DT 29108 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29108 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29108 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club

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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Some hints follow.

Across

1a    Young tyke with more up-to-date camera? (14)
W(ith) followed by a word meaning more up-to-date and a colloquial word for a camera

10a    Opened grasping instrument — neat! (9)
A five-letter verb meaning opened around an old-fashioned musical instrument gives a word meaning neat, as in a neat whisky

12a    Invade and knock down first part going eastwards (7)
Split a word meaning to knock down with a road vehicle as (3,4) and move the first part to the right (going eastwards in an across clue)

15a    Dope wants odd things in stew — diet’s thrown out (4)
Drop (thrown out) the odd letters from two words in the clue

17a    Extra flexible chaps leading tango (10)
An adjective meaning flexible followed by some chaps and the letter represented by Tango in the NATO Phonetic alphabet

20a    Go mad when rejected (4)
The reversal (when rejected) of one of the words meaning mad – my first attempt fitted the second part of the clue but not the first

22a    Lifeless study displayed by court (6)
… to court here means to pay one’s attentions to

26a    Develop items on school timetable before November (5)
Two items that could be on a school timetable followed by the letter represented by November in the NATO Phonetic alphabet

28a    French sauce delivered inadvertently? (6,8)
A cryptic definition of a French phrase meaning a remark with two meanings, one of which is risqué/saucy, often delivered inadvertently

Down

2d    Husband — creep that’s often at the bottom of the garden (5)
H(usband) followed by a verb meaning to creep or move slowly

3d    Miserly friend, 20 (6)
A friend and a synonym of the answer to 20 Across

6d    Attribute of a Dickens or a Twain? (7)
This verb meaning to attribute is derived from the A from the clue and a word that could be applied to a writer such as Dickens or Twain

8d    Celebrity is apt to stir middle-class desire? (14)
An anagram (to stir) of CELEBRITY IS APT

14d    Partly ready with a job offer, we hear (2,2,1,5)
Sounds like (we hear) a phrase sort of meaning being ready to make a job offer (2,2,7)

16d    Trump mop restyled, with the setter using no preparation (9)
An anagram (restyled) of TRUMP MOP with the letter that represents the setter

21d    Hot German bread one left out (6)
A type of rich, sweet German bread, which is popular at Christmas, without one of the L(eft)s

25d    Expert accomplished doffing cap (4)
Drop (doffing) CAP from an adjective meaning accomplished

The Crossword Club is now open.


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The Quick Crossword pun: nor+then+sole=Northern Soul


36 comments on “DT 29108 (Hints)

  1. Fairly gentle and reasonably enjoyable, so **/*** for me. 13a a bit stretched I thought and was my last one in. Podium places to 1a, 6d and 26a with the winner being 1a. Thanks to setter and BD.

    1. I thought the same about 13a but the dictionary enlightened me – live and learn!

  2. Not easy but a brilliant puzzle for me. Lots of very clever clues but my fav was 5d.
    Thx to all
    ***/****

  3. I’m with Brian on this. A terrific puzzle, one of the best for ages. Not hard, but full of quirky, amusing clues.
    Thanks BD and Mr.Ron

  4. 2*/3*. I’ll go along with Wahoo on this one even down to the podium choices. I did however like 13a a lot too.

    Many thanks to the setter and to BD.

  5. Most enjoyable puzzle, thanks to setter. Favourites were 26a and 14d. Great start to the weekend ***/****

  6. Great fun! Numerous clever surfaces. Hard to pick overall Fav from amongst 10a, 4d, 5d (having discounted type of water) and 14d. Thank you Mysteron for a great kick-off to the weekend and also BD for trustily being there in case of need.

    1. Thanks for putting me out of my misery Angellov … I have now also discounted the ‘type of water’ and have the answer to 5d! Nice to see the Upper Class **** of The Year.

  7. 26a came on top of my pile of potential favourites this morning with an honourable mention for 21d. Overall I thought this was a reasonably testing but very enjoyable challenge and just right for a Prize Saturday puzzle.

    Thanks to our setter and to BD.

  8. As others have said, a nice way to start the weekend. I was a bit of a 15a when it came to doffing the cap in 25d but will say no more for fear of there being no cake in the naughty corner!
    1a wins hands down for me, such a delightfully descriptive word.

    Thanks to our setter and to BD for the club.

  9. A straightforward crossword (**/****), which was very enjoyable, with some amusing clues. Favourites were 1a, 10a and 4d but it was difficult to pick amongst a lot of good clues. Thank you for the hints, BD and thankyou to the setter.

  10. I think this was not as difficult as I was trying to make it as I finished at a gallop (just) – **/***.
    I liked that 3 of the 4 long ones were not anagrams.
    Candidates for favourite – 22a, 28a, and 9d – and the winner is 9d.
    Thanks to the setter and BD.

  11. A great puzzle today but it took me a while to get into it. My absolute favourite was 14d with 17a a close second.

    Thank you to all.

    1. See Sadie – don’t you think she looks a bit like Hunter? She’s a rescue and not pure, though, a bit of a funny tail and a waistline.

  12. **/***. Enjoyable solve with a lot of good clues, with 1a getting the gold medal. Thanks to all.

  13. Lots to like about this one. 1a, 5d, 9d. 26a was a bung in from the checking letters. I couldn’t see the wood for the trees re the “items on school timetable.” I laughed out loud when the penny dropped.

  14. This has taken me ages – I did think it was very good but my brain is so scrambled after the last few days that it took me a long time to get going.
    I think I only had one answer after reading all the across clues and then the downs yielded a few but not many more.
    Like Jane I was a total 15a about ‘doffing the cap’ with 25d – just how dim can we get?
    I admit to needing the hint to understand 12a – again, dim – brain is a mixture of mashed spuds and porridge.
    I missed both lurkers.
    I thought most of the clues were good so it’s difficult to pick any particular ones but maybe 1 and 28a and 5d and my favourite is one of them.
    Thanks to the setter for such a good crossword and to BD for explaining the two that I didn’t manage to untangle for myself.

  15. A nice way tp spend a quiet Saturday morning, a well thoght out puzzle as usual with great clues. Got a bit held up in SE corner but BRB and Roget came to my rescue.

  16. Thank you BD and setter for a pleasant accompaniment to our lunch in the garden, plagued with flies. For some reason though I had the answer for 12a but could not see why until BD explained it. Too much sun!

  17. Very enjoyable Saturday offering, but I had to work for it!
    I needed the hint to unravel 12a, even had to read the hint twice.
    My fave was 1a, what a fun word, and 26a is worth a mention, sauce indeed.
    Thanks to our Saturday setter and to BD for his hints and pics.

  18. That was fun! An excellent crossword for a Saturday with some amusing clues, including the French sauce and Dickens and Twain; the latter of which was my favourite.
    Thanks to the setter, and to BD for the hints.

  19. Took a while to get into today but once I got going it came together without too many peeks at the hints.
    Those who made it to the Big Bash will know why 21d was my fave today but 4d and 7d join it on the podium.
    I particularly liked 7d as it wasn’t until I bunged it in that I saw the construction.
    Thanks to BD and Mr Ron.
    On a separate matter I have recently bought a new PC and want to start having a go at compiling. Any advice on what level of crossword compiler software I need to buy would be appreciated.

    1. Hi John,
      Crossword Compiler for Windows is excellent. The basic version (which is all you need in my opinion) costs £39 (and according to their website you can try before you buy). It has a good selection of grids and as little or as much help in populating the grid as you want. It also stores your puzzles in a format which you can easily export (to BD for example for publishing in Rookie Corner).

      1. Thanks I think I will do that. I was tempted to go for a more expensive version but I think ‘baby steps’ is probably the best idea to start with. I think I can upgrade to more stuff if I want it later.

  20. Unusually easy. Finished before the tea’s gone cold (but it’s certainly not always like that).
    Thank you to all involved.

  21. Nursing a broken rib, so activity levels down and boredom levels up. Good to have a choice crossword. Like Brian I enjoyed 5d. Struggled with 10a.and had to look for some help. An excellent diversion. Many thanks to all.

  22. Finished after work late last night while watching the barber of Seville.
    Very enjoyable crossword and great opera.
    Thanks to setter, Rossini and BD.

  23. I was amazed at the number of responses stating how easy this was….It took me ages to get going even after getting 9d and thinking it was going to be a doddle! However I agree that there were some excellent clues particularly the double definitions where the answer wasn’t the obvious word! 2a took a while but jumped out suddenly, a word hardly in common parlance!
    Thanks to BD for a couple of hints.

    Y

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