DT 28583 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28583

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28583

Hints and tips by Miffypops the Vanatic

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Good Morning from the blissful heart of downtown LI where sensible people are slumbering peacefully. Your blogger as usual has woken early and found today’s newspaper ready to download and a fresh cryptic crossword puzzle awaiting completion. No doubt a good few of you will need a couple of hints today. If so I hope those that follow will suffice. Definitions are underlined. Rufus is your compiler

MP has enjoyed a busy weekend. A typically boozy Friday night was followed by rising at 5.55am on Saturday to pay Long Itchington’s Wroth Silver Tax on Knightlow Hill before sunrise. This is England’s longest running annual ceremony. The hot milk and rum made it all worthwhile. An afternoon feast of Rugby Union followed. Coventry RFU extended their unbeaten run to eleven games. A trip to Birmingham to see Billy Bragg at the beautiful venue The Town Hall was enhanced by the receipt of a parking ticket. My third ever and all in Brum at the same place. Back to Birmingham tonight for a Van Morrison concert. Ooh yes please.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a Magnanimous woman having two husbands? (6)
BIGAMY: Begin with a rather stretched synonym of magnanimous and add a woman’s name. Which woman? The one that will let you match the definition.

4a How one may be seen to be lying, eventually (2,6)
AT LENGTH: How you may be described when lying down is also a term used to denote sometime in the future. Blogging these puzzles becomes easier as experience teaches its lessons. Then clues such as this come along.

9a A din that’s audible is irritating (6)
ANNOYS: A homophone (audible) A from the clue. A word synonymous of the word din. Spelled out to suit the definition

10a One establishes ownership initially (8)
MONOGRAM: A cryptic definition of a motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person’s initials, used to identify a personal possession.

12a Unusual, retiring in Tipperary (4)
RARE: A reversed lurker. In signifies the lurkerish nature of the clue. Retiring supposedly suggests the word is reversed. Why so?

13a Time for me to reverse and get into top after manoeuvring (5)
TEMPO: Place the reverse of the word ME from the clue inside an anagram (manoeuvring) of the word TOP

14a Very good person dogged by the old complaint (4)
STYE: Begin with the abbreviation for a good person and add an archaic form of the word the. I like the use of the word dogged in this clue

17a Endorses notices put up by bank cashiers? (12)
COUNTERSIGNS: A cryptic definition which needs to be split 7,5

20a Study of Man Ray photo long in development (12)
ANTHROPOLOGY: Anagram (in development) of RAY PHOTO LONG

23a Thing I encountered on the way back (4)
ITEM: Begin with the letter I from the clue. Find a three-letter word meaning encountered and reverse it as implied by the words on the way back

24a Cried pitifully for a drink (5)
CIDER: Anagram (pitifully) of CRIED

25a Third man sounds competent (4)
ABEL: The name of the bible’s third man sounds like the word meaning competent

28a The bogus criminal begged (8)
BESOUGHT: Anagram (criminal) of THE BOGUS

29a Following live deer? (6)
BEHIND: Begin with a two-letter verb meaning to live or to exist and add a female red deer.

30a Little Sidney turned lock, causing much trouble (8)
DISTRESS: Reverse (turned) the diminutive (little) form of the name Sidney and add a word meaning a lock of hair

31a Stations, or just platforms (6)
STAGES: A double definition.

Down

1d Sporting row involving Cambridge and Oxford (4,4)
BOAT RACE: This row is not an argument. It is an activity used to propel a boat with an oar. This sporting row involves eighteen sportsmen, sixteen oars, two boats and the closure of a long stretch of The River Thames between Putney and Mortlake

2d Mean the opposite? (8)
GENEROUS: The opposite of the word mean.

3d Ex-Chinese leader goes round far side of Kerry, Irish county (4)
MAYO: The name of an ex Chinese leader whose name was preceded by his position as chairman can be placed around the last letter (far side) of the word Kerry.

5d Caught fighting? (4,8)
TOOK PRISONER: Captured during conflict perhaps.

6d They can become inflated, say, and very large (4)
EGOS: Begin with the Latin abbreviation of “for example” (say) and add another abbreviation this time for very large or over-sized

7d Broken heart shown by grand Knight of the Round Table (6)
GARETH: An anagram (broken) of HEART follows the abbreviation of the word grand

8d Small village, one made famous by Shakespeare (6)
HAMLET: Shakespeare’s longest play is also another word for a small village.

11d The rich glass contrived for high-powered lamps (12)
SEARCHLIGHT: Anagram (contrived) of THE RICH GLASS

15d Pebble-strewn way round New York (5)
STONY: A three-part charade. An abbreviation for a way or street. The roundest of round letters. The abbreviation for New York

16d Give last cry of pain (5)
ENDOW: Split 3,2 (merely because it suits the hint) we have the last of anything followed by a cry of pain

18d Knight caught by misplaced big blow is staggering (8)
WOBBLING: Anagram (misplaced) of BIG BLOW around (caught) the chess notation for the knight

19d Bikes carrying a number from Rome and part of Greece (8)
CYCLADES: Bikes here means the act of riding a bike. Use another word for doing so. Insert into this word (carrying) A from the clue and the only Roman numeral (number) that gives sense to this word

21d One is prone to use this example of inflation (3,3)
AIR BED: A cryptic definition on a blow-up mattress

22d Some injustice, as essayist concludes (6)
CEASES: A lurker hiding within the letters of the clue indicated by the word some

26d Kitty and Tom are pleased to do it (4)
PURR: The noise a cat (Kitty or Tom) might make when pleased. No you cannot have a cute picture. The pet shop opens tomorrow

27d Master provides cane (4)
BEAT: A double definition.

Van the Man. Bring it on.

Quickie Pun MISS+GUY+DEAD=MISGUIDED


59 comments on “DT 28583

  1. Well this one started unusually slowly for a Monday, but then that could have something to do with my fluid intake over the weekend. I’d apologise to the residents of Huddersfield, but most of them seemed to be worse than me!

    I gradually ground this one out in *** time, not knowing my Knights slowed up the NE corner, and last one in, therefore COTD was 10a. Another that made me smile was 17a.

    Many thanks to the setter and the MPV.

  2. 2* / 4*. What a great start with the wonderful 1a! Then the fun continued all the way. Seeing 26d made me think, where is Kitty? I can’t recall seeing her comment for a few days.

    1a was my favourite closely followed by 29a. 17a & 6d also came into consideration.

    Many thanks to Rufus and MP.

    P.S. Vanatic is not in my BRB :wacko:

    1. Kitty has been absent because her father fell a few days ago, breaking his hip. He’s in surgery today. I have all fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

      1. Oh no, that is pretty serious. I hope all goes well and he has a speedy recovery. Please keep us informed, we’ll be thinking of Kitty and her father.

  3. Thanks MP, sounds like you had a good weekend apart from the parking ticket. I was at Uni in Birmingham and remember some of the venues, I remember seeing an outfit called Budgie at the Odeon, loudest concert I have ever been to.
    The puzzle was typical Rufus, 80% at a rush followed by 20% head scratching. I remembered the knight, I recall he was the knight of the kitchen.
    I did not know the Greek thingy, Mr. Google came to my aid.
    Last in was 16d, fav was 1a.
    Thanks to Rufus too.

    1. I have fond memories of Birmingham Odeon. I saw The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Lynard Skynard, Demis Roussos (I cannot think why) Barclay James Harvest, and a good few more there.

  4. Got the week off so can visit early today. Started off by putting ‘contrary’ in for 2d (well it made sense to me) but I soon realised the error of my ways. Grammatically 5d is uncomfortable for me, but apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Many thanks to setter and blogger

      1. I too, thought long and hard about 5d, but I think it’s correct. Look it as subjective rather than objective.

        1. Yes I agree with Malcolm R. It is grammatically correct that way round. 16d was my last one in. Always a few to ponder over at the end in a Rufus. Ap art from that oneit was the SE which fell last but I was OK once I got 18d. Thanks setter and MP.

    1. Yes, I found 5d doesn’t roll off the tongue comfortably, but I’ll assume it’s correct and I’m dim.

  5. Brisk start to the week and a */*** for me ,
    Liked the surface of 20a, and the clever reference to Man Ray- one of my sons did a degree in it at Durham, not sure what use it was.
    Anyway not too demanding , and well clued apart from 27d and 31a which did not really work for me.
    Thanks to MP for the illustrations.

  6. 2* /4* from me for this very enjoyable start to the cryptic week. The four long clues formed a good framework for a straightforward solve. 1a the standout clue of several contenders.

    Many thanks to Rufus for the fun, and to MP. I have no idea what vanatic is, was or means.

      1. Like a well honed clue, it is obvious when someone shows you the way. I should have paid more attention to MP’s preamble at the top. Thanks LBR.

  7. Enjoyable puzzle which started slowly and then moved onto a reasonably steady pace except for the NE corner. Realised that the Knight could only be Gareth which helped, but for some reason just couldn’t see 4a, which was my last one in. I had “in repose” in my head but knew that was wrong and kept drawing a blank. However, another coffee and a ten minute break resulted in a light bulb moment….
    Thanks to everyone.

  8. 1a made me chuckle and set the tone for the rest of the solve – very much enjoyed.
    Podium places filled up very rapidly and I had to stop adding to the list before there were more on than off!
    Narrowed it down eventually to 1&24a plus 8,16&26d.

    Thanks to Rufus for a fun start to the week and to MP for the blog.

  9. Most enjoyable but I was slightly unhappy about 27d and 31a. Lots to raise a smile. Favourite was 21d – some memories of one of these and they are not a good idea . . . .
    Thank you Rufus and Miffypops.

    1. I agree with you regarding 27d and 31 a-please refer to my comments No 5 above, both ‘clumsy’

  10. Oh bother, or words to that effect – just typed lots and hit the wrong thingy and now it’s gone – I’ll try again.
    An enjoyable crossword with a few hold-ups towards the end which is normal for me on Mondays.
    10a and 27d were my last answers – couldn’t see either of them for ages.
    The first word of 21d took too long – no idea why – just a bit dim today, I think.
    I liked 2 and 6d and my favourite was 1a.
    Thanks to Rufus and to Miffypops.

  11. I too was a bit dim today. Gave up with four or five clues yet to solve and went to the gym after a short period of truancy. Returned with aching body but a refreshed brain and completed the puzzle without further ado. Did not like 5d at all. For me 6d and 19d were the best clues.

  12. One of the very best recent Rufus puzzles in my opinion, a real corker from the Monday maestro.

    My six ticks from Friday were matched today, 1a, 20a, 25a, 2d, 6d and 21d I thought were all superb, with plenty of others not far behind.

    Many thanks to Mr Squires and the vanatical one, I’m struggling to imagine how a parking ticket can actually enhance a night out, a badge of honour perhaps?

    1. I always park in the same place in Birmingham Silvanus. It is a perfectly legal spot. This is the third ticket that will be rescinded. I wonder how many do not question it though.

  13. Good afternoon everybody.

    Found this quite tricky and not greatly enjoyable but got there eventually. Had to guess at 7d and 19d

    ****/***

  14. The usual fun start to the week.
    My last one in was 16d, strange that most had a different clue that held them up.
    My fave was 1a, followed closely by 28a; what a lovely word, so much nicer than begged.
    Thanks to Rufus and to M’pops.
    I’ve just spent some time reading up on The Wroth Silver Ceremony, so interesting. I love history, I wasted a good part of yesterday reading about Jamaican Great Houses from a site a friend sent me.

  15. As usual, some ‘easy starters’ that could very well provide an ideal entry into cryptic level for beginners (eg – 9 and 24a / 8 and 26d) – accompanied of course, by some not quite so readily decipherable clues (17a, for me personally). I got a bit stuck with 5d, owing to my greater familiarity with ‘taken’ in that particular context. A pleasant solve overall.

  16. Really enjoyed today’s puzzle and managed to beat my husband with 3 clues to spare.
    Fascinated with comments re Long Itchington .My family ‘ Horley’ lived at New Fields Farm during the 1700’s.I wonder if it still exists.

  17. Had to check Prone in 21d as I didn’t know it meant lying down.
    Wasn’t too keen on 5d either. Even worse when you translate it into French: Pris prisonnier. A bit of a repetition which made me uncomfortable.
    Thought 27d was Best at first.
    Thanks to Rufus and to MP for the review.
    I have a feeling that if you go back to Birmingham and park there again, you’ll end up with another parking ticket. Some people never learn :smile:

    1. .. or just like to try it on.
      Just let them know you’re prepared for a fight and they give in more often than not – just like bullies in my experience.

  18. I remember there in a bit of argy-bargy about ‘Abel’ not long ago, it all boiled down to Adam and Cain being the first two men and Abel the third, if I remember correctly.

    Some nice anagrams, a couple of hidden words and the usual assortment of other clues a a very nice puzzle, really enjoyable!

      1. I always thought that Harry Lime was “The Third Man”.




  19. Nice start to the week **/*** got into a muddle in the NE with the wrong tense of the first word of 5d and the wrong Knight of the Round Table☹️ For some reason I took the middle letter of round for my anagram 😳 Stupid boy! Liked 1a, 17a and 19d 😃 Thanks to MP for his well illustrated blog and to Rufus 👍

  20. Got off to a good start but then hit some brick walls. I also wanted to put in contrary for 2d like some others, and struggled with 5d as it didn’t seem right grammatically. Didn’t know the knight or the Greek thingy. Otherwise a fun solve, so thanks to Rufus and to Miffypops for the hints.

  21. On the gentle side for Rufus, finished in perhaps a little over * time. Last in the SE corner, mostly because I didn’t know the place and the Roman number was perhaps one of the more obscure ones. 10ac I didn’t really follow when solving, so thanks for the lucid explanation above. Your weekend sounds a lot more relaxed than my own, which consisted mostly of kids’ dance competitions.

  22. A very benign week-starter: */***. My first in – 1a – was my stand-out favourite. Thanks to Rufus and Miffypops.

  23. I particularly liked: 1a because it made me smile; and 20a because it made me feel clever for recognising the reference. Thanks to Setter and MP.

  24. I had the answers to 27d and 31a but didn’t put in the grid as didn’t seem that convincing. I liked 6d and 10a. LOI 16d. Thanks to all

  25. Late again today but puzzle was enjoyable and mildly taxing. 14a and 30a contain regularly appearing chestnuts. Needed help with 29a as, stupidly, the deer didn’t ring any bells. Had thoughts of how Kitty might have illustrated 26d (best wishes for her father’s good recovery). Thank you Rufus and MP.

  26. DNF and, given the time now, will not finish.

    A very enjoyable puzzle, and an entertaining and necessary blog.

    Main problems stemmed from the NE corner:
    7d – was not one of the knights who featured in MP’s Holy Grail, and correspondingly is beyond my ken.
    6d – an obvious answer immediately leapt out at me, despite a voice in my head telling me that I must certainly be barking up the wrong tree. In my defense Mrs. HJ was next to me, providing late-night sustenance to our recent issue while I was wrestling with the clue.

    Thanks to Rufus and MP.

    1. Congratulations upon your new baby. (I hope it is a baby and not a dog) you may blame sleep deprivation for any problems solving these puzzles.

      1. Thank you very much!!
        He is the “primogénito”, so we are especially pleased and proud – but also sleep-deprived. Although somewhat bizarrely, despite not getting to sleep untiĺ gone 4 last night, i completed today’s (Tuesday’s) puzzle in a record time.
        As he is still unable, (or maybe just refuses) to collect the paper from the mat and bring it to me I can only conclude that it is a baby and not a dog.

    2. What a wonderful response. Thank you. Your humour will only enhance the blog..it will also enhance your child’s life and that of his mother. Thank you.

  27. An enjoyable challenge with good humour such as the Third Man clue pulling me towards ‘Lime’ but I take exception to 5d. ‘Took a prisoner’ and ‘took prisoners’ sound correct to me but not ‘took prisoner’.

  28. Last again…
    Nice start to the week, even if it is Tuesday. Man Ray was my favourite and 2/4* overall.
    Thanks to Rufus, and to MP. Good gig last night?

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