DT 28306

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28306

A full review by crypticsue

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This puzzle was published on Saturday 24th December

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **

 If you like cryptic definition clues and are fond of an anagram, this Christmas Eve offering would have suited you down to the ground.   I’ll just say that it did make typing the explanations more than a little repetitive!

Across

1a           Father with part in panto perhaps — it’s a promise! (6)
PAROLE – PA (father) ROLE (part in panto perhaps)

4a           Rates ski resorts as ‘one star’ (8)
ASTERISK – An anagram (resorts) of RATES SKI

9a           Game in crackers is a puzzle (6)
ENIGMA – An anagram (crackers) of IN GAME

10a         Moans about fool’s revels (8)
WASSAILS – WAILS (moans) goes about ASS (fool)

12a         Takes down what is on the Christmas menu (4)
EATS – A slightly odd cryptic definition clue

13a         Paper decoration coming from China (5)
CHAIN – An anagram (coming from) of CHINA

14a         Ice in the drink (4)
FLOE – A cryptic definition of a large piece of ice found in the sea (drink)

17a         Waits to do it! (5-7)
CAROL-SINGING – Waits being people who welcome in Christmas by playing or singing out of doors at night

20a         Gift of new tunic to Robin (12)
CONTRIBUTION – An anagram (new) of TUNIC TO ROBIN

23a         Forget start of carol, being confused, it’s not written down (4)
ORAL – an anagram (confused) of CAROL once you have forgotten the C at the start

24a         Prepares gifts, say, and lots of cards (5)
PACKS – of cards – as a verb it is what you do to gifts before, eg, posting them

25a         Small present that may arrive around Christmas time (4)
SNOW – S (small) NOW (present)

28a         Steadily as Christmas guests might once have travelled (2,6)
BY STAGES –  thinking about it, you don’t see many depictions of people on stagecoaches on Christmas cards these days

29a         Commercial song that one often hears with bells (6)
JINGLE – An advertising song or the word that goes before Bells in a Christmas classic

30a         Part of year that includes the present time (8)
DECEMBER – Another cryptic definition

31a         Spirit of Noel follows this? (6)
BLITHE –  Noel being the playwright, Sir Noel Coward and Blithe Spirit being one of his plays

Down

1d           Bearing gifts, we hear (8)
PRESENCE – A homophone (we hear) of PRESENTS (gifts)

2d           Resort is being rebuilt in 10 Across (8)
ROISTERS – An anagram (being rebuilt) of RESORT IS

3d           A dollop of plum pudding! (4)
LUMP – Lurking in pLUM Pudding

5d           Figures are cut on them by blades a foot long (7,5)
SKATING RINKS – Another cryptic definition

6d           Point the way the Wise Men came from (4)
EAST – The compass point indicating the direction of travel undertaken by the Three Wise Men

7d           It’s suspended when it is very cold at Christmas (6)
ICICLE –  And another cryptic definition

8d           Touching displays of affection under the mistletoe? (6)
KISSES – And another

11d         Revises match arranged for today (9,3)
CHRISTMAS EVE – well it was ‘today’ when we ‘arranged’ REVISES MATCH

15d         Distribute the whole first part of the Bible (5)
ALLOT – ALL (the whole) OT (Old Testament, first part of the Bible)

16d         Article being cut out of yearbook creates void (5)
ANNUL – Remove the A (article being cut out) from ANNUAL (yearbook)

18d         Time for a mass celebration? (8)
MIDNIGHT –  A cryptic definition for the time of one of the Christmas church services

19d         Start off Happy New Year in fancy dress — no special venue (8)
ANYWHERE – An anagram (in fancy dress) of H (the start of Happy) NEW YEAR

21d         Pessimistic doctor cooked bird (6)
MORBID – MO (Medical Officer, doctor) and an anagram (cooked) of BIRD

22d         Pub’s bill for wine (6)
BARSAC – BARS (pub’s) AC (account, bill)

26d         Tree that’s inspected by a fortune-teller (4)
PALM – A tree or part of your hand examined by a fortune-teller

27d         She joins Jack climbing nursery slopes (4)
JILL – the nursery rhyme character who went up the hill with Jack to fetch a pail of water.

B1