DT 28435 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28435

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28435

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

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

 

Kia ora from Aotearoa.
          We might be on the other side of the world but we still feel deeply moved and saddened by the horrendous events in Manchester. Our hearts go out to all those individuals and families who are suffering.

Another fine puzzle from Jay.

Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

Across

1a     Ground Force applied to get coveted position (5,2,5)
PRIDE OF PLACE : An anagram (ground) of FORCE APPLIED.

9a     Wheelwright’s representative? (9)
SPOKESMAN : A person working with wheels could be so described by referring to the things that connect the rim to the hub.

10a     Items for auction will include universal plant (5)
LOTUS : Put the abbreviation for universal inside a word describing items for auction.

11a     Part of agreement is a necessary medical infusion (6)
TISANE : A lurker hiding inside the third, fourth, fifth and sixth letters of the clue.

12a     Look like dropping soldiers for a small rally (8)
ASSEMBLE : Start with a word meaning look like, then remove the two letters for engineering soldiers and replace these with ‘A’ from the clue and the abbreviation for small.

13a     Day’s beginning sooner than expected, at great cost (6)
DEARLY : The first letter (beginning) of day’s and a word meaning sooner than expected.

15a     Court women in bedroom finding problem with furniture (8)
WOODWORM : Influence romantically, and then a bedroom where several people might sleep includes the abbreviation for women.

18a     Youth is naked and prone to be distant (8)
OUTLYING : Remove the first and last letters (is naked) of youth, and then a word meaning prone or horizontal.

19a     I do one chapter that’s much admired (6)
ICONIC : ‘I’ from the clue, then a three letter word meaning do or cheat, the Roman numeral one and the single letter abbreviation for chapter.

21a     Struggle, seeing Tory beaten soundly by female (8)
CONFLICT : A three letter abbreviation for a member of the Conservative party, the abbreviation for female and a homophone (soundly) of an informal word for beaten or defeated.

23a     There’s nothing in the outskirts of Pinner for this flier (6)
PLOVER : A word that means nothing in a tennis score is surrounded by the first and last letters of Pinner.

26a     Things put back in cosmetics? (5)
ITEMS : A reversed lurker (or rekrul) is in the last word of the clue.

27a     Free beer on site, but no seconds, is an anathema (4,5)
BETE NOIRE : An anagram (free) of BEER ON sITE after the abbreviation for seconds is removed.

28a     Quarter European, say newspapers (6,6)
FOURTH ESTATE : A quarter expressed as a fraction, then the abbreviation for European and say or utter.

Down

1d     Submitted, being sent across island (7)
POSITED : The one letter abbreviation for island is inside a word meaning sent or mailed.

2d     Presses son to support club (5)
IRONS : The abbreviation for son is underneath (supports) a type of golf club.

3d     Oriental that’s abandoned as partner for ever (9)
ETERNALLY : A  synonym for oriental has ‘as’ from the clue removed from it, and then a partner or confederate.

4d     Celebrity footballers appearing on covers of magazine (4)
FAME : Two letters for a footballers’ organisation, and then the first and last letters (covers) of magazine.

5d     Outsider pants, feeling effects of exertion (4,4)
LONG SHOT : The answer is split 5,3 to give the wordplay. Pants or yearns for, and then the temperature one feels after exercise.

6d     Deliver brief US state victory over East (5)
CALVE : The three letter abbreviation for a West Coast US state and then the abbreviations for victory and East.

7d     Persistent objections must be raised and initiated (8)
STUBBORN : Reverse (raised) a word meaning objections or doubts and follow this with a verb meaning initiated or given birth to.

8d    English encounters rising regard (6)
ESTEEM : The abbreviation for English, and then the reversal (rising) of a word meaning encounters.

14d     Turned up, being inclined to follow a team’s leader (8)
ATTENDED : ‘A’ from the clue and the first letter of team precede a word meaning inclined or liable too.

16d     City area that’s part of court estates (9)
DOCKLANDS : The part of the court where the accused stands and then estates or properties.

17d     Fast food ban here? Never! (5,3)
SNACK BAR : An all in one clue. Light food taken in a hurry and then a ban or veto.

18d     Soldiers on charge initially concealed bloomer (6)
ORCHID : Lowest ranking soldiers, the first letter of charge and a word meaning concealed.

20d     My supporter must incorporate grand retinue (7)
CORTEGE : An informal word for ‘my’ or ‘blimey’ and a supporter for a golf ball includes the abbreviation for grand.

22d    Idiot has look around for rope (5)
LASSO : The equine animal used to typify an idiot is inside a two letter word for look.

24d     Behold — there’s black gold in Virginia! (5)
VOILA : Black gold, or even Texas tea is enclosed by the abbreviation for Virginia.

25d     Carve a design in sailing vessel when king’s disembarked (4)
ETCH : A two-masted sailing vessel has the chess abbreviation for king removed.

Favourite clue today was 18a.

Quickie pun    forest    +     heart    =    for a start

50 comments on “DT 28435

  1. Managed to put the words in 1a the other way round until 2,5 and 6d were solved.
    No problems otherwise.
    Thanks to Jay and to 2ks for the review.
    Only caught up with the news late last night. Very sad.

  2. Just my cup of tea – I really enjoyed this exercise which was straightforward but fun nevertheless. West presented no problems then East was slightly more challenging. Can’t settle on a Fav from nominees – 9a, 19a, and 21a. Needed Kiwi help to parse 7d so thanks for that and indeed to Jay for a great puzzle. Loved the Quickie pun after a Eureka moment which occurred in my bath! 👍

  3. I, too, am deeply saddened by the events in Manchester. My heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy.

    A straightforward puzzle and, as always for a Wednesday, very enjoyable. 9A is my pick. Thanks Jay and the two Ks.

  4. Two days on the trot completed in 2 cafetière time frame. Jay has provided yet another delightful puzzle, just enough head scratching to make it interesting. To many good clues for a favourite but I suppose 9a might just nudge it for me.
    Thanks to the 2kiwis and to Jay.

  5. An excellent puzzle which took far longer than it should have as Saint Sharon kept on talking to me. I have given her a list of jobs to do so that has solved that problem. I have another list ready for her when she finishes the first list.
    An excellent blog as usual by The 2 Ks. Nicely illustrated too although I cannot help thinking that there is something wrong with the picture at 2d. I’m not sure what it is but it just seems so wrong.

      1. The man might have made a better job of it had he taken the shirt off before trying to iron it! 👕

  6. No trouble today – last to go in was 27a – don’t know why – once i focused on it.

    Got 19a but was a bit slow on why !!!

    Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle but no stand out clues

  7. Plenty of head scratching, with some electronic assistance, on this one, but completed at a canter – **/**.

    Standout favourite – 18a.

    Thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  8. 21a. I know it’s been commented on in the past, but is it fair to have homophones of non-words?

  9. As usual, another excellent puzzle from Jay. Loved it. Got off to a flyer with it but then got held up a bit before finishing. 21a was my favourite.

  10. Excellent and enjoyable puzzle. 9a and 18a were my favourites. Could not parse 15a without help from the blog. Thanks setter and the two kiwis.

  11. Didn’t spot the anagram in 1a for a while ,but plain sailing after that, lots of excellent charades-favourites 15a and 20d.
    Decided on a **/**** after completion, liked the surface of 27a.
    A well constructed puzzle all round,thanks to Setter and 2K.’s for the bog pics.

  12. Enjoyable, probably liked 9, 21, and 27 across the most. Thanks to everybody involved today.

  13. Thanks to Jay and to the 2 Kiwis for the review and hints. A very enjoyable puzzle that I found very tricky. Got there in the end, but the last dozen or so clues took me ages. Last in was 14d. I liked 9a, which was the penultimate, but my favourite was 5d. Was 4*/4* for me.

    1. Thank goodness someone else rates it 4*. Very very difficult in my book and I regard myself as reasonably competent.

  14. For me a real tester. Took too long to get on the right wavelength. 11a was my favourite as it’s so obscure. Thanks to Jay and the 2Ks. I don’t often agree with Trump but he’s right about ISIS – they’re losers in every sense of the word. Manchester – uniited.

  15. As always on Wednsday I really enjoyed it. Could pick any clue for favourite apart from 5d,which I thought

    was a bit iffy.

    Thanks to the setter and the 2Ks.

  16. I didn’t know that “iconic ” could mean much admired and I guessed “scenic” .Live and learn.
    Lots of lovely clues. I liked 9a best.
    Thanks to Jay and the two Kiwis.
    Re Manchester , we are all still very shocked , especially the children I teach. Going to concerts is probably the first big social adventure that tweens take.

  17. I made hard work of this and I don’t know why. I certainly enjoyed it, but my brain went blank from time to time, e.g., I couldn’t see why “dock” would have anything to do with court, then remembering the prisoner in the dock.
    I thought that 11a should have been medicinal infusion.
    Lots to like, I’m going with 18a as fave, but 1a, 5d and 7d earn honourable mention.
    Thanks to Jay and to the 2Kiwis for their hints.

    I’m distressed to see that the authorities feel more atrocities are possible. Haven’t they done enough?

  18. Terrific stuff as ever from the Wednesday wizard, perhaps slightly trickier than normal.

    My ticked clues were 12a and 18a.

    Many thanks to Mr. Mutch and the 2Ks.

  19. Late on parade today although I did solve this one at breakfast time. For once, a Jay puzzle that I didn’t have to start with the ‘downs’ as 1a was the first to go in.
    Took a while to sort out the full parsing of 3d and got slightly delayed solving 16d having learned that ‘city area’ or similar invariably refers to ‘EC’ in crossword land!
    Very much enjoyed this one – 9a getting my vote for the day but several others hard on its heels.

    Thanks to Jay and to 2Ks for the blog – haven’t met with that particular Plover before today. Smiled at the 2d pic – only a man would attempt to iron a shirt whilst wearing it!

    1. Hi Jane. The spur-winged plover arrived in NZ from Australia about 80 years ago. Since then they have become widespread and quite common throughout the country. They are loud, raucous and can be very aggressive. They nest on the ground in grassy areas and attack anything that comes near the nest area. A real menace on the golf course.

        1. Oh how I wish I could!
          The plovers actually have their nests in short grass in very exposed positions but are well camouflaged.

  20. Good afternoon everybody,

    Quite tough. Had to guess at 11a. Last in 3d could have been better clued. Otherwise very good puzzle.

    ***/****

  21. The usual good Wednesday fare. I did the same a Jean-Luc at 1a, and made a mess of the top row. Agree with Portobella that 5d is, perhaps a little iffy, or at least not Jay at his best. Also agree with Silvanus that this was a little trickier than usual and with PLR that 18a was my favourite. I must be in an agreeable mood today.
    Many thanks to Jay and to 2Ks for the no-doubt fireside review.

  22. 20d was my favourite in this excellent crossword from Jay. 3/3.5* overall and yes I thought it was a little trickier than usual which for me was no bad thing.
    Thanks to Jay, and to the Kiwis over there for their review.

  23. Late again as too nice to be indoors and the I-Pad is hopeless in the sunshine due to the reflective glass. Nice problem to have on a beautiful sunny day.

    Top puzzle from Jay, with 18a my favourite of many fine clues. A little trickier than usual for a Wednesday, or maybe my brain is just fried by the sun. 3*/4* overall, with thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  24. While the weather’s hot I’ve decided to shunt my whole day. Normally it’s coffee ++ and shower in no particular order, then do whatever is necessary in the house, crossword, and then garden but now I’m going into the garden first thing and everything else, obviously not coffee and shower, comes later. I hope you all needed to know that!
    Anyway, here I am and I didn’t start this one until late afternoon by which time it was 26C – very hot for May.
    The usual brilliant Wednesday crossword from Jay and the usual last two that always take me as long as the rest of the puzzle.
    I got completely stuck on – 15a and 16d but did eventually see them – actually, to be honest, husband got 16d – I was thinking of tennis.
    Like Jane, working out why 3d was what it was took a while.
    I liked 15a and 4 and 17d. My favourite was 18a.
    Thanks to Jay and to the 2K’s.
    Haven’t even had time to look at the Toughie and I love Micawber. :sad:

  25. Good morning all.
    We have had pretty awful weather since we last gave a report. An Antarctic blast of cold air caused temperatures to plummet with widespread snow falling in the South Island. This passed after a few days and was replaced by a torrential downpour that has left surface water everywhere. Our property has been a mini lake for the last 24 hours and although it has now shrunk is still with us.
    Looks like most people agree with us on Jay’s puzzle.
    Cheers.

  26. Edging into **** territory for me, I blame the unaccustomed heat. Last in 9ac where I had to work painfully through the alphabet before the penny finally dropped. Doh!

  27. Nice crossword with just about the right degree of difficulty for me.

    I did the cryptic and quick crosswords during the first-half of the Europa Cup final betweeen Man United and Ajax – not a bad game but United have just gone 2 up so should romp away with it now!

  28. 1*/4*. I had to go out at 06:00 this morning and was itching to get home to tackle today’s puzzle. I was really surprised how easily it all fell into place – very unusually for me with a Jay puzzle the first three quarters were virtually R&W. A couple of clues in the SE took a bit more effort with 28a my last one in.

    Nevertheless the enjoyment factor was still very high with 9a my favourite with 18a in second place.

    Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  29. Relieved at the *** difficulty rating as this took me longer than it should. Started at breakfast and then broke off for a long and non productive “chat” with our phone service, without resolving that issue. Then did not get back to this after errands until now. A definite head scratcher. 9a was COTD.

  30. Not hard, but lots and lots of fun: 1*/4*. Plenty of contenders for top clue, but my choice is 20d. Many thanks to Jay and the 2 Kiwis.

  31. Had to have a day in the garden before starting the crossword. I am convinced that there must be a weed fairy that comes along when you are on holiday and peppers the patio with weeds. How could so many grow in such a short time ? I started the crossword, then had to go to choir tonight so have just got back to it. Favorite was 9a. I struggled with 24d as I’d forgotten what ‘black gold’ was despite seeing loads of oil refineries along the Mississippi over the last couple of weeks. I blame the continuing jet lag. I wanted my dinner at 2.00am this morning. Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  32. Great stuff from my favourite setter. I didn’t really like 5d but 15a was a belter. Ta to J and the Ks. 2*/4*

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