Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29114
A full review by gnomethang
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This puzzle was published on 27th July 2019
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Morning All! Pretty Standard Saturday fare.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
7a Rebuke salesperson given fish (8)
REPROACH – A REP (representative or salesperson) given to a ROACH/fish
9a A desert animal losing its tail with another one on mount (6)
ARARAT – A RA(t) or desert animal shortly/losing tail and then another RAT.
10a Drier about middle of March? Gardener might need this (6)
TROWEL – A TOWEL or drier around the middle letter of (ma)R(ch).
11a Ignore stumbling medical officer giving war cry (8)
GERONIMO – An anagram (stumbling) of IGNORE followed by MO for Medical Officer.
12a Actor flown out will find cause of travel disruption (10)
CONTRAFLOW – An anagram (out) of ACTOR FLOWN.
14a Evict some rebellious tenants (4)
OUST – A hidden word is part or SOME of rebelli OUS T enants.
15a Scrum, perhaps, that happens down the line? (5-2,6)
KNOCK-ON EFFECT – A scrum in rugby could a result of (be an EFFECT of) a KNOCK-ON infringement.
17a One in a hundred? Just the opposite in the past (4)
ONCE – It is not ONE from the clue inside C for a hundred, but the opposite i.e. C in ONE.
18a Thoughtful mood of one looking in the mirror? (10)
REFLECTIVE – The cryptic part of the definition being a reflection in the mirror.
20a Passed said lamb, maybe I will get beef (8)
PASTRAMI – PAST (a homophone, said, of passed) then a RAM for a lamb (maybe – could be a ewe!) and then I from the clue.
21a Country with a president in the 1990s (6)
WALESA – The country of WALES with A from the clue. Lech Walesa being a Polish union trouble-maker turned president.
23a Food that’s awkward to deal with when hot (6)
POTATO – The Hot POTATO being a troublesome or difficult topic to handle.
24a Gareth reported to be with junior body of troops (8)
GARRISON – A homophone (reported) of GARRY/Gareth and then a SON or junior.
Down
1d Eccentric having party under waterfall (6)
WEIRDO – A DO or party underneath a WEIR or waterfall.
2d British bridge partners make tea? (4)
BREW – R for British and then E(ast) and W(est) as partners in the game of Bridge.
3d Approximate sphere of activity (4,4)
BALL PARK – The cryptic definition being a rough circle or sphere where baseball is played.
4d Rod and line in cart (6)
BARROW – A BAR or rod and a ROW or line.
5d Wooded area in Orient’s far removed (10)
RAINFOREST – An anagram, indicated by removed, of ORIENT’s FAR.
6d Monkey or burrowing animal going round Kent area (8)
MARMOSET – Place a MARMOT or burrowing rodent round SE – South East or kent area of the UK.
8d Tossing the caber, steps on the floor? (8,5)
The straight definition is the dance (steps on the floor) and the cryptic part is a FLING or toss of the caber in the HIGHLAND Games.
13d Ken to baste exotic meat (1-4,5)
T-BONE STEAK – An exotic anagram of KEN TO BASTE and a nice surface reading.
15d Join auk flying to secure peek at last tree-dweller (8)
KINKAJOU – I resorted to a dictionary to check the word. Place the final letter (at last) of (pee)K inside an anagram (flying) of JOIN AUK.
16d Worry over effort producing decorative design (8)
FRETWORK – FRET or worry above (over in a down clue) WORK or effort.
18d Work out why (6)
REASON – Two definitions, the second a noun for why things happened and the second a verb to figure/work out.
19d Ability to see vivid mental images? (6)
VISION the second (cryptic definition being a type of hallucination.
22d Landowner stopped short in den (4)
LAIR – A LAIR(d) or landowner in Scotland) with the last letter removed (stopping short)
This was very straightforward for me. I remember someone grumbling about ball park being an unindicated US term. I’ve been giving customers ball park figures (approximate estimates, aka fag-packet figures) for as long as I can remember
1d – I would be considered by most to be an eccentric, but by none a weirdo! The former is charming, the latter is somewhat creepy in modern parlance
Thanks for the review Gnomey and thanks to setter