DT 26133 – Hints – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 26133 – Hints

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26133 – Hints

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **

Those of you who were expecting a very easy puzzle today could well be disappointed. I have given half a dozen hints to get you started but there are a few tricky clues so I may add some extra help later.

The run of pangrams (see below) continues following a break last week.

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 will be published on Thursday, 14th January.


Across

1a    Clapped out in the next valley? (4,3,4)
This phrase meaning clapped out is cryptically defined as where you would have to go if you were in one valley to get to the next valley

17a    Look round street guide with individual in Rome area (5)
Take a short word meaning look and put it around the well-known street guide and one (individual) to get an area around Rome famous for its football club

30a    Even so you need to be present for whole of athletics meeting (2,3,6)
Where would you be if you took part in every competition in an athletics meeting? The answer is a phrase meaning “even so” or “no matter what happens” – there are two similar phrases that fit the description, but only one of these satisfies the wordplay

Down

2d    Rearranged live coverage (4)
Rearranged indicates that you need an anagram of LIVE to get a coverage for the face (of a bride, maybe)

6d    Host Leo coming from the country (7)
More like this African country coming from an anagram of HOST LEO!

27d    Greek character getting in the way of soot (4)
We finish with a nice easy one – put a Greek character inside an abbreviated way to get a word meaning soot – the way that you need is not a road, which reminds me of an old trick question: “How many roads are there in the City of London?” – think about it, the answer can be revealed between the curly brackets {none}

If you haven’t come across the term before, a pangram is a puzzle in which all 26 letters of the alphabet are present in the answers.

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

Please don’t put whole or partial answers in your comment, else they may be censored!

66 comments on “DT 26133 – Hints”

  1. I agree that some of the clue are trickier this week. It felt more like a weekday crossword than usual. Favourite clues were 18a, 20a, 8d, 12d and 21d.

  2. Although I have finished this puzzle fairly quickly, I didn’t particularly enjoy it. I doubt that the answer to 8D is a ‘drug’ – it’s a medicine. I bellieve that I have the correct answers for 10A and 30A but, in both cases, I would use a variation of the expression and how many times has 6D appeared in the last six months?

    1. Have to disagree with you on this – we really enjoyed this and found it relatively simple with some clever clues. Particularly liked 15a and 27d

  3. A nice Saturday morning jog through. Agreeable clues with one or two ribticklers 1a 7d
    22a Am I to assume that H means aspiration ?
    13d was a bit out of date
    17a was my favourite, enjoyed the construction of the answer, it must be an old favourite of you Contributors out there Dave ?

  4. 8d can be defined as “A drug that promotes the discharge of mucus etc …”

    I felt that either 29a or 2d could have had a different answer to add more variety.

    And to split hairs I would prefer argumentative to arguing in 28a

    Good to be back in crossword-land again. Couldn’t get out to collect the paper for the last couple of days, but thanks to a good friend and a helpful neighbour, I managed to get copies. I have now introduced my neighbour to the blog!

      1. The problem with the alternatives given is that they destroy the surface reading.

        The present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives – Chambers gives these examples – a crying baby, a moving vehicle.

        This is neither the first nor the last time that you will encounter this from a setter.

  5. Yes, a very agreeable start to an icy cold Saturday morning. I completed it with very little trouble, only getting myself into a tangle by getting the fourth word in10a similar but wrong.Thought the square in the middle was very clever, and all the clues well justified. Hard to say which was my favourite — perhaps 12d.
    Have a good weekend, everyone :-)

  6. Hiya. Could anyone give me a hint or a bit of help please for 9a and 8d? As I have a couple of ideas but a bit lost. I was racing through it nicely but my brain seems to have ground to a bit of a roaring halt at the mo.
    Thanks. Regards. Dodger

    1. Hi Roger – welcome.

      With 8 down you are looking for a type of medicine, one that I have been using all week. The actual definition of the word means “one that makes you cough up or spit”.

      It also does not end “-ING”!

      If all else fails try googling Benylin and see what you find.

      9 across is an expression that I have only heard if the third word is “the”, rather than the one-letter answer expected. I suppose the expression “Raising Cain”, comes close to it.

      Bit of a mixed bag today, with some good clues, but one or two that make you suck your teeth.

      Incidentally, after last week’s comments about the pangrams, it is worth pointing out that Araucaria has been setting his Alphabetical Jigsaws where the first letters of the answers form a pangram for the last fifty years. I have sent Big Dave a couple and he will no doubt supply them upon request.

      And in keeping with the rather sanctimonious response I received from the setter last week, not one of his grids has a double unch in it!

      Indeed a straw poll of 12 national newpaper setters this week resulted in the setter’s comments were the “lonely furrow ” being ploughed.

    2. Roger

      Tilsit wasn’t wearing his reading specs when he wrote about 9a – his comments refer to 10a!

      9a Following law, it can be bent but should not be broken (4)
      The abbreviation of F for following is not often used outside of the Toughies – after this you need a Latin word for law, and the result is, for example, the cable that you use to connect an appliance to the power supply.

  7. Here in Jersey with the airport closed there are no papers so we can’t even try it!! Any chance of putting it on the website in pdf format like you did on Thursday??

    2. Sue,
      If you go to the Daily Telegraph home page and click on games you will find a site called Cluedup where you can get a free 7 day trial of all the crosswords suduko and all kinds of stufff.

  8. Interesting. Yesterdays puzzle everyone seemed to be raving about and I thought it was awful. Today people think its tricky and I finished it before getting up. Fascinates me to see the way different peoples minds work. Favourite clue def 1a!

  9. Have completed this but some answers i don’t understand eg 9a, 11a, and a few more, although i completed it i didn’t particularly like it, though i can’t really say why, listen to me, a few months ago i would have been over the moon at finishing it, now i am getting picky :) I still am really, how are you doing Barrie and all other CCs ??

    2. Compare the puzzles to wine – yesterday’s was a fine claret, today’s came from the supermarket. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just that your taste becomes more discerning as time goes by.

    3. 11a Engineer’s company first had part of reactor (4)
      The Royal Engineers are preceded by CO(mpany) to get this part of a nuclear reactor.

        1. According to Wikipedia it is the region within a nuclear reactor where the nuclear fuel assemblies are located and the nuclear reaction consequently takes place – I’m surprised you didn’t know that !!

  10. First day out since Wednesday (my drive and side road were too icy) so picked up the paper and went and had coffee before I did my shopping. Nice enjoyable puzzle for sitting drinking coffee and soaking up the sunshine in a warm coffee shop. Not too taxing at all – my favouriteds were 1a 9a and 16a. (Imagine – one of them is a four letter word that I actually liked!!).

    Didn’t do yesterday’s – ran out of time – so can’t compare.

  11. I cannot get out from my home on the edge of Dartmoor, even walking the 2 miles to town is tricky
    and I have decided not to chance it.
    Any chance of repeating the favour you did for Sue in Jersey?
    Best wishes,
    Dennis.

  12. Hi! Really pleased with myself- did it all. But for 26d! I have ideas, but can’t make the logic fit. Help! Thanks.

    Charlie

    2. Charlie,
      Its a sounds like clue (say), and what you are looking for “sounds” like I’ll.

  14. If I have 10a across correct I don’t like it at all. In both 14a and 21d I don’t like the clue word “one” referring to an “a”. Didn’t 22a come up a few days ago? I got 17a immediately but I feel sorry for anyone not interested in football.

    I did like 20a, 7d, 15d

      2. i’ve heard of **** ** * fuss or **** over the **** but not **** ** * ****! likewise 30a isn’t the usual expression ‘by *** ******’ ?

  15. I spoke too soon, having placed my first comment last week and boasted I’d completed the crossword on my own, this week I’ve had lots of problems! I’m completely stuck on 12 and 13 down and would appreciate any further clues.

    1. 12d you are looking for “tending to excite” . combinations a 3 letter word meaning expert (tennis player of golfer) and a not very used word for case , as in grammatical.

      13d. Think a very very famous Xmas Carol.

    2. For 12d the answer is a word meaning “tending to excite” made up from two words expert and case. Expert is an abbreviation meaning not amateur and case is a case in the sense of speech. Many moons ago when I did Latin, we had to learn the various cases for nouns including nominative, ablative, genetive, dative and ablative. The one missing from this list is the part of speech that you require. Mr Bott would be amazed that I have remembered these though he did teach me a mnemonic for remembering them (naughty virgins always give dirty answers)!

      13d. The answer is the name of a “carol” involving riding on a sleigh!

    3. Elizabeth
      12d. Tending to excite expert on case (11)
      The definition is tending to excite – put an abbreviation for professional (expert) in front of a grammatical case.
      13d Carol’s ringers give succession of tinkling sounds first (6,5)
      It’s the name of a carol – put the sound that may be made by an ice-cream van, for example, in front of things that ring (on a bicycle for example).

  16. Thanks to all three of you for the help, well four including Mr Bott! The answers always seem so obvious when someone points them out to you. It all helps towards solving future crosswords.

  17. Got the right hand side straight off – and then stopped, could I have a hint for 4d and 12d, and I’ll see how things go from there

  20. Happy new year folks – back to snow for me today and the DT crossie after an absence of a week. An enjoyable challenge.

  21. Is it just me or is 16d a GK?
    I also thought that 14a was a very poor clue.
    Finally, has anybody else heard of 30a as a phrase?
    In any *****, shirley?!
    Just my tuppenceha’porthworth.

  22. I thought this was a good workout today from Cephas. A bit trickier than usual but a good solve.

    I sympathise with all those who are freezing in the UK. It is baking here in Canberra – it was 37 degrees celsius here today and many other parts of Australia were sweltering in 40-plus.

    1. can i come please freezing here and we are out of oil awaiting a delivery brrrrrrrrrrr backlog on deliveries of 2 weeks! u can only imagine :)

  24. Not bad at all, but I really don’t like 10a.
    Finished it yesterday, so quite chuffed, and never got 100% “stuck”, which often happens!
    15d had me for a while, but the checked letters led me to it, and quite groanworthy in the end.

  26. An entertaining puzzle!
    My favourite clue was 17a – not because of the football team but simply the area name – a long time expat might not even know the street guide firm’s name – I have some of them!
    Many of the 4-letter clues were good e.g. 2d, 5d, 25d & 26d. Also 18a, 24a but 29a was like its answer! English language please!
    Best dwns were 8d & 12d.

    Mary & Jane – for 9a you have to think in Latin also somewhat for 17a.

  27. Many thanks again Dave for the crossword. After solving printer problems finally got started on it yesterday and much to our surprise have finished it APART from 26d. We really don’t understand the answer for 9a and have never heard the expression for 10a but all in all found it more challenging than usual the usual Saturday one.

    1. Sue,
      Earlier in the blog, I gave this clue for 26d.
      Its a sounds like clue (say), and what you are looking for “sounds” like I’ll.
      Dave explained 9a earlier in the blog. You just have to look for it.
      Re 10a Chambers has this as a variant of a number of phrases that all start the same way but end differently, all meaning “to create a disturbance”.

    1. Terry

      10a Create disturbance that could cloud one’s view (4,2,1,4)
      This clue has caused more problems than any other in this puzzle. It was an expression that I didn’t previously know and only got there by googling a guess. I usually don’t provide the actual answers at weekends, but any hint I might give is no use if you don’t know the phrase – it’s “KICK UP A DUST”

  30. Found this puzzle in my garage where it was under the cat litter tray. While doing some weights I have been trying to solve it. Good workout for mind and body! Thanks for the discussion here as it’s helped me in a few places where I was stuck!
    mark

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