DT 26492 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 26492 (Hints)

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26492 (Hints)

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.

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.

Could new readers please read the Welcome post before asking questions about the site.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Across

1a    Tore stamps out? He often did (10)
An anagram (out) of TORE STAMPS gives a person who tears a lot of stamps out in order to sell them

6a    Send message electronically mostly rather quaint (4)
Most of a message sent to Twitter gives a word meaning rather quaint

26a    Art Nouveau designer without any argument (4)
Drop the ANY from the end of an Art Nouveau designer famous for lamps to get an argument

27a    Clooney or Pitt perhaps, both rather dashing (5-5)
What some women may call Messrs Clooney or Pitt is an anagram (dashing) of BOTH RATHER – perhaps is indicating a definition by example

Down

1d    Step outside Hollywood location, splendid building (6)
Put a step or stride outside the city where Hollywood is located to get a splendid building

7d    Lord Chancellor’s office cooks law up (8)
The name for the office of Lord Chancellor is an anagram (up, a debatable anagram indicator) of COOKS LAW – it looks as if cooks … up is suggesting an anagram, but cooks is also part of the fodder


15d    Toff with German name is easy to work out (2-7)
Start with a three-letter word for a toff and then add the German forename of, for example, Herr Brüderle the current German Federal Minister for Economics and Technology to get something that is easy to work out

22d    Relaxed getting sun in Cornish resort (5)
A word meaning relaxed or released is created by putting a S(un) inside a Cornish resort

The Crossword Club is now open. Feel free to leave comments.

Please don’t put whole or partial answers or alternative clues in your comment, else they may be censored!

The Quick crossword pun: {pullet} + {surprise} = {Pulitzer Prize}

134 comments on “DT 26492 (Hints)”

  1. What a thoroughly enjoyable crossword that was. Thanks to the setter (whoever he was) and to BD for the hints.

  2. Morning Dave, thank goodness normality returns, a nice Saturday morning crossword, with a few sticky bits needing ususal help, but no hints needed, though unfortunately I can’t say that any clue made me smile or have a Duh! moment, so no favourite clue today, good luck everyone, the sun is shining for the 7th day in a row, we will pay for this in the summer! Thanks Dave though I didn’t need blog help today :) good luck everyone

    1. The sun must shine on the righteous! The last time I saw the sun was July 1976 or so it seems.
      As far as the puzzle goes then no great surprises or real challenges – usual Saturday morning fare then. If I had to choose a favourite clue then it would be 20d & only because it’s so rarely used nowadays.

  3. Done without the hints today, but with some use of the ‘electronic aids’. Good crossword, I thought. The quickie is giving me more of a headache! Thanks to setter and BD.

  4. Once again for a Saturday. Nothing contentious and another entry for the fountain pen prize. Nothing stands out and fairly humdrum. BAH!

  5. Think this morning’s extremely cold wind must have frozen my brain a bit as it took me slightly longer than usual to sort this one out. I thought there were some good clues in there, once I had worked them out, so thanks to the setter, who I presume is the Mysteron this week. Thanks BD for the hints too.

  6. Thanks to the setter and BD for the hints, got stuck in the south west corner having put ‘way’ in for the last word of 16d thinking cheese curds and whey etc but got there in the end not briefly though. Liked this one

  7. Agree with the general feel – bottom right caused a little hiccup but otherwise a good, fairly gentle interlude for a grey (lucky you – Mary!) Saturday. Don’t really understand 16d though :/ Thanks BD & Setter, bit behind this week so have yesterday’s in reserve if the weather doesn’t cheer up!

    1. 16d Brie could be produced by this easier route (5,3)

      You could get brie by reducing the size of the word brief – the answer describes this action.

    2. Hi Claire, I’m sure we’ll pay for this weather, but the last two days were warm enough to sit in a tee shirt in the garden! 16d, I don’t think it really works but I can see how its supposed to, I think, if you add another letter on to brie you get a synonym for the first letter of the answer, and if you do what the second word says and take it off again you get brie, I think thats probably wrong but that’s the only way I can see it :)

      1. Mary, I think that you are quite right, but as a founder member of the JOOCC, you are well qualified to comment. I expect our own Maestro will add his words of wisdom in due course.

      2. Oh thanks – both of you. I see it now! The sun came out so I spent a few hours in the garden. Lovely!! Now settled down with yesterday’s – looks a bit tricky but I’ll persevere for now before sneaking a look at the blog. Hoping for another good day tomorrow :-)

  8. Visiting ex-neighbours in Hastings (well, St. Leonards-on-Sea-actually) for the weekend, so no electronic aids. Thought that this was about right for a Saturday. Nothing too difficult, or contentious, but a few to stretch the imagination and raise a chuckle or two. Thanks to Egbert, and BD for the (unused) hints.

  9. I also didn’t understand 16d until I read comments in 7*. Also don’t understand 20d .
    Very enjoyable crossword for me, no particular favourite clue.
    Thanx to Compiler and BD as usual.
    Beautiful weather down this neck of the woods again today.

    1. Hi Wayne, 20d, you need a word for smear, the usual abbreviation for university with a 5 letter word for expertise around it, the 5 letter word nor the answer were familiar to me!!

      1. sorry I think that is wrong, maybe you need a two letter word and a 3 letter word the three leeter word has the abbreviation for university inside it, have expertise –/— with u in the last three

        1. Thank you Mary, I had the answer but couldn’t work out why. Now you have explained I see it, but have to comment that it’s an awful clue in my view, where on earth did the setter drag that five letter word from that went round the abbreviation for university.

          1. Wayne

            20d Smear university — have expertise about it (6)

            As Mary has put in her correction, its a two-letter word and a three-letter word that when put together mean to have expertise. It is, however, a clumsy construct, especially with the hyphens splitting wordplay.

    2. I have to agree it was a bit clumsy and I had to think hard about it without being overly convinced I was right.

  10. Nice easy run again today.. Favourite was 17 because it made me really think and then made me laugh. Other goodies were 1a 7 8 11[ wonder what Mary and Kath thought of that, or did little red book come to rescue] 13 16 and 27. Now back to Friday’s toughie!

      1. I am impressed! Might need your tips later for yesterday’s toughie. Still 3 short.

  11. Easiest of the week, for me, which is a great shame. Surely the prize puzzle should be at least a bit tougher. did it early today as I have a wine tasting later! Have a nice weekend all. Thanks to BD for the blog.

  12. A very enjoyable puzzle for a grey day in Northumberland. I thought it was going to be a 15d but had to work hard for a couple of answers. 16d for example, but what a good clue. Thankyou setter.

  13. My apologies for another late contribution but, having said that, I found this to be an extremely enjoyable puzzle with a number of answers which made me smile. The weather in Cheshire is grey, cold and misty and it looks more like autumn than spring…

  14. Enjoyed that – nice Saturday puzzle. Confess to needing hints for 27a as had missed the anagram indicator, then that corner fell into place. Thanks BD! Liked 9d, made me smile, also 1a as originally I went off on the philat….? (stamp collecting) track. Wish we could have some of Mary’s sun – it’s freezing here, cold east wind.

  15. A fairly gentle puzzle today – although the top half went in considerably quicker than the bottom half.
    Thanks to setter, and to BD.

  16. I.m not sure how to take that Mary….. but i have had the occasiona larbitration on th e football field.

    1. Its just the stop watch and the red flag, but you could be a station guard I suppose :)

  17. I think I had better type that in again.Hands are freezing.
    Not sure how to take that Mary but yes I have reffed the odd game.

  18. OK, own up, who has taken my sunshine away??? and replaced it with a cold grey sky, thinking I wouldn’t notice!! :(

  19. Oh I see what you mean. I can’t begin to tell what trouble i had in the world of Avatar to end up with that strange signature.

  20. I found this a bit more difficult than most others seem to have done – lots to do – friends coming for supper is my excuse for today!
    Have now finished but have a couple of answers that I can’t quite explain, assuming that they’re right that is. They are 10a, 13a and the third letter of 17d.
    No, UTC! Didn’t have any trouble with 11a but thanks for the vote of no confidence in me, and Mary!!
    I enjoyed this crossword although it seems to have taken me a long time!
    My favourite clues include 14, 18, 24 and 26a and 2, 4 and 16d.
    Thanks to the setter and to Big Dave.
    Sun just coming out now in Oxford but still very cold. Off for quick dog walk then back to do more cooking!
    Have a good weekend everyone.
    :smile:

    1. It wasn’t a vote of no confidence. I had the utmost faith in you! I think that you and Mary really look forward to sporting clues now.

    2. Hi Kath
      10a – the first two letters and the last two are a region of Spain
      13a – the hero is a ferocious animal, once again the first and last two letters, inside this put one is substituting the word one for a letter
      17d – instead of ‘a’ they are using the first two letters

      So you’ve piched my sun have you :)

      1. Thanks Mary – understand now – SO sorry about pinching your sun – it only lasted for about an hour then back to grey – hope that it came back in your direction.

  21. Here we go again, you all found this easy and I think its very tricky!! Managed about 3/4 eventually but not without some difficulty. Crosswords are a bit like beauty, it’s all in the eye of the beholder :-) I suspect the key is 16d which I just don’t get!!
    Bottom left corner is yet another closed shop and can someone please explain the significance of the dots connecting 14a and 18a, it’s a crossword convention I have never understood.

    3. The three dots are known as an ellipsis and the may, or may not, indicate that there is a connection between the two clues. In this case they are connected because Mars is a definition (by example) of the answer to 18a.

        1. No!

          Sometimes the setter puts them there because he perceives that the two clues together have a surface reading but in fact there is no connection at all between the clues.

          As with punctuation and capitalisation – it’s caveat emptor.

    1. Mary, I am down to 20d on yesterdays toughie. I have looked at all the tips from the experts and I am still no wiser. Can you explain it to me in your inimitable style? You are my last chance, unless Kath has any ideas!

      2. Please ask on the page for the Toughie. There are still some people who have yet to finish it and they won’t expect to find a spoiler on this post.

  23. OK all done now but although I have a words for the answers, I don’t see why 16a has anything to do with cheese French or otherwise, what 2d has to do with a lady or what the lead-up to a launch has to do with a game show in 24a? Obviously not got my game-face on this morning DOH!

    1. Barrie 24a is the name of a gameshow
      2d is the 3 letter abbreviation for French lady inside a three letter word for addressing a gentleman
      16a as above at comment 7

      1. Thanks Mary, never heard of that particular gameshow but then I absolutely loather that type of ‘entertainment’ and avoid them like the plague.
        I think the use of the capital letter in Brie was what threw me, clever clue but too clever for me! Can’t say I enjoyed todays much and not just because I found it tricky, just didn’t find the clues very inspiring or amusing. Still after struggling with yesterdays challenge from Giovanni which I failed miserably, I suppose I should be grateful for finishing it! :-)

        1. Carol Vorderman used to be the hostess in it ?? not your run of the mill gameshow, quite educational in a way, to do with words & numbers and connundrums, don’t know what the difference between them and anagrams is?? I didn’t even get halfway with yesterdays!

          1. The game show was the first programme ever broadcast on Channel 4. I remember tuning our TV in to the C4 test card months before, barely able to believe that we were to have four TV channels! How times have changed.

  24. I must have worn my brain out struggling with yesterday’s Toughie this morning!
    Found this a bit tricky in places with a few clues I’m not keen on – 7d, 16d and 20d.

    Pommette did well on this, she got over 2/3 before asking for hints!

    Thanks to the setter and BD.

  25. I thought we might get a picture for 18a… 8d was the one that made me kick myself in the end…
    Right, I’ve got 48 copies of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry to give away now for World Book Night. If you’re in Barnstaple and fancy reading it let me know and I’ll keep one for you.

  26. It’s a bright Saturday morning here – both outside where the sun is shining nicely, and inside where today’s challenge was ‘just right.’ I rather liked the elliptically connected entries, perhaps because of former professional dabblings.

  27. really struggling on19d and 25a it must be the cold weather on the costa del sol

    1. Hi Martin 1
      9d is really just another word for a lumberjack which is also a possible recording device
      25a You need a three letter word for follow followed a two letter abbreviation for Master (as in Arts) to give you a code of belief

    2. A bit nippy on the Costa Blanca too but at least it’s sunny! Pommette reading book in the hot tub.

      19d – double definition. An informal term for a lumberjack is also a form of recording device.

      25a – Charade of a verb meaning to follow and the usual abbreviation for a Masters degree gives a code of belief.

      Hope this helps.

        1. I would go and join her but it’s b****y freezing when yoiu get out and do a run for the shower! Cold wind today.

      2. Come to East Kent today and we will show you what a ‘bit nippy’ is all about! We did have a short sighting of sun earlier but the mist is creeping back across the marshes as I type. Reading a book in the hot tub sounds fantastic – as Mary says Lucky Pommette.

          1. I was here further up the page this morning – 11.27 am. Had a number of other things to do in between but thought I would just catch up before doing the ironing. As for golf – let’s just say it’s not my idea of fun but then it does give Gnomey the excuse to go to Spain every year so perhaps I should take it up. Alternatively we could just visit Pommette and try the hot tub for ourselves :D

          1. Nice straightforward crossword today, fun and enjoyable – the Quick was a pangrammatic stretch too – (I needed Dr. Wife to get 22a). Weather in the Loire – warm, sunny and gorgeous. (gloat on) Spent most of the day repairing a wall in a T-shirt (gloat off).

            1. Does your Dr. Wife have the answer to 1d in the Quick? Still missing this and 4 others!

              Perhaps, I shouldn’t ask, given the new rules on spoilers! I will wait until Monday.

              1. Franco – Its a pangram – are you missing a Q? The word starts with this letter, and is duck related. :-)

  29. I found a few here to trouble – 20d being last in. The clues with the ellipsis were favourite for me – Very nicely done.
    Thanks to the mystery setter and to BD for the hints.

                  1. Matchplay my dear – we we were 4 holes down and lost the 14th so 5 holes down with 4 to play – couldn’t win. I’d rather not talk about it! ;-)

  31. Who cares about the weather?! 3 points for West Brom! England to beat South Africa tomorrow to round things off. Going to exercise.

    1. West Brom just beat Birmingham, who beat Arsenal, who beat Barcelona – does that mean that the Baggies are now one of the best teams in the world?

      1. Like the theory Pommers! The trophy cabinet speaks differently though – nowt since 1968!

      1. I think the Throstles is still the official nickname as the thrush features on the club badge, but local supporters have called them the Baggies since about 1900. Said to come from the baggy trousers worn as protection in the black country iron foundries.

  32. A very enjoyable puzzle this Saturday.

    I liked : 6a, 12a, 14a, 18a, 24a, 26a, 2d, 7d, 9d, 16d & 20d.

    Have not had time to read the comments as must get ready to go to dinner for a 75th. birthday celebration. (Not mine – long since past that age).

    Used to eat 23a in San Francisco years ago!

  33. These crossword are very educational.

    Yesterday I read up a lot about Horatio Nelson, today all about the processes involved in makingBrie.

    I’m easily misdirected!

  34. Loved 11a, 14 and 15a together, 27a, 9d, 17d, 15d… Some great clues and a few laugh-out-loud moments.

    Thanks to BD and the Setter.

    Although I would only put it a 1star for difficulty (less than *** minutes), a full 5/5 for enjoyment and the best puzzle since a wonderful Rufus effort last August Bank Holiday.

    Thanks again.

    Nick

  35. I found this quite tricky, especially in the SW corner. But, in between going out briefly and wrestling with my new wireless router and ISP (they told me a fault had developed in my laptop at the very moment I plugged n the new router …), I did get there. Not so enjoyable because of the trickiness. 23a a new word.

    Thanks to setter and BD. Lovely illustration for 1a!

  36. Evening all,
    I had the pleasure of solving this on a London bound train from Leeds today. I liked 14a,27a and 16d best. 20d was last in.

  37. I must be getting better as I only had to do an electronic cheat for 8d and 20d. 8d was me being channel visioned by thinking of the composer even though I knew an anagram was involved.

      1. 8D: The first word of the clue is the definition. The last word indicates a single letter, which, along with the previous two words, is used to form an anagram of the first word.

        20D: The first word is, again, the definition. The second word indicates a single letter. “About” indicates that the rest of the wordplay should surround that single letter. “Have expertise” is a synonym of a phrase (2,3) not in common usage. The second word of that phrase (3) is often followed by the word “hand” to describe someone with expertise.

        HTH

  38. Remember Bobby Robson playing for West Brom – dominant wing half despite what his wife said.

  39. Big Dave’s hints today were not particlarly helpful and somewhat meagre in content.
    The quick xword took longer than the cryptic to complete and was not helped by the solution to 22a, which the compiler incorrectly reveals as a 6 letter clue when in fact the solution should be the 5 letter word ‘apnea’ – meaning the temporary cessation of breathing usually whilst sleeping.

    1. Although I don’t have the slightest interest in “quick” crosswords, the term that you quote is usually spelt APNOEA in the UK. It is derived from Greek, and means “absence of breathing”. It need not be temporary, although it is most often used after the word SLEEP, to describe a temporary interruption in respiration.

      Which form of the word is correct for the puzzle depends, of course, on the grid.

    2. Agree with Qix – the word is spelt with an ‘O’ in the middle. As far as Big Dave’s hints for the crossword today goes – it is a prize crossword so he only gives hints for the clues that he thinks merit them and he doesn’t give the answers inside the brackets because, as previously said, it’s a prize crossword.

  40. PS – Actually I think that this is a diphthong and probably can’t do that in a crossword. Have had friends over for supper – have now cleared up – knackered – going to bed.
    Goodnight all – sleep well.

  42. Hallo and thanks to those who gave me hints for 8d and 16d. I felt I was just getting to grips with the last Saturday setter only to find a change for the milder yesterday – crossword and weather.

      1. Thanks Dave,
        I have been lurking for some weeks as my step-father and I required some extra help – but funnily enough now we’re back to self-sufficiency I feel able to ‘come out’.

  43. Very enjoyable. About the right level for a prize crossword I thought with some clever clues. NE swiftly in followed by NW. SE and particularly SW took longer to fill. A sleep between did the trick. Did not like 20 d at all. Liked20a, 24a, 26a, 27a, and 17d and 19d. Did not need hints, electronic aid or even the trusty Chambers. Despite hints though I still do not know how we arrive at 16d. Certainly not without deviation so far as the clue is concerned!

  44. Enjoyed this except for 20d.Glad to have the explanations published but dont much like it. Liked14a &link with18a Thanks & regards to BD et al.Trish.

  45. That was far too easy… I pick up the Saturday puzzle only on Sunday and this one did not last even a coffee.

    Some nice clues 14a/18a worked very well. Otherwise just plain-sailing all round.

    Thanks to setter & hinter.

  46. At first glance I got off to flying tart but then had to think hard about 16d, 20d and 13 a too. I got them from checking letters and definition but had to think hard about why.

  47. A bit behind on comments this weekend. An enjoyable crossword from our Mysteron this weekend. Not as tricky as his/her last one but great fun to solve. Thanks to the setter and to BD for the hints.

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