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DT 29113

by Deep Threat  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29113

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Good morning from sticky South Staffs, where we hope today will be a little cooler.

I found that today’s Giovanni went in quite quickly, but if you are not familiar with some of the words used it may take a bit longer to tease the answers out of the wordplay.

In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the ANSWER buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Nobleman upset due to being excluded from activity (7,3)
COUNTED OUT – A noble rank (Monte Cristo had one) followed by an anagram (upset) of DUE TO.

6a           Some earl or duke? Possibly (4)
LORD – Hidden in the clue, which is an all-in-one.

8a           Engineers getting caught, stuck in rubbish — we bring relief (3,5)
RED CROSS – One of the usual regiments of engineers, followed by a word for ‘rubbish’ wrapped around the abbreviation for ‘caught’ on a cricket scorecard.

Image result for red cross

9a           Cosy at home, confronting the enemy (6)
INTIME – ‘At home’ followed by the dimension sometimes known as ‘the enemy’. The answer is a French word, but is in the BRB.

10a         Written pieces, small bits with no heading (8)
ARTICLES – Remove the first letter from some small, possibly subatomic, bits, to get some opinion pieces in a newspaper or magazine.

11a         Prayer in Latin translated by unknown character (6)
LITANY – Anagram (translated) of LATIN, followed by an algebraic unknown.

12a         Thus house has no use in one part of London (4)
SOHO – Another word for ‘thus’ followed by HO(use) (from the clue) with the USE removed.

Image result for soho london

14a         Imagine meal mostly containing fat? (7)
SUPPOSE – Remove the final letter (mostly) from a late meal, and wrap the result around a two-letter clothing size for larger people.

18a         Infuriated and enraged, going berserk (7)
ANGERED – Anagram (going berserk) of ENRAGED.

20a         Brag as one involved in murder? (4)
CROW – Another word for ‘brag’ which is also a bird for which the collective noun is ‘murder’.

23a         Divine manifestation of a king at the rear of a tank? (6)
AVATAR – A (from the clue) and another word for a tank, followed by A (from the clue again) and the Latin abbreviation for a king.

24a         Earth disturbed by number seen as menace (8)
THREATEN – Anagram (disturbed) of EARTH followed by a three-letter word for a two-digit number.

25a         Men only half clever engaging a wise fellow (6)
ORACLE – The letters signifying military personnel who are not officers, and the first half of CLEver, placed either side of A (from the clue).

26a         Cinema must throw a shouter out (8)
ARTHOUSE – Anagram (must throw … out) of A SHOUTER, giving us a type of cinema which does not show mainstream popular films.

27a         Expanse of water providing a bit of summer entertainment (4)
MERE – Hidden in the clue.

         So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
Revolving many memories, till the hull
Look’d one black dot against the verge of dawn,
And on the mere the wailing died away.
 
Tennyson, Morte d’Arthur
 

28a         Adopt a series of steps to disappear quickly (4,6)
TAKE FLIGHT – A synonym of ‘adopt’ followed by a collective noun for steps or stairs.

Down

1d           Pirates from whom may be heard rude affectation (8)
CORSAIRS – These pirates are a homophone (may be heard) of a 6-letter word for ‘rude’ or ‘uncultured’ and a four-letter word for ‘affectation’.

2d           University head gathers 500 for briefing (6)
UPDATE – An abbreviation for University and another word for ‘head’ (often a bald one), wrapped around the Roman numeral for 500.

3d           Chariot overturning in the land of Spartacus (6)
THRACE – Reverse (overturning) a generic word for a chariot or vehicle and insert the result into THE (from the clue), to get the land where Spartacus is supposed to have come from.

Image result for thrace

 

4d           Princess meeting poet and pharmacist (9)
DISPENSER – The short form of the name of the late Princess of Wales, followed by the surname of the author of The Faerie Queen.

5d           Huge number sing by way of conveying love (8)
TRILLION – Start with a word for ‘sing’ (like a bird), then add a two-letter word which can mean ‘by way of’ wrapped around the letter which looks like a love score at tennis.

6d           Freedom from restraint that is minimal in Quito (8)
LATITUDE – Quito is in Ecuador, the name of which tells us that it is close to the Equator, and that therefore one of its geographical co-ordinates will be a very small number. That geographical co-ordinate is also a word for ‘freedom from restraint’.

7d           Old fellow in revolt is to become a Catholic (8)
ROMANISE – Put together Old and another word for a fellow. Wrap a verb for ‘revolt’ around the result.

13d         US author may, from what we hear? (9)
HAWTHORNE – This 19th-century American author sounds like the plant also known as may.

Image result for hawthorne

15d         Maybe Oxford poetry is all there is (8)
UNIVERSE – A short form of the word for an institution of which Oxford is an example, followed by another word for ‘poetry’.

16d         Historical leader of independence, guerrilla in imitation of others (8)
PASTICHE – Put together another word for ‘historical’, the first letter (leader) of Independence, and crosswordland’s favourite Marxist guerrilla.

17d         Sign of injury that is seen on street causing most dismay (8)
SCARIEST – Put together the mark of a healed wound, the Latin abbreviation for ‘that is’, and the abbreviation for STreet.

19d         Not bad, we may become pessimistic (8)
DOWNBEAT – Anagram (may become) of NOT BAD WE.

21d         Little woman coming to the Spanish house of prayer (6)
BETHEL – One of the protagonists in Little Women followed by the Spanish definite article, leading us to a Hebrew word for ‘house of the Lord’ which is applied particularly to some chapels of the Free Churches.

22d         Like a racket that’s hurt, ear finally having to be covered (6)
STRUNG – ‘Hurt’ (by a nettle or a wasp, perhaps) wrapped around the last letter (finally) of eaR, giving us a characteristic of a tennis or badminton racket (or racquet).

The Quick Crossword pun CENSER + BULL = SENSIBLE

40 comments on “DT 29113”

  1. As always on a Friday I thoroughly enjoyed this and there were no particular hold-ups.

    9a was a new word for me but a quick consultation of the BRB sorted that. Nothing particularly stood out as good or bad.

    Many thanks to Giovanni and DT.

    By the way DT I think your hint for 28a needs a little tweak (synonym of adopt).

  3. Has to be the easiest Giovanni for a long time, almost a “X & X” ( the two letter description we are not supposed to use anymore). Like Margaret, just needed to check the derivation of 9a but it had to be that.

    */***

    Thanks DG and DT.

  4. Enjoyed but struggled with a few clues .

    My COTD 20A , very clever/amusing .

    Thanks G & DT .

  6. A comfortable and enjoyable solve this morning, with the excellent 20a my clear favourite. Many thanks to The Don and DT.

  7. Couple of bits of GK that I checked out ‘just to be on the safe side’ and, as others have found, I needed to verify 9a.
    My favourite – the 20a braggart – looks as though it may top the poll today.

    Thanks to DG and to DT for the blog – I enjoyed both the snatch of verse and the Berlioz overture.

    1. I agree, loved the verse and overture, what a change from the pop music. Now, I don’t want anyone to think I mean never again, I’m just saying it’s a delightful change!

  8. Another very pleasant end to the work week from Giovanni completed at a gallop – **/****.
    Candidates for favourite – 1a, 28a, and 3d – and the winner is 28a.
    Thanks to DG and DT.

  9. 2*/2*. I found three-quarters of this very straightforward in spite of two new words in 9a & 21d and a new author in 13d. The SW corner however took me much longer with my overall time averaging out at 2*.

    20a was my favourite too.

    Thanks to Giovanni and to DT.

    1. RD, you surely have read The Scarlet Letter? You’re such a fount of knowledge Hawthorne cannot be new to you?

  10. Agree with DT’s **/***.
    Is anyone familiar with 9a ?
    Where would crossword land be without its favourite guerrilla -or little women ?
    Anyway a pleasant end to the week, as Ape says a tad religious today.
    It’s raining at 6a-I prayed for it.

  11. I took a little longer to work out the clues, particularly a few in the NE but it was all quite enjoyable. So its ***/**** from me. Thanks to DT for the hints and to Giovanni for an absorbing puzzle. I particukarly enjoyed 1d, 6d and 9a (the latter was a new word to me).

  12. Thanks, Deep Threat. In your hint for 28a, your “synonym of” looks like it accidentally includes part of the answer rather than of the clue.

  13. Excellent puzzle with two new words for me in 9a and 21d. Not come across that meaning for Avatar, i thought that was your online character. Never heard of the author in 13d but as always Google came to the rescue. I am still puzzled by the IN that is in 5d, the hint seems unclear for that clue.
    Back to Giovannis high standard.
    Thx to all
    **/****

    1. The 8th definition of “in” in the BRB is “by way of” – I know because I had to check it myself

  14. Struggled quite a bit with this one, so found DT’s hints invaluable. Favourite clue was 25a. I knew 9a because it’s part of the title of a well known French biography of Napoleon. Thanks to DT and setter.

  15. As always a good time was had in deciphering this likeable Giovanni poser. Fairly ‘intimate’ French knowledge came into play for 9a. Not sure why “we” rather than they used in 8a clue. Convoluted parsing required for 6d and help needed to parse 2d. IMHO “hurt” only just works for 22d. Hemingway was first thought for 13d but soon found that wouldn’t work. Numerous excellent clues hence no outstanding Fav. Thank you DG and DT for this fun run.

  16. I also filled in 9a because it had to be, though I have not heard it used as cosy. Enjoyed doing the crossword with rain gently falling on my garden, slightly cooler than yesterday when Cambridge topped the temperature chart. Thanks to G and DT (gin and diet tonic?)

  17. Had to be chapel reared to find 21d easy but another enjoyable crossword with most people’s choice of 20a my favourite too. But only after reading DT’s parsing. It’s thank you to him and thank you to Giovanni too.

  18. Very friendly Giovanni – might have been even more straightforward than it was if I hadn’t been being ‘helped’ and ‘encouraged’ by Mr CS and my brother-in-law

    Thanks to Giovanni and DT

  19. I thought this a really enjoyable Giovanni.
    The only one that gave pause for thought was 25a – now why cannot I remember OR for “men”?
    Is it now common in Britland to call a racquet a racket?
    I’m going to follow m’leader and nominate 20a for fave, but many others are worthy of mention.
    Thanks to Giovanni for the fun and to DT for the entertainment at 27a and 1d.

  20. I had to check the review for 9a. I managed to fill it in, but I was feeling too lazy to go on a search for the explanation. I had a feeling that DT would give a pretty comprehensive answer in the review, and I was right. On first passing, I missed the lurker in 27a, so that was my last one in. I pencilled in the answer to 21d, but was a bit unsure as I’d always thought of it as “house of God” , rather than “house of prayer.” 1d was my favourite. Many thanks go to Giovanni and to Deep Threat. I’m off to the game fair at Hatfield House tomorrow, so not sure I’ll have time for the crossword.

  21. Needed a couple of hints on the RHS, the LHS was considerably easier. Not good with religious stuff, so Giovanni always a bit of a struggle.
    Thanks all.

  22. Great puzzle today. I admit to having to look at a few hints but it was enjoyable all the same. I got off to a cracking start but then began to slow down quite a bit with the NE corner being stubborn. My COTD is 1d.

    Thanks to all concerned

  23. Nice way to end the working week. This was a typical DG crossword with all the relevant clues putting in an appearance! I liked both 20 and 28a and because everybody seems to have gone for the former I’ll go with the latter as my favourite.
    Thanks to the Don, and to DT for the review.

  24. I found today’s crossword hard and yesterday’s crossword which was given a ☆☆☆☆ rating quite easy. Funny old world.

  25. A pleasant solve that all slotted together smoothly for us.
    Thanks Giovanni and DT.

  26. Far from a two star for me, needed several hints to finish.

    A challenge, thanks to all.

  27. Another great puzzle from G. I found it a reasonable challenge, certainly above average for a back-pager. I’ve ticked a few, and my favs: 14a, 20a. 3* 4*

  28. Lovely puzzle, just enough to tax the brain without overloading it.
    Having worked for many years as a 4d, I’m not sure my pharmacist bosses would appreciate being downgraded to my level of qualification. Isn’t the entire answer said princess’s full name?

  29. 4*/3*…..
    liked 1D “(pirates from whom may be heard rude affectation (8)”

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