6)
{ANIMAL} – take ANIMA (the innermost part of the personality, soul) and add (has) L(eft) to get a sort of kingdom. A nice surface reading, given the generally accepted religious belief that creatures do not have “souls”.

9a  Doubly insured, but got better! (9)
{RECOVERED} – double definition, of which the first is cryptic – took out insurance COVER then did so again, and got better after an illness.

11a  Philosophy that’s central to budget hospitals (5)
{ETHOS} – the distinctive character (philosophy) of an individual or group is hidden (central) in budgET HOSpitals.

12a  The advisability of holding one’s party in wardroom that’s empty (6)
{WISDOM} – one’s party is I’S DO – put this inside (holding) the outer letters of WardrooM (that’s empty) to get a word meaning advisability or sensible thinking.

13a  Service’s push following broadcast (3,5)
{AIR FORCE} – the name of one of the three main military services is formed by putting FORCE (push) after (following) AIR (broadcast).

15a  A love’s wildest fancy stories from the past (3,5,5)
{OLD WIVES TALES} – an anagram (fancy) of “a love’s wildest” produces a term for traditional beliefs which have been passed down through the generations and are commonly believed but which often have no scientific validity.

18a  Impasse reached after running through detail (8-5)
{STICKING-POINT} – a term for an impasse (preventing an agreement being reached, for example) is formed from STICKING (running through, stabbing) and POINT (detail).

22a  Displayed route maps without old contraflow (8 )
{UPSTREAM} – take the O (without old) out of RoUTE MAPS and make an anagram (displayed) of what remains to form a word meaning contraflow (in a river, for example).

23a  Reversing places with soldiers in a daze (6)
{STUPOR} – reverse PUTS (places) and add (with) OR (other ranks, soldiers) to get a synonym for daze.

26a  A foreign capital and its smell? (5)
{AROMA} – put together A and what the Italians call their capital city to produce another word for smell.

27a  Bridge match? (9)
{DUPLICATE} – double definition – a type of bridge game where the players at each table have the same pre-set hands of cards, and to make an exact copy (match).

28a  Delinquent young lady chasing soldiers (6)
{REMISS} – young lady is MISS and she comes after (chasing) RE (Royal Engineers, soldiers) to get a word meaning negligent or delinquent. A delightful and amusing surface reading.

29a  Hold back and relax before shower (8 )
{RESTRAIN} – relax is REST – add RAIN (shower) to obtain a verb meaning hold back.

Down Clues

1d  Prison warder best get such a bottle (8 )
{SCREWTOP} – a charade of SCREW (slang word for a prison warder) and TOP (best) produces a type of bottle.

2d  Arrests prison warders at last (5)
{NICKS} – (the prison warders quickly return for another visit!). This is a double definition (although it is basically the same word used as a verb and a noun) – a slang word for takes into custody (arrests), and an informal word for prison followed by the last letter (at last) of warderS.

3d  A square meal in Italy? (7)
{RAVIOLI} – a delightful cryptic description of an Italian dish of square-shaped pasta cases with a savoury filling.

4d  Land before one is accepted (4)
{EIRE} – insert I (one) into ERE (before) to get the Gaelic name of Ireland.

6d  Wanting to be born, died with bad flu (7)
{NEEDFUL} – a synonym for wanting (in the sense of lacking or being deficient) is constructed from NEE (born, of a female), D(ied) and an anagram (bad) of “flu”.

7d  A poor actor raised on Irish jigs by a teacher from India (9)
{MAHARISHI} – a poor actor is A HAM; reverse this (raised) and add an anagram (jigs) of “Irish” to get a Hindu spiritual leader.

8d  Pay attention to legal right crossing the road (6)
{LISTEN} – legal right is LIEN – insert ST(reet) (crossing the road) to get a synonym for pay attention.

10d  Meaning home guard started wandering (8 )
{DRIFTING} – put together a colloquial word for meaning (as in “Do you get my ______?”) followed by IN (home) and G (start letter of Guard) to get a word for moving aimlessly or wandering.

14d  Sailor given cards repeatedly (8 )
{DECKHAND} – string together two terms for playing cards – DECK (pack) and HAND (what you are dealt) to get a member of a ship’s crew.

16d  Particularly high wind? (4,5)
{DUST STORM} – this is a clever cryptic definition of a weather condition where very small pieces of matter (particles, hence the use of “particularly”) are blown around at high speed.

17d  Operator accepts source of tuna fish (8 )
{STURGEON} – Operator is someone who carries out operations in a hospital theatre – insert (accepts) T (source, i.e. first letter, of Tuna) to get the name of another fish.

19d  Attacks suffered by popular routes (7)
{INROADS} – put together IN (popular) and ROADS (routes) to form a word meaning raids or attacks.

20d  Flag waver requires a light touch in front of public violence (7)
{PATRIOT} – a word meaning someone who is devoted to his country (flag waver) is constructed by putting PAT (a light touch) in front of RIOT (public violence).

21d  Family help couple to chase gold (2,4)
{AU PAIR} – another excellent surface reading – couple is PAIR which comes after (chase) the chemical symbol for gold to form the term for a young foreign person who stays with a family and helps with housework and childcare in return for accommodation (family help).

24d  Mostly idle during public address from square (5)
{PLAZA} – insert most of LAZy (idle) into PA (public address) to get a, originally Spanish, term for a public square.

25d  Part of church where service initially is covered by primate (4)
{APSE} – primate is APE – insert (covered) the initial letter of Service to get a large semicircular recess in a church.

I particularly liked 28a, 3d and 21d, but my clue of the day is 16d. Agree or disagree? – leave us a comment!