DT 26027

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26027

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

Rufus usually gives us a fairly easy start to the week, but I’m sure I’m not the only one that found today’s puzzle to be a little more difficult. The usual excellent cryptic definitions from our Monday Maestro are to be found amongst today’s clues.

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Across

1a Stays away? (11)
{UNSUPPORTED} – a wonderful cryptic definition from the Maestro – the condition after the stays are taken away, as any lady might know!

9a For this pudding turn gas to zero (4)
{SAGO} – just follow the instructions – reverse (turn) GAS and add O (zero) to get this pudding

10a Weapon used to liquidate people (5,6)
{WATER PISTOL} – not quite what it appears to be, this children’s toy squirts liquid at people!

11a Lincoln died sleeping? Apparently (4)
{ABED} – a charade of ABE (Abraham Lincoln) and D(ied) gives a word meaning sleeping (or in bed at least, hence the “apparently”)

14a Shun ale that’s distributed free (7)
{UNLEASH} – an anagram (that’s distributed) of SHUN ALE gives a word meaning to free

16a Paints and embroiders (7)
{COLOURS} – a double definition, the second part being embroiders as in adds ornament or fictitious detail to a story

17a Like courses finished in college, we hear (5)
{EATEN} – having finished the courses at the dinner table, sounds like (we hear) Eton (college)

18a Yet it may be sweet (4)
{TART} – a cryptic definition of a dessert dish (sweet) that as an adjective means sharp or biting

19a Duck on the German river (4)
{ODER} – put together O (duck in cricket) and DER (the in German) for a German river – nice surface reading

20a It’s even reversible (5)
{LEVEL} – reversible indicates that this is a palindromic word meaning even

22a Turn one out, though it’s free of charge (7)
{NEUTRON} – an anagram (out) of TURN ONE gives a particle that has no charge

23a Epicure finally comes in to assess jam (5,2)
{SEIZE UP} – put the final letter of epicurE inside SIZE UP (assess) to get a phrasal verb meaning to jam

24a The last piece of music to be accepted by disco dancers? (4)
{CODA} – a passage forming the completion of a piece, rounding it off to a satisfactory conclusion (last piece of music) is hidden inside (to be accepted by) disCO DAncers

28a Well off? (5,6)
{SOUND ASLEEP} – a cryptic definition of being in the Land of Nod

29a Eight in a row (4)
{OARS} – Oxford and Cambridge each have eight of these in order to row in the Boat Race – maybe this one should have a question mark at the end as well?

30a Exact monies may be needed for these (6,5)
{INCOME TAXES} – this anagram (may be) of EXACT MONIES is almost a cryptic definition in its own right! – you pay these on your earnings

Down

2d Ham was presumably served at his table (4)
{NOAH} – Ham was one of his sons – once again note how the required capitalisation of Ham as a name is concealed by being the first word in the clue

3d Spent American notes (4)
{USED} – a word meaning spent that is a charade of US (American) and E D (notes)

4d One who grows up to be brave (7)
{PAPOOSE} – a cryptic definition of a child that will grow up to become an Indian brave

5d Trick about to take us in (4)
{RUSE} – a synonym for a trick is created by taking RE (about) and putting US inside

6d Note proposal of love, for example (7)
{EMOTION} – combine E (note) and MOTION (proposal) to get a sensation of which love is an example

7d Charge for port nurse used to get drunk (7,4)
{HARBOUR DUES} – a charge for using a port is a combination of HARBOUR (nurse) and an anagram (to get drunk) of USED

8d Second print-out is lacking in character (11)
{NONDESCRIPT} – an anagram (out) of SECOND PRINT gives a word meaning lacking in character

12d Looking for short cut for riders to use (7,4)
{HUNTING CROP} – a charade of HUNTING (looking for) and CROP (short cut) gives something that horse riders use

13d Confined to one game — though good at others? (3-8)
{ALL-ROUNDERS} – a cryptic double definition of people who are good at many games, not just the one that is part of the answer

15d Not quite paradise, though sea-sick sailors might think so! (5)
{HAVEN} – not quite H(E)AVEN (paradise) gives this place that is a welcome sight for sea-sick sailors

16d Hands over the church keys (5)
{CEDES} – a synonym for hands over is a combination of CE (Church of England) and DES (D and E, musical keys) – notes and keys are becoming a bit of a theme today

20d Data-base? (3-4)
{LOW-DOWN} – a double definition in a single word! – with the hyphen the answer means data, without it means base or worthless

21d Unofficial news of an escape (7)
{LEAKAGE} – a double definition of unofficial news and an escape reads well as a cryptic definition as well

25d Ruin a French party (4)
{UNDO} – a word meaning to ruin is a charade of UN (a in French) and DO (party)

26d Kind of leaf insect (4)
{FLEA} – an anagram (kind of ) of LEAF gives this jumping insect

27d He’s on about being present (4)
{HERE} – put HE on RE (about) for a word meaning being present