ST 2548

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2548

A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe

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

A bit harder than usual for me – this one took almost exactly my average time for a Times crossword. That’s not supposed to happen when there are 3 hidden word clues, but I did start rather badly …

Across
1	Complaint coming from one woman after another (6)
MALADY = MA,LADY – I was annoyed with myself after solving for not seeing this fairly familiar wordplay structure on my first look at the clue. Possible moral for speed merchants: slow down a bit for the first few clues, and then start shifting when you’ve got checking letters to work with.
4	Declared illegal, since evil (6)
FORBAD = declared illegal – FOR=since,BAD=evil
8	Chosen to succeed – and, I note, corruptly (8 )
ANOINTED – anag. of ‘and I note’
10	Commercial break lacking any purpose (6)
ADRIFT – AD = commercial (noun),RIFT=break
11	Part of peace dividend foiled with first shot (4)
ACED = “foiled with first shot” (tennis) – hidden in ‘peACE Dividend’
12	Being abroad without money leads to self-denial (10)
ABSTINENCE – TIN = money (slang), in ABSENCE = “being abroad”
13	Lottery committee one returns to for another try (7,5)
DRAWING BOARD – 2 definitions – “Lottery committee” (draw = lottery), and “(that) one returns to for another try”
16	Runs repeatedly coming in boundaries smashed – it takes a lot of pace to break through (5,7)
SOUND-BARRIER – (R,R) = “runs repeatedly” in anag. of “boundaries”
20	Behind one supporter, great footballer of the past (6,4)
SECOND BEST = behind one (one being equated with first/best) – SECOND=supporter, BEST=great footballer of the past
21	Concession for prisoner – its dropping may lead to appeal (4)
BAIL – 2 definitions – the second one relating to bails in cricket
22	Hunter, or other kind of horse (6)
CHASER – 2 defs again
23	What disturbed King Edward was frustrating (8 )
THWARTED = was frustrating – THWA = anag. of what,R=King,TED=Edward
24	Opportunity to do something stylish – act in Westerns (6)
WINDOW = opportunity to do something – (IN = stylish = fashionable, DO=act), in WW = “westerns” (W being “Western” as well as “West”). Those who remember the 1970s might wonder whether “fashionable” and “stylish” are necessarily the same thing!
25	Final portion used in sample, either hot or cool (6)
TRENDY – END = final portion, in TRY = sample (verb.)
Down
1	Patient of mine getting better cosmetic treatment (8 )
MANICURE – 2 defs – the first (“Patient of mine getting better”) is for MAN I CURE
2	Man who’s landed in Scotland as part of tactical airdrop (5)
LAIRD – a Scots landowner (so “landed” is as in “landed gentry”), hidden in “tacticaL AIRDrop”
3	Get out of transport, having finally arrived, maybe, on coach (7)
DETRAIN – (arrive)D, (mayb)E, TRAIN = coach
5	Instrument installed in radio car in advance (7)
OCARINA = instrument – hidden in “radiO CAR IN Advance”. Fitting O?A?I?A makes this one of the favourite instruments of crossword setters, along with OBOE for O?O?
6	Local employee’s counter-proposal (9)
BARTENDER – BAR=counter,TENDER=proposal – fairly easy as same kind of BAR is used in the wordplay and the answer word
7	Start believing in different cause for flaw (6)
DEFECT – 2 defs – well disguised, with “cause for flaw” needing to be separated, and very different lengths for the two defs
9	Insubordinate, spreading sedition around base (11)
DISOBEDIENT – BED ( = base – think of “on a bed of spinach” from Master Chef), in anag. of SEDITION
14	West is opposed to evil northern state (9)
WISCONSIN – W=West,IS,CON=opposed to,SIN=evil
15	Labour’s end, in a manner of speaking (8 )
DELIVERY – 2 def’s – a way of speaking, and “Labour’s end” when “labour” is the kind undergone in childbirth, and “end” is either “objective”or “conclusion” – both seem to work
17	Immersed in game out East, getting experience (7)
UNDERGO – UNDER = “immersed in” (as in “under water”), GO = “game out east”
18	I want a modified resistance, as opposed to conflict (7)
ANTIWAR – ANTIWA = (anag. of ‘I want a’),R = resistance
19	Short letter from Paul received by young relative (6)
NEPHEW – EPH.=Ephesians (New Testament epistle) = “short letter from Paul” (short referring to the abbreviation – as Eddie Izzard reminds us, Paul’s letters were not short), in NEW=young
21	Noble piece of music being broadcast (5)
BARON – BAR=piece of music, ON = being broadcast