DT 29293 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29293 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29293 (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

1a    Union supporter surprisingly is left outside backing a communist (10)
An anagram (surprisingly) of IS LEFT around the reversal (backing) of the A from the clue and a communist

9a    Tangle with international footballer (5)
A tangle followed by I(nternational)

12a    Award one successful with first clue! (8,5)
A successful person followed by a description (1,6) of the first clue in this puzzle

14a    Crudely looks back on fresh depiction of recent events (8)
The reversal (back) of a verb meaning crudely looks preceded by (on in an across clue) an adjective meaning fresh

17a    Cheerful pub to get drunk and have a meal (6)
An anagram (to get drunk) of PUB followed by a verb meaning to have a meal

24a    Supporter at home was hard to indoctrinate (9)
A female support garment followed by a two-letter word meaning at home, WAS from the clue and H(ard)

25a    Head off arm-in-arm showing tattoos (5)
Drop (off) the initial letter (head) of an adjective meaning arm-in-arm

27a    Inexperienced people guided head of government in affairs (10)
A three-letter verb meaning guided and the initial letter (head) of G[overnment] inside some sexual affairs

Down

1d    Celebrity makes a couple of notes (4)
Combine a couple of notes of the scale

3d    Making a comeback, getting about in the pink? (13)
A charade of a two-letter word meaning about, IN from the clue and a flower also called a pink

5d    Posh part of London holding a mass for teacher (5)
The post code of a posh part of London around (holding) the A from the clue and M(ass)

8d    Lower orders comprehending students making fatuous remark (10)
Members of a class of low social status around the letter representing a student or learner – I don’t see why students is plural

11d    One to welcome dawn crossing bridge with one’s dog (6,7)
A bird known for welcoming the dawn around (crossing) a bridge and I (one)

16d    Seized area captured by whirling Dervish (8)
A(rea) inside (area captured by) an anagram (whirling) of DERVISH

20d    Good family will take her to find London landmark (7)
G(ood) and a word meaning family around (will take) HER from the clue

23d    Misdeeds regularly ignored in certain days in Rome (4)
The first word in the clue without (ignored) its odd letters (regularly)

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: war+tusk+ease=water skis


98 comments on “DT 29293 (Hints)

  1. Nothing too demanding today. North was relatively plain-sailing apart from 9a who is new to me but the South presented a couple of problems e.g I’m not up on tattoos so 25a was a bung-in. Joint Favs 12a and 3d. Thank you Mysteron and BD.

    1. I’m not often negative, but I thought 9a was very unfair. I can’t say more ‘cos it’s the weekend, but who HAS heard of 9a?

      1. I agree with the unfair aspect of your comment. However I happen to be great fan of 9a so it was a write in with a wry smile for me.

      2. Really? I think that may be your problem rather than the crossword’s!! It’s a bit like saying I don’t read literature therefore I’ve never heard of Shakespeare…

        1. My apologies, I was wrong. Of course this man is as famous as Shakespeare, how on earth could I miss that. His name will live on for another 500 years! I consider myself well and truly chastised!

              1. I know nothing about football – international or otherwise but when I thought of synonyms for tangle with I immediately thought of a footballer with the addition of the last letter. I first expected a W at the end.

  2. 2*/3*. I thought I was going to finish this in my 1* time until I got held up by 6a & 8d. It took quite a time for these two pennies to drop and they were my last two in.

    2d was my favourite.

    Thanks to the setter and to BD, and Happy Birthday to Rufus.

    1. Not too happy with 6a either – theatrical yes but party – not so sure. Or have I got it all wrong?

      1. Hi spud. As it’s a prize puzzle I can’t be too precise, but, if you look your answer up in Chambers Dictionary, “party” is given as one of the specific meanings.

        1. Welcome to the blog Simon

          6a Theatrical party (4)
          Two definitions, and you should have the second and fourth letters – theatrical is an adjective meaning melodramatic or exaggerated while party is in the sense of a faction or group rather than a celebration.

    2. I am with you so far as 6a and 8d are concerned. Not even 100% sure now that I have 6a right.

  3. Yes, that was a generally straightforward solve. I did like it though. 17a was unparseable for a while until I sorted out my typo in 3d.
    I wonder how long the setter tried to get 12a in the top left corner.
    Thanks to Bd and setter (did Rufus get a birthday outing todays puzzle was almost Rufusesque)

  4. Is this a Prize Crossword? The iPad edition does not label it as such and it tells you if your answers are correct.
    As for the puzzle itself I thought it was brilliant! So many clever ‘smiler’ clues such as 3d, 9d, 12am’s, 11d and 20d to mention just a few. Just my sort of puzzle, entertaining and well clued without needing ‘leaps of faith’.
    Thx to all esp the setter
    ***/******

  5. The DT have promised that all the bugs will be fixed but so far ………….. Nothing. I haven’t been able to send in a prize crossword for weeks and weeks now. Think it went wrong when Apple did an upgrade but not sure. So annoying. Good crossword today, very enjoyable for me.

  6. I agree with rabbit Dave, i too struggled with 6 a . I thought 12 a was a brilliant clue. Thank you to all. An enjoyable solve

  7. This was pretty straightforward and enjoyable (**/****). My favourite clues were 12a and 11d but there were quite a few other good ones. Thanks to BD for the hints and to the setter.

  8. Agree with RD entirely. Had a different (just as good) answer for 6a which held things up.
    Waiting for rain to go off as I have concluded that windfall is not going to clean itself up whilst my canine friend keeps urging me to give up the crossword and do something more constructive.
    Thanks to setter today.
    The Prize Crossword seems to have been ditched by the DT this last few weeks.

      1. Trouble is when you have a very disabled husband with Parkinson’s and there is no newspaper delivery available, the iPad version is a lifeline to carers, wives like me.

        1. And it saves trees! And we still “buy” the paper to access it on line, and in my case, I pay extra for being given the privilege of actually printing the puzzle, rather than doing it on my iPad…

  9. I struggled to finish this in *** time, but I don’t know why. I couldn’t see the parsing of 12a, very clever! I also loved 18d, and it is my COTD.

    Does anyone else think the ‘students’ in 8d should have been singular?

    Many thanks to all.

      1. Isn’t this an example of the frequently used “lack of punctuation” as a trick in a clue? Add an apostrophe in the appropriate place and it makes perfect sense.

    1. Presumably if, as Brian says above, the iPad version tells you straight away that your entries are correct, the system doesn’t think it needs to tell you the solutions the following week!

      You could always read my review published yesterday morning to check that your solutions are correct

  10. Hard to look beyond 2d for the COTD, although 12a gave it a good run for the money. A very comfortable and enjoyable solve which has set me up nicely for the festival of rugby this afternoon. The Telegraph Edition on the iPad, as Brian says earlier, is still a long way from telling me it is a Prize Puzzle, with the solver able to check answers and no option of sending in a completed puzzle.

    Many thanks to our setter for the fun challenge and to BD.

  11. Excellent puzzle. Went in steadily but not too fast – just the way I like them. 12a my pick of the day.

  12. 7d was a mystery to me, having never heard of the word, I still have no idea why its correct. As a consequence 6a was beyond me.
    Apart from that, steady crossword, 12a was a super clue.
    Thanks BD and today’s setter.

    1. Not sure if I’m allowed to do this on a Saturday. So, forgive me, if so.

      A three letter noun for a brief swim + the one letter abbreviation for the following word + the next word = the answer.

      But, you need to move the back letter of the final word to the front of the answer.

      Not so ‘simples’!

      1. Cheers, yes, thanks. Struggled to get the screen capture on my tablet to work last week!!

    2. At last I have found a comment which echos my last two still unsolved clues. 6a and 7d. Apart from these two it has been the quickest ever solve for me. I’m never done by Sunday! Mind you I’m not done yet am I!

  13. I don’t think that Apple should be blamed for the problems with the digital version. The same happens on my Android tablet.

  14. Another relatively gentle SPP but this one had quite a few Hmms (not including 8d), completed at a gallop – 2*/2.5*.
    Candidates for favourite – 10a, 14a, and 3d – and the winner is 3d.
    Thanks to the setter and BD.

  15. 12a gets my vote also as COTD in what was an entertaining offering & an enjoyable solve completed bang on *** time. Thanks to all.
    The iPad edition of the DT is getting beyond a joke as far as the puzzles section is concerned. I can live without the prize crossword facility but the bugs are really irritating. Mine went haywire today and I had to delete the app altogether and reinstall it. Not sure if I’ve installed the correct version as it appears to have been completely reformatted.
    No golf this weekend as the weather in Joburg has finally broken.

  16. A most enjoyable solve and some great clues. Like others, my COTD is 12a with 14d being a close second. As for 6a, I am not convinced I have solved it correctly. I had a different answer to 1d until I solved 9a.

    Many thanks to the setter and to BD for the hints.

  17. Like others, I paused for thought over 6a, queried the plural in 8d and also checked on the definition of 16d – the BRB surprised me by listing today’s answer as the first alternative.
    Favourite has to be 12a with a mention for Will’s grand house.

    Thanks to our setter and to BD for the club. Many happy returns to Rufus if he happens to pop in to check on us.

  18. 26a was a new synonym for me for the definition, but easily worked from the reverse anagram. 3d and 12a were my favourite clues. Many thanks to the setter and to BD.

  19. **/**** for me. An enjoyable solve with lots of smiles and a few “that’s clever”. 12 and 23 across, 3 and 8 down were my favourites : 23a a real wow moment. Thanks to BD and blessings on the setter.

  20. I thought at first that this would be difficult but super cluing and many smiles got me there much quicker than is usual.So many good ones that l could not pick a best.Thankyou.

  21. I seem to be in a weird kind of pattern crossword-wise. I start off with the freshly printed page, I like the feel of pen and paper, and proceed to stare blankly for several minutes. Eventually I remember that I can actually read and started going through the clues. Then stare blankly for quite a while more. I then have a glass of wine – no it’s not for breakfast! I get the crossword at 7 o’clock at night – and usually find one or two, usually make-me-giggle corny ones, which I love. Then blank. Cook dinner. Watch rubbish on TV. Go to bed. Then around 2.0.0. a.m. wide awake and have little brain burst and get several more. Go back to sleep. Wake around 5.00 a.m. – several more and then back to blank again.
    Based on that pattern I can only assume my crossword brain doesn’t work until there is wine involved and by morning the wine has worn off and so have my abilities.

    I would never have got 9a without the help here. I don’t care much for tattoos but I did think the clue was clever. Thanks to everyone.

    1. Thank you, Carolyn, for this heartening post! In fact, yesterday morning I did awake in the middle of the night to post a memo, not an unusual event now in my 80s. (As I write you, I have an empathic sense that you might also be listening to Mozart’s ‘Figaro’ live from the Met Opera? ‘Dove sono’ just now, so lovely.) Maybe I should add some wine to my daily regimen.

      1. Not right now no but I do love opera and that piece in particular. Well I say I love opera, no offence to Herr Wagner but I think listening to The Rings is probably going to be be a one off event for me 😣.
        As for sleep, it has always eluded me a bit, in part because I am married to a sleepwalker, but also I wasn’t very well last year and still a long way from fixed but getting there but I find all the pills I am on seem to give me repetitive nightmares, so often now that I can even tell when I am going down that route and wake myself up. I find that if I just go back to sleep again too soon it’s like I had hit the pause button on the VCR and it goes straight back to where I left off, but getting up and having a bit of a walk around the house and a go at the crossword sometimes breaks the pattern. I know, I am probably certifiable but I am quite harmless really!
        I love this community, i missed you all so much during my 3 months in hospital, internet access was limited and drips in both arms made crosswording difficult. It was not fun.

    2. We don’t wake up and do the crossword, but we sometimes wake and have to read a few more chapters of whatever books we are currently reading before we can nod off again.

    3. Unlike yourself I start with coffee, then more coffee and keep on the coffee until the brain cells line up and I can finish. Then it’s time to wash the car (or some other chore) before a G n T before tea. However each mpp has me flummoxed for hours until the G n T kicks in together with a couple glasses of Malbec THEN like yourself it starts to crumble. Thanks for your post.

  22. Agreeing with everyone else about the enjoyment of this puzzle, 12a was a joy as was Will’s house and great satisfaction on working out 21a. I did a bung in for 9a and even the hints left me no wiser as I am football illiterate. Many thanks to all.

  23. Still not sure about 6A and needed one or two tips to complete, but otherwise a fairly quick solve.
    The desktop version of the puzzle also allows you to complete and view the answers and nowhere does it indicate it is a prize puzzle. It has always been like this as far as I remember.

  24. I went steadily through this but for some reason the NE corner became a block for longer than it should.
    2.5*/4*
    But an enjoyable & absorbing puzzle.
    Thanks to setter & BD for review

  25. One of those that I found quite tricky while I was doing it and, now, can’t see why.
    Needless to say I didn’t know the 9a footballer but a quick guess and look up sorted it.
    I’ve never heard of the 20d London landmark but that one was easy enough.
    6a and 8d were my last answers to go in.
    I liked the whole crossword but particularly 10, 12, 17 and 25a – my favourite was 11d.
    Thanks to the setter and BD.
    Going to have a go at the NTSPP but will probably get interrupted by arrival of the family.

  26. Had the time to pay the crossword my full attention today. Not too taxing but enjoyed 12a and 11d – did a slight groan when 12a finally clicked. Last one in for me was 27a. Thanks to setter and BD

    R.

  27. 2/4. Enjoyable puzzle with some smiles along the way. 12a and 11d were my favourites. Thanks to the setter and BD.

  28. The telegraph have just launched their new app
    I presume as part of that they have decided to stop the prize crosswords for iPad users.
    Still haven’t fixed the problems though.
    Liked 11d
    Thanks to DT and setter

  29. Happy Birthday Rufus, we miss you!
    Today’s puzzle was straightforward until I got to the NW, that corner took far longer than the rest. Now that I’ve solved it, I don’t know why, except for 9a. I had a total blank at 1a, even having three checking letters. Also, is 8d really fatuous?
    Fave without doubt was 11d, but 12a was so clever it deserves an honourable mention.
    Thanks to our setter, great puzzle, and to BD for the hints and pics.

    1. I also wondered about ‘fatuous’ in 8d, Merusa, but perhaps that would only be true in the listener’s mind depending on the context of a dialogue? I got 9a only because my Scottish friend talked me into the watching the World Cup back in the day, but I do understand your concern. Re 8d, by the way, I always think of niceties (oops, am I destined for the naughty corner?)

  30. New/updated app???? Still got the same problems.
    Although it’s a prize puzzle it:
    Still tells me my answers are correct, which seems to miss the point
    Still doesn’t let me “submit” the crossword (except by attaching a screen print to an email)

  31. When first examined, decided I needed help from Big Dave, but once I got on the wavelength things started to click. I am no good with footballers unless they hail from the 70’s . Had to go searching.
    Some enjoyable clues and a couple of hmms. 6a is a bung in as I am confident that 8d is correct as regards the answer but not as regards the definition. Overall would class it as enjoyable.

  32. Fabulous crossword. I always say that when I complete it without help but this had lots of satisfying clues. I thought the Biblical character and the award were both brilliant. 6a and 8d held me up a bit at the end. More crosswords like this please!

  33. Marvellous puzzle. Two brilliant outings in a row. 12, 24, & 27a are my podium winners today. Loved Carolyn-in-geodesic’s post: sounded like me on many of my octogenarian days, waking up at 3 am to answer another clue or add to the memo on the fridge. Sympathise with Merusa on 9a, and if I hadn’t watched the World Cup from Brazil a few eons ago, I would never have known who Sir Lionel was (will I get away with that or be relegated to a naughty corner?). I too worried, like Merusa, about ‘fatuous’ in 8d: maybe in the UK but not, I think (as a retired English professor), here in the States, even when it is so rarely heard these days. Thanks very much to the setter: */*****

  34. I thought a certain 3 letter word in 10a representing ” a man ” was a bit off , but I just accepted that I may not be familiar with all the crossword conventions.
    Otherwise I liked it. So thanks to the setter and BD.

    1. Una, in 10a the 3-letter word you are referring to is clued by “of a man” not just “a man”.

  35. Not bad for a Saturday puzzle, although I do confess to 3 holdouts, 9a, 27a, and a braindead moment, 22d. All good fun, thanks to setter and Big Dave.

  36. Far too many wonderful clues to attempt to choose a favourite! Many thanks to the setter, and BD for the hints!

  37. Got most of this done in half an hour and then pesky 6a and 8d stumped me. I trawled through all your comments in the hope of more hints and was still stumped but gladdened to see that I was not alone! Finally had a brainwave and have solved the lot. Very enjoyable and like everyone I liked 12a but also a shout out to 5d.
    But can anyone explain 18d which I have got I’m sure but don’t get the “one in hand” element and how (avoiding the naughty corner I hope) it relates to that fruit?!

      1. Ah, thanks Gerry. I’d never heard of that before but I suppose it makes sense. Though I have to say many of the hands at my local supermarkets are either over or under equipped in the fingers department!

  38. Lovely prize.
    Two lovely charades in 24a and 3d.
    Made my day that!
    Thanks to the setter and to BD for the Saturday club.

  39. I’ve been using this site for the odd hint most weeks for a year or more, but never scrolled down to the comments before. Having joined the ranks of Insomniacs ‘R’ Us, I too found this week’s clues started tumbling around 5 a.m.
    How gratifying to finally find something I’m getting better at with age!

  40. I, too, don’t really think 8d is fatuous. It’s really just what it says on the box. I was also not sure that 27a were people but there you are. I rather like 21a. Now I am waiting for my son to bring in Sunday’s paper so I can tackle the cryptic and GK puzzles. It might be bad for trees but I do prefer the paper version even when, as in this case, it is a day late!

  41. I can’t remember coming in as late as 43, as we had family staying at half term. I was fortunate to complete with only 1 hint to finish -27a because my new Thesauras didn’t highlight this version of ‘inexperienced’ ! Thanks BD!
    Thoroughly enjoyed it eg 12 and 21a brilliant!

  42. Loved 12a!

    Laughed at the (alleged) fact that someone had never heard of 9a

    As an IPAD subscriber I have once again missed out on the opportunity of entering the draw

    1. To buy the Sat Telegraph I.e the paper version – will cost you £2.80 -yes!
      At least you can fill it in for real and photograph it to send it in!

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