DT 28146 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28146

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28146

Hints and tips by ShropshireLad

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty *Enjoyment **

Good Morning everyone from a central area of Shropshire which can’t decide what season it wants to be in. Apologies for being AWOL last Tuesday but a funeral I was attending was unexpectedly brought forward so thanks to BD for standing in.

I don’t think today’s puzzle will hold anyone up (with the possible exception of 10a) as it is all fairly clued, albeit missing a bit of fun and sparkle. A good one to get under your belt if you’re new to cryptic puzzles.

I hope my hints help you achieve Nirvana but if all else fails you can always view the answers by clicking on the grey ‘Click here!’ button. Maybe it’s worth reminding everyone that if you see the answers uncovered, have a look at your address bar and if it starts ‘https// – remove the last ‘s’ and that should do the trick.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a    Miner runs out for dog (6)
COLLIE: Take a synonym for a miner and remove the R (runs out). One for our Kath

4a    Celebrity and posh guy begin a meal? (5,3)
START OFF: A charade of a four letter synonym for ‘celebrity’ followed by another four letter synonym for ‘posh guy’.

9a    Don’t forget about departing politician (6)
MEMBER: A term for ‘don’t forget’ without (departing) the two letter abbreviation for ‘about’.

10a    Cartographer in vehicle, on schedule coming back (8)
MERCATOR: Take a shortened name of a German motor manufacturer (vehicle) and a synonym for ‘schedule’ reversed (coming back).

11a    One shouting loudly taking in Turin’s original campanile (4,5)
BELL TOWER: You need a eight letter synonym for ‘one shouting loudly’ containing (taking in) the lead letter of ‘Turin’ (Turin’s original). This is Mrs SL in front of said ‘campanile’ on one of our many sojourns to Paris.

13a    Cast the short line (5)
THROW: Shorten TH[e] (the short) and add a synonym for ‘line’.

14a    Someone to watch over newspaper backer (8,5)
GUARDIAN ANGEL: A charade of another daily broadsheet (newspaper) and add a synonym for ‘backer’. I struggled with this one as I wasn’t sure how I should spell the ‘newspaper’!

17a    King’s wife and a prince rather put out (9,4)
CATHERINE PARR: An anagram (put out) of A PRINCE RATHER.

21a    Perfect state (5)
UTTER: Double definition, the latter to do with ‘speaking’ and not the usual American state.

23a    Dished roast up in GB bar (6-3)
GASTROPUB: An anagram (dished) of ROAST UP (surrounded by) in ‘GB’ from the clue. Thanks to Gazza for putting me straight on this one as I had misread it. He also pointed out that the enumeration for the clue is wrong as it appears unhyphenated in the BRB. Good spot.

24a    Doubtful one acting so strangely (8)
AGNOSTIC: An anagram (strangely) of ACTING SO.

25a    Popular elsewhere, to some extent (2,1,3)
IN A WAY: The usual two letter synonym for ‘popular’ and add a term to describe you’re not here (elsewhere).

26a    Former head of coven almost strung up in market (8)
EXCHANGE: The standard abbreviation for ‘former’ is followed by the letter C (head of coven) and a shortened term for ‘strung up’.

27a    Grow furious in diocese with religious education beginning to decline (3,3)
SEE RED: Take the three letter term for ‘diocese’ and add the abbreviation for ‘religious education’ and the letter D (beginning to decline).

Down

1d    Got passed (caught me in tight bay) (4,2)
CAME BY: Start with the cricketing abbreviation of ‘caught’ then take the ME from the clue and insert it (in) an anagram (tight – drunk) of BAY.

2d    Easily moved about male priest getting media attention (9)
LIMELIGHT: A term to describe an object than be ‘easily moved’ (it’s not heavy) and insert (about) the abbreviation for ‘male’ and our usual crosswordland priest.

3d    Sloth? One near it, trembling (7)
INERTIA: The Roman numeral for ‘one’ is followed by an anagram (trembling) of NEAR IT.

5d    Seek arbiter for organising deciders (3-8)
TIE-BREAKERS: An anagram (for organising) of SEEK ARBITER.

6d    Cheese in bed, eaten by woman (7)
RICOTTA: The ‘bed’ here is used by a new born child and is contained in (eaten by) the name of a woman normally associated with being ‘educated’.

7d    External computer device failing to start (5)
OUTER: The computer device here is used on a network used for communication between two networks which can operate on different protocols, minus it’s leading letter (failing to start).

8d    Food all right for so long (8)
FAREWELL: A charade of synonyms for ‘food’ and ‘all right’.

12d    Union band (7,4)
WEDDING RING: This is a token of love exchanged between a bride and groom on their big day.

15d    Female independence in peril? Grow worried (4,5)
GIRL POWER: An anagram (worried) of IN PERIL GROW. I was muchly tempted to drop in a clip of the Season Girls (sic) but my mind was changed by this.

16d    Account clergyman finds correct (8)
ACCURATE: Take the two letter abbreviation for ‘account’ and add a type of C of E clergyman who normally has some association with a egg.

18d    Land mass area? US, I fancy (7)
EURASIA: An anagram (fancy) of AREA US I.

19d    Set out from Scottish island, extremely game (7)
ARRANGE: This Scottish island is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and is followed by the outer letters of G[am]E (extremely game).

20d    Complied with demands, making love with you in part of garden (6)
OBEYED: Start with the symbol of ‘love’ you would see as a score in a tennis match followed by (with) an archaic term for ‘you’ contained in a part of the garden normally associated with flowers. I expected to see some direction for the ‘archaic’ you.

22d    Livener to take, short (5)
TONIC: Take the ‘to’ from the clue and add a shortened version of a synonym of ‘take’ (take short). Love this glass, all you need is a bottle of J P Chenet.

As I said in the prologue – it’s not the hardest crossword in the world but the clue constructs and surfaces are well written. I will go for 7d 6d as my favourite purely as it has given me a new way of remembering how to spell that cheese – I always get it mixed up with the ‘c’ and ‘t’.

Which one(s) floated your boat?


The Quick Crossword pun: course+heir=corsair


86 comments on “DT 28146

  1. That’s two easy ones on the trot, last one in was 10A which took some prising out.Agree with the ratings, many thanks to the setter & SL for the review.

  2. 1*/2*. Another one for Lego lovers today. This one also IMHO suffers from an overdose of single letter subtractions.

    Thanks to the setter and to SL, whom it is good to see back in the chair on a Tuesday.

  3. Many thanks SL

    blimey that was a technical explanation for 7d. I think of it as my wifi box, or is that inaccurate?

    My favourite is 15d (female independence) but I also liked 23a (with it’s surface reminding me of brit bars in holiday resorts) and I loved the surface and answer to 20a (“complied with demands, making love with you in part of the garden”). I sympathise with the obsolete indicator, but “making love with archaic you in part of the garden” might have, for me at least, compromised the surface.

    and thank you setter

    1. The person you are making love to in the garden might not be very flattered either.

    2. Hi Dutch. Re the 7d explanation, I thought as I’m surrounded by IT guys I’d play it safe and unashamedly crib direct from the BRB :whistle:

  4. Got 10a from the wordplay but did have to look it up to verify – new one for me.
    Otherwise, all quite straightforward but I think I enjoyed it rather more than other commenters have said so far.
    No stand-out favourite but no grumbles either.

    Thanks to Mr. Ron and the lovely Shropshire Lad. Nice touch to get a name check for two of our lady bloggers into the review along with a pic of your lady wife.

  5. Hello ShropshireLad. Thanks for the review, which I enjoyed – especially 15d.

    I enjoyed the crossword too, especially 20d. Thanks to the setter.

  6. Sorry it lacked fun and sparkle for you SL. I quite enjoyed it. I can see how it might not have been much of a challenge for the experts, but I still class myself as a bit of a novice. Thank you for the review SL, and it was lovely to see a pic of your wife. Thanks too setter. It was right up my street.

  7. Another smooth ride today and I actually remembered 10a from a previous crossword in the mists of time, there is a small statue to him in a little green area in Brussels. */*** for me but I agree with RD about many of the clues.

    1. Possible explanations:

      1) A mouse is an external computer device and mice like cheese.
      2) People in Shropshire eat strange cheese.
      3) SL mistyped the number.

    2. Congratulations Chris – you’re the first to find one of my two deliberate mistakes. It is, of course, 6d. :whistle:

  8. Again a gentle challenge that was over too soon. No grumbles as Jane has said. 10a or 20d for favourite? Er… 10a before Kath makes comment! 1/2.5* overall.
    Thanks to the setter and to SL for the review.
    Chris, try 6d!

  9. I must be alone in finding this much harder than yesterday. I found both the week-end’s offering easier than this.
    Perhaps I never got onto the setters wavelength.
    I am still battling away with this, but many thanks to SL for the hints that I am going to need shortly.

    1. You are reading the clues again. Once you stop doing that it will all become so much easier. 10ac for instance. Once the word Cartographer appears there is only one answer in puzzle land. That Mercator projection geezer. I challenge anyone to name another cartographer
      .

        1. They don’t fit the wordplay.

          This was simples for me. As MP says you see the word cartographer and think Mercator. Then look at the wordplay and it’s obvious, especially as the make of car turned up last Thursday when I was blogging!

          1. Oh no!! Pommers, I was joking re the time he insisted that Santorini could fit an answer even though the answer was only 4 letters long or something ridiculous. :smile:

        1. See where you’re coming from ListB – but it would probably take up a lot of wall space when shown ‘page by page’ :smile:

  10. I agree entirely with my Shropshire neighbour and his overview of this very comfortable puzzle. Following on from yesterday’s challenge this was equally straightforward. 10 across my pick and 1*/2* from me as well with thanks all round.

  11. I would say 1*/3* today. Enjoyed working out 10a and 17a to teach me a bit about history.
    On first pass I put solid (one of the states of matter) in for 21a but quicky realised it wasn’t when I got to the down clues. Thanks all.

  12. Great puzzle with which I had a slow start but all of a sudden it became almost R & W. Failed to recognise 17a as an anagram but solved anyway. 11a amused. Thank you Mysteron and SL. **/***.

  13. Well, I am not embarrassed to say that I found that very tricky and I am glad it’s over.
    Yesterday was very much R&W, yet I would not have got more than 2/3 done without the BRB and SL’s great hints.
    Frustrating, I was going to attempt the Toughie, but I think I will decline!!
    Favourite was the last one because it meant that I had finished.
    Thanks SL and also to the man with no name…

  14. I agree with 1* difficulty but would give it a 3* for enjoyment, I think.
    I’ve never heard of 10a but it wasn’t too tricky to ‘invent’ him and ask the helpful Mr Google.
    For no obvious reason I was a bit slow with the 23a anagram.
    I felt as if there were quite a few anagrams while I was doing the crossword but, unless I can’t count, there are seven.
    7d made me go a bit ‘techiblind’ but that went away quite quickly.
    I liked 11 and 26a and 15 and 20d. Sorry to be boring and predictable but my favourite has to be 1a – it may not be the best clue in the crossword but . . .
    With thanks to Mr Ron for the crossword and to SL for the hints and especially for the 1a pic.
    Stuff to do in the garden, then the Toughie – well, an attempt at it anyway – and I’ve still got Beet’s NTSPP up my sleeve.

    1. Whilst doing the solve – I also thought ‘anagrams galore’. However, doing the review I didn’t seem to type ‘an anagram of’ very often. I make the total count of 5 full and 2 partial.

      I was going to use your gravatar as the picture clue for 1a but I thought that would be tweaking heart strings just a touch too much – so I’m glad you enjoyed the alternative. :smile:

  15. Def a R&W, probably the simplest back pager ever, excellent crossword for anyone new to the genre.
    Thx to all

  16. No horses were frightened during the solving of this crossword! Some nice constructs though so it’s */*** from us.

    Thanks to Mr Ron and SL.

  17. */***. Very enjoyable and a great puzzle for newcomers. Lots of anagrams and Lego clues. Favourite was 14a. 10d was last in when the penny dropped. Thanks to the setter and SL for the review.

  18. Yes, enjoyed this and as yesterday finished apart from one,10a for which I had to get help.
    Even though many found this easy, it was a nice challenge for me and I’m still amazed when the answers actually fall into place. Thanks to this blog.
    Liked 11a, 22d when the penny finally dropped and 26a.
    Thanks to the setter and SL

  19. Hello, all you lovely people. I read your chatter almost every day, but have only joined in occasionally (probably using a different ID and email, just to confuse you.). Thanks to you, I rarely need help.

    Please can I raise two problems with today’s crossword?

    1d – “got passed ” means “was overtaken” doesn’t it? (I got passed by a Toyota Hybrid in France last weekend.) This is not the meaning of the answer. Or is there some use of passed / past that has eluded me?

    4a – What is the significance of “a meal” in the clue? BD’s definition of a cryptic clue includes the words “AND NOTHING ELSE” or somesuch. (Sorry, I haven’t looked it up). So the words are superfluous. Nennycase, the answer would not normally apply to a meal, but would apply to “begin” on its own.

    Ah, a pedant’s life is such a happy one.

    BW

    Philip

      1. I was in a Porsche, but I beat you in the end. Japanese reliability or German reliability?

        Come on all you people: passed or past?

        Philip

        PS It was I.

    1. 1d – the answer means acquired something, possibly by someone passing you the item in question.

      Agree about the meal though.

      1. Hmm, hadn’t thought of that. Got passed; he passed it to me.

        Setter, you are forgiven.

        1. Welcome to the blog from me as well Yquem59 – are you sure you’re not related to Rabbit Dave or Silvanus? You say you were driving a Porsche when being passed by a Lexus (and a hybrid at that) – good heavens man, have you no shame? :cool:

          1. Good heavens, no. It wasn’t a Lexus, it was a Toyata Hybrid at les vingt quatre heures du Mans. Hundreds of millions of pounds into the British economy and 0.01 column inches in the DT.

            1. Forgive me – I only saw ‘Lexus’ in Miffypops’ comment. Mind, can’t say I’ve come across a Toyata car before :smile:

              Are you Martin Brundle then?

      2. Just a thought about the meal ……..when ordering in a restaurant, don’t we sometimes say “I’ll start with the scallops” for instance. First course is often referred to as starters. Begin = start. I think I’m rambling.

    2. yes, “a meal” isn’t essential for the definition but “begin a meal” is a valid definition (so the words are not really superfluous in the sense that they do add to the definition). The reason the setter included “a meal” is because the surface reading of the clue (the sentence you are reading) would make no sense otherwise – it’s all about the surface reading (well so I think)

      1. 4d: There is a type of offering (a vegetable sacrifice among ancient Israelites) called a “meal offering” – therefore the clue definition “begin a meal” could be a cryptic way of saying START OFF(ERING). But then you’d have some cryptic wordplay with a cryptic definition instead of a precise one. Is that allowed? I’ll get me coat……

        1. I know – it’s a double cryptic definition! Clutching at straws, of course – but the clue just doesn’t quite work properly as it stands.

  20. I didn’t find this * to begin with, I found it difficult to start off, but once I got started, it got easier. Maybe twigging the setter’s thought processes.
    I didn’t know 10a, so I used my gizmo and then looked him up. I’ll read all about him later, sounds most interesting.
    Fave was 1a, it’s a dog after all, and immediately thought of Kath.
    Thanks to setter, and to ShropshireLad for the review.

  21. Good afternoon everybody.

    Only solved one across (27) and two down clues on first pass and was thinking this puzzle may prove tricky but second pass was much more productive and soon left with just 21a and 16d to finish. Seemed like a lot of anagrams. No favourite clue but a nice back pager.

    **/***

  22. No hold-ups. No horses scared. The cartographer has come up elsewhere for me and I enjoyed the solve.

    Favourite is 20a.

    Many thanks to the setter and to SL for the blog.

  23. Goldfish here again!
    Can’t remember spending so little time on a crossword either.
    Fun while it lasted.
    Thanks to the setter and to SL for the review.

  24. This is totally ‘off blog’ but I’m watching the ‘norn Ireland’ match on TV. I say ‘watching’ as I have the volume muted. Am I the only one that wishes Jonathan Pearce had been struck dumb by Sgt Bash in ‘Robot Wars’? It would be my idea of pure hell if I were to be stranded on a desert island with him and Adrian Chiles.

    Sorry – Rant over :cool:

    1. It would be so much better to watch with just the crowd noise.

      Absent that I mute the television sound and run a generic football crowd sound effect on YouTube. It works better than you’d think.

      1. You can choose to just have the crowd noise on the BBC for some of their matches, it’s one of the options on the Red Button – I think you can choose the Radio 5 Live commentary, the crowd noise or back to the TV commentary.

        The problem with the BBC is that they’re not consistent – they offer the options sometimes but not always – I don’t understand that at all.

        I thought it was a bit strange that they offered the ‘alternate’ game this afternoon – Ukraine v Poland – on the Red Button only, what’s that all about?

        1. I didn’t know that. I’ll look out for it for the rest of this competition. Of course live football broadcasts are a rarity on the BBC these days.

          That was a fine match this evening. England is so far behind it’s becoming embarrassing.

    2. Jonathan Pearce loves the sound of his own voice even more than Clive Tyldesley on ITV, and that’s saying something. At least the BBC commentary doesn’t have Glenn Hoddle referring to “them players” or “them teams” constantly.

          1. Can’t take credit for it. It’s been texted to me a few times. Although I did get the joke…amazingly for me and football.

      1. Don’t worry Kath I have got no idea about the rest of the stuff they are on about…I am even avoiding the pub until this football ball tournament is over (well for the most part). The Muller thing is reference to the Muller Corner yogurts and the fact footballers take corners.

    3. you’re all lucky – I stupidly watched the great debate (though I am impressed with London’s new mayor)

      1. I didn’t…although the child type thing is writing her newspaper..’The Brexit Edition’, for tomorrow and asked whether she can come and vote with me…to make sure I get it right. Hmmmm.

  25. Not too difficult a challenge but fairly lacklustre cluing I felt.

    Like Yquem 59, I also thought the “meal” in 4a was superfluous, great minds (and pedants) think alike!

    Favourite clue was 15d, although I did like the anagram in 17a.

    Many thanks to today’s setter and welcome back to Jim in the blogger’s chair.

  26. It was just my cup of tea. Sometimes one wants light and frothy, and today was another such day for me.
    In fact it was an 21d,22d,25a.
    Favourite : a 13a between 14a and 23a.
    Thanks to SL and the setter.

  27. To easy to pass a comment today. Is RD getting soft. ‘Mrs SL in front of ‘said’ campanile.’ There wasn’t a said campanile. It could refer to any campanile. There are lots to choose from.

    1. Tut, tut, Miffypops! :negative:
      How should “too” be spelt when it means “very”?
      What punctuation mark should be used at the end of a sentence which is a question?

    2. ‘Mea culpa’ Mr GreenMan – I did intend to make reference to Notre Dame’s bell towers in my clue explanation as my wife and I were about to embark upon a tour of ‘said’ campanile – but I forgot. That is also the reason why I used a personal photograph.

      But hey, congratulations – you have found the second of my deliberate mistakes. Well done :smile:

  28. Thanks to Mr Ron and to Shropshire Lad for the review and hints. A read and write, but quite enjoyable. A couple of old 🌰 in 21a & 16d. Favourite was 10a, last in was 27a. Was 1*/2* for me.

  29. Pretty much a leisurely R&W, but enjoyable enough while it lasted. As my brain’s given up the ghost this evening, it was probably for the best. ;-)

  30. Thank you very much Mr Ron and SL. So refreshing for a learner to have one like this. Enjoyed it enormously and still benefited from the hints. Enjoyed the rascally blog too.

  31. Thanks Shropshire Lad, but (14a) how else would you spell Guardian or Newspaper? Still struggling with 10a; you did say it’s a toughie.

    1. Welcome from me as well Sam – sorry you didn’t get my ‘tongue in cheek’ joke at the expense of the ‘Graun’. :smile:

      Regarding 10a – the cartographer appears quite regularly and is ‘gettable’ from the word play but does require a bit of GK. Once in there – never forgotten.

  32. I wonder whether before voting on Thursday we bloggers should also be considering the question posed in Matt’s cartoon yesterday as well as all the other “facts” being thrown at us by both sides!

  33. Read and write. Finished in one pass. But jolly and frothy nonetheless, so I enjoyed it. Sometimes, when one does the puzzle at the this hour after work, a straightforward challenge is welcome. Thanks to SL and the unknown challenger. 1*/3*

  34. All good for me apart from 10a. Got the general idea but was trying to put a schedule backwards inside a vehicle. Did not have the patience to persist. I think a younger setter than the usual suspects. Modern words/subjects eg 23a. Very often we get words no longer in modern usage especially legal terms such as alimony and plaintiff. Not complaining. Interesting comments as ever. Thanks to Shropshire Lad for the hint for 10a. Will this Tuesday mysteron reveal himself or herself.

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