Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2545 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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No theme this 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.
Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Friday, 23rd July.
Across
1a Runs into group for combined meal (6)
Just insert R(uns) into a group to get a portmanteau word for a late morning meal – portmanteau word: Lewis Carroll’s term for a word into which are packed the sense (and sound) of two words, e.g. slithy for lithe and slimy
4a Man’s man, for example, I don’t speak well of (8)
The required capitalisation of the first word is cleverly concealed by its position!
12a Old guy initially was put in very hard bunk (7)
Put the initial letters of Old and Guy, together with WAS, inside the marking on a very hard pencil to get a word meaning bunk or claptrap
13a Information at grass roots level? (7)
… I think the enumeration is more correctly (3-4) not (7), and both Chambers and the OED agree
18a Mammoth perturbing us no more (8)
20a French painter and saintly patron heard distinctly (5)
… is this a bigger version of me?
29a King Lear, for example (6)
Your need to read this as a double definition – “King” and “Lear, for example”, the second one being the poet who popularised the limerick
Down
1d Peremptorily dismiss first of batsmen – get out with pace (5,3)
A phrasal verb meaning to peremptorily dismiss is built up from the first letter of Batsmen and another phrasal verb meaning to move away with urgent haste (get out with pace)
6d Crookedly arranged, like part of our capital (5)
… with the famous botanic gardens
22d Refrain from song about ancient deity (6)
A refrain from a song is built up from the one-letter abbreviation for about and the Falcon-Headed Egyptian God
24d Crack stone in date (5)
A charade of a crack or attempt and the abbreviation for ST(one) as a weight gives a romantic rendezvous between lovers
If you need further help then please ask and I will see what I can do.
Please don’t put whole or partial answers in your comment, else they may be censored!
Morning Dave. Still can’t fathom out why 20a is what it is, other than that a good test for a Sunday morn.
I presume that “heard distinctly” means that the pronunciation of the two is different.
That’s what I thought.
Wiki said he was highly influential, In the two years I spent at art college he never influenced me I am afraid. I never heard of him!
Back from a five and a half mile walk to this lovely puzzle – really good clues, splendid anagrams, Favourite clue 29a, closely followed by 12a.
Got there!!! Took 5 minutes to do the bottom half and then another 45 minutes to do the top! I liked 4a which took me ages to get! Off out to give the car its annual clean as it is sunny
Dave, there is no help for 18a …sh
Dave is suggesting that you take 18a and 20a together to get what BD may be.
Oh
like it
Lots of excellent clues to savour today from Virgilius – many thanks to him for the crossword and to the mammoth saint for the notes!
I am either not thinking clearlytoday or this is hard, I have done a possible 5 and even with the hints my mind is a ‘blank’ I will leave it to make dinner and may get back to it later
Ditto, except I’ve done 10.
Right, I’ve done all the left hand side now and one on the right, back soon i hope, how you doing Geoff?
OK I give up still stuck on top r/h corner and 25a, this could be one of two words but neither make sense for me! 4a, 11a, 7d & 8d help please if anyone is still there
4a Man’s man, for example, I don’t speak well of (8)
Think of what Man (with a capital M) is and how you might refer to a man living there. When redefined as 1,7 it means I speak badly of.
Of course very clever, thanks Gazza
I must be a bit slow today—any other hints (apart from spelling out the answer!!) ?
It’s someone who lives on a geographical feature of which Man is an example.
Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get it now. Very crafty! Thanks.Hadn’ thought of a certain place off the west coast.
8d – The definition is “like the top class”; put a word meaning “feeling sorry”, or regretting, around a letter for a learner.
8d Like the top class, feeling sorry about learner (6)
It’s a word meaning feeling sorry around the letter for a learner driver. The definition is like the top class, i.e. a descrition of those who exercise power.
thanks both
Thanks, both. That opens up this corner for me.
Super puzzle. Many thanks to Virgilius for some enjoyable Sunday entertainment. Off to a boozy bbq now..
you mean its not raining?
Warm and sunny in SW London (patchy cloud)
everywhere except here i think what about your part of the country Gazza, still need help with 7d and 11a,
Sorry, had to watch end of Tour de France stage. Weather here dry but not too hot,
7d. Press function outside newspaper taking place (7)
It’s a verb meaning to press or coerce. Put a function or party around a low-quality newspaper and finish with a word meaning happening or taking place.
how about 7 down
Thanks, Gazza.
can you help with 14 a
Hi mark – welcome to the blog.
14a Lavishly entertained, given food with endless drink inside (5)
The definition is lavishly entertained. Put a verb meaning provided with food around a hot drink without its last letter (endless).
got it
11a Frolic about outside a South african village (5)
It’s an Afrikaans word for a traditional village. Reverse (about) a frolic or escapade and put A inside.
You need to find another word for frolic (which is also a kind of bird) and put it around the a.
Thanks, both. Wouldn’t have thought of that!
Thank you both, thanks Gazza, its on days like today that I feel that after a year of doing these I am not really making much progress, I hope I am not the only one to find it difficult today!!
Mary,
I thought it was 4* for difficulty today (but 5* for entertainment, especially for the reference to BD!).
Thats good I feel a bit better now but where would we be without you
4* ??? No wonder I was struggling.
Hi, Mary—how are you getting on. I’ve been trying the DT one for ages, and have only just started the ST one, so you are not alone. This blog is great, isn’t it? so much better than waiting for the solutions and then trying to work back to see how the clues are constructed.
Hi Sarah yes this blog has helped me so much, I am still in the CC but quite happy there for now, one day…..( are you the Sarah taking part on COW, if so well done some of your clues lately have been great on COW I am pepsib)
All the bloggers and indeed everyone that takes part in this blog are really helpful, as well as that it is good fun
No, I’m not!!! What is COW?
It is a site run by Anax there is a link to it on this site under the ‘comment’ on the right of the page, it is good fun and helps I think to understand the cryptic mind, a word is set each week by the previous weeks winner and you have to think up cryptic clues for it, you can try as many times as you like, the ‘prize’ is setting a new word for the next week and judging it, everyone once again is very helpful and friendly, give it a go it is fun, there is a Sarah on there and I thought maybe it was you, no offence intended
Persistence and a lot of help today have enabled me to finish this, just as well its raining!!
Just getting into this lovely puzzle, now—and watching the Open at the same time!
Thanks to the setter, and the reviewer.
HI all just back fromFlorida & really stuck on 5d must be jet lag..please any hints/help
thanks
Ann B,
The definition is “valuable metal”, to find out what sort, you need a type of submachine gun, followed by the name of a pirate (Long John!)
5d Valuable metal gun taken by pirate (8,6)
The definition is valuable metal. Put a type of sub-machine gun in front of the surname of the one-legged pirate from “Treasure Island”.
Gazza,
Are you reading my mind? Same hint – very nearly word for word
Well, you know what they say about great minds…
Bon soir Libelulle or is it still apres midi?
Mary
The sun is definitely over the yardarm, time for a glass of Touraine Sauvignon I think.
Enjoy
Got the second word but not up on submachine guns!
This valuable metal is 92.25% pure.
i.e. of the highest quality – perhaps how our currency once was….
Thanks, both!
Don’t wish to be pedantic but the highest standard is Britannia (95.84%). Sorry used to work in jewellery once upon a time. You never know it could come up in a crossword.
Even with all of the much needed and much appreciated help I’ve only just got 4a! Sometimes you really can’t see the woods for the trees. Today’s puzzle has filled my day: favourite clue was 28a and thank you all for the hints and tips.
I picked up a brand new copy of Val Gilbert’s A Display Of Lights (9) yesterday for a bargain £1.99! Has anyone else read it?
Yes—it’s great! Have you seen the companion volume ’80 years of (DT) cryptic Crosswords’ also by Val Gilbert? Not sure if it’s still in print but have a look on Amazon/WH Smith/ebay. It’s well worth it, and some of the earlier crosswords are really quite difficult—different style from todays ones.
Have just had a look on Amazon & it is available. Lovely companion to ‘A Display of lights’. Recommended ++++
Fab, I will go and take a look. Thanks Sarah!
Thank you gazza brains starting to work & now just one to go
Damn it, I’ve been trying to find a river for 21d for ages! With lots of help from hints, comments, word wizard and google, I’ve just about got there. I’ve got three options for 25a and none of them relate to the clue in any way that I can see. Someone please explain before I go mad!
Its the American spelling of a liquid measure (metric equivalent of two pints) plus a and the abbreviation for line.
and Chambers defines the resulting word as the wrong printing of a letter.
21d Flower from boy accepted by girl (7)
It’s the name of a boy inside (accepted by) the name of a girl (and it’s not a river!).
If you bought petrol in USA they would spell the measure differently i.e. change the last two letters around add on the first two letters of the next two words and you get a word meaning ‘character flaw’ but I’m not sure what type of character the clue means!! sorry if this confuses you more
I think it means a misprint of a character/letter in a word
Geoff
21d really is a flower
25a Is the American spelling of a European liquid volume (approx 1.76 pints) followed by A and L (line) – Its also a mistake in printed matter – hence “character flaw”.
Oops, got the formatting wrong …
Not that I noticed!
We now have more comments for this Sun prize crossword than we did for the Sat one. Perhaps Telegraph cruciverbalists are beginning to appreciate Brian Greer’s (Virgilius) offerings. I certainly hope so!
Exc for a Sunday it is normally Saturdays that get all the comments, but maybe it was down to the fact that so much help was needed? rather than appreciation?
Well, I appreciated it – the highlight of the week for me!
For me, its a toss up between this one and the French themed on the other day – very difficult to choose between them
Ah – if we’re including Toughies then my choice would have to be Friday’s Micawber.
I liked the French themed one – but then I am biased, and I also get the holiday too
I did find the flower and thanks to all for explaining 25a. There was nothing really tricky here, but it’s taken blood, sweat and tears! Sad to say, not much enjoyment for me today.
I hereby declare the sun has definitely gone over the yardarm in this house and I’m off to unscrew something …
well done Geoff see you with that ‘something’ in the CC later
Really enjoyed this one! Finished without help apart from looking up the guy in 20a to confirm he was a painter!
Many good clues but favourite was 29a for the excellent misdirection!
Well done Pommers, now 29a is a clue that I definitely didn’t like, to me it was more than misdirection!
Just one quibble on 6d, surely London is the capital of England not the UK, so the clue assumes that only English men/women do the Telegraph crossword
I hope this isn’t news to you, Mary, but London is the capital of the UK.
I knew I would risk sounding stupid with that comment
what I should have said and meant to say that in Wales we look on Cardiff as ‘our’ capital, so clue for my part would have been better if it had said English capital, oh shut up Mary you’re just digging a bigger hole…………………………….good night
89 comments is that record for a Sunday Dave???
What a thoroughly excellent puzzle. I did this Monday a.m. unusually as I had a lot on this weekend.
Too many favourites to pick just one.
I’m with gnomethang – did it today and enjoyed it very much. Got the answer to 9d and know that it is a cultural expert but the word play eludes me. If anyone is around and can explain that would be nice but if not will wait till the review later in the week.
9d Book collector securing right work for cultural expert (14)
Just drop R(ight) and the usual abbreviation for work from the answer and look again.
Thanks Dave – got it.