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ST 3052

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3052

Hints and tips by Senf

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Until the Telegraph resumes the award of prizes for the Weekend puzzles, this post, and all other Weekend posts, will be just like the Monday to Friday posts, with hints for every clue and revealable answers. BD


A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg, where I have to wonder if it is really Sunday, one day seems so much like another at the moment.

Keep staying safe everyone. 

After solving the reprise of Mr Halpern’s first puzzle in The Guardian, from 25 years ago, yesterday, I can only say that he started out as he meant to carry on – quirky!  But, having said that, Dada is somewhat benevolent this week – five anagrams (two partials), two lurkers (one reversed), and one homophone – all in a very asymmetric 29 clues in one of the strangest grids I have seen.

Candidates for favourite – 12a, 26a, 4d, and 21d.

In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the ANSWER buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

8a Limb almost entirely covered in cooked food served at breakfast (9)
MARMALADE: A limb attached to one’s upper torso, followed by a synonym of entirely with the last letter removed (almost) all contained (covered in) by a synonym of cooked.

10a Climber pocketing gold key (5)
IVORY: A climbing evergreen plant containing (pocketing) the heraldic term for gold gives one of 52 keys on a piano.

11a Site of traffic island for pedestrian (6-2-3-4)
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD: Where a pedestrian may take ‘refuge’ when crossing from one side to another.

12a Nosh very good, feeding me pastry dish (4,3)
MEAT PIE: A verbal synonym of nosh, and the two letter term for very good all inserted into (feeding) ME from the clue.

13a Saying prayers initially, wanderer heading for basilica (7)
PROVERB: The first letter (initially) of Prayers, another term for a wanderer, and the first letter (heading for) of Basilica.

15a Falling apart after row, her woes compounded (3,5,3,4)
THE WORSE FOR WEAR: An anagram (compounded) of AFTER ROW, HER WOES.

19a Label dish with game (7)
HASHTAG: A mixed dish of meat and vegetables, in small pieces, and a (children’s usually outdoor) game.

22a Pride scattering by the way — as tiger appears (7)
STRIPED: An anagram (scattering) of PRIDE after the short form of a type of (road) way.

24a Tragically ma, in truth, I love a drink! (7,8)
ITALIAN VERMOUTH: An anagram (tragically) of MA, IN TRUTH, I LOVE A.

26a Stand guard over timer (5)
WATCH: A double definition – the second can be worn on one’s wrist.

27a With lid removed, finished fluid (4-5)
OPEN-ENDED: A single word for with lid removed and a synonym of finished.

Down

1d Prayer leader: you can call me a leader of Muslims (4)
IMAM: A (1’1) term for you can call me, A from the clue, and the first letter (leader) of Muslims.

2d Beer or punch? (6)
WALLOP: A double definition – the first is a slang term for beer.

3d Rank individual numbers in pieces of music (8)
BARONESS: The plural of a number that can represent an individual contained by elements (pieces) of music gives a ‘rank’ in the peerage.

4d Strap yourself in and shut it! (4,2)
BELT UP: A(nother) double definition – the second is an ‘instruction’ to be quiet.

5d Ultimately, innings do-or-die, unfortunately, for opener (4,4)
SIDE DOOR: The last letter (ultimately) of inningS and an anagram (unfortunately) of DO-OR-DIE.

6d Second wine down (6)
MOROSE: A two letter term for a second and a type of wine (not red or white).

7d Length of blade yet to turn up for saw (4)
EYED: The reverse lurker (length of . . . to turn up) found in the rest of the clue.

9d Recording of communist bureaucracy (3,4)
RED TAPE: The colour used to describe communist and a recording medium.

12d Suit and tie (5)
MATCH: A(nother) double definition – the second is a sporting tie.

14d By the sound of it, committee nodding off? (5)
BORED: The homophone (by the sound of it) of a type of committee.

16d Clear away one side (8)
OUTRIGHT: A synonym of away and one of the (handed) sides.

17d Safer net designed for catch, say? (8)
FASTENER: An anagram (designed for) of SAFER NET.

18d Old money? Discuss at length (7)
EXPOUND: The two letters often used for old and the major unit of UK money.

20d Flighty animal in house of swine (6)
SCATTY: A (domestic) animal (the one that ignores you) contained by (in) the farm building housing swine.

21d Retriever, say, set free in outskirts of Godalming (3,3)
GUN DOG: A single word for set free contained by (in) the first and last letters (outskirts) of GodalminG.

23d Stuffed sheep taken over sea (6)
RAMMED: A male sheep placed before (taken over) the abbreviated name of a large inland sea.

24d English isle over a US state (4)
IOWA: The acronym of the island that ‘blocks the entrance’ to Southampton and Portsmouth and A from the clue.

25d Some patch I described for mask (4)
HIDE: The lurker (some) found in the rest of the clue.


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A random selection this week; this is Duelling Banjos from the 1972 film Deliverance:


 

93 comments on “ST 3052

  1. Dada is indeed very benevolent today. A very enjoyable, straightforward crossword. There were some super long anagrams. Amongst the other clues 8a and 15a were my favourites. Thanks to Senf and Dada. Stay ssafe and well everyone.

  2. 1.5*/4*. I’ll go along with Dada being benevolent today, but still a lot of fun.

    My crowded podium consists of 8a, 11a, 15a, 12d & 21d.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  3. I see this excellent website has a mention in Chris Lancaster’s article on cryptic crossword solving in today’s paper. That should get the stats up.

    Friendly Dada, certainly, but no less enjoyable. 15a and 21d were my two co-favourites this morning. Thanks to the aforementioned and to Senf.

  4. Another one here in the benevolent camp, but thoroughly enjoyable for all that. For once I didn’t need Senf’s help to parse anything.

    I liked it all, but particularly the long ones.

    All good fun, many thanks to Senf and Dada.

  5. Without any shadow of doubt the kindest DADA ever at least for the Sunday DT. Nonetheless very enjoyable with the my fav clue being 11a. Nice to be able to solve a ST puzzle without 3 visits and a wet towel around the head to cool the brain. I for one am most grateful.
    Thx to all
    **/*****

  6. Another pleasant solve with some well spaced anagrams to open up the grid. My COTD candidates; 10a and 18d. Thanks to the setter and Senf🦇

  7. For me, that was one of the most enjoyable Dada puzzles we’ve had – not often that I find myself in agreement with Brian!
    So many contenders for the top spot but I think 11a takes the gold. Seemed to be an all-in-one with a second definition also being included in the last word of the clue – very clever construction.

    Many thanks to Dada and thanks also to Senf for the words and music. I didn’t know the film shown in your clip but the banjo duelling was excellent.

  8. Got off to a slow start, but picked up steam with the wonderful, long anagrams, and finished with a flourish. Very kind Dada today. (Still missing two in the Graun anniversary piece, however.) Last one in was 4d and takes a stand on the podium after 15a, 3d and 12d (a tie), with lots of disappointed but worthy contenders. 2.5* / **** Thanks to Senf and Dada.

    1. I’m still struggling with the left hand side in the Graun – it’s a shame there isn’t an equivalent site such as this to access a hint.

      1. It may well be a prize puzzle in which case fifteen squared.net will have a review next Saturday.

        There are a number of sites where, if you type in the whole clue will give you the solution but aren’t a lot of help if you just want a hint

        1. Fifteen squared.net is fine for the explanation but nowhere near as good as Big Dave. I don’t understand why they don’t follow the same format – a hint with the option to reveal if you’re still floundering (oft used for Toughies you rate anything other than fluffy)
          Please tell me yesterday’s Graun isn’t fluffy…….

        2. I find looking up a site just to get the answer a waste of time, you don’t learn anything. Why not look up the answer when they come out?

    2. Just finished the Graun Robert – a lightbulb moment……
      It’s only taken 2 days

  9. I Echo-cho-ho-o… everyone else’s comments. easy Sunday puzzle with just enough to get the grey matter working.
    The grid didn’t look that strange at first but instead of quadrants, we have a horizontal tricolour each with its own 15 letter clue to gain entry.
    I will settle for a pint of 2d with my 12a – I will pass on the 24a – a bad experience with cider and sweet martini rendered me 15a.
    Does anyone else have a drink that first disabled them that they avoid thereafter?
    Many thanks to Senf and Dada.

    1. I had a very bad experience with schnapps while in the RAF. Members of the German Airforce, who were visiting our base, spiked my beer with it. I have not touched the stuff since.

      1. Oh yes- ski resorts the world over foist the local firewater on you on arrival Grappa/Genepi /Schnapps/Marc allhave the bouquet of dirty petrol/derv/gasoline and are to be avoided sober. I couldn’t imagine the hangover if persuaded to drink a lot of it!

        1. All I will say, John is that the hangover was so horrendous I can’t even remember it. I sort of “came to” 24 hours later. I am happy to report my CO tore the culprits to shreds even though they weren’t members of the RAF.

    2. Agree with all that Dada was going easy on us today though I still made fairly heavy weather of it finishing in a shade under *** time. Couldn’t parse 8a & still can’t after reading the hint – what’s the abbreviated synonym ?
      Enjoyable as ever with some great clues of which I particularly liked 21d.
      I’m with JB on the drinks – a number of libations in days past (tequila & ouzo in particular) have rendered me considerably 15a.
      Thanks to Dada & to Senf for the review.
      Ps – love the duelling banjos clip. One of my favourite films from a great director. Any who like a bit of bluegrass should check out Billy Strings, a very talented player.

      1. Dueling Banjos always puts a smile on my face, I’ll check out Billy Stings.

    3. Hi John,
      For me the list is endless, so much so that I now only drink wine. And not all. Just the red variety. Any other alcoholic substance will automatically make me regretting taking it.

    4. My husband’s uncle was keen on foraging and making home-made wine. Upon hearing that I preferred dry wine, he insisted that I taste all of his drier products. Iost count after the 10th glass (oak leaf wine, which tasted a bit like dry martini). Never again!

      1. The first wine I made was with Ribena. It was surprisingly good. For many years, I brewed my own beer as well. Not from kits but using malt and hops and a mash. After fermentation, barrelled it and let it sit for about four weeks before tapping the barrel. I never had a bad brew thank goodness.

    5. This pretty much represents the trouble I got into back in the day. Putting whisky into a young lady’s beer is not a gentlemanly thing to do. Luckily I remember everything (nowadays it might have been GHB)….but trying to hide the resultant vicious hangover from my mother the following morning was completely unsuccessful. The taste and smell of whisky has forever been a trigger ……except southern Comfort, with that lovely orangey taste…..

      1. Ah, The Animals a real blast from the past. I would never mix whisky in my beer but will drink either one when appropriate. There are some lovely whisk(e)ys out there shame they have been spoiled for you. I can’t drink Southern Comfort tho It is too sweet for me.

    6. Oh dear – YES – Calvados after our French niece’s christening in France a very long time ago – it was home made (her grandfather was a farmer and still had a still) – never again! :sad:

    7. Slivovice did for me one evening on a business visit to Czechoslovakia many moons ago in the bad old Communist days. I couldn’t even contemplate touching the stuff again. 🥵

      1. I have developed a taste for Becherovka on recent visits-rather like a delicate Drambuie.

  10. I needed help with a couple but this was an enjoyable puzzle from Dada. I liked 12a but can someone tell me why the two letter word means “good”? I’ve never heard of it used in this context before. I also liked 21d because one is lying at my feet as I type. 4d raised a smile.

    11a was a clever clue with a nice misdirection so this is my COTD.

    Many thanks to Dada and Senf.

  11. 25 years on and Dada is still good as ever.
    Took a while to parse 1d and 8a.
    A bit tired as I stayed up to watch the home concert that Lady Gaga organised for the WHO. The Stones played my favourite. Great show.
    Thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  12. Straightforward for Sunday. Perhaps Dada is more benevolent in non-prize mode.
    I arranged self isolation early but had to survive 6 months of decorating /selling house / negotiating the move from Cardiff to deepest Highlands of Scotland. Crossword solving took a back seat and reading your comments had to suffice.
    It was nice to see the deserved mention BD received.
    Thanks to Senf, Dada and all contibutors/serrers and D
    BD
    Sincerely hope you all keep safe in these surreal times

    1. Sorry meant “setters”. Solving the fat finger problem still eludes me
      LROK

        1. Thanks Hoofs.
          Now we know there is life after sport
          All this big star inactivity and fuss over their pay reminds me of the story Tommy Docherty used to tell.
          In the days of the maximum wage TD found out thatt Tom Finney was paid he same wage all year whereas he only got half pay in summer. TD went to see the manager to complain & got the answer “Tom’s twice the player you are” to which TD replied ” Not in the summer he’s not!” .
          Makes the case for all players to be paid the same as players in Division 4 methinks.

    2. I was thinking recently that we hadn’t heard from you for a while. Welcome back!

      1. Steve We celebrated our silver wedding with labradors a few years ago. Our current loopy but lovable yellow, is called Biggles.
        PS had to Google Endodontist – now await for it to come up in the back pager!

        1. We have had, in order, Smith, Scruffy, Abbot, Brock, Mason and the current incumbent is Hudson. He is my avatar and is two years old. Apart from Smith and Hudson, we always named our dogs on what they did when they first arrived. Try and work out how we named the middle four!

          How would “Endodontist” be clued, I wonder?

          1. I imagine there are a tramp, monk, badger, and stoneworker who have had a memorable encounter with a new dog.

            1. Almost. You’re on the right lines but the real reasons for their names is:

              When they were pups –

              Our second Lab went into the garden and came back covered in leaves, cobwebs and goodness knows what. He was Scruffy.

              Our third always questioned what was said to him. He would argue if he didn’t want to do anything by seeming to say “Ah but, ah but I don’t want to!” – Abbot.

              Our fourth destroyed a draught excluder shaped as a badger on his first day with us. He killed a brock so – Brock.

              Our fifth went into the garden to pick up no end of stones – stonemason – Mason.

              Mrs. C. chose the name of our current Lab but, as has been pointed out, he does compile some pretty good crosswords so I’m happy. :grin:

          2. Extinct flightless bird has time for tennis when he should have performed a root canal?

    3. Like RD, I have often wondered what might have happened to you. It’s good to hear from you, welcome back!

      1. Thank you Senf. Always admired your Dada explanations . Today must have been a relative walk in the park – as I assume you are still allowed to do In Winnipeg..

        1. Thanks. Yes, compared to the last two or three weeks, today’s was a metaphorical walk in the park which I appreciated especially as, under the present conditions, I am solving the complete puzzle. And, yes, I am still allowed to go for walks in the parks, observing ‘social distancing’ of course.

    4. I remember staying in a nice holiday cottage in Tomich near Inverness that was the place where the Labrador Retriever was first bred. you may have returned home with your labs.

      1. John
        Your reply set me Googling too. Sorry to be technical but it was the Golden Retriever that was first bred in Tomich. Labs or Labrador Retriever came from Labrador (or as Ben Fogle claims next door in Newfoundland) in Senfland They both have “soft” mouths & are therefore good at retrieving unspeakable things without any visible damage.

        1. Mea culpa. I should have googled it a bit more myself. I have found a nice statue of the first Golden Retriever just outside Tomich
          https://goo.gl/maps/a75J81ZmJwBZLLpW8.
          Our Lab (long departed and overdue replacement) was Kim after Kipling’s Little Friend of all the World.

    5. Hi LBOK. Good to hear from you. All being well we will be heading to the highlands in September as usual. We will look out for you

    6. Welcome back! My Godson’s Mum has just moved near Inverness, from the wilds of the highlands with no neighbours. I’m sure Biggles will enjoy the highlands. Sadie adds to the welcome, so keep chatting!

      1. Thanks Merusa (& Sadie) we are north of Inverness (which is the centre of the known universe to us. In fact I was amazed to find out we are now as far north of Copenhagen as we are south of Stockholm!
        Biggles misses his friends but really enjoys (well enjoyed for now) Dornoch beach.
        I have always been pleased to see you are still well but haven’t seen mention of your sitooterie lately.

        Keep well.

    7. So pleased to ‘see’ you again – like several others it seems I often wondered where you’d got to.
      A :smile: from me.

      1. Thanks “Oh dear’ Kath . I suppose you won’t have got your collie you deserve.
        Up here we are surrounded by crofts and they all have sheep and collies. It is just lambing time up here much to the fascination of we “townies”. But by eck the nights are long in December & January.

  13. Enjoyable and fairly straightforward. Thanks to Senf and Dada. Wine I can imbibe, but Whisky is another matter. On my 21st birthday I drank whisky ++. It took exactly another 21 years before I could stand the smell of the stuff let alone drink it! Lesson learned.

    1. It’s not only drink. I once had a chicken dinner in a pub in Kent. I bit into the chicken – straight into an abscess. It was years before could even think about chicken without retching. :mad:

      I only eat chicken that I have prepared now. I never order it when eating out.

      1. I am confused. Was the abscess in you or in the chicken? If I had an abscess I doubt if I would be eating anything.

  14. This was fun to complete. I’d not heard of the synonym for beer but was able to guess from ‘punch’. I’m also grateful for the ‘pi’ tip above as I hadn’t come across that before and so was a bit puzzled!

    1. One of the first small breweries near here was the Whitby Brewery. They had three brews : Whity wobble – walk in wobble out : Whitby Wallop : and Force Nine. The last was lethal but Wobble was a pleasant brew.

      1. Was that in Whitby itself? My father grew up in Whitby on Esk Terrace but I never heard him talk of such a brewery.

        1. Apparently I don’t have permission to edit my own comment! :scratch:

          I wanted to add that he might not have known it as small breweries didn’t really start until long after his death.

          1. It didn’t last very long which was a pity. The wobble was a very acceptable brew . It was before the big rush of micro breweries.

  15. Such a very enjoyable solve, that was enough to make me think but not to overtax my post lunch brain.
    2.5*/5*
    Everything going for it!!
    Many thanks to Dada & Senf for review.
    Do have a safe & well week everyone.

  16. Pleasent day in north Kent.
    Benign indeed, had to guess 1d as my knowledge of Muslem leaders apart from the Aga Khan is zero. My knowledge of the aforementioned only comes from a tip to put my shirt on Shergar to win the 1981 Derby which paid for my wedding. The Aga Khan was the owner.
    Thanks all.

  17. Late to bed, late to rise, but relieved to find a user friendly Dada puzzle today. Several favourite clues, and can’t decide between 13a and 22a. Thanks to Senf, especially for 10a where I spent far too long trying to come up with a creeper. Seems our county, Palm Beach has been lumped in with Broward and Miami Dade, and had our sentence extended… ☹️

  18. I hid my DT printout today. Yesterday I couldn’t find it after I’d finished the crossword. My husband and two adult sons had used the back of it to scribble down their wine/ beer allowance to order on the computer. They apologised late last night.
    On to today. I really enjoyed this fun crossword. Many thanks Dada and Senf.

  19. **/****. Very enjoyable crossword which I finished the quickest for a Sunday ever. My only delay was the anagram at 24a which needed checkers to solve as I had immediately seen martini in the fodder and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Thanks to Dada and Senf. My wife cut my hair yesterday and did a pretty good job of it. I insisted she did this well before her preprandial drink 😂😂

    1. Saint Sharon has cut my hair since Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released in 1988. That’s 32 years of free haircuts.

  20. While solving I kept muttering I don’t believe Dada set this. There were a lot of gimmes along the way to get going, the harder clues were very doable, just took a bit longer. I love multi-word clues, so lots to please here.
    I’m so dumb, I never knew it was “hashtag”, I always thought it was “hatchtag”. I know nothing about Instawhatsit, how to use it, etc.
    Fave was 21d, guess why, but the long ones were very much in contention. I had to use e-help for 6d, dim.
    Thanks to Dada, loved it, and to Senf for the hints and tips. Loved the McCartney/Wonder duet at 10a. I’m

  21. I didn’t find this one quite as straightforward as others did but I often don’t on Sundays.
    The 15a anagram took me for ever – well, it obviously didn’t because I’m here now.
    A few in the top right corner held me up too.
    Just for once the little four letter answers went in easily enough.
    I liked the whole crossword but particularly 11 and 24a and 2 and 4d. My favourite was 15a.
    Thank you Dada and Senf.

    Something I read yesterday, “Worry is like a rocking chair – it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere!”

    1. One of my friends, a terrible worrier, saw that one about the rocking chair on a poster outside a Methodist church en route to one of our final exams back in 1969. We did laugh as it seemed so apt.

  22. Again most things have been said but hey ho! I hope Dada takes notes of the comments that it doesn’t have to be excruciatingly difficult to be enjoyable. Favourite was 8a just because it took me longest to parse, got there though. Many many thanks to Dada and Senf.

  23. Came to this late in the day – can’t think why except that I seem to have had a flush of family telephone and digital exchanges quite apart from wading through a backlog of unread newspapers – thank goodness weekend papers are less voluminous these days. Great to see Chris Lancaster giving BD a well-earned mention in print today which doubtless will result in even more BD hits. Isn’t it stretching it a bit to use French letters without the accent as in 6d? An enjoyable, achievable enigma today. Thank you Dada and Senf.

  24. May I join those who liked 8a, please? And 12, 15, and 24a! Lovely stuff – many thanks to Dada and to Senf! The Duelling Banjos clip took me back – quite a long way back, actually! 🙃

  25. I think this is the first Sunday puzzle of the new regime that I have solved unaided. So double hurrah for me today.
    So it must have been easier tha usual!

    Thanks to Senf and to Dada.

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