DT 29682

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29682

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 22 May 2021

BD Rating – ** – ****

Greetings from Kolkata. Once again, I am delighted to write the full review of a Saturday puzzle for your perusal and valuable feedback. A really enjoyable puzzle from Cephas with some nice clues.

Imelda (answer of 21a) reminded me of Imelda Marcos, the-then First Lady of The Philippines, who gained notoriety for living a lavish lifestyle when there was economic crisis and civil unrest in that country. Nicknamed as Steel Butterfly and Iron Butterfly, she was also much publicised for her priceless collections that included more than a thousand pairs of shoes! I first came across her name in 1982, in one of the issues of Competition Success Review, a very popular English magazine of India. Even to this day, I have not heard of any other Imelda, famous or infamous. [Not even Imelda May and Imelda Staunton! BD]

The ‘Which French’ of the clue of 23a made me revisit the French pronouns and adjectives, though for the sake of crosswords. It made me feel, upon delving deep into their intricacy, that we need to mind our Qs for there are so many words beginning with this letter. ‘Quel’, ‘quels’, ‘quelle’ and ‘quelles’ are interrogative adjectives meaning ‘which’ or ‘what’ and placed directly in front of a noun – masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular and feminine plural respectively. ‘Que’ and ‘qui’ are interrogative pronouns meaning ‘what’ and ‘who’/’whom’ respectively. ‘Que’ and ‘qui’ are also relative pronouns, the first meaning ‘that’, ‘which’ and ‘whom’ and functioning as direct object (person or thing) and the second also meaning ‘that’, ‘which’ and ‘whom’ and functioning as object (person only) of a preposition, in addition to meaning ‘who’ and functioning as subject (person or thing). “The cow which gives milk …” or “The spy who loved me …” in French will take ‘qui’ as relative pronoun, whereas “The cow which I purchased …” or “The burglar whom the police nabbed …” will have ‘que’ as relative pronoun. If we let the clue of 23a stand, ‘Quel’ as the interrogative adjective takes the place of ‘Which French’ and if we take it as “Food which French cook trimmed”, ‘que’ (and not ‘qui’) as the relative pronoun takes the place of ‘which French’.

I have always been fascinated by Tom (as part of the clue of 3d), the adventurist of English folklore, who was no bigger than his father’s thumb. But what I now learnt from Wikipedia is that there is a grave, set into the floor adjacent to the font of the main chapel in Holy Trinity Church at Tattershall, Lincolnshire, bearing testimony to the supposition that Tom Thumb may have been a real person who died in 1620 at the ripe old age of 101. His grave, measuring just 16 inches in length, supplies that information.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

7a    How healthy porker will go the full extent? (5,3)
WHOLE HOG: Go WHOLE (healthy) HOG (porker) is to do something in a very thorough and complete way (go the full extent); the definition meaning out-and-out or completely being arrived at cryptically (how)

9a    Drive able to be seen when broadcast (6)
INCITE: IN SIGHT (able to be seen) serving as a homophone to the audience (when broadcast)

10a    Master revised course (6)
STREAM: An anagram (revised) of MASTER

11a    Charge harbour where there are low duties (3,5)
TAX HAVEN: A charade of TAX (charge) and HAVEN (harbour) leading to a country or independent area where taxes are levied at a low rate

12a    Her country? Not even his (2-4-4)
NO-MAN’S-LAND: A cryptic way of defining a waste region or a place to which no one – neither a woman after all nor a man by all means – has a recognised claim

14a    Most of dirt is unpleasant (4)
GRIM: Most of the letters of (most of) GRIM[E] (dirt)

15a    Philosopher paid for a doctor (13)
METAPHYSICIAN: MET (paid for), A from the clue and PHYSICIAN (doctor) in a charade

17a    American fellows providing the final word (4)
AMEN: The abbreviation A (American) is followed by MEN (fellows), resulting in the definition meaning ‘let it be so’ said at the end of a prayer

18a    Remain at home having broken gift exercising (7,3)
KEEPING FIT: A charade involving KEEP (remain), IN (at home) and an anagram (having broken) of GIFT

20a    How storyteller might be moving furtively (8)
SNEAKING: A verb, particularly in children’s use, meaning informing an adult or person in authority of misdeeds of a companion which are actually untrue or telling tales as a storyteller, is cryptically defined to also mean going stealthily

21a    Lady with misplaced idealism is leaving (6)
IMELDA: An anagram (misplaced) of IDEAL[IS]M without IS (is leaving)

23a    Which French cook trimmed food? (6)
QUICHE: QUI (which) as a relative pronoun !? in French language (French), followed by CHE[F] (cook) minus the last letter (trimmed) [could better be imagined as: Who in France before cook trimmed food? or rather: Who in Bordeaux before cook trimmed food?]

24a    Piece of magic that’s celebrated by one on pitch (3,5)
HAT TRICK: Double definition; the first being a conjurer’s trick with a hat and the second being the feat of a cricketer taking three wickets by consecutive balls or of a soccer player netting three goals in a match on a playground

Down

1d    Reportedly obtain nothing in poor area (6)
GHETTO: Homophone (reportedly) heard from a charade of GET (obtain) and O (nothing) and leading to the definition of a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by members of a minority group or groups, as a result of social, legal or economic pressure

2d    Piece of evidence solvers are familiar with (4)
CLUE: Double definition; the first being anything that points to the solution of a mystery or crime while the second being a hint or an indication as to what is to be inserted in a particular set of spaces in a crossword by solvers

3d    Tom with half of meal giving sign of approval? (6,2)
THUMBS UP: The famous character of English folklore, Tom THUMB (Tom) followed by (with) 50% of (half of) the word SUP[P][E][R] (meal) leading to the definition

4d    Beset with bad luck, Jack isn’t regularly cross with Edward (6)
JINXED: The abbreviation J (Jack) as in playing cards, followed by the alternate letters (regularly) of I[S]N'[T] from the clue, X (cross) and (with) and the abbreviation ED (Edward) in a charade

5d    Canoe damaged before departing and crossing the pond perhaps (5-5)
OCEAN-GOING: An anagram (damaged) of CANOE placed in front of GOING (departing) leading to the definition of sailing, or suitable for sailing, across the ocean, probably the vast Atlantic Ocean being taken as a mere pond and indicating somewhat the cultural closeness between the Kingdom and the States

6d    Greek capitalist? (8)
ATHENIAN: The cryptic way of referring to a person who lives in Athens, the Greek capital

8d    Travel some distance to do everything possible (2,2,3,6)
GO TO ANY LENGTH: A charade of GO TO (travel), ANY (some) and LENGTH (distance) leading to the definition

13d    Be there in this (10)
ATTENDANCE:  A cryptic way of arriving at the definition meaning the act or event of turning up or showing up at a place or the proof of being present through the instruction to ATTEND (be there), a verb, followed by an indication to turn it into a noun through the addition of a suitable suffix (in this)

15d    Short time with hesitation giving impetus (8)
MOMENTUM: MOMENT (short time) and (with) UM (hesitation) in a charade arriving at the definition

16d    Begin with what I did there in restaurant? (8)
INITIATE: As the obvious reply – IN from the clue, the pronoun IT (restaurant) and I ATE (what I did there)

18d    Unusually kind to accept most of fee cut (6)
KNIFED: An anagram (unusually) of KIND to take inside (accept) most of the letters (most) of FE[E]

19d    Prompt delivery (6)
INDUCE: To bring into being or to initiate or speed up the labour of childbirth in a cryptic definition

22d    Pound in Fez rarely seen (4)
EZRA: In fEZ RArely as part of or hidden inside (seen) is the first name of the American poet and critic, whose political views ensured that his life and work remain controversial

There were many great clues like 7a, 11a, 12a, 15a, 24a, 5d, but 16d topped my list. Thanks to Cephas for setting such a challenging and entertaining puzzle and to BD for the encouragement. Lastly, I join the others in wishing George and Kath a speedy recovery. Hoping to be here again. Have a wonderful day.

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