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DT 29627

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29627

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Good morning from South Staffs on a cloudy, damp day.

I found today’s puzzle quite straightforward, with the required GK elements within, I hope, the compass of the majority of solvers.

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

1a           Repeat charge about corruption (6)
PARROT – Reverse (about) a slang term for a criminal charge, then add a word for ‘corruption’ or ‘decay’. The answer indicates repetition without understanding.

4a           Paul occasionally interrupts loud argument in high-pitched voice (8)
FALSETTO – The musical symbol for ‘loud’ and a phrase (3-2) for an argument, placed either side of alternate letters (occasionally) of PAuL.

9a           It’s natural being part of rowing crew, reportedly (6)
INNATE – This word for ‘natural’ or ‘inborn’ sounds like (reportedly) a phrase (2,5) for being in a Boat Race crew.

10a         Coach deportment (8)
CARRIAGE – Double definition: one of the coaches of a train; or the way you carry yourself.

11a         Family from Nelson possibly joining audience (9)
HOUSEHOLD – Another word for the audience in a theatre, followed by a wrestling term, of which ‘Nelson’ is an example.

13a         Garment reflecting fashion seen across Northern Ireland (5)
TUNIC – A verb for ‘fashion (with a knife or scissors, perhaps) is reversed (reflecting) and wrapped round the acronym for Northern Ireland.

14a         Friend defends extremely raunchy southern song, making bloomer (13)
CHRYSANTHEMUM – Put together the outside letters (extremely) of RaunchY, Southern, and a national or religious song, then wrap another word for a friend round the result, to get this floral bloomer.

Chrysanthemums to grow in your garden - Gardens Illustrated

17a         Lenders with plenty travelling in glorious style (13)
RESPLENDENTLY – Anagram (travelling) of LENDERS and PLENTY.

21a         Increase extent of victory over gutless Dundee (5)
WIDEN – The outside letters (gutless) of DundeE are inserted into another word for victory.

23a         Books penned by a legend, surprisingly becoming involved (9)
ENTANGLED – The abbreviation for one of the usual sets of Biblical books is inserted into an anagram (surprisingly) of A LEGEND.

24a         American acquiring new piece of furniture that’s wobbly (8)
UNSTABLE – A common abbreviation for ‘American’ is wrapped round New, then a common piece of furniture is added.

25a         Toasts Ivy League university Head of Science (6)
BROWNS – One of the Ivy League universities followed by the first letter of Science, giving us another word for the act of making toast.

26a         Discover what sounds like small change in expectation (8)
SUSPENSE – A slang word for ‘discover’ followed by a homophone (sounds like) pf some small change.

27a         Coin almost cast without gold (6)
FLORIN – A verb for ‘cast’ or ‘hurl’, minus its last letter (almost) wrapped round the heraldic term for ‘gold’.

2 shillings (florin) 1920-1926, United Kingdom - Coin value - uCoin.net

Down

1d           Cheerful under pressure in difficult situation (6)
PLIGHT – An abbreviation for Pressure, followed by another word for ‘cheerful’ as opposed to ‘gloomy’ or ‘heavy’.

2d           Forsakes awkward encounters with no end of embarrassment (9)
RENOUNCES – Anagram (awkward) of ENCOUN(t)ERS, without the last letter (no end of) embarrassmenT.

3d           Last longer than unfashionable sport (7)
OUTWEAR – Another word for ‘unfashionable’, followed by another word for ‘sport’, as in ‘sport a carnation in one’s buttonhole’.

5d           Bet Madonna is disturbed about production’s ultimate cancellation (11)
ABANDONMENT – Anagram (disturbed) of BET MADONNA, with the last letter (ultimate) of productioN inserted.

6d           Extend term of imprisonment (7)
STRETCH – Double definition, the first a verb, the second an informal noun.

7d           Exercise that may be taken daily on way to work? (5)
TRAIN – The definition is a verb, as soldiers may exercise to practise for warfare. As a noun, it’s something that commuters use to get to work (or did, in the old days BC (before Covid).

8d           Best comedian, half-ignored, left previously (8)
OVERCOME – The first half of COME(dian), preceded by another word for ‘left’, as in the surplus material left after a project is complete.

12d         Writer on vacation enjoys entertaining child for director (5,6)
ORSON WELLES – Put together the surname of the nom de plume of Eric Blair and the outside letters (on vacation) of E(njoy)S. Then insert a male child, to get the film director and actor.

Orson Welles filmography - Wikipedia

15d         PM fine with second-class transportation to America once (9)
MAYFLOWER – Put together the surname of Boris’s predecessor, an abbreviation for Fine, and the relative position of ‘second-class’ compared with ‘first-class’, to end up with the name of a ship which took some early colonists to America.

Who Sailed on the Mayflower?

16d         Good incentive taken up to employ individual adults (5-3)
GROWN-UPS – Start with an abbreviation for Good. Add the reverse (taken up) of an incentive (originally to make a horse go faster). Then insert an adjective for ‘individual’, as in ‘my  individual opinion’.

18d         Ancestry Neil concocted over period of time (7)
LINEAGE – Anagram (concocted) of NEIL, followed by a long period of time.

19d         Number given brief training, it’s helpful to climber (7)
TENDRIL – A cardinal number, followed by the training soldiers get on the parade ground, minus its last letter (brief), to get something which helps a climbing plant.

Answer: Why do beans and peas grow this way? – FIA

20d         Absence of arrogance is over for inventor (6)
EDISON – Start with a phrase (2,4) which may mean ‘absence of arrogance or pomposity’, then reverse it to get the American inventor of the phonograph and an early light bulb, among many other things.

Thomas Edison - (Biography + Inventions + Facts) - Science4Fun

22d         Starts to dispute Oslo staging European superheavyweight bouts (5)
DOSES – The first letters (starts to) of words 3 to 7 of the clue, giving us some bouts, possibly of flu.


The Quick Crossword pun DONKEY + OWED + TEE = DON QUIXOTE

101 comments on “DT 29627

  1. Well, I think that makes a full house for me, five completed in a row, unlike last week. This one took a full **** time, and there was a little bit of guesswork involved in the GK.

    The parsing of 12d eluded me, partly because I didn’t think that was how to spell his surname. The NW was the last corner to fall, so 1a & 1d get my votes today.

    Many thanks to the compiler and DT.

  2. A strange one as I didn’t find it that tricky but struggled to fathom some of the obvious answers eg 1,4,11 and 25a and so thanks to Deep Threat for the hints. COTD was 14a with 9a being a close second. A rating of **/**** with thanks to the setter.

    1. A rogue extra letter in your email address sent you into moderation. I’ve corrected it for you.

  3. Excellent! I dropped right on to the wavelength for my fastest solve of the week. Thought it extremely well clued throughout and very enjoyable.
    Clues that particularly stood out for me were 8&20d with top spot going to the brilliant 1a. Pun gets an honourable mention too
    1.5/4.5*
    Many thanks to the setter, I’d be surprised if it wasnt Silvanus, and to DT for the top notch entertainment

    Ps I recommend all music lovers to listen to 23a by Genests, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written

      1. Remember seeing them in 76 at Stafford Bingley Hall on the album tour. They did a great version of the song but remember being surprised that they didn’t do Ripples.

        1. I saw some great bands at SBH Huntsman, which from memory was a glorified cowshed in the middle of some fields.

          1. We saw The Moody Blues there back in the 80’s. Unfortunately, the sound system wasn’t up to their music. We saw them again at the NEC when the sound was brilliant.

            1. I love The Moody Blues – I wonder if MP calls them ‘Pop Pap’ – I do hope not but you can never tell with him.

              1. Well Kath. I saw The Moody Blues once only on October 5th 1973 at The New Theatre in Oxford with my then girlfriend Linda Jones. Tickets were £2.25. I still have the ticket, the programme and a set list for the show that Linda typed out. I owned a couple of their albums. One being a greatest hits package. Certainly not Pop Pap but their lyrics were quite strange and the music not quite edgy enough for me. The show was pretty good.

        2. I was lucky enough to see Peter Gabriel with special guest, Kate Bush back in the day, though nothing has ever come close to seeing Bruce Springsteen live.

          1. Ah Bruce. The great pretender who wants everybody to like him and why not. I’ve seen him several times but not since May 1999 at Earls Court. I had fancy VIP tickets for his last show at The Ricoh but gave them to my ex wife who had recently lost her husband. (I also gave her my Rolling Stones tickets for their show at The Ricoh). I also saw Bruce Springsteen at the NEC in 1981 and Aston Villa in 1988

  4. Some initial difficulties with parsing 16d and 20d due to the references to “up” and “is o” in the clues which misled me. Otherwise needed to work at it but most enjoyable, thank you setter and DT for hints.

  5. Had to think long and hard to solve 11a which was my last in, very clever but not easy.
    However, I found this a pleasant solve with some nice clues and thankfully no obscure bizarre words. Admittedly they improve ones vocabulary but on the whole I am not a fan of them.
    Thx to all
    ***/****

    1. I always think that the beauty of a cryptic crossword is being able to solve using the cryptic part and then looking in the dictionary to find the word you came up with does actually exist.

  6. A very straightforward puzzle for a Friday and quite absorbing (2*/4*). I had difficulty figuring out parsing for the first half of 1a and the ‘es’ on the end of 12d but they were both good clues. My clue of the day was 14a with a nod to 9a. Thanks to DT for help confirming the parsing of a few clues and to the compiler for an enjoyable crossword.

  7. A very pleasant not too demanding puzzle to end the (non-)work week – **/****.
    Candidates for favourite – 14a (which I managed to write in correctly on my first attempt), 27a, and 19d – and the winner is 14a.
    Thanks to the setter – Silvanus? – and DT.

  8. Agree with DT’s **/*** ,an enjoyable straightforward puzzle with sound cluing , liked the NW corner in general and 11a and in particular the rare use of Nelson, also the 9a synonym.
    Favourite was the 12d charade which worked very well.
    New university for 25a-confirmed in my trusty chambers, I wonder how long it took for our setter to produce the parsing of 14a? try Epaminandus next!

  9. Great stuff. 1a and 20d share my top spot this morning from a wide selection of excellent clues. I doubt the GK needed to solve this will cause many problems out there. A thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable solve.

    My thanks to our setter and DT.

  10. No problems this morning, I sailed through without resort to the hints, although some bung-ins that I’ve checked the parsing. Thank you Deep Threat, and setter. Only good thing about lock-down is my improved puzzle performance with lots of practice. Favourite clue 14a.

  11. Straightforward and entertaining. **/*** Lots of well constructed clues with no obscurities. 11a was my last one in. It took a moment or two to see which Nelson we needed. My favourite today. I also liked the charade in 14a. Thanks to all.

  12. Found this one very straightforward & it was a brisk solve in just under ** time. Thought it excellently clued throughout with a host of worthy podium contenders: 1,9&14a with 8,15&20d all in the shake up for me. Like Senf it was a correct first stab at spelling 14a which was surprisingly in itself. Lovely & sunny here in Harpenden so a good long walk is called for listening once again to the album trilogy from my new discovery William The Conqueror (Proud Disturber of the Peace, Blood on the Soundtrack & Maverick Thinker) which I highly recommend.
    Thanks to the setter (Silvanus) & to DT

  13. Was going great until I got held up on 10a which required a tea break to resolve. Very enjoyable.

    Thanks to today’s setter and DT.

  14. Reasonably straightforward for a Friday with nothing much to slow progress although NW corner last to fall. Mid ** time and *** enjoyment
    As someone with hearing problems convinced it was going to be “pardon” for repeat in 1a.
    12d was one where the answer was straightforward but the parsing came later.
    11a gets my COTD.
    Thanks to setter for the pleasant diversion & DT for the review.

      1. Whatever you just said.
        Read Deaf Sentence. Thanks it was brilliant, if could only have been written by someone with hearing problems.

          1. Corky recommended “Deaf Sentence” by David Lodge one for George if not for you DG.
            I find the subtitles on “live” commentaries/ news can be hilarious though not much consolation for the loss of hearing.

  15. Not too bad for a Friday. NW was todays naughty corner. 1A caused a lot of problems and I still don’t really like it.
    I can’t parse 18D either and It turns out that I am not very good at spelling flowers. my favorite was 12D.
    An enjoyable puzzle which I completed before I had to hear many awful songs on the radio.
    Bye from an overcast Bucks.

    1. I’d help you with 18d but I really can’t make it any more straightforward than DT has in his hints. I thought 1a an excellent clue.

  16. What a joy this puzzle was. My only stumbling block was 8d which was a bung-in. Thanks to Deep Threat, I now understand it. I thought 14a was beautifully constructed but my COTD is 4a, which raised a smile.

    Grateful thanks to the setter for a great challenge and thanks also to Deep Threat for the hints.

  17. Agree with most of the previous comments. Very straightforward because one tuned in immediately to the setter and so enjoyed this very much. I especially liked 14a, and 26a when the penny dropped. 9a my favourite today because of its beautiful simplicity.

    Thanks to DT for his always entertaining hints and to the setter for giving us enjoyment and success.

  18. One of those I did back to front ie put in the word first and then parsed it.
    Bang on every time.
    So, ** for difficulty, and ****.
    Some very clever and admirable clueing.
    Many thanks to the setter and DT for the review.

  19. Best puzzle of the week for me. 14a and 15d were my favourites. Thank you setter and DT. Our two ducks George and Mildred returned yesterday from wherever they’d spent the winter. This meant a trip late yesterday afternoon to the garden centre to pick up some feed. When we arrived back, they were sitting on a neighbour’s roof. They flew down as soon as they saw us take a large bag of seed out of the car boot. How on earth did they know what it was? They must have very good eyesight.

    1. Birds have so many esoteric talents, don’t they?
      Apart from their evolutionary foray into the ground-dwelling gene pool – I’m just thinking of how we would cope with 5ft tall velociraptors in our back garden….they are quite helpful.

      1. I had to check the velociraptor Bluebird. Apparently they were not much bigger than a turkey. They have been portrayed (wrongly, as I have found out), as huge beasts as depicted in the likes of Jurassic Park and other movies. The nearest large feathered flying beast we have in our area at the moment is the Red Kite. They are real pests.

          1. I was watching a pair of Red Kites circling overhead just this afternoon, from my living room window. The crows don’t like them and were ‘mobbing’ them. They rarely land and we dont find them a nuisance.

            1. I only ever notice kites on the motorway. I’m not much of a birder – well, not at all really.
              However, even if velociraptors are only(!) turkey sized, and if they hunt in packs (flocks? or is that Jurassic Park again?) I don’t fancy seeing one ahead of me in the bamboo and then finding that two others come at me from behind the garage and out of the fatsia japonica.

  20. Many thanks as ever to Deep Threat for his Hints and Tips and to everyone else who has commented or will comment later. I’m pleased to see a wide range of different clues picked by solvers as their personal favourites.

    May I wish everyone a good weekend.

    1. Thanks for stopping by and congratulations on producing another fine puzzle. Much appreciated.

      1. Lovely puzzle today and thank you for giving a mention to Dundee! (And no marmalade or cake in sight)

    2. Thanks Silvanus – I usually find your crosswords far more difficult than today’s – I’m a convert – and I always like it when the setter can be bothered to call in – so few do.

    3. Thank you for a fascinating puzzle Sylvanus. Like Kath, I’ve struggled with some of your puzzles im the past but feel I’m improving now. Thanks for droppiing in.

  21. Got there in the end but needed the blog for 1a and 12d – thanks DT. Once I knew it was right I’m sure I could have got to 1a (it took me two goes) but parsing 12d would have taken a very long time!

  22. Super-smooth surface reads and a lot of ticks on my sheet could only mean that Silvanus set this one. Many thanks to him for popping in to confirm and for being sufficiently interested to read through the comments.
    For my own part, I did have to look up the members of the Ivy League of universities and I had in mind a totally different type of toast!
    Crowded onto the podium are 9,11&17a along with 1,15&19d. 11a takes the gold medal.

    Thanks to Silvanus for an excellent puzzle and to DT for the review – although perhaps not for Tiny Tim!

      1. Me too! Yes, it was very good indeed. I had intended to say that coincidentally it is what Senf described me as on Sunday!

  23. Had to bung a few in then reverse engineer the parsing, but overall an enjoyable puzzle. 4a made me smile, so will take as favourite. Thanks to setter and DT

  24. Great puzzle – enjoyed with toast, and the orange juice with bits in it (grrr!)

    The vet asked for photos of Lola’s paws, nose, and ears – so I texted them to our lovely neighbour, who in turn forwarded them to the vet (quite an arrangement, eh?). The good news is that, so far, there is satisfaction with Lola’s progress. She no longer needs antibiotics or painkillers it seems. She is to remain on steroids and there will be further reviews.
    Amongst all this good news, I am, today, a tiny bit concerned at the appearance of little black dots on the back of her ears, as this is how the growths on her ears started many weeks ago. However, we shall see. Lola is hoovering up food, and is back to drinking ‘normal’ water.

    Today’s crossword soundtrack: Neil Young – After The Gold Rush, and Harvest

    Thanks to Silvanus, and DT.

    1. Sounds as though Lola’s doing her best to repay all your kindness, Terence. You both truly deserve a successful outcome.

    2. Good news Terence. And be brave, stick with the bits. They’ll put hair on your chest.

    3. Lola may have been unfortunate in her illness but she’s been lucky in picking her humans and in having a stoical and determined character. Lucky Lola. Hope the improvement continues.😸

  25. 2*/5*. I didn’t get the chance to solve this while having breakfast today which is my normal routine for the back-pager, so it provided a delightful accompaniment to my lunch.

    There is no way this was set by anyone other than Silvanus and it made a splendid finish to the week, with 1a, 11a & 20d making it onto my podium.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to DT.

  26. I had a bit of difficulty in the NW corner. I suppose if I’d got 1a, it would have helped – no good reason. I d played around with Rs and Ts for a while.
    I bunged 16d without really seeing the key words, so thanks to DT for retrospective help there.
    22d, both in the surface and the answer made me think of the current vaccine issues……… coincidence, I’m sure, but thanks to our setter Silvanus anyway.

    I was friends with a girl from Brown when I was at university. I think she was on some sort of exchange – it was around the time when the men’s and women’s colleges were merging. She was very, very clever. I was also pals with a girl from Columbia. Now, her parents lived next door to Elia Kazan, so her anecdotes were a bit more interesting……

  27. As others have said, fairly straightforward, but for me strangely unenjoyable **/*. Maybe I’m just having a bad day at work.
    Thanks DT for the hints, which I needed for 1a (couldn’t move on from “pardon”), and the parsing of 11a.
    Thanks also to the setter.

  28. Took some getting into but unravelled well. A concise puzzle.

    Thanks Silvanys and DT.

  29. The ‘family’ and the ‘climber’ held me up for the longest, but I got there in the end. Happy to see not only one of the great directors present today but also one of the great writers encompassing him. Nice work, Silvanus, whom I always enjoy, and thanks to DT for the review. *** / ***

    We managed to escape most of the tornadic action here in the Charleston area yesterday, but others were not so lucky. Thanks to Steve C and Chriscross for their good wishes.

    1. Glad the tornadoes didn’t affect you Robert. I guess there will always be someone in the USA, who suffers damage from them at this time of year and after the September Equinox too.

    2. I was wondering how you did. I can’t believe the destruction that’s being shown on the news.

    3. Thank goodness you escaped the awful weather up there. Fingers crossed that is your excitement done for the year.

  30. What a week it has been. Brilliant puzzles and Lola on the mend, the only other thing we needed was sunshine and by Jove we’ve had it this morning here in south Cambridge. We had a very pleasant saunter round Thriplow, a neighbouring village which normally hosts an annual Daffodil Weekend raising thousands for charity. Delightful, daffodils certainly make you smile. Then on the way home we stopped at a new coffee barn where we sat outside with coffee and a Danish and the world felt almost normal. Thanks to Silvanus and to Deep Threat for endorsing my bung in for 11a, I thought it had to be. Have a good weekend everyone. I must just say how much I liked the ‘French region’ in last nights toughie!

  31. Found this Friday puzzle somewhat frustrating as some of the clues were a bit too stretched for me. Barely made any sense even when trying to figure out the parsing.
    Not a favourite today. 3.5*/**
    Not a lot of favourites today, either … 4a, 10a & 15d
    Didn’t like 9a, 12d, 20d & 22d among others … far too stretched for my sensibilities.

    Thanks to setter and DT

  32. Thanks Silvanus – great puzzle that I thoroughly enjoyed and managed to solve in an excellent time for me.
    I particularly liked the lack of ‘obscure’ words although some of the longer answers (Eg. 12D, 14A) involved a challenging, but satisfying, breakdown and solve of the parts to complete.
    Great stuff! 👍
    Thanks also to Deep Threat for the usual great blog ‘n hints.
    As somebody else said…I do think it’s been a good week for us regular Telegraph cruciverbalists.
    Cheers!

  33. I really enjoyed this offering. Translation: I could solve it. There was so much to like, but I think fave was 14a, I enjoyed sorting out the bits and pieces. I also liked 12d but I’d spelt 26a incorrectly, silly billy, so it was my last in.
    Thank you for the fun Silvanus and Deep Threat for unravelling a couple.

  34. 14a was a marathon but got it in the end – thanks Silvanus and DT for a great romp whilst watching the Cheltenham races

  35. Another good puzzle. I got a bit stuck in the NE corner and put in pardon for 1a without understanding (unsurprisingly) what don had to do with corruption! Other than that I managed to work out most of the parsings, even if I failed to spell the flower at 14a at the first attempt. Thanks to Silvanus and Deep Threat. ***/****

  36. A rather late comment – stuff to do and then out in the garden for quite a long time.
    I really really enjoyed this one – I’m no ‘setter spotter’ but I had someone else in mind as I usually find Silvanus much more difficult.
    I never did sort out the ‘why’ of 14a and 12d – decided life was too short – and I know that the correct word is ‘parse’ but I just can’t make myself use it – sounds a bit pretentious to me.
    No particular clues stood out for me today – just lots of good ones.
    Thanks to Silvanus and to DT.

  37. Lots of fun from a beautifully crafted puzzle. And we had correctly guessed the setter.
    Thanks Silvanus and DT.

  38. Really enjoyed today’s puzzle many thanks to Silvanus and DT. My favourite clue was 14a but I did have to check that I had spelt it correctly. Like many have said already a good week!

    Terence good to hear that Lola is continuing to do well but a gentle warning. The steroids will increase Lola’s appetite and she may lose her waist-line!

    Take good care and have a lovely weekend everyone.

  39. Thanks DT. Hopefully this hasn’t already been answered, but “outside letters” being indicated by “on vacation” is new to me. How does that indication make sense? Thanks!

    1. Mike. to vacate can mean to make something empty so, using the example of 12d, “enjoys” is made empty by removing the NJOY to leave ES.

  40. What a difference starting the crossword at a sensible time makes.
    Much fun, though the 1a/1d combination took some head-scratching.
    Many thanks to whoever and for the blog which I am about to read…

  41. 3*/3*….
    liked 17A “Lenders with plenty travelling in glorious style (13)”

  42. Perhaps I should have tackled this at 4:00am when I woke up and never got back to sleep. Didn’t get to it until we got back from running errands, and just couldn’t finish the NW corner. Thanks to Silvanus and Deep Threat.

  43. A late solve for me after Saint Sharon’s real mother’s funeral. I enjoyed this crossword immensely as is usual with puzzles from Silvanus. A happy ending to a very sad day. Thanks to Peter for the blog and to Silvanus for the workout.

    1. Oh, M’pops, I’m so very, very sorry. Please give Saint Sharon lots of sympathy and love. Changing of the generations is always a particularly sad time.

  44. Great puzzle. Seemed to be a lot of consonants as checking letters. Exactly the right wavelength for me. I only failed to parse 1a. Loved it. More please Silvanus.

  45. Started this last night then finished it over a cup of tea in bed this morning. Had to check the hints to understand how a lot of the clues worked even though I had the correct answer. Some very clever cluing – too many favourites to pick one out. Damp and miserable in Solihull this morning so plans for the garden may have to be delayed.

  46. I finally gave up this morning, with three from the NW corner stumping me. I thought I’d done well to get all but three, but it seems it was ‘easy’!

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