DT 28408 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28408 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28408 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club
Hosted by Tilsit

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Morning all!

A flying visit as I’m off to work, so here are the hints for today.  I’m sure there will be nice people around if needed, although if you are after more answers, they probably won’t be forthcoming.

It’s a fairly benign prize puzzle today and the number of anagrams dotted around should give you a good foothold.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Some hints follow.

Across

1a             Chinese side shows two simple gymnastic exercises (6,4)
You are looking for a side as in the world of fst food and two of the basic movements in floor exercises and lead you to it.

6a             Repeat section of the chorus (4)
Think I have seen this clue so many times before.  A word meaning repeat is part of the phrase ‘the chorus’.

14a          Revenue man extorts — panic could result (3,9)
A job that is assocated with the word Revenue is an anagram of two of the remaining words.

18a          Getting better beers around in religious institution (12)
A word that meanins getting better is found by taking a word for beers, adding an abbrevisation of around, in a number sense, and placing it in a religious building inhabited by women.

21a          Gangster’s starter replaced by first bit of local seafood (7)
A type of seafood is revealed by taking the name for a gangster in the US and swapping its first letter for the first of the word local.

23a          Learned without starting to repeat (7)
More tinkering with the first letter of a word.  Something that means learned or having the wherewithal to learn needs to lose its first letter abd this gives something that means to repeat.

26a          Turn detective and see Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, perhaps (4)
A short word meaning turn takes an abbreviation for a detective & this gives what Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are.  Odlly I had parsed this a completely different way until typing this, and then realised I was clutching at straws and saw the error of my ways! The ‘and see’ means what you get if you turn detective.

27a          Obstinately determined the dragons must be beaten (10)
A word meaning obstinately determined or stubborn is an anagram of THE DRAGONS.

Down

1d            London prison surgeon’s outfit (6)
A double definition. The nickname for a London prison is the same as what a surgeon calls his outfit for an operation.

3d            Animal that none implicated in patriotic song (8,6)
The name for a patriotic song is revealed by rearranging the letters of two of the remaining words.

5d            Queen Mary? Nothing upset Her Majesty (5)
What Queen Mary was when not on the throne is revealed by takinga word for nothing, reversing it and adding the abbrevistion for our monarch.

9d            Bank payment for unsophisticated hobby? (6,8)
If something was unsophisticated it would be this and then add a word meaning a hobby or pastime to give a type of financial device used by banks.

19d         Cane makes graduate low after pinching book (6)
What gives you cane is found by taking the abbreviation for someone with a degree, adding a word meaning low, as in an animal sense, and putting it all round the abbreviation for a book.

22d         Indian ready for rugby games heading east (5)
Think ready in a financial way.  Take the abbreviation for rugby, add one for school games and then E for East.

The Crossword Club is now open.


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The Quick Crossword pun: ma’am+allayed=marmalade


58 comments on “DT 28408 (Hints)

  1. After yesterday’s head scratcher from Giovanni, back to a straightforward solve today, slow out of the starting gate but completed at a fast gallop, with, I think, a sprinkling of oldies but goodies – */***.

    Favourite 24a.

    Thanks to the setter and Tilsit.

  2. 1*/2.5*. Pleasant but benign to use Tilsit’s apposite description.

    I agree with Senf in choosing 24a as favourite.

    Many thanks to Mr Ron and to Tilsit.

  3. Like Senf I was slow off the mark but, as Tilsit says, a few anagrams (although not usually among my favourite things) helped me to get going. Then I eventually enjoyed the above average Prize Crossword challenge with several really good clues. Needed a bit of help with 4d which is now added to my vocabulary. Thanks to whomever and to Tilsit.

    1. Yes, having come up with a plausible suggestion for 4d, I did have to check the Small Red Book for synonyms.

  4. Bit of an anagram-fest but it is Saturday. East side was no problem but slight hold-ups in NW. Enjoyable for all that.
    Like Senf 24a COTD, although hard to imagine it hasn’t been used before.
    Thanks to setter & Tilsit for hints. Forgotten the “joys” of working on a Saturday, thank goodness.

  5. Aha, into the naughty corner, Tilsit, in 27a you’ve mentioned the answer! Either that or I’ve got the wrong answer.

    Thanks to yourself for the hints.

    1. Good spot Rai (or I’ve got it wrong too).Can’t afford to be 27a though so perhaps more reflection is needed.

  6. Noted the article on the trial of the 15 (now 17) year-old whe developed the program responsible for 1.7m DDoS attacks world-wide. His name is MUDD, certainly within our fraternity that would be polite.
    Hopefully the judge is one of our number & the miscreant gets a long spell in 1d. Can’t help thinking he will hardly feel the slap on the wrist though.
    After all he wasn’t doing it for the £386,000 he got for selling it to cyber criminala but for “status”. In that case he shouldn’t mind paying the money into a fund to pay the Cloudflare fees of people like BD.

    1. Whilst I enjoy wit and humour this case does trouble me greatly. There are a growing number of young people on the autistic spectrum with extraordinary brains. We do not yet understand how to help them. If they are fortunate their brains take them into extraordinary careers and they are happily employed in Silicone Valley. If they are not they can lead themselves astray and find themselves on the wrong side of the law. If I was this young man’s parents I would be dreading what is probably an inevitable prison sentence and would fear what would happen to him within that system.

      1. WW,
        As a parent I have much sympathy with the point you make. Hoever the miscreant had enough awareness of what he was doing to call the program Titanium Stresser” indicating,to me at any rate, that he knew would be causing stress to others. As an unfortunate sufferer from an SRI there are two sides to the story. Sympathy tends to fall on the perpetrator rather than the victim.

  7. I really enjoyed this but noticed the paper clue for 22d differs from the electronic one. Thanks Tilsit for the hints, although they were not needed today. The answer for 4d was new to me too. Are we low on the comments today or is it just that I’ve had time to do the crossword earlier than usual?

    1. Yes – not many comments yet but there’s still plenty of time. Maybe everyone is making the most of the sun before we return to winter next week as is forecast.

        1. Yes – we’ve got sun and blue sky with a few little white fluffy clouds. No – you can’t have it – we’ve been under dark grey clouds for the last couple of days.

      1. I think you can blame the bad weather on cricket. Our season starts next weekend and this morning a group of us met at the club to get everything ready – sightscreens, covers, scorebox, etc. Without fail every year that ritual signals a deterioration in the weather.

      2. I was amused to read the weather forecast in the DT today. When I lived in England, from 1960-1965, it snowed every April after starting the month nicely.

  8. Like others before me, I had a slow start, then shot through after having had a lunch break in between. Several good clues, but 11a my favourite. Very topical. Overall this was 2*/3* with thanks to our Saturday setter and to Tilsit. Off outside again as it is a beautiful day here in the Marches.

  9. I thought this one was straightforward once I got going and I enjoyed it.
    When I first read 1a I nearly gave up thinking that it was a Chinese sports side and I don’t know any – a dim start.
    I have no idea if 10a is ‘crickety’ or rugby or football or whatever but it wasn’t too difficult to work out.
    My last two answers were 22d and the last word of 24a – don’t know why but they just were.
    I liked 21a and 9d. My favourite was 22a.
    With thanks to whoever set this one and to Tilsit.
    Off to the garden – NTSPP later on.

          1. Except ” offside” as one word is not a cricketing term as far as I am aware. The side of the road they drive on where the puzzle is published may be relevant I think.
            Again as far as I am aware the off side in cricket depends what hand the batsman is.
            Sorry Kath I think it is the reference to offside being a criketing term that is confusing.

        1. Oh no – that’s another I never understand – near what and off what? I try not to get too near to anything when I’m driving. Why can’t people just say the driver’s side or the passenger’s side – even I understand that. What a load of old twaddle!

          1. Kath, Nearside and Offside are the terms used in the Highway Code. Driver’s side and passenger’s side would be reversed in a Left Hand drive car so that would be confusing too.
            Kath, time for a cup of tea methinks.

      1. I thought it might be!
        A couple of weeks ago someone very kindly gave me a tip to remember which was what and also said it could sum up my attitude to cricket:- “Cricket left on? 10a I’m off”.

  10. I had to wait for my golf mad son to help me with 24a. I now feel even more dim after such an easy answer. It did help me with 22d as I was so steeped in dimness, and couldn’t see the wood for the trees. I don’t know how many times I have been caught out by the word ‘ready’. The rest of it was very much read and write, but fun nonetheless. Thank you setter, My favourite clues were 1a and 5d. Thank you Tilsit for the review, and have a good day at work, if that’s possible.

  11. A lovely Saturday solve */****. It’s lovely and sunny here in Hampshire. Many thanks to the setter and Tilsit.

  12. Almost R&W but I really enjoyed this one. So much concise cluing which I always appreciate.
    As Kath also experienced, 22d and the last word of 24a were the last to fall and I didn’t trouble to decide which sport 10a was alluding to! Actually, the ‘car’ reference mentioned by LabsROK made far more sense to me!

    Plenty to choose from for podium places – 18&24a along with 5,8 & 9d all jockeying for position.

    Thanks to Mr. Ron for a good Saturday puzzle and to Tilsit for stepping into the big man’s shoes for the day.

    NTSPP on the list for when I’ve finished cleaning off all the venetian blinds – yuck!

  13. Thanks to the setter and to Tilsit for the hints. A very straightforward puzzle, but still good fun. I liked 24a, but my favourite was 22d. Last in was 25a. Was 2*/3* for me.

      1. If there is no hint then it is likely that you will kick yourself when you get it!

        25a Person honoured to be in newspaper boss’s set (5)
        A person who has received an honour or, more usually, the honour itself inside our usual newspaper boss.

  14. I liked this, not a head scratcher but good fun.
    Last in was 24a and is my fave, but 4d and 22d ran a close race.
    Thanks to setter and to Tilsit for his hints.

  15. Jumping up and down day! Solved the puzzle without any help or hints, yay 😊 I know it is rated as benign today, but I am too happy to care. Been doing these since the dark ages and it’s not often I can fill in all the answers, although have got so much better since discovering this site. Favourite was 24a, clever clue. Oh well fun over, time to get on with the chores…

    1. Well done – you ought to celebrate with something more exciting than the chores. Have a :rose:

  16. Got most but just can’t get 18a even though I think I know what the answer is😳

  17. After yesterday total shutdown on my part, I really enjoyed solving today’s offering without problem. My favourite clue was 22d. 21a made me smile. Jean-Luc and I touched base last Monday when all the family dined at the Jardin… Fifi has adapted very well to her new life and she loves the sea and the beach. At long last I have more time to spend on cryptic solving and I will be therefore more present on the blog. Lovely weather here but a bit cool because of the mistral.

  18. I liked this prize crossword; I know it wasn’t that difficult but I needed my thinking cap on to complete it. 22d was my fave and overall a good 2/3* which is better then most Saturdays.
    Thanks to the setter, and to Tilsit for his hints.

  19. Many thanks Tilset, I just needed to use the Internet to work out 4d as I had never heard of the word and that made solving the anagram pretty much impossible without help, or at least for me anyway. Apart from that no problems.
    Favourite was 24a, as a golfer, Mitchell made my smile, though to the more experienced probably an old chestnut.
    Thanks Mr.Ron.

      1. And not too good for Millwall either although Latics did you a favour holding Rochdale at Boundary Park.
        See the announcement midweek re a World-wide Handicap scheme being developed by the R&A & USGA? Big changes coming!

        1. Somehow we are still in the play offs, we could get in the play offs losing our last three games!
          Not seen the changes coming to the handicapping system, summer foursomes tomorrow.

  20. Last one in 1d. Got the answer by Google but checked the hints to see the blue coat – a new one on me! Some nice clues today – liked 18a and 21a.
    The old fashioned words in 2d and 4d scraped the barrel of my brain cells somewhat.
    Good to finish early to get some outside jobs done in the warm sunshine for a change.
    Thanks to all Tilsit Aand Mr. Ron.

  21. Can you not just put up the answers now that everyone has had a day to look at the hints?

    1. The short answer is no. The long answer is no-oooooooh. If you read the website a bit more, none of the blogs publish answers to prize puzzles. This is firstly to deter those troll-like people who just want answers to fill in so they can send the puzzle off to win the prize and have never solved a cryptic crossword in their lives. This also in a small way is a convention agreed with the newspaper crossword editors so there are no problems with copyright. Some years ago a national newspaper threatened one of the crossword site owners with bankruptcy even though he was just posting the puzzle to help friends abroad.

      If you happen to be one of the trolls, go to Answerbank, they will help you.

      There will be a blog with the answers the day after the closing date.

  22. enjoyed that puzzle a lot. Top half went in quite quickly and the SE soon after struggled a bit in the SW but when penny dropped on on 18a it opened the rest, and became my COTD in the process. Didn’t have time to fire up the laptop so I am here on Sunday. just off to tackle todays puzzle ttfn. Thanks to Tilsit BD and the setter for a nice start to the weekend before a nice bike ride.

  23. Good fun. Just needed to check that 4d is a word (It is!). Had no problem with 22d at all – having been caught out with “ready” before. Oddly my last two in were 18a and 27a. I had the right idea for the latter but could not think of the religious institution. Enjoyed 1a and 1d for simplicity and humour. Similarly 11a and 21a.

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