DT 29272 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29272

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29272

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Kia ora from Aotearoa.

   Our property has been much livelier than usual for the last few days. Our two eldest grandsons are both about to leave home and start university in Christchurch. They had invited a dozen or more friends to join them for some R and R at the beach and used our holiday bach as well as tents on the lawn as a base for this. It was great to have this lively bunch of kids sharing our space and one of the things they asked about was cryptic crosswords. We used the two Monday puzzles from the Telegraph website to run a Cryptic Crosswords 101 course with eight rookie solvers joining us. Great fun and who knows, we may have found some converts to the dark art. We’ve put a photo at the bottom of the blog of our guests saluting the sunset.

Another fine puzzle from Jay and not a single animal this week.

 Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

Across
1a     Bag supplied by fit patient, for example (8)
SUITCASE : Another verb for to fit or be appropriate, then a patient or a person under medical treatment.

5a     Daughter splits and moves off course (6)
DRIFTS : D(aughter) then splits or schisms.

9a     Fancy whistle — end of time in short (4,5)
PIPE DREAM : A whistle or simple musical instrument and the last letter of time is inside a short that could well be whisky.

11a     Approach without a place for meeting (5)
VENUE : A tree-lined approach loses ‘A’ from the clue.

12a     Sailor called about trip without regulars (6)
RATING : Called on the telephone contains the first and third letters of trip.

13a     Sceptic may be acting so strangely (8)
AGNOSTIC : An anagram (strangely) of ACTING SO.

15a     Arrangement may see others upset about carbon quota (13)
ORCHESTRATION : An anagram (upset) of OTHERS contains the chemical symbol for carbon and then quota or allotment.

18a     Plot of redneck hating changes? (7,6)
KITCHEN GARDEN : An anagram (changes) of REDNECK HATING.

22a     Clear he is taken in by company charter (8)
COHERENT : The abbreviation for company, then ‘he’ from the clue and charter or lease.

23a     Like chutney? (6)
RELISH : A double definition.

26a     City store entertaining centre of fashion (5)
DELHI : A store selling specialty foods contains the central letter of fashion.

27a     Workers will be after material for officers (9)
SERGEANTS : A strong twilled material and worker insects (these are police officers).

28a     Pamper small group attached to cook, oddly (6)
COSSET : The first and third letters of cook, then S(mall) and a group.

29a     Meet the cost of accommodating second Balkan potential witness (6-2)
PASSER-BY : A three letter word for ‘meet the cost’ contains S(econd) and a native of one of the Balkan countries.

Down

1d     Revolutionary American monks’ leader accepting European is better (8)
SUPERIOR : Reverse the two letters denoting American and then a monastery leader contains E(uropean).

2d     Contribution from Russian leader put to the bottom (5)
INPUT : Start with the current Russian president and move the word from the clue that forms part of his name to the end (bottom in a down clue).

3d     Rhythm of dance organised with church (7)
CADENCE : An anagram (organised) of DANCE plus the Anglican Church.

4d     Look for and understand source of knowledge (4)
SEEK : Understand or comprehend and then the first letter of knowledge.

6d     Dish that sees gunners fiddle endlessly (7)
RAVIOLI : The regiment that gunners belong to, then remove the last letter from the instrument commonly called a fiddle.

7d     Penalty — poor United, missing one, made small adjustments (4-5)
FINE-TUNED : A monetary penalty and an anagram (poor) of UN(i)TED after the Roman one has gone.

8d     Draw small boat with sails (6)
SKETCH : S(mall) and then a two-masted sailing vessel.

10d     Headache jet fighter mainly precipitated (8)
MIGRAINE : A Russian jet fighter and then precipitated in liquid form without its last letter.

14d     Gets out concealing feature works of art (8)
ETCHINGS : An anagram (out) of GETS surrounds a feature of the lower face.

16d     Opening protected by covers and traps (4,5)
CAKE HOLES : Covers is a verb meaning supplies a coating. This surrounds a synonym for an opening.

17d     Honestly moving in secret (2,3,3)
ON THE SLY : An anagram (moving) of HONESTLY.

19d     Current needed in burnt out energy generator (7)
TURBINE : The physics symbol for electric current is inside an anagram (out) of BURNT and, finally, the physics symbol for energy.

20d     Always seeming younger during language lessons? (7)
AGELESS : A lurker, hiding in the clue.

21d     Sharp American detectives in charge (6)
ACIDIC : The single letter abbreviation for American, the department to which detectives belong and then the two letters for in charge.

24d     Secret hostelry supported by Her Majesty (5)
INNER : Another word for a hostelry and then Her Majesty’s regnal cipher.

25d     Enclave of near eastern region? (4)
AREA : And, to finish, another lurker hiding in the clue.

Our favourite this week is 29a.

Quickie pun    pass    +    lease    +    awes    =    parsley sauce

56 comments on “DT 29272

  1. 2*/4*. Typical Jay – another masterpiece. I couldn’t possibly pick even a podium selection today from such a fine collection of clues.

    Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks. What a great picture of the sunset and potential new recruits to the crosswording world.

  2. Elegant, concise and enjoyable. This may not have been the most testing of puzzles but it was certainly most entertaining. I will nominate the Quickie Pun as my favourite as there would be too long a list of cryptic clues to be manageable.

    Thanks to all three birds.

    1. The quickie pun does not quite work if you live in the North with a short vowel sound in PASS.

      1. Ah, thanks, Cactophile — as a northerner, I was puzzling over how to make it work at all!

  3. Excellent stuff from Jay as usual. It had just the right balance of difficulty and enjoyment (**/****). I liked so many of the clues that its hard to pick a favourite the anagrams were fun and I liked 9a and 10d. Thanks to the Kiwis and Jay. The young men in the photo look like they had the trip of a lifetime and one they’ll never forget!

  4. I usually struggle on Wednesdays but found lcould do this superb puzzle.Thanks to the setter and for so many excellent clues.

  5. We get so used to the ‘midweek masterpieces’ from Jay that we tend to ignore the skill and labour that go into making them so accessible. Thanks to him for yet another excellent puzzle and thanks to 2Ks for the super blog.
    The clues which I liked best were 9a, 29a and 7d.

    For those still pining for Mr Manley’s Friday back-pagers could I suggest having a go at today’s Giovanni Toughie. He’s eschewed his usual Toughie obscurities and the result (IMO) is more akin to his back-pagers.

    1. I found Giovanni’s contribution to Toughie Land easier than this. So, it’s time for waverers to jump in!

  6. Always a puzzle to 23a on a Wednesday and today was no exception.
    Like YS, I’m going to shy away from picking a favourite from the main puzzle and opt for the Quickie pun.

    Thanks to Jay and to our 2Ks for the review. What a lovely photo of youthful exuberance!

  7. Great stuff, which flowed from the bottom downs to the top, with just about every clue as a potential favourite, but just for the humour I’ll opt for 16d. Thanks Jay and 2Ks.

    Agree with Gazza that today’s Toughie is a delight and fairly gentle, so don’t be put off just because it’s by the Don!

  8. After the first reading thought this was destined for the stinker pile. I struggled a bit but after 15 & 18a most became clear. Thanks to Jay and 2Ks.

  9. Very enjoyable. Thought it was going to be tricky when i looked at 1d which i still needed the excellent hints to fully unravel.
    My personal fav was 10d.
    Thx to all
    **/****

    1. I know what you’ll say but I’ll dare all and suggest you try today’s Giovanni Toughie, the difficulty of which I found just slightly more than one of his back pagers – a nice ‘entry-level’ Toughie

  10. If a bottle of Tippex were to hand, I would have used half of it. A bung-in at 9a was wrong, I mis-spelled 10d, put the correct answer to 18a in 15a and the result looks like a crime scene.

    Still despite, or because of, all that, much enjoyed.

    Many thanks to Jay and the 2 Ks.

  11. Fully agree with the comments above. A thoroughly enjoyable & with the notable exception of 16d a straightforward solve in a tad over ** time. Thanks to all.

  12. Another beautifully clued and super smooth puzzle from Jay, which I thought was towards the gentler end of his spectrum. I know it’s a cop out in not choosing a favourite but I’m echoing Jane and going for the Quickie Pun.
    2*/4*
    Many thanks to Jay and to the 2Ks for their usual top notch review.

  13. Enjoyable and just about the right level of difficulty for me. Made life difficult by mis-spelling the capital in 26a so i knew what 16d was likely to be but it didnt fit. Doh! Thanks to all.

  14. Agree with my fellows, an ideal crossword as a 2/4.5. Neither too hard nor too soft- I thought 16D a bit clunky – the h is usually silent due to a Bow Bells influence on this original RAF slang. But there were so many nice clues that it was excellent fun. I failed to parse 29A (second Balkan surely ‘a’) until I read the hint – and figured it so thanks to J,K&K.

  15. Another Wednesday, another Jay puzzle, another 2Ks blog – perfect!
    I solved this one later than usual because of attending an evening event and my solving time might have been a little slower because I was somewhat cream crackered but the sprinkling of oldies but goodies helped a lot – **/*****.
    Favourite – 1d.
    Thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.

  16. Pretty straightforward today. Some excellent clues apart from 16d which I thought was awful. Too “slangy” for me. Thanks to setter. Did not need any hints; unusual for me.

  17. Excellent puzzle from Jay, ta very much, greatly enjoyed as I could actually do this one all on my own. Fell down at 28a when I put in coddle at first, as I was not familiar with the answer meaning traps in 18d. But a quick look at hint from 2Kiwis put me back on track, thank you. Too many favourites to pick one. Would love more like this.

  18. It’s all been said above, another fine offering from Jay. I wil pick out 16d as my favourite–very chuckleworthy.

  19. As I mentioned above, I found the Toughie more straightforward. I must say I don’t like the double slang in 16d but I did like the misleading anagram of 18a – who else was thinking of Guy Fawkes?

  20. Don’t know if I will ever be able to spell the City in 26a properly from the start and I always want to write Sergeants Sargeants.
    Two scribbles on an otherwise very neat crossword.
    Thanks to Jay and to our 2kiwis.

    1. I am with you J-LC, I end up trying the ‘H’ in three different places until it looks right

    2. I got round the spelling by imagining I was meeting a friend called Del – “Del, hi!” :grin:

  21. I agree with all the above, sheer delight. I too initially fell into the trap of trying to fit coddle in for 28a but 19d sorted that one. 29a has to be favourite. Many many thanks to Jay and 2K’s.

  22. The best thing about Jay, when you have the answer, there’s no ambiguity, you know whether it’s right or wrong.
    I’m with RD, no chance of picking a fave from this lot, I loved it all. No problem with 16d, when I worked for BEA, a thousand moons ago, it was in pretty common usage.
    Thanks to Jay, wotta lotta fun, and to 2Kiwis for their review. Lovely pic of your young peeps; think, in 40 or 50 years, they’ll be saying “remember when we camped at the beach?”

  23. Many thanks to Jay for a very enjoyable puzzle. And to the 2Ks for the blog. Made my visit to hospital very bearable.

  24. Thanks Jay.
    Easier end of the spectrum, but after a battle with Nutmeg in the Graun, I was very grateful.
    A beautifully clued crossword as usual. I liked 7d for the surface.
    Thanks to the 2xK’s.

  25. A sublime example of its craft, my congratulations to Jay!
    Far too many clues of a top class nature to pick a favourite. For those of us who struggle through crossword setting for church or school mags , surely this is the example to hold aloft.
    2.5*/5*
    Thanks again to Jay & 2KWs for your review.

  26. Morning all.
    We had a little mishap when we putting this one together. We had written about three quarters of the hints and then everything we had written just disappeared. It is probably hiding somewhere within the depths of the computer but we could not find it and had to start all over again. Luckily, because of the time difference, we still have ages to do this before the deadline for publishing.
    It was a real pleasure having all they young-uns visiting and they even left a thank you note in the form of cryptic crossword clues that they had made up.

  27. Agree with all that has been said. I did need hints but only three. It was most enjoyable.

    Grateful thanks to the setter and to the 2K’s for the hints.

  28. That was a satisfying puzzle with which to do battle. My only whinge is 16d which I think is a bit loose and resulted in a bung-in from me. SW was last area to acquiesce. 9a and 2d were my joint Favs. Thank you Jay and the 2Kiwis.

  29. Oh Kiwis – maybe we’re the only lucky ones who comment on the blog who have had the utter delight of staying with you four years ago, almost exactly – we can picture everything – both of you, your house, the beach, the garden and the bach – and can understand how wonderful it must have been for all the young ones. How lovely for you and how lucky they all are.
    I think that’s rendered me speechless (just for once in my life) so I’ll make the rest of my comment pretty short while we sit and reminisce over a glass of wine and supper.
    The usual great Wednesday crossword although I confess to taking ages with the bottom left corner.
    I’m rather incapable of further thought so that’s it from me apart from thanking Jay and the Kiwis.

  30. A lovely puzzle, with much to catch me out, but to quibble a tad pedantically, a cadence isn’t a ‘rhythm’, it’s the ending of a phrase, involving notes or chords.

  31. A nice puzzle for a rainy day on the west coast of canada. No hints needed today. A pleasant solve … now if the rain would just GO AWAY!
    Thanks to J & the 2K’s

  32. Delicious! Just enough to tax the brain a little, but mightily enjoyable!
    Thanks to Jay, and the 2Kiwis – what a beautiful sunset!

  33. I did not have a problem with coddle but confidently entered Drives for 5a. D + rives = drives. “Moves off course”. I was thinking of golf. It was only when I got 7d that the penny dropped. Otherwise fibe with many good clues. I was rather slow with 15a. Did not particularly like 2d – too obvious? Liked the traps at 16d. Initially entered stands by for 29a. Stand as in meet the cost of a drink? Last one in but a good one was the lurker at 20d. Although I did not have recourse to the excellent hints I seemed to have quite a bit of trouble.

  34. I also went down the golfing path for 5a and had to backtrack. Similarly 20d escaped me and went in last. Too subtle for me to notice. I agree with comments above about elegant, economical clues. Love the photo which makes me want to escape cold New York and get myself to a warm beach. Thanks to setter and bloggers.

  35. 2*/3*………..
    liked 2D ” contribution from Russian leader put to the bottom (5) “

  36. Agree will most of the comments. Lots of fun clues. Just one small point – cakeholes is invariably one word.

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