ST 2582

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2582

A full review by Crypticsue

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

Unusually for me, this Sunday puzzle took a long time to finish, and others have subsequently confirmed my view that this was at the hard end of the Virgilius spectrum. I did have particular trouble with 9a and the very sneaky clue of the day that was 21a. Thank you Virgilius for a proper brain workout of a cryptic, my view of which improved as I prepared this review.

Please 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    The PM is perturbed about a fellow on board (8)
SHIPMATE – a fellow sailor (on board [a ship]) is found in an anagram (perturbed) of THE PM IS around A.

9a    I put in short pieces on a page (8)
APHORIST – Even I who normally wouldn’t spot an all-in-one clue if I fell over it managed to see that this was one. Someone who writes short pithy sayings or aphorisms on a piece of paper or page. Put I inside an anagram (pieces) of SHORT and precede it by A and P(age).

10a    After misdirected youth, one becomes artist (4)
DALI – The Spanish surrealist is a reversal of LAD (misdirected [sent backwards] LAD or youth) followed by I (one).

11a    Work in house no resident contributes to (8,4)
VISITORS BOOK –People who are not residents of a house would be VISITORS. Follow this with one of the many definitions of work – BOOK – a book recording the names of persons who have called.

13a    Divert first of two vehicles I had turned round (8)
DISTRACT To divert or draw someone’s attention away from something. T (first letter of Two) , CARTS (vehicles) and I(‘)D turned round or completely reversed.

15a    Material from India, originally, incorporated by musical icon (6)
CALICO – A cotton cloth which originally came from Calicut in India is hidden or incorporated in musiCAL ICOn.

16a    Close main line (4)
SEAL – Here seal means to close up. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred main in a cryptic clue means the SEA; amongst its many other definitions, the L is here the abbreviation for line.

17a    Criticize inadequate service (5)
FAULT – A double definition – a verb meaning to find a flaw in or fault with something; or a stroke in tennis where the player fails to serve the ball properly or into the proper place.

18a    Cold-blooded creature changed temperature (4)
NEWT – If something is changed it could be said to be NEW; follow this with T, the abbreviation for temperature, to get a small cold-blooded amphibian.

20a    Don, for example, follows his lead in club (6)
DRIVER – A golf club used to hit a ball from the tee is obtained by following the first or lead letter of Don with RIVER (the River Don can be found in South Yorkshire when it’s not forming part of a cryptic clue, that is!).

21a    Functions to promote business in bars (8)
PREVENTS – for many people including me this was the last penny-dropping moment of the day. Functions to promote business are P(ublic) R(elations) EVENTS. Run the two together and you get part of a verb meaning to put up a bar or barrier to prevent someone from doing something. Definitely clue of the day for its nice misleading and sneakiness.

23a    Is fed, it’s said, badly — hence this? (12)
DISSATISFIED – an anagram (badly) of IS FED IT’S SAID makes a word meaning how you would feel if you had been fed badly.

26a    Bit of poetry from William Blake (4)
IAMB – An iamb is a metrical foot used in various types of poetry including some by William Blake. The clue instructs that the term can be hidden found in a ‘bit’ of WillIAM Blake.

27a    Clad in silk, playing a piece of music (8)
SONATINA A short sonata. SATIN is a type of silk. ON (playing, in progress, on the stage) is to be clad in or inserted into the SATIN and then followed by A.

28a    Religious sailor’s evil acts at sea (8)
PIRATING – Robbery on the high seas – PI (an adjective meaning obtrusively religious or sanctimonious) and RATING (a sailor)

Down

2d    Principal policy that gets first reading? (8)
HEADLINE – A charade of a principal or HEAD (of a school, perhaps) and LINE (policy). The first thing you would read in a newspaper, for example, would be the HEADLINE.

3d    Coward’s acts soldier survives (7,5)
PRIVATE LIVES – Noel Coward’s famous play in three acts, is a charade of a PRIVATE soldier and LIVES, a verb meaning survives.

4d    Unfortunately, a couple from Kansas are in detached state (6)
ALASKA – The State of Alaska is separate or detached from mainland USA. ALAS (unfortunately) followed by the first couple of letters of KAnsas.

5d    Part of area’s tourist quarter put right on the map (4)
EAST – Maps are always orientated towards the North, so East would be on the right hand side when you hold a map the right way up. It is hidden in or part of arEAS Tourist.

6d    Removal of most locks, as a way to save time (5,3)
SHORT CUT – Having nearly all of your locks of hair cut off, or taking a shorter route or course of action to save time.

7d    A certain amount of mass attack’s ending, as heard on radio (4)
KILO – The NATO phonetic alphabet is used to spell out words on the radio or telephone to ensure they are not misheard. KILO (a unit of mass denoting a thousand times something) is the NATO code for K, the last (ending) letter of attacK.

8d    Maintain watch on second escort (5,3)
STAKE OUT – To keep watch or maintain surveillance on someone. S (second) and TAKE OUT (escort) – Chambers charmingly defines escort as a man who accompanies a woman on an evening out).

12d    Courses carefully weighed in hung parliament? (8,4)
BALANCED DIET – One might weigh courses of a meal carefully in order to obtain a BALANCED DIET, ie a combination of foods necessary for good health. Another word for parliament is a DIET and if no party had a majority of seats, the parliament might be said to be hung or BALANCED equally.

14d    A club that can win if player’s heartless, say? Blast! (5)
TRUMP – A card that ranks higher than any other suit so would take a trick or win a game – clubs and hearts here both referring to suits in a deck of playing cards; or a blast of noise, normally from a trumpet.

16d    Something extra for consumer — channel on alternative to cable (4,4)
SIDE DISH – A supplementary dish as part of a meal. A television channel could be referred to as a SIDE. When I was young, it was quite normal to ask ‘which side is it on?’ when trying to find a particular programme, but then there were only two channels! If you haven’t got cable television installed, you might well have a satellite DISH on the side of your house.

17d    With source of needles, sedate as emergency treatment (5,3)
FIRST AID – a FIR tree has needles as its leaves; STAID (an adjective meaning sedate, steady or sober). Merge the two words and then split them again (5,3) to get immediate treatment of a sick or wounded person before full medical attention arrives.

19d    Exhibitionist’s call to new security personnel (8)
WATCHMEN – an exhibitionist might call out WATCH ME! Follow this with N for New to get WATCHMEN, people who watch or guard a building.

22d    Anger raised about team’s performance-enhancing medication (6)
ELIXIR – Another complete reversal. RILE (anger) with XI inserted (the Roman numerals for eleven, the number of people in a football team) reversed gives an ELIXIR or liquid preparation once supposed to have the power of indefinitely prolonging life.

24d    Act as informer in either part of US prison (4)
SING – SING SING is the maximum security prison in New York State. The first or second word (either part) on its own would mean to turn informer or squeal.

25d    Game with call deciding winner at match point (4)
SNAP – A cryptic definition of the card game where the first person to call SNAP is the winner.

When I had finished solving this crossword, I was reminded of BD’s immortal words ‘just because you can’t solve a puzzle, doesn’t mean it’s horrid’. I was quite grumpy with myself at the struggle I had with this one, but having done the review, it has grown on me a bit, but definitely wasn’t as much fun as the previous week’s puzzle.