ST 2777

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2777

A full review by crypticsue

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

This puzzle was published on Sunday, 4th January 2015

 

I like Sundays for lots of reasons –  an important one being that you know you are going to get a wonderful puzzle to solve, full of inventiveness and d’oh moments, and this one was no exception.

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Across

1a           Part of destructive plague in particular place and time (6)
LOCUST –   LOCUS (particular place) plus T (time).

4a           In which one can relax over some pints? (5,3)
WATER BED –   A splendid d’oh moment when I realized what the cryptic definition was on about!

10a         Accordingly, like legal practice, or one who works in it (9)
SOLICITOR –   SO (accordingly) LICIT (like legal practice) and OR (from the clue).

11a         Court official as hard-hearted employer (5)
USHER –   USER (employer)  with H (hard) inserted into its ‘heart’.

12a         Recollected recipes with accuracy (7)
PRECISE –   An anagram (recollected) of RECIPES.

13a         It could be Arles? No, another French city (7)
ORLEANS –   An anagram (it could be) of ARLES NO.

14a         Demonstrated, somehow, smooth fabric (5)
SATIN –   Split 3, 2, you get another way of saying demonstrated.

15a         Dine out with minimal cash in Paris? That’s not appropriate (8)
INDECENT –   An anagram (out) of DINE and a CENT (the smallest part of a Euro [so minimal cash], used in France as currency).

18a         What’s illuminating, naturally, in paper, and easy to pick up (8)
SUNLIGHT –   SUN (daily newspaper) and LIGHT (easy to pick up).

20a         Soldiers with guns following leaders in African capital city, as it is (5)
ACCRA –   The capital of the African country of Ghana –   The RA (Royal Artillery, soldiers with guns) follow the ‘leaders’ of African Capital City.

23a         Wife in top hat, replacing husband, that runs along bank (7)
TOWPATH –   Insert W (wife) into TOPHAT and then move the H – replacing Husband – once, that is, you see that the ‘instruction’ actually means ‘re placing’ or putting somewhere else.

25a         New form of propane, in theory (2,5)
ON PAPER –   An anagram (new form of) PROPANE.

26a         Manner of playing piano, say,  that’s off pitch (5)
TOUCH –   A musical term meaning to play an instrument, eg a piano; a description of a rugby ball that has touched the ground behind the try-line (which is then off the rugby pitch).

27a         Gardener’s wife right in front of area for putting kind of shrub (9)
EVERGREEN – EVE (the first gardener’s wife – brilliant!) R (right) and GREEN (area of a golf course used for putting).

28a         What’s embraced by the don is mindless pursuit of pleasure (8)
HEDONISM – The first of today’s hidden words is ‘embraced’ by tHE DON IS Mindless.

29a         Garment for upper body — or lower (6)
JERSEY –   A jumper or a type of cow (lower).

Down

1d           Endure letters giving indication it’s time to retire (4,4)
LAST POST –   LAST (endure) and POST (letters).

2d           Raise instrument, held up in court (7)
COLLECT –   Raise in the sense of collect money. A reversal (held up in a down clue) of CELLO (instrument) inserted into CT, the abbreviation for court.

3d           Relating to parts left after Act One is rewritten (9)
SECTIONAL –   An anagram (rewritten) of ACT ONE IS followed by L (left ‘after’).

5d           Broadcast if editor kept cool, in a way (3-11)
AIR-CONDITIONED –   AIR (broadcast) CONDITION (if being a conjunction meaning on condition that) and ED (editor).

6d           Peer among those qualifying (5)
EQUAL –   Hidden among thosE QUALifying.

7d           Intelligence about a hot kingdom in Middle East (7)
BAHRAIN –   BRAIN (intelligence) with A (from the clue) and H (hot) inserted.

8d           Excessive pressure, you said, in outfit (6)
DURESS –   Put U (you said out loud) into DRESS (outfit).

9d           As aids for driving, English tees were endlessly modified (8-6)
STEERING-WHEELS –   An anagram (modified) of ENGLISH TEES WERe (endlessly tells you to remove the E from were).

16d         Malingerer might report this, as heard in region of France (9)
CHAMPAGNE might sound like SHAM PAIN (which a malingerer might report).

17d         Cautious about impassioned words providing assurance (8)
WARRANTY –   Insert RANT (impassioned words) into WARY (cautious).

19d         After heading off gun injury, relaxed (7)
UNWOUND –   Remove the G (heading off) from gUN and follow with WOUND (injury).

21d         As example of 27, it must be removed from city newspapers (7)
CYPRESS –   Remove the IT from CITY and follow what’s left  with PRESS (newspapers).

22d         Perform final act in theatre? It’s painful (6)
STITCH –   The last thing done at the end of a surgical operation.

24d         Very pale, like one that sits and broods (5)
ASHEN –   Split 2, 3 – AS (like) and HEN (one that sits and broods) – what a brilliant definition of a hen!

 

 

 

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