DT 29237 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29237

by 2Kiwis  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29237

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

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

Kia ora from Aotearoa.

We might be only a couple of days short of our summer solstice but it feels like a real winter’s day here today. Hope this doesn’t last long.

Jay as entertaining as ever, and we found it a tad trickier than they have been lately, just sneaking into our ‘3 star’ for difficulty time.

 Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

Across

1a     Doctor left a grand for such accommodation (6,4)
GARDEN FLAT : An anagram (doctor) of LEFT A GRAND.

6a     Small fortune offering vacancy (4)
SLOT : S(mall) and then fortune or luck.

10a     A note in case of late error (5)
LAPSE : The first and last letters of late surround ‘A’ from the clue and a note added at the end of a letter.

11a     Brand new teen drama (9)
TRADENAME : An anagram (new) of TEEN DRAMA.

12a     Bonus of seeing Germany collapse after victory? (8)
WINDFALL : Start with a three letter word for a victory, then the IVR code for Germany and a collapse.

13a     Paper encompassing Liberal’s field of study (5)
REALM : A quantity of paper encloses L(iberal).

15a     Drink container mostly for trains (7)
TEACHES : A favourite hot beverage and then a large container, often wooden, loses its last letter.

17a     Papers on low exam grades cause unhappiness (7)
DEPRESS : Two letters used to indicate poor exam grades plus a collective term for newspapers.

19a     I’ve invested in tips for salad leaves (7)
ENDIVES : Tips or terminal pieces contain ‘ive’ from the clue.

21a     Condition of men struggling in continent (7)
AMNESIA : The world’s largest continent contains an anagram (struggling) of MEN.

22a     Cat and dog ultimately in row (5)
TIGER : The last letter (ultimately) of dog is inside a row or level.

24a     Admission of charm (8)
ENTRANCE : A double definition. Charm here is used as a verb.

27a     Payments as a result of links to the monarchy (9)
ROYALTIES : Split 5,4 we have of the monarchy, and links.

28a     Renounce time off work (5)
LEAVE : A double definition.

29a     Odd about duck being an extinct species (4)
DODO : An anagram (about) of ODD and then duck as a cricket score.

30a     Pudding must include minor responsibility later (10)
AFTERWARDS : A young person in the care of a guardian is inside an informal word for pudding or dessert.

Down

1d     Tail up crossing line for a medal? (4)
GOLD : Put the abbreviation for line inside tail or follow and reverse the lot.

2d     Take to task, looking embarrassed about prudish article (9)
REPRIMAND : The colour associated with embarrassment surrounds a synonym for prudish and the two letter indefinite article.

3d     Improve workers in education (5)
EMEND : Male workers are surrounded by the abbreviation for education.

4d     Overweight animals — some getting too much bread? (3,4)
FAT CATS : A double definition. The bread here is slang for money.

5d     Helped a cook set up to include five (7)
AVAILED : Start with ‘A’ from the clue. Next, the Roman numeral five is followed by the reversal of a famous cook, surname Smith.

7d     Forbidden city Liverpool has always embraced (5)
LHASA : A lurker, hiding in the clue.

8d     Regulator needing drink container and pastry right away (10)
THERMOSTAT : The brand name of a temperature maintaining drink container, and then remove R(ight) from a pastry dish.

9d     Animal quietly lying in ground (8)
TERRAPIN : The musical letter for quietly is within ground or landscape.

14d     Setter upset about communist having such acceptability? (6,4)
STREET CRED : An anagram (upset) of SETTER, then the single letter for about or approximately and the colour used to describe a communist.

16d     Energy taken from fever rampant in blessed insect (8)
HOVERFLY : Remove one of the physics symbols for energy from an anagram (rampant) of FEVER and put this inside blessed or deserving reverence.

18d     Simple professor’s comfortable spot? (4,5)
EASY CHAIR : Another word for simple and then the university position held by a professor.

20d     Lawman may be fresh if in trouble (7)
SHERIFF : An anagram (in trouble) of FRESH IF.

21d     Entertainer embraced by sweetheart is tearful (7)
ARTISTE : A lurker, hiding in the clue.

23d     Supported conduct in speech (5)
GUYED : A homophone or ‘sounds like’ clue of conduct or lead. The thing being supported could well be a tent.

25d    Down under a student grant (5)
ALLOW : ‘A’ from the clue and then the letter displayed by a student driver plus down or depressed.

26d     Understands touring cars must bear east (4)
GETS : The abbreviation for Gran Turismo (touring car) plus the ‘S’ contains E(ast).

14d is our favourite today.

Quickie pun    sure    +    done    +  suite =    short and sweet

45 comments on “DT 29237”

  1. The normal excellence from Jay. 2*/4*

    My only hold up was trying to parse coaches at 15a (with 3 of the checking letters in place), but quickly spotted the correct alternative.

    Many thanks to Jay, and to the 2Kiwis.

  2. 2.5*/4.5*. The usual Wednesday joy! On my podium today were 4d, 14d and the Quickie Pun.

    Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  3. Lovely surface reading throughout. A pleasure at 2*\4.5*. Liked many clues 14D, 12A. My young Essex upbringing let me down on 4D for a period as I had put the second word as ‘cows’. Slightly ashamed of myself there. Thanks to the 2K’s and Jay.

  4. Another excellent puzzle from Jay (**/****), which I just about completed in 2* time because 26d stumped me for a while before I recalled the two-letter abbreviation needed. We all have blind spots and anything to do with cars or golf are my nightmare clues. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I liked 15a and 21a. Thank you and a much warmer Merry Christmas to the Kiwis. Thank you and Seasons Greetings to Jay.

  5. Pretty much the perfect balance of solvability (if that is a word) and enjoyment. Lovely concise clues of which 30a was my favourite. Great stuff.

    Thanks birds.

  6. Great stuff from Jay, thanks to he. **/****. All flowed well, some wonderful surfaces and I agree 14d is favourite (coincidentally the same as in today’s toughie which was even more fun) just ahead of 21a and 30a. Thanks to the 2Ks.

  7. 26d last one in. Agree a tad harder than some recent Wednesday’s. However completed comfortably on train. 27a 4 8 14 18 and 23d all hit the spot.

  8. A delightful Jay puzzle as per usual. I agree with some others and give 14d top billing. I also like the well-disguised (from me, anyway) lurker in 21d.

  9. Thoroughly enjoyable :)
    5d made me chuckle. Some really nice surface readings. 15a had me confused initially as I thought the drink was a particular brand of whisky, but couldn’t make that parse correctly, and then the penny dropped!

  10. Standard Jay fare, completed in an easy ** time. 8d was my COTD, I don’t think I have seen that drink container in a crossword previously!

    I’m not sure I like the Quickie pun. It doesn’t quite work for me.

    Thanks to all.

  11. Absolute cracker, just the right level of toughness for me. I got slightly held up in the SW, so sneaked into 3* for difficulty territory. I needed all the checkers for 16d (and a confirmatory visit to Google) and 23d.
    Think the synonym of 3d is perhaps stretched but it had to be.
    We need a podium of more than three places for Wednesday but I ticked 12a, 22a plus 4, 14 and 21d as contenders.
    3*/4*
    Thanks to Jay and to the 2Ks for a great blog.

  13. Thanks for the heads up on ‘touring cars’, a new acronym to remember.
    It has all been said about the usual excellence.
    Thanks all.

  14. Took a while to complete. I couldn’t get granny flat out of my head for 1a which didn’t help. 12a favourite. An interesting mix of clues. Some straightforward and some not – at least to me.

  15. A most enjoyable puzzle today despite my needing to rely an a number of hints. My favourite was 8d with 30a and 7d following close behind.

    Grateful thanks to the setter and to the 2 Kiwis.

    As to the pun, I think the third word should be “suite”.

  16. Got held up for a short while by the insect and the 23d support but all came good in the end.
    Podium places went to 12&27a plus 4d.

    Thanks to Jay for another great Wednesday offering and to our 2Ks who are unlikely to get much sympathy about the weather from those of us shivering over here!

  17. A reasonable start by going up the downs, then there was no logic to completion at a gallop, one here, one there, and so on – **/***.
    Candidates for favourite – 27a, 30a, and 18d – and the winner is 18d.
    Thanks to Jay and the @ks.

  18. High quality, as ever, from Jay, although slightly surprised to see two drink containers in one puzzle.
    12d my personal favourite.
    Season’s greetings to all.

  19. An interesting puzzle from Jay really got the old grey matter going. Had trouble with 15a and needed hints. Thanks to the 2Ks and of course Jay for making my brain ache.

  20. Was wondering what the word in 23d was. Real d’oh moment when I pronounced it right.
    The rest fell in quite easily.
    Thanks to Jay and to 2ks for the review.

    1. I wondered what 23d was going to be, managed to think of a word that fitted the checkers, then understood why!

  22. Thanks to Jay and to the 2 Kiwis for the review and hints. I’m must’ve been on the right wavelength, because I found it quite straightforward. What a cracking puzzle, super smooth surfaces. 1&5a made me laugh, I liked 15,27,30a and 14,16,21d. Last in was 9d, favourite was 1a. Was 2*/4* for me.

  23. Excellent enjoyable puzzle 😃 **/**** so many clever and amusing clues but my last one in 4d gets the 🥇with 16d 🥈👍 Big thank you to the 2xKs and of course to Jay 🤗 Hope your weather soon improves!

  24. Have come to this quite late today as was at a recording of Radio 4 “Loose Ends”. This was an enjoyable gallop.

  25. I always enjoy Jay’s offerings, how does he keep it up week after week?
    I fairly skated through this, until I got to the NW corner. Having the wrong flat in 1a held me up for ages, until I decided to scrub 1a and start again. I immediately solved 2d and the rest fell into place.
    I had so many likes I had to weed a few out, I think 12a is the winner with 15a close behind.
    Thanks to Jay for the fun and 2Kiwis for the usual lovely review; splendid chap at 22a.

  26. Morning all.
    It is still cold and windy here today. The bizarre thing is that just across the Tasman, Aus is having record breaking heat-wave temperatures.
    When we were putting the hint together for 15a we did wonder whether to read it as ‘tea’ for the drink and ‘chest’ for the container, or as ‘tea chest’ for the ‘drink container’. Either way works perfectly to give the answer and no commenters have yet mentioned it as a problem.
    The accommodation in 1a was something we had not previously encountered.
    Cheers.

    1. 1a – it is basically a posh name for a ground floor or even basement flat with access to the garden.

    2. 15 across. I am in agreement with your hint which splits the drink (tea) and the container (chest) A Tea Chest does not contain drink. It contains the dried leaves from which the drink is made.

  27. Many thanks to all for your comments over the past year – they provide me with much needed motivation at attempting to mislead you all while providing a (fair?) challenge,. And special thanks to our two Kiwis for their excellent analysis each week.
    May everybody enjoy a super Christmas!

    1. Many thanks for popping in. Your puzzles are always a very fair challenge, week in, week out and they are always great fun. The combination of your puzzles coupled with the 2 Kiwis’ reviews makes every Wednesday a day to look forward to in crosswordland.

      Merry Christmas to you!

    2. Thank you, Jay, for the remarkably consistent entertainment – always a pleasure on a Wednesday
      Best wishes to you and yours too

    3. Wednesdays are such a treat, the combination of your superb puzzles and the review by the 2Kiwis. I always look forward to both, and the snapshots the Kiwis provide of their delightful country.
      A very merry Christmas to you and yours.

  28. Many thanks for popping in, Jay, and for your Christmas wishes.
    As RD said, we all look forward to Wednesdays – long may the Jay/2Ks combo continue.
    All the very best to you and yours for the festive season.

  29. Late on parade following another busy day. The puzzle as ever on a Wednesday was a treat. The 2ks produce a high standard blog with great illustrations. Thanks to Jay and Thanks to the 2Ks

  30. Was convinced for a long time that the answer to 15a was the word that eventually turned up as the main part of 8d! Two flasks in one puzzle? No!!

  31. Got half done over breakfast, before dentist/shopping errands needed us to go out. However brain must have been continuing to solve in the background, as all fell into place over a late afternoon cuppa. Last one in was 21d, because I forgot the mantra “if you can’t make sense of a clue, look for a lurker”, and there it was, staring me in the face. Lots of stars for enjoyment.

  32. I’m back in Oz for days off, record breaking hot temperatures across the land 🥵 A very enjoyable puzzle from J. A background in fly tying assisted with 16d. Favourites, 4 and 14d. Thanks J and 2Ks 🦇

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