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DT 28167

by Deep Threat  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28167

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Good morning from Steyning in West Sussex, where we’re staying this week while I play croquet in Southwick. I’m sorry that I don’t have time to add pictures or video clips to today’s review.

After some gentle weeks from Giovanni, I found that today’s was more like what we have come to expect – *** difficulty for me.

In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the ‘Click here!’ buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.

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           Daughter by cliff-face rocks writing (6)
SCREED – The mass of small rocks found at the bottom of a cliff, followed by Daughter.

5a           This person in shock, I suspect, is longing to be elsewhere (8)
HOMESICK – Anagram(suspect) of SHOCK I wrapped around a pronoun for ‘this person’.

9a           Girl gone to find success in a particular field (6,4)
MAIDEN OVER – The success here is to be found on the cricket field. The first word is a synonym for girl, and the second a synonym for gone or finished.

10a         Composer showing merit, first to last (4)
ARNE – Start with a verb meaning ‘merit’ or ‘deserve’, then move the first letter to the end, to get the composer of Rule Britannia.

11a         I’m so excited with a bar offering wonderful food (8)
AMBROSIA –Anagram (excited) of I’M SO and A BAR.

12a         The distinctive style with which we introduce our newspaper (6)
GOTHIC – Cryptic definition of the typeface used on the Daily Telegraph masthead.

13a         Set down passage to be read out (4)
LAIN – A word for set down or put down which sounds like a passageway or narrow road.

15a         Coming down to provide illumination (8)
LIGHTING – Double definition, the first being the coming down of an aircraft, for example.

18a         Maybe ghost getting to storm angrily around flat (8)
REVENANT – A word for flat or level with ‘to strom angrily’ wrapped around it.

19a         Leave social event that finishes early (4)
PART – Remove the final letter (finishes early) from a social gathering.

21a         Walked with head invisible, being bent (6)
ARCHED – Remove the first letter (head invisible) from a word for walked (like a soldier?)

23a         Relinquished and put into store (4,4)
LAID DOWN – Double definition, the second being what you do with good wine that needs to mature.

25a         Woman to have a meal sent back (4)
ENID – Reverse (sent back) a word for ‘have a meal’.

26a         Impede leaders viewed as idiots (10)
BLOCKHEADS – Put together ‘impede’ and ‘leaders’.

27a         Asian person seen wandering across enclosure (8)
NEPALESE – Anagram (wandering) of SEEN wrapped around an enclosure, especially the enclosure of lands iin Ireland which were held by the King of England in medieval times

28a         Notice someone using a red box? (6)
POSTER – This public notice could also describe someone putting a letter into a pillar box.

Down

2d           Goldfinches about to come to grief (5)
CHARM – A Latin abbreviation for ‘about’ or ‘approximately’ followed by some grief or damage, giving us the collective noun for goldfinches

3d           Coming to finish, see ace run freely, demonstrating staying power (9)
ENDURANCE – Another word for finish followed by an anagram (freely) of ACE RUN.

4d           Vessel has a name inscribed in a foreign language (6)
DANISH – A (from the clue) and Name are inserted into a piece of crockery.

5d           Be slightly deranged and need to go up on the roof? (4,1,5,5)
HAVE A SLATE LOOSE – A figurative expression for someone being not quite right mentally which, taken literally, would require someone to go up on the roof to mend it.

6d           Loan gives male good time — nothing right in that (8)
MORTGAGE – Put together Male, Good and a period of time, then wrap the result around the letter which looks like zero and a two-letter abbreviation for ‘right’.

7d           Set up talks on reducing arms, in short (5)
START – Double definition, the second being an acronym for the bilateral arms reduction treaty signed by the USA and USSR in 1991.

8d           Person sending things? Tricks to disregard for the most part (9)
CONSIGNOR – Some tricks or cheats followed by a word ofr ‘disregard’ with its last letter removed.

14d         Lincoln rector originally managed church going in the wrong direction (9)
ABERRANCE – Put together the familiar form of the first name of President Lincoln, Rector, managed, and the Church of England.

16d         Speed isn’t bad? There’s less than total enthusiasm (9)
TEPIDNESS – Anagram (bad) of SPEED ISN’T.

17d         Worthy archbishop joining bishop in drink (8)
LAUDABLE – King Charles I’s Archbishop of Canterbury followed by some drink with the chess notation for Bishop included.

20d         Get better sort of truck (4-2)
PICK-UP – Double definition, the second being a small goods vehicle with an open load area at the back.

22d         Monster lurking in filthy drains (5)
HYDRA – Hidden in the clue.

24d         Ram, the first thing you see on Welsh border (5)
WEDGE – The first letter of Welsh followed by a border.

The Quick Crossword pun MISS + QUEUED = MISCUED

69 comments on “DT 28167”

  1. All fairly straightforward for me, but I didn’t know the archbishop. Tutu didn’t fit.

  2. I found this tricky and was held up in the NE for a while. Missed the wordplay in 8d and got the “Laud” bit of 17d from a thesaurus.

    Thanks to DT and Giovanni ***/***

  3. 4*/1*. It’s probably better that I don’t comment any further other than to say this was a real struggle and not at all to my taste – in complete contrast to the previous few Fridays.

  4. Didn’t think I was going to finish this one but got there in the end ****/*** for me today. Thanks to DT and Giovanni

  5. I agree that this was a bit more like the Giovanni of old. Happily, I was right on wavelength today and had no problems. Favorites are 12A, 2D (just the thought of one makes me smile), and 6D. thanks to DT and G.

  6. Firstly as an opening batsman I would take issue with a maiden over being a success, not for the batsman it isn’t, it’s a failure to score.
    Had to look up the collective noun in 2d so new word for me I think; stupidly I missed the reference to Abe in 14d which made solving it tough and got really hung up on SALT in 7d, never heard it referred to as START before.
    Apart from that it totally agree with the rating today and as often with a Giovanni, very enjoyable.
    Thx to all, now off to give that little white ball a damn good thrashing!

  7. The only struggle I had today was with 13A and 18A and I usually find these crosswords quite a challenge.

  8. Finished with some uncertainties that were proved right on submitting. Thanks Deep Threat for explaining the archbishop, and I hadn’t thought of 23a in wine terms. I should have remembered the arms talks too.

    And many thanks Giovanni

  9. I’ll go with 3* for both difficulty and enjoyment.
    My last few answers took ages – knew what I was after with 12a but couldn’t remember it and I didn’t understand the ‘arms’ bit of 7d.
    I didn’t know the 17d archbishop or the 27a enclosure although the answers had to be what they were.
    Oh, and another thing, as the expression in our family goes if someone’s running on a bit, 18a was a new word for me.
    I’ll shut up now!
    My favourite was 5d even though I’ve never heard that expression.
    With thanks to Giovanni and to Deep Threat.

  10. I have been struggling all week with the crosswords, today was the first I managed to finish without resorting to the hints. I cant say I derived any real pleasure from it, but thats just my opinion. 3*/1* Many thanks to the setter and to DT for his contribution.

  11. Like Brian got hung-up on SALT v START. SALT was 1960’s START was 1990’s I now discover.
    Never heard of Archbishop Laud – appropriate name for an Archbishop though.
    Took 2 sittings so *** & ***
    Thanks to DT for filling in some detail & the setter for the challenge

  12. Enjoy my old stamping ground. Great country. Great coast. Great pubs. Thanks for the hints. I wouldn’t have got 13a and 18a without them. I enjoyed the puzzle, but perhaps became a little bored and impatient at the end.

  13. Good fun – thank you Giovanni. Not being a cricketer (apart from long lost school days!) I parsed 9a from the bowler’s point of view/”field”. Liked 28 when I had ceased thinking around a different kind of red box (too much politics recently!). Had forgotten collective noun in 2d so thanks for sorting that for me DT (and welcome to West Sussex). ***/***.

  14. Solved easily enough although I too did not know the archbishop (well I wouldn’t would I, he was well dead before I was born). Also didn’t know the enclosure at 27ac. Never heard Lurking used to describe a hidden or included word before. Pure genius. i wonder where Mr Manley got that one from. Thanks to The Don for a lovely entertaining puzzle and thanks to Deep Threat for the explanations.

  15. Archbishop Laud’s Catholic practices supported by Charles I helped to bring about the English Civil War – someone every English person should be interested in, really, so if my clue helps you do a bit of research that is all to the good. There was significant life here, you know, before any of us were born — and its effects have reached down to us, even today! (End of history lecture.)

    1. Got interested but when Laud was described as “The greatest calamity ever visited on the English church” my interest ended I’m afraid. But at least now I know.

  16. Quite a struggle today and needed the hints for several clues.

    I also thought of the arms talks as SALT rather than START and did not know the Archbishop.
    Not everyone is English.

    Thanks to the setter and to Deep Threat.

  17. A couple of obscurities as already picked up earlier, but the wordplay as always from the Don gets you there in the end. I agree with Giovanni’s comment above about the ability of a crossword to educate as well as entertain. 3*/3* overall with many thanks to both the Don and DT.

  18. I got off to a good start then slowed right down. Like Kath I was on the right track with 12a but couldn’t quite get there, especially as I have never heard of START. Good to know I’m not the only one!
    Thanks to the setter and DT.

  19. Not for me! Foxed by 10a, 12a, 13a and 17d, 24d…….never heard of 10a, or the Archbishop in 17d, not sure of the synonym in 24d etc…..got 1a but new word to me in this context……I don’t mind tricky but don’t like obscure or over-convoluted….

  20. On Fridays we definitely prefer to share the crossword. Two heads are better than one when there are possible obscurities, and we didn’t have too many problems between us. Mr K came to my rescue with 7d.

    We put 2d in from the wordplay only, guessing the answer was a plausible collective noun.

    4d was appropriate as I’ve been introducing Mr K to The Bridge.

    5d with that third word is not a saying either of us knew, but it fit.

    The 17d bishop was a guess too, but a guessable guess. I guess I should brush up on my church history (but then there are a lot of things I should do).

    We liked the monster lurking in filthy drains in 22d.

    26a is another we liked. It’s also begging for a video clip – I might add one later if I can decide which one.

    With thanks to Giovanni and DT.

    Finally, but most importantly, lots of love and sympathy to our French friends.

  21. Quite a struggle for me, ‘Laud’ was new, needed the hint for 7d. Liked 12a. Thanks to all.

  22. Found the wavelength OK today – just 18a that was new but ‘doable’ and then confirmed with Mr. G.
    Top two for me were 2&6d.

    Thanks to DG and also to DT – hope the weather stays fair for the croquet!

  24. Tricky in places and quite a few questionable definitions and constructions, very unusual for a Friday back-pager. What wasn’t so unusual was the ecclesiastical references, well done to anyone who knew the archbishop in 17d.

    Like Brian, I was far from convinced that 9a is necessarily equated with success, even for a bowler, and at the very least the clue should have had a question mark IMHO. In 11a, I fail to see any instruction to the solver that “with a bar” means to include the last two words within the anagram fodder. In 24a, “the first thing you see on Welsh” seemed a very convoluted way of indicating the 23rd letter of the alphabet. I’ve recently noticed that Mr. Manley seems to like using the somewhat inelegant “thing” or “things” in his clues, it also makes an appearance in 8d.

    The only clue I ticked was 5d, so by default it wins my favourite vote. Otherwise I’m once again with RD on this one.

    Thanks to Giovanni and to DT, and a good weekend to all.

    1. Ooh ooh I did! I knew the archbishop!

      I went to a school where all the classrooms were named after archbishops so my knowledge on the subject is bizarrely comprehensive.

      1. My school classrooms were merely numbered I recall, but we could have both had either a 22 or Tutu as the name for one I suppose ;-)

    2. I remember him from school and learning about the Civil War – and my schooldays were long, long ago!

  25. What is that word doing in 5d? We all know what it should be!

    I’m another SALT casualty, and 17d just had to be, so that’s my new thing for today ( Indeed, Giovanni ).

    Wasn’t thrilled with 9a but otherwise, it all made sense to me today.

    Thanks to all.

  26. I found this tough, never did get 12a and 7d.
    I remembered the archbishop, but 18a was a new word for me, and 2d had to be just that, a quick check proved it to be correct – I loved that, so that’s my fave, rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? I also knew the enclosure, as in “beyond the pale”.
    Thanks to Giovanni, and to DT for helping to finish this, would never have got my two empty answers.

    1. I posted on yesterday’s blog, stating my sympathies with the French people on the horrible events in Nice yesterday. It seems so unfair that France is always being attacked.

      1. I found it rather moving that the First Night at the Proms just opened with the orchestra playing The Marseillaise.

        1. Did they? That sounds so moving, I’m sure I’d have cried buckets. I’ll have to look for it on YouTube. I used to love the proms when I lived there in the 1960s, so glad to know it’s still going on.

  27. 4/3. Tricky in parts for me and needed guidance from DT to complete (ta muchly). To the setter – you win but thanks for the challenge.

  28. Tougher than the normal Giovanni but quite enjoyable. A ***/*** from us. As we are both 26a, here is a little tune for you ….. is he talking about the bloggers? Thanks to the Don and Deep Threat.

    1. Thanks to both Paso and Doble for giving us one reason to be cheerful on yet another cheerless day in the history of mankind.

  29. Tricky in places methinks! Like others I got a bit fixated on the SALT for the arms limitation but Google came to the rescue. Also hadn’t heard of the Archbishop until Googled, and then I realised I had of him after all. Overall ***/*** seems about right with 2d favourite – that was one obscurity that I did know.

    Thanks to the Don and DT.

  30. I was fixated on SALT for a time too, but START sounded like an appropriate acronym. I agree with DT’s ratings, too. Thank you to him and Giovanni.
    We have some good friends who have an apartment next to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Fortunately, they are on holiday in the Dordogne.

  31. Always something to learn from a Don Manley puzzle – but I forget more of the less familiar vocabulary . I’d like to pluck up the courage and have a go at a barred grid puzzle but my wordplay skills are a bit suspect and I quite often find that I’m finding the answer to the clue first and then justifying it by the wordplay which won’t do me any favours in the long run.

  32. Cryptic crosswords should be about use of language and letters . Not about who Charles the whatever’s archbishop was . Too smart by far .

      1. Not me! Good crosswords, surely, involve some GK from time to time. If I, educated elsewhere, can remember Laud from history lessons eons ago, surely someone educated in UK must have learnt about him. Now, forgetting the lessons is only human, but that is a bit different to saying you never knew him.

          1. M. For what it’s worth, I agree with you – cryptics are great for improving your general vocabulary but I’ve also learned much GK from them as well. But for the DT back-pager, I think the general rule should be not too often and not inordinately obscure.

    2. I agree with you in part Brucey, but since I’ve been solving cryptics I’ve expanded my general knowledge which always comes in handy IMHO.

    3. I think I’m going to sit on the fence a bit here. I think that some general knowledge is useful but I also think that whether you know it or not you should be able to work out the answer from the clue – when you’ve done that you can then look it up to see if it’s right and that’s how you learn.
      BD will hate me for quoting this one again but I’m going to anyway. A long time ago there was an answer that I really hadn’t ever heard of – it was another Giovanni clue and it was ‘catenary’ – I couldn’t believe that such a word existed but it does and I’ve never forgotten it – it’s something to do with a flexible cord hung from something or other – maths, innit!
      The other one that I remember was an answer in, I think, a Micawber Toughie – quiddity.

      1. Well – I was sufficiently curious that I looked them up. I won’t be dropping ‘catenary’ into a conversation any time soon, even the explanation baffled me! As for ‘quiddity’ I was disappointed to discover that it has absolutely nothing to do with young wizards zooming around on broomsticks…………

  33. Another one who was less than convinced by 9ac. That, together with 7d and 12ac, held me up for ages at the end. The latter I put down to solving online rather than having the newspaper in front of me. :-)

  34. Definitely tricky. Never heard of that Archbishop but answer fell in anyway. History teacher was obsessed with the Stone Age and then the recitation of Kings and dates, so was never interested in school, sadly. For 5d, we always said “a screw loose”, never heard of it with slate? Colloquial I guess. Thanks DT for hints so that I could finish.

  35. Well above my level, but good to go through the hints. Thanks DT and the Don.

  36. Trickier than of late, yes, but nonetheless enjoyable for that. Archbishop Laud should be part of every English person’s education; people who don’t remember the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks weren’t paying attention; those who ,like me, would have struggled with 18a, only have to think of this year’s Oscars (filmed where I was in Canada in March). A good cryptic needs a smattering of GK, as long as the wordplay also leads to the answer, as it always does with the Don. Many thanks to him and DT. 3*/3*

  37. 24d: I can’t see wedge as a synonym for ram, even though each is both a verb and a noun. Other than that, very enjoyable, even though I couldn’t finish it without your help, for which many thanks. I like this setter; his/her clues are concise and make an apparently-meaningful sentence rather than being just a bunch of words.

  38. This was excellent from G, and I don’t agree with the above nit-picking – I had no problems with the structure of any clue. 2.5*/3.5*

  39. I have never heard the expression in 5a. I thought it was ‘have a screw loose’. Held me up for ages and then had to use the hints.

  41. So behind!!! The consequence of a busy life.
    Lots of lovely clues, many thanks for the hints, DT

  42. Not being from England I had never heard of the collective term for goldfinches, or the archbishop in 17dn, the nearest expression I’ve ever heard to 5dn is to “have a SCREW loose”, and most of the rest was just heavy weather. 5*/1*

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