DT 29294 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29294

by Miffypops  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29294

Hints and tips by Our Resident Clown

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

A user-friendly puzzle today in a user-friendly grid. What’s not to like. A first read through of clues gave a satisfactory number of answers scattered nicely across the grid. This gave many useful checking letters which helped with the trickier clues. 

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a    Together, as worker being dealt with (4-2-4)
HAND-IN-HAND: Begin with a manual worker. Add a phrase meaning currently being attended to. The second word of this phrase is also the same word as the manual worker.

6a    Indefinite number leaving stadium in locality (4)
AREA: A large stadium minus the letter denoting a mathematical unknown

9a    Capital of Kentucky put in as well (5)
TOKYO: The abbreviation for Kentucky is placed within a word meaning as well or also

10a    Patch up women’s house in TV series (6,3)
DOCTOR WHO: At a stretch we need a word meaning to patch up, repair or treat. The second word needs two abbreviations. One for Women and one for house. The television series has aired since 1963

12a    Blow over pop off having drink (3,4)
DIE DOWN: A word meaning to pop off this mortal coil is followed by a word meaning to take a drink

13a    Appointment to meet son, tense after test (5)
TRYST: A three-letter test or attempt is followed by the abbreviations for son and tense

15a    Aloofness shown in public, in essence (7)
ICINESS: The answer lies hidden within the words of the clue. Indicated by the words shown in 

16a    Daughter of Lear, stuffing two ducks, needed to find herb (7)
OREGANO: One of King Lear’s daughter sits between two letters represent the zero score in cricket

18a    Pair of wrestlers, game couple (3,4)
TAG TEAM: A children’s playground game is followed by a couple playing together as one unit

20a    Strong check (7)
STAUNCH: A double definition. The second often used to describe the slowing or stopping of a flow of liquid

21a    Scoundrel‘s accent, not British (5)
ROGUE: A word defining an Irish accent needs the abbreviation for British removing 

23a    Old king holding on for Churchill, say (7)
COLLEGE: The old king from the nursery rhyme sits around the on side of a cricket pitch to give the name of a Cambridge college founded in 1960 and named after a cigar

25a    Police officer with prisoners brought before board (9)
CONSTABLE: A term for prisoners is placed before the board we sit at to eat. Not that there is anything to eat in this puzzle, just a bit of flavouring 

26a    Omit to collect large threshing implement (5)
FLAIL: A word meaning to omit to do something collects the abbreviation for large

27a    German song told a tale (4)
LIED: Chestnut time. The same word describes both a German song and a fib

28a    Collapsed on tenth lap in Olympic event (10)
PENTATHLON: Anagram (collapsed) of ON TENTH LAP

Down

1d    Detest pillbox, for example, on top of embankment (4)
HATE: A pillbox can be a type of headwear. It needs the first letter (top of) of the word embarrassment 

2d    Really showing approval about current king climbing (2,7)
NO KIDDING: The action made when agreeing with something needs the abbreviations for electrical current and king reversing and inserting 

3d    Very happy, giddy teens online, tackling me (2,4,7)
IN ONE’S ELEMENT: A rather clever anagram (giddy) of ONLINE TEENS ME

4d    Ghastly house I’d renovated (7)
HIDEOUS: Anagram (renovated) of HOUSE ID

5d    A name in Conservative party supporting new and old? That’s not possible (2,3,2)
NO CAN DO: The letter A from the clue together with the abbreviation for name sit inside the abbreviation for Conservative and the regular crosswordland party. What you have is preceded by (supporting in a down clue) the abbreviations for new and old. No wonder twelve words were needed in the clue

7d    Noisy argument with daughter ending in acrimony (5)
ROWDY: A three-letter argument is followed by the abbreviation for daughter and the final letter of the word acrimony 

8d    D’Arcy’s character? (10)
APOSTROPHE: The character here is the punctuation mark in the word D’Arcy

11d    Where watch may display time, seemingly (2,3,4,2,2)
ON THE FACE OF IT: A decent clue asking where one would find the time displayed on a wristwatch 

14d    Old hit carols I broadcast (10)
HISTORICAL: Anagram (broadcast) of HIT CAROLS I

17d    Musical passage in film (5,4)
ANNIE HALL: A stage and film musical show is followed by a passage in a house. Together they make a film released in 1977. 

19d    Grim, the old lady about to grab taxi (7)
MACABRE:  An endearing term for your mother and a two-letter term meaning about sit around a regular term for a black taxi

20d    Conspicuous, foreigner in street (7)
SALIENT: A foreigner (ET for example) sits within the abbreviation for street

22d    Type in information, extremely reliable (5)
GENRE: A three-letter term for information is followed by the outer letters of the word reliable

24d    I must not be involved in basic plot (4)
PLAN: A word meaning basic or simple needs the letter I removing  

Quickie Puns

Top line: fir+knit+yore=furniture

Bottom line: wore+turf+awl=waterfall

 

56 comments on “DT 29294”

  2. As straightforward as straightforward can be. 28a was a neat anagram and my favourite.

    Thanks to our setter and MP.

  3. Pretty straightforward with just a few tricky ones (**/***). There were some good clues, although I couldn’t pick a favourite. One or two clues fell below the generally reasonable standard with some overstretched synonyms. Thanks to the setter and to MP.

  4. Enjoyable, in stark contrast to the foul weather here on the South West coast.
    Podium places go to 2, 3 and 8d, the latter taking me a little while to spot the connection.
    2/3*
    Many thanks to the setter and to MP for his usual crystal clear and fun blog.

  5. A very gentle introduction to the week. I was cursing at 8d until the penny dropped. I don’t know the daughter in 16a or the Churchill in 23a, so they were bung-ins. I assume the Churchill is a relatively new one? Ah, 1960, thanks.

    All over in */** time, but the Quickie seems to be a tricky little beggar.

    Many thanks to the setter and MP

  6. Just right for a wet Monday. 1 across was probably my favourite. Nice one :-) Thanks to both setter and MP. Now to ‘mooch to pooch’ and see how the Severn’s behaving today.

    1. Not very well I fear. The EA are suggesting that the highest levels at English and Welsh bridges could exceed those set in 2000, which could prove calamitous.

    2. Over here in Knockin, I can see the flooded Severn tributaries, which I have not seen before. I hope all remain safe.

      1. Its still to peak here in Bridgnorth, but there’s a lot of water for sure – even our garden has flooded, despite the fact that we are nowhere even close to the river.

  7. Loved, loved, LOVED this crossword…. this is the first crossword I have completed in a long time where I didn’t need any hints from this blog… I’m well proud of myself :) (I know a lot of you will think this was very easy but I’m still pleased)

      1. Friendly start to the week Would have been straightforward if I hadn’t written 22A in 22D by mistake. Enjoyed 8D in particular.

      1. So am I–in your camp! Funny, I felt the same way a few hours ago when I finished it. Nice puzzle, perfect for Monday. Thanks to the setter and Perfect Clown. */***

  8. Very user friendly as already remarked by some. 8d and 28a my favourites. My thanks to our setter and ORC. At the last demonstration against circuses I was the only one with a placard reading “No more Clowns”. None of the others seemed concerned about the suffering the audience suffers because of them.

  9. Just the ticket for a foul morning, simple but with humour and some needing enough thought to give satisfaction.l had not seen a similar clue to7d. so able to learn from that.Thankyou to all.

  10. For me that was a pleasant change from yesterday’s hassle. Failed to persevere with parsing my 2d bung-in and needed help with 18a and 17d which were both new to me. No Fav. Forgot to look for a second pun in Quickie. Thank you Mysteron and MP.

  12. A nice start to a fairly miserable Monday morning. 28a and 8d were my joint favourites. 23a took me longer than it should have, I kept thinking about cigars. Thanks to all.

  13. I liked the crossword and the double quickie puns. My last one in was 15a. Silly me. It was a lurker. I haven’t got a favourite. I’ve too many ticks to name one. Many thanks to the setter and to the Resident Clown and his alias.

  14. A no hint day! What a wonderful puzzle – all that are solved without aid are the best puzzles ever. It took a while to realise 15a was a lurker because it was well hidden so I’m with Florence here. As to whether I got them all correct, I have yet to check but for the moment, I am wallowing in smugness!

    My favourite was 8d for its simplicity.

    Grateful thank to the setter and to the RC for the hints.

    PS The puns were also enjoyable.

  15. Almost a R&W EXCEPT for 8d which lifted it to a ***** for difficulty on the grounds that I would not have solved this clue in a million years! It was clever but totally out of my solving ability. :-)
    Apart from 8d great fun.
    Thx to all
    *(*****)/***

    1. It did take a while before the penny dropped for me on 8d. Up until then, It made no sense. :smile:

    2. Re 8d. There was a very similar clue just a few weeks ago, so once I’d seen the word “character” I remembered what to look for. I don’t usually.

      1. You are right Florence and I am surprised that a regular solver was so flabbergasted he resorted to capitals. This or similar do come up fairly regularly and once solved never forgotten.

  17. A r&w today except 20a & 17d, both of which added 2 mins to my otherwise near record time. Oh well. */***. Thanks to setter & MP. P. S. The Quick took me longer, & I still got 28 & 23 wrong!

  18. Standard Monday fare – very straightforward but nonetheless enjoyable. 8d was my last in & for a change for those sort of clues the penny dropped relatively quickly. Thanks to all.

  20. Thanks to the setter and our resident clown for the review and hints. I enjoyed this one very much, a lot of smiles along the way. Favourite was 17d. Was 1*/3*for me.

  22. Yes, indeed, very user-friendly but what a treat, I loved it all. I only needed help to check 18a was right, what else could it be?
    I can’t choose a fave, it was such an enjoyable exercise to start the week. Maybe 8d deserves an honourable mention for cleverness. Like Florence I remembered the “character” a little while ago.
    Thanks to our setter for the fun and to our Clown for the usual fun review, the Ali clip was a riot, wotta guffaw that was.

  23. A pleasantly pleasing puzzle for a Monday morning. Just two hints used. Favourite clues 10a, 28a and 11d!!
    Had a good weekend enjoying the three Six Nation matches as the rain enveloped us on the west coast.
    Thanks to setter and MP

  24. Having written In The Face Of It in 11d, the TV series in 10a gave me a hard time.
    And I was waiting for it to give me an extra checker for 8d.
    Finally managed to tidy up and finished in no time.
    Thanks to the setter and to MP.
    Tomorrow is Mardi Gras. Always wondered how a clown looks like in a disguise.

  25. Blame it on my contrariness, but I found yesterday’s Dada a tad easier than this one. Might be because I got to that one much later than normal for me, so perhaps my brain works better later in the day. Did enjoy this Monday puzzle, although I too missed on 8d until I read the hint, got to remember that in future. And I was working with the wrong definition in 9a so that didn’t help. With apologies to Kath in advance, I have joint favourites today (my iPad sulks when I spell it as favourite and not favorite 😊) of 25a and 20d. Thanks to setter and MP.

    1. I have my iPad set for English spelling and that helps a lot, but it still doesn’t like the “u” in favourite!

    2. I’ll forgive you for joint favourites partly because I do it too so don’t have a leg to stand on but mainly because I’m going to pinch your excuse for finding a crossword slightly more difficult than others because of starting it a bit later than normal which is what happened today.

  26. A steady solve then the roadblock that was 8d,,, I solved it by filling in the blanks. Would never have got it if not for that… then when the penny dropped…doh!!
    2*/3*
    Thanks to setter & MP for review

  27. I go to work before the dead tree arrives so I print the puzzle from the puzzles site and take it to work. I did that today and left it on the printer and forgot to pick it up. No worries as it fairly rattled off my pencil when I got home. 23a was LOI as I tried to cram PM in there. 8d wasn’t a problem here but elicited a D’oh when the penny dropped. Thanks to the resident clown and setter.
    I presume from the pic to 16a that those dumplings contain 16a – they look nice and I will try that next time I make them.
    Weather report – Slushy snow this am has done nothing to ease the flooding on the ings. and the local footy club will not be playing any home games for a while. there is even talk that they may cease to be if they suffer much more.

    1. Investigoogling the pic reveals those dumplings are an egg curry! still, they look tasty and a recipe I will save for another day.

  29. Mostly straightforward; a few in the RHS took as long as the rest to solve – Churchill, the film I’ve never heard of, the TV series – which I can’t believe took ages to get, even after I had the W checker….! and 8d last in, which took a while to drop, and is my favourite, being somewhat of a pedant in its mis-use!

  31. A very busy weekend and lots of people here for supper tomorrow (husband’s birthday) have wrecked my concentration so I found this trickier than others seem to have done.
    I missed the 15a lurker, made a pig’s ear of 2d, have never heard of 23a and have either never heard of 18a or, more likely, have forgotten it.
    In spite of all that I did enjoy it.
    I think my favourite was probably 8d but lots of other good clues too so thanks to the setter and to that ‘clowny being’ for the hints.
    Desperately need some sleep but not sure if the still howling wind will allow it as it hasn’t for the last few nights. :sad:

  32. Lovely! 23a was a bung in for me, as I’d not heard of it. I really enjoyed this – favourites 8d, 28a, 2d! Thanks to the setter for a most enjoyable solve, and to Our Resident Clown for the hints (needed for 23a to check)!

  33. Nice start to the week. Not heard of the film so googled to check it was correct, otherwise no problems. Liked 8d, took me while to realise why I had the answer!
    Thanks to all.

  34. Loved it. No hints needed so red letter day for me too. 1A going straight in set the tone. 8D favourite.

  35. Congratulations to everyone who found this a 1 *. I will admit to having started this after having too much falling over water but the answers went in one after other for a start then I nodded off, as I am prone to do, hence my late arrival. So far so good. Then stretched synonyms kicked in. Second word of 18a and 17d what! 17d wasn’t helped by never having heard of the film either. 8d was toughie territory if you haven’t come across it before, mind you I have now. Hmmph. I’d like to say it’s a Monday but it’s not now!

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