Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27109 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Crossword Club
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Today I hope you will all join me in congratulating Sarah Hayes – better known in Crosswordland as Arachne, the Spider Lady – on her wedding today in Manchester to her partner Nick and in wishing the happy couple all the best for the future. Watch out for a special NTSPP puzzle at noon!
Sarah & Nick
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided 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 submissions.
Across
1a Go to pieces as rent’s increased (5,2)
A charade of a rent or split and a word meaning increased
12a Creator of a ramshackle hut finished with gold (6)
The A from the clue followed by an anagram (ramshackle) of HUT and the heraldic term for gold
13a Escape outpouring that follows passing of coach perhaps (10)
A charade of a verb meaning to escape or evade and an outpouring
24a Count governed in a daze (6)
A verb meaning to count followed by one meaning governed or ruled
25a Told of French beginning to take Scottish isle, suffering complete reverse (8)
A charade of the French for “of”, the initial letter (beginning) of Take and a Scottish isle all reversed (suffering complete reverse)
29a Film expert standing in front of gallery (7)
This transparent film on which information can be displayed by an overhead projector is a charade of an expert followed by a famous London art gallery
Down
2d Reject belief in bird losing weight then adding weight (8)
Drop the initial W(eight) from a small British bird and add an avoirdupois weight
4d Mark’s after articles from France and Germany, getting stress (10)
Put a mark after the French and German definite articles to get a way of stressing an answer (just like this one!)
8d Bid of £100 raised by end (2-5)
A bit tricky if you have never played bridge, this bid is derived by reversing (raised) a slang word for £100 and following it with an end or rear
17d Incline to fail, interrupting scholarship perhaps (8)
To get this incline or slope, put a verb meaning to fail or perish inside a scholarship
18d Part of shoe damaged — it’s a blow (8)
A charade of the part of a shoe above the sole and welt and a word meaning damaged or lacerated gives this boxing term
20d Player putting key in a lock (7)
This player or thespian is derived by putting a musical key inside the A from the clue and a lock of hair
26d Otherwise gripped by Handel’s ‘Esther’ (4)
Hidden (gripped by) inside the clue
The Crossword Club is now open. Feel free to leave comments. I’ll be at the Village Café & Market until lunchtime – I’m looking forward to my cup of tea and slice of delicious cake for just £1.50!
Please don’t put whole or partial answers or alternative clues in your comment, else they may be censored!
The Quick crossword pun: {Kiel}+ {lea}+ {Mann}+ {Jarrow} = {Kilimanjaro}
Morning Dave, took a while to get into this but once I got going I was fine all except for 8d which I can’t see? I have the answer to 21a but don’t quite understand it?
A three star for me today as I am stuck on one, fav clue today 6d, once again I needed ‘help from my friends’ nothing new there then
Just seen your hint for 8d thanks
My sentiments entirely, Mary, because I’d completed the puzzle quite easily except for 8d and I’ve now got the answer thanks to Dave’s hint. I’ll also echo your good wishes to Sarah and Nick, without making the predictable comment which has been supplied by Collywobbles below. I expect Wales to win in Rome but there’s an intriguing clash in prospect at Twickenham later because the earth will move when Tuilagi and Bastareaud collide…
I hope Wales win Cara but I’m not convinced
Cara, it depends which French team gets off the bus. Wales for the other match
I got stuck on 8d as well and needed hint … And I used to play bridge! How dumb can you get.
The usual two letter abbreviation for the monarch’s big guns, followed by the abbreviation for pint. At least, that’s my rationale.
Should the 21a clue not be pint and not pints
Really enjoyable. Thanks BD for the hints, as I was floundering over 25a, & so the last two clues fell into place. Many thanks to setter too.
And I forgot to join in sending very best wishes to Sarah and Nick. Having seen an absolutely superb production of The Vortex last night, Mr P and I came away rather sorrowful about the audience’s reaction, as they seemed to either miss or not understand a sizeable part of the well-crafted dialogue… And that set me thinking how much of our rich language and vocabulary is being eroded so rapidly. So heartfelt cheers to all our wondrous Setters & Hinters who encourage us to keep our language alive, recalled, and re-visited. Thank you all, as well as to this brilliant site
Nicely said Poppy and my congrats to the happy couple too
Well said! I thought the other day that crosswords should be part of education as putting in the wrong spelling for a homophone can have consequences. “Chatting” online with a telephone tech, I think in the Philippines, he typed “bare with me” meaning be patient, which prompted me to respond that I am not about to “bare” with him or anyone else at my age.
Had a fairly good week on the crosswords.
This one took a little getting into, but resolved itself nicely
.
Thanks for the hints, not needed, even for 8d, surprising,given my encyclopaedic ignorance of that subject.
Great fun, thanks to the setter.
Another bitterly cold day in Kent with snowflakes swirling around. Ideal day for regrouting the bathroom…I am told.
I found today’s quite straight forward except for 8d which took me a while then I had the ‘doh!’ moment
Congrats to the the Happy Couple – the Spider Lady is one of my favourite setters!
Hope it’s a great day.
Now off to the market to tackle this one in the Town Square over a coffee or two :smile:.
Best wishes to the happy couple and may they never have crosswords
Not being a bridge player it took a while to fathom out 8d even though I knew the slang for £100, what a clever clue. Remainder fitted in quite nicely helped of course by the anagrams. **/**** rating for me. Also like the pun in the Quickie today.
Thanx to Compiler and to BD for his (partial) hints/review.
The iPad version had ? for £ … but I guessed the symbol was a pound sign.
I could do with some help on 10a which I then hop will allow me to complete 3d and 1a across despite BDs’ hint
The defensive stance is used in fencing. Once again, living where you do should help!! It is an anagram of GRANDEE
Many thanks CS but I live in l’Herault although the other place is nearby
Silly boy – this is the second week running that expressions in the language you must have to use on a daily basis have appeared in the Saturday Prize Puzzle.
Back from the Rugby. I don’t use this phrase to the French, I try to get on with them. Can you give me a nudge with 3d
3d – A latin abbreviation meaning ‘about’, is followed by a word that has the same meaning as ‘flogging’/ or whipping, to give the definition to the clue, ‘in conflict’
Thanks Jezza
You might need to now!
An anagram of GRANDEE? You’ve a lot to choose from – DERANGE, ENRAGED, GRENADE, as well as today’s answer.
Wales did OK, as did Man U, so now for England – could turn out to be a good day!
I suppose a GRENADE could be used as a defensive stance but…!
Anyone want to talk about anything other than rugby??
.. we’re doing pretty well in the track cycling.
That’s what I am supposed to be watching now! Craig MacLean (in the studio with Jonathan Edwads) is my friends daughters partner. I knew there was something I was supposed to be doing other than crosswords (just for a change
)….
Queen Victoria may have retired but didn’t Princess Becky do good?
Yes, the Welsh girl was brilliant, and Laura Trott’s going for another gold tomorrow.
Sorry, thought she was British. Don’t start me on this subject.
Well done England
Is it alright for me to suggest a fencing term?
Well I did.. so…. I am off to make a sponge cake once I have finished tidying up my NTSPP review – so we can enjoy cake together in the corner if we are sent there
That would definitely soften the blow, if it falls!
I think you are both safe on that point
Collywobs 1a you need a term for go to pieces as in losing ones mind, 3d the definition is ‘in conflict’ you need the one letter abbreviation for about followed by a 7 letter word for flogging
Thanks Mary. Now back to the other match
Guess who I want to win
England
No!!!!
but they did anyway
This all went along quite smoothly today, with a bit of help. I don’t play bridge either, but worked out 8d from the across letters. Don’t understand what 3d has to do with conflict and felt that the coat at 19d was wearing Romeo rather than the other way around, but apart from these quibbles I enjoyed it.
Many thanks to the setter and Big Dave, and all good wishes to Sarah and Nick. Now I must go and collect small grandson and frazzled parents from the hospital. Nothing too serious, thank goodness!
Hi Franny for 3d if you are this you are in conflict with someone
How dim can I get! I had 1a wrong, which gave me quite a different word for 3d — hence my confusion.
For 19d – if you’re wearing something then it goes around you.
Hi Franny the way I read it is that Romeo is wearing ‘go missing’ to give us a glossy coat
Mary, what do you mean by wearing ‘go missing’
She means that a word meaning go missing is put outside Romeo – so he is wearing it, just as you might be wearing a coat if you put it on outside your indoor clothes.
Thanks CS, I’m still trying to puzzle it out. Do you think that the French scrum half (Para) should have been taken off, otherwise they might have won
i add my congrats. to Nick and Sarah and wish you all happiness. A nice crossword with some clever clues like 4, 16 and 24 to mention a few, thanks to setter and hinter.
Thank you setter and BD – enjoyable puzzle with no new words for me for a change ! Best wishes to Sarah & Nick – it has started to snow here 12 miles N of Manchester – a white wedding ?
Greatly enjoyed this. I was going to comment that 8 d was a bit tricky but I see that BD beat me to it.
Confidence restored! For the first time this week it hasn’t been a battle – I’m sure others will think that it’s too straightforward for a prize puzzle but I’m not complaining and neither am I complaining about the fairly high anagram count – I like them.
It took me a while to work out why 8d was what it had to be. Having alternate letters in 16a it looked such an unlikely word that I just thought “Don’t be silly, Kath, something HAS to be wrong” but then saw it fairly quickly. They were the only two that caused me any grief.
I thought there were lots of good clues and I enjoyed doing it very much. Favourites include 15, 16 and 29a and 2, 3, 6 and 7d.
With thanks to Mr Ron and BD.
VERY cold and snowing, but not in a very convincing way.
Husband’s birthday so family coming home later on for the rest of the weekend – I love it when they’re all here.
Have a lovely weekend, Kath.
Thanks – we will!
A gentle puzzle over all too quickly, but I did enjoy it while it lasted. I kept wanting to reverse the ‘expert’ in 29a, but I suppose that ‘standing’ in that sense would only work if it had been a down clue.
Thanks to setter, and to BD.
Got stuck on two easy ones 24A and 8D having never played the game,thanks for the hints I’m now off to the pub.
Enjoyed this one, although it didn’t get done in the square due to very heavy rain! Had to go inside a bar instead. Sun’s come back now though!
Favourite was 8d with 16a a close second.
Thanks to setter and BD.
Have just printed out the NTSPP. Before I get completely hung up on this dare I ask who Enigmatist is – ie does he have other names? If it’s who I think it might be I could be better employed doing some cooking – or even sticking a bag over my head!
Still snowing . . .
Vlad the Impaler.
Thanks pommers – I thought it probably was – really can’t do them. Might just see if I can get one answer later on but will probably settle for doing some cooking now!
Enigmatist is the name that Elgar uses for puzzles published in the Guardian, and Sarah sets her puzzles as Arachne in the same newspaper.
Thank you. Isn’t he also Nimrod somewhere? I vaguely remember an NTSPP that was by Nimrod and I couldn’t do get a single answer – I’m think someone said then that it was another of his names but I could very easily be wrong.
You can get more info here:
http://bestforpuzzles.com/people/h.html#John-Henderson
I’ve had a quick look at it but on first run through I can only do 2!
Once you have identified the theme behind the answers that lack definition, it does get bit easier.
I agree with Big Dave – it soon becomes very clear what it’s all about.
As they can’t even entertain the thought of today’s NTSPP, people who have given up Elgar etc puzzles for Lent (or possibly longer) may be amused by today’s Paul in the Guardian. People who have done the NTSPP can enjoy it too!
I think I’m probably in the ‘possibly longer’ camp but, depending on when everyone gets here, I might have just a little peep later on.
The Paul is excellent and he’s also in the FT today as Mudd but I haven’t got around to that one yet
Had a look at the NTSPP and . . . not too difficult but I haven’t changed my opinion.
You seen the weather in Rome? The Welsh team will feel quite at home
Good win by Wales. First time I can remember a commentator having to be subbed during a match.
Yes me too
Now for the other match, three guesses who I want to win this one
England
That’s two guesses now collywobs and both wrong
Really enjoyed the crossword today…..despite having to wait for Mr Laney to deliver it to my sick bed (only a virus courtesy of grandsons!)….as always huge thanks to the setter and BD. I needed help with 8d but it shames me to say I am stuck on 21a! I’m blaming the ague but would welcome a hint. Thank you.
The artillerymen feature a lot in crosswords – well the two letter abbreviation for their regiment does. Follow those two letters with an abbreviation for pint and you should get ‘carried away’ or entranced.
Hope you feel better soon.
The reason I didnt quite understand 21a was because I thought that was the abbreviation for pint singular and not pints as it says in the clue, however on looking up the said abbreviation I see it can be either
We pick up a lots of ‘bugs’ curtesy of our grandchildren! hope you’re better soon
Having finally had a chance to sit down and read all the bits of the paper, I found a wonderful article celebrating the fact that Matt has been amusing us with his cartoons for 25 years! Doesn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself. Many congratulations to him.
I’ll second that!
Started off sprinting with this one and suddenly got bogged down. It didn’t help that I put “tears **” for 1a but 2d showed me the error of my ways, having “tears” stuck in my mind, it took ages to get it. Then 8d was a complete mystery as I wanted to fit CL in there somehow and was not familiar with slang word. Best wishes to happy couple and thanks to all involved in today’s puzzle
Last clue for me. 8d – I got the last part but then did not know how the first part fitted in. Thanks. Finished the crossword in front of the TV watching the Proteas enforcing the follow on. Still balmy weather here in the Southern Hemisphere whilst my son in the UK went to play golf in the snow!
Some well constructed cles today but nothing that held me up for too long so over quite quickly. The Saturday ones have settled into a slow to start but quick to complete style for me recently.
I completed this all bar one earlier this afternoon and resorted to Dad for an explanation of 8d and had not looked at the hints or comments until just now.
I convinced myself that 18d was an anagram of ‘it’s a blow’ which held me up for a while but resolved that and enjoyed the whole thing.
Thanks as ever to BD for the hints which are as always great and to the setter too.
Congratulations to Sarah and Nick, a wedding day is very special, I hope you have enjoyed it.
Late solving this one as was occupied with other tasks.
Faves : 13a, 16a, 28a, 29a, 2d, 4d, 8d & 19d.
Waiting for dishwasher to finish then off to bed!
last one , any assistance gratefully received, 19d,.Congratulations to Arachne,whom I appreciate especially when she does the Quiptic, and her intended, even though I have never met them . When two people find love , I am very happy for them.
19d Glossy coat to go missing, worn by Romeo (7)
A verb meaning to go missing or disappear contains the letter that Romeo is used for in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet.
thank you ,Gazza.
I was a little surprised that Big Dave didn’t have a Van Morrison clip from Moondance for 13a.I am ,unfortunately , unable to do it myself.
Not an artist that I know anything about since he left Them.
amazing ! I think the track is called “in the ********** of your love” and astrel Weeks has to be one of the best albums of all times.
I don’t know why you have censored me, given that your clue has been very abbrieviated.
I mean seriously, the hint has been removed , and the answer remains and I’m clipped ? o.k. so you don’t like Van the Man, we differ.
Last corner for me was SW. Enjoyed 19d when I got it which enabled me to answer 25a. On right lines for that and got the Scottish Isle when I had the first (last) letter. Sad to say 20d defeated me. I resorted to the hint and then kicked myself! I was looking for something much more obscure with ‘ist’ at the end. Thanks setter, Save and all for comments which I enjoy. Not my favourite crossword but happily we are all different!
An enjoyable Saturday puzzle with a few that held me up. THanks to the setter and to BD for the hints.
Many congratulations to Sarah and Nick.
SOme enjoyable rugby results yesterday as well.
Thanks to the setter and to Big Dave for the hints. I found this very tricky, needed the hint for 8d and had to use the blog for 19d,couldn’t see that one for ages. All finished now.