DT 28715 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28715

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28715

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** -  Enjoyment ***

 

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a solid Tuesday puzzle.  It's a crossword that disguises mostly straightforward wordplay with some very smooth and amusing surface readings.  Recommended.

In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions.  Clicking on the ANSWER buttons will reveal the answers.  In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background.  Clicking on a picture will enlarge it or show a bonus picture.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    A useless editor's shunned (7)
AVOIDED:  Put together A from the clue, useless or cancelled, and the usual abbreviation for editor

5a    Concerned with a child's explanations (7)
REASONS:  Assemble the usual short word for concerning or concerned with, A from the clue, and a male child complete with his ‘S from the clue

9a    King, consumed by immoral acts, collapses (5)
SINKS:  The chess abbreviation for king inserted in (consumed by) some immoral acts

10a   Specified a pudding, initially? Tart (9)
APPOINTED:  Glue together A from the clue, the first letter (… initially) of PUDDING, and an adjective meaning tart

11a   Held in wind -- ruder sound (10)
SURROUNDED:  An anagram (wind) of RUDER SOUND.  It's been a while since we've had a crickety picture, so I'll take this opportunity to feature one.  Click on the picture to see what happened next.  Can any of our cricket aficionados name the fielding positions of the ten men around the bat?

12a   Contend with wife's opinion (4)
VIEW:  Put a synonym of contend with the abbreviation for wife

14a   Diamonds free in Cambridgeshire city? Not by mistake (12)
DELIBERATELY:  The playing card abbreviation for diamonds is followed by a usual Cambridgeshire cathedral city that contains a verb meaning free

18a   Exchange broken cast-iron oven (12)
CONVERSATION:  An anagram (broken) of CAST IRON OVEN

21a   Leaders of your little gang unfortunately turning nasty (4)
UGLY:  Here we want the initial letters of (leaders of) YOUR LITTLE GANG UNFORTUNATELY written in reverse order (turning)

22a   Amount for magic elixir about right (10)
PROPORTION:  Follow a short word meaning "for" with a magic elixir containing (about) an abbreviation for right

25a   Resilience after 51 goes and daughter enters home (9)
RESIDENCE:  Remove the Roman numerals for 51 from RESILIENCE (after 51 goes) and insert the abbreviation for daughter (and daughter enters)

26a   Half-heartedly shout downstairs (5)
BELOW:  A synonym for shout, minus one of its central letters (half-heartedly)

27a   Unusual seaside problem (7)
DISEASE:  An anagram (unusual) of SEASIDE

28a   Lieutenant in complete retreat (7)
SHELTER:  Put an abbreviation for lieutenant in complete or utter

 

Down

1d    Fool is last to get help (6)
ASSIST:  Combine a usual fool, IS from the clue, and the final letter of (last to) GET

2d    They possess things boy wanted -- rest oddly ignored (6)
OWNERS:  The answer is given by BOY WANTED REST with the odd letters deleted (… oddly ignored)

3d    Detectives caught Edward subsequent to six balls being found (10)
DISCOVERED:  Concatenate the plural of the abbreviation for detective inspector, the cricket abbreviation for caught, six balls delivered by one bowler in a game of cricket, and an informal contraction of Edward

4d    Charlie Brown was this  stressed (5)
DRAWN:  A double definition.  Charlie Brown was this because he was in a comic strip

5d    Stand for the Queen, lifting gift (9)
REPRESENT:  The usual Latin abbreviation for Queen Elizabeth, reversed (lifting, in a down clue), and followed by a gift

6d    Passionate, temperamental woman's upset (4)
AVID:  The reversal (upset, in a down clue) of a great female singer or (informally) a temperamental person.  Here's a great female singer

7d    Got confused on a bidet (8)
OBTAINED:  An anagram (confused) of ON A BIDET

8d    Small fish approaches thus crab moves (8)
SIDEWAYS:  Assemble the clothing abbreviation for small, one of crosswordland’s favourite fish, and some approaches or methods

13d   Approving high value of bra (10)
FAVOURABLE:  An anagram (high) of VALUE OF BRA

15d   Protection money? (9)
INSURANCE:  A cryptic definition of money paid to protect oneself from the consequences of accident or disaster

16d   Conservative scoundrel embarrassed after nothing happened (8)
OCCURRED:  Glue together an abbreviation for Conservative, a scoundrel or dog, and the colour associated with embarrassment.  Then put that lot after the letter that looks like zero or nothing

17d   Hammered nails, say, getting criticism (8)
ANALYSIS:  An anagram (hammered) of NAILS SAY

19d   Flower  girl (6)
VIOLET:  A double definition.  A flower that is also a girl’s name (and a colour)

20d   Solution from politicians we rejected (6)
ANSWER:  A lurker hidden in (from) the rest of the clue

23d   Force former lover to leave state (5)
PRESS:  State or opine, with the usual former lover deleted (former lover to leave …)

24d   Concept I adored? Not quite (4)
IDEA:  Fuse together I from the clue and all but the last letter (…not quite) of another word for adored or loved

 

Thanks to today’s setter for a fun solve.  I did enjoy the smooth surface readings in many of these clues, with the standout 7d getting favourite honours.  Which clues did you like best?

 

The Quick Crossword pun:  BRUISE+TEASE=BREWS TEAS

or perhaps it's some of these

51 comments on “DT 28715”

  1. I found this a little more testing than perhaps I should have done, but the smooth surfaces and solid clueing made this into an enjoyable solve. I liked the lurker in 2d, nicely disguised, and also 3d, but my favourite, like our blogger’s, was 7d for the laugh factor. Overall 2.5* /3* for me.

    Thanks to our Tuesday setter and Mr K.

  3. Eleven across
    Hid Itself so very well
    Got it in the end

    Solid puzzle. Good for a Tuesday. Ta to all.

    We are taking tea at The Swan Inn Newby Bridge before visiting various nieces and their babies in Barrow In Furness. Dinner at The Staggers in Great Urswick. Just what you need to know in a crossword puzzle blog.

    Play nicely

  4. 11a. Wicketkeeper, First, Second and Third Slips, Silly Point, Silly Mid Off, Leg Slip, Square Short Leg, Short Leg and Forward Short Leg. Good job RD’s in Poland! * The Forward Short Leg might be Silly Mid On because he’s opposite the Silly Mid Off. I’m sure Kath will know all these positions. :-)

  5. Very enjoyable Tuesday morning , brightened up a dreary rainy day in Lancashire. Thanks to the Setter and Mr K

  6. Completed in *** time for me, I thought the use of “wind” (11a) and “high” (13d) as anagram indicators a trifle unusual, but so be it.

    Last one in was 14a, because I just couldn’t bring the word to mind!

    Thanks to the setter and Mr.K.

    1. I agree about the anagram markers. I was stuck in the “bra = support” way of thinking, so this was the last one in for me…

  7. No aggro in the South but one or two nicely testing moments in the North. Liked the simple 26a. Thank you Mysteron and Mr K. Anagram indicators do seem to be becoming more and more far-fetched witness the two clues he mentions.

  8. Had a small blip with the crab scuttling at first,but pulled myself together.

    Enjoyable and gentle.

  9. I did so want 13d to be ‘supporting’ but seemed it was not to be!

    4d takes the honours here – last one to fall with a very large clang – also mentions for 21a & 7d. I remember a friend detailing the workings of a Japanese bidet on his return from a visit there. I think he gave it a test run before actually committing to sitting on it.

    Thanks to Mr Ron and to Mr K for a great blog – loved the strawberry 28a.
    No problem with the fielders positions – squatters, the lot of them.

    1. Jane, your friend was fortunate to come across Japanese bidets. My memory of visits to Tokyo (admittedly some years ago) is of very awkward squat/crouch toilets in public facilities, etc. and certainly no sign of bidets.

      1. Richard went over to stay with his brother who is married to a Japanese girl. I think the bidet was installed in their home and was actually a loo/bidet combination – even more complex instructions than the one shown by Mr K.
        He was actually giving us a talk at the local Bird Group on the avian inhabitants of the area but couldn’t resist including a slide of said ablutions!

  10. Back to ** today with *** for enjoyment, nice variety of anagram indicators , steady solve with no holdups today.
    Favourite 4d, super surface, glad I had the checking letters.
    Excellent cluing throughout-thanks setter and Mr K for the pics-loved the ‘cat house’-not been in there!

    2. I notice that Mr K carefully labelled the picture ‘cat condo’ rather than ‘cat house’ which has a rather different meaning in the USA. :D

  11. Excellent puzzle and a nice challenge for me. 2.5*/4.5*. Lots of good clues with ‘high’ being a clever anagram indicator – fooled me for a while. Honourable mentions to 22a, 25a, 2d, and 23d with gold medal to 4d. Thank you setter and Mr K.

  12. Nice puzzle. Very enjoyable. 4d my prize winner, shows that a clue doesn’t have to be complex to be both challenging and enjoyable to solve.

  13. 2/3. Enjoyable solve with my favourite being 23d. So concise. Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  14. I thought this one was fairly average for difficulty and enjoyment.
    I liked 22a and 7d and my favourite and last answer was 4d.
    Thanks to whoever set it and to Mr K.

  15. A very pleasant puzzle with just the right amount of head scatchers, enjoyed it. An excellent mix of clues that could be parsed with some very clever word play. Last in 28a didn’t quite understand the officer part of the clue until the penny dropped. A chalk and cheese situation compared with yesterday’s puzzle.

    Clue of the day: Really liked 25a

    Rating *** / ****

    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

  16. My thoughts replicate Kath’s first sentence. I did notice that there seemed to be a large number of answers ending “ed”, I counted six altogether, but the usual crossword journalist made just the one appearance.

    My ticks went to 22a, 26a and 23d.

    Many thanks to today’s setter and to Mr K.

  17. This took me a little while to get going but then fell into place surprisingly (for me anyway) easily.
    Had 20 down as a bung in and hadn’t spotted the lurker therefore it’s my clue of the day. Many thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle and likewise to the reviewer .

  18. Spent a bit of time on 4d and 19d in this otherwise straightforward puzzle.
    Favourite 16d.
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the review.

  19. Back on form after yesterday’s mauling, I found this quite a comfortable solve.
    I though the surfaces were first class and any setter that includes the words bidet and bra in their clues is ok by me.
    I had a brain-storm over 19d which was my LOI, I had to enlist the lady of the house’s help.
    Fav was 8d because if reminded my of a wonderful joke that David Niven told on the Parkinson show many years ago.
    Thanks to all.

  20. I must confess to finding this puzzle very tricky 😧 ****/*** so thank you to Mr K for all his help 👍 favourites 14a and 26a 😃 Thank you also to setter and memo to self – do the crossword before going to the pub! 🍺

  21. Big thank you to the setter for providing a puzzle which I managed to solve without a single hint or help from Mr Google. So I was expecting to see a lot of comments about this one being too easy, but as that was not the case, I am even happier with myself 😊
    Totally agree with Mr. K’s assessment. Much enjoyed.

  22. Because of the Telegraph site being down this was solved much later in the day than usual so it had to compete with “The Chase” on TV. All went together smoothly for us so not too much of The Dark Destroyer was missed. All good fun.
    Thanks Mr Ron and Mr Kitty.

    1. Careful!! He is not allowed to be called that any more. PC Britain has struck again!!

  23. Nothing too difficult today, a * for difficulty. Enjoyable throughout, last in the NE corner.

  24. Took me quite a while, but I got there in the end.
    Nice puzzle.

    Thanks to Mr K and
    To todays setter too
    And to Big Dave’s great site

  25. After yesrday this was almost a breeze! Not quite so much fun though. But it was OK. 7d was top clue and 2/3* overall.
    Thanks to Mysteron and to Mr K for the review.

      1. It’s a shame that the blog sometimes makes its American contributors feel unwelcome. I note at least three transatlantic absences in the comments today.

  27. Managed to get 13d without realising it was an anagram – ‘high’ being a somewhat unusual indicator! Whether these ‘bung-ins’ really qualify as ‘successes’, I’m not too sure. 4d probably the favourite – due to a long term liking for cartoons.

      1. Rather surprised by your comment, Florence, as I’d thought you’d anticipated enough pictures from your friend to drive you batty … I hope this was not one small mammal too many!

  31. This was much easier than yesterday, apart from 5d. I tried to lift several gifts before I lifted the queen ! Thank you setter and Mr Kitty.

  32. I don’t know why, but I found this a little trickier than the average Tuesday offering. A reasonable challenge and an enjoyable solve. 3* /3.5

  33. Got hung upon the quickie having read 1A as confusion rather than contusion !
    2*/4* for an entertaining cryptic.

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