Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3044
A full review by gnomethang
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This puzzle was published on 23rd February 2020
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Morning All! THis was a fun 2 star difficulty solve that might have involved a boiled egg in between starting and finishing.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
9a Gold rings fade for so long (5)
ADIEU – AU, the chemical symbol for Aurum or Gold, goes around or rings DIE for fade.
10a Sense city in need of development — that’s a must (9)
NECESSITY – An anagram (in need of development) of SENSE CITY.
11a Fair arrests with miscreant (2-3-2)
SO-AND-SO – SO-SO for fair encloses/arrests AND for with.
12a Church community breaking code is transgressive, ultimately (7)
DIOCESE – An anagram (breaking) of COSE IS and the ultimate letter in (transgressive)E.
13a Coating, one in battery? (5)
LAYER – The first is the straight definition (def) and the second is cryptically alluding to a battery hen that might be defined as a LAYER of eggs.
14a Country welcoming that man’s right to vote (9)
FRANCHISE – I think that we saw this the day before!. Place HIS (belonging to that man) inside FRANCE.
16a Sporting smasher, big noise in the world of equestrianism? (9,6)
BADMINTON RACKET – The world of equestrianism (as a tournament in the UK) is BADMINTON and a big noise is a RACKET. I think that we needed two question marks to adequately define Badminton for our non-UK cousins….
19a Where bandana might be found for Parliamentarian (9)
ROUNDHEAD – A bandana will typically be found ROUND the HEAD.
21a Legless reptile, mathematician basically? (5)
ADDER – An ADDER snake is a legless reptile and (although I know a few that would disagree) a mathematician at a basic level is an ADDER/summer.
23a Looking back, trade in bric-a-brac most unlikely (7)
TALLEST – A reversal (looking bac) of SELL/trade inside TAT for bric-a-brac.
25a Perilous remit as hunter (7)
ARTEMIS – A perilous anagram of REMIT AS.
27a Terrible anger with bill sound familiar? (4,1,4)
RING A BELL – An anagram, indicated by terrible, of ANGER and(with) BILL.
28a Clean some water in sewer (5)
RINSE – A hidden word is SOME of wate R IN SE wer
Down
1d Girl in form blowing top (4)
LASS – Remove (or blow) the top letter in (C)LASS for form.
2d Girl seen after serious crime (6)
BIGAMY – I have two wives and the word on the street is it is very big ‘o me. Just place AMY the girl after BIG for serious.
3d Brilliant child organised run with new kid and daughter (10)
WUNDERKIND – An organised anagram of RUN (and/with) NEW KID and also D for D(aughter).
4d Figure wrong, collector’s item (3-3)
ONE-OFF – ONE or the figure and OFF for wrong/iffy.
5d Sharp fall in pollution? (4,4)
ACID RAIN – A cryptic definition for the polluted rainfall – ACID being sharp/tart.
6d Capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana obvious initially (4)
OSLO – The initial letters in Of Slovenia Ljubljana and Obvious.
7d Face laid on boot, loyal subordinate (8)
SIDEKICK – A SIDE or face on top of a KICK or boot (in a down clue).
8d Newspaper worker, sort superior to crossword writer (10)
TYPESETTER – A TYPE or sort above (superior in a Down clue) to a SETTER or crossword writer.
13d Political choice possibly testing chamber? (10)
LABORATORY – A choice between LAB(our) OR A TORY in a general election in the UK.
15d Letters — or cards? (10)
CHARACTERS – Character letters or non-amusing people in the vernacular.
17d Journo’s back in capital before end of evening, producing copy (8)
DOUBLING – The back letter in (journ)O inside the capital city DUBLIN and finally the end letter in (evenin)G.
18d Left trapped in relationships for years in early adulthood (8)
TWENTIES – Put WENT (left) inside TIES (relationships).
20d Within one’s powers, a leader in Britain cutting social security (6)
DOABLE – A from the clue and the leading letter in B(retain) inside DOLE or social security (in the UK).
22d Heading for ditch, pal knocked from top of horse — faller in effect? (6)
DOMINO – The heading letter in D(itch), then remove the PAL from the(pal)OMINO horse breed. A DOMINO falls in the Effect named after it.
24d Dutch town built up (4)
EDAM – A reversal (up) of MADE/built.
26d Pip one of the favourites at Wimbledon? (4)
SEED – A simple double definition to finish.