DT 28967 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 28967

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28967

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Kia ora from Aotearoa.

Today is Waitangi Day, a public holiday in New Zealand. On 6th February 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi, now recognised as the nation’s founding document, was signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands in the far north of our country. Commemorative events are being held throughout New Zealand with the main one, where senior political and government officials attend, at the site of the signing.

Meanwhile we still have blog duties to attend to for another enjoyable Jay puzzle.

Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

Across

1a     Row about one’s happiness (8)
PARADISE : A row or procession includes the Roman numeral one and ‘S.

5a     Count on this support mostly in Australia (6)
ABACUS : The three letter abbreviation for Australia encloses support or sponsor after the last letter has been removed.

9a     Turn to her, upset, to find direction (4,5)
TRUE NORTH : An anagram (upset) of TURN TO HER.

11a     Feature of weather most — or many — must welcome (5)
STORM : A lurker hiding in the clue.

12a     A second warning for delegate (6)
ASSIGN : ‘A’ from the clue, the abbreviation for second and then a warning that could be a notice attached to a pole.

13a     Father’s not so much at home — it’s easy (8)
PAINLESS : A familiar word for father and then a 2,4 phrase meaning ‘not so much at home’.

15a     Highlight issue after scam being the result of arson (13)
CONFLAGRATION : Start with a scam or trick then highlight using a pennant perhaps, and finally an issue or apportionment.

18a     Having no money there and terribly overwhelmed with sadness (6-7)
BROKEN-HEARTED : A word meaning having no money, plus an anagram (terribly) of THERE AND.

22a     France falls behind fashionable joint leader of fleet (8)
FLAGSHIP : The IVR code for France, then a word meaning falls behind and a word that can mean both fashionable and an upper leg joint.

23a     Disastrous ruse mostly plating silver (6)
TRAGIC : The chemical symbol for silver is inside a word for a ruse or deception without its last letter.

26a     Weight if spring is seen to start late (5)
OUNCE : A word for spring that A A Milne could have attributed to both Tigger and Roo loses its first letter.

27a     The nerve! Russian chap with time to play around (9)
GALLIVANT : A word for nerve or effrontery, then a common Russian name that might have ‘terrible’ connotations and the abbreviation for time.

28a     Country that’s deemed a failure in America (6)
TURKEY : A word Americans use for a failure, or even a Thanksgiving bird.

29a     Heartless roué never changed, and died being worthy of respect (8)
REVEREND : The first and last letters of roue, then an anagram (changed) of NEVER and the abbreviation for died.

Down

1d     Peanuts and bread – oddly niche (8)
PITTANCE : A partly leavened Middle Eastern bread and then the first, third and fifth letters of niche.

2d     Runs away beginning to suspect drubbings (5)
ROUTS : The cricket abbreviation for runs, then away or not at home and the first letter of suspect.

3d     County girl supporting academic type with energy (7)
DONEGAL : A three letter academic type, then the abbreviation for energy and a colloquial girl.

4d     Lively spot — must be about right (4)
SPRY : Spot or observe contains R(ight).

6d     Dog found Jack buried in Northern Ireland (7)
BASENJI : Found or establish and then the card players’ notation for Jack is inside Northern Ireland.

7d     Thick cloth skein produced with no end of bleach (5-4)
CLOSE-KNIT : An anagram (produced) of CLOT(h) SKEIN once the last letter of bleach has been removed.

8d     Grub from India and area south of Greek island (6)
SAMOSA : The Greek island where Pythagoras was born and then the abbreviation for area.

10d     Problem of boss with a cook finishing early (8)
HEADACHE : Boss or chief, then ‘A’ from the clue and a senior cook lacking the last letter.

14d     Settling on gin, eager to be drunk (8)
AGREEING : An anagram (to be drunk) of GIN EAGER.

16d     An easy decision borne out with artist at home inside (2-7)
NO-BRAINER : An anagram (out) of BORNE contains a royal academician and the two letter at home.

17d     Learned due date must be adjusted to accommodate Conservative (8)
EDUCATED : An anagram (must be adjusted) of DUE DATE contains the single letter abbreviation for Conservative.

19d     Dirty old book on drama (7)
OBSCENE : The abbreviations for old and book plus a drama or domestic disturbance.

20d     Broadcast story about northern company supplying transport (7)
AIRLINE : Broadcast or publicise and a story or untruth contains the abbreviation for northern.

21d     Try new offer and wait, ultimately (6)
EFFORT : An anagram (new) of OFFER plus the last letter of wait.

24d     Top of granary loaf must be a shiny coating (5)
GLAZE : The first letter of granary and then loaf or take it easy.

25d     Run from student in charge (4)
FLEE : The letter signifying a student driver is inside a charge for services rendered.

We’ve added an early depiction of the signing of the Treaty mentioned at the top.

quickie pun     wool    +    fall    =     Wolf Hall

61 comments on “DT 28967

  1. The usual high quality puzzle from Jay that took me roughly the amount of time I expected it would.

    Thanks to all **/****

  2. Very enjoyable as we’ve come to expect on a Wednesday morning, although I will say that it took me a while to get started, although I finished in a ‘normal’ time for a Jay

    Thanks to Jay and the 2Ks

  3. This was very good, with excellent clues (a few quite tricky, I found) giving a very pleasing solve. I’ve ticked 27a, 20d and my favourite, 1a: a cracking clue! 3* / 4*

  4. This was a pleasant, enjoyable puzzle but I had to look up 6d due to my own ignorance about the subject matter. Thank good ess fir s.artphones and the blog.

  5. Excellent crossword. For me this was exactly the right level of difficulty, one had to think carefully but all clues were fair. Best clue for me was 15a.
    Thx to all esp Jay.
    ***/****

  6. I managed to get 13a, but had to read the review for why “at home” had to be placed after “father’. I’d split the clue into three separate parts, when in fact it only needed two. Hope someone understands where I’m coming from. I knew that “pa less in” didn’t fit the definition!Many thanks to Jay, and enjoy your commemorative event 2Js.Thank you for the review.

  7. The usual standard of excellence from Jay this morning. Apart from bunging in the dog, the rest was a comfortable and enjoyable solve. Nice lurker at 11a, but my favourite was 24d.

    Many thanks to all three birds involved in today’s production. I have visited Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. A beautiful spot.

  8. No problem today just much enjoyment from numerous gently cryptic clues but no single outstanding one. Thank you Jay and the 2Ks.

  9. 2.5*/4.5*. What else is there to say about Jay’s consistent brilliance?
    Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  10. Lovely puzzle. Took a while for the penny to drop on 4d and 28a, 15a took a bit of thought with it being such a long word.

    Thanks to Jay and 2Ks for a satisfying start to the day!

  11. You wait for one 5a to come along and then two (or more) come along in two days….
    A very enjoyable exercise. Thank you to all involved.

      1. That was not the only coincidence. Yesterday had ABACI, today ABACUS. I am just getting round to a backlog of over two months puzzles.

  12. 22a – Doesn’t the inclusion of both “fashionable” and “joint” in the clue represent redundancy? (or implying two hips!). I think the clue would work just as well and avoid this redundancy by removing “fashionable”

  13. Needed to check what drubbings were in 2d.
    Found 22a a bit strange with fashionable and joint cluing the same word.
    Apart from that, plain sailing and enjoyable solve.
    Sitting on a terrace in a short sleeve shirt enjoying a light lunch. Glorious weather today in Hyeres.
    Thanks to Jay and to the 2 kiwis for the review.

      1. Son No 1 has a mobile phone that sends every text message twice – I wonder if you have the same one ;)

      2. Just one glass of red wine but in France wine is not alcohol. C’est la vie!
        A Brittany Pancake with egg, salmon, sour cream and spinach and a bit of salad to wash it down….or was it the other way round…

  14. Excellent quality as always from Jay.

    1d made me smile – nice construction, plus I always thought that my daughters’ penchant for peanut butter sandwiches was decidedly ‘odd’!

    Thanks to Jay and to our 2Ks – enjoy your homeland’s special day.

  15. Nice looking dog,but I’d never heard of it.
    Some really clever clues.
    I really enjoyed this puzzle
    Thank you to all.

  16. Did think there were too many truncated words such as the middle 3 letters of 5a. Funny that both that word and 3d have appeared so recently.

    1. Yes we get double our usual rate plus a day in lieu which sounds like something we should save for when we have ‘tummy upsets’. :smile:

  17. Another very enjoyable mid-week puzzle, completed at a fast gallop – 1.5*/4*.

    Favourite – 1d.

    Thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  18. Very enjoyable and fairly straightforward with exception of NW corner.
    COTD was 27a purely because I like the word, which seems to be falling out of use. Perhaps it is just that I am too old to 27a about these days.
    Nice to see 26a clued without reference to the big cat.
    Thanks to Jay & 2Ks.

    1. Saint Sharon often accuses me of gallivanting. She can talk. She phoned me on Saturday to say she was in Casualty. I watched it but I didn’t see her at all. I wish she would come home. I’m starving.

      1. Your reply to post 12 says you were in bed with a Saint Sharon this morning yet by post 19 she has been away since Saturday
        Your gallivanting needs consistency I would think..

  19. I found this to be decidedly tricky in parts and have to admit to a couple of bung ins in order to get it done, one of which, 6d I’m still not sure of. As others have said, a high quality offering from Jay, my podium places go to 28a, 27a and 1d.
    3*/3*
    Many thanks to Jay and to the 2Ks for the informative review.

  20. A typical JayDay. All solvable with a little help from checkers. Nothing to delay the log splitting. Off to Kenilworth for a pint before I visit my Daughter and Grandson Ethan and pick Harrison up from school. He likes it so much he doesn’t want to leave. Despite the cold he is still cycling to and from school everyday.

  21. Excellent puzzle while it lasted. I hadn’t come across that dog before but it was eminently workableoutable. 1a and 1d stood out with 27a pipping them at the post. Nice one, Jay.

  22. I really enjoyed this one, and all of this week. I had a hadrer time for some reason over the weekend and had to cheat a bit on those by using BD’s hints.

    Like others I took a bit of time to get going but once again insomnia helps. Picking it up again at 2 or 3 in the morning seems to kick my brain into gear. I had never heard of the dog eitheer and looked it up after I bunged that one in.

    On the home front I do worry about the possibility of Long Suffering Hubby being in accident, especially because of his shifts and the winter weather here but Monday afternoon was one for the books! Bear in mind that we drive on the right here, our house is on the right, so he indicated/ slowed and turned into the driveway, stopping about ten feet or more on our property, not on the road, because he was going to get out to to check the mailbox across the road. Lady in a minivan behind him also slowed but was still quite a bit back when suddenly the moron behind her decided to pass her on the verge of the road on the right, and slammed into the right front side of our car and shot off into the ditch taking our bumper with him. Thank godness for multiple witnesses, dash cams and our driveway camera.

    Moron actually said to the police that he should admired for doing the maneuvre otherwise he would have rear-ended the minivan. The look on the policewoman’s face was a picture. He also demanded an ambulance because he said he hahd hurt his back. Ambulance checked but when he was told he would be charged for ambulance he declined any further checks.

    Yes LSH actually managed to get pranged in our own driveway. Top that!

  23. Good midweek crossword **/***. 28a could have been worded a failure or success (3 strikes in ten pin bowling)

  24. After a slow start got going and rattled along.
    6d never heard of a basenti!
    27a not an easy clue.
    My crossword rule is not to look things up, but rules csn be broken!!!

    Cheers peyirrojo

  25. Most enjoyable. Never come across 6d – good to learn something new 😊Thanks to the 2Ks and Jay.

  26. Nothing more to report my thoughts have been covered.
    Gallivanting on a pittance sums up my modus operandi so I pick those as joint faves.
    Thanks to Jay and 2K’s

  27. Jay comes out tops again, he never fails us. I’m getting spoilt here, two treasures in a row, it’s got to be downhill from here on.
    I needed the hints for 4d, those pesky four-letter words are always the most difficult.
    Thanks to Jay and to the 2Kiwis for the fun, enjoy your holiday. Rushing to go out so I’ll read the comments later.

  28. This was very enjoyable clever word play and some quite taxing clues. I:ve never heard of a 6d but some of my doggie friends commented on my lack of dog knowledge. Still thanks to electronic help all completed. Late posting due to decorating fever from the distaff side, still nearly done.
    going to change my email so according to BD this will go into moderation.
    Thanks to the 2Kiwis and setter.

  29. **/***. Another great crossword with some tricky but very fair clues. I spent as long on 1d as nearly the rest of the puzzle. Only when the checkers were in did I stop trying to come up with a word for niche from the odd letters in the first part of the clue. D’oh! Thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  30. What happened between the clue and answer for three down in yesterday’s crossword , you haven’t mentioned it ??

  31. Really enjoyed this. Thanks to Jay and 2Kiwis (hope you had a good day).
    1d made me smile 😊

  32. Nice crossword but I found it slightly more tricky than most of the commenters 😳***/*** have come across 6d in crosswords before and miraculously managed to remember it 😉 Favourites 1d 13a 😃 Thanks to the 2 x Ks and to Jay for another enjoyable but solveable puzzle 🤗 Enjoy Waitangi Day I think that we will soon have one called “Waitbrexit” Day 😬

  33. As usual for a Wednesday another high class crossword from Jay.
    1d made me smile once I stopped looking for an answer that was ‘niche’.
    And putting ‘therm’ in 11a didn’t help either. Oh dear…
    Anyway thanks to Jay, and to the patriots down under for their review.

  34. Morning all.
    We had trouble picking a favourite clue so took the easy way out and didn’t choose one. Interesting to note that there is a wide range of picks from commenters. A sure sign of consistent high quality from our setter.
    Cheers.

  35. Yes, another enjoyable Jay puzzle. Likes include 6d (despite being a you-know-what! Like Jaylegs I managed to remember it from previous crosswords) and 24d.

    Many thanks Jay and 2Kiwis.

  36. Thanks to Jay and to the 2 Kiwis for the review and hints. A very nice puzzle from Jay as usual. Only got 4d wrong, had “sere” for the answer. The rest was straightforward, favourite was 8d. Never heard of the dog in 6d,but got it from the wordplay. Was 2*/3* for me.

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