DT 28654 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28654

by Miffypops  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28654

Hints and tips by Miffypops

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

National league One. Coventry win – Check. Six Nations Rugby. England win – Check. All is well with the world then. Today’s puzzle from our new puzzles editor may give a few problems here and there but it is quite doable. A bit of a stretch at 14ac to get a synonym for lie. I was disappointed to find no food to chobble along the way but with a leap of faith there appeared in abundance at 18ac.

These hints and tips are here for your guidance. The answers lie under the greyed-out boxes.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a    Mad relatives a potential cause of mishap (6,4)
BANANA SKIN: Split 7,3 We have the plural of the yellow fruit used to denote being mad. This is followed by a noun meaning one’s family or relations

6a    Short rounds? (4)
AMMO: Rounds in military jargon means ammunition. Your solution needs to be a common shortened word for this.

10a    Unusual degree in dance (5)
RUMBA: Begin with a three-lettered word meaning unusual or odd and add the abbreviation for a popular degree.

11a    Some complain Tiverton’s miserable (9)
PLAINTIVE: A lurker, not very well hidden within the words of the clue

12a    It holds arm in place for drawing (7)
HOLSTER: A cryptic definition of what holds a handgun (arm) in place in readiness for drawing out in order to fire

13a    European reader one makes cross (7)
ELECTOR: The abbreviation for European is followed by a reader who reads lessons in church services

14a    Lie about Conservative linked with Marxist gets reviewed (12)
RECONSIDERED: Place an unusual synonym of the word lie around one of the abbreviations for a Tory. Add our usual crosswordland Marxist expressed as a colour

18a    Like gallery or halls with no more to pay? (3-9)
ALL-INCLUSIVE: This expression meaning with nothing more to pay sums up two of the words from the clue. Halls and Gallery. A kinder hinter would use capital letters and bold text to make this hint more understandable. Not me though. I like to leave you some work to do.

21a    Book covering state of Africa (7)
MOROCCO: A fine flexible leather made from goatskins tanned with sumac and used especially for book covers is also a country in Africa.

23a    Expand area beyond lake in redevelopment of green (7)
ENLARGE: Anagram (redevelopment of) of GREEN which contains the abbreviations for area and lake

24a    Clean, could become dull in use (9)
UNSULLIED: Anagram (could become) of DULL IN USE

25a    Set location (5)
PLACE: A double definition

26a    Pan opponent hit by boxer (4)
HOOK: My last one in. The Pan in the clue is Peter. His arch rival shares his name with a boxing punch

27a    Constituent blasted dingier hospital department (10)
INGREDIENT: Anagram (blasted) of DINGIER followed by the abbreviation for a hospital department regularly found in Cryptic Crosswords

Down

1d    Dawn’s reported offering places to sleep (6)
BERTHS: Places to sleep on boats may sound like new beginnings

2d    Quick — storage unit’s engulfed by river (6)
NIMBLE: An African river surrounds the abbreviation of a unit of computer information storage

3d    Like a ring that’s a little blue? (4,3,7)
NEAR THE KNUCKLE: Where a wedding ring may be worn also describes something verging on the indecent or offensive

4d    Stand-in covers for each winger in US final (9)
SUPERBOWL: Wrap the abbreviation for a stand in or replacement around (covers) a preposition meaning for each. Add a bird (winger). A wise old bird.

I think this US Final may have taken place yesterday.

5d    Traitor that is going around cross (5)
IRATE: A traitor or deserter sits inside the abbreviation for that is

7d    Tourism ruined by English rain? (8)
MOISTURE: Anagram (ruined) of TOURISM followed by the abbreviation for English

8d    Supersede order I’ve sent out (8)
OVERRIDE: Anagram (sent out) of ORDER I’VE

9d    Like a picture that comes out badly scrawny (14)
UNDERDEVELOPED: A double definition. The first describing a photograph maybe. The second a malnourished child

15d    Upset American consumer that keeps stocking up (9)
SUSPENDER: Overturn (upset) our regular two-lettered American. Add a consumer defined by what he does with his money

Image result for suspender belt pencil sketch

16d    Stop opening in Welsh town (8)
BARMOUTH: Begin with a verb meaning to prevent or prohibit. Finish with an opening. You have one such on your face

17d    Regularly nail fine score playing in The Open (2,6)
AL FRESCO: Take the even numbered letters of the word NAIL. Add the abbreviation of the word fine. Finish of with an anagram (playing) of SCORE

19d    Make of jalopy that needs injection of energy (6)
CREATE: Find another name for a jalopy or old banger. Insert (needs injection) the letter E, The abbreviation for Energy

20d    Leave afters with only one portion of seconds (6)
DESERT: In terms of dining, afters means puddings or sweets.

Find another word for this course and remove the letter S therefore leaving only one letter S

22d    Men head off wild animal for hunter (5)
ORION: Begin with our armed forces men. Those below the rank of officer. Add a wild animal without its initial letter

That’s all folks..

MASK+CUR+AID=MASQUERADE

 

90 comments on “DT 28654”

  1. Very easy solve today must be on the same wave length as the setter. 4D was my clue of the day. Many thanks to the setter & to MP for his review although a tad disappointed there is no illustration for 15D😋

  2. Both nice and not overly time-consuming , once I’d found the crossword on the inside back page. Don’t the DT know that no-one ever looks at those adverts, we just need to get to the crossword as soon as we can?

    Given our blogger’s thoughts on anagram solving (and with apologies in advance to Saint Sharon for any additional grief this may bring to her daily life) but there was an interesting comment by a blogger on the Times for the Times site on Saturday which made me, for some reason think of Miffypops

    “I was looking through some old issues of New Scientist and found a reference to the supposed fact (from some 2005 research) that people lying down solve anagrams in 10% less time than people standing up. I have no idea if there is any genuine scientific basis for the claim but I just thought I’d resurrect it and pass it on in case anyone fancies doing a field test.”

    1. Most of my solving is done in bed. Usually lying down but occasionally sitting up with a nice cup of cha. None of today’s anagrams could have been solved any quicker standing up. Saint Sharon makes me laugh. Yesterday she asked me to fetch the mini hoover. I asked where it might be and she replied next to the ironing board. Cue blank stares from Miffypops.

    2. Too cold in Yorkshire at the moment. All limbs firmly under the duvet. If I poke one out to pick up a pencil or my phone I am driven out of bed to get dressed and put the central heating on. It’s all I can do to download the paper for later perusal. When it is warmer I will do some field research.

  3. Like Graham at #1, I, too, thought 4d was a clear and timely favourite this morning. Nothing too taxing throughout the puzzle, which was fun to complete and very doable. 2* /3* from me.

    Thanks to our setter and to MP.

  4. Nothing too exacting but a bit of short-lived fun with lots of goodies including 1a, 12a, 2d, and 15d – can’t pick a supreme Fav. Needed help to parse 4d. Thank you Mysteron and MP however I can’t quite agree with you MP in finding ‘’all is well with the world’’ because, in spite of Cameron Norrie’s valiant effort,GB lost the Davis Cup tie against Spain. ☹️

  5. 2* / 4*. Very enjoyable. I needed MP’s help to unscramble 14a. 18a was my favourite.

    Many thanks to Mister Ron and to MP.

    P.S. As Kitty mentioned yesterday, today’s Indy puzzle is well worth a look with a theme very dear to my heart!

    1. Me too with the Indy recommendation – both of my top two preferences put in an appearance. No problem with deciding how to celebrate!

  6. Silly! I was beaten by 26a because a dirty mark on my back page made me read “plan” instead of “pan”. A clever clue.

  7. I’m still enjoying the new Mondays.

    With reference to CS’s comment above, maybe the fact that I solved this one in bed on my phone had something to do with me (one notoriously carp at anagrams) not encountering too many speedbumps today.

    My thanks to Mister Ron and MP.

  8. I couldn’t finish this on the first pass, needed an infusion of tea and another visit, so finished in *** time. A very enjoyable solve, but I do agree about the “lie” in 14a.

    COTD 26a, a clever misdirection.

    Many thanks to the setter and MP.

  9. What a superb start to the crosswording week. I marked twelve clues as favourites, which is far too many to list, so I’ll just pick out 18 & 6d for special mention. Most enjoyable – thanks to setter and MP.

  10. Very enjoyable solve, marred only by the synonym for lie in 14a. I see MP agrees with me. My two favourites were 3d and 18a because I thought they were rather clever. Many thanks to the setter and to MP for the blog.

    1. I may have called the synonym unusual Rod but I do not agree that it mars the clue. Verb meaning number two in my online dictionary has ‘(of something abstract) reside or be found.

      1. Thanks, MP, you are absolutely correct. I really meant the whole enjoyment was marred (slightly) by the synonym – not just the clue itself. Anyhow, like I said I enjoyed the solve.

  11. A nice start to the week **/**** plenty of clever and amusing clues 😃 My favourites 17d, 4d & 12 👌 Big thanks to MP for lovely blog and to the Setter

  12. I would’ve finished a lot sooner if I hadn’t convinced myself that 1a was an anagram… A very entertaining and enjoyable start to the week, thanks to the setter, and Miffypops for the review.

  13. A little bit of head scratching but quite enjoyable – **/***.

    Candidates for favourite – 1a, 18a, and 19d – and the winner is 1a.

    Thanks to the setter and GMoLI.

      1. The horse decided it was too darn cold and refused to leave the comfort of the stable. I might have to seek alternate means of transport!

        BTW – I think your avatar picture is really cute.

  14. As Kitty said, new Mondays are most enjoyable – our setters have gone out of their way to minimise the sadness we felt over the retirement of Rufus.
    No problems to report beyond, like Mr Tub, having a brief flirt with a possible anagram at 1a.

    Top three for me were 1&12a plus 19d.

    Thanks to Mister Ron and to MP for the blog – nice to see the siblings getting along so well!

  16. Perhaps I am being pedantic now that I live in USA but the great game played yesterday was the super bowl not superbowl!!!!

  17. I spent far too long trying to make an anagram of ‘relatives a’ for 1a, and thinking that 6a had to have an s because of ‘rounds’. I needed the review for 18a, but really I should have worked that out. I had a slow start then a race to the end. Thank you setter and Miffypops.

  18. Without Miffypops help today there would have been an awful lot of blanks! Thank you to the setter and MP.

  20. A good work out to start the week. I Managed to finish without the hints but have only just twigged what 18a is all about, very clever. I also really like 12a, maybe an old one but new to me. Many thanks to the setter and MP. ***/**** for me.

  21. I found this to be a bit of a hooligan in parts, but after some headscratching and some left over xmas teas(christmas pudding) actually quite tasty I
    overcame. Believe it or not 1a was one of the last ones in.
    Many thanks to Miffypops and setter.

  22. Many thanks to the setter for the puzzle – which was quite tricky I thought – and thanks to MP for the enjoyable review. (I think the food in abundance appears at 18a and a typo crept in?)

  23. I thought this was fairly tricky today, but I enjoyed it very much. I don’t understand the hint for 18a although i think i have the
    answer.
    Thanks to the setter and MP.

  24. I would echo Jezza’s comment, in fact I thought it brilliant!

    Initially I found I was not on the setter’s wavelength and made a fairly slow start, but once momentum built up solutions went in much faster. I agree it was considerably more tricky than normal for a Monday.

    My ticks went to 12a, 21a, 26a, 15d, 17d and 20d.

    Many thanks to Mr Lancaster and to MP (you didn’t mention Coventry City losing I notice ;-) )

    1. I always look to see how Coventry City have done but have not seen them play since The 7th of January 1995 against West Bromich Albion in an FA Cup tie. 1-1 draw. Before that I saw them play Everton in the early seventies. Two matches in about 44 years doesn’t really qualify me as a superfan.

      1. They are having a good run in the FA Cup this year and are challenging for promotion, so after many lean times, several relegations and mismanagement by their owners, perhaps things are beginning to turn for them?

  25. Mostly fun. I was about to give in and unmask 26a when I managed to justify the word I has in my head. Think I may have encountered Pan’s opponent in a crossword before. I think I understand the parsing of 18a. Favourites 1 12 and 26a and 4 15 and 22d.

  27. I too am enjoying the new Mondays–much more in fact than the old ones. Great puzzle, though 1D and 26A took me far too long to get. Favorites are 12A, 2D and 15D. Thanks to the setter and Miffypops.

  28. I suspect that 1a and 21a are a couple of long term chestnuts from the ancient crossword liturgy! I thought that 18a (my personal fav) was very neatly put together. Overall, a nice antidote to the loss of our previous Monday setter (and sad to see Senf’s trusty steed also fading into retirement). Thanks to all.

  29. Splendid stuff :yes: Like others I’m enjoying the new Mondays but I do miss the much-loved Roger Squires but I guess all good things come to an end.

    No stand out fav for me as it was all very good so **/**** from me.

    Many thanks to Mister Ron and MP.

    BTW, I may be around the blog a bit more than normal over the next 10 days as pommette has buggered off to Las Islas Canarias with a friend for a sailing holiday. Left me looking after her cats. She’s currently in La Gomera and may be stuck there for a bit as the weather forecast is for 40+ knot winds for the next day or so.

    2. Not a bad place to be stuck in – I really enjoyed my holiday there some years ago. Perhaps Pommette will return home fluent in their whistling language!

  30. Agree with others comments not a lot of head scratching but very enjoyable.Some nice anagrams that once in made for a quick solve. Last in 19d. A nice start to the week.

    Clue of the day: Again like others thought 4d was ace.

    Rating ** / ****

    Thanks to MP and the setter.

  31. I fou d this on quite tricky nd needed Miffypops’s hints to complete it…..totally missed the Peter Pan reference in 26a, similarly with the storage unit in 2d.
    Forgot about the three letter traitor in 5d..I could go on but will draw a veil over my inadequacies today.

    Thanks to the setter….I did enjoy the ones I could solve and eventually enjoyed the ones I needed hints for.

    Big thanks to Miffypops.

  32. **/****. Completed sat in bed drinking tea. Very enjoyable solve. Favourites were 4,17&20d. Thanks to the setter and MP. I googled ironing board. So that what one is. I also have to mention to Senf that the news last night showed some brave individuals in Winnipeg doing yoga in the open air – I think it was about -30.

    1. Brave individuals or nutcases? I think that has been going on for a couple of weeks, the participants claim that it is very beneficial. No doubt having paid for the exercise they have to say good things about it.

      Yesterday, some 400, or thereabouts, individuals participated, in -24 degrees, to create the longest ‘skating chain’ on the frozen Red River.

      It must be the cabin fever!

  33. Spent a bit of time trying to finish as I wrote Superball a bit too fast in 4d.
    Didn’t get the first letters of the Welsh town in 16d as I didn’t have any possibilities to check it and I didn’t know it anyway.
    Tried to make an anagram of 1a too.
    Thanks to the setter and to MP for the review.

  34. Not the usual Monday walk in the park today. I eventually got going via one of the lurkers and thereafter everything got easier. Favourite was 4d and 2/4* overall
    Thanks to MrRon and to a supine MP for his review.

  35. Completely unintelligible to me, managed only 3 answers, most made little or no sense at all.
    For *********/*

  36. Depending on how your read 1d – the answer could be either of the words the clue is referring to – I mention that because I filled in the answer with an I quite confident I was right until my tablet informed me I had an incorrect answer – the cheek of it!

  37. I found this hugely enjoyable, I do like this setter, but I did need M’pops’ help with a few in the end.
    I second pommers remarks re Mr. Squires.
    I didn’t get 4d, probably ‘cos that’s all I’ve heard for the last month and just thank God it’s all over. A girl can stand only so much of football.
    I thought 18a really clever, that’s my fave, with runner up 1a.
    Thanks to setter and to M’pops for his help; love the new avatar.

  38. I also thought this was excellent after a slightly sticky start.
    I confess to trying to make 1a an anagram to begin with so I’m really glad to find that I wasn’t the only one.
    MP may think that the 11a lurker wasn’t a very well hidden answer – it was well hidden enough to fool me for ages.
    The less said about 26a the better. :roll:
    The storage unit in 2d caused a spot of bother and 16d was my last answer.
    I liked too many of these clues to list them all so just a few are 12 and 18a and 2 and 3d. 4d was my favourite.
    With thanks to Mister Ron and to MP.

  39. Starts of the week don’t get much better than this for cruciverbalists. A superb crossword which generated a list of eight comments on my notepad. The puzzle itself was something of a mis-direct as I was already lamenting that this would be too easy having started as usual in the SE corner. Not so. Great stuff from one of our new Monday setters.

  40. As seems to be the pattern with me of late I did this clockwise from the NE. 2 coffee breaks later and I have to go to the hints for a few in the NE. Like others I wasted quite some time trying to make 1a an anagram but thanks to the hint the rest of the NE soon fell.
    Thanks to Miffypops and our new Monday setter.

  42. 11a my first clue answered and then a nasty gap until 23a………….and 27a…….Decided I am going that first part of 1a ( which, like others, I’d tried in vain to make an anagram…).
    Not a happy bunny today at all. A few very obvious clues, such as 11a and 24a but far too many convoluted ones for me.
    ****/*

  43. Thanks to the setter and to Miffypops for the review and hints. A very nice puzzle to start the week, with some tricky clues. I thought 5d was a bit Yodaesque. Last in was 26a. Favourite was 20d. Was 2.5*/3.4* for me.

  44. A little into *** time, with the SW corner in particular causing some difficulty. I always thought that I’d get there in the end, so eminently doable.

  45. Very enjoyable solve today, enough trickiness for interest but not enough to have me running for electronic help. I did need the comments to parse 18a though. 12a my COTD.

  46. Would it be mean of me to say we have the AC (air con) on today? Yes alright, it would, sorry.
    I was pathetic at solving today, and found this much trickier than the weekend puzzles. Have liked the last few Mondays but was definitely off wavelength today, and would rate at least a *** difficulty. Didn’t help that I at first thought 1a was an anagram, and even when I realized it wasn’t I put peel instead of skin. Don’t understand how lie fits in 14a. Oh dear.

    1. I, too, have the A/C on today, isn’t it lovely? That cold weather nearly had me emigrating to Manaus in the Amazon basin. I simply don’t do cold.

    3. I have the AC on all of he time in the car. That and the HiFi. CDs or Bluetooth link to my iPhone. Always my choice of music. Exactly what I want to listen too. Heaven. No radio.

    1. Welcome to the blog Alan

      Chambers Thesaurus gives:

      Reside (verb)
      1 live, inhabit, lodge, stay, board, occupy, settle, remain
      formal: dwell, sojourn

      2 be present, exist, lie, rest, be inherent, be contained
      formal: dwell, abide

      So lie is correct.

  48. Trying, and failing, to make 1a an anagram of “relatives a” took me just into 2* time. All in all, an entertaining solve. 1a and 2d vie for favouritism for me. Thanks to the Mysteron, and to MP for the review.

    1. I think a lot of us spent a disproportionate length of time trying to unravel the “anagram” at 1a.

  50. What happened to those Halcyon Days when Monday’s Crossword was a ‘read and write’ over 40 mins at lunchtime….just finished after a 5 hour slog…Aargh!!!

  51. Solved the puzzle but needed Miffypops’ explanations for several answers. I still don’t understand 18a.

      1. Thanks Miffypops. The penny actually dropped at around 4am this morning in an awake moment. That’s sad isn’t it! Now I understand it, I think it’s a superb clue.

  52. I can certainly empathise with those who are waving placards and rioting in the streets for a return to the good old days, (i.e. a gentler (Rufus style) start to the week). However, this was certainly a very enjoyable puzzle indeed, attacked, as seems to be the norm these days, in two stints.

    Completed at a reasonable rate, although I needed MP explanations for several, to understand why, (e.g. 18a, 25a, 4d and 2d – as I had millibars as my units and couldn´t understand what they had to do with storage)

    Favourites where 1a – a good indicator of what was to follow……and 17d, which also had me metaphorically on the golf course for a while.

    L.O.I. the Welsh town, as I had never heard of it, and google reliably informed me that BaNmouth doesn’t exist.

    Thanks to MP and our shy setter.

  53. I parsed 14a as “lie” meaning an instruction to lay those bits and pieces together side-by-side– the word for about, the conservative, “side” meaning “link with” and the communist. Then “gets” tells you what you get after lying those things next to each other, i.e. the definition, “reviewed”.

  54. Catching up on the week’s puzzles. I enjoyed this one which seemed a bit **** to start with then got going so ended up as a ***/***
    Once in my life 1a was not just a potential cause of mishap, I had the full on arms flailing experience in Paris but a tree saved my complete humiliation. My family was hugely entertained!

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