Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29180
A full review by gnomethang
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This puzzle was published on 12th October 2019
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Morning All! I solved this after a top Alice Cooper gig on the Thursday and don’t remember too much difficulty!
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a French journalist with courtesy title’s feat of endurance (8)
MARATHON – Start with Jean-Paul MARAT, the French scientist, journalist, polymath you-Name-it and then add HON, for an honorary or courtesy title.
5a American with old Bob grieves audibly in trial (6)
ASSIZE – A for American then S for a Shilling (old bob) and finally SIZE – a homophone (audibly) of sighs or grieves audibly.
9a Critic regularly irked ‘Spectator’ (8)
REVIEWER – The odd/regular letters in I R k E d and then a VIEWER or spectator.
10a End with almost everything stopping dry (6)
FINALE – Almost Al(l) – remove the last letter – of everything iside (or stopping) FINE for dry (in terms of good weather).
11a Isn’t allowed to include electronic sheet of paper (7)
NOTELET – NOT LET is a round about way of saying ’isn’t allowed’. Include E for Electronic (as a now common prefix.
12a Pair having time to produce rhyme (7)
COUPLET – A COUPLE or pair with T for Time.
13a Before alleged, that’s taken for granted (11)
PRESUPPOSED – A charade of PRE for before and SUPPOSED for alleged.
16a Nimble comedian Edward having an alert mind (5-6)
QUICK-WITTED – A charade of QUICK/nimble, WIT/comedian and TED for Edward in the diminutive.
21a Chocolate therefore left in pressurised container (7)
AEROSOL – A bit niche this one if you don’t ever see the AERO chocolate bar. Start with this and then add SO/therefore and L for Left.
22a Feline coming to an unexpectedly abrupt end (4,3)
MANX CAT – A cryptic definition of the feline that is slightly abbreviated compared to most other domestic cats.
23a Cheat thanks Romeo with daughter who’s a feeble-minded person (6)
DOTARD – A charade of DO/cheat, TA/thanks, R for Romeo and D for Daughter.
24a React strangely over new tee and other things (8)
ETCETERA – Place a (strange) anagram around/over a (new) anagram of TEE. I get this all the time on the golf course.
25a Puzzle as theologian’s overcome by anger (6)
RIDDLE – A DD (Divinitas Doctor or theologian) is inside/overcome by RILE or anger.
26a Delivery of porcelain figure? (8)
CHINA + MAN (Google, in its great wisdom, regards this answer as derogatory!) – I won’t attempt to explain the cricket bowling action/delivery but the cryptic definition might be a male figurine from the early proponents of porcelain (although that is derived from a French thang)
Down
1d Doctor goes round country for some wool (6)
MERINO – A M.O. or Medical Officer goes around the traditional/romantic name for Ireland – ERIN.
2d Stands topless and bolts (6)
RIVETS – Remove the top letter (topless) from (t)RIVETS or stands for food containers/teapots.
3d Fixture that might prove gripping for Windsor? (3,4)
TIE CLIP – The Windsor being a type of tie knot and the answer being a thing that might keep it in place.
4d Past one’s peak in more ways than one (4,3,4)
OVER THE HILL – Having traversed the summit of a mountain and also being ‘past it in the vernacular.
6d Work hastily about first half of July to make ramp (3,4)
SKI JUMP – I got the answer but Chambers gives SKIMP as to scrimp or save but not ‘work hastily’. Place it around the first half of the word JU(ly).
7d How bright idea may come to one (2,1,5)
IN A FLASH – A barely cryptic definition with Flash/speed and Flash/light being alluded to.
8d Still having fancy diet before bed? (8)
EVENTIDE – EVEN for still/flat before an anagram (fancy) of DIET.
12d Pitched battle that’s first-class perhaps (6,5)
COUNTY MATCH – A cryptic def. of a cricket game where balls are bowled/pitched but not at international/test level. County cricket is usually referred to as First-Class cricket.
14d Blue is smoother, without question (8)
SQUANDER – A SANDER or wood smoother is outside/without QU for question.
15d Thrilled lout was in contention outside (8)
VIBRATED – Place VIED (was in contention in e.g. a race) outside of a BRAT/lout.
17d Bird finding trees bending in Malaysian city (7)
KESTREL – An anagram, indicated by bending, of TREES inside the KL – abb. For Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia.
18d Waste time in prison (7)
DUNGEON – A nice charade of DUNG/waste and an EON of time.
19d Second best part that’s a laugh (6)
SCREAM – S for Second and the CREAM/best.
20d Quite a bit of restraint or tension (6)
STRAIN – Quite a bit of the word re STRAIN t.
As there is currently nowhere to post this, my iPad app version shows no puzzles at all this Saturday (19 October)!
You’ve got mail!
Thanks, Gnomethang — “slightly abbreviated” (in your 22a explanation) made me chuckle.
On the Crossword Club post I expressed surprise at 26a. Chambers labels ‘Chinaman’ as ‘derog, old use’, and Oxford as ‘dated, offensive’ when used for somebody from that country — though not, on either site, for the cricket delivery.
Plenty of words are offensive in one context but not another. But in this case the cricket term is derived from the now-problematic usage (rather than being a word for something else first, and which is only offensive when extended to a group of people), so it’s tricky to disassociate its cricketing use from the offensive one. As such, it’s no longer being used by many cricket authorities and reporters.
The issue and the history is covered well in The Guardian, which quotes The Yorkshire Post saying “The Chinese … regard the word ‘Chinaman’ as derogatory, and it should, therefore, be avoided” — back in 1934. Wisden stopped using the term last year.
Hence my surprise at encountering it in the crossword.
(And thank you in advance to whoever releases this from moderation, for having all those links in it.)