Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26195
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I thought that today’s puzzle was less tricky than most Shamus puzzles (I assume that it’s by Shamus – apologies if I’ve got that wrong), but as we’ve said before a puzzle doesn’t have to be very difficult to be entertaining. It does have rather a lot of place names (three in England and one in South America) which I know that some people won’t like – let us know what you think of all the place names and of the puzzle generally with a comment!
The answer to each clue is concealed between the brackets under it – just drag your cursor through the space between the brackets if you want to reveal it.
Across Clues
1a Reach one working on land and take a tumble? (4,1,7)
{COME A CROPPER} – an informal phrase meaning to fall heavily (literally or metaphorically) is constructed from a verb meaning to reach or arrive followed by someone who plants and harvests the land.
8a Appropriate reduction in garment? (7)
{TROUSER} – a slang word meaning to appropriate or pocket is arrived at by removing (reduction) the final S from a garment for the lower body.
9a Odd copper in front of us touring port (7)
{CURIOUS} – put the chemical symbol for copper and US around (touring) the chief port of Brazil to make an adjective meaning odd or unusual.
11a Sword hurt girl (7)
{CUTLASS} – the definition is sword and it’s a simple charade.
12a It’s a man revitalised showing endurance (7)
{STAMINA} – an anagram (revitalised) of IT’S A MAN.
13a Foolish writer on reflection restricted by drink (5)
{INEPT} – an adjective meaning foolish is made by reversing (on reflection) a writing implement inside (restricted by) the informal term for Italian vermouth (drink).
14a Cite sinner sadly with no end of cant as hypocritical (9)
{INSINCERE} – an anagram (sadly) of CI(t)E SINNER (with the last letter of canT dropped) gives us an adjective meaning hypocritical or devious.
16a Gunners unfurled flag held by sailor in battle (9)
{TRAFALGAR} – put the abbreviation for Royal Artillery (gunners) followed by an anagram (unfurled) of FLAG all inside (held by) an old nickname for a sailor to get the famous sea battle of 1805.
19a Dog given lead in park by much of Bedfordshire town (5)
{PLUTO} – the name of Mickey Mouse’s dog (or one of them, if you count Goofy as being a dog) is made from the first letter (lead in) of Park followed by the name of a Bedfordshire town (famous mainly for its airport) without its final N (much of).
21a A vessel holding a lot of cereal and fruit (7)
{APRICOT} – put A and a cooking vessel around RIC(e) (a lot of cereal) to get a fruit.
23a London suburb containing university that’s well liked (7)
{POPULAR} – we want the name of a place in Tower Hamlets – put U(niversity) inside to get an adjective meaning well liked.
24a Second book in short sufficient as specimen (7)
{EXAMPLE} – start with the abbreviation for the second book of the Old Testament and add an adjective meaning sufficient or plentiful to get a specimen.
25a Part of serial is appearing after record and poem (7)
{EPISODE} – put IS after the abbreviation for an Extended Play record and finish with a synonym for poem to get one instalment of an ongoing serial. A better definition is given by the classic clue “piece of soap”.
26a Retrospective look by the man on board, we hear, to prevent contention (4,3,5)
{KEEP THE PEACE} – we want a phrase meaning to maintain civil order (prevent contention) – start with a quick look which has to be reversed (retrospective) and add THE and a homophone (we hear) of a chessman (man on board).
Down Clues
1d Time in Lancashire town largely providing laugh (7)
{CHORTLE} – the Lancashire town is just off the M6 and has a cake (similar to Eccles cake but less sweet) named after it. Drop the final Y from the name (largely) and insert T(ime) in it to get a noisy laugh.
2d Scene with amateur in film — characterising one in unsuitable role? (7)
{MISCAST} – put abbreviations for scene and amateur inside a word meaning film or haze to get a description of an actor in an unsuitable role (John Wayne in any non-Western part springs to mind). SC as an abbreviation for scene does not seem to be recognised by Chambers.
3d A clique protecting others is impressive (9)
{ARRESTING} – an adjective mean striking or impressive (something that stops you dead in your tracks) is made from A and a clique or group of people involved in a shared, sometimes dodgy, enterprise around (protecting) a word for others or those remaining.
4d Bill in residence for activity on course? (5)
{RACES} – put an abbreviation for bill or account inside an estate agent’s shorthand for residence (often paired with des(irable)) to get what you go to see at Ascot or Aintree.
5d Relate start of tale amid quiet time at home (7)
{PERTAIN} – a verb meaning to relate or apply is constructed by putting the first letter (start) of Tale as the middle letter (amid) inside a charade of P (piano, quiet), a long period of time and the usual way of defining “at home”.
6d English test I’ve found contrary to reason? (7)
{EMOTIVE} – put together E(nglish), an annual vehicle test and I’VE to establish (found) an adjective meaning coming from the heart rather than the head (contrary to reason).
7d Son traced kit worn as staple resource (5-2-5)
{STOCK-IN-TRADE} – an anagram (worn) of SON TRACED KIT.
10d Second girl on edge about a daring sportsman? (12)
{SKATEBOARDER} – someone who rides, and does tricks on, a narrow piece of wood mounted on small wheels (daring sportsman) is made by stringing together S(econd), a girl’s name and a synonym for edge with A inside (about a).
15d Spare chap working in rubbish site (9)
{SCRAPHEAP} – an anagram (working) of SPARE CHAP.
17d Amount of land about to be acquired by a prison (7)
{ACREAGE} – we want the area (amount) of a piece of land and to get it we put RE (about) inside (to be acquired by) an enclosed structure for containing a prisoner or an animal.
18d A look about policeman beginning to prohibit drink for youngsters (7)
{ALCOPOP} – this drink aimed at teenagers is made from A and LO (look) around an informal word for policeman and it finishes with the first letter (beginning to) of Prohibit.
19d Pepper, worthless stuff put on a drink served up (7)
{PAPRIKA} – a reddish-orange coloured pepper is made from a word for worthless trivia (as served up by most of the digital TV channels) followed by A and a drink made from dry white wine and crème de cassis which have to be reversed (served up).
20d Lone soul surprisingly left out and set free (7)
{UNLOOSE} – an anagram (surprisingly) of (L)ONE SOUL (with L(eft) out).
22d Some vote ethically showing effective force (5)
{TEETH} – hidden (some) in the clue is a word used figuratively to mean real power (effective force).
The clues I liked today included 10d, 17d and 22d, but my clue of the day is 16a. Let us know your thoughts via a comment!
16a and 10d were my favourites as well.
The place names held me up a bit but got there with the checking letters – with the exception of 1d they re all fairly well known (except perhaps to our far flung friends). I would agree that this is a tad more straightforward than some recent Tuesday’s but I still had to think a lot.
Thanks for the review and to our setter for today’s puzzle
I did not find this too testing, although 10d held me up for ages, and was the last to go in. Not quite what I was expecting for a ‘daring sportsman’.
Also read the first word of 9a as OLD, which didn’t help!!
Jezza
I did exactly the same on 9a – tried to get an answer starting with D or OCU.
Another nice puzzle from Shamus, for which many thanks to the setter. I agree with the comments about 10d and 16d, Thanks too for the notes to Gazza.
Held up for a while by mis-spelling (although it can be spelt that way!) alcopop as alkopop (being an anagram of look with just the single p for policeman.
Were it not for the cereal reference in 21a I would have mis-spelt apricot as aprikot to finish the crossword, albeit wrongly!! This was my last clue in and favourite.
I really liked this puzzle. In a lot of crosswords, there are clues that I can’t make sense of, despite getting the right answer. Today, though, I understood them all without looking to gazza for help. Just goes to show that the BD site is helping me to unravel the clues. Thank you, hintsters!
Great puzzle,thing of beauty,joy for ever etc. I can’t believe this is the normal Ruesday setter as am normally verging on insanity with his puzzles, say it aint so
Tuesday I mean
Nubian
There are usually two setters who alternate on Tuesdays. Today should be the turn of Shamus, so I’m assuming it’s his (but I may be wrong!).
I really liked this puzzle and thought that 21a, 26a and 10d were the best clues. Very smooth surface readings today. 19a was the last to go in as I had capsica for 19d but I now can not work out how I thought this was logical!
Fair fayre. Liked 16a, and not just because I was once in the RN.
were you a greenie, dabber or clankie ?
I found this a very enjoyable puzzle, tricky but not overly so. I liked 19a and 10d. Many thanks to Shamus( if indeed it was he) and to Gazza.
Not a good day for me, too any things I didn’t know – eg. 8a, have never heard the word used in that context. Quite a few of the constructs were beyond me today; 19d is still a total mystery even with the explanation! Thanks for the review Gazza, I had no idea how I arrived at acreage for 17d.
One day I might understand these a bit more, but strongly suspect I’ll be a lifetime CC member.
Geoff
For 19d the pepper is PAP (worthless stuff) + A KIR (a drink) reversed (served up).
So we have to know about cocktails as well; what an education this is!
Geoff,
As no one else has responded……A CAGE is the prison and RE = about
Straightforward and accessible….ie I could do it!
Not come across that meaning of 8ac but there was no alternative word.
It’s just that when one looks for a clue of the day, there isn’t really one.
No real laugh-out -loud moments…..
Actually on re-reading it I do quite like 3d.
As has already been said I found this much easier than the usual Tuesday xword. However, I tended to see the word before I understood the clue
Must be me again i found this quite hard today although eventually finished without the blog, could understand most of the constructs but didn’t mean i knew the answer
good luck CC members, off to read Gazzas hints now
Not just you! I too finished it without help (unusually for a Tuesday) but it took a long time.
10d last to go in but one of my favourites along with 16a.
Yes, I really struggled with this today too. The place names were a problem, especially 1d and 19a. My mind – such as it is – must have been elsewhere. Perhaps it was the waiting to know if I’m going to be a grandmother — and I am!
Congratulations, Franny.
Thanks, Gazza. I couldn’t have done today’s puzzle without you.
Thanks to Gazza for his blog and all for comments. Hope everything was self-explanatory. Glad Nubian managed to avoid being driven insane on this occasion!
Shamus
I was pleased to see you back among the question setters in yesterday’s “Only Connect”.
Nice to know that you’re a fan of the programme, BD. It’s getting very good ratings for BBC4. The more viewers it gets, the more likely it is to come back for another series – it definitely appeals to people who enjoy crosswords so, if anyone’s not seen it, I’d encourage him/her to give it a try!
I’ll second the recommendation. It’s on BBC4 at 8.30 p.m. on Mondays and repeated on Thursdays at 7.30 p.m.
I came across this programme last week and really enjoyed it. Now that I know you’re involved, Shamus, I’ll make a special effort to watch it again.
Thank you Shamus,as you see I have lived to tell the tale, looking forward to next Tuesday.
Just finished it. That’s 2 on the trot now :). 19a made me laugh when i eventualy got it. 17d had me thinking the definition was a prison formed from acre and something else; it was the last one to go and i could have kicked myself.
Well done, Wingnut.
Has anyone noticed that todays Telegraph Quick Crossword is pangrammatical. Not happened for quite a while!
Didn’t like this one – it was a chore.
Slow start then I got away – liked 1d best. Strangely out of tune today then things clicked. Job done.
Had a chance to look at this one today as on the train and really enjoyed it. Got Paprika because all it could be but never heard of the drink in my life, thanks Gazza for last couple of clues to help me finish including 1d!
Led Zeppelin fan by any chance?
I’m hanging out for the D’Yer Make’er homophone!
Yes an avid one I’m afraid, saw them whenever they toured UK (not often enough) last time at Knebworth. Was not lucky enough to be one of chosen few of O2. Let’s hope one of the setters sees your comment, only a few of us would get it!
NIce one – I was just a tad too young for Knebworth but I think my elder brother went. His mate was the drum tech’ for Jason Bonham at the O2 last year and delighted in phoning him up from the wings.
August 1979, aged 23 to give you a massive clue. If your brother could not get a ticket through his mate what chance the rest of us. Not happy when I saw some of the attendees (Kate Moss etc), who had probably never heard of them!
Enjoyed this one.
Best clues for me were 16a & 10d.- got 16a immediately from tar and flag! Also liked 19a and 21a. Guessed 19a was the Disney dog then remembered Luton – it is a long time since I lived and worked in many places in GB – one forgets! . Same for 23a.
Quite enjoyable……….. A nice feeling of achievement………..”Oh look….I’ve got a word….!!”
Welcome to the blog Fiona