Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28565
Hints and tips by a subsonic Miffypops
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Good Morning Crosswordland. Your Monday morning blogger Miffypops still feels under the weather but is looking forward to a couple of days holiday. We are going to see Bloodhound SSC being driven at Newquay airport in preparation for a new world land speed record attempt. Richard Noble and his team are hoping that this car will exceed 1,000mph. Wow.
No records were broken solving today’s puzzle. This took a little longer than usual to complete. The anagram at 22ac took far too long to give itself up and as for the rather obvious 20d, there are none so blind as those who cannot see As usual the hints and tips are here to help. Definitions are underlined. The answers can be revealed by clicking on the spoilers. All of which is neatly summed up by the recent comment by Mr Russell Burgess-Dawson – “When all hope has gone, along comes Big Dave with a lifeboat”. Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Places where people witness moving scenes (7)
CINEMAS: A cryptic definition of picture houses or fleapits where one might have one’s eardrums shattered whilst sat alongside chatterboxes carrying giant tubs of popcorn and huge cups of Coca Cola who prefer to look at their own tiny screens
5a Fell and quit (7)
DROPPED: A double definition.
9a A university study going into English-American poet (5)
AUDEN: Begin with the letter A. This is a gift from our setter. Add the abbreviation for University. This is also a gift from the setter. Finally add our well known and ever-present crosswordland study (the one with the humorous entry in the BRB)
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good
10a Intimations of closure amid disruption of unions (9)
INNUENDOS: Place a word meaning a closure within (amid) an anagram (disruption) of UNIONS
11a Irregular liaisons resulting in people being hurt (10)
CASUALTIES: The first two words of the clue can be answered with a 6,4 split. When combined the new word matches the definition
12a Some bound off, being free (4)
UNDO: A lurker as indicated by the word some.
14a What bad press tuition gets — it’s based on irrational belief (12)
SUPERSTITION: This is an anagram (bad) of PRESS TUITION.
18a Acknowledgment of rise in value (12)
APPRECIATION: Another double definition
21a Grow back (4)
REAR: And another double definition
22a Final move for vice-consul (10)
CONCLUSIVE: Anagram (move) of VICE-CONSUL
25a Architectural side-show? (9)
ELEVATION: Architects use this word to describe any facade of a building. Possibly borrowed from the drawing board jargon of those using third angle orthographic projection
26a Share out area tax returns (5)
ALLOT: Begin with the letter A from the clue and add the reversal of a tax payable when crossing a bridge or using a road
27a Posed with revolutionary Left — one’s lifted on shoulders (7)
SATCHEL: A three-part charade. Use a word meaning posed for an artist. Add our regular revolutionary friend of Fidel Castro. Finally add the abbreviation for left
28a Merit of Parisian verse, translated (7)
DESERVE: Start with the French word for of. Add an anagram (translated) of VERSE
Down
1d Risk not completing part of the church (6)
CHANCE: The part of a church near the altar minus its last letter (not completing)
2d One who considers life barely worth living (6)
NUDIST: A cryptic definition of one who prefers life without clothing (barely)
3d Great pictures? Far from it (10)
MINIATURES: Great here is an example of large size. We are looking for the other end of the art world’s size range
4d Transport workers? (5)
SHIFT: Our fourth double definition of the day
5d Desert inn provides meal service (6,3)
DINNER SET: Anagram (provides) of DESERT INN
6d Finished some cricket (4)
OVER: Done with. A set of six deliveries in cricket
7d Movingly depict an academic (8)
PEDANTIC: Anagram (movingly) of DEPICT AN
8d Pay no regard to trade concession (8)
DISCOUNT: Double definition number six
13d They enable one to take the long view (10)
BINOCULARS: A cryptic definition of an optical instrument with a lens for each eye, used for viewing distant objects.
15d Leader in a column? (9)
EDITORIAL: This column may be found in a newspaper. The leader is an article usually written by its editor
16d Naval vessels, they should be quarantined? (8)
CARRIERS: These naval vessels transport people in bulk. Those who should quarantined spread contagious diseases without suffering the effects of those diseases
17d It’s plain Dad is going up and down with payment (8)
APPARENT: Begin with a two lettered term of affection for your Dad. Reverse it and write it down. Now add it the right way. (up and down) now add a payment for the hire of something. This clue would work without the payment if the answer is split 2,6
19d He turns up in the country (6)
TILLER: A cryptic description of one who turns the soil after harvest and prior to sowing seed
20d It is clear the French annoy (6)
NETTLE: Clear profit followed by the French word for the
23d Punished for disrupting dance? (5)
CANED: Anagram (disrupting) of DANCE
24d He wrote music for half of band and part of orchestra (4)
BACH: Lurker number two. Hiding within the words of the clue.. Oh no its not as Jane rightly points out at comment nine. I was blogging on autopilot.
Use the first half of the word band and add two consecutive letters from the word orchestra to find a writer of music who died in 1750
What fun. What did you think?
Quickie Pun PAR+TEA+POLY+TICKS=PARTY POLITICS
I found this a little trickier than a regular Monday puzzle, yet when I had finished it and checked my answers I could not see why. 2.5* /3.5* . I enjoyed 10, 11 and 25a along with 16d with 10a the winner for the smooth surface.
Many thanks to Rufus, if it was he, and to the subsonic MP.
1.5* / 4*. All the usual Monday fun at the easier end of Rufus’ spectrum with only my last two in (21a & 16d) taking me over my 1* time.
21a was my favourite. This is an exemplary double definition: a short but super smooth surface comprising two words with two totally different meanings, one of which is a noun and the other a verb. 11a also got two ticks from me.
Many thanks to Rufus and to MP.
P.S. The quickie pun is excellent too, although probably incomprehensible to anyone solving electronically.
P.P.S. I hope you are soon able to feel supersonic, MP.
Thanks to Rufus for the usual Monday punnage and to MP for the blog. Bit pushed for time today (Ms/Mr Rookie will have to wait, unfortunately) so I haven’t read it yet — but I see you’ve chosen the clip I’d have used for 10a. (Perhaps I’ve linked to it before?) Nice cartoons, too. Thanks again to both — and to (presumably) BD for the quickie pun. RD is right!
I found this the easiest Rufus for a while. No hold-ups, I usually hit the wall with 5 to go. */****
Thanks MP for the parsing of 20d, I did not realise that the ‘clear’ bit was a double-T.
I enjoyed the cartoon for 2d, they don’t make ’em like that anymore!!
Fav 24d, as I love his music.
Thanks again MP and Rufus
An absolute treat of a puzzle. I have ticked too many clues as favourites to mention. Loved the Stevie Wonder clip. I saw him earlier in the year st the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Brilliant. Thank you Miffypops, you’ve brightened my day. Thank you too Rufus for a great crossword.
Fairly quick solve until I hit the SE corner and 26a, 19d and 20d left me stumped! Eventually solved except for 20d which needed Miffypop’s help. Must admit I have never heard this word used in this sense so I’ve learned something today! Some great clues but particularly liked 25a and 28a.
Thanks to the setter and Miffypops for the hints.
I had come across it in a Sherlock Holmes short story…
“…general practice to make some sense out of the confusion of bills and (in all probability) overdrawn bank accounts that nettled me about the whole business…”
Many thanks hiyd. Been ‘googling’ but can not find a reference to this word in that sense. The French reference was fine as usual and I had the answer but discounted it as I thought it was wrong! The great thing about this blog is that extremely kind strangers take the time to help a learner such as me. Many thanks again.
I romped through this in first coffee break but got stuck on same as le duc. Miffy sorted me out and 2nd coffee break free to read rest of paper tyvm MP and setter.
I was thinking about what to say about this puzzle – then read your comment. Summed it up perfectly! Including the thanks of course.
For me this was another that seemed quite tough at first glance, but after a break and refreshment, it all came together. Not helped by putting “LANDSCAPES” in for 3d. (It fitted the two checkers I had at the time!). Last in was 20d
**/*** for me. Many thanks to the setter and MP.
Thanks for the innuendo clip,I’m still chuckling now. Very good puzzle today with no problems encountered. Many thanks to the setter & to Miffy pops for a very entertaining review.
All good fun from Rufus with no problems to report. Does 24d actually qualify as being a lurker, MP?
Podium places awarded to 11&18a along with 2&16d.
Thanks to Rufus for a pleasurable solve and thanks to MP for coming up with two extremely acceptable vide clips – it might take some time for me to recover!
PS How on earth does the driver cope with speeds of that order?
PPS Is that RD I spotted leading the revolt?
Hi Jane. There is nothing remotely lurkerish about 24d. I was blogging on autopilot. I will change it now if I can get onto the site. I dont know how the driver Andy Green copes but I will stand in for him if necessary. I a jolly excited about going to see it though and hopefully having a chat with Richard and Andrew
Well spotted, Jane, but I am trying to be less revolting these days.
J, 24d. I’d call this a “split lurker” because the answer is lurking in the clue, but not in consecutive letters. These clues are pretty rare – could Mr K research this, please? Can the archive be manipulated to search for and root out such information? Cheers!
I’ll revise that to “wholly consecutive”.
For me this was possibly the most straightforward R & W ever but ‘twas good fun nevertheless. Fav was 27a in spite of the revolutionary turning up yet again and silver goes to 25a. Thank you Rufus and MP.
20d the last in. I was trying to start with “le” rather than end with it. Good start to week. Back to the “Toughie” tomorrow!
A straightforward start to the work week, close to my idea of a R&W, completed at a fast gallop – */***.
Candidates for favourite – 3d, 8d, and 15d – and the winner is 3d.
Thanks to Rufus and MP.
Generally v enjoyable, good mix of clues with nothing obscure – I particularly liked 16d…… **/***(
Anagram city – plus numerous double definitions make this one of the easist puzzles in quite a while – no real problems and finished well before lights out last night.
A dull, dank day in East Hertfordshire, I’ve been to my local Hospital this morning to have the staples taken out of my head and to have it redressed – it feels much better -I’ll never criticise the NHS again, it may be bureaucratic and inefficient but it’s a wonderful service doing a great job!
Great puzzle, full of typical Rufusisms, and a superb choice of pictorial accompaniments by our blogger, especially for 2d and 7d (I know RD will have appreciated that one!). I discovered “Innuendo Bingo” completely by accident a few years ago, and it’s strangely addictive and often incredibly funny.
My three for today’s podium were 11a, 3d and 19d.
Many thanks to Mr Squires and to MP, enjoy your Cornish trip.
Almost R&W for me, made slightly more difficult for having entered rankle for 20d on first pass. 9a favourite, */***
Welcome to the blog
We did this reasonably quickly but, bucking the trend expressed by other postings, didn’t enjoy it overly much – 1.5/2.
As you might expect from that comment, no overall favourite today.
Thanks to MP and to Rufus. MP, I envy you the chance to see SSC in action. Saw its predecessor, Thrust SSC, on display part way through its development and was blown away by the idea of a land vehicle breaking the sound barrier. But 1,000mph? That’s a different league. Wow.
Both Thrust SS1 and SS2 are on display in Coventry Transport Museum. I have seen them many times over. The whole museum is tremendous and entry is free to all. I sincerely hope they break the 1000mph and I also hope to be there when they do. Does anybody here remember paying for the fuel when the team ran out of money twenty years ago? I contributed through the DTs phone help line
Witty and clever – classic Rufus, fairly simple but always good fun.
Many thanks to him and to MP.
PS – All I have to do to see folks (apparently) trying to reach 1,000 Mph is look out of the window. 30 Mph? About 1:100.
Enjoyed this, but enjoyed the Rufus in The Guardian a little more. MP – what a heart-achingly sad poem!
Nice clip, Hoofit.
Thanks Hoofit … Have not come across this before.
Thanks Hoofit. It took me until the third time of watching this wonderful film to work out that John Hannah and Simon Callow were an item. Thick or what?
Well Monday again and Rufus to start the week in his inimitable way, agree with MP **/****, due to the SW quadrant.
Seemed to be lots of anagrams, all clearly ‘labelled’.
Not sure that academic equates with pedantic, but I suppose it is in some reference book, it usually is.
No real favourites, liked MP’S 14a pic-they say he has perfect pitch-my favourite Stevie song is ‘living in the city’, great backing.
I think if someone is accused of using an ‘academic’ argument this can be pedantic.
Yep, ‘fraid so. It’s given in Collins and Chambers:
pedant – noun, derog. someone who is over-concerned with correctness of detail, especially in academic matters.
Having said that, not all academics are necessarily pedantic, so that’s debatable.
I’m not entirely sure it is derogatory either – I’d just call it ‘correct’!
I think the Monday puzzle has recently got a bit more tricky but remains a pleasant enough solve. Last one in today was 16a. I loved 2a for its fine surface and the answer made me chuckle. I also liked 11a. Thanks to MP for the poem. I presume this is from Auden, a poet I am now tempted to read.
The usual gentle start to the week. */***. I can’t say any particular clues stood out for me today, they were mostly pretty good though.
I loved this but shot myself in the foot by putting “telescopes” in 13d, finally corrected when I got checking letters. Than I wrote the answer to 14a in the line for 18a. This put me into much longer solving time, fortunately I noticed that latter quite soon.
The rest was pretty straightforward, as I usually find myself on Rufus’s wavelength.
I’m choosing 9a as my fave, love his work, particularly the poem you quoted M’pops. My favourite recitation is by Lindsay Duncan; which I have on my poetry iPod.
Thanks to Rufus for the usual fun, and to M’pops for his review and illustrations!
Beautiful Merusa. I had to study Auden many years ago. He is rather good.
Thanks Merusa for the alternative clip – Mahler No 1 in the background if I’m not mistaken. Time to walk the dog now and lift the mood a little I think!
20d was my favourite in this lovely Monday crossword from Rufus. 2/4* overall.
Thanks to Mr Squires and to MP for his super review and clips.
A good Monday, following two lovely weekend puzzles, what more can you ask for?
I usually struggle with Rufus but finished this well within * time, so it must have been straightforward. Finished in the SE corner, with 13d last to fall. Yes, I thought of all sorts of different possibilities before the correct one. 25ac was a lucky guess based on checking letters and a conviction (probably incorrectly so) that nothing else could possibly fit. An enjoyable start to the week.
A very rare solve ‘on the day’ for me rather than catching up at beer o’clock on a Friday! A very gentle but no less enjoyable Rufus. Right on his wavelength today and solved in double quick time.
1/3.5, and l particularly enjoyed 16d. It reminded me of a joke current at the time of the Falklands War. Doctor: “I’m afraid you’ve got hermes”. Patient: “Don’t you mean herpes?”. Doctor: “No, you’re a carrier”. Of course, you need to know the name of one of the Carriers that went south in 1982 for that to make any sense. Thanks to Rufus, and of course to MP.
I think it still works without that knowledge, Salty, as Hermes is one of the UK’s largest parcel delivery companies. I’d like to bet they took the name from the Carrier.
1 across should be theatres surely. That’s where scenes are moved.
I suspect that’s exactly the misdirection the setter intended! I fell for that too, until I realised that the answer is seven letters long, but “theatres” is eight letters.
I’m not a big fan of these Monday back-pagers – I always find them elementary, unchallenging and usually 75%+ R & W. The clues all fine and well-written, but generally designed to be mild. But I do not complain, many others seem to really like them so I’m in minority and that’s fair enough. 1.5* /2.5*.