DT 29287 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29287 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29287 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club

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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Some hints follow.

Across

6a    Greatest ever intoxicated state, this level has never been reached before (3-4,4)
A hyphenated word meaning the greatest ever followed by an intoxicated state

10a    Urges one to become bountiful (8)
An anagram (to become) of URGES ONE

11a    Avert filly travelling in depressed area in Africa (4,6)
An anagram (travelling) of AVERT FILLY

15a    Supposed to have done some magic round European court (11)
A verb meaning to have done some magic around E(uropean) and C(our)T

21a    Symbol of Conservative and most of opposition? (4)
C(onservative) followed by of a word describing the opposition

22a    Finished week taking on number too heavy (10)
A four-letter word meaning finished followed by W(eek) and a number

25a    Advance in French vehicle going round centre of Bourges (8)
A French word for in followed by a public service vehicle around the middle letter (centre) of [Bou]R[ges]

28a    Jack perhaps clearer as a cheat (4-7)
What could be a jack in a deck followed by an adjective meaning clearer

Down

1d    It may come before and after landing (6)
This landing is part of a staircase!

3d    Second simpleton self-satisfied (4)
S(econd) followed by a simpleton

7d    Bloomer having neat edge (5)
Neat is another word (usually only seen in crosswords) for cattle – a two-letter bovine is followed by an edge

8d    Painfully sensitive flesh lasting a short time (5)
Two definitions

113d    Endless good fortune concerning money (5)
Most of (endless) some good fortune followed by a two-letter word meaning concerning or about

16d    Baker upset after cancelled delivery (3,5)
An anagram (upset) of BAKER preceded by a word meaning cancelled gives a type of delivery in cricket

23d    Careful to adopt Catholic slogan (3,3)
An adjective meaning careful around (to adopt) the two-letter abbreviation for Catholic

26d    Had old money dropped repeatedly in ditch (2-2)
Drop the latter representing a penny in old money from HA[D] and repeat what remains to get a ditch which conceals a wall

The Crossword Club is now open.


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As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment. If in doubt, leave it out!

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The Quick Crossword pun: read+blood+sells=red blood cells


68 comments on “DT 29287 (Hints)

  1. Just completed this puzzle on an iPad and it isn’t a prize crossword – got confirmation that ‘all answers correct’. Am I missing something?

    1. It is definitely a prize crossword in the paper – the heading says Prize Crossword 29,287 and there’s the usual entry form. Given how extremely straightforward it is, I would imagine there’ll be lots of entries today.

    1. Even if it were a prize one, have they sorted the On-line ‘sending in’ yet, as opposed to having to screenshot and post ?

      1. No, and I wonder whether they ever will.

        There is also the “slow down” bug, and on some half dozen occasions I have experienced a “whatever you type, the previous letter/number appears” in all puzzles, which requires the app to be reloaded (losing all completed Cryptics and other puzzles).

        There seems to be little commitment to quality when it comes to the Puzzles, with the order occasionally changing, the duplication of a Cryptic on one occasion, and this Saturday’s classic of a non-Prize Cryptic.

        Finally in this rant, we are still waiting for the Toughie. 😡😡😡😡😡

        I belatedly note comments about a new version due soon; I wonder, should I bate my breath?

  2. What a terrific puzzle for a drearily wet Saturday morning. It certainly cheered me up as the rain lashed the front of the house. Some really good clues, notably 21a and 26d. Just the right amount of difficulty for a Prize Puzzle I thought.

    Thanks setter and BD.

  3. Just completed it using an IPad and have just noticed the format is not the “weekend prize crossword” , not that I could have submitted it anyway. Hope the new Telegraph App (due soon) solves this.
    Found this puzzle straightforward.

    1. Welcome to the blog

      I’ve just drawn the Crossword Editor’s attention to the fact that the (presumably just the iPad) online version of the crossword doesn’t seem to indicate that it is a prize. As I’ve already commented, it definitely is in the paper version

      1. The editor is looking into it. Apparently ” It may not be saying “prize puzzle” on the Edition App (the iPad app) for some solvers: a new version of that has launched overnight, but only for some subscribers”

  4. I was beginning to think that I’d been inspired until I read some of the previous comments. At first sight, the use of the word ‘intoxicated’ looked to be incongruous in the wording of 6a when I’d realised what the answer was but Chambers proved me to be wrong. Stay safe everybody.

  5. A very straightforward and quite enjoyable puzzle (*/***). My only complaint is that it was all over too quickly. I liked 7d, 16d and 11a. Thanks to BD for the hints and to the setter.

  6. Very straightforward as others have said and also as others have said, not indicated as a prize crossword on the iPad. I also got the all correct message but only after correcting a typo. This would not be possible on a normal Saturday.

    I didn’t know the bloomer and had to use a Thesaurus but the clueing was fair so I knew what I was looking for.

    I enjoyed it on the whole, even though it didn’t take long.

    Many thanks to the setter and BD

  7. Very nice puzzle, a lot easier than a usual Saturday but some nice clues for all that. My fav was 6a. Not sure about one the definitions for 8d. A healthy 8d is not painful.
    Thx to all
    **/****
    PS Although not shown as a prize on the iPad, the email submission still works.

  8. Another Saturday fun run. SE corner last to go in. Not sure 27a is exactly draining. Had forgotten the neat in 7d and indeed the 16d delivery. Fav was 1d with 26d running up – both great surfaces. Thank you Mysteron and BD.

  9. 1.5*/3*. A gentle but enjoyable pangram to start the weekend.

    Many thanks to the setter and to BD.

  10. Very gentle for a SPP. I realised and confirmed that it was a pangram with one answer to go but that did not need any of the ‘obscure’ letters, ho hum. Completed at a fast gallop – **/***.
    No obvious favourite, but I did like 15a.
    Thanks to the setter and BD.

  11. As an old iPad user (insert your own comma, both meanings are correct) I was delighted to be told, on completion of this pleasant, leisurely stroll, that my solution was correct. An enhancement, I thought, one bug solved. But then I noticed that it wasn’t a Prize crossword! My inability to submit without going into email territory therefore remains. The above comments show that I am far from alone.

    Compared to 12 months ago this part of the App is a shambles and I just hope the forthcoming revised version sorts it out.
    ****/**

  12. Very annoyed, turned on my Kindle in bed this morning to have a crack at the puzzle with my cup of tea and all the answers filled themselves in! Never had anything like that happen before. At least I did some serious hoovering instead of enjoying the puzzle.
    also did some serious pruning of some roses, no idea what I am doing really so may have killed them, they were just too big. ‘Dennis’ yet to arrive here in North Norfolk but we escaped the worst of the last one except poor old Hemsby.

  13. Pleasant enough start to the weekend, which is more than can be said for the weather – storm Dennis is making his presence known.
    15a was my favourite today.

    Thanks to our setter and to BD for the club.

  14. Quite a straightforward pangram today, which I solved without too much help. In fact, it was relatively easy compared to some that have appeared of late. No real favourites today but I did like 22a and 8d.

    Thank you to the setter and to BD for the hints.

    I always submit a photo of the puzzle by email so don’t have the problems that others have with on line submissions. Having said that, I do submit other puzzles on line from my MacBook and have not had problems. I don’t think I will get the iPad app in view of what has been said.

    Dennis is gathering here in Shropshire but logs have been delivered so a warm fire beckons. Keep safe everyone.

    1. What email address do you send it to? I haven’t been able to submit on line for weeks.

      Thanks

      Manders

        1. That’s the one and I get an acknowledgement almost immediately.

          I have never won a prize, mind!

    1. I think you are (missing something). It would not be cryptic without the fifth and sixth words of the clue.

      1. Hi Weekend Wanda. I’d seen the relevance of words 5 and 6, which in my view made the clue less cryptic! Still, thank you very much for responding.

  15. Thanks to setter and B D,
    I enjoyed the pangram and we got them out for less than 200.
    My storm is on the way!! Stay safe
    Regards,

    Denis

  16. Enjoyed this as a rather gentle brain workout whilst the weather prevented a physical one.I liked several clues and as a devotee of a particular game liked 16d best. Completed without looking at the blog but enjoyed that as well.Thankyou.

  17. A solve over with a little too quickly, although I found it enjoyable.
    1.5*/3*
    Thanks to setter & BD for review

  18. Just enough time for this reasonably straightforward Prize Puzzle. Leaves just enough time to batten down the hatches as Dennis is becoming a menace here too. We are far enough away from the river to escape any flooding but the wind is roaring down the chimney and I wonder who I could get to fit one of the whirly chimney cowls that annoy the pigeons over the road. I don’t think the DT needs an easier introductory puzzle next to this one but I do recognize that difficulty like beauty is often in the eye of the beholder.

  19. As most others I found this dead straightforward. Not much else to say really except that its hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with 17d as it’s the one I had to think about most, though not much. Thanks to the setter and BD.

  20. Having family visitors I was pleased for it not to have been too difficult a challenge!
    Enjoyed it, in particular 15 a and 16d.
    Thanks to BD & co for their comments !

  21. When I first looked I thought it was going to be tricky – couldn’t make any sense at all of the first clue but then it all went fine.
    The only real trouble I had was with a couple in the bottom left corner – I misread the last letter of 21a and thought it was an E which made it a bit ‘interesting’, to say the least. :roll:
    I was dim with 19d and now know the names of more orchestras than was needed.
    I’ve only ever met the 28a cheat without the final two letters of his second word.
    I liked 15 and 25a and 8 and 20d.
    Thanks to the setter and to BD.
    Dreadful weather – I hope everyone is warm, dry and, above all, safe.
    I’m about to have a go at the NTSPP although the instructions sound a bit intimidating – still have the one from Thursday to do as no time then.

  22. PS I never submit an entry to the prize crosswords but reading about the trouble people are having in doing so makes me glad that I’m a technotwit/dinosaur and do the crosswords in the paper with a pencil, with a rubber on the top.

    1. I’m in the pencil club too, but do hear the Iowa Caucus team are free for app development. Enjoyed today’s doable puzzle so thanks to the Setter and Big Dave for the blog.

    2. I agree totally, Kath. Modern Technology has a lot to answer for, and certainly does NOT make life easier. I buy the paper, hours of extra reading and puzzles too, I scan the crossword, print a copy off, then it doesn’t matter whether I make a mistake, I can scrawl as much as I want, and have the reverse, non-printed side of the printed copy for anagrams. Tomorrow morning, the solution will be filled into the original paper grid, re-scanned, and emailed into the Telegraph as per the instructions. No solutions, other than mere brain power, a dictionary and Roget’s excellent tome are available, and believe me, that feeling of satisfaction at the end…? Beats reliance on smart technology.

    3. A seven year old has said that every pencil has an eraser attached. It’s like the world expects everyone to make mistakes. That’s pretty cool.. what a clever statement

  23. I can only echo the comments of other iPad users. Straightforward puzzle which took us sometime because of the five year old from next door coming for a chat.

  24. Not had any iPad problems here, yet. But I only use it to print the puzzles, and then fill them in with a gel pen. So I was hesitant to fill I the answer for 4d at first, hardly cryptic. I never submit to the prize gods. Thanks to setter and Big Dave for the hints. Hope everyone says safe and dry during Storm Dennis.

    1. See my reply to Cryptor at 16 above. Don’t think I can say more without getting trouble

  25. Needless to say, I loved it – so there! The only problem I had was 8d, which took as long as the rest of the puzzle. Then I had my road to Damascus moment that it was a pangram, puzzle solved!
    No single choice for fave, the whole puzzle is my fave, though 6a amused!
    Thanks to our setter and to BD for the hints and pics.
    Please stay safe chaps, that storm sounds horrible.

  26. A great puzzle for a wet, wet Saturday here on the West Coast of Canada. Dogs are still drying out … (both kinds of dogs the word represents, I might add!)
    No hints required today … (thanks anyway BD!)
    6a, 1d and 4d favourite clues.
    Thanks setter and BD

  27. Nice and steady away puzzle today. So what is the new word or definition learned during the solution to the puzzle? Thanks BD for help here, never heard of the alternative definition for the key word in 7D. 28A has two more letters than the phrase I am normally used to, but the good old dictionary tells me it exists. No clue of the day that brought about the “smile of the day”. Maybe the weather causing a downer on my mood type?

    1. I’m with you on 28a. Thought the answer was obvious then realised I needed two more letters.

  28. I agree with everyone that it was a nice easy solve and the only one I was stuck on was 16d so I was grateful for the hint on that one. I was fixated on a loaf because of the baker. Jolly windy here in Cambridge!

  29. Nice pangrams today (Quickie tougher than the Cryptic, though). Much fun. 8d held me up a bit and then I decided it was probably the clue of the day. Chilly here in Charleston but clear and beautiful. Hope Dennis is less destructive than Ciara was. Stay safe, all. Hello Merusa in Miami!

    1. BusyLizzie and I are warm down here, 75 or so, though spotty showers now and then. I would never last in those chilly climes.

  30. Favourites 9 and 15a and 23d. Think the latter is particularly nifty as the slogan is far from Catholic. NE last corner in but largely due to having the wrong first three letters for 6a. Thanks setter BD and all.

  31. Fairly straightforward this week, did not know the Neat = cattle as given in the clue for 7d though Liked 15a

    R.

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