DT 26845 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 26845

by Gazza  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26845

Hints and tips by Gazza

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

There’s a shortage of religious references today but otherwise it’s a fairly typical Giovanni puzzle (which means that the wordplay is impeccable). Let us know how you coped with it.
To reveal an answer drag your cursor through the spaces between the brackets under the clue; if you are viewing the log on a mobile device then there’s some help on how to do this in the FAQ section.

Across Clues

6a  Rain, snow, hail? Hurry! (13)
{PRECIPITATION} – double definition – the first three words are examples of this and it also means hurry or haste.

8a  Plant a cairn untidily (6)
{ARNICA} – an anagram (untidily) of A CAIRN is a plant, a preparation from which is used medicinally to treat bruises.

9a  Produce energy that’s half wasted in fireplace (8)
{GENERATE} – a verb meaning to produce or provoke comes from inserting half of the word energy in a fireplace.

10a  Grandmother who can be got around (3)
{NAN} – … because she’s a palindrome.

11a  Name of a square youngster affecting upper-class attitudes (6)
{SLOANE} – the name of a London square which is now used to describe a fashionable young person of independent means who has, or adopts, upper-class attitudes.

12a  Beyond rule with riot spreading (8)
{ULTERIOR} – an anagram (spreading) of RULE and RIOT gives us an adjective meaning beyond what is apparent (often applied to a motive).

14a  Guy may be kept in place by this (4,3)
{TENT PEG} – cryptic definition of something used to secure temporary living quarters.

16a  Unfortunately philosopher has no time for one like Palin (7)
{ALASKAN} – not Michael but Sarah. A description of someone like her (based on where she lives) comes from a synonym for unfortunately followed by the surname of a German philosopher without his final T(ime).

20a  Don’t allow wastage of jam (8)
{CONSERVE} – double definition.

23a  Unfriendly father at the front of old hovel (6)
{FROSTY} – this is an adjective meaning unfriendly or standoffish. Start with an abbreviation for father (in the religious rather than biological sense) and add O(ld) and a hovel or dirty place.

24a  One voting in favour indeed (3)
{AYE} – double definition – someone voting for a motion (especially in the House of Commons) also means, as an adverb, yes or indeed. This is really two different parts of speech for the same thing.

25a  Gill’s one pause for rest (8)
{BREATHER} – in the surface the ‘S stands for ‘has’ but for the first of the double definitions here we need to read the first bit of the clue as “gill is one” where gill is the fishy equivalent of a lung.

26a  Relish added to artist’s stew (6)
{RAGOUT} – a word, from French, meaning relish or taste (its second appearance this week following Tuesday’s Toughie) follows the usual abbreviation for artist to make a highly seasoned stew.

27a  What DIYer must do to accommodate rabbit — don’t hang about! (4,1,3,3,2)
{MAKE A RUN FOR IT} – cryptically what you might have to do if you unexpectedly found yourself owning a pet rabbit is actually a phrase meaning to scarper (don’t hang about).

Down Clues

1d  The fellow needing rest, worker reluctant to get going (8)
{HESITANT} – a charade of a male pronoun, a verb to rest or take the weight off one’s feet and a hard-working social insect makes an adjective meaning indecisive or reluctant to get going.

2d  From an Italian city, motorway leading to roads east (8)
{MILANESE} – this is an adjective describing someone or something from a Northern Italian city. The London-Leeds motorway is followed by narrow roads and E(ast).

3d  Flier, enthusiast that can go round and round, up or down (4,3)
{WING NUT} – separately these words mean a) something that flies (as part of a bird or plane, say) and b) a person who is excessively enthusiastic about something. Together they are a fastening mechanism that can be turned by use of finger and thumb. That takes care of the “round and round” and I presume that “up or down” caters for the situation where the bolt is vertically mounted.

4d  Mineral store almost completed on time (6)
{GARNET} – a verb meaning to gather and store loses its final R (almost completed), then add T(ime) to make a mineral.

5d  Red-top offering faithful representation! (6)
{MIRROR} – the name of a national red-top daily paper is something that’s not supposed to lie (unless you go into one of those sideshows at a fairground).

6d  Roll a large map out — it’s very unlikely to be square (13)
{PARALLELOGRAM} – an anagram (out) of ROLL A LARGE MAP produces a four-sided figure (which may or may not be a square).

7d  Naturalist not working for heritage organisation (8,5)
{NATIONAL TRUST} – this heritage organisation is an anagram (working) of NATURALIST NOT.

13d  Age of Cockney goddess (3)
{ERA} – a top Greek goddess (partner of Zeus) loses her initial H (in the way of Cockney speech) to leave an age or epoch.

15d  Writer producing short piece of verse (3)
{POE} – an name of an American short-story writer whose works explored the macabre and grotesque is a piece of verse without its final M (short).

17d  Prisoner at back of boat? This may help if he goes overboard! (4,4)
{LIFE RAFT} – this is a charade of a long-term prisoner and a nautical description of the stern of a boat. The result is something for use in an emergency at sea.

18d  Cleaners who may cadge things off others? (8)
{SPONGERS} – double definition.

19d  Paddington’s welcoming gesture? (4,3)
{BEAR HUG} – Paddington is not Brunel’s London terminus but the fictional creature who was found there, having been sent from Peru.

21d  Old Bob doesn’t have casual trousers (6)
{SLACKS} – the abbreviation for the coin that that was known as a bob prior to 1971 is followed by a verb meaning doesn’t have to make casual trousers.

22d  The woman served up awful tea put in the microwave again? (6)
{REHEAT} – a feminine pronoun is reversed (served up, in a down clue) and followed by an anagram (awful) of TEA to make a verb meaning to warm up once more (which you might do in a microwave oven).

My top clues today were 27a, 19d and 21d. Tell us yours.

Today’s Quickie Pun: {CALLED} + {HEARER} = {CALDERA}

50 comments on “DT 26845”

  1. An enjoyable puzzle to end the week. Thanks to Giovanni, and to gazza for the review.
    Favourite clue – 21d

    The toughie today I thought was most enjoyable, and not overly difficult either.

  2. I would have given this 2* difficulty but for the time it took for the penny to drop for 11a – and back in the 1970s I worked near there too!! Once again my favourites are the same as Gazza’s (great minds…. :) ) – thanks to him for the blog and to Giovanni for the crossword.

    The Toughie has the most appropriate clue in 16d given the ‘where is today’s online puzzle’ mix up. It is tough and it helps if you know some of the words withn Have a go and then have a look at Tilsit’s hints later if you are stuck.

  3. Fantastic puzzle. For me today’s was the best of the week. Started with the four long words all very good clues. The bottom half went in quickly. Slowed down towards the top left. And struggled with 11a. Too many good clues to mention. 2* and 5*+ for enjoyment from me. Many thanks.

  4. I must have been on the right wavelength today as this was probably my fastest ever solve. The great joy was the quality of the clues. Beautifully written and much humour. Such a contrast to yesterday. So many good ones but for me 6, 7 & 21 were particular highlights.

    Many thanks for a great crossword and review.

    A good weekend to all.

    W

  5. Quite surprised at your 3* difficulty as I found this quite straight forward.
    19d, 5d,14a my favourites.
    Thanks to Giovanni for a really enjoyable puzzle and to BD for the review.

    Lovely day here in sunny Kent, the garden beckons.

    1. The clouds are gathering in the east, though, so I don’t suppose we will escape a shower or two.

  6. Thank goodness for todays puzzle, where almost all the surface readings made sense, I enjoyed this one, with my favourites being 5d, 25a, 27a and 22d, a three star for me today as I had to perservate for quite a while on some of them, particularly 25a!! spelling 6d with the double ‘L’ in the wrong place didn’t help!

      1. I’m with you on this one. 27a made me smile the most probably. If 1* represents an easy puzzle and 5* the most difficult I think this has to be about in the middle. (about the right level for me). I would say it was not 2* more difficult than the last two days -But I can’t argue too much with the 3* today.
        Anyway this should not detract from a very clever and enjoyable puzzle.

  8. Really good puzzle – I enjoyed it very much. 11a took me ages and so did the second bit of 19d – was trying to use the apostrophe from the clue so assumed that the second word began with an S. That was a tad on the dim side! I was also slow with 16a because I was thinking of the wrong Palin! I’ve never realised that 12a means “beyond” – have always thought that it implied something a bit “underhand”. I had to check the spelling of 6d as I KNOW that is one of the ones I can’t do! My favourites include 27a and 19 and 21d. With thanks to Giovanni and gazza.

    Re the toughie – is it worth having a look? I can’t remember ever seeing this setter’s name before so I really don’t know what to expect.

    1. Kath,
      The Toughie is very enjoyable and not too difficult (less than normal Friday level, I’d say) so have a go.

      1. gazza – re the toughie, I looked for a NINA, but all I could find was the setter telling us of his painful affliction! :)

    2. Hi Kath – I thought today’s toughie was excellent. Tricky in places, but great fun. Most definitely worth a look.

    3. Thanks Jezza and gazza – will probably have a go a bit later on – weather not looking too hopeful here so will feel justified in trying another crossword.

  9. A really good puzzle today. The four long words provided a great starting point and the rest followed – apart from 11a which was last in for me. Not sure why because it was really quite obvious but there you go. Thanks to G&G.

  10. As always on a Friday, a straight forward old fashioned cryptic with well defined clues; none of the modern dreadful taking odd letters from words and miing them up. Keep up the good work, Giovanni! I wish more of the compilers did too!

    1. Completely agree. This was the best of the week IMHO. I can only assume it must be very hard to consistently set such elegant clues and I am full of admiration and gratitude for our best compilers of whom the Don must be at or near the top of the list.

  11. Yet another wonderful offering from The Don, but not one of his hardest. Really enjoyed 27A and 17D.

    Must go out now, wife’s car has broken down so I have to pretend I know about engineering.

  12. As always my favourite puzzle of the week – thanks to G and G – enjoyable puzzle and excellent review. I agree with you Gazza on favourites but there were several others which were good as well. I started to put perpendicular in for 6d but couldn’t make it work so quickly changed it. Yes I mix between across and down if I get a long word in – such as 6a. Going to do quickie and may even look at Toughie since it sounds more readily solvable.

  13. ***/***,would have been**/*** but for 11a which took me as long as the rest put together!The key was getting the outside’square early, as it always is with this grid,which has become rare of late;solved the ‘palin ‘clue when i’d got the ‘las’ letters,never heard of the german philosopher-thanks Gazza-there was a physisist with a similar name who invented a famous dust tube never forgotton by A level students! Friday indian and beer approaching.

  14. I found this much easier than the previous 3 days’ supposedly easy puzzles! Like Beaver, 11a was last in for me with a prompt from Gazza, so thanks to him and to Giovanni for a confidence restoring puzzle.

    1. The thought did cross my mind, but the title of the picture does have her name in it.

  16. Don’t ask me why, but I found this to be the easiest of the week, and therefore the most enjoyable, with the exception of 11a it would have been my quickest ever finish. Cheers Gazza and thanks Gio for ending my week on a high.

    1. Yes an enjoyable puzzle, possibly because it was set at the right level, but mainly because of the word play.

  17. Usual excellent Friday offering which I found far easier than yesterday’s which I have still to finish.

  18. That was fun! I’ll confess to a bit of ‘googling’ – 4d is a word I recognise, but minerals clearly not a strong point for me. Like others, 11a last to go in. A clever clue as I spent ages trying to find all sorts of tricky word play that was never there. I might sneak a peek at the Toughie to see what the big boys and girls get up to.

  19. Isn’t it odd that so many people have had trouble with 11a – my last one in too and didn’t think that I was going to get it – it’s probably one of the simpler clues. I suppose it just demonstrates the art of crossword setting.

    1. 11a was one of my last too. It is because it is a double definition clue, there are no bits and pieces of wordplay for you to build on. It is made even more difficult because the first letter is unchecked.

  20. Having got the 4 x 13-spacers quite quickly, the rest fell into place with little trouble.
    I must admit to confusing ease with enjoyment, and at first thought the puzzle was a bit “ordinary”.
    Re-reading the clues revealed that we indeed have another impeccable creation by one of The Masters.
    Thanks to he & G.

  21. Played golf this morning (dodging 6a) then came home to find the Missus had done 90% of the Xword. Left me with the dreaded 11a. I did get it (one of my nieces is very sloaney). And the last to go in was 4d. Nice crossword. 27a and 17d favourites. Thanks G&G. Agree with ***/***

  22. Lovely puzzle and I think **/*** for me. Second last one in was 11a and I confess to looking up “squares” in the dictionary but the last one in for me was 5d as I didn’t want to find out it was anything to do with the colour of my hair(maybe I should say the colour it was)!!! Us gingers do get some stick!
    Thanks to the two G’s and many thanks to BD for giving this dinosaur the info on the accents yesterday. :smile: :smile:

  24. I surprised myself by enjoying this, which is unusual for a Friday. Like others, stuck on 11a. I thought that an 11a was someone who was upperclass and probably dim and self-centred, rather than someone pretending to be upperclass (wasn’t Lady Di, before becoming Princess Diana, often called one?). Thanks for the blog and puzzle.

  25. Thanks to the two G’s. A good puzzle most enjoyable. Got the four 13 letter clues first, then all the rest fell into place except for 4d, which I had to look up. Favourite 16a. Very showery in Central London.

    1. Back to sun in East Kent now. Big hailstorm while driving down M20 to funeral ‘reception’. I know we need the rain but it would be nice if it either rained all the time, rather than this do I need my mac/umbrella do I just need a cardi stuff.

      1. I agree about the weather – either rain ALL day, do some good and make us realise that we can give up outside and do crosswords all day – or rain at night and let us be outside in the daytime!! This ******* about with torrential downpours that last two minutes is driving me mad!!

  26. Had to wait for the rain to stop before collecting the DT this evening – got it just before closing time.
    Enjoyable fare from The Don as usual.
    Aside from the outer square of 13-letter jobs, I liked 11a, 16a, 25a, 3d, 17d & 19d.

    Fish and chips tonight – always on Tuesday & Friday – with a drop of rosé from The Var.

  27. Pretty normal stuff from the Don as has become expected on a Friday – amusing in places but always impeccable wordplay :smile: Why are his Pasquale puzzles in the Grauniad so much trickier?

    Many thanks to the two G’s.

  28. I think that the clue for 11a is wrong, in that it should be “effecting” and not “affecting”

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