Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27648
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***– Enjoyment ***
This puzzle was published on Saturday, 15th November 2014
I seem to solve Saturday puzzles differently to most commenters – last week I found the puzzle really straightforward and this week it took me much longer than usual to solve the crossword, although looking at it now, I have no idea why.
As for who set it – I’m going to go for a Saturday Mysteron, based on, amongst other things, noticing that there are only two anagrams (and Cephas usually gives us more) and seven double-definitions which doesn’t seem very Cephas-like either.
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 Room in which cleaner accepts award (7)
CHAMBER – CHAR (cleaner) accepts MBE (award).
5a Extreme cold getting into kind of tyre (7)
RADICAL – C (cold) inserted into a RADIAL tyre.
9a Respond to encore? (5)
REACT – Split 2, 3 you might perform an encore.
10a Rising costs in Apartment No.1 overturned … (9)
INFLATION – IN (from the clue) FLAT (apartment) and a reversal (overturned) of NO I.
11a … but a move to a houseboat would help one stay thus (5,5)
ABOVE WATER – A cryptic definition of a home on a river.
12a Fiddle involving reversible coats (4)
SCAM is a reversal of MACS (coats).
14a Pipe officer (12)
CHURCHWARDEN – Can be both a type of pipe and an elected officer of a church congregation.
18a Industrial group needs answer to puncture awful recent gloom (12)
CONGLOMERATE – Insert A (needs A[nswer] to punctuate) an awful anagram of RECENT GLOOM.
21a Blockhead, to cheat officer! (4)
DOLT – Split 2, 2 – DO (cheat) and LT (lieutenant, officer).
22a Broomstick? (10)
WITCHCRAFT – Split the solution 5, 5 and you’ll understand my favourite clue this Saturday.
25a Maltreat said girl with title (9)
MISHANDLE – MIS (a homophone – said – of MISS, girl) and HANDLE (title).
26a Remember this language? The French can (5)
LATIN – LA (the French female form of the) and TIN (can).
27a Sack supermarket worker (7)
CASHIER – A verb meaning to dismiss from a post or someone who works on a supermarket till.
28a Flipping routine — A, B, C and so on — that’s for the birds (7)
TURKEYS – A reversal (flipping)of RUT (routine)and KEYS (musical keys such as A B and C).
Down
1d Grain that’s planted before in California (6)
CEREAL – ERE (before) planted in CAL (California).
2d Warrior that runs a long way (6)
AMAZON – A female warrior or a very long river.
3d Stronger beer, mate? (6,4)
BETTER HALF – BETTER (stronger) and HALF (a quantity of beer).
4d Woman consumes ace Indian dish (5)
RAITA – RITA (woman) ‘consumes’ A (ace). Steve the Beard suggested (and was edited out because he was giving an alternative clue) that ‘Educated’ could have been added as the first word of the clue. This clue, and variations of it, are such ‘old friends’, that I don’t think it needed any additional words at all.
5d Second course, perhaps, that will revive you (9)
REFRESHER – A second course of training or something that will revive you.
6d Cleric advanced, entering room (4)
DEAN – A (advanced) inserted into (entering) DEN (room).
7d Agree company will get part that’s covered in broadcast (8)
COINCIDE – CO (company) IN CIDE which sounds like (in broadcast) IN SIDE or part that’s covered.
8d Ointment ruined linen mitt almost entirely (8)
LINIMENT is an anagram (ruined) of almost all of LINEN MITt.
13d Finicky individual (10)
PARTICULAR – And another double definition clue – finicky or fussy and/or specific (individual).
15d Book rest? (9)
REMAINDER – And another (I’m starting to sound like Brian now!) The residue of an edition of a book when the sales have fallen off; or that which remains or is left behind.
16d Media mingling in a cricket club — presenting ‘The Don‘? (8)
ACADEMIC – A CC (a cricket club) with an anagram (mingling) of MEDIA inserted.
17d Studies breakdowns (8)
ANALYSES – The sixth double definition – part of a verb meaning studies or the plural of the results of breakdowns of the results of such studies.
19d Knight maybe put on half of little cloak (6)
MANTLE – MAN (knight is one of the ‘men’ found on a chess board) and TLE (the second half of LITTLE).
20d Arrests? They’ll attract attention (6)
STUNTS – DD No 7… Arrests or prevents from growing; or something done to attract attention.
23d Split Conservative and Labour? (5)
CLEFT – C (Conservative) and LEFT (Labour).
24d Army cricket team’s vehicle (4)
TAXI – TA (the no-longer active Territorial Army, its members are now part of the Army Reserve) and XI (the Roman numeral for eleven, the number of people in a cricket team.