DT 26187

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26187

A full analysis by Tilsit

A Classy Act

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

Greetings from the Calder Valley and having been able to stay hospital-free for at least four days, I am pleased to be back blogging. I am still feeling a bit weak but I am starting to go out a little and get a little fresh air.

In the meantime I am also wrestling with a brand new PC, which has been a bit of a pain (Helpful Tip of The Day: Don’t Ever Buy Anything from PC World!) but is now coming together.

Back to Saturday’s Prize Puzzle. I really enjoyed it and was so pleased to see Cephas at the top of his game. Some good challenging clues and little in the way of “padding”, though I think the clue at 19 across could have been better worded, or the word used been avoided all together. Virtually everyone who posted on Saturday had had problems with it.

As usual, have your say about the puzzle after the review and don’t forget the star rating system as well.

Across

1a    Vehicle makes way for others (10)
SNOWPLOUGH – The last cue I managed to solve. A cryptic definition for a vehicle that clears a path for others.

6a    Element muezzin ceremoniously included (4)
ZINC – Hidden answer, “….muezzin ceremoniously,,,”

9a    Holder of land speed record (10)
TACHOGRAPH – Another cryptic definition. A device that records speed in vehicles is one of these.

10a    Not the customer to do a fair deal? (4)
UGLY – Another cryptic definition.

12a    Mark one’s financial record as a lie (12)
MISSTATEMENT – A word sum. M (mark) + I’S (one’s) + STATEMENT (financial record) = a word which means a distortion of the truth.

15a    Not starting imagine unravelling puzzle (6)
ENIGMA – An anagram (indicated by unravelling) of imagine, minus its first letter.

16a    Be arriving for fitting (8)
A word sum. BE + COMING = a word meaning appropriate, fitting.

18a    Islander, artist welcoming first character with husband (8)
TAHITIAN – The artist is the painter of redheads, TITIAN with A and H (husband) inside. This gives you the name of a South Sea Islander.

19a    A dingy sort of Polish port (6)
GDYNIA – A difficult one, and our setter could argue that Polish also means the Polish word for a port. However, I feel just to give the clue a little more fairness, it needs to be more qualified. It’s an anagram (indicated by SORT) of DINGY.

21a    Quito novice with a surprising use of doubtful words (12)
EQUIVOCATION – An anagram (indicated by surprising) of QUITO NOVICE A gives the term for a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth

24a    Ready to drop off? (4)
RIPE – A cryptic definition for when a fruit is ready to drop from a tree.

25a    Strong and healthy like one who is at sea (4-6)
ABLE-BODIED – A double definition clue where one part is cryptic. The basic level of seaman as in the Royal Navy is known as an Able-Bodied Seaman (hence sometimes AB is used in crosswords as an abbreviation for a sailor)

26a    Maiden took boat according to the book (4)
MARK – A word sum. M (maiden) + ARK (boat) = The second Gospel in the New Testament.

27a    Infuriate snake by weed back in river (10)
EXASPERATE – A slightly complicated clue. ASP (snake) + ERAT (TARE – “weed reversed”) inside EXE (river)

Down

1d    Place in bedsit established (4)
SITE – Hidden answer. “…bedsit established.”

2d    Where in Paris child gave shout of pain (4)
OUCH – In French OU is the word for “where”. Add to this CH for child and you get a word uttered when in pain.

3d    Entrepreneur’s drive to work? (6,6)
PROFIT MOTIVE – A cryptic definition. What is the work ethic and impetus for a businessman?.

4d    Attack leg with swift impetuous forward movement (6)
ONRUSH – Leg in this context is from the dreaded cricket! The Leg side is known as the ON side. Add to this a RUSH, a movement as used in American football, which is a fast forward movement.

5d    What a successful tourist will do? (2,6)
GO PLACES – A cryptic definition. Someone who is successful is said to do this, as is a tourist.

7d    Get in with diner chewing part of mixture (10)
INGREDIENT – An anagram (indicated by chewed) of GET IN and DINER gives part of a recipe.

8d    Secret member added weight to coded message (10)
CRYPTOGRAM – A sec ret member of a political party is known as a CRYPTO and add to this GRAM (weight) which leads to a word meaning a message sent in code.

11d    Not initial weight, somebody who is supreme (6-2-4)
SECOND-TO-NONE – A word sum. SECOND (Something that isn’t initial) + TON (weight) + ONE (somebody) = a supreme person.

13d    Instrument providing tea and rolls (10)
KETTLEDRUM – KETTLE (something that “provides tea” (hmm!) + DRUM (something that provides rolls = another word for the tympanum, found in an orchestra.

14d    In the event one who is getting into trouble? (4,6)
HIGH JUMPER – A cryptic definition for an athlete and for what someone who gets into trouble may have to face.

17d    In which potential strikers are contained (8)
MATCHBOX – a simple cryptic definition.

20d    Put weight on! (6)
STRESS – Weight in this clue means emphasis.

22d    Singer takes up most of the seat (4)
DIVA – The seat is a DIVA(N), minus its last letter to reveal a singer.

23d    Lied about being out of action (4)
IDLE – An anagram (indicated by about) of IDLE

See you soon!