DT 26044 – Hints – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 26044 – Hints

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26044 – Hints

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Class

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

Yet another relatively easy Saturday prize puzzle, but this one is very different.  I spotted a theme within the first few clues, but imagine my surprise when I realised the extent of that theme.  Suffice it to say that four of the answers are to be found in the first sentence of the About page of this blog!  How can I complain about the names and places in this puzzle when most of them relate to myself!

Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle by Tilsit will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 1st October.

Across

1a Man welcome after daybreak (4)
How can I complain about having this man’s name in today’s puzzle? – a Latin welcome is preceded by the initial letter of Day

3a Rock’s returned, being oversized (3)
This well-known rock at the entrance to the Mediterranean is reversed to get a word meaning oversized (who me?)

8a In the tube a constant light (6)
This light is usually found on the top of a hill  – could it be the Worcester one in the Malvern Hills?

25a Comedian Tommy without daughter in the Potteries (6)
“It’s That Man Again” – drop the D(aughter) fm his surname to get a town in the Potteries (or the first part of the name of a village in Worcestershire)

27a Young lover losing independent bird (4)
Take an archaic name for a young lover and drop the I(ndependent) and you get a Royal bird (which is also the second part of the name of a certain village in Worcestershire)

Down

3d Benjamin’s taking time up in old Indian city (7)
This old Indian city comes from a short form of Benjamin’s, with a period of time which is reversed and placed inside.

16d Relinquishing tax charge (7)
This one is not easy unless you already know it – relinquishing is the definition and it’s a charade of a tax and an electrically-charged particle

19d An offer 31 days afterwards for African port (7)
This charade of A then an offer is followed by January to get the former official capital of Côte d’Ivoire

The Saturday Crossword class will open at 10.00 am (after Sounds of the Sixties on BBC Radio 2).  Feel free to leave comments or ask questions before that time.

55 comments on “DT 26044 – Hints”

  2. Well, I’ve heard of people being immortalised in verse but to be the theme of a nationwide crossword is a real honour! The setter appears to be saying that our esteemed leader is an 2d, 5a as well as a 21a., and also notes that until recently he had an old 24a. I don’t think that 9a is related to the theme!

  4. What a pleasant start to the weekend. The references to the blog passed me by – but congratulations. I learned a new word for tax today. I liked 18a and 2d.

  5. Thought I would drop by after doing the crossword, and see if any one else had noticed some strange goings on. Obviously you have :-)

  6. Wow! What an accolade BD .. both top and bottom places for you.
    Trust you will still have sufficient 18 across in future! :smile:
    Enjoyable today, with 12d probably my favourite.

    1. Good Morning Mary

      I had already started my reply, and you won’t be the only one stuck on these two. Well done for getting them unaided.

      16 down – Relinquishing tax charge (7)

      This one is not easy unless you already know it – relinquishing is the definition and it’s a charade of a tax and an electrically-charged particle

      23 across – Four arranging travel outside using three regulators (8)

      Here an anagram of the Roman numerals for four with TRAVEL gives a type of animal or seed with three of the items mentioned in the answer

  14. I’ve thrown in the towel. 18a, 19d and 24a have beaten me. I’m off down the pub to raise a glass to our illustrious leader. Cheers BD

    1. Edi

      Here we go:

      18 across – Space, it stops one hitting the roof (8)
      The defintion is space and the rest is a cryptic definition – it’s what someone my height desperately needs to avoid hitting the roof of a car!

      19 down – An offer 31 days afterwards for African port (7)
      This charade of A then an offer is followed by January to get the former official capital of Côte d’Ivoire

      24 across – Flier cut in in old car (6)
      The flier is a bird; put a cut, as in to cut a branch off a tree, inside and you have a car a bit older than my old Capri

  15. How come I find some very easy, like today;s – 25 mins, and yesterday did nothing at all! Is it the crossword setter or my brain out of sync. BTW BD upgraded internet explorer from the ancient one I had. No problem now except Summer’s here – better things to do now – watch my leader board drop ….. dismally….. and I’m a very competitive person.

  16. Great fun and a well-deserved accolade, Dave! Assume 12d refers to you and Mrs BD.
    Do we know who set this, as they obviously hold you and the blog in high esteem? Glad I’m sharing the fun, as opposed to those who do the crossword but don’t know this site exists.

    1. Tilly

      Today’s setter also sets Toughies as Cephas. I wrote to thank him in the early hours of this morning and he didn’t recognise my real name!

  17. Just found out my brain doesn’t function when I’m lacking sleep. For some reason I can’t get 3d. I also don’t seem to be on the same wavelength as the setter as I found this one difficult today, same with yesterday. Well heres hoping tomorrow is better for me.

    1. Andy

      3d Benjamin’s taking time up in old Indian city (7)

      This old Indian city comes from a short form of Benjamin’s, with a period of time which is reversed and placed inside. I’ll add this to the main post soon.

  18. OMG isn’t it amazing how obvious the answer is when someone heps you with a couple of pointers. Thanks Dave, much appreciated.

  19. Congratulations on your well deserved recognition BD, perhaps it will be the turn of the other Bloggers in due time, sadly I don’t think Libellule will be able to supply any fodder for the compiler!. Alas I was not aware of ITMA 25a, and I realise I have missed out on one fab programme in my past. Best clue for me was 12d, once again well done Dave.

  20. Dave,
    I realised that, but I also don’t think I want it to be my turn in due tiime – regardless, but maybe we could have a french cryptic crossword for one saturday only?

        1. I realised that but if you do a search for libellule on wikipedia one of the first results comes out with etranges libellule – a game developer out of Lyons.

          1. Lea,
            Libellule was chosen for one simple reason, I live not far from a large protected area north of Poitiers, which is home to a large number of dragonflies. Nothing more nothing less. There is nothing special about the moniker I use. Honest.

            1. Libellule
              Well that to me is good enough reason – sounds like a wonderful place to live. Thanks for your sponse

  21. Just got home from a craft show.
    What an excellent Saturday puzzle – didnt’ need help with hints but really enjoyed the theme.

    Well done Dave – you deserve all the credit given by the bloggers and the setters.

    Besides the obvious theme ones I liked 21a.

  22. New to this, took me ages to get one across thought it was dawn. Then the penny dropped after 3 hours well done Dave

    1. 1 across and 15 across give a very good friend of mine (also known as Little ****) and the wordplay for 20 across involves the island where my favourite whisky is distilled.

      1. Now that I can equate with – I hadn’t thought of it till you mentioned it. Was so pleased to get the clues today.

    1. Welcome to the blog Quilter

      11 across – Spoke about Darius (6)
      This spoke (going from the centre to the circumference) is an anagram (about) of DARIUS

      6 down One in island race with rodents or birds (7)
      Put I (one) inside the well-known motorcycle race on the Isle of Man, add some small rodents and you have the plural form of a type of bird

  26. For 11a you might need to think why “about” is there. The other clue is quite tough but think of somewhere between Liverpool and Belfast for the “race” and then add some rodents.

  27. What’s great about this blog is how many new people there are tackling the crossword as a result. I’ve been doing it for almost 17 years and it remains as enjoyable as ever. Well done Big Dave!!

    1. It has surprised me as well. When I started I thought I would have a small but devoted band of followers and what has happened has exceeded my expectations by a long way.

      These Saturday sessions were originally intended to keep the interest going across the weekend but have become the most popular of the week with a hit count regularly exceeding 1,500 per post.

    1. 5a Professional knocker? (6)
      This is a cryptic defintion of someone who reviews films, plays etc. often unfavourably (hence the knocker bit)

      5d Cambridge runner places most of block on material (7)
      A charade of the river that runs through Cambridge and a building block without its final letter, giving a type of material

    2. My enjoyment of this puzzle was for obvious reasons. Any other week I would be complaining about a construct that says A B on C really means A on B = C

    1. … and credit to the Saturday setter for doing this despite getting a fair amount of, er, feedback about his puzzles!

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