DT 28190 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28190

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28190

Hints and tips by Kath

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating — Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Hello everyone – me again. This is definitely not a Ray T Thursday. It could be a Shamus but I’m bad at spotting his crosswords and don’t really know. After my initial, “I can’t do this at all” feeling I didn’t think it was too tricky and everything fell into place without too much trouble.

Please leave a comment telling us how you got on today.

In the hints below the definitions are underlined and the answers are hidden under the bits that say ANSWER

Across

1a            Airport area that’s packed — I’m clear to move ahead (7,7)
BAGGAGE RECLAIM — The first word is a general term that covers everything you take with you when you’re off on holiday (that’s packed) and the second is an anagram (to move) of I’M CLEAR. I wondered for a long time if I was missing something here but, if I am, I still can’t see it.

"At these prices, what do you expect?"

9a            Film about a leader in trouble getting abuse (8)
MISTREAT — The film here isn’t something you’d see at the cinema, it’s a haze or a fog – follow that with an abbreviation meaning about or concerning, the A from the clue and finish off with the the first letter (leader in) of T(rouble).

10a         Correct pieces penned by journalist (5)
EMEND — The usual two letters for a fairly high up kind of journalist contain (penned by) some ‘pieces’ you might use in a board game.

12a         Promise kept by goatherd (4)
OATH — Our first lurker, or hidden answer (kept by) – it’s in the middle of the last word of the clue.

13a         Savvy old comedian following Whitehall, say (10)
STREETWISE — Start off with something of which Whitehall is just an example (say) and follow that with one half of a pair of very well known comedians – sadly both no longer around. I wonder how fair this kind of clue is on non-UK citizens – could any of us name many foreign comedians? I certainly couldn’t.

15a         One styling short hint for summer event (8)
BARBECUE — Begin with someone a man might go to for a hair cut (one styling) without its final letter (short) and follow that with another word for a hint or a reminder.

3385297_orig

16a         Batting and ready to grab century — such is cricket (6)
INSECT — Oh dear – here we go! The little short word that means in the middle of an innings in that game is followed by another way of saying ready or prepared which contains (to grab) the one letter abbreviation for a C(entury). This is the clue that makes me think the crossword could have been set by Shamus.

dragonfly

18a         Specialist and former favourite? About right (6)
EXPERT — The usual two letters for a former anything are followed by a favourite or treasure which contains (about) R(ight).

20a         In review, officials note cunning footballer’s move (8)
TRANSFER — Start off with some sports officials, follow that with the one letter abbreviation for n(ote) and a noun meaning cunning or ingenuity and then reverse the lot (in review). I’m beginning to think that someone’s out to get me today – cricket only two clues earlier and now football . . .

23a         A feature of astrology intended for discussion in task (10)
ASSIGNMENT — The A from the clue is followed by two homophones (for discussion) – the first is one of a twelfth part of the zodiac (feature of astrology) and the second is intended or planned.

24a         Hero sanctified partly in statue (4)
EROS — The second lurker, indicated by partly – the answer is hidden in the first two words of the clue.

26a         Animal left in hands of Eastern monk (5)
LLAMA — A Buddhist priest or a monk in Tibet contains (in hands of) the one letter abbreviation for L(eft).

white-llama

27a         Secured hat being in a storm (2,3,3)
IN THE BAG — An anagram (in a storm) of HAT BEING.

28a         Reserve found in testimonials for dictionaries etc (9,5)
REFERENCE BOOKS — A word meaning testimonials or letters of commendation contain (found in) another way of saying reserve or keep for future use.

 

Down

2d            Good means for carrying people in showy material (7)
GLITTER — The one letter abbreviation for G(ood) is followed by a means of carrying an injured person.

golden-glitter-sparkles-dust-background-6725658

3d            A group with end coming up for singer (4)
ALTO — The A from the clue is followed by three letter word for a group or a quantity which has its final letter moved up (end coming up).

4d            Unusually busy outlet blocking production of fuel (8)
EVENTFUL — An outlet or duct is in the middle of (blocking) an anagram (production) of FUEL.

5d            High regard European encounters after rise (6)
ESTEEM — The abbreviation for E(uropean) is followed by a reversal of (after rise) a word meaning encounters or comes across.

6d            Officer represented in centre of Bolton? (10)
LIEUTENANT — This officer is a commissioned one in the Army just below a captain – the title can be abbreviated to (represented) in the middle two letters (centre of) boLTon. I spotted the answer long before I saw why it was right.

7d            Romantic pair is beginning to examine list (7)
ITEMISE — A romantic pair or a couple in an established relationship is followed by the IS from the clue and the first letter of (beginning to) E(xamine).

8d            Dame ruins TV set in hazardous practice? (11)
ADVENTURISM — An anagram (set in) of DAME RUINS TV.

11d         Repeat culpability for error in court (6,5)
DOUBLE FAULT — This court is not a court of law – a word to repeat or duplicate is followed by another meaning blame or liability.

3794162_web1_3794162-5f8148459025481d8586b886c85aa6b5

14d         Backward trader, ogre needing replacement (10)
RETROGRADE — An anagram (needing replacement) of TRADER OGRE.

17d         Mad fellow, Frenchman, with nervous habit (8)
FRENETIC — The one letter abbreviation for F(ellow) is followed by a common first name for a Frenchman and then a nervous habit or a twitch.

19d         Pops to meet wise guy in alley (7)
PASSAGE — Pops here is an affectionate name for your father or Dad – it’s followed by a wise man (guy) or oracle.

5db64edc658e469a5f48dab593a55a06

21d         Extreme resistance in the past creating mess (7)
FARRAGO — A word meaning extreme or distant is followed by the one letter abbreviation for R(esistance) and a way of saying in the past or previously.

22d         Person on strike’s happy when one won’t lift a finger (6)
UMPIRE — This ‘one’ is a sporting official – not the one we had in 20a but the other kind. I think if he holds up a finger the batsman (person on strike) is out so if he doesn’t hold up a finger (won’t lift a finger) it’s all fine! Oh dear – oh dear – now I’m sure that someone’s out to get me!

111631h

25d         Kind of plant seen in the woman’s book (4)
HERB — A word meaning ‘the woman’s’ or belonging to the woman is followed by the abbreviation for B(ook).

I liked 23 and 27a and 17d. My favourite was 11d.

The Quickie Pun:- HAAR + MONIKER = HARMONICA

80 comments on “DT 28190

  1. Like kath, almost every time I begin a crossword, I have that “I can’t do this at all ” feeling, and this time was no different.The first one in was 5d and then things flowed more smoothly.
    In retrospect , it seemed quite beneign, with 1a , 11d and 28a among my top picks.
    Thanks to Kath for the blog and to the setter.

  2. I thought this puzzle was reasonably straightforward for a Thursday and enjoyed solving it.

    Thanks to Kath and setter 1.5*/3.5*

  3. An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Mr Ron and Kath.
    For 1a I think that the second word comes from I’M (in the clue) preceded (ahead) by the anagram of CLEAR.

    1. Yes – thanks Gazza. One of the things that was bugging me was the ahead bit. The other thing was how were we supposed to know which of the two possible first words was right?

      1. I think that ‘baggage reclaim’ is the term usually used at airports and it’s the only one of the two in the BRB.

  4. I’ll go for 2*/3* today. This enjoyable puzzle fell into place quite quickly except for three clues that took quite a time for reasons which I can’t understand with the benefit of hindsight.

    As a cricket lover I particularly liked 16a & 22d. I’m playing this afternoon and off to the The Oval tomorrow to watch England v. Pakistan when Silvanus and I plan to meet for the first time. As soon as I get back home tomorrow Mrs RD and I are heading off for a weekend in South Wales so I may not pop up here again until Monday.

    Many thanks to Mr Ron and to Kath.

    1. Looking forward to it, RD, although whether England will still be batting by that time is another matter! Hope your game goes well.

    2. RD hope you enjoy your visit to the Principality. It is 1 / 2 sweater weather here today.
      I did leave the tip below about the queues at the minute on the new bridge especially at “normal hours” I now almost invariably use the M48 & the old bridge to avoid them. Also the overhead variable speed limit cameras coming up to Almondsbury are live & caught out the son-in-law. (Not an implication of driving habits they can be set at odd, seemingly illogical speeds).

      1. Where in the Principality are you? My hunting ground was the Lampeter area, in particular Drefach. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to visit again.

        1. Near Cardiff (just North)
          Drefach very rural & Welsh. It won’t have changed. You can get a 3 bed house in 6acres for £295K in Llandysul.
          Bit of a culture change for a Cardie to end up in Miami! Mind in Drefach your forms wouldn’t be in Spanish they would be in Welsh. Even here we get two sets of every official form in Welsh & English. Once had a rescue Lab that could answer commands in both languages – he understood more Welsh than me.

          1. I’m not a Cardie, but a dear friend and I shared a house in Montego Bay for some time. We immigrated to UK in 1960, she stayed in UK, landing up in Wales, and I returned to Jamaica. As I worked with PanAm, free tix and all that, I was able to visit at least once a year. The passage of years and a bankruptcy significantly changed my lifestyle, but we keep in close touch, emailing almost every day.

            1. West Wales is a lovely place to live (we thought of moving there) but you do have to accept “isolation”.
              Almost unbelievable contrasts in your locations. Makes me feel parochial.

  5. I had luggage for the first part of 1A both work. Took me a while to get going but they all revealed themselves slowly, my favourite has to be 6D. Many thanks to the setter & Kath who is now an expert on cricket.

      1. You are correct in your definition of the Army rank, Kath, though it is also a Naval Officer, one rung down from Lt Commander.
        While we are on the subject of Army ranks, can anyone explain why, when the answer to 6d is junior to a Major, a Lt General outranks a Major General?

        1. The Naval 6d is also in the BRB but I thought if I carried on much more I might have been getting a bit long-winded! I do hope I haven’t offended anyone.

        2. I read somewhere that the title of Major General was originally Sergeant Major General, where naturally a Sergeant Major would be outranked by a Lieutenant in junior officer rankings, but for some obscure reason the word Sergeant was eventually dropped from the senior officer title.

          1. You’ve changed your email address since your last comment so moderation was required. Both addresses should work from now on.

  6. Nothing too difficult today, although my last one in, 4d, took me a little while to decipher.

    Thanks to setter, and to Kath.

  7. I’m with RD on this one as a cricket nut. I am, however, ashamed to admit that 22 down was my last one in, yet still my favourite.

    I found this relatively straightforward, although there were a couple of bung-ins which I parsed afterwards. 2*/3* overall, with thanks to the Thursday Mysteron and Kath for her review.

  8. Not the usual Thursday challenge – is this a different compiler I wonder ? Pity really, as I could have been happy to spend more time on it, given the weather. Wet, cold, drizzly here in the Peak District. */*** for me.

  9. Had to bung in 22d as I didn’t get the technicalities of the gesture. I’ll happily lift one of my fingers for this sport but won’t tell which one.
    Quite a few Lego clues in 9a, 7d and 21d but very enjoyable puzzle.
    Hope that Brian remembers the monk in 26a.
    Thanks to the setter and to Kath for the review.

      1. What a great comedian. He managed to make us laugh so much without ever saying anything funny.

  10. Very enjoyable today and quite easy for a Thursday. Thanks to Kath for the lovely review. Particularly for those difficult to explain hints. Thanks also to the setter. Paul is today’s Grauniad setter and he is giving RayT a run for his money.

  11. Like yesterday’s puzzle, I found this quite difficult, especially the NW corner, and a ***/*** for me.
    Thanks Kath for explaining 6d,I was looking for an eight letter word in the middle of LT ! and for the ‘film’ in 9a-i had the solution, but was trying to involve ET somehow, never mind lots of fun and enjoyed it greatly.

  12. Middling levels of difficulty and enjoyment for me, but I was solving while struggling to wake up. I’m not very good at transitioning between sleeping and waking states.

    I frowned at the central bit of 6d for a while before tumbling to the correct interpretation. 22d was a half guess: had no doubt that it was right, but would have had to read up on the gesture to be able to explain it properly.

    17d is my favourite today, as long as Jean-Luc doesn’t get mad at my choice. ;)

    Many thanks to the setter and Kath.

    1. When I was at the Duke’s we had a play from Tom Stoppard called “Artist descending a staircase”.
      We did a spoof for Xmas and called it “Artist solving the French case”.
      Had to be in drag as the part they gave me was Michelle unfortunately.
      My only consolation is that Tom came to see the show.

      1. Now that I would have loved to see!

        If you have a picture, perhaps you could send it to Kath so she can include it in the review?

        1. I had some but can’t remember where I put them.
          My friend David Lyness who moved on to run a theatre in Stirling took some great pictures and I probably put them in a book for safekeeping but can’t recall which. How mad is that?

      2. Rene is the standard crosswordland Frenchman. Is it true that every Frenchman is called Rene?

  13. Not quite ** for me more like 2.5 but very enjoyable especially what for me is one of the all-time great clues in 22a (sorry Kath)’ good luck to England for the Oval test.
    Thx Kath fro sorting out the answer to 20a, I just couldn’t see the cunning bit.
    Thx to all

  14. I enjoyed this one a lot, it was full of inventive constructions and many of the surfaces were faultless.

    Three of the sport-related clues earned ticks today (16a, 20a and 22d), although I also warmed to 13a.

    Many thanks to today’s setter and to Kath. I think the hint for 19d should have referred to “fathers” as a plural, otherwise it doesn’t parse unfortunately.

  15. An enjoyable doddle this morning while waiting to entertain the Australians. 22d was top of my pops. 1*/3* Thanks to the setter (Shamus?) and the ever-wonderful Kath

  16. Wow! A Thursday and I have finished in daylight and then find it is not Ray T 😒 Nice puzzle ***/**** particularly liked 6d and and 16a Thanks to Kath and the Setter 😄

  17. Not bad…. eminently solvable with some good clues that needed the grey cells to be present. My favourite was 13a which took a while before the penny dropped.
    2/3* overall.
    Thanks to the setter, and to Kath for a valiant job.

  18. Couldn’t get 8d for ages. Quite tricky again today. Thanks for your hints (and answers)

  19. 20a – ‘In review’ means turn it all backwards???
    Holy smoke!! No wonder I find these types of clue difficult!!

  20. Not the usual Thursday battle for me but enjoyable. 22d my favourite.
    6d was clever as the answer was obvious but I needed Kath’ s explanation to even have a clue why.
    RD hope you enjoy your visit to the Principality – a tip if you are crossing the bridge at anything like a reasonable hour . Use the M48 & the old bridge – queues can rake 20 minutes on the new crossing.

    1. Apologies Setter & Kath did try to edit as I realised I hadn’t recorded my thanks. Really enjoyed both. The l**** picture had more than a passing resemblance to a politician for me.

      1. If you’re thinking of the politician I think you’re thinking of he always looks a bit like a tortoise to me!
        I have a great joke about the tortoise but it’s too visual to tell here.

        1. Always have to be careful with the Internet. Never really thought the tortoise bit but now you mention it……

  21. Thanks to Kath for the review. Well done for solving the “crickety” ones.

    17d – Nice to see our favourite Frenchman again. Not him, the other one!

    A very nice puzzle which I found more difficult than it actually was – I haven’t left home for months but am still feeling the effects of jet-lag!

    What time is it in Rio? Goodnight!

    :yawn:

  22. ***/*** for me. Had to resort to a bit of electronic help for last one in – 7d, will have to remember the item thing. Pleased I got 22d knowing nothing about cricket. Didn’t like 23a as I don’t think it’s right to use the homophone construct to slip in the double s. Shouldn’t the homophone be a word in its own right?
    Thanks all.

  23. 1.5/2.5. A strange puzzle for me. I really liked 16&23a and 17&22d but didn’t like 1a (because there were two possible answers for the first word), 6d which I got but thought was a weak clue, and 3D which I also got but thought was contrived. Thanks to all.

  24. Must admit that I wasn’t immediately thinking ‘Shamus’ as I worked through this one but I much appreciated the standard of cluing and concluded that it must have been the handiwork of one of the more experienced setters. That would definitely put him in the frame.
    Despite the reference to ‘that game’ I liked 16a but 22d was a different matter – last one in and I was grateful for the lack of alternatives!
    Top three for me were 13a plus 11&17d.

    Many thanks to today’s setter and a round of applause for Kath.

  25. Well, as someone who usually needs all day, I fair breezed through this. Under an hour, believe me, that’s ‘breezing’ for old Killer. I dare say there are those here in the Endeavour Morse ten minute Times bracket, but it’s rare for me to go relatively unhindered !

    */****. Thanks to setter and Kath.

    1. I checked Chambers and two Oxford dictionaries (ODE & SOED) and all three have baggage claim/reclaim and none have luggage reclaim.

  26. Very tricky for me but most enjoyable. Really, Kath, ** for difficulty? But I agree to the **** enjoyment rating. I’m not going to hazard a guess as to setter.
    I never got 22d, totally lost on that one.
    I remembered the comedian in 13a, loved him.
    I even got the sports clues, and I was certainly not fooled by the cricket in 16a, no siree, I twigged right away.
    Thanks to setter, and to Kath for the usual entertaining blog, clever you.

    1. Oh – I’m sorry about the 2* difficulty. I started off with 3* but then down graded it as, once finished, it didn’t feel as if it had been too tricky.
      I do admit to being pretty useless at grading difficulty – I seem to remember really messing up with the Ray T last week.

  27. Hardly a joint effort today because the better looking half
    of L’Equipe PD had more interesting things to do.
    I really liked the puzzle and agree with Kath’s assessment.
    So thanks to her and setter!

  28. Good evening everybody.

    A joint effort today and mostly straightforward enough but a handful of tricky ones notably 13a and last in 22d.

    1a we went for luggage as neither of us speaks American.

    ***/na

  29. Found this an odd offering, and concluded we were not on the setter’s wavelength although we did eventually finish it. 2.5*/2*. Did not like the use of set (in) for 8d. Doesn’t look like an anagram indicator and suspect it’s used solely for the resultant surface.

    Thanks, Kath, for the review and on your question of fairness in 13a, The Telegraph is, after all, a UK national paper so why not? Perhaps it is equally as fair as asking the UK majority of readers/solvers to name a Frenchman in 17d or name any of the many foreign composers, rivers etc that our compilers hit us with.

    Thanks to the mystery compiler.

  30. As has already been observed, an enjoyable doddle. Call it 1*/3.5*, and my pick of the clues is 16a. VMTs to Mr Ron and Kath.

  31. We also wondered about luggage and baggage for 1a but did settle on the correct answer. Totally agree with Kath’s ratings. People like the comedian in 13a have an international reputation so that one was not a problem for us. Names that do present us with more of a problem are minor political figures and weather and local news presenters who, although household names in UK, mean nothing to us. We would guess at Shamus as the setter but without a great deal of conviction that we are correct. If it is he we can probably expect a confirming visit soon. Good fun.
    Thanks Mr Ron and Kath.

  32. Oh good – as 2/3 of the official blog ‘Shamus spotters’, the other 1/3 being pommers who’s otherwise occupied today, I’m glad you agree that he could be today’s setter.
    It was 16a that gave me my suspicions. It reminded me of a clue in one of the very first set of hints that I did ‘all my own self’. It was, “Nervous characteristic of cricket” (5). It made me laugh so much that I gave the crossword a 5* enjoyment – something I don’t think I’ve done before or since.
    I share your lack of conviction though – this could be a good thing. A couple of weeks ago pommers said he would, “have a stab at Shamus”. Oh dear – poor Shamus – and this week we’re trying to get a conviction – surely we don’t want to see him in prison.

    1. Damn – that was, fairly obviously I hope, meant to be a reply to the 2K’s – just forgot to hit the ‘reply’ thingy. :roll:

    2. Popping in late to thank Kath for her excellent blog and everyone for taking the time to comment

  33. Another one who agonised over luggage / baggage. I’ve never heard of the answer, so it could have been either as far as I was concerned. Struggled with 4d too, so that corner proved all in all to be 4d, though the rest of the puzzle was pretty benign. Liked 6d especially.

  34. 6d: Help! I got that the centre of Bolton is LT, but then the clue seems to suggest that IEUTENAN means represented. What am I missing? Help!

  35. Thanks again to Shamus for the crossword and for calling in.
    Apologies for the spelling mistake in the answer for 6d under the hidden bit – how did I do that? Dim! :oops:
    Thanks also to everyone for the comments.
    Now need to have a quick tidy-up and then off to bed pretty soon.
    Night night all and sleep well . . . :yawn:

  36. I was miles off wavelength with this. Got most of the answers from the definition, then had to check Kath’s excellent hints as I could parse so few myself. I must have had to do over half the answers like this. This was definitely into Ray-T category.
    Still, pleased I could get so far in a puzzle with clues i could not get my head round, and as a result, enjoyable.
    Many thanks for the great blog and to Shamus for the confusion.

  37. Joyful from start to finish. Add me to the luggage thingy too but no objection to the cricket clues.

    Many thanks to Shamus and to Kath for her usual great blog.

    And well done to team GB for the recent medals. Although that French gymnast that broke his leg a few days ago I could have lived without seeing. Poor bloke.

    1. Missed that, thank heavens, but the French haven’t done very well in these games so far.
      Just watched GB being beaten by Fiji in 7 a side rugby. First medal ever for this tiny country. Well done.

      1. GB didn’t play at all. When they had their chances to bully their opponents they didn’t take them. They meekly accepted what was happening. Tut tut.

      2. JL…Missed 7’s final. Kudos to Fiji as you say….don’t ever watch the gymnast thing. Not good.

  38. Came to this after midnight after a long day away at a funeral in the Midlands and then watching the GB/Fiji Sevens (what a disappointment). I had hoped for a relaxing cruciverbal wind-down but for whatever reason (perhaps just emotionally drained) found this difficult to get off the starting blocks and then not at all entertaining. Finally several hints helped me to finish so thanks Kath for that and Shamus (now that you have revealed yourself) for the puzzle and apologies for my not having enjoyed it this time. And so to bed. ****/*.

  39. This one was fairly average and reasonably enjoyable. I really liked 16a: smoothish surface and good misdirection – leading you right up the garden path into thinking that the answer just had to be cricket-related, which of course it wasn’t. 2*/3*

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