Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28600
A full review by crypticsue
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This puzzle was published on 2nd December 2017
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This took me longer than usual for a Saturday solve but I did really enjoy the Thomas the Tank Engine references.
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Across
1a Books for famous steam trains based here? Fools ride so excitedly (4,2,5)
ISLE OF SODOR – An anagram (excitedly) of FOOLS RIDE SO. As for whether the Reverend Awdry’s books were ‘boy’s books’ or girl’s books’- in my childhood, they were just ‘books’
10a Learner within corps kept in the dark (5)
UNLIT – L (learner) within UNIT (corps)
11a Putting the accent on it, plies her trade (9)
BALLERINA – Put an accent on the e in PLIÉS and you get movements made by a ballerina
12a As partners, going off work in principle (9)
ELOPEMENT – OP (work) in ELEMENT (principle)
13a Worker I caught in prank (5)
ANTIC – ANT (worker) I (from the clue) C (caught)
14a Cleaner polished off and quit (6)
VACATE – VAC (vacuum cleaner) ATE (polished off)
16a Entertainer cultivated ad income (8)
COMEDIAN – An anagram (cultivated) of AD INCOME
18a Cleaner old Lib-Dem is fascinating (8)
CHARMING – CHAR (cleaner) MING (Campbell, former leader of the Liberal-Democrat Party
20a Father collars Republican — he does go on (6)
PRATER – PATER collars R (Republican)
23a Accoutrement somewhat fantastic (5)
OUTRE – Lurking in (somewhat) accOUTREment
24a Lain out absorbing promise in president’s first speech? (9)
INAUGURAL – An anagram (out) of LAIN absorbing AUGUR (promise)
26a A nice urn’s smashed — this might help to replace it (9)
INSURANCE – An anagram (smashed) of A NICE URNS
27a It’s exciting — perfect maybe (5)
TENSE – Double definition – one an adjective, the other a noun
28a A neat player fouled somewhere close to goal (7,4)
PENALTY AREA – An anagram (fouled) of A NEAT PLAYER
Down
2d Concentrated attack thus brings in victory the French held up (5)
SALVO – SO (thus) ‘brings in’ V (victory) and a reversal (held up in a Down clue) of LA (French definite article)
3d Beg for space outing? (7)
ENTREAT – EN (printer’s space the width of a letter N) TREAT (outing)
4d Groovy kind of light is legendary (6)
FABLED – FAB (groovy) LED (light)
5d Offering old boy nothing in the way of classical language (8)
OBLATION – OB (old boy) and O (nothing) inserted into (in the way of) LATIN (classical language)
6d Cause astonishment in old forces’ sweetheart with energy (7)
OVERAWE -O (old) VERA (Vera Lynn the forces’ sweetheart) W (with) E (energy)
7d Monarch exercising quainter voice (5,8)
QUEEN VICTORIA – An anagram (exercising) of QUAINTER VOICE
8d Detective tightly controlling precinct (8)
DISTRICT – DI (Detective Inspector) STRICT (tightly controlling)
9d 1’s railway boss stays perhaps (3,10)
FAT CONTROLLER – Being a Thomas fan for more years than I’m prepared to admit here, I did like this clue – the second half of the clue made me smile
15d Pure eating is correct (8)
CHASTISE – CHASTE (pure) eating IS (from the clue)
17d A fashionable American soldier’s turned up, succeeding in getting badges (8)
INSIGNIA – A reversal (turned up in a Down clue) of A (from the clue) IN (fashionable) GIS (American soldier’s) succeeding or following IN (from the clue)
19d Tennis player — you could see me once with head of racket broken (7)
MCENROE – An anagram (broken)of ME ONCE with R (the ‘head’ of racket) I toyed with underlining the second part of the clue too – not least because I’m sure he broken more than one tennis racket head!
21d Great at being at sea? Then this is for you (7)
REGATTA – An anagram (being at sea) of GREAT AT – another clue where more could have been underlined.
22d Obvious protection for inventor (6)
PATENT – Another double definition clue – another adjective/noun combo
25a Register cooker (5)
RANGE – A musical register or a cooker such as an Aga or Rayburn
B2
I thought that 11across was one of the cleverest clues I’d seen for some time
Hear that noise, it’s me smiting my forehead. Yes, i failed to get the tennis player…saw the anagram….thank you CS. I sailed through the rest of this crossword, thanks to setter too.