Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27660 (Hints)
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct a “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Some hints follow.
Across
1a Prior, clergyman that’s outwardly sanctimonious (8)
The three-letter abbreviation for a clergyman with an adjective meaning sanctimonious around it (that’s outwardly)
6a Fawn overturned cooking pot — drag! (6)
The reversal of a cooking pot is followed by a verb meaning to drag
10a Fabric taken from room without hesitation by Illingworth? (8)
Start with a seven-letter word for a room, drop the ER () from the end and then add the first name of Illingworth, the former England cricket captain
11a Charlie Champion anxious to disregard final part as Native American (8)
The letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic alphabet followed by a champion and an adjective meaning anxious or eager without its final letter
13a Indications chap will have craft and skill in shooting (12)
This is a lot easier when the definition has been separated from the wordplay – some indications are followed by a chap and a sailing craft
16a Novel with moving statement, part of good book (3,9)
An adjective meaning novel followed by an anagram (moving) of STATEMENT
21a With Jack collected, dismiss car (8)
A jack or sailor inside a verb meaning to dismiss a batsman who has not made it back to his crease (3,3)
26a You initially see Tom travelling round one national park (8)
The initial letter of Y[ou] followed by an anagram (travelling) of SEE TOM around I (one)
Down
2d Section of band that may have blues accompaniment? (6)
This section of a band can by followed by blues for a music genre
5d I have withdrawn from repeated achievement (7)
Drop the shortened form of “I have” from the end of an adjective meaning repeated or sequential
7d Method of printing internet from TV (3,6)
A simple charade of a three-letter words for the internet, a preposition meaning from or away and another word for a TV
13d It seemed to me Middle English needs to include common elements of ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ (9)
The abbreviation for M(idle) E(nglish) and a verb meaning needs or should around (to include) the letters that are common to “thee” and “thou”
14d A chain found in Italy (9)
… of mountains
17d A memorial of victory wasting away (7)
The A from the clue followed by something awarded for a victory in, say, sport
18d Queen isn’t commonly charming! (6)
QU(een) followed by a common way of saying “isn’t”
22d Bust of old boy set up — some but not all present (5)
The reversal (set up in a down clue) of the abbreviation for O(ld) B(oy) is followed by SOM[e] without its final letter (but not all present)
The Crossword Club is now open.
I’ll be at the village Café and Market until lunchtime.
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The Quick Crossword pun: Spey+slab+oratory=space laboratory
Good morning Dave, nice to ‘see’ you after all this time, wow there seem to be a lot more hints for the prize puzzles now?
I thought this on the easier side for a Saturday puzzle but although completed without the blog I still needed ‘help’ for finding the top RH corner the hardest, once again no real standout favourites today
Good morning, Mary! And good morning to you too, Dave. It’s good to see your re-appearance, Mary, and I agree with you that this was easier than some of the Saturday puzzles. I particularly liked 7d – probably because I saw the solution straight away – and 16a. Mary, we’ve a problem with teams who play in red at the moment and I’m hoping that things may start improving this afternoon…
Hi Cara, nice to see you and nice to be back, as for this afternoon … we can live in hope I suppose …sigh
As I was saying… And to paraphrase what you were saying, Mary, “Hope springs eternal.”
Yaye
even double yaye
Good morning, and….success – My first completion, and all before the offspring has risen.
Admittedly, I needed a clue on 6a, though had worked out what was needed, and I spend a while derailed by trying to work out how to fit Victor Hugo’s most famous works into 16a (it looked right at the time). And a further five minutes wondering where I had gone wrong when I had 17d confused with a similar sounding measure of disorder in a thermodynamic system.
Well done Carlos its a great feeling when you manage to complete your first one isn’t it, must admit it took me quite a while!! I’ve been doing cryptics ( only the telegraph ) for about 5/6 years now I think, Im sure Dave will put me right there because I found this marvelous site just a month or so after I started, I never would have progressed as well without it, it is a testament to Dave and all his merry bloggers that since I ‘joined’ that there are now so many of us, its all good fun and very helpful, I wouldn’t have survived in the cryptic world without it!!!
Heartfelt congrats!! It wasn’t a full week ago that you told us he were just completing your third, amazing, well done. You are an inspiration to all aspiring cruciverbalists!
Brilliant, I told you joining BD’s gang would make a significant difference to your crossword skills. Also it is always nice to read when one of the long term members comes unstuck by doing a silly,
bucks you up no end.
Well done Carlos.
and another well done from me too.
Managed happily in 1-2* time without needing the hints, despite finding the NE corner a bit tricky. Enjoyable end to the week (and a pleasant antidote to the hash I managed to make of yesterday’s). Thanks to BD and the setter.
Thr sun is out this morning and the mist was very pretty over the river early on – both good for our household morale.
Actually completed without help today. A first for a long time. I guess it must be easier than usual! Last in 12a. Favourite 21a which made me chuckle. Thank you Big Dave and the setter.
As usual this was an easy Saturday ride. 6a was last to go in after a d’oh moment. Fav was 18d. Thanks Setter and BD as always. Beautiful warm sunshine in W. Sussex today. **/***.
Beautiful warm sunshine here too, what an incredible day for almost the end of November
Straightforward even for a Saturday, and I see that it is a pangram too.
Thanks to the Mysteron and BD.
Hi Sue, Ah yes forgot to mention the pangram!
Darn, I missed that, forgot to check.
Thanks for pointer I had forgotten about that, the first one I have really been aware of. Probably seen them before but did not realise significance. I love learning something new.
I hadn’t noticed the pangram, when that happens i feel like I’ve let the setter down after all the effort it must take.
nice puzzle, some interesting answers without becoming obscure. The weekend puzzles seem easier to me than the week ones, whereas i had imagined prize crosswords might be a little harder
I liked 6a and 10a – not a cricket fan but it was clear what was needed.
many thanks setter and BD
Really straightforward today, no help needed. It’s a balance between faily easy and really difficult. Hard for the compilers to get it right.
**/****
I don’t always do the Saturday crossword, normally I get The Times, but very glad that I did today. I love a pangram. 10a and 6d held me up for quite a bit.
I’m going to risk the wrath of Kath and say I have two favourites…6d and 13d
Thank you to the setter and to BD for helping me work out why 10a is correct.
Hope everyone enjoys their weekend. I’ve been dress shopping. Never again. Awful way to ruin a perfectly good Saturday. So now I’m going to see what goes into making ‘wassail’ for a party.
Thanks for making me think of Steeleye Span’s “Gower Wassail”.
An excellent start to me finding wassailing songs!
Enjoyed today’s effort, just struggled with 19a and 20d for some reason. Grandson is a mascot for Nottingham Forest this afternoon. His father is more excited than he is I think.
Very enjoyable, just got held up for a bit with 21a. Spent a while trying to get a ××× in it!
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But always nice to get a cricketing clue. Nice to see xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Thx to all
Dear Brian
I don’t know whether you’ve noticed but in addition to the instructions in red that have been at the bottom of the weekend hints for many a long year, we now have to wait for a Big Red Box to disappear. If only you’d read what was contained in the box you wouldn’t have put a whole answer, and more information about it, instead of which I have had to edit you out.
Best wishes
crypticsue
Great end to a reasonably successful week, only used supertoy to check spelling but happy to have got it right. Fave rave 10a mainly because I giggled at the picture. Thanks as always to BD who keeps us reprobates on the straight and narrow, having finished crossword earlier than usual I have only one question – what on earth do I do for the rest of the day?
I can solve your problem of what to do for the rest of the day, Hilary. Just pop over to Oxford and give me a hand with defrosting my Mum’s freezer, raking leaves and stacking logs – now there’s an offer you couldn’t refuse – could you?
Kath, how is your Mum doing? I hope no emergencies recently and she’s keeping in the best health possible. I know she’s bound to have hiccups at her age, but so long as she’s comfortable. Here’s a rose for her:
She’s OK’ish, thanks Merusa. I hardly dare say that we haven’t had any disasters recently – now I’ll have to go and find one of my newly stacked bits of wood to touch. I’ll give her the rose tomorrow – she’ll like it.
Cannot think of anything I would rather do but I think it is rather a long walk and my paws are a bit tired. Also I tend to leave freezers to the OH because he is soooooo much better than I am at things like that. Are we all ready for Miffypops revelation on Monday?
I think Mondays blog is going to be a good one! A Miffypops revelation combined with National Indulgence Day.
Good afternoon all. A very enjoyable Saturday puzzle and because it was so straightforward, I “decided” to make it more difficult for myself by spelling 8d incorrectly, which made 12a impossible. Oh dear… there is no hope for me. Some really nicely constructed clues. 13d was favourite. Many thanks to the setter and, as ever, BD.
Almost regret that there are only 4 toughies a week in the DT. Now that I have finished the back page, I’m left with the GK and the pub quiz. Kate Mepham always starts with a writer which always annoys me. But thanks to the fabulous memory bank of BD’s site I shall do a bit of 7d and print past NTSPP and other rookie corner puzzles to get me going over the weekend. I shall not start either a polemic about 12a despite what we are going through at the moment. there were enough apologies yesterday. Thanks to BD and his great pin up and to the Saturday setter.
I really must go on a crash course to improve my spelling! If I had spelled 14 down correctly in the first place I would have finished a tad sooner. Otherwise a gentle enough solve to complete the week of back page puzzles. I’m never sure who actually sets the Saturday prize crossword puzzles, but thank you to whoever it is.
I have the same problem although not today but I have at least one aberration a week. An enjoyable puzzle so thanks to the setter and BD for the review.
Bet you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
I bet they probably did too, but you’re straying into wrong answer/alternative clue territory so….
I’m mystified – all these long rows of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in several places – can’t work out how these poor souls have sinned. Oh well!
Brian gave the answer and supplementary information. Hilary gave a wrong/alternative hint.
Slightly downcast by this comment as I thought that I was sufficiently cryptic not to tread on fragile toes.
It was very borderline – as it says in red, if in doubt, leave it out! The problem is that if you don’t draw a line somewhere then the blog degenerates into a load of semi-cryptic gobbledegook.
Hi Hilary, do not be downcast, I am guilty as charged of straying and have sat on the naughty step. Luckily there was some lemon drizzle cake to keep me company
Lucky you, I adore LD cake but the OH is a diabetic and cake is not allowed
I agree that this one was pretty straightforward.
My last one in was 21a – always forget that kind of car and try to think of a particular make – yet another thing I’m not very good at.
Having got most of the unusual letters I thought that it might be a pangram – something else I usually forget about. I checked, missed the Z and decided it wasn’t. Oh dear – wrong again.
Needless to say I’d never heard of 7d but it wasn’t too difficult to work out and look up.
I liked 11 and 13a and 1 and 15d. My favourite (just the one, Hanni) was 13d although I’d never met it in the past tense.
With thanks to Mr Ron and to BD.
A straightforward enjoyable puzzle today – 1,5*/4*. I thought 6d was nice. Learnt a new word – managed to get 13d right but had never come across this expression. Since discovering the blog I have really improved my cryptic solving so a big thank you to Big Dave and to all the reviewers. French crowwwords can have cryptic type clues too but they are more like puns. I have now become better at solving English cryptic crosswords than French ones and my greatest morning pleasure is to print the DT cryptic and solve it while sipping my Assam tea! Another grey and uninspiring day in Hyères…
Super Saturday puzzle: translation – I had no problems today and no wringing of hands or tearing hair! Favourite was 13d. I totally missed the pangram and want to kick myself, at least thanks to Sue for pointing it out. Thanks to setter and to BD for review. Have a great weekend all.
Straightforward pangram today but reasonably enjoyable.
Many thanks to Mr. Ron and to BD.
Thanks to the setter and to Big Dave for the hints. I found the bottom half straightforward, but was stuck on the top half. Needed the hints for 2d, brain freeze on my part, and had never heard of 7d. Last in was 12a. Missed the fact that it was a pangram. Favourite was 6a. Very nice puzzle, was 3*/3* for me.
It’s a funny old world I found the top part easy and the bottom hard. I’ve never seen the words in 10a and 13d though they had to be the answers given the clues. This crossword also contained a word that I have never been able to spell confidently, but blog rules prevent me from saying any more. 2*\2* rating from me. Thanks to BD for the excellent hints to confirm my thoughts.
I used electronic help on 2d and hung my head in shame when I realised what the answer was… Was **/*** for me today (had to look up 13d too….). Thanks to BD and setter.
I wouldn’t have got 7d without assistance, I don’t know that word , at least I don’t think I do.I had various versions of 13d until I hit one that fitted. Thanks for the hint.
After.a day clearing leaves this was a nice distraction. Over too quickly though. And for those of you who have not seen it, I recommend the ‘Immitation Game’ film. Excellent and references to WW2 crossword solvers. Thanks to BD and to The Setter.
Too easy! Too easy! Enjoyable though, but over far too soon!
Good revue BD, and what a picture! Miss Mansfield isn’t it?
Anyway, the crossword… 6a was my favourite.
Thanks to Mr Ron and BD.
Hmm, I clearly wasn’t quite tuned in today as I didn’t find it that easy. Or maybe I was just a bit sleepy this morning. After not getting on too well with it over breakfast I decided to leave it until later, which turned out to be much later in the day. With all the household chores to do, plus the England rugby to watch I only picked it up again after Strictly when the rest of the puzzle fell into place.
Thanks to the setter and BD.
Pangram, please explain, am I missing something.
Welcome to the blog Rob
Above where you entered your comment it says “Leave a Reply, but if you are asking a question please check the FAQ first!”. That’s where you will find the answer to your question!
I started so quickly I wished I’d started timing it, sensing a possible record. (Normally I don’t like to look at the clock, because it upsets me!) But after that I hit something of a block and didn’t find this as gentle as some of you did. I needed Mr Kitty’s knowledge to finish 10a, and he also gets credit for 7d. So it was a win for Team Kitty*
.
*code for Kitty needed help to finish – grr!
Thank you setter. An enjoyable puzzle solved in many mini sessions. Thanks CS for the pangram hint – it was most helpful. Thank you BD for the hints – I must confess to having a quick look this morning to get it finished !
I enjoyed 27,660. I only get to embarking on a puzzle the following morning.
This one reasonably straightforward although I struggled with 12A for a short while. Penny dropped when I repelled a rather lazy beebuzzer who had some interest in my marmalade. Bright and sunny morning here BTW.
I’m new here and have a couple of Q’s that the assembled company may be able to answer:
1) are there any stats available for submissions to prize crosswords?
2) if submitting by scan/email what formats are unacceptable. I have read of including space & comma.
Many thanks,
Tobes.