Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2700

A full review by crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

The usual splendid start to Sunday morning.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.  You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

Across

1a           Challenge over part of form I release to public (10)
DECLASSIFY  –   Insert CLASS (part of form) and I (from the clue) into DEFY (challenge).

6a           Gang    was audibly triumphant (4)
CREW  –   A gang or the past participle of the verb to crow (boast or swagger, be audibly triumphant).

9a           Secretly listen to Western pirate broadcast (7)
WIRETAP –   W (western) followed by an anagram (broadcast) of PIRATE.

10a         Hero of Dickens novel editor distorted (7)
TWISTED –  TWIST (Oliver, the hero  of the Dickens novel) and ED (editor).

12a         Savagery around a king that’s not personally experienced (13)
VICARIOUSNESS –   Insert A (from the clue)and R (Rex, king) into VICIOUSNESS (savagery).

14a         Managed to complete minutes in no particular order (6)
RANDOM  – RAN (managed) DO (complete) and M (minutes).

15a         Go-between one somehow has to admire (8)
MEDIATOR  –   An anagram (somehow) of  TO ADMIRE.

17a         Marine organisms not turned over on board (8)
PLANKTON –   Follow a PLANK or board with a reversal (turned over) of NOT.

19a         Unknown leading African country replaced by good leader in this one (6)
GAMBIA –   Remove the Z (unknown in, eg, algebra) from ZAMBIA and replaced with G (the leader of good).

22a         Check about second work of poet (13)
VERSIFICATION –  Insert S (second) into VERIFICATON  (check).

24a         Backed an aromatic product that’s just coming out (7)
NASCENT –    A reversal (backed) of AN followed by SCENT (aromatic product).

25a         Thoughtful writers I have abridged (7)
PENSIVE –  PENS (writers) plus IVE (I have abridged).

26a         Not quite as depressed, how one can perform (4)
SOLO –   Not quite SO LOw – not quite as depressed!

27a         Source of illumination to secure inside staircase (10)
FLASHLIGHT –   Insert LASH (secure with a rope) inside a FLIGHT (of stairs).

Down

1d           Part of Ireland (see above) (4)
DOWN –   The word just above the clue is also part of Northern Ireland.

2d           Travellers in company in vehicles going round area (7)
CARAVAN –   Insert A (area) between a CAR and a VAN.

3d           Go from nine to five with 50 per cent less effort thus? (13)
ANTICLOCKWISE –   It takes half the time for the hands on a clock to get from 9 to 5 this way round!

4d           Eastern European holding up what’s exemplary (6)
SUPERB –   One of the words used to describe a Virgilius crossword is obtained by putting UP from the clue into a SERB (Eastern European).

5d           Understood grief at home defeat to some extent (8)
FATHOMED –   To some extent is one of the ways  we know that we may find a hidden word, this time in grieF AT HOME Defeat.

7d           Pay more attention, as doctor, to back (7)
RETREAT –  To go back or to receive repeated attention from a doctor.

8d           Extra small page perused, in general (10)
WIDESPREAD –   WIDE (an ‘extra’ in a game of cricket)  S (small) P (page) and READ (perused).

11d         One pair of partners — religious, intelligent, and uplifting (13)
INSPIRATIONAL –   I (one) N S (north and south, two of the pairs of  partners in a game of bridge) PI (religious) RATIONAL (intelligent).

13d         These sources of rumours enrage VIPs misrepresented (10)
GRAPEVINES –  An anagram (misrepresented) of ENRAGE VIPS.

16d         Relating to community in that way, clubs I and others joined (8)
SOCIETAL –  SO (in that way) C (clubs) I (from the clue) and ET AL (a Latin phrase meaning ‘and others’).

18d         Spraying can damage a rose — nothing left (7)
AEROSOL – An anagram (damage) of A ROSE followed by O (nothing) and L (left).

20d         Being inclined to disallow ruler’s financial activity? (7)
BANKING –    To tilt or incline like an aircraft, or the business or services of a bank, might if split 3, 4 mean that one was trying to stop a king from doing something.

21d         Old man’s covering miles in vast plains (6)
PAMPAS –   Insert M (miles) into PAPAS (old man’s).

23d         Recited pieces of poetry, quite an achievement (4)
FEAT  – A homophone of  divisions of a line of poetry – FEET.