DT 26274 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 26274

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26274

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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

I can’t think of much to say about this puzzle. Perhaps my mind is on other events today!

Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.


Across

1a    Coaches dismissed one child’s father — that’s obvious (11)
{TRANSPARENT} – take a word meaning coaches or instructs and remove the I (dismissed one) then add a child’s father (or mother) to get a synonym for obvious

9a    Lying about source of money accepted by copper (corrupt) (9)
{RECUMBENT} – a word meaning lying or resting is built up from one of Crosswordland’s synonyms for about followed by M (source of Money) inside the chemical symbol for copper and an adjective that describes a corrupt copper

10a    A little grass cutter (5)
{BLADE} – a double definition – a leaf of grass or something that cuts

11a    Lands, say, on the western side of Edinburgh (6)
{ESTATE} – these lands come from to say following (on) E (the western side of Edinburgh)

12a    Completely reveal entitlement (8)
{OUTRIGHT} – a synonym for completely is a charade of to reveal, as in to make public, and an entitlement

13a    Looking for understanding (6)
{SEEING} – a double definition – looking or understanding

15a    Place one’s found in river to stand in (8)
{DEPUTISE} – insert to place and I’S (one’s) inside a river to get a word meaning to stand in – second day running for the Jolly Miller’s river!

18a    Culinary requirement of a sailor from Gibraltar? (4,4)
{ROCK SALT} – this cookery ingredient could be an old sailor from Gibraltar

19a    Travel North, chasing beer slang (6)
{JARGON} – to travel and N(orth) follow (chasing) an informal term for a glass of beer to get a synonym for slang

21a    Where there’s no solution to lifeless hair? (8)
{DEADLOCK} – a situation in which no progress can be made is a charade of lifeless and a tuft of hair

23a    Grovel and return pan to wife (6)
{KOWTOW} – to grovel, as in the old Chinese ceremony of touching the forehead to the ground as a gesture of deference, is built up from a pan, like the one used by Ken Hom, reversed (return) followed by TO and W(ife)

26a    Forecast that’s a bore for the audience (5)
{AUGUR} – this forecast sounds like (for the audience) a carpenter’s boring tool

27a    Notice red shift is hidden (9)
{RECONDITE} – an anagram (shift) of NOTICE RED gives a word meaning hidden

28a    A carer aimed for treatment from fellowship (11)
{CAMARADERIE) – this anagram (for treatment) of A CARER AIMED gives a word meaning fellowship

Down

1d    Country origin of small birds (7)
{TURKEYS} – yes, it’s that obvious! – a country followed by S (origin of Small) results in birds that seldom survive beyond Christmas

2d    Venue for a good man welcoming company (5)
{ASCOT} – this posh horse-racing venue is built up from A and a good man placed around (welcoming) CO(mpany)

3d    Noted intervals worrying some in set (9)
{SEMITONES} – some of the lesser intervals of the musical scale are an anagram (worrying) of SOME IN SET

4d    Old silver starts to exhibit dullness (4)
{AGED} – a word meaning old is a charade of the chemical symbol for silver followed by the initial letters of (starts to) Exhibit Dullness

5d    Gets excited about ten cottages, for example, lacking love (8)
{ENTHUSES} – a word meaning gets excited is an anagram (about) of TEN followed by the dwellings of which cottages are an example without the O (lacking love)

6d    Over in Germany, after beginning to take root (5)
{TUBER} – the German for over follows T (beginning to Take) to get a much thickened underground part of a stem or rhizome serving as a food reserve

7d    Construct heat-resistant cover for boards (7)
{THEATRE} – the board trodden by actors are hidden inside the first three words

8d    Golf and fishing make you tall and skinny (8)
{GANGLING} – G (represented by Golf in the NATO phonetic alphabet) is followed by a synonym for fishing to get a word meaning tall and skinny

ARVE Error: need id and provider

14d    Substitute for an old flame with cash (8)
{EXCHANGE} – a word meaning to substitute is a charade of a former partner (old flame) and loose cash

16d    A Parisian loved to adopt name that’s plain (9)
{UNADORNED} – the French indefinite article (A Parisian) is followed by a word meaning loved around (to adopt) N(ame) to get a synonym for plain

17d    One might help one pick out a tune (8)
{PLECTRUM} – a cryptic definition of a pointed device held in the fingers or on the thumb, with which the strings of a guitar are struck

18d    Rave about raising help, showing such emotion (7)
{RADIANT} – put a synonym for to rave around some help reversed (raised) to get a word meaning showing happy emotion

20d    A couple of presents are neither here nor there (7)
{NOWHERE} – combine two synonyms for present to get a word meaning neither here nor there – a bit careless to include part of the wordplay in the definition

22d    Only half right on half of epic poem (5)
{LYRIC} – combine half of (ON)LY with R(ight) and half of (EP)IC to get a poem

24d    One makes an effort and runs in level (5)
{TRIER} – someone who makes an effort is derived by putting R(uns) inside a level or stage

25d    Sign of injury caused by short shock (4)
{SCAR} – this sign of a prior injury are found by dropping the final letter (short) from a shock or fright

Come on England!

25 comments on “DT 26274”

  1. Good puzzle from Jay – it looked scary as hell having only got two or three across clues on the first reading. All came together nicely with 1d going on last with a harrumph!.
    23a was favourite – Has Ken Hom lost all his hair?
    I have the afternoon off and am going to hit the Doha Sheraton for a large piece of rare cow, a couple of libations and a hopefully successful football match.

  2. Thanks to Jay for an enjoyable puzzle, which took me longer than it should have done, partly due to putting IN as the first two letters of 9a. Thanks to BD for the notes.
    Very quiet at work today (I wonder why?!); On to the toughie, and then onward to the pub…

  3. Bits of a curates egg for me. The bottom half came together well but the top was very tricky. Needed help from the blog and have now finished but could someone tell me what the river is in 15a? Best clue for me was 21a, very clever. Worst clue, 10a, just couldn’t see the connection DOH!

    1. Barrie

      Have you never heard of this rhyme?

      There was a jolly miller once
      Liv’d on the river Dee ;
      He danc’d and he sang from morn till night,
      No lark so blithe as he.
      And this the burden of his song
      For ever us’d to be
      I care for nobody, no, not I,
      If nobody cares for me.

      http://ingeb.org/songs/millerof.html

          1. Not really but I got the answer from the letters I had in and the last part of the clue but thanks for trying :-)

  5. 23a was definately a gret clue today.
    Overall I enjoyed all the clues and went on to do the toughie for good measure. The sun is in the sky, Your God is in his heaven and all is right with the world, until the result later on I fancy.
    27a was a new word for me also.

  6. I enjoyed this puzzle and then went on to do the Toughie which wasn’t so much fun, and then on to dentists for emergency filling which was even less fun! Still summer has come back to Kent and its lovely sunny and warm. All lI need now is a glass of Mary’s wine.

  7. Some of that was beyond me. Rejected ‘turkeys’ because they aren’t small, lol. Missed the hidden word – indicated by cover I suppose. Fortunately Mr Google knew where the Jolly Miller lived, ‘cos I didn’t.

    I enjoyed what I did, thanks to setter and BD. Just one more exam this afternoon and then I’m FREE!

    1. Living in Edinburgh, I ought to be able to get this clue! Watching live Budget debate just now but will have another look at the puzzle later.

  9. Having needed a couple of nudges yesterday after a slow start, I was ready to disappear into the Clueless Club when I first read the across clues. Thank heavens fr anagrams – 28a got me started and then somehow it came together. Favourites were 9a, 15a and 23a. Thanks to the setter and to Big Dave

  10. Quite a good crossword today with a couple of silly clues, reasonably enjoyable. Thanks Jay and BD.

  11. For some reason I found this one fairly easy – couldn’t quite see why 18d was what it was – it fitted the clue but I didn’t understand what it had to do with emotion – having read the hints I suppose it’s OK – not my favourite clue of the day! Best clues for me – lots – 9a 10a 18a 19a 23a and several others!

  13. Favourite clues 9, 18 and 23 across. Glad to see name and email fields are automatically filled again. Thanks!

  14. Have visitors for the next few days so not going to get much chance to do my crossword, have just sat down with this but don’t expect more than 1/2 hr of peace and you all know i need much more time than that! may be back later :( grrrrr, i could do with a glass too crypticsue!

  15. Got it late – as usual. (France). Found the bottom half easy and the top more difficult until I got 1A,9A & 10A then it all fell into place.
    Worst clu was 1D. It HAD to be Turkey but in no way is this a small bird. Against an ostrich, fair enough, but a small bird is nearer a wren or a tit. Besides which Turkeys came from America originally so the setter should have put a ? at the end.

    1. If you read BD’s hint carefully, you’ll see that the definition is birds, not “small birds”. Origin doesn’t mean that these birds originate from Turkey but is an indication that the first letter (origin) of S(mall) is to be added to the name of the country.

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