Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27199

A full review by crypticsue

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

Unusually for a Saturday morning, it took me slightly longer to get on the Mysteron’s wavelength, déjà vu notwithstandingl!

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Across

1a           Upper-class power that’s surprising! (6)
PLUMMY – P (power) plus LUMMY  (an  informal interjection expressing surprise or concern, which I always thought ended in E although the BRB informs me that it can end in Y too).

4a           Gummy bears finally located by second year (6)
STICKY –  The last letter (finally)  of bearS, followed by TICK (second) and Y (year).

8a           Manners shown by cabin staff and driver of plane (8)
AIRSCREW –   Another word for the propeller of an aircraft –   AIRS (manners, bearing) and CREW (cabin staff).

10a         Complain about Menace initially in Beano comic (6)
BEMOAN –   Insert an  M (Menace initially) into an anagram (comic) of BEANO.

11a         Youngster left in bed (4)
COLT –   A young horse or a young inexperienced player of sports and games –   Insert L (left) into a COT (bed).

12a         Fur keeps friend out of cold (10)
CHINCHILLA –   CHINA (Cockney rhyming slang for mate, friend)  wraps up  CHILL (cold).

13a         Organise mate with alternative arrangement in this! (6,1,5)
MENAGE A TROIS –   An anagram (alternative) of ORGANISE MATE produces some alternative ‘domestic’ arrangements!

16a         Reserves extra food with group consuming tons (6,6)
SECOND STRING –    SECONDS (extra helpings of good) T (tons)  and RING (group).

20a         Mole takes holiday by lake perhaps (10)
BREAKWATER –  Not a furry animal but a massive breakwater –   BREAK (holiday) and WATER (a lake perhaps).

21a         Meat upsets carnivore’s insides (4)
LOIN –  Reverse the inside letters of that well-known carnivore the LION and you  get  meat from the lower part of an animal’s back.

22a         Cleaner finding nasty smell in surface externally (6)
SPONGE –  Insert a nasty smell or PONG between the outside letters (externally) of  SurfacE.

23a         Pick from menu that choice fowl (8)
NUTHATCH –   Pick from indicates that a type of bird can be found hidden  in some of meNU THAT CHoice.

24a         Take great steps to travel in pursuit of saint (6)
STRIDE  –   RIDE (travel) should be placed after (in pursuit of) ST, the abbreviation for saint.

25a         Run through the limit after one mile (6)
IMPALE –    I (one) M (mile)and PALE (a limit, what can be accepted as decent or tolerable, as in ‘beyond the pale’ – beyond the limits of civilised behaviour)

Down

1d           Ropes in wandering king one’s captured (8)
PRISONER –   An anagram (wandering) of ROPES IN followed by R (Rex, king).

2d           At university, clique was annoying (5)
UPSET –   UP (at university) and SET (clique)

3d           What could become calmer I wonder (7)
MIRACLE –   An anagram (what could become) of CALMER I.

5d           Commodity American explorer brought back to company (7)
TOBACCO  –   A reversal (brought back) of CABOT (the first European to land on the mainland of America) and CO (company).    And the déjà vu?  –  normally I am a fan of recycling, but  having been the blogger for DT 27103 published  on  Saturday 16 February,  I hadn’t forgotten  the Saturday Mysteron’s earlier version of a clue for this commodity –  ‘Early explorer of America brought back to company – this?’ 

6d           Soviet official finds person of merit with girl in vehicle (9)
COMMISSAR –  Insert into CAR (vehicle)  OM (the initials put after the name of someone awarded the Order of Merit) and MISS (girl).

7d           You formerly could get a railway annual (6)
YEARLY  – YE (the archaic (formerly) way of saying You) A (from the clue) and RLY (the abbreviation for railway).

9d           One who famously thrived on turning wicket scoring century (11)
WHITTINGTON –  The poor boy who famously turned round and went back to London and made his fortune (thrived on turning) –  W (wicket) HITTING (scoring) TON (an informal way of referring to 100, a century).

14d         One keeps dry — beats rain storms (9)
ABSTAINER –  An anagram (storms) of BEATS RAIN.

15d         Go round space with enchanting woman, about fifty (8)
ENCIRCLE –  There are two printer’s ‘spaces’ which are as useful to crossword setters as they are to printers.   Here we need an EN (a measurement equal to half an em – really obvious when you look at m and n!).   Follow the EN with CIRCE into which a L is inserted (about fifty, L being the Roman numeral for 50).   (Circe was a sorceress in Greek mythology who enchanted the companions of Ulysses and turned them into swine)

17d         Neat supervisor cooked chowder (7)
COWHERD –  Someone who looks after cattle (neat being an archaic term for an ox, cow, bull etc) is an anagram (cooked) of CHOWDER.

18d         Play guitar having a time in bed (7)
STRATUM – A bed or layer of rock –   Insert A (from the clue) and T (time) into STRUM (play guitar).

19d         Blunders may secure first in Oxford and Cambridge course (6)
TRIPOS –   Insert O (the first letter of Oxford) into TRIPS (blunders) to get any of the honours examinations for the Bachelor  of Arts degree at Cambridge.

21d         American inhabitant putting up a shopping complex (5)
LLAMA –   A reversal  (putting up) of A (from the clue) and MALL (shopping complex).