Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29645
Hints and tips by Deep Threat
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning from South Staffs on a drizzly Friday.
For me, this was easier than some recent Friday puzzles, once the penny had dropped on some of the quirkier clues.
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 Smashes favourite condiment pots, noisily (11)
BESTSELLERS – Another word for ‘favourite’, followed by a word which sounds like (noisily) containers for salt. The answer describes items which are smash hits in the shops.
7a Notice in Harlem bar: ‘Goodbye, Prohibition!’ (7)
EMBARGO – Hidden in the clue.
8a Westbound motorway cutting killed a deer maybe (7)
ANIMALS – Start with another word for ‘killed’ wrapped round the letter which indicates a motorway on a road sign, add A (from the clue), then reverse the result (westbound) to get something of which deer are an example.
10a Install Conservative, in moving scene (8)
ENSCONCE – Anagram (moving) of SCENE wrapped round an abbreviation for Conservative.
11a English flower for each one canvassed (6)
CAMPER – The flower here is something which flows, so we are looking for an English river, followed by ‘for each’, to give us someone who is canvassed because he is staying in a canvas dwelling.
13a One making his voice heard via ballot box — nothing odd about that (4)
ALTO – The even-numbered letters of bAlLoT bOx.
14a Lot of publicity before unhappy oceanic homecoming (10)
SPLASHDOWN – A six-letter word for a publicity spread, followed by a four-letter word for ‘unhappy’, giving us the way the Apollo astronauts returned to earth.
16a Get fitter calves, once exercised (10)
CONVALESCE – Anagram (exercised) of CALVES ONCE.
18a Insect food? (4)
GRUB – Double definition: an insect larva; or a slang word for food.
21a Popular viewpoint for new pupils perhaps (6)
INTAKE – The usual two-letter word for ‘fashionable’ or ‘popular’, followd by another word for a viewpoint, as in “What’s your —– on the latest crisis?”
22a Antony’s apology? (3,5)
MEA CULPA – Mark Antony, being an ancient Roman, is assumed to have spoken Latin (though in practice a form of Greek was the common language of the Roman Empire), and this is a Latin phrase for ‘through my fault’.
24a More fancy following golf? It’s long and really slow-moving! (7)
GLACIER – The letter represented by Golf in the NATO alphabet, followed by ‘fancier’ or ‘of a more delicate ornamental fabric’
25a Jack turned out and fought for a lady’s favour (7)
JOUSTED – The symbol found on a playing card Jack, followed by a verb for ‘turned out’ or ‘expelled’.
26a 18 euros (6,5)
FRENCH BREAD – Double definition: an example of one of the meanings of 18a; or an informal way you might describe the euro in M. Macron’s empire.
Down
1d Take care of issue featuring sweetheart and model (4-3)
BABY-SIT – A term of endearment like ‘sweetheart’, followed by what an artist’s model does.
2d Angry, endless argument causing pain in the heart (6)
SORROW – Another word for ‘angry’, minus its last letter (endless), followed by another word for an argument.
3d White on top, looking cool! (4-6)
SNOW-CAPPED – Cryptic definition of how a mountain may look in winter, or all the time if it’s high enough.
4d Spill the beans and stewed kale (4)
LEAK – Anagram (stewed) of KALE.
5d Cuddled by Irish Pat, I perked up — blessed memories! (8)
EPITAPHS – Hidden in reverse (up) in the clue.
6d Cleaner falling over, oops! — carrying something from the butcher’s (7)
SHAMPOO – Reverse (falling over) OOPS (from the clue), then insert some cooked meat from the butcher or charcutier.
7d What looks infectious, making you attractive? (3-8)
EYE-CATCHING – The first word is something ‘what looks’, and the second is another word for ‘infectious’.
9d Spa committee where one might stand before 14? (11)
SPRINGBOARD – Another word for a spa or welling-up of water, followed by a committee of management. The answer is the launch point for the sort of 14a which involves an individual and a swimming pool rather than a space capsule and the ocean.
12d Fault-finding ruined the chat before work (7,3)
HATCHET JOB – Anagram (ruined) of THE CHAT, followed by a task or some work.
15d Defender with axe and boomerang (8)
BACKFIRE – A football defender, followed by another word for ‘axe’ or ‘let go’.
17d Awfully crumbly hot flan (3,4)
NOT HALF – Anagram (crumbly) of HOT FLAN.
19d Described being part of the family (7)
RELATED – Double definition: ‘described’ or ‘gave an account of’; or ‘having a connection by birth or marriage to the family’.
20d Denounce copper’s inside expert (6)
ACCUSE – The chemical symbol for copper, plus the ‘S from the clue, is placed inside another word for ‘expert’.
23d River creature caught twice eating or on its back (4)
CROC – Reverse (on its back) OR (from the clue), then put two examples of the cricket abbreviation for ‘caught’, one at either end.
The Quick Crossword pun BUFF + HELLO + HEARD = BUFFALO HERD
3*/4.5*. I enjoyed this a lot. It was a mixture of straightforward and challenging clues, and there were also some with very smooth surfaces and others which read rather strangely. This seems fairly typical for Zandio, so he’s my guess for today.
When I looked at 9d I thought of “diving board” but was concerned that the enumeration wasn’t (6,5). The penny eventually dropped after I solved 8a giving an S as the first letter.
I’ve got lots of ticked clues: 1a, 11a (my last one in), 18a, 25a & 26a (my favourite).
Many thanks to Zandio and to DT.
An enjoyable excel use this morning. **/*** It took me a little while to work out 1a even with all the checkers, my last one in. 14a and 9d worked well together. Favourite 26a. Thanks to all.
I found this very difficult. It was so far out of my wavelength, it was utterly baffling at first. I did persevere and eventually finished in 4* time, but having to use electronic help on 2 clues because I just couldn’t get into the NE corner at all. Some clues were very clever, whilst 3d didn’t seem very cryptic at all. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t my cup of tea and not that enjoyable (*). Thanks to DT for the hints and to the compiler.
With you all the way!
Excel read exercise. No idea where excel came from!¿
Predictive text?
Yes. It’s amazing the nonsense that comes up with.
Greta
Being somewhat hard of hearing (well pretty deaf really) I use the TV subtitles. If you think predictive text is bad just try what the subtitlers come up with in news bulletins and sports commentries.
Same problem here LROK. But it does brighten up the news sometimes and always does during a boring match.
Makes for very strange marital conversations!
My hearing is great, but the other half’s is dodgy and he keeps swapping between the in-ear aid and the noise cancelling headphones (while on laptop). Hard to get it right really. But quite often I put the subtitles on for the fun of it. Obviously it’s the live events that offer the weirdest ……
Oh dear, disheartening to see some found it easy. I struggled to get a start and am here now to hopefully get a lot further. Muffled mind maybe!
….a few minutes later having looked at some hints above I’m going Ohhhh and DUH as I see the obvious
Once you get a toehold on this one much of it falls into place I have to admit that there was some extreme guesswork involved in some instances. I have found that spell checkers on tablets phones etc ruin your spelling as was the case for 16a. Favourites 14a and 5d.
Thanks to DT and setter
This seemed really difficult to begin with but soon became very enjoyable. A bit of guessing and then working out why and I got there in the end. I only meant to look at a couple of clues as I should be doing other things but it got me hooked. Thank you to the setter, loved it
A terrific and enjoyable puzzle this morning that was not too taxing, just brilliantly entertaining. Several outstanding clues, of which 26a was my favourite by a distance.
I agree with RD that this felt like a Zandio compilation, so my grateful thanks to him and to DT for the blog.
A top draw crossword for me and an enjoyable end to the week. like RD says a mixture of straightforward and challenging clues.
Some excellent surfaces like 14a and last in 11a-my favourite for its brevity and originality , honourable mention for 22a,glad I had some checking letters. I liked the linking of 26a/18a and 9d/14a very clever from our setter.
Going for a ***/****,thanks to DT for the picks.
Clear Quickie pun too.
Not really my scene. Surely 1a needs hits after smashes. Not too keen on abbreviations for solutions as per 23d. Canvassed in 11a led me initially to look for a verb synonym – d’oh! 26a was a bung-in. Thank you Zandio and DT.
Sorry I thought this a clumsy and somewhat ghastly puzzle. No good clues but 8a and 22a are the nadir.
Highly dislikable and no fun at all. Finishing it was a real slog.
****/*
Thx for the hints.
Toughish but by no means out of place on a Friday. Took almost *** time and gets *** / **** for solving pleasure.
LOI 14a also gets my COTD.
Thanks to setter and DT. The Bill Haley took me back to “Rock around the Clock” & days of “rebellious youth”.
Hope the Roses keep blooming in Augusta.
This was a marathon for me. I found it very difficult. The toast had long been consumed before I finished it.
The vet was very pleased indeed with Lola. She has made great progress, but must remain on the steroids as her nose (whilst much better) has not yet fully recovered. When we consider that it is three months to the day since I was carrying her to her litter tray as she could not walk, then it is something of a miracle.
Today’s crossword soundtrack: Handel – Solomon.
Thanks to the setter and DT
R.I.P. Prince Philip
What did the vet have to say about taking Lola outside? I rather thought they might say to leave her to make her own decision! What a plucky little lady she is and what wonderful care she’s been given – well done, Terence.
So delighted to hear some good news at last. Good old Lola. And as you say RIP Phillip. I remember standing in the rain watching their wedding!
Wonderful news about Lola.
Great to hear that Lola is getting better.
I really enjoyed todays puzzle, much better than yesterdays monster. I made it harder for myself by some basic errors, my Latin spelling is no good and I entered an s instead of a c elsewhere.
There were some great clues, my favorites were 1A, 14A, 3D and I loved the lurker in 5D. 6D made me scratch my head as well
Thanks to all concerned.
I struggled with this and needed a few hints, which took away some of the enjoyment. It was well clued but I simply could not see some of the parsing. My fault , of course, because the answers are in the clues but I could not see them today. I didn’t help myself by putting in “dinner money” for 26a. I should have realised that the euro was there for a reason.
Many thanks to the setter and thank also to DT for the hints, many of which were needed.
RIP Prince Philip. I recall him visiting RAF Boscombe Down. The Fitters in the hanger he was to visit had been issued with clean overalls and the place workshop was spick and span. The CO tried to guide HRH to the hanger when said royal suddenly diverted and entered another hanger and found the workmen greasy and drinking tea. A visit by The Duke of Edinburgh could never be planned.
No doubt he realised that he was being ‘guided’ to a prepared area and seized the opportunity to ‘slip away from his handler.’
On our morning radio news programme, a former Manitoba Chief Protocol Officer, who was involved in many Royal visits to the Province, commented that HRH often referred to himself as ‘Plaque Unveiler in Chief.’
By the way, ‘hangers’ are what clothes are put on in a wardrobe, etc. :wink:
Correct! Can I blame spellchecker? “Hangar”. No. :grin:
My Deepest Sympathy for the Queen and Royal Family. The Queen and Prince Philip were married a few months after I was born and have been there in the background all my life. He’ll be sorely missed for his sense of duty, irreverent sense of humour and forays off-piste on so many occasions.
A royal handler told me that they were all used to the smell of fresh paint, new carpets and fresh flowers in the loos(!). Most of them go where they’re directed, but there’ll always be some who dodge about…..there are more impromptu visits than might be expected, especially in hospitals, so no time for any of those prettifications.
Here’s a first, while I would probably not use the same terminology as Brian I have to agree with his sentiments. Definitely a head scratching challenge. ****/**.
I did like the 14a/9d combo.
Thanks to the setter and DT.
The handful of slightly odd surface reads persuades me that this is the handiwork of Zandio, but the puzzle was nevertheless very enjoyable.
Top two for me were 25a and the simple but effective 19d.
Thanks to Zandio and to DT for the review and the great selection of 9d dives.
A mixture of very clever clues and some annoying ones. I particularly dislike clues that require an answer to another clue (which one may not have!). Example 26a and 9a. I did finish in 2* time and on reflection it was a good challenge. Of course the 2 clues I mentioned are really straightforward (once you have finished the crossword!!)
I presume the MBE is a new addition – if so congratulations – your comments will work with or without it in future
Capital letters are considered to be ‘shouting’ on the internet – italics would do just as well to convey your point, so I’ve edited your comment accordingly
RIP Prince Philip. God save the Queen.
* Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
Tagore.
Beautiful.
Thank you for that, Jose!
A typical Zandio of the right level of difficulty for a Friday
Thanks to him and DT
Agree with all wavelength related remarks. Not a fan of answers which are too general (8 a) or too informal (23 d) but still quite a few smiles from today; well, enough to make me feel smug – and good displacement activity instead of sorting out the garden…
Be different, refuse to be cowtowed by the followers of group think, use punctuation and Capitals if you want to. This is a grown up site not a social media behemoth.
As Senf picked me up about “hanger” can I, in the nicest possible way, do the same for “kowtowed”? :grin:
No, no, no! Because this is a grown-up site, proper grammar, spelling and punctuation are required. I, for one, particularly abhor the use of aberrant apostrophe’s! :-)
Where does this come from?
DG, I suspect this refers to the postings in Comment 17 above.
The same place as predictive text and subtitles, possibly.
As I’m across the pond I fight with predictive text all the time, as it always “corrects” my English spelling… 🙁
Hello all, compiler here. Thanks very much for the analysis and discussion. I’m sure it’s not allowed for the compiler to have a favourite clue (if it was, 26a makes me laugh), so can I choose a favourite record? ‘We’re Good’ by Dua Lipa hasn’t been a big hit but people who like it seem to be addicted, judging by the number of one-hour loops on YouTube. As Chuck Berry said, “Gotta hear it again today!” Have a good weekend.
Thanks for the challenge, Zandio and for the sound beating! :grin:
It is good of you to drop in.
I really enjoyed this Zandio, although is has taken me a long time I got there in the end. 11a my favourite with 6d a close runner up. After only filling in 8 answers in last night’s toughie my cup runneth over
Thanks for popping in, Zandio. This was great fun.
Thank you for your crossword – I loved it and it’s taken me ages so haven’t felt as if I should be gardening.
Thanks for dropping in, I loved it!
Late commenting today due to suffering the indignity of a digital prostate examination, not something I want to repeat very often.
As for the puzzle, very enjoyable and a typical Zandio production, quirky and cryptic.
I thought 1a a cracking clue and it’s joined on the podium by the 14a/9d linked clues, with special nention to 26a Great stuff!
3/4*
Many thanks to Zandio and to DT for the top notch entertainment.
Sad news re The Duke of Edinburgh.
Digital? I thought they still used analogue? :wink:
Oh very good! :grin:
As long as they don’t use a log.
Boom boom RD!!! ……or is that bum bum! 😉
Highly amusing !
That brought a smile to my cheeks 😬
Which ones? :wink:
I went through that 15 years ago. Today I had the all clear on my testicular cancer. Re the digital exam, some say it’s nice to have it behind you…
Just crept into 3* time for me. Good to be challenged, so thanks to Zandio, and to DT for the not needed hints.
Challenged doesn’t quite hot the spot for the quagmire I found myself in here. Half the clues went in easily. The rest was sheer mystification. Of the clues my own tiny brain solved 26a was a sparkling diamond.
Thanks to Zandio, very good of you to join us thank you, and of course to DT who brought light where there was darkness.
As I have already said, an excellent puzzle. I wonder can you still get lunch for 18 euros Steve? I entered eye watering to begin with which held me back a bit and 6 d was last one in I had Char on my brain. Probably wishing I still had one. Many thanks to Deep Threat (who explained 2d to me) and Zandio. Prince Philip came to unveil the sensory map of Cambridge outside Great St Mary’s presented by Rotary and George and I met him. He was very droll, all those unveilings must have been so wearisome.
I’m in the “not heard of noisily as a homophone indicator before” camp this afternoon, but hey ho! I have now. Difficult in parts but enjoyable nonetheless. On the autocorrect front I’m pleased I noticed it had put homophobia in instead of the intended word. Favourite was 5d as I failed to spot the reverse lurker for an embarrassingly long time. Thanks to Zandio and DT.
Well into *** time but ***** for enjoyment – a great puzzle, hard to choose a favourite, thank you Zandio…
Tough but fair and I agree with Zandio 26a is a great clue; very enjoyable! Thanks DT for some much needed hints on an otherwise sad afternoon; RIP Prince Philip
Went much better than I first thought.
With the Elgar toughie, I spent most of the afternoon solving while sitting in wonderful sunshine.
Wasn’t too keen on my last one in 3d but the rest was enjoyable.
Thanks to Zandio and to DT.
I found this a puzzle of two halves – first half went in easily, the second half didn’t so went to the recently refurbished garden centre before tackling the second half. We have a leucistic barn owl making regular morning appearances which is keeping the birders happy – my neighbour has some fantastic pictures of it. When she sent me the photos I had to look up leucistic to see what it meant, sort of albino without the pink eyes. Appalled that the awful man drowning his neighbour’s cat didn’t get a custodial sentence just a £1000 fine which is nothing for a millionaire. Thanks to Zandio and Deep Threat.
I agree. He ahould have got time. He needs to see a different side of life and realise that he isn’t as important as he obviouslyy thought he was—just another thug really.
I loved this – I have to confess that I felt right back to the beginning of doing cryptic crosswords as it reminded me of the feeling of being completely mystified and, “how can anyone do this”?
Tricky to pick a favourite but probably either of the two combinations 14a/9d and 18/26a.
The pic for 9d reminded me of the day my sister nearly killed herself doing a dive like that in the late 60’s. In ‘those days’ 9d’s were covered with coconut matting which got very slippery – she did the ‘one, two, three followed by a hefty bounce and somersault, her feet slipped and she came down on her head on the end of the board. Oh dear!
Thanks to Zandio and to DT.
Not coconut matting, but I remember Greg Louganis doing that at the Olympics – there was blood everywhere…….
It took me a long time, as I wasn’t concentrating properly (competing tasks), but, as is often the case, the last third went in quicker. 1a took me a silly time, considering I had the first (uncommon) letter. I went through pet, different pots and even an adverbial ending in case it was a noisily synonym. Honestly! I liked the reverse lurker at 5 and I liked 12d.
Thanks to Zandio and DT.
***/**** today.
26a my favourite.
RIP The Duke of Edinburgh. I had a business stand 20 yards from his horsebox enclosure at the Stammer Park carriage driving trials in Brighton in the 80s. Never heard such language !! Brightened the dull day up though. Or should it be Brightoned….
Well, it should be Stanmer……….unless there’s a Stammer I don’t know about?
Look, I didn’t start this typo-bashing craze…….
Took me ages to beat the predictive text into letting me put Brightoned. Sure I put Stanmer. Should’ve checked. Can you turn it off somehow?
Phew! Late on parade but can’t use that as an excuse for finding this the trickiest of the week. Some outstanding clues – agree with our illustrious compiler re 26a – and I also liked 9d. All in all the top end of *** time for me so that impinged for some reason on my enjoyment thus downgraded to **. Maybe I didn’t like feeling a failure, although eventually I did succeed. Note for diary: do the crossword in the morning! Thanks to Deep Threat for corroboratory hints. If corroboratory is a word.
After yesterday’s total mystery to me, I loved this and agree with the ** rating. I think I found Zandio hard last time round. I’m certainly not going to try to find out why I’m so contrary. The only clue that stumped me was 11a, last one in and I needed e-help for it.
My fave, hands down, was 26a, but really enjoyed the whole thing.
Thank you Zandio for all the fun, and thank you Deep Threat for the hints and pics.
We were woken up at school before dawn to listen to the Coronation on the radio in Assembly Hall, singing patriotic songs, Land of Hope and Glory and so on. The Royals stopped in Jamaica on their way round the world, my parents took us to a spot where The Queen opened a new road, still called Queen’s Highway, so that we could see them up close. I loved it all, always been a monarchist, and I remember it as if it was yesterday. I also won a retired racehorse but that is another story!
Oh Gawd, I’ve gone on too much
Never too much Merusa. Your reminisces are most welcome
Seconded.
We had a children’s fancy dress competition on our street that morning, and my parents took me to my grandparents to watch the coronation – they had this wonderful new invention in their living room, a television!
I don’t understand the link between french bread and alto – can anyone explain please?
The link is with the solution to 18a!
Tackled this late this morning after yet another sleep deprived night (road resurfacing now would you believe) & retired hurt after *** time with 1a unsolved & the bulk of the east uncharted territory. What a difference a few hours & a lengthy afternoon nap makes as the pennies dropped in reasonably quick succession upon resumption. Agree that 3d didn’t seem particularly cryptic & I too (perhaps not as strongly as Brian) didn’t care much for 8a & to a lesser extent 22a but reading back through it after completion I think there are some great clues. 1,11,14,25&26a along with 5,9&12d were all ticks for me with the setter’s favourite probably mine also.
Thanks Zandio & to DT.
Found this a tricky and not a really inspiring solve.****/** my rating today. Like yesterday only a couple of clues took my fancy 1a, 1d and 17d with 1d the favourite and first in too.
Don’t like clues that refer to another clue in the puzzle that you may not have solved.
Sorry … not my cuppa today.
Thanks to setter and DT for the needed hints to even have a chance to get through this.
Was very sorry to hear about the passing of HRH Prince Philip at just after 4:30am Pacific time as I was getting up.
May he R.I.P. and God save the Queen.
I enjoyed this maybe because I got 95% of it without hints. Baffled as usual by a four letter answer 18a. And though I did manage 13a, I may be sexist but aren’t they usual female (they are in my choir)? But like many above I enjoyed this so thanks to the setter and the hinter.
Doesn’t help putting “easter” in too quickly for 11a without reading the clue properly. Caused a bit of a delay!
RIP Prince Philip. My 88 year old DT Crossword fan father recently uncovered a photo meeting him in 1952 at RAF Cranwell.
Late on parade today as needed 9 holes of golf before I could crack my LOI at 2d.
Fascinating to read all the comments and how the opinions vary, definitely a wavelength thing.
After yesterday’s struggle, I found this challenging but highly enjoyable, with a whole list of great clues. Favourites were 26a, 5d and 9d.
Time now to enjoy the Masters, would love to see Justin Rose hang in for the win.
He is playing well. I will be cheering him on too!
Today was always going to be difficult to follow yesterday’s brilliance but thought he did really well. JT looks ominous
I read some of the comments before starting the puzzle (foolish, I know!) so was expecting a tough time of it…imagine my surprise when it all went swimmingly! I’ve often struggled with Zandio but must have been on the right wavelength today. Thanks for the puzzle and DT for the surplus to requirements hints.
4*/4*….
liked the two lurkers which were amongst the last ones in.
My first blog appearance since my second jab earlier in the week, even though I’ve struggled all week with all of the puzzles, especially today’s. Was some of my brain matter extruded by that vaccination, I wonder? Over here,1a is two words, and if I had seen a different enumeration (4, 7), I think I could have made some headway. But never mind, I did finish with some electronic assistance. Thanks to DT and Zandio. *****/ ***
Sorry to hear about Prince Philip, every bit the hero to me.
I was wondering where you were! Glad to see you back and I hopefully recovered from the jab.
Needed help with only one clue to complete this. Why on earth was simple 8a so elusive to me? Thanks to Zandio for a set of clues that all deserve a mention, but perhaps 26a was the best. Thanks also to Deep Threat for all the hard work.
R.I.P. Philip. God bless our Queen.
Your absence was noticed & would have merited comment were it not for a timely reappearance.
Glad all ok & that you’re now fully jabbed.
I saw this was a Zandio and saved it as a treat for this morning. Perfectly pitched — only a few answers on first pass, but just enough each time through to get a few more checkers and slowly fill everything in.
My favourite was 11A’s “one canvassed”, which made me groan when I finally got it.
Thank you to Zandio for the entertainment, and Deep Threat for confirming my parsings.