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).