ST 2593

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2593

A full review by Crypticsue

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

Thank you once again to Virgilius for the usual splendid Sunday challenge,  which didn’t take me long to solve but was, as we have come to expect,  very enjoyable.   My favourite clue,  13a,  is worth 5* on its own.   I also really liked the linking of the down clues 1 and 22; 2 and 19; 6 and 16;  and 7 and 21.

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           Informal eating-places including hot ribs (6)

CHAFFS –  To get part of a verb meaning ribs, teases or banters, insert H for hot into CAFFS (a slang term for a café).

4a           Unusually dense gas in far from fresh condition (8)

AGEDNESS – An anagram (unusually) of DENSE GAS produces a noun meaning ‘the condition of being aged’.

10a         Cold wind loaded tree with snow, right? (9)

NORWESTER – A strong wind from the northwest is an anagram (loaded) of TREE, SNOW and R.  In the non-crossword world, this would have an apostrophe and be NOR’WESTER.

11a         Woods for hunting animal (5)

TIGER –  A double definition – a big cat that hunts, or the Christian name of a famous golfer.

12a         Kind of number that has a point? Claimed otherwise (7)

DECIMAL –  An anagram (otherwise) of CLAIMED produces an adjective meaning numbered by tens, the point separating the number and the decimal fraction.

13a         Person having no faith in what he is told (7)

ATHEIST –   Lots of us liked the work of art that was the brilliant semi all-in-one which naturally had to be  my Clue of the Day:  Someone having no faith in the existence of God is hidden in whAT HE IS Told.

14a         ‘angouts for some family members (5)

AUNTS  –   Copying the clue and removing the H from HAUNTS (hangouts and haunts are places frequently visited) leaves the family members who are the sisters of your mum or dad.

15a         Articles about bishop with vice — strong drink (8)

ABSINTHE – A bitter, green, aniseed-flavoured liqueur is a charade of A and THE (articles) into which (about) B for Bishop and SIN (vice)  have been inserted.

18a         Disappear from cave, seen going astray (8)

EVANESCE – A verb meaning to disappear or vanish is an anagram (going astray) of CAVE SEEN.

20a         Author’s extra line inserted in middle (5)

WILDE –  One for the cricketers –   The surname of Oscar WILDE is obtained by doing as the clue instructs and  inserting L (line) into the middle of a WIDE (a extra run awarded by the cricket umpire when the ball is judged to be out of the reach of the batsman)

23a         Fellow from Exeter or Lincoln, perhaps, or citizen of central England (7)

OXONIAN –  A double definition – someone who has studied at the Oxford Colleges of Exeter or Lincoln or perhaps someone who lives in Oxfordshire, in the central region of England.

25a         Calls to account, with usual adjustment in method of paying (5,2)

HAULS UP – A phrasal verb meaning calls to account is an anagram (adjustment) of USUAL inserted (in) HP (Hire Purchase, a method of paying by instalments).

26a         Dance around controversy, ultimately cautious (5)

LEERY – A cheeky comma placement from Virgilius  – An adjective meaning cautious or wary is a reversal of  REEL (a lively dance) and followed by  Y (ultimately indicating the use of the last letter of controversY).

27a         Endlessly merry, one of us ignoring fine? That’s not right (9)

ERRONEOUS – An adjective meaning wrong or mistaken –   The middle three letters of (M)ERR(Y) (endlessly merry) followed by ONE O(F) and US (the clue tells you to ignore, ie omit, F for fine).

28a         Unable to settle balance? Not so (8)

RESTLESS – An adjective meaning never still, or unable to relax.   The question mark and Not so suggest that something in two parts,  where the smaller part or REST was LESS, would, of course, not balance.

29a         Built or demolished, say (6)

RAISED –  say indicates a homophone here  – RAISED (built up) sounds like  RAZED (demolished).

Down

1d           A North American I’d put up in old part of Middle East (8)

CANADIAN – Someone from North America is created by reversing (up in a down clue)  ID and inserting it into CANAAN (the ancient promised land of the Israelites).

2d           Continental type having day, in short, in a jail (7)

AFRICAN – someone from the African Continent.    A and CAN (slang term for a jail) into which is inserted FRI (day in short).

3d           Member of secret society altered forenames (9)

FREEMASON – A member of a secret fraternity is an anagram (altered) of FORENAMES.

5d           European who works with crook that often helps police (6,8)

GERMAN SHEPHERD – A charade of  GERMAN  and SHEPHERD (someone who often uses a crook in his work) makes a type of dog used by many police forces to assist their daily activities.

6d           Wife gets tax cut, leading to check (5)

DUTCH – A Cockney slang expression for wife –  DUT(y) (tax, cut or shortened) and CH (an abbreviation for check in the game of chess).

7d           Like man at home in castle, as we speak (7)

ENGLISH – A phrase (as we speak) says that an ENGLISHman’s home is his castle, which used to mean that you were safe from bailiffs etc, but this apparently is no longer the case.

8d           Layers visible in stone a sailor turned over (6)

STRATA – Layers of rock – ST (abbreviation for stone) followed by a reversal (turned over) of A and TAR (sailor).

9d           Bad intentions, alas, found in some poetry (7,7)

ITALIAN SONNETS – an anagram (bad) of INTENTIONS ALAS – these were love poems written by Petrarch amongst others.

16d         Coin freshly minted in Pacific island (3,6)

NEW GUINEA – a NEW or freshly minted GUINEA (a coin worth £1.05) is also the name of a Pacific island.

17d         Detested daughter observed eclipsing son (8)

DESPISED – A synonym for detested – D (daughter)  ESPIED (observed) with S inserted (eclipsing Son).

19d         Flowers I used in very old services needing to be redone (7)

VIOLETS – a flower of the genus Viola –  V (very) I (the clue tells you to put the I from the clue in between very and old) O (old) and LETS (serves  in tennis which have been obstructed by the net and need to be replayed).

21d         Doubtless, on Sunday, taking central part in religious readings (7)

LESSONS – Portions of scripture used in Sunday church services are hidden in (taking central part) of doubtLESS ON Sunday

22d         Everyone in bar held up for money in various currencies (6)

DOLLAR –  Insert ALL (everyone) into ROD (bar) and then reverse (up in a down clue) to get a standard monetary unit in many countries.

24d         Poem put in order, apart from opening lines (5)

IDYLL – a short pictorial poem, usually on pastoral subjects – remove the first letter (apart from opening) from (T)IDY (put in order) and add L and L (abbreviation for line(s)).

I do like it when it’s my turn to review Virgilius – superb crosswords which  I get to enjoy twice over.   I have marked my favourites in blue and the linked clues in a nice purple.   See you next week for more Sunday fun.