Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3043 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg, where Mother Nature has been reminding us that it is still Winter with snow showers and, for two or three days, temperatures in the minus 20s before adding on (subtracting?) the effects of wind chill to arrive at an even lower ‘feels like.’
Many many thanks to the 2 Kiwis for helping me out by sending me a copy of the puzzle; even though I have an e-mail receipt for my DT puzzle subscription I could not access it.
Dada back to quirky this week with some Hmms (two of which might cause some ire with RD) – I counted four anagrams (one partial), one lurker, and no homophones – all in a symmetric 32 clues, with 18 hints you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I am beginning to find Dada’s varying usage of ‘ON’ as an instruction a little confusing.
Candidates for favourite – 5a, 4d, and 16d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in red at the bottom of the hints!
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
1a Fruit pulp (6)
A double definition, although I am not entirely convinced about the first part.
5a Route round town is near? Don’t ask me! (6)
A two letter synonym for near and the popular four letter word for don’t ask me used by someone who does not know an answer.
11a Vegetable extract on hand (9)
A (3,3) synonymic phrase for extract placed after (on) a synonym of hand (as an employee).
13a Item wrapped up here (7)
A double definition – the second can be a response during a roll call.
17a Bit on back of horse – hock, for example? (5)
A four letter synonym of bit followed by (on) the last letter (back) of horsE.
19a I approach home properly (2,7)
I from the clue, a synonym of approach (as in getting closer), and a synonym of home.
25a Marrying? Dump in future! (9)
A three letter term for dump placed in a synonym(?) of future.
27a Offending jewelry on sovereign (6)
An item of jewelry placed after (on) HM’s regnal cipher.
28a Figure with sore back, delicate (6)
A (numerical) figure and (with) a synonym of sore reversed (back).
Down
2d Pretty? I couldn’t agree more (5)
A single word for I couldn’t agree more.
4d Run of diamonds for old poet (5)
A single word for a type of run scored in a game very popular in the USA in which part of the field is referred to as a diamond.
5d Emperor a bit overwhelmed by the hard stuff (9)
A from the clue and a synonym of bit all inserted into (overwhelmed by) a type of hard stuff.
8d Rest praised, having ignored a drunk (6)
An anagram (drunk) of PRaISED with the A removed (having ignored).
9d Girl bagging rubbish for David, say (6)
The short version of a girl’s name (one that we know and love) containing (bagging) a three letter synonym of rubbish.
16d Winger coming up with flashy stuff – this skill (9)
An animal that has wings reversed (coming up) and (with) a type of flashy stuff.
17d Rotten food scoffed by new owner (4-5)
A type of food inserted into (scoffed by) an anagram (new) of OWNER.
20d Rope seen in frigate, the rigging (6)
The lurker (seen in) found in the rest of the clue.
24d A portal in marble, for example (5)
A from the clue and a type of portal (as used in the game of marbles).
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Mick Avory, drummer with The Kinks from their formation in 1964 until 1984, celebrated his 76th birthday yesterday. This is The Kinks first number one from 1964:
Morning Senf. If anyone wants to spoil their fun just go to the DT app where all the answers can be revealed in full. But not submitted.
Like yesterday it can still be submitted , via a screen shot , as a prize entry .
Hi KFB. Yes, done as you suggest. I meant that there is no option to submit for the £50 Amazon voucher as far as I can tell.
Thanks to Senf & Dada.
Same as yesterday (qv for numerous comments), another ‘non-prize’ crossword. Yes,in know I can screen shot and send in, but why should I need to? These bugs go from strength to strength! It’s almost like they keep adding new ones week by week (to drive us away?). I am still getting the freeze/ jump symptoms on all 4 puzzles, despite trying all suggested remedies. Refreshing them relieves the problem, albeit only briefly. Nice to be told that my solution is correct, though, which I don’t normally get. Roll on the revised app.
Despite my moaning I quite enjoyed this ***, and it was comfortably within my time/difficulty range **.
Many thanks Senf…horrible day here in Kent.
Oddly I found this to be one of Dada’s more benign offerings and considering the dreadful run I have been on recently, it came as a bit of a shock!!
Thanks for the explanation for 11a, lord knows why I could not see that, but an obvious bung-in with all the crossers.
Thanks to Dada too.
Enjoyed , full of fun and mischief but could not single out a favourite .
Thanks Dada and Senf .
I had the opposite experience to Hoofit. I found this very hard work (**** for difficulty) and had to resort to electronic help for one clue. With some of the clues, the answer was clear but I had trouble parsing them fully so thanks to Senf for the hints. It wasn’t that enjoyable (**) as there were some stretched synonyms and a lot of clues that triggered the’hmm’ reflex. 8d was quite a good clue. Thanks to Dada.
***/ **for me, too many stretched synonyms.
Your comment went into moderation as you have previously used a space between A and E in your alias – both should work from now on.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. Fairly clued with some very clever structures. Particular favourite was 16 down. Thanks to setter and Senf for the hints.
Your comment went into moderation as you have used a different e-mail address today – both should work from now on.
Most enjoyable. Took a while to get on wavelength, then went in quite smoothly. Some amusing and quirky clues. 4d was my favourite.
2*/4*. Not too difficult but good fun. I think Dada has really got the hang of this Sunday puzzle setting.
I wouldn’t dare to call the girl in 9d vague …
On my podium today are 1a (it is technically a fruit, Senf), 11a, 19a, & 15d.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
Thanks for your comment on 1a. I did some more (electronic) research and, apparently, botanically there is no such thing as a vegetable so 11a is also a fruit? Engineering is so much simpler!
The BRB calls it a fruit
One of those crosswords where I first chose the word and then saw that it fitted the clue.
Enjoyable nonetheless.
*** for difficulty
Many thanks to the setter and to Senf.
Nothing came to mind until I reached the last clues in 23 and 24d.
Started with that corner and slowly made my way up.
Quite tough.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf.
I made heavy weather of this and didn’t glean much fun from the exercise. West marginally more compliant than the East where I ended up needing a couple of nudges. Is 21a necessarily sweetened? Not sure I have fully parsed the location bit of 15d. Thank you Dada and Senf.
Have you ever had 21a unsweetened?
Split 15d into 3,6 and you will find the ladies 3 6.
Accept 21a is usually sweetened but not necessarily so e.g. in savoury recipes. I had realised the two maidens but have only just twigged the relevance of location.
Well I found that quite tough. With a third completed, I ground to a halt and had to use electronics to solve a couple of anagrams. They helped me to get a little further on, but I had to resort to the hint for 11a before I could make the final push to the finish line, the NE corner being the last to fall.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
I found this a little tougher than usual but no real hold-ups. It was one of those puzzles where the parsing took a tad longer than the solving, but still very enjoyable. 4 and 16d share my top spot. Like others, I was told my answers were correct, which is gratifying but rather defeats the object of a Prize Crossword. Get a grip Telegraph. Where is this much-vaunted new app?
Thanks to Dada for the fun and to Senf.
Defeated by that 11 ac ‘thing’ that we cuisine-savvy Charlestonians must not be so cuisine-savvy about after all! I think I’ve been vanquished by this very thing once before, but never again! Tough but very fair puzzle otherwise. Podium choices: 10, 19 ac; 15 dn. Thanks to Dada and Senf (would you have galloped through this one, as you are so wont to do?!) for the hints. (Do you really think that that synonymic phrase you mention, by the way, means to ‘extract’?) Happy Sunday to all from the Carolinas. Hope the weather overseas clears up fast.
The horse does not come out of the stable when I am solving the Sunday puzzle (on a Saturday evening) – it is difficult to ride with a glass of a single malt or Mouton Cadet in one hand!
With a Hmm, and enough of one of the previously mentioned libations, the synonymic phrase in 11a can just about mean extract.
A collected canter for us today… with a couple of refusals that unseated us. 4d was our favorite – thinking that it would be a little esoteric for you lot.
Weather dropped 25 Fahrenheit in Boston on Friday and is now back in the 40s. Just escaped St Helier between the storms – hope everyone in Blighty survives the weather.
Dead Fans, grateful et al
Mr & Mr T
I think that ‘to extract oneself from a tricky situation’ just about covers it?
Thought this was good fun although it was just as well I knew the poet – spent a while thinking that the run of diamonds must refer to either Whist or Bridge!
Top of my pile has to be 11a if only because I had the answer written in long before my brain managed to split it up into the required pieces.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the review. Back in the day, I used to wonder why Mr Davies didn’t get his front teeth fixed!
So he could eat an apple through a tennis racquet?
Must admit, I hadn’t considered that!
Oh boy, did I find this difficult? I sure did. I could not get on the wavelength at all and, even after I had cracked a few, the rest remained stubborn so lots of electronic help needed. With the aid of the excellent hints – thank you, Senf – I managed to tease out the rest but it was a hard slog and, consequently, not very enjoyable for me. Still, there were some excellent clues and if I had to pick a favourite it would be 5d.
Many thanks to the setter and, once again, to Senf.
No damage here from Dennis but the window in the bedroom blew open during the night. Woke up to a small lake on the floor.
5d and 11a were my last two in and I needed Senf’s parsing for 11a and also for 4d, which I knew had to be correct, but couldn’t explain the reference to diamonds.
I also got the “all correct” message which, as others have said both today and yesterday, shouldn’t be the case at the weekend. Doesn’t make any difference to me as I haven’t entered for months because of the utterly useless DT tech department.
Very many thanks to Senf for his explanations and to the setter.
Well said. I hope I’m not being cruel when I say I am glad you still feel the same as I towards the techies! The long-awaited new App is still awaited.
Agreed. Good fun but with a few synonyms stretched beyond my ken. 24d fave because of the joke
– deleted the rest of my comment as on reflection it may be stretching things a bit for a prize puzzle. Although I am not sure if it is a prize and the way I have submitted is probably not right either.
I have snipped a screenshot of the puzzle from the puzzle site and e-mailed that.
Another miserable Sunday for me. I got two thirds of the wY before grinding to a halt which is much better than usual with a Dada puzzle. I’d appreciate the app showing who the puzzle was by so I could avoid wasting my time on these as I get zero enjoyment from them.
Dada provides every Sunday puzzle if that helps you decide whether or not to give it a go
Finished a Dada puzzle but needed the hints from Senf. First Sunday finish for a long time. Feels surreal. Thank you Dada and Sent.
Quirky as quirky is! I was going steadily until for some reason the SW section held me up longer than it should.
3*/3*
Thanks to Dada & Senf for review & hints
I’m in the difficult camp, more than that – impossible. I solved four before the brick wall.
I never remember 11a. I went to the hints and even with them, I still can’t finish. I had such a good day yesterday, I don’t mind at all.
Thanks to Dada, I’ll try again next Sunday, and to Senf for your excellent review.
Found this offering from Dada far too tough, and above my pay grade. I have so far filled in only 4 answers, with 2 more written in at the side, so possibly 6. Like Merusa, even with Senf’s hints, I am still at a loss. No time to waste on electronic help, so giving up on this. Disappointing Sunday morning for me. Not fun like yesterday.
Finished but have answers for 14a, 26a and 22d and no clue why. Any help please?
14a – a word for a note round the letter a (from the clue) = balance
26a – 4 letter drinks last letter of bottle = kid
22d – 3 letter boxer (fighter) first letter of back-pedal I (one) = in defence
Hope this helps
Thank you! Got them all now.
I progressed steadily through this puzzle, but I am a seasoned solver. Incidentally, due to a spat between W H Smiths and Telegraph Media Group, the Telegraph titles will not be stocked at WHS travel stores from tomorrow. The papers will be available at WHS high street shops, but will be found in the ‘Business & Culture / Current Affairs‘ section of the magazine area and not with all the other daily papers.
I got really stuck on top RH corner and still do not know if my bung ins for 7d and 17a are right. And I had no idea what 4d is although I recognise the poet. Well, it exercised the old brain cells so that can’t be bad!
Found like many others todays offering to be a tough slog. Rate it a *** or even **** puzzle.
Hmmm to some of the clues as they seemed to be a bit of a stretch.
Lots of electronic help today. Oh well … can’t always get on the same quirky wavelength as Dada. 15d & 16d favourites.
Thanks to Dada and Senf
Needed Senf’s hints for both 17s to struggle to a finish. Like others I found this a particularly tough solve as I just couldn’t seem to get on Dada’s wavelength today. I certainly made harder work of it than England did chasing down 222 in the T20 decider – a great afternoon at Centurion.
Thanks to all.
I’m in the hmm/quirky camp today. Quite a few iffy clues today even for Dada. I parsed/justified 4d as the Pittsburg diamonds but I suppose either will do. Some decent clues though and favourite being 15d for when I realised why, although the day is just after the solstice which technically xx xxx xxxxx xx xxxxxx, I’m not sure how that works in either case. Anyroad up thanks to Dada and Senf.
Ooh! I’ve been redacted. A slap on the wrist for me then. Sorry I should have been more careful, it being a prize crossword. I perhaps should have put “is the first day of that particular part of the year”
Whew! Needed many hints today – thank you, Senf! And the setter, of course!
OK so it’s Monday. But we only started late yesterday. An excellent offering we both thought, which makes up for the continued rubbish emanating from the Telegraph on-line team. If their readership wasn’t so loyal, they would have been out of business months ago.
11 & 19a favourites, but many smiles and (appreciative) humphs!
Oops should have gone as a new comment, not a reply. Sorry.