ST 2712

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2712

A full review by crypticsue

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

Slightly trickier this time and without a single hidden word (whatever next!) but still the usual fine start to a Sunday morning’s solving.

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

7a           Warm kind of fire that’s a contradiction in terms? (8)
FRIENDLY –   Accidentally firing upon one’s allies rather than the enemy is definitely not friendly and so a contradiction in terms.

9a           Make a recovery without drug, in fact (6)
REALLY –   Insert E (the drug Ecstasy) into RALLY (make a recovery).

10a         Carefully planned operation catching ringleader for part of racket (6)
STRING –   Insert the ‘leader’ of ring into a STING or carefully planned operation.

11a         Close family wrapping son in fur (8)
SEALSKIN –  SEAL (close) S (son) and KIN (close family).

12a         Good ensemble in dance performance, mainly in royal residence (8,6)
BALMORAL CASTLE –   Take nearly all of BALLET (dance performance mainly)  and insert MORAL (good) and CAST (ensemble).

15a         Like Northern people as part of race, you might say (4)
LAPP –   Someone from Lapland sounds (you might say) like a single circuit of a racetrack.

17a         One century after another — that’ll make you feel better (5)
TONIC –     I (one) C (100 in Roman numerals),  ie one century,  follows (after another)  TON (hundred, century)

19a         Love to talk back? That’s fine (4)
OKAY –  O (love) followed by a reversal (back) of YAK (persistent foolish talk).

20a         Put right about wrong I, perhaps, interpreted incorrectly (14)
MISAPPREHENDED –    Insert an anagram (wrong) of  I PERHAPS into MENDED (put right).

23a         Bloomer as second doctor comes in immediately before operation (8)
SNOWDROP –   S (second) NOW (immediately) into which is inserted (comes in)  DR (doctor), and then finished off with OP (operation).

25a         Confused situation produced by strike on base (6)
BEDLAM –   BED (base) and LAM (strike, beat).

27a         Instrument that’s dropped in red wine (6)
CLARET  –   IN is dropped from a musical instrument, the CLARINET.

28a         Maiden spoke and spoke, in barely audible way (8)
MUTTERED –   M (maiden) UTTERED (spoke)

Down

1d           Guitar piece that makes one experience anxiety (4)
FRET –   Part of a guitar or a verb meaning to experience anxiety or worry.

2d           Boundaries set up by male — that’s unfair to females (6)
SEXISM –   A reversal (up in a down clue) of SIXES (scored when the ball goes over the boundary in a game of cricket) followed by M (male).

3d           One positive response, or more than one (4)
AYES –   A  YES (one positive response)  merge to make  AYES  (more than one response in the affirmative)

4d           In time, informer making things wrong in work (6)
ERRATA –   Insert a RAT (informer) into ERA (a period of time).

5d           Loud singer including sequence of songs in high voice (8)
FALSETTO –   F(loud) and ALTO  (singer) with a SET (sequence of songs) inserted.

6d           Unlike readers, the writer will perform repeatedly (10)
ILLITERATE –  Unable to read (and write)  if split 3, 7 would mean that the writer was saying I’ll iterate, or I will say it again

8d           Movement in no hurry to follow left-winger (3-4)
DOG-TROT –  A gentle trot – DOG (follow) and TROT (Trotskyite, left-winger).

13d         Preparing to fight with friend outside, in scary fashion (10)
ALARMINGLY –    Insert ARMING (preparing to fight) into ALLY (friend).

14d         Unsociable type‘s side-splitting joke? (5)
LONER –   Insert ONE ( joke – ‘have you heard the ONE about?’) between the sides L(eft) and R (right).

16d         Weapon the old man has for response to challenge (8)
PASSWORD –   PAS (Pa’s – the old man has) SWORD (weapon) –  one might be challenged to provide a password to pass or enter a military camp.

18d         Company custom to maintain an intimate in-house relationship (7)
COHABIT –   To live together as husband and wife –  CO (company) and HABIT (custom).

21d         Balance I established within political group (6)
PARITY –   I inserted into (established within) PARTY (political group).

22d         New and unusual editor signed agreement (6)
NODDED  –  N (new) ODD (unusual) ED (editor).

24d         Report about mass or ceremony (4)
POMP –  POP (report hear meaning an explosive noise) with M (mass) inserted.

26d         A border that’s said to require attention (4)
AHEM –   Split 1, 3, this interjection used to draw attention to oneself would be A HEM (a border).

Gnomey’s ‘week off’ next week so  I’ll be back then with reviews of a Sunday and a Saturday puzzle.