DT 28600

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28600

A full review by crypticsue

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This puzzle was published on 2^nd 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