Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29108

A full review by gnomethang

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This puzzle was published on 20^th July 2019

BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

Morning All! Some very nice surface readings here and about the right level of difficulty for a Saturday Prize Puzzle in my opinion.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Young tyke with more up-to-date camera? (14)
WHIPPERSNAPPER – W for With, then HIPPER (more up-to-date and finally SNAPPER for camera.

10a        Opened grasping instrument — neat! (9)
UNDILUTED – UNDID for opened containing/grasping a musical LUTE.

11a        Body of fighters, body short? (5)
CORPS  -All but the last letter (short) of a CORPS(E) or body

12a        Invade and knock down first part going eastwards (7)
OVERRUN – To knock down is to RUN OVER. Place the RUN (first part) to the back (moving eastwards in an across clue)

13a        Splendid guess (6)
DIVINE – Two definitions – the first an adjective and the second a verb.

15a        Dope wants odd things in stew — diet’s thrown out (4)
TWIT – remove/throw out the odd letters (things) in s T e W d I e T s.

17a        Extra flexible chaps leading tango (10)
SUPPLEMENT – SUPPLE/flexible then MEN for chaps and T – Tango in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet.

18a        Sense in keeping promises for a change (10)
IMPRESSION – IN from the clue containing/keeping an anagram (to change) of PROMISES.

20a        Go mad when rejected (4)
STAB – A reversal (when rejected) of BATS for mad.

22a        Lifeless study displayed by court (6)
WOODEN – A DEN or study next to WOO for court.

23a        ‘Lift?’ ‘Up for repair around one, sorry‘ (7)
PITIFUL – An anagram (for repair) of LIFT UP placed around I for one.

26a        Develop items on school timetable before November (5)
RIPEN – To school subjects are Religious Instruction (R.I) and Physical Education (P.E). Place these before another NATO phonetic – N for November.

27a        Celebrated in bar till sozzled (9)
VRILLIANT – A sozzled anagram of IN BAR TILL.

28a        French sauce delivered inadvertently? (6,8)
DOUBLE ENTENDRE – A lovely cryptic definition of the French for a piece of light smut (sauce) delivered by mistake.

Down

2d           Husband — creep that’s often at the bottom of the garden (5)
HEDGE – H for Husband and then to EDGE or creep.

3d           Miserly friend, 20 (6)
PALTRY – A PAL or friend followed by a TRY – a synonym of STAB at 20 Across.

4d           Six huge cooks getting round tin for snuff out (10)
EXTINGUISH – An anagram (cooks) of SIX HUGE around TIN from the clue.

5d           Bubbly stuff from South of France sommelier’s opening (4)
SUDS – The south in French is SUD. Add the opening letter in S(ommelier). A nice surface reading.

6d           Attribute of a Dickens or a Twain? (7)
ASCRIBE – Both A (Charles) Dickens  or A (Mark) Twain might be written as A SCRIBE (writer).

7d           Linked chain in copper/tin entirely suitable (9)
PERTINENT – A hidden word (a linked chain of letters) in cop PER/TIN ENT irely.

8d           Celebrity is apt to stir middle-class desire? (14)
RESPECTABILITY – An anagram, indicated by ‘to stir’, of CELEBRITY IS APT.

9d           Great that’s left the Globe? (3,2,4,5)
OUT OF THIS WORLD – The second (cryptic) definition suggesting that one has left Earth and is in Space.

14d        Partly ready with a job offer, we hear (2,2,1,5)
UP TO A POINT – Start with UP TO for ‘ready’ and then add A POINT which is a homophone (we hear) of APPOINT or offer a job (to).

16d        Trump mop restyled, with the setter using no preparation (9)
IMPROMPTU – Start with I for the setter and add a restyled anagram of TRUMP MOP.

19d        Characters from clan retelling uprising, going on and on (7)
ETERNAL – A reversed (uprising) selection of letters (characters) from c LAN RETE lling.

21d        Hot German bread one left out (6)
STOLEN – Remove one L for Left (out) from the German STOL(l)EN bread.

24d        Talent show: pound to enter (5)
FLAIR – Place L for Librum (a pound) inside a FAIR or show.

25d        Expert accomplished doffing cap (4)
ABLE – Remove the CAP from (cap)ABLE or accomplished.