Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2527
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
Sorry for lateness of this report – lost copy and had to resolve. The usual elegant but not too difficult Sunday outing, with some special bits to note.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Noted mountaineer, perhaps, disoriented after losing head (6) |
| SHERPA = Anag. of (p)ERHAPS – I think the idea is that the Sherpas as a race are noted for mountaineering skills, rather than any reference to the man who should be known as Tenzing Norgay – “Sherpa Tenzing” is the equivalent of “Solver Biddlecombe”. | |
| 4 | Disorder yet for a university that’s said to let another person go (5,3) |
| AFTER YOU = anag. of (yet for a), then U=university | |
| 10 | Luggage both Holmes and Watson had to handle (5) |
| CASES – effectively 2 defs, though a “which” or similar after “luggage” is left for you to work out. | |
| 11 | One serving American in fancy launch (9) |
| ORIGINATE – (I=one, G.I. = “serving American), in ORNATE=fancy. Very easy to see a different structure here, as “one serving American” needs breaking into the right pieces, and “fancy launch” has to be split too. | |
| 12 | King, one leader of crusades with considerable force (7) |
| RICHARD – R= rex = king,1,C from Crusades,HARD = “with considerable force” – an all-in-one | |
| 13 | Corruptly earning, as relative, in second spell (7) |
| GRANNIE = anag. of ‘earning’ and alternative to ‘granny’ | |
| 14 | Quit old scene, excited about wonderful holiday (5,2,7) |
| LEAVE OF ABSENCE – LEAVE=quit,O,FAB=wonderful,SENCE=anag. of scene | |
| 17 | Rate of inspiration given chance to pause (9,5) |
| BREATHING SPACE = “chance to pause”, and other def “rate of inspiration” = “breathing’s pace” – the old “move the word break by one space” trick | |
| 21 | Judge a river fish popular with anglers (7) |
| ARBITER – A,R=river,BITER = fish popular with anglers | |
| 23 | Bold and belligerent Duke (7) |
| FOWARD – FOR WAR = belligerent, D=duke | |
| 24 | Fictional work and its author – with bad grammar and spelling (9) |
| WHODUNNIT = the work, and Molesworthian conversion of “who did it?” | |
| 25 | Group of museums provided by monarch such as King Edward (5) |
| TATER = “such as King Edward” – TATE = group of Museums, R = rex/regina = monarch | |
| 26 | Son, I’m perturbed about frantic and unsettled lifestyle (8) |
| NOMADISM – MAD = frantic, in anag. of “Son, I’m” | |
| 27 | Girl’s fruit that’s selectively picked (6) |
| CHERRY – 2 defs, one referring to “cherry-picking” | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Without question, holding leaders of evil conspiracy in custody (8) |
| SECURELY = “in custody” – EC from first letters of words, in SURELY=”without question” | |
| 2 | Undemanding academic position that comfortably supports one (4,5) |
| EASY CHAIR – EASY=undemanding, CHAIR=academic position (or you can read the clue happily as two defs, the first a bit whimsical) | |
| 3 | Attain a certain maturity in section of text (7) |
| PASSAGE = PASS AGE = “attain a certain maturity” – I don’t know “attain” as a def. for pass, so I’m taking “pass age” as a two word phrase as in “he’s just passed the age of majority”. | |
| 5 | Perks from head of firm being free isn’t unusual (6,8) |
| FRINGE BENEFITS – F(irm), anag. of “being free isn’t” | |
| 6 | Kind of state making me upset and angry (7) |
| EMIRATE – EM = reversal of me, IRATE | |
| 7 | Long for restoration, finally, after period of revolution (5) |
| YEARN – YEAR = period of revolution (of the earth around the sun), N from restoratioN | |
| 8 | Rough, like number of players in football or rugby team? (6) |
| UNEVEN – as the 11 (football), 13 or 15 (rugby League/Union) teams are all odd=unieven numbers | |
| 9 | Stronghold destroyed with fire in epic story (4,2,3,5) |
| LORD OF THE RINGS – anag. of “stronghold, fire” – as far as I can tell, the only fire in the books is at the Cracks of Doom at the very end, so I don’t think there’s a reference to a particular stronghold. But I’m happy to be corrected by those who read the books more recently than I did. | |
| 15 | Type A, for example (9) |
| CHARACTER – triple def – “type”, “A for example”, and “type A, for example” – Type A being a personality type in psychology | |
| 16 | Lovingly making proposal to heartless lady (8) |
| TENDERLY – TENDER = proposal, L(ad)Y | |
| 18 | Something we hear about tango on radio is surprise (7) |
| ASTOUND = surprise (verb here, noun in the surface reading). T=tango (radio alphabet), in A SOUND = “something we hear” – for once “we hear” is not a homophone signal | |
| 19 | Insignificant injury is no handicap (7) |
| SCRATCH – 2 defs | |
| 20 | Euphemism about Test side, initially, in Australian city (6) |
| DARWIN – W.I. = West Indies = test side, in DARN = euphemism (for “damn”). | |
| 22 | Flourish report about learner (5) |
| BLOOM – L = learner, in BOOM = report = loud noise | |