Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2637 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Big Dave
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the more difficult 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 submission.
Across
1a Quarrel resulting from formal clause, being oddly selective (6)
This quarrel comes from the odd letters of two words in the clue
25a Crazy lead, for example, taking in North (6)
This adjective meaning crazy is derived by putting the type of material of which lead is an example around N(orth)
Down
1d Novel funeral I miss in Berlin (8)
An anagram (novel) of FUNERAL I gives a young lady (miss) in Berlin or elsewhere in Germany
21d Person who flies a kite as test of audience response (5)
This person who flies, be it a kite or an aeroplane, is also a television or radio programme made to test audience response with a view to the production of a series
More hints can be found in the comments, but this was one of Virgilius’s easier Sunday puzzles.
If you need further help then please ask and I will see what I can do.
As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put whole or partial answers or alternative clues in your comment, else they may be censored!
Today it’s Happy Birthday to Andre Agassi (42), Uma Thurman (42), Michelle Pfeiffer (54) and Daniel Day Lewis (55)
A shining beacon of delight in an extremely wet (nearly one and a half inches of rain in 24 hours) grey, nasty Sunday morning. Thanks once again to Virgilius for a superb start to the day – on the straightforward side but excellent entertainment. And I have the fun of enjoying it twice to do the review, even if everyone will have forgotten all about the crossword by the time the closing date/blog publishing date arrives. Lots of favourites today – I particularly smiled at the relevant wordplay of 12a and 16a.
Mind block, a hint for 12a, 5d, please.
The rest of the puzzle went in with no probs.
12a The rescue craft is one we could do with today. An anagram of made followed by a bird of prey and then the rescue craft gives us an American song bird.
5d an old name for a British solider refers to a proverbial way we might celebrate.
Thanks CS, all is now clear, not helped by misspelling 6d, big fingers small keyboard.
Sky is clearing here, hints of blue in the sky
Now you come to mention it, the sky does appear to be clearing slightly over in your direction. Hopefully it will move over this way too.
I particuarly liked 6d btw.
I thought that 5d was referring to the bit of the clue “applied to town for celebration” – going out and “painting the town pink”. Or maybe that’s what you meant, in which case, sorry!
It is a cryptic definition to get you to the the name for the old soldier – never heard the expression with ‘pink’ before – are things tamer your way?
Yes – I knew the old soldier bit, but was also trying to justify the rest of the clue. Don’t think things are tamer here – but perhaps the first three letters of the answer has been so diluted by all the rain that it’s now pink!
Another fine Sunday puzzle with some cleverly disguised definitions. Favourite clue 15d.
Thanks to Virgilius, and to BD.
Certainly less difficult than what we have come to expect from our Sunday Setter, but still very enjoyable and satisfying, with some nice twists.
Particularly liked 15d. Have I missed something in 24a – I can only think of one word that half fits the clue, but just not 100% sure.
A word relating to court cases (3) with another three letter word meaning an extreme inserted – ‘happening’ doesn’t really mean event here
Fine except for24a: still struggling with that!
Hi salopangel – welcome to the blog.
In 2012 London is the happening place to be!
I have been stuck singing that 1960s song ‘the happening’ by the Supremes ever since I read the clue at 8 o’clock this morning
Clue fits together nicely. Like others I was not convinced by the end result but it’s a generational thing I thing! Finished apart from 11a – sure there’s an obvious answer but currently eluding me!
.. pretend that there is no hyphen!
????? – or see my hint below
Sorry – didn’t see your hint below before I said that. I thought the hyphen was deliberately misleading us so ….
I thought this was fairly straightforward for a Sunday. The only one that stopped me was 24a – had put in what is hinted at above but wasn’t very sure – I suppose “happening” means “in vogue” in this case. Very enjoyable crossword with lots of great clues but, for me anyway, fairly quick to solve – will have to find something else to do now as it’s STILL raining! Favourites include 11 and 16a and 3, 6, 7 …. oh dear, too many down clues to carry on!! With thanks to Virgilius and BD.
Still raining here in Lunnun, I’d rather be in 8a! But it’s always the last little bit…2d and 11a are driving me to drink…
2d if you put the abbreviation for minute inside two words meaning to some extent you get the answer meaning compass or scope. I still can’t help with 11a
11a is a double definition – music-related for the first one – and then pad is an informal term for a dwelling place with the same name as the note.
Thanks. I feel stupid. Had thought about music but not that meaning for pad
It took me a while too
Thanks C and WW.
Please can I have a hint for 16a – thought I had it, but it doesn’t fit with 6d!
It’s made up of a 5 letter word followed by a 7 letter word. First word public or open. Second word is showering or what it is doing today. Result is what Olympic candidates are likely to be doing
A five letter word for public or open followed by a 7 letter word for showering or what the weather is doing today gives you a word for doing to much preperation for excercise
How could two people give such similar hints at precisely the same time without collaboration!
if I hadn’t changed the wording for ‘what the weather is doing today’ it would have been exactly the same, amazing!
Brilliant, both of you – obviously a case of “great minds… etc..” Many thanks – now have it. Will I be censored for saying what I did have? “Overexposure” – I thought it fitted rather nicely!!!
6d – the ‘common’ where the wombles may play tennis??
Not too much of a challenge but enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to V & to BD as per.
Just got back from taking Mrs S to her mother’s up in t’North and the motorways are atrocious. Looks like the Trent is about to burst its banks in Newark.
Having problem getting into comment box again,
Trying again, a two to three star for me today, two fav clues 23a and 6d,
Thanks for hints Dave, though I didn’t need them today
Wonderfuluzzle on this dreadful day. One question, I think I have the right answer to 24a (last one in) but I wonder if someone could explain it.
three letter synonym for extreme inside three letter synonym for hear (as in court) gives you this 6 letter synonym for happening, apparently, though I’ve never heard it used like this!
Surely you remember ‘hip and happening’ in the 1960s. Mind you they do say if you can remember the 1960s, you weren’t there
hip yes, happening – don’t remember that and yes I was there
Thx Mary so it was the right answer!
IS 14 down what makes an old fashioned timepiece tick?
Think more in terms of direction…
The short answer is no but you are on the right track with timepiece.
Finally finished. It doesn’t pay to put in a wrong answer, as I did for 16a as that then meant 18d was wrong as well – I had “pootled” which means unhurriedly and is an anagram of old and poet, so I was quite happy about it!!! Hey ho. Thanks to setter for some fun and BD, Mary & Kath for help.
Apart from the fact that it doesn’t fit with anything else I really like “pootled”!
Right got that but could you offer a hint for 19D – rainy day here in Marbella and need some stimulus to get going
You are looking for a kind of igneous rock made up of two sailors – one of which is going backwards
Got it and that finishes final corner – next thing watch Nadal thrash Ferrer in Barcelona – hope their weather is better than here
A thoroughly entertaining puzzle on a thoroughly lousy day. Thought 15 was brilliant and 1d 12 16 and 25 were not far short. Only poor clue was 24 which did not read right. When are they going to stop hiding the Sunday puzzle in all the throwaway innards?
Another pleasant end of week puzzle from Virgilius.
Liked : 8a, 12a, 22a, 24a, 5d, 9d, 15d & 19d.
Re 14d, models have been made which go the other way round but they are for collectors mainly.
A magnificent collection of normal and odd models is at the Clapham Clock Museum at Whangarei, NZ so if ever you are down under go have a look there.
Another fine puzzle – I was otherwise engaged yesterday so couldn’t make a comment but my thanks to Virgilius and to BD