DT 28207 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28207

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28207

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

 

Kia ora from down-under. Our Spring officially starts tomorrow so that means that the little game we play on our regular walks of “Spotting the first  duckling” will get under way. Expect that we will still have a few wintry episodes to come but the general trend towards warmer longer days is well under way.
Mr Consistency, Jay, has kept us amused once again.

Please leave a comment saying how you got on.

Across

1a     Northern Europeans must adopt centigrade measures (6)
DANCES : People from one of the Scandinavian countries includes the abbreviation for centigrade.
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5a     Holding supplies of a particular hosiery item (8)
STOCKING : Double definition.

9a     Steep service charge after the first of March (8)
MACERATE : Start with the first letter of March, then a tennis service that is not returnable, and a word meaning a charge. Don’t be fooled into thinking that steep has anything to do with an acute angle.

10a     Favouring attack, to gain an advantage (6)
PROFIT : Put together two three letter words, the first meaning in favour of and the second an attack caused by a medical condition.

11a     Quiet dependable person going around in the morning for plant (8)
SHAMROCK : The two letter call to be quiet, then a descriptive word for a dependable person comes after the two letters meaning in the morning.
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12a    End of letter written in pink pen (6)
CORRAL : A shade of pink named for marine growths includes the last letter of ‘letter’.
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13a     The effect of a drop in gravity? (4,4)
FREE FALL : An all in one clue that describes an unimpeded descent from a high place.
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15a     Part of leg that comes from a cow? (4)
CALF : A bovine offspring.

17a     Thump pest often found in bed (4)
SLUG : Double definition. The bed where this pest is found is a flower-bed.
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19a     Sorry etc about one on track (8)
PATHETIC : Start with a synonym for a track and then split ‘etc’ with the Roman numeral One’

20a     Father split his responsibility as such (6)
PARENT : An all in one clue. Divide the answer 2,4 to give an informal word for father and a word meaning split or tear.

21a     Ranked in order before editor became angry (8)
DARKENED : An anagram (in order) of RANKED and the abbreviation for editor.

22a     Looking embarrassed and inexperienced, make new sketch (6)
REDRAW : The colour one turns when embarrassed and a synonym for inexperienced or green.

23a     Speed of free love — it’s within the bounds of curiosity (8)
VELOCITY : An anagram (free) of LOVE and then ‘it’ from the clue is bounded by the first and last letters of curiosity.

24a     Trap a lie about bones like these? (8)
PARIETAL : An anagram (about) of TRAP A LIE.

25a     Arab state welcoming last of various sycophants (3-3)
YES-MEN : The last letter of various is inside an Arab state that has borders on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Down

2d     Answer after song about a bete noire (8)
ANATHEMA : A song of which ‘God Defend New Zealand’ is an example contains ‘A’ from the clue and is followed by the abbreviation for answer.

3d     Nothing to go with strawberries? Take the best (5,3)
CREAM OFF : The classic accompaniment for strawberries is either well past its use-by date or not there at all.

4d     Neighbours perhaps like this artist entertaining a church leader (4,5)
SOAP OPERA : A two letter word meaning ‘like this’ and a member of the Royal Academy include ‘A’ from the clue and a church leader found in Rome.

5d     Hello — your ears must be burning! (5,2,3,5)
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL : A phrase that suggests that the person who has just arrived has come from an infernal place.

6d     Fish eggs left company transport facility (3,4)
CAR POOL : A type of fresh-water fish, two copies of the letter shaped like an egg and then the abbreviation for left.

7d     A student on grass? The other way round, but that’s unofficial! (8)
INFORMAL : ‘A’ from the clue and the abbreviation for a learner follow (the other way round) a word meaning grass or tell on.

8d     Manage okay, but delayed over wearing medal (3,5)
GET ALONG : A word for delayed (or even dead) is inverted and found inside an informal word for a medal.

14d     Really on fire and really worried! (9)
LITERALLY : On fire or ignited and then an anagram (worried) of REALLY.

15d     To applaud role coming up is nonsense (8)
CLAPTRAP : Applaud by putting one’s hands together and then a stage role is reversed.

16d     Both sides will accept playing abroad — but here? (8)
LABRADOR : The abbreviations for left and right surround an anagram (playing) of ABROAD to give us this area in Canada.
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17d     Disciplines needed for scenes otherwise including the Channel Islands (8)
SCIENCES : The two letter abbreviation for the Channel Islands is inside an anagram (otherwise) of SCENES.

18d     Worry, but nations together agree on terms (8)
UNSETTLE : Nations together gives us the organisation with headquarters in New York and then a word meaning to agree on terms and make a binding arrangement.

19d     Boat requiring speed around bar (7)
PINNACE : A synonym for a bar or public house is inside a word for speed.
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There were several answers in the North West that really appealed to us but we settled on 9a as favourite today.

Quickie pun    stay    +    car    +     nail    =    steak and ale

74 comments on “DT 28207

  1. A jolly romp today – thank you Jay and also 2Ks for a couple of parses. 19d and 12a now added to my vocabulary. Would never have come up with 21a if it hadn’t been an anagram. Can parse 1a but don’t understand where measures come into it – what am I missing? **/***. Not sure about the Quickie pun.

      1. Those two explanation have just forestalled my repeat of Angel’s question. On balance, 3*/3* for my money. I think 6d was my favourite – the mention of fish eggs diverted me into pointless tussles with “roes” and “caviars”, until I spotted the alternative reading. Thanks to Jay, and the 2 Kiwis.

  2. Lovely puzzle. Pity man’s best friend didn’t feature in 16d but there were plenty of others to enthuse about for me. On the hard side but doable.

    Thanks to setter & 2Ks for clearing up a couple of doubts.

    1. Note the new avatar! She’s Megan, the “me” of Merusa! And what a special chum she was, lived to be just shy of her 15th birthday.

      1. Fabulous: Bigsey could be from the same litter they look so alike. Never had one go beyond 12/13 sadly. Today I had a call from a friend who lost his Choc. yesterday – it was nearly 16
        Book I mentioned casts doubts on whether they came from 16d.

        1. Our Toby was a lookalike also, and sadly never did get to be a fat old lab. But he did had 9 lovely years believing he was just a puppy and enjoying every minute, except he was terrified of water.

  3. I like this type of puzzle. Nothing too demanding but it took several more passes than usual. Very enjoyable.

    1. I agree entirely and to copy you further, I shall not supply any rating stars.

      Enjoyable stuff, with thanks to the 2Kiwis and Jay.

  4. I thought this was on the trickier side of normal for a Jay crossword – agree with the K’s ratings for difficulty and enjoyment.
    16d was my last answer – missed the anagram in the middle of the sides – and I also missed the anagram indicator in 21a.
    I spent a lot of time faffing around with 6d before I hit on the right answer.
    12a – thinking of the wrong kind of pen which was, of course, exactly what we were supposed to do – I’m easily fooled!
    I liked 9a and 3 and 5d. My favourite was 14d.
    With thanks to Jay and to the 2K’s – pic for 17d – :sad: far too many in the garden.

  5. What a difference a day makes. Having completed both crosswords relatively easily yesterday, my mind was a complete blank over this one. Eventually got all but 4d and 13 across without the hints. Many thanks to setter and to 2Kiwis for the fun pictures on the blog.

  6. Struggled today. 1a beat me even after hint from 2k’s but now explained by other bloggers. Also 24a a new word for me and of course 12a had me thinking of the wrong kind of pen too. Wouldn’t have managed today without 2K’s so many thanks to them and to the setter for stretching my little grey cells today.

  7. Going for a **/*** today ,19d was a new word for me and last one in, tried to fit the wrong sort of ‘bar’ into pace ! apart from that-plain sailing.
    Excellent fare all round, thanks setter and the 2K’S- The Matisse is one of my favourite paintings.

  8. Jay is indeed Mr Consistency :smile: and he’s gone and done it again – another splendid puzzle. Just the right level of difficulty to make it interesting without frightening the geegees.

    No stand-out favorite for me as it’s all good stuff.

    Thanks to Jay and the 2K’s

  9. Took a while to find a way into this one but it turned into a reasonably steady solve.
    Tried to justify ‘get going’ for 8d in a bid to fit our old friend the biro into 12a – it wouldn’t work!
    Had to ask Mr. Google about 24a – new one for me – and the old grey matter was definitely stretched to recall 19d.

    Liked 3&5d but the gong goes to 9a because I was so delighted to have come up with the correct usage of ‘steep’.

    Many thanks to Jay for the work-out and to our 2Ks for yet another excellent blog. I was wondering after the comments of yesterday – do you get extra pay when the Quickie pun has three words included in it?!!!

    1. I remember my Mum steeping dried peas overnight on Saturday ready to cook for Sunday dinner

    2. Jane, we think we deserve extra pay for the quickie pun. It is not a phrase we knew and spend a lot of time and effort on research to justify it. We now know an awful lot about an American restaurant chain that was established in Dallas in 1966, went bankrupt in 2008 and its planned reincarnation in 2016 has now been delayed until 2017. All that must be worth a special bonus payment too.
      We were fully expecting to see some comments that found something we had missed with the pun but nothing as yet. Maybe we got it right after all?

        1. Thanks Gazza. In our Google research we did come across those recipes. Sound rather toothsome.

      1. Yes – I think you’ve made a good case for both extra pay and a bonus. No doubt same will be included with your regular monthly pay packet!

  10. No great problems apart from 16d. Missed the anagram indicator so grateful for the hint
    Thx to all

  11. Attacked the crossword from the SE and slowly made my way anticlockwise to finish with 1a for which that meaning was new to me. Like the Matisse by the way.
    Thanks to Jay for an excellent puzzle and to 2ks for the review.

  12. Early visit today to say thanks to Expat Chris, Hoofit, CS, Kath, SL and Hanni for their responses and congrats this am after my night time shenanigans and solving successes.
    Different story today I fear, although I have made a start, love 22a, but cannot believe that so many have finished this so early in the day. You are all so clever!
    Onward and upward….now back, literally, to the drawing board.

  13. Agree with many of the comments: 1a new meaning (first one to be solved and last one to be entered), spelling of bones is not my forte and 19d was new word but obvious from the clue.
    **/*** for me today with thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.
    PS Hope Young Salopian enjoyed the cricket yesterday – I wasted a afternoon watching a wonderful England performance

  14. Up and running again after broadband problems. Tricky but good puzzle from Jay. So much to enjoy but 24a my favourite.

    1. Hi bluebirds – the ‘about’ in 19a across is used as a containment indicator in this instance. Example – etc about (contains) the roman numeral for ‘one’.

      You are quite right about 24a – the ‘about’ here is used as the anagram indicator.

  15. For whatever reason, it took me ages to get a foothold today (my mind must be on other things). That came from the SE corner and gradually it all slotted into place. Looking at it complete, I don’t know why I struggled but Hey-ho. All nicely clued and I liked 24a as I managed to remember the bones – Kath was nearly my ‘phone a friend’. However, 5a has to go as my favourite clue – oo-err missus. The only trouble is, it’s really difficult to find good ones in my size :wink:

    Thanks to Jay for the enjoyment and to the 2K’s for their review.

  16. I loved this! I found it difficult to get back into Jay’s wavelength, but once I did, it all went like clockwork.
    I am always reminded of Jane Austen for 1a; hero says, “would you care to tread a measure?”
    Like Angel, I would never have got 21a without the anagram
    There were so many that took my fancy, but, for obvious reasons, 16d is the fave.
    Thanks to Jay and the 2Kiwis; I so enjoy your snapshots of NZ.

  17. A good puzzle which I enjoyed having a go at. I had the word for 1a but could not imagine it could have that meaning, and 24a could have been anything – you either know or don’t, even with the checkers.
    8d/12a held me up in exactly the same way as Jane, plus I was barking up the wrong tree trying to understand 7d. D’oh!
    Thanks to all as ever.

  18. Good afternoon everybody.

    A bit of a disaster with most of the left hand side eluding me and finishing with eight unsolved. Among other things I was discouraged by the presence of a plant and the bone anagram, neither of which I would have known so there was no point in batting on.

    ****/**

  19. Had trouble accessing the site earlier so somewhat late with my comments.

    Another hugely enjoyable and satisfying solve from Jay. I won’t pick a favourite as there are too many finalists to go on the top of the podium.

    2.5*/4* with thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  20. Fairly gentle stuff from Jay, except for 19d which I don’t recall encountering before.

    My favourite was 14d, excellently clued.

    Many thanks to Mr. Mutch and the 2Ks.

  21. Yes, 14d was my favourite too. Jay’s crossword today I must say was very good. I definitely needed the grey cells to perform. 3/3.5* overall.
    Thanks to Jay, and to the 2K’s for their review.

  22. Good morning all. Well as we predicted in the preamble, Spring has officially arrived here, they told us on the radio this morning. Promise that we will inform you all when we see our first ‘klings’.
    Nice to see that there is general agreement on today’s puzzle. We are always amazed at how these top setters can turn on the goods week after week.
    Cheers.

  23. Into **** time for me, so definitely trickier than usual. A tricky anagram at 24ac (not helped by a double unch), new words at 9ac and 19d, and a tricky definition at 1ac, together with some well disguised definitions elsewhere… A good challenge to keep the brain sharp mid-week.

  24. Another enjoyable puzzle. 1a was main holdup as did not connect measures with dances, and thought 9a was also tough. 19d new word for me, so another learning day. Thanks Jay and 2 KiWis.

  25. Like Lizzie, I also was unaware of this use of ‘measures’, though I of course took a chance as it was my last one in.
    24a I’ve heard Dr Laura Hobson say this after a grisly event in the world’s murder capital, Oxford.
    Thanks to setter and 2Ks.

    ***/***

    1. I think that the world’s murder capital is a village just outside Oxford – honest guv – you can’t blame us in Oxford – half of us (the students) are hardly ever here and the rest of us are law abiding citizens – well, we are now – couldn’t say we were a while ago! :unsure:

    2. Midsummer has to be the murder capital of the world. Makes Atlanta look like Little Gidding. More people have met an untimely end in Midsummer than actually live there – one was even drowned in a vat of soup

  26. Thanks to Jay and to the 2 Kiwis for the review and hints. I couldn’t do this to save my life. Had 20a wrong, as parish. Never heard of 19d. Needed 9 hints to finish. My miserable week continues. Was 5*/2* for me.

    1. Heno, the good news is you don’t have to do the crossword to save your life. Just to enrich it – which I hope is the case. :)

    2. I’m with you Heno, this is a real struggle…
      Still going, but feel the need to resort to the hints is not far away…

      1. Just a suggestion. Instead of reading the full hint, see if it is possible to just look at the clue to see what has been underlined as the definition. This will often steer you in the right direction without stealing your ‘Doh’ moment.

        1. Yes, I try to do that.
          I just found this plain difficult, normally I am ok with a Jay puzzle, not today though.

          1. Having gone through the hints, that was a real tricky affair.
            Anyone who completed that unaided has my total respect.
            Thanks to the 2xK’s for great hints and to Jay for the challenge.

              1. I am getting better at that….
                Going through the hints, I worked out what the wordplay was, I then just could not solve it!!!
                I was made redundant yesterday, you got any jobs going????

                1. Sorry to hear that. I was a newbie to this a few months ago and am improving.This community is brilliant and the banter, assistance, wit, wordsmithery, pictures etc are uplifting. All of this is good for heart and mind. As a retired biomedic, I know that the positive evidence for all that goes on here is not only fun, fulfilling and pleasurable – it’s fertiliser for our synapses and all attendant connections.
                  So Hoofit, stick with the Crosswords and the good people here; you can’t be made redundant here and it will help to keep your spirits up – as it has mine during (another!) retirement. And that will help you as you look for further work. With my very best wishes for success in that regard too.

                  1. You’ve extended your alias since your previous comment so this one went into moderation. Both variants will work from now on.

                    1. Thanks Gazza.I feel more important now that I have an extended alias – and not a Viagra in sight!

                  2. Thanks Chrisso, and apologies for the late reply.
                    At least the weather is good, and I am able to spend plenty of time on the putting green!!

  27. I was considerably slower than is usual with a Jay puzzle, but the evidence is coming down firmly in favour of it being me having a slow week.

    There are too many super clues to list favourites, but the physicist in me noted and liked 13a and 23a. I wonder if 5d will be uttered in York in October :). It’s great news that JL and SL will be there, but it looks like there may be a potential lack of females. Any of you girls thinking of going?

    Thanks to Jay and the 2Kiwis – and to SL for raising a smile with his comment about 5a.

  28. We struggled with this much more than we should have, but got there eventually. The struggles were because we wrongly had fall away for 13a and it interlocked with adrenally (an anagram of ‘and really’) for 14d. Those two wrong ‘uns took quite some unpicking, but it was satisfying eventually. 3*/3*.

    1a was a new meaning of the word to us and 19d was a new word entirely. Favourite was 19a.

    Thanks to 2Ks and Jay.

  29. Just to say ‘Good Thursday Morning’ 2Ks and to tell you how much, as always, I have enjoyed watching this year’s Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I thought this time it was better than ever helped in no small measure by two superb contributions from New Zealand – the NZ Army Band and the NZ Lochiel Marching Drill Team. Thanks to you and your fellow countrymen for great entertainment.

  30. Thanks 2kiwis for the hints. I needed loads. 24a and 19d were new words for me. Thanks also to the setter.

  31. Good to be doing a Jay puzzle again after my time out. I may have mentioned once or twice that he is my favourite setter, although tonight there were a couple of obscurities that held me up until I got home and could consult by BBB (19d and 24a) – at least they were obscure to me. Thanks to the Kiwis and J. 2*/4*

    1. BBB? What is the BBB? I have checked the FAQs and read the etiquette warning and feel this is a fair question. Oh Thanks to the setter and the pair of kiwis.

      1. Big Blue Book – Collins – I’m not going to buy BRB when I already have the BBB, plus the OED (Big Black Book)

  32. So many really enjoyable clues in this puzzle but needed the help of my electronic dictionary to complete it. 5a and 5d got me started. I have never heard of ‘dances’ as measures, new to me. Thankyou 2xk’s and Jay, an enjoyable nightshift completing this one.

      1. Thank you 2kiwis. Without Big Dave and you and Miffypops et al, I never would have gained the confidence to tackle a cryptic on my own, so I am eternally grateful. Keep up the good work all, thanks again.

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