DT 27372

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27372

A full review by gnomethang

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

Afternoon All! A double birthday celebration means I am a bit late with the blog!. I found this a very enjoyable prize puzzle from (I think) Cephas.

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

1 Open space for said hall of justice (9)
FORECOURT – A charade of FORE (A homophone, said, of ‘for’) and COURT, a hall of justice.

6 Live band’s opening work is jazz (5)
BEBOP – BE for live/exist then the opening letter in B(and) and finally OP, the abbreviation of the Latin Opus for a musical work.

9 Old iron, say (7)
EXPRESS – Nice and succinct. EX for old and PRESS for IRON.

10 Emphasise hair streak (9)
Two definitions.

11 Set of teeth producing inane chatter (7)
RATCHET – An anagram (inane) of CHATTER.

12 Oarsman catches lake fish that’s smoked (7)
BLOATER – An oarsman might cryptically be referred to as a BOATER. Insert L for Lake.

13 Last place to catch a plane? (7,8)
AIRPORT TERMINAL – A nice cryptic definition exploiting the final meaning of ‘terminal’

17 Sort of 12’s not a crustacean (7)
LOBSTER – Start with BLOATER, the answer to 12a, add the ‘S from the clue and then remove (not) A. Finally make an anagram (sort) of the resulting BLO(a)TERS.

19 Orphan Tommy’s part is non-existent (7)
PHANTOM – Hidden in (part of) the first two words.

22 Hours pub is open? It’s determined by the passage of the sun (5,4)
LOCAL-TIME – A cryptic definition plus definition – the pub being the local.

23 One may be dropped in error (7)
CLANGER – A nice cryptic definition – q.v. ‘Drop a Clanger’.

24 Puzzle of engineers going by public transport (5)
REBUS – R.E., the abbreviation of the Royal Engineers followed by BUS.

25 A British composer, one on the wagon (9)
ABSTAINER – A charade of A from the clue, B for British then Sir John STAINER – a composer.

Down

1 Tentative proposal makes sense with cockney girl (6)
FEELER – FEEL for the sense of touch then ‘ER, how a cockney might say ‘her’

2 One writes about drink (8)
REPORTER – RE for about/Reference then PORTER – a stout beer.

3 Grasp small volume in French, going to church (6)
CLENCH – A charade of the abbreviation CL for Centilitre/small volume, then EN (French for in) and finally Church.

4 Result of firing into the air? (6)
UPSHOT – Another concise cryptic definition.

5 Material, it can be felt (8)
TANGIBLE – A good double definition (or possibly definition plus cryptic def) exploiting the fact that felt is also a material.

6 Dancehall sweeper hoovers in everything (8)
BALLROOMS – Simply place ALL  (everything) inside (hovered up by) BROOM for sweeper.

7 Move tons of money allocated (6)
BUDGET – A verb meaning to move or shift followed by T(ons)

8 Old examination of shepherds (8)
PASTORAL – PAST for old and ORAL as a kind of examination. Note the adjectival definition includes ‘of’.

13 Signal no doubts (3-5)
AL-CLEAR – A definition plus cryptic definition. If one has no uncertainties then ALL is CLEAR.

14 Win easily but not in form (8)
OUTCLASS – A charade of OUT (not in) and CLASS (a synonym of form in school)

15 Wrong to get unwell with a Mexican cake (8)
TORTILLA – A wrong is a TORT in legal jargon. Add ILL (unwell) and finally A from the clue.

16 Gas, neon has grit mixed with it (8)
NITROGEN – Make an anagram of both NEON and GRIT, the former being mixed with the latter.

18 In alibi, car-bomber’s stashed acid (6)
BICARB – An acid salt is hidden in (stashed in) the 2^nd to 4^th words.

19 Summary not quite correct (6)
PRECIS – All but the last letter in PRECIS(e) or not quite all of a synonym for correct.

20 Al Pacino’s last three characters get knocked off over a yarn (6)
ALPACA – Remove (knock off) the last 3 letters in AL PAC(ino) then add A from the clue. The wool and the animal/

21 Note: pair of kings ranks double (6)

MIRROR – MI – the third note in the tonic sol-fa scale then two instances of R (Rex/king) and finally OR, the abbreviation of Other Ranks.

Thanks to the setter for a fun puzzle. I’ll see you all in a week or so.