Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27463
Hints and tips by Miffypops
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
At four am with a thick head this fine puzzle came to a complete halt halfway through hence the three star difficulty. Reviewing it at nine am, I can see no difficulty at all. Note to self – drink less on Sunday.
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 Seat of unusual charm and appearance (8)
{ARMCHAIR} Anagram (unusual) of CHARM) with a noun meaning an impression or quality of somebody or something
6a Those vanquished by the Spanish heading east as a precaution (2,4)
{IN CASE} take the plural of the fifteenth century South American empire and add the heading E(ast)
9a One of four on the fiddle (6)
{STRING} A fiddle or violin has four of these as does a double bass or a bass guitar. A normal guitar has six and a piano has eighty eight.
10a Vessel on a shark trip (5,3)
{NOAH’S ARK} A pretty little anagram (trip) of ON A SHARK will give you a biblical boat and it’s builder.
11a Sunny reflection in a dark hour? (8)
{MOONBEAM} A perfect cryptic description of a reflection of sunlight from our nearest neighbour
12a Relation puts us in the money (6)
{COUSIN} A close relation made from putting US from the clue inside a metallic piece of currency
13a Refuse to work and get off? Blimey! (6,1,5)
{STRIKE A LIGHT} Split 6,6 we have a word popular in the seventies amongst the car factory workers and another word meaning to disembark from a boat. Split 6,1,5 as in the clue we have an expression of surprise, dismay or alarm.
16a It shows the priorities for strikers (7,5)
{BATTING ORDER} Here is one for Kath. The strikers here are cricketers and this is the list in which they take their turn.
19a Cable from ship to shore (6)
{HAWSER} The rope which is used to attach a boat to its mooring
21a Small creature with aggressive rearing (8)
{SCORPION} An eight legged creature with a sting in its tail.
3a Senior nurse seen around at home — that’s ominous (8)
{SINISTER} Not a Matron but a nurse in charge of a ward with our usual suspect for “home” inserted.
24a Makes better repairs following direction (6)
{EMENDS} One of the points of the compass followed by a verb meaning to repair
5a Information on the German male or female (6)
{GENDER} One’s sex. Another usual suspect for information followed by the German word for “the”
26a Rose might arrange a date with men (8)
{EMANATED} Anagram (arrange) of A DATE with MEN
Down
2d Moderation seen, lacking fashion allowance (6)
{RATION} If we lose the four letter word meaning fashion from the word MODERATION in the clue we are left with an allowance. …
3d Gormless mountain dog! (5)
{CAIRN} …. And similarly if we lose the word GORM from a singular mountain in one of Scotland’s mountain ranges we are left with a breed of dog
4d Fishermen do it with club support (5,4)
{ANGLE IRON} A metal support comprising a verb meaning to fish with rod and line and a golf club
5d Went crazy — managed all right after morning (3,4)
{RAN AMOK} A clever charade split 3,2,2 . A regular crossword hint for managed which is also the past tense of RUN. A two letter term for morning or anti meridian followed by a two letter term meaning all right should give you what a bull might have done in a china shop.
6d Numberless Visa account for a patriarch (5)
{ISAAC} Remove the Roman numeral for five from the word (V)isa and add the two letter abbreviation for account to get the only son of Abraham and Sarah. The answer is also hidden in the clue but that is not the wordplay.
7d French dresser Tom Cruise ordered (9)
{COSTUMIER} Anagram (ordered) of TOM CRUISE
8d Neat and honest (8)
{STRAIGHT} A double definition and as usual from our Monday maestro a very good one.
13d Pleased to have met (9)
{SATISFIED} Another very clever double definition. The first being contented and the second being to have met the expectations needs or desires of someone.
14d Dead Roman, possibly, or mythical Greek (9)
{ANDROMEDA} The daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. An anagram (possibly) of DEAD ROMAN
15d Arsenal making a weekly result? (8)
{MAGAZINE} A detachable cartridge containing ammunition or a periodical publication
17d Watch and obey (7)
{OBSERVE} Another double definition the first being to notice or to perceive something
18d It’s looped around a dog (6)
{POODLE} A ridiculously groomed dog. An anagram (around) of LOOPED
20d Up and down, round and round it goes (5)
{ROTOR} A palindrome (up and down) A rotary part of a machine.
22d Religious work that is accepted by school liaison group (5)
{PIETÀ} A representation of The Virgin Mary mourning the dead body of Jesus Christ. The abbreviation for Parent-Teacher Association around the Latin abbreviation for “that is”
Blogged to the lovely voice and words of Joni Mitchell. “Oh you’re a mean old devil but I like you”.
The Quick crossword pun: (nigh} + {tin} + {gale} = {nightingale}
Almost a write-in today, but still very enjoyable. 2D made me chortle so has to be my favourite of the day, 16A was my last in despite being a cricket nut
Religion, cricket AND golf today, I can envisage some complaints coming in
No real problems but an enjoyable start to the week. Thanks to Rufus and to Miffypops for the review.
1.5*/4*. Another delight from our Monday maestro, which was untaxing but nevertheless very enjoyable.
My favourite was 3d with 13a, 6d (my last one in) and 20d worthy of special mention.
Many thanks to Rufus and to MP.
Thank you Rufus, one of your easier puzzles, but with what we thought was a hilarious clue at 3d ! Good fun. Thank you MP for your review and hints. If you had a bad headache, you must have had a great time – works in inverse proportions !
Lovely stuff , although I never got the second word in 4d. Favourite anagrams are 18d and 10a.Favourite non- anagram 17d.Thanks Miffypops ,especially for the explanation of 22d, and Rufus for a great start to the week.
So Miffypops, is it 2* or 3* now that you are sober?
I always appreciate the splendid Monday puzzle but because it’s a quick solve it leaves a lot of unfilled commuting time.. Maybe we should campaign for a Monday Toughie?
Welcome to the blog Happy days
Your wish has come true already – please see my new Monday feature “Rookie Corner”.
Good little puzzle this. Particularly liked 21A I had to ponder a while over 11A but once 2D and 3D were in it became obvious. I would rate this as 2.5*/3* Thanks for your efforts, Miffypops : I enjoy your blogs as much as the puzzles.
Three *?
Practically a read and write in for me.
Nevertheless enjoyable, some chuckles on the way eg 21a and 3d.
Many thanks Rufus and Miffypops for the review.
A pleasant start to the week completed comfortably before lights out last night – so * or **/***. Favourites would have to be 13a and 16a. Thanks to Rufus and to MP for the usual tasteful and reasonable in quantity pictures – but, where was the possessive apostrophe in the enumeration of 10a (especially after the article and quiz on grammar in the DT last week)?
Everyone, including me ,seemed to enjoy today’s puzzle and am going for a 2.5*/3* just to be awkward ! thanks to Miffypops for the hints I thought 2D must be toleration minus the tole for some reason, dId’nt spot the obvious and took a while for the d’oh moment to arrive for 3d-lovely clue Thanks Rufus.
I really enjoyed this one today, which took me a while to finish off. I liked 10a.
Many thanks to Rufus, and to Miffypops.
Very straightforward but enjoyable nonetheless. Struggled with 22d, not come across this before but Mrs B is home and got it.
Did like 16a but then I like all cricketing clues
Sorry forgot my manners, thanks to all
to anyone who does Herculis on Monday- Istanbul has overnight become the capital of Turkey!!
Thought I was going mad…….
Order is restored. Lovely */**** start to the week. Still slightly sore from Saturday’s stinker. Many thanks to Rufus and to Miffypops for the usual excellent review.
I agree on Saturday’s being a stinker. Only just over half completed so far, and avoiding looking at the hints but I may have to cave in on that.
Definitely */**** for me, thanks to Rufus and Miffypops.
I was held up by knowledge gaps (4, 16) and my reluctance to enter the correct answers for 19 and 21 on the grounds that they didn’t seem cryptic.
Took longer than normal because I was wrestling around for “better” solutions.
OK, but not my favourite…
Thx anyway.
Probably 2* difficulty and 3* for enjoyment from me today.
It took me ages to understand the ‘Gormless’ bit of 3d – how dim can I possibly get?
I was slow with the first word of 16a – as predicted by Miffypops.
I’ve never heard of 22d or, if I have met it before, I’ve forgotten about it.
The other one that took me a while to get was 21a for no obvious reason.
I liked 10 and 13a (one of my Dad’s expressions) and 18d. My favourite, eventually, was 3d.
With thanks to Rufus and Miffypops.
Off to the garden via Rookie Corner.
I have spent my entire life believing said mountain range ended with Gorn NOT Gorm. How stupid is that , hence needing a hint – D’OH and double D’OH
It’s odd how you can get hold of the wrong end of the stick and not be put right for years. It was only fairly recently that I realised that the spit of land in the Humber estuary was called Spurn Point and not Sperm Point.
My Dad was fond of 13a as well. The most famous Pietà is in St. Peter’s and is illustrated by M’pops.
A Michaelangelo and mighty fine it is too.
A fun cakewalk and was sorry when it ended. Many thanks Rufus and also Miffypops who may perhaps not be in big demand today? Liked 13a, 3d, 5d and 18d and several others. **/****.
Enjoyed every part of this puzzle and had no problems, but, then, I am on wavelength with Rufus. By far and away, my fave is 3d, last one in 21a. Thanks Rufus for the fun and M’pops for the usual entertaining review.
Lovely puzzle, not exactly a cakewalk for me .iIt took me a long time to get the first word of 16a and I was up in arms in defence of the cairn ,when I laughed out loud as I was saying to my husband “why is a cairn gormless? ” Very clever and has to be my favourite clue. Thanks to Rufus & Miffypops. Miffypops, I was sorry to hear about Sharon’s Mum. I was away at the time but gathered the news from comments since then. Pleasant give her my condolences.
Thank you Anniedrum and all else who left messages. It was sudden and it has been a tough fortnight. Obviously the kitchen project went straight onto the HOLD list.
Hi, thanks for the clues,
(Clue 9a)
A piano has more than 88 strings because 2/3s of the notes has 3 strings to a note. so it would approximately be 203 strings.
just for your information
Welcome to the blog Martin.
You are right Martin. A grand piano has 230 strings. Well spotted. It is a good clue which made me smile
Other than my ignorance in a lifelong misspelling of 3D which threw me utterly usual lovely crossword by Rufus and a witty review by MP
13a was the one that we picked out as our favourite in what we thought was a well crafted Monday puzzle. Luckily one of us knew enough about dogs and mountains for 3d to not be a problem. Good fun.
Thanks Rufus and Miffypops.
After a week away enjoying the delights of Brugge, beer and chocs, not necessarily in that order, I was pleased to be able to complete this without much trouble. Top half was a write -in, bottom half took longer. Never heard of 22d.
Living in the shadow of the national park 2d was a joy!
Thanks to Rufus and Miffypops.
Thanks to Rufus & to Miffypops for the review and hints. I must be in the minority today, found it very difficult . Was 4*/3* for me. Quite enjoyable , but very educational . Had never heard of 22d or of 3d as a dog. Needed a few hints. Think I’ve got a blind spot when it comes to a Rufus puzzle.
Thanks for commenting. I hit a wall on this one but a couple of clues let me in and it all fell into place. My daughter lives in London. Her name is Rosie. Do you know her?
Not Rosie Lea?
I agree with all those who found this a bit of a breeze, and those who thought 3d was a splendid clue. Thanks to Rufus for welcoming me back from the boat with a gentle start to the week. And good to see MP on good form after recent sad events. 2*/3* for me. PS couldn’t say so at the time, as no online coverage on the boat, but I also thought Saturday was the hardest we’ve seen for a long time. I t was Sunday lunchtime before I finally struggled across the line.
I was able to complete this most enjoyable puzzle without any trouble although my husband helped me with 16a as I am not good with cricket terminology. Liked 21a. For me ../… Thanks to Rufus and Miiffypops. Let’s have a go at Tuesday’s now!
Straightforward today except for 19a, as not being a nautical man I had no idea what the cable attaching a ship was called so this really was unguessable. Favourite clue was 13a.
Got round to it late last night and enjoyed as managed it fairly quickly ( ie for me) . Looking for nice clues to include in a quiz I am putting together so the tom cruise answer was perfect .
http://aboutus.lego.com/en-gb/news-room/2012/june/guiness-world-record-to-the-lego-group/
That should give you a good quiz question
Great question , what a surprise .
Thoroughly enjoyed this one and as a fairly new arrival to the joys of cryptic am pleased to report my most successful puzzle yet…only 4 answers evaded me.
Welcome to the blog Jen.
Well done Jan. They should get easier with experience and this site will help no end. Please ask if you are not sure about anything. We are a gentle group and nobody will ridicule you. I try to blog the answers so most can be solved by what I write but I do like “hints and tips” to be just that, aids to the solving of the clue. Welcome aboard.