Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28465
Hints and tips by 2Kiwis
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **– Enjoyment ****
Kia ora from Aotearoa.
It feels good to be back to writing the Wednesday blog after our most enjoyable mid-winter break in Australia. Thanks Shropshire Lad for so ably filling in for us.
Travelling by train from Melbourne to Adelaide and then the classic Adelaide to Darwin trip on The Ghan reminded us what a vast and empty place Australia is. This was followed by a few days in some of Northern Territory’s National Parks. We had a really marvelous time and we have sneaked a couple of pics into the blog just to make you all a little bit jealous.
Another enjoyable puzzle from Jay to come back to.
Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a Journey requiring speed (10)
EXPEDITION : Double definition.
6a Pub bore’s first aggressive remark (4)
BARB : A pub or drinking establishment is followed by the first letter of bore.
10a Hooligans may be good kept in like this (5)
THUGS : A word meaning like this includes the abbreviation for good.
11a Road’s always up here? (9)
UNDERPASS : A cryptic definition of a structure or tunnel that goes beneath a carriageway.
12a Native Americans accompanied by dog advance stealthily (5,2)
CREEP UP : A four letter Native American people and a three letter young dog.
13a Game quietly cancelled, so leave quickly (4,3)
RUSH OFF : The two letters for New Zealand’s national game, then an instruction to be quiet and a word meaning cancelled.
14a Ignore loch’s odd rule after swimming (4-8)
COLD SHOULDER : An anagram (after swimming) of LOCH’S ODD RULE.
18a What a ceramics teacher does for an obsessive collector (12)
TRAINSPOTTER : The answer needs to be split 6,6 to find what a ceramics teacher does.
21a Target wild mice native to a particular area (7)
ENDEMIC : A word for a target or aim is followed by an anagram (wild) of MICE.
23a Players seeing one’s wearing new boots (7)
OBOISTS : The Roman numeral one with its ‘s is inside an anagram (new) of BOOTS.
24a Second American to chase ring of huge significance (9)
MOMENTOUS : A word for a second or short period of time is followed by a ring-shaped letter and the abbreviation for United States.
25a Dash back after king left ridge (5)
KNURL : The chess notation for king, the reversal for a word for dash or move quickly and then the abbreviation for left.
26a Order that’s downright offensive to the nose (4)
RANK : A double definition.
27a Informer shows support for fundamental principles (5,5)
GRASS ROOTS : A police informer and then a word meaning shows support for or barracks.
Down
1d Lead on East, with diamonds to support no-trumps (6)
ENTICE : The abbreviation for East, and then an informal word for diamonds as gemstones not cards, is below (supporting) the bridge players’ abbreviation for no-trumps.
2d In the Guardian perhaps it’s socially desirable to be a have-not! (6)
PAUPER : The one letter meaning socially acceptable is inside what the Guardian or even the Telegraph is an example of.
3d Detective’s engagement must be a let-down (14)
DISAPPOINTMENT : The abbreviation for a detective inspector, with its possessive ‘s, precedes an engagement or employment position.
4d What fake news may be for the Oval Office? (7-2)
TRUMPED-UP : The word play implies a possible source of fake news at present.
5d Soldiers on the German command (5)
ORDER : The two letters for lowest rank soldiers and the German definite article.
7d An American lawyer will accept a prisoner being such a snake (8)
ANACONDA : ‘An’ from the clue and a district attorney enclose ‘a’ also from the clue, and an informal word for a prisoner.
8d A problem for Australia‘s president on top of foreign anger? (8)
BUSHFIRE : You have two ex-presidents to choose from, either the father or the son, then the abbreviation for first letter (top of) foreign and a word for anger.
9d Kitchen item for overworked chef? (8,6)
PRESSURE COOKER : A double definition. The second meaning can describe a food preparer under stress.
15d Very popular residences offering nurseries (9)
HOTHOUSES : A three letter word meaning very popular and residences or places for people to live,
16d Burn the Queen’s banner (8)
STREAMER : Burn here is a Scottish word for a small watercourse, and then the Queen’s regnal cypher.
17d Worker moving many after writing? (8)
HANDYMAN : A word for writing that is done manually and an anagram (moving) of MANY.
19d Pretentious note on European Union party (6)
PSEUDO : A note added at the end of a letter, then the abbreviation for European Union and a party or gathering.
20d Book thieves finally trapped in trees (6)
PSALMS : Trees that one associates with tropical islands contain the last letter of thieves.
22d Singers wanting sheets of paper for the audience (5)
CHOIR : A homophone of a word for one-twentieth of a ream of paper.
We rather liked the image of Nigella Lawson in a flap that came to mind for 9d so that is our favourite today.
Quickie pun tube + hacker = Chewbacca (A much loved character from Star Wars)
1*/4*. This was the easiest Wednesday back-pager I can remember but I still really enjoyed it. The only clues which needed a bit of extra thought were 2d, 20d and, my last one in, 25a.
4d was my favourite.
Many thanks to Jay and welcome back to the 2Ks.
P.S. I took the “f” to be “top of foreign” in 8d.
Thanks RD. Now it is corrected so back to bed. Night night.
I agree with the 2Ks rating of 2*/4*. I thought it was a straightforward, well-clued and very enjoyable puzzle from Jay, who consistently hits a high standard. 12a was my favourite.
Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.
One gripe – can we call a truce on the Trump clues and answers? It is beginning to get tedious.
The Trump clues can stay if they are as good as Beet’s clue for RUMP in The Independent recently. Given time, this arse would become president.
Like it! Almost libellous?! 😜
Brilliant. Quite brilliant. Thanks MP.
Love it! I thought today’s was pretty good also, so don’t ban them all.
Love it 😍
Superb, and how apt!!
I forgot that was mentioned last week, brilliant. thanks to all.
I second the Trump proposition.
Unfortunately with words like trumpet and trumps, we are ‘stuck’ with him until January, 2021, and then, if he is re-elected for a second term – oh dear.
Then, we know that former US presidents also appear quite often – 8d today, for example.
Don’t even say it…
Mentioning Ex- presidents is only on the cards!
Sorry, mention of an ex-president might be on the cards.
Ex would be fine, it’s the word reelected that scares me to death….
Hear, hear re Trump clues. The surface of 2d was excellent.
Welcome back to the 2Ks. I found this very straight forward & almost a R&W.Liked 8D but the gold star goes to 9D,many thanks to the setter & to the 2Ks for an excellent review.
Enjoyed this one. Liked 18a, and 8d because it misdirected me towards Australian presidents for quite a while. Thanks to the 2Ks, glad you enjoyed the trip.
Me too! Then I twigged, Australia doesn’t have a president!
No, a Prime Minister as I recall, but, if you look up ‘Australian President’ there is a President of the Australian Senate (apparently). And then I wondered if it might have something to do with Australian cricket or something. A case of thinking too much, I reckon!
I really enjoyed Jay’s puzzle today which didn’t strain the grey matter too much. Lots of good clues but Fav was 18a with 2d following up. Needed help parsing 13a – I had been trying to use ‘P’ rather than ‘Sh’ for 13a. Great to have you on stream again 2Ks and bright and early too – thank you for that and also to Jay for lots of fun.
What a lovely blog. Thanks for sharing your holiday pics with us, Kiwis.Australia does look amazing .
As to the crossword : 14a , 18a, and 4d all made me smile.
Welcome back to the 2xKs 😀 Thanks for the blog and thanks to Jay for a brilliant crossword **/**** Loved 8d, 9d & 13a
Welcome back to The 2Ks. I enjoyed this puzzle with only the bottom right corner causing a slight delay. 25ac is such a lovely clue and such a lovely word and the effect when properly added to a metal is pleasing to the eye.
17d reminded of the story about a chap who applied for a job as such. His interviewer asked. “Can you garden? We need a gardener” “No sir” came the reply. “No good at gardening at all” The interviewer continued. “Painting and decorating”? “No sir” came the reply. “Useless at both”. “Electrics?” “No sir”. “Plumbing?” “Not a chance sir. I would not know where to start” Thoroughly bewildered the interviewer asked. “Can you tell me what is so handy about you?” to which the jobseeker replied. “Well sir, I only live just around the corner”
Very enjoyable, completed at a gallop with some help from a sprinkling of oldies but goodies/recent repeats – */****.
I did need electronic assistance to finish off with 20d; although I had got the parsing of the clue the penny would not drop on its own, even with all the checkers
Candidates for favourite – 26a, 8d, and 9d – and the winner is 26a.
Thanks to Jay and the 2 Kiwis – welcome back from your overseas trip.
This was very enjoyable while it lasted. I am still at the stage when clues such as 9d and 18a which might be elementary to the veterans never fail to impress me.
How many more clues with Trump in them – last saturday, monday and again today – not much imagination used there!
Having said that I enjoyed this one, pretty straightforward and no pitfalls.
All fairly straightforward for me today, would have been a 1* but the SE corner pushed it into 2*.
The problem with using Mr Trump, is that when the 2050 edition of “50 Years of Cryptic Crosswords” comes out, we will all have forgotten him, hopefully.
Does anyone other than me have a problem with 18d in the Quickie today?
Many thanks to Jay and 2K.
18d is fine.
Good Monday fare from Rufus – just 25a that needed verifying and, like Toadson, I had to move away from thoughts about Australian presidents!
Top three for me were 1a plus 4&9d.
Thanks to Rufus and to our much travelled 2Ks – it was lovely to see a few pics from your holiday.
Lady Jane – Since you became a grandmother, have you lost track of time? Monday? Rufus?
Rufus? Check the calendar Jane
Yep – all sense of time gone out of the window since the BIG event! Many apologies to Jay.
Midst orchestrating ‘stuff’ for the long journey to IOW on Monday to finally meet my new grandson – ten and a half hours of driving and ferry crossing – oh joy!
Not a ferry crossing, a cruise across The Solent!
It is apparently the ‘most expensive ferry crossing for distance travelled’ in the world
I can vouch for that – just two operators who have the whole business ‘stitched up’ between them. Perhaps the Monopolies Commission should cast an eye in that direction!
Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?
Indeed, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? – seemingly ever more poignant these days.
You can do better than that!
Just booked the ferry – £139 return!
A new grand baby and a trip to the IOW, you are doubly blessed 😊 Husband spent many summer holidays there (Seaview) as a child, and we took our kids many years (Bembridge). Since moving across the pond we have returned for a lovely stay in Chale Bay, and a day trip from Portsmouth in 2016. A great island – where time has stood still.
New Mum and her husband live in Bembridge!
Ooh, I really envy them. We took a bus ride out from Ryde on our 2016 day trip from Portsmouth. Such a delightful place.
Do you visit many relatives on the IOW?
Well I agree with RD that it was the easiest Wednesday solve on record , a true R and W, I also concur on a */****as the clue standard was top draw and the whole solve a pleasure.
Favourite 18a,which I think I’ve seen before, thought that an alternative clue could have been…What a ‘wizard’ teacher does-etc,I’m sure I’m not alone.
Thanks to 2K’s and Jay.
Thanks to Jay and to the 2 Kiwis for the review and hints. A very enjoyable puzzle as usual from Jay. So much to smile about, 4&8d and 27,18&12a, the latter reminding me of the lyrics by Fairport Convention, “Cajun Woman, people call you a Cree”. Last in was 10a, favourite was 25a. I actually used a knurling tool at school whilst building a vice. Was 1*/4* for me.
I agree that this was a very enjoyable exercise for the old grey matter. Thanks to Jay and the 2 Kiwis.
Following on from some of the above comments in relation to 4D I’m not sure our allies across the pond understand that over here Trump is a term for breaking wind, meaning their leader is possibly a wind bag!?
Another high-quality Jay puzzle, it might have been at the easier end of his range, but the enjoyment factor was undiminished.
My favourites were 18a, 4d and 9d. I tend to agree that there are too many Trump clues currently in circulation, but then he is an easy target and the word lends itself to numerous possibilities.
Thanks to Mr Mutch and thanks and welcome back to the 2Ks (great photos I thought).
Nice Crissy esp 18a, 8d, 16d
Like Jane I have “new Granny scrambled brain syndrome” so it’s just as well that the crossword wasn’t too tricky.
All very enjoyable as Wednesdays always are.
I’ve never heard of 25a and also spent ages thinking that Australia has a Prime Minister and not a President. Dim.
I liked 13a (once it stopped trying to cause trouble) and 8 and 15d. I think my favourite was probably 9d.
With thanks to Jay and to the 2K’s – so glad you’re home – now I can picture where you are again!
Good entertainment from Jay as usual. My favourites are 18a, 27a and 2d.
Many thanks to Jay and to the 2Kiwis – a big welcome back to you. I’m glad you enjoyed your 1a, and thanks for sharing the photos.
All good as usual, had forgotten the first word of 16d which was the only small hiccup.
18a is a classic and probably my favourite, although it is in good company.
Many thanks to Jay, and welcome back and thank you to 2Ks.
The termite exterminator was due today and I’ve been so stressed out my brain wouldn’t function, remembering the times I had to have the house “tented” and all the work involved with that. I found a company who treat the termites without tenting, so I sat here and did my crossword without moving an inch, and the brain came back! I’m now so relaxed.
Once I calmed down, it all fell into place and I loved it. I won’t choose 4d as fave, that would just be too, too predictable. It’s a toss up between 18a and 9d.
Thanks to Jay and to the 2Kiwis for the hints. I loved the pics, am so glad you had a good time.
Thought this was going to be a Wednesday stinker but was agreeably surprised when answers began to fall in. Thanks Jay for clever puzzle and 2 KiWis for helping me finish. 25a last in, never heard of it but husband had of course. 8d was favorite.
As a complete beginner I didn’t find this one at all easy.
On the first pass the only clue that leapt out at me was 5d, but even then I had to check permitted abbreviations for soldiers (which I had previously thought was limited to RA).
Then 12a came to me.
I made progress with hints on the top right quadrant. I got 6a easily enough; I’m now used to the idea that “first” means first letter, and the whole of the rest of the word is meaningless or even better misleading. Then I got 11a, although for some time I thought it should be “overpass”. When I realised “quietly” can be something other than just “p” I got 13a. Then I could work out 6d and 7d (although I still don’t really understand the full decomposition of 7d).
And then I ground to a halt.
I looked at the answer to 1a, and the second meaning of the answer (speed) is slightly archaic I’d say. I certainly wouldn’t use it down the wine bar.
I spent a long time confused by 14a. I saw that “odd” indicates an anagram but “Ignore loch’s” doesn’t have enough letters! Only now do I see I was misled and “swimming” is the indicator not the definition. I wasted ages on that.
18a made me groan. I got 21a but it took a long time before I saw the sense of “target” required.
24a I would never have thought of “second” in that way. And did I know the word defined in 25a? In 26a the desired sense of “order” was just too distant for me.
1d I just didn’t know that about diamonds, and found it obscure. 2d and 4d were good (but difficult for me).
15d and 16d I can see now but the indicators were too remote for me to be able to work out.
17d I got hung up on worker being “ant”. I sort of see19d but the letters appear to the in the wrong order. 20d is good but again I find it hard to grasp that most of “thieves” is just irrelevant. 22d I didn’t know that spelling of the target and still don’t understand where “for the audience” comes in.
There, that’s the view from an absolute beginner. The only crossword I’ve almost finished (bar one clue) is last Thursday’s.
Perdix
Previously known as Trevor Harley
Back long ago before the interweb was even thought possible, when some of us were beginners, we used to do our best with the crossword and then look at the solutions the next morning to see whether we could work out how the solutions related to the clues and whether we could work out the parsing – quite often we couldn’t!!
You may fine the various sections under the Cryptic Crosswords tab at the top of the page very helpful. There are explanations of clue types, commonly used ‘soldiers’ and so on.
It is also worth remembering on a Wednesday, my theory that it is often best to start with the Downs. Neither Jay, the setter, nor I know why – it quite often just is
Keep persevering with the use of the hints and I’m sure things will become clearer
Thank for what may well be my favourite post this month. Keep at it. Read the blogs. As Crypticsue says above check out the usual suspects, the abbreviations and the Wolves in sheeps clothing. 7d is AN A CON DA. AN from the clue A District Attorney (American Lawyer) A DA with a prisoner (CON) inside. Let us know how you get on.
Welcome from us too Perdix. Being able to help people who are new to cryptics is the most rewarding part of being a blogger.
To answer you query about 22d, ‘for the audience’ is an often used device to show a ‘sounds like’ or homophone. It tells us that CHOIR and QUIRE sound the same when spoken aloud.
We look forward to following your solving progress with more comments in the future.
Hi Perdix, I am no longer a complete beginner, just a beginner.
Lots of good advice above.
It’s well worth going through the hints and really understand how the wordplay = the definition. That includes the Toughie hints.
Stick with it and be prepared for ups and downs.
Hi, Perdix/Trevor. Thanks so much for posting that. It’s very useful to hear how the puzzle appeared from the perspective of a beginner, and your post should encourage others just starting out who might be wondering if they’re the only ones struggling.
Hello Perdix. Most of us who enjoy this site were once as you are now and have only moved up a few gears by learning from our bloggers and commenters. The only advice I can give is to keep coming here and you will be amazed at how quickly your solving skills evolve – that and always remember that nearly all cryptics will include obscure/antiquated words or expressions somewhere. The trick is often to search the clue for what might be definition, find a synonym and then work backwards to discover why (a good dictionary is a help here). Our bloggers always underline the definition in their hints, so if you’re stuck, that’s a good place to start.
By the way, following on from recent discussions, would it be rude of me to ask what age bracket you fall into – 20s, 30s, 60s etc?
Hi Trev, I really believe And I am not joking now I seriously think I , in my humble opinion I guess I may might be wrong I hope I don’t offend you in any way but I really look forward to reading all your books .I already have my order in at the library. Hope I can remember my card. . P.s. I once had a friend we called “ISue” ,-!6 “I’S” in one minute, then surpassed by 21″iS” before anyone else got a word in. How about lunch Friday?
Thanks everyone for all the encouraging comments. It is difficult not to be dismayed most days however as a blank grid stares back at me after five minutes. I will work at it. I did dream about finishing a crossword last night (where all the answers turned out to be the names of 70s rock bands).
I am in my late 50s.
Using a reference work, or looking something up in the dictionary, seems a bit like “cheating” to me at the moment, but I suppose I will get over that!
As CrypticSue said, the best we used to be able to do was to look at the results in the next morning’s paper and try to work backwards to fathom out the missing answers and how they worked. With this blog you will progress so much faster. Enjoy!
If I’d managed to get 20d a lot quicker then this would have been in * time, but as it was I didn’t. ** about right then. Lots of fun to be had along the way…
Morning all. Although it was wonderful being away it is a great feeling to be home again and wake up on a Thursday morning, turn on the laptop, and find the email in-box overflowing with comments from people who love cryptics as much as we do.
Cheers.
A breeze (1*), but an enjoyable one (4*). 18a made me smile – no easy task in today’s unseasonably wet weather – so that’s my favourite. Thanks to Jay, and thanks and welcome back to the 2Ks.
It’s a long time since I solved this and it’s already fading from my memory. But I do remember it being a straightforward solve that produced a fair few smiles. Thanks to Jay for that. Welcome back to the 2Ks, thanks for the blog and extra thanks for illustrating with pictures from your trip (I hope that 8d is not one of those).
The bushfire was straight from Google images. All the fires we saw were small controlled ones that are an integral part of traditional land management in the far north. You can see in the pic of Carol and the termite hill at 24a that the land had been burnt using this technique.
Hi 2k, – the Giant Redwood (Sequoia) is only prolific in USA because the seed is microscopic compared to the tree, if there weren’t fires it would not survive. Or I might have read that in the Daily Mail.Could Senf confirm?
I found this harder than most, the top half went in R&W, but slowed right down at the bottom.
Lots of great clues, favourite was 18a, possibly an oldie, but new to me.
Thanks Jay and 2xK’s
Must be super dim after very tiring shopping expedition but I have had disastrous time, needed all the help I could get. Thanks to 2Kiwis and Jay.
Somewhat late on parade today. A nice gentle solve without too many problems.11a was my fave; 2/3* overall.
Thanks to Jay, and to the resurgent 2K’s for their review.
This was almost like a traditional Rufus, so I can see how Jane got confused. Thoroughly enjoyable with lots of clever clues that I found fun unravelling – although because I am generally right on Jay’s wavelength (one word, no hyphen) it didn’t take long. The long ones were the easiest, which helped to supply multiple checkers and the whole puzzle became a bit of a doddle. Ta to the returned Ks and thanks for the snaps, and to Jay for the jollity. 1*/3*
Very generous of you, TS, but I’m afraid the truth was that I was way out on days of the week. So much so that I didn’t even bother to look for a Toughie (it being Monday!) until after Senf & MP pointed out the error of my ways!