DT 27510

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27510

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

This puzzle was published on Saturday, 7th June 2014

I found this a particularly straightforward offering from the Saturday Mysteron, so was a little surprised to find when I visited the blog, that others had found the top  half of the crossword significantly harder than the bottom.

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           English after morsel of food and pickle (6)
SCRAPE –   E (English) goes after SCRAP(morsel of food).

4a           A small prayer against being recorded in manuscript (6)
MANTIS –   Lovely definition   – ANTI (against)  is put inside (recorded in) MS (manuscript).

8a           Flower appeared to get weak, left to go west (8)
CAMELLIA –   CAME (appeared) followed by a reversal (go west) of AIL (get weak) and L (left)

10a         Clergyman  to look after collection (6)
CURATE –  Double definition – one a noun and the other a verb.

11a         Last  guy to put off (4)
STAY – Triple definition time – To last or continue;   a rope or guy; to put off, delay or hinder.

12a         Four-footed form of vehicle to wobble about (10)
TETRAMETER –   A line of verse of four feet –   Insert a TRAM (vehicle) into TEETER (wobble about).

13a         Area in front of stage where theatric pros will cavort (9,3)
ORCHESTRA PIT –   An anagram (will cavort) of THEATRIC PROS.

16a         Awkward container ship carrying oil over America (12)
CANTANKEROUS –   CAN(container) plus TANKER (ship carrying oil) plus O (over) and US (America).

20a         New stationer having reorganised first is booming (10)
STENTORIAN –   N(ew) preceded by (first) an anagram (reorganised ) of STATIONER.

21a         Criminal group  go for Scots (4)
GANG – Another double definition – the second one being a Scottish verb meaning to go.

22a         Gave approval to letter spelled out in dictionary (6)
OKAYED –   KAY (K spelled out) inserted into the abbreviation for the Oxford English Dictionary.

23a         Emperor gives his refusal to hold a stake (8)
NAPOLEON –   Put A POLE (a stake) into the way this particular Emperor would voice a refusal : NON.

24a         Overnight flight from America carrying communist spy (3-3)
RED-EYE –   RED (communist) and EYE (spy, look at).

25a         Man on board to consider going back round Gibraltar initially (6)
KNIGHT –   A reversal (going back) of THINK (to consider) round the initial letter of Gibraltar.

Down

1d           Breaks for mad fellow on board (8)
SHATTERS –   ‘On board’ in a clue usually means that something is inserted in between the two Ss of SS (steamship).   In this case, it is the mad HATTER.

2d           Eating a lot but shunning starter to get thin (5)
REEDY –   The G at the start of GREEDY is removed (shunning starter).

3d           Biblical judge’s exercises (7)
PILATES – With an apostrophe  between the E and the S,  this would mean belonging to Pontius Pilate.

5d           Bright light shows a king vice (3-4)
ARC-LAMP –   A (from the clue) R (Rex, King) and CLAMP (vice).

6d           People in Twin Peaks a cause of pain (9)
TORMENTOR –   Put some MEN (people) between two lots of TOR (twin peaks).

7d           Group support the chair (6)
SETTEE – SET (group) and TEE (support for a golf ball).

9d           Nasty oriental cat spat (11)
ALTERCATION –   A nasty anagram of ORIENTAL CAT.

14d         Journalist’s note viewed as clichéd (9)
HACKNEYED – HACK (journalist) N (note) EYED (viewed).

15d         Count rat that’s treacherous as one? (8)
TURNCOAT –   An anagram (treacherous) of COUNT RAT.

17d         Signal agreement holding on when sun is hottest (7)
NOONDAY –   Insert ON (holding ON) into NOD (signal) and AY (agreement).

18d         Relative gets doctor in for most important person (7)
KINGPIN –   KIN (relative)GP (doctor)IN (from the clue).

19d         He created a vampire    who feeds a furnace (6)
STOKER –   The surname of the author of probably the most well-known vampire novel Dracula or someone who feeds a furnace with fuel.

21d         Some Caligula gaoled where state’s enemies were held (5)
GULAG –   Hidden in some of CaliGULA Gaoled.