DT 26074

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26074

A full analysis by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

On second reading I found little to change my earlier opinion. This is a reasonable puzzle which has one or two debatable clues, As Saturday puzzles go it is better than most. Enough said.

Tilsit and I have swapped for this week, and his review of last Sunday’s puzzle will be posted tomorrow.

Across

3a Protection to put first (6)
SAFETY – as in Safety First

6a Firm pay without a duplicate (4)
COPY – CO (company / firm) and P(A)Y

8a Force coming from member that is left outside (5)
IMPEL – a force is derived from MP (Member of Parliament) inside IE (id est / that is) and L(eft)

9a Earl had question with tranquilliser I included for balance (11)
EQUILIBRIUM – a word meaning balance that is constructed from E(arl) QU(estion) and LIBRIUM (tranquilliser) around I

10a Drunk on about one and three-quarter pints (5)
LITRE – LIT is a little-used word meaning drunk (more usually lit up) then RE (on) combine to give a quantity of about one and three-quarter pints

11a It does not keep one fully employed (4,4,3)
PART TIME JOB – a slightly cryptic definition which should really have been given as (4-4,3)

16a Fellow feller (6)
AXEMAN – one of those love-it or hate-it clues (I’m in the latter camp), this attempt at an all-in-one clue is suggesting that this person who cuts down, for example, trees could AXE (fell) a MAN (fellow)

17a Reflecting no light this water between Europe and Asia (5,3)
BLACK SEA – another slightly cryptic definition that suggests that this sea reflects no light

19a One might say this in an appreciative way (5,3)
THANK YOU – a surfeit of slightly cryptic definitions today!

20a Hinder unknown number during difficult times (6)
STYMIE – put Y (unknown number) inside an anagram (difficult) of TIMES to get a word meaning to hinder

22a Yellow book held in central bank (4,7)
GOLD RESERVE – yellow = GOLD, well maybe; add RESERVE (book) and you get something that used to be held in our central bank until an allegedly prudent Chancellor of the Exchequer decided to sell it all at rock-bottom prices

25a Southern sailors’ pay (5)
SCREW – S(outhern) and CREW ( sailors) combine to give a slang word for pay, as in “earning a good screw”

27a I blame Mario correcting noteworthy points (11)
MEMORABILIA – an anagram (correcting) of I BLAME MARIO leads to these noteworthy points

28a Frenchman repeatedly using the old expression of mild disagreement (2,3)
MY EYE – M(onsieur) (the French equivalent of Mr) is followed by YE and YE (an old word for “the”, repeated) to get an expression of mild disagreement

29a Penny after fighting found buckle (4)
WARP – put P(enny) after WAR (fighting) and you get a word meaning to buckle

30a Remove agent, not Georgia (6)
DELETE – a word meaning to remove is created by taking DELE(GA)TE (agent) and removing GA (the code for the US State of Georgia)

Down

1d Laid up face down (4)
DIAL – quite clever – because this is a down clue, up tells you to reverse LAID to get a synonym for face when reading down

2d Notice what has to be kicked in competition (4,3,4)
SPOT THE BALL – combine SPOT (notice) and THE BALL (what has to be kicked) to get a competition that pretended to be a test of skill but was actually just one of luck

3d One out on his feet (11)
SLEEPWALKER – cryptic definition time again

4d A few snowflakes — blast! (6)
FLURRY – a double definition, the second one  being a sudden blast or gust

5d Narrate story given by blabbermouth (8)
TELL TALE – a charade of TELL (narrate) and TALE (story) gives a blabbermouth

6d Swear there’s nothing missing from sequence of treatment (5)
CURSE – take C(O)URSE and remove (missing) the O (nothing) to get a sequence of treatment

7d Underworld character in outer space (5)
PLUTO – a double definition – an underworld character and the dwarf planet named after him

12d Greek character’s hat scheme becoming a lot similar (4,3,4)
MUCH THE SAME – combine MU (Greek character) and an anagram (becoming) of HAT SCHEME gives a phrase meaning a lot similar

13d Not having been in a union for long (4,7)
JUST MARRIED – a cryptic definition

14d Flame red jacket? (6)
BLAZER – a part-cryptic definition – the question mark indicates that the first part of this double definition is dubious; the genuine definition is a light jacket, often in the colours or with the badge of a school

15d Unkempt garment that has been discarded has label on (6)
RAGTAG – a word meaning unkempt is a charade of RAG (a garment that has been discarded) and TAG (a label)

18d Potential spoils be distributed (8)
POSSIBLE – a word meaning having potential is an anagram (distributed) of SPOILS BE

21d Heard cook grating (6)
GRILLE – this type of grating sounds like (heard) to grill (cook under a grill)

23d Last order before time’s up (5)
OMEGA – the last letter of the Greek alphabet , which can also mean a conclusion, is a charade of OM (Order of Merit) and AGE (time) reversed (up, because this is a down clue)

24d Duke not well coming up for flag (5)
DROOP – take D(uke) and follow it with POOR (not well) reversed (up again!) to get a word meaning to flag

26d Bird coming from city in Brittany, we hear (4)
WREN – this small British bird sounds like (we hear) RENNES (a city in Brittany)