Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2645 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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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.
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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 British settle historical Irish problem (6)
Combine B(ritish) with a verb meaning to settle or land to get this historical Irish problem which affects the potato crop
4a Former partner, told of blame, losing head throughout (3,5)
to get this former partner drop the initial letters (losing head throughout) from three words in the clue
13a Zero silt spread around river — that allows flow under bridge (7)
Start with a two-letter word for zero and then add an anagram (spread) of silt around R(iver) to get a feature of the face cryptically defined as that which allows flow under bridge
15a Dismissal is touching and poignant (8)
To get this dismissal combine a two-letter word meaning touching or concerned with and an adjective meaning poignant
23a He, symbolically, is what gets it off the ground (7)
A cryptic definition of a craft which uses the gas with chemical symbol He
29a Doctor involved in many cases erasing hospital from schedule? (6)
This fictional Doctor was assisted in the solving of many cases – to get his surname start with a schedule (4’1,2) and drop the H(ospital)
Down
1d Shoot a troublesome person in European city (8)
A charade of a shoot on a plant, the A from the clue and a troublesome person gives this European city
5d People from south of US caught, trapped by weird Martian aliens (5,9)
These people, mostly from the south of the US, are derived by putting C(aught) inside (trapped by) an anagram (weird) of MARTIAN ALIENS
9d They support lines in paper followed by some Europeans (9,5)
The definition here is “they support lines” –a newspaper is followed by some Europeans
19d Name of woman I got into male golf club (7)
… the name of the most famous golf club in the world must be expanded as (1,3,1)
22d Standard academic is what? (6)
I loved this one! – a charade of a standard and an academic gives an interjection that means “what did you say”
24d Quickly move married quarters for women (5)
Start with a verb meaning to move quickly and add M(arried) to get these quarters for women in a Muslim house
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!
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Excellent puzzle this morning. Slow to get going but it all falls into place nicely. Fav. and last in 29a. Thanks setter and BD
Judging by the number of hints BD has given and comments from others, am I alone in thinking this was only a smidge more difficult than the usual Virgilius? Either way, it was definitely BPotW again with lots of dots by my favourite clues. And I am the lucky person who gets to look at it all over again for the review. Thanks to Virgilius and BD too.
Harvest time has started in our garden – strawbs and rasps for pud, courgettes, asparagus, broad beans, globe artichokes and the first of this year’s jam making is just on the point of setting. All that and I think the sun might be trying to come out too.
Your garden sounds great – far more productive than ours. So far we’re only picking salad stuff and cucumbers
Enjoyable, took a while to get started lots of good clues, thanks Virgilius and BD
The bottom right took me the longest to crack today. Super stuff – thanks to Virgilius, and to BD
Virgilius at his best! I agree with CS – BPotW.
I thought this was a bit more difficult than the usual Sunday offering.
Initial scan produced only one answer 1d, then the rest began to dawn on me. Very clever and witty clueing
Thanks to Virgilius for my Sunday morning entertainment.
Thanks BD for hints, needed, to explain 4a.
I really liked today’s puzzle – I thought it was on the difficult side and there were several clues that I thought I was NEVER going to get. I’m now only left with 19d which, even having read the hint, I still don’t understand. The only thing I am pretty sure about is that my answer, even though it fits with everything else, is wrong!! I have a woman’s name – think I need to rub it out and think again – I don’t know the name of any golf clubs (places) except one in Scotland and that doesn’t fit!! Oh dear!!
Bottom left corner would have been considerably easier if I hadn’t started off with “balloon” for 23a. Oh dear again!!
I liked 13, 18, 20 and 29a and 1 and 6d. Best of all 29a and 22d.
With thanks to Virgilius and BD.
I started with balloon too!! The name you have in 19d is probably right. I will email you!
Kath, 19d is a woman’s name – so don’t rub it out. Very difficult to expand upon BD’s hint without being banished to the “Naughty Corner”. Letters 4 – 6 in the solution is often replaced by an ampersand!
I couldn’t work out how to do it without being in the Corner so have emailed Kath. There is cake today – eikther cheesy bacon loaf (which isn’t really cake) and a sort of fruity yeast loaf thingy.
Cheesy Bacon Loaf sounds fine! Thanks!
It’s very difficult to provide a hint without breaking the rules – it certainly makes me appreciate the skills involved from BD and his team. Thanks to all!
If you are anywhere near our church fete next Saturday you can come and buy one. I have 12 ready in the freezer to defrost and take to the cake stall.
I think I read something about “Product Placement” in crosswords on Fifteensquared last week! But, this is outrageous! :wink:
Thanks both – I did have the right name but, as I’ve said to Sue, would NEVER have understood the “why” bit on my own!! What would I do without all the great people here? :smile:
I thought the most famous golf club was ***** ** ********, the home of golf so lord knows what this refers too, I haven’t a clue!
You were giving away the answer wholesale – if you have that, it should be possible for you to look up the correct name and then put its abbreviation after the single letter meaning male and I from the clue.
Agreed CS!
Brian, having read your comment (and you having written it!) I fail to see how you cannot build the answer!
Try looking up its actual name and you might be getting close. In particular look at the domain they use for their website.
Got it in the end, missed the fact that it was an abbreviation. Sorry for the breach of etiquette, really didn’t think that was the answer.
Fabulous crossword, thanks to virgilius and to BD for the hints.
Excellent puzzle. Got off to a very slow start but then got up to pace. Favourite clue has to be either 17d or 29a – both of which were the last to go in. Thanks to V & to BD.
I certainly found this harder than usual. The NW and the SE corners held out for a long time but when everything came in I thought that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks to BD and to Virgilius!.
Took a long time, but very enjoyable. Thanks to all involved today.
Far too difficult to be enjoyable for me. Really disliked this one.
Ok finished at last but still don’t enjoy it apart fom the last in which was 20a. Even eventually got the golf answer. Still think it was too tough and needed all the hints to even get going so many thx there.
If I’ve managed it I think it probably isn’t too tough. The only one that I was totally stuck on (had an answer but couldn’t see why) was 19d – and, you being a golfer, obviously knew the golf club. I even, at one stage, wondered if it was a funny name for one of the sticks (clubs) that you use to hit the ball – wrong, again!!
Cracker today, really enjoyed it. 22d made me glad I do these things! Regarding Kath’s comment on 19d: yes, I too had a slight problem there, but when the penny dropped, the first name that came into my head was Carmen; does that put me in the “naughty corner”?
Thanks to BD and Virgilius – brilliant.
The ONLY thing that came into my head was ** ******* – why Carmen?
Carmen ******* was a Portuguese Samba singer, famous in the forties and fifties; also made some films. I think I am showing my age here. I too thought of ** ******* as being the most famous GC.
I removed those words from Brian’s comment so I feel it only fair to do the same to you and Kath too Also it could be see as being too helpful to leave them in.
All FAR too complicated for me to understand – think I DO now understand the “Carmen” bit but don’t quite see how my other “suggestion” could possibly help anyone?
Ah – perhaps have just twigged!! Sorry – it really was a completely innocent comment – didn’t mean to transgress any rules!! :oops:
Excellent mixture of wit, clever construction, penny drops, and the odd gimme to get one going.
Concur.
29a was (among money others) very crafty and clever, I thought.
Thanks Virgilius and BD for the review.
Blogging this at halftime in the Ukraine!
Faves : 14a, 23a, 29a, 5d, 16d & 17d.
Back to the football!