Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29763
Hints and tips by 2Kiwis
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Kia ora from Aotearoa.
A beautifully fine almost Spring day here. A very welcome change from the stormy conditions of a week or so ago.
We found a few tricky bits in this one so have given it 3 stars for difficulty.
Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a A lady’s case for agreement (7)
COMPACT : A double definition. The lady’s case probably contains face powder.
9a Vulgar party game (8)
BASEBALL : Vulgar or low, and then a party that might have elegant dancing.
10a A chap employed by a newspaper firm (7)
ADAMANT : ‘A’ from the clue and the newspaper that publishes this crossword contain the other ‘A’ from the clue and a chap.
11a Suggested facility with no protection (8)
IMPLICIT : Start with a word meaning facility or ‘easiness’ and remove the first and last letters (no protection).
12a Foreign Office desk (6)
BUREAU : A double definition. Foreign Office here means a word from a different language rather than a government department.
13a Fuming, mostly with northern man getting married for family space (6,4)
LIVING ROOM : Remove the last letter (mostly) from fuming or very angry then N(orthern) and finally a man getting married.
15a Legal document comedian must keep right (4)
WRIT : A comedian or humorist contains R(ight).
16a Musical performances from people who speak publicly about Nixon regularly (9)
ORATORIOS : A word for public speakers surrounds the second and fourth letters of Nixon.
21a Positive response on European sight (4)
EYES : E(uropean) and then a word of assent.
22a Gentle touch required in case of foolish pilot’s route (6,4)
FLIGHT PATH : A word for gentle or not heavy and a touch or stroke need to be enclosed by the first and last letters of foolish.
24a Go round centre of city (4,2)
BEAT IT : A round that a policeman might make plus the two central letters of city.
25a Slash price of delicate material? (8)
LACERATE : A delicate material that we associate with Brussels and then price or charge.
27a Hopping mad, seeing evidence of debts attached to coat (7)
FURIOUS : The four letters that give evidence of debt follow the sort of coat that covers many mammals.
28a A diver’s source of inspiration? (8)
AQUALUNG : A cryptic definition. Inspiration here refers to breathing.
29a Strangely rude about the girl being guided (7)
USHERED : An anagram (strangely) of RUDE surrounds a female personal pronoun.
Down
2d A drug designed to support retired conservative members of group (3,5)
OLD GUARD : An anagram (designed) of A DRUG comes after retired or no longer young.
3d Post Office holding new item in tropical fruit (8)
PIMIENTO : The two letter abbreviation for Post Office contains an anagram (new) of ITEM IN.
4d Doctor and diplomat overseas go brown, with time (10)
CONSULTANT : A word for a diplomat in an overseas post and then a three letter word meaning ‘go brown’ and finally T(ime).
5d Women supply weapons and cordial (4)
WARM : W(omen) and then a word meaning supply weapons.
6d Physical consequence of being let out in fast car? (3,3)
JET LAG : An all-in-one clue. The wordplay is an anagram (out) of LET contained by the shortened name of a brand of fast car.
7d Calm and peaceful, as any loch could be (7)
HALCYON : An anagram (could be) of ANY LOCH.
8d A couple of lines on issue raised may be so far unsurpassed (3-4)
ALL-TIME : ‘A’ from the clue and the repeated use of the abbreviation for line is followed by the reversal of a word meaning issue or send out.
11d Popular string instrument at sea oddly dropped — undamaged (9)
INVIOLATE : The two letter popular, then a stringed instrument that is smaller than a cello and the second and fourth letters of the phrase ‘at sea’.
14d Show on TV is next to … (10)
NEIGHBOURS : A double definition.
17d … take out of production and harden fresh ideas (3,5)
SET ASIDE : Harden, as a jelly might do and then an anagram (fresh) of IDEAS.
18d Virgin adopts endless regulation for treatment on foot (8)
PEDICURE : Remove the last letter from a synonym for a regulation and surround this with virgin or unsullied.
19d Sour look on a day for transfer (7)
OFFLOAD : Sour, as milk kept too long might be, then a two letter word for look followed by ‘A’ from the clue and D(ay).
20d Tacky books dismissed by some peers (7)
VISCOUS : Remove the two letters used for some of the books of the bible from peers that have a ranking just below earls.
23d Barrier hotel ruled out (6)
HURDLE : ‘H'(otel) and then an anagram (out) of RULED.
26d Hit 100 thousand! (4)
TONK : A slang word for a hundred either as a speed or a cricket score and then a letter used to signify thousand.
7d is on the podium today as it is one of our favourite words and with a delightful derivation.
Quickie pun beaker + fool = be careful
3*/4.5*. Another lovely puzzle, which was quite tricky in parts, particularly the SW corner. I suspected that a pangram might be on the cards, but the X & Z didn’t report for duty.
My top clues today were 9a, 7d, 20d & 26d.
Many thanks to Jay and the 2Ks.
All over in a steady ***/**** time. I, too, thought we had a pangram, but there is no Z or X. My last in was 7d, I could see the fodder, but just not the word until a little light came on. Unlike my fridge/freezer, which has a light on but the rest is warm. (Flooded kitchen floor.)
As a (former) diver I must give COTD to 28a.
Many thanks to the setter and the 2 Ks.
I found this ***/* a bit of a struggle. I thought 6d was only an affliction of those flying so it didn’t seem to fit the clue quite. I also thought 21a whilst obvious also didn’t quite fit the clue. Didn’t really enjoy this one but in any event thanks to the setter for his efforts.
Unless I’m missing something I tend to agree with your sentiments regarding 6d.
I was puzzled by that one too, but it couldn’t be anything else.
The answer is a physical consequence so I’m ok with the answer and the wordplay. I suffered from this after both of my trips to the United States. The first time I blamed the effect on a three week drinking binge on a rugby tour. The second time I realised what it was. The most awful feeling which lasted for several weeks. The result is that I will never travel long haul again. Certainly not to the Americas.
I used to fly back from Cape Town about once a year to see the Aged Ps. The time difference is only 1 hour despite the 12 hour flight and I didn’t experience jet lag unlike flying East or West.
Me too re 6d so much so that I was tempted to bung in ‘peg leg’ unparsed!
My last flight home from the US was accompanied by over two hours of severe turbulence to the extent that the staff stopped serving the meal and had to buckle in. I didnt sleep all night and was suffering from 6d and a bit traumatised too.
Agree with regard to 6a – can’t see that that this means sight!
Let out, hence anagram of let inside the shortened brand name of a fast car.
You’ve provided your name rather than your usual alias so you went into moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.
I don’t think pommette is querying the wordplay, just the definition.
Pommette, you mean 21a re: sight? How about: Feast your eyes/sight on that view! Or: With your eyes/sight glued on the TV screen. Any good?
Agree, you only suffer the answer from long haul flights, never in a car??
6d. I think the ? signals that the setter isn’t really suggesting that the answer actually is the result of travelling in a fast car. “let out in fast car” is merely word-play, isn’t it? I thought the clue was just posing a whimsical/mischievous question.
If the setter intended the clue to be taken strictly literally, then the ? wouldn’t be there.
I didn’t find this enjoyable offering quite as tricky as our reviewers as after a slowish start it all came together nicely.
My ticks went to 9&24a plus 7d (lovely word) with top spot going to the clever and smooth 20d.
2/4*
Many thanks to the setter and to the 2Ks for the fun in the sun.
Not quite as sparkling as the usual Jay puzzle, this one was, nevertheless, not without difficulty and there was a bit of reverse engineering in the parsing (3*/3*). I liked 22a as a great Lego clue but my COTD was the cryptic definition at 28a. Thanks to the Kiwis for the hints and to the compiler.
SW also held me up. 24a we had quite recently but my COTD goes to 22a. Enjoyable and good fun. Thanks to the setter and 2 Ks. Just had a very stressful time trying to send a photo ID to some solicitors. First you take the photo (in this case of David) and then you get a number and write it down and take a second photo of the face with the number beside it. You mustn’t obscure the face with the number but it all has to fit into a tiny oval aperture. 10 takes later ……! Ready to scream.
A steady solve. ***/*** Remembering what Chris Lancaster said in the last newsletter, I did check the spelling of 3d to see if there was an alternative. I would spell the word with one i. It has the hallmarks of a Jay to me but I’ve been wrong before. I did like 18d and 20d but my favourite goes to 28a. That one took me a while. Thanks to all.
In Jamaica we call allspice by that name with just one “i”, with the second “I” it’s a red pepper. They make a very tasty liqueur with the berries called pimento dram.
Doable but requiring quite a cerebral effort but satisfying.
Ashamed that 7d took so long in spite of checking letters to winkle out.
Put me into *** time
Many thanks to the setter and to the 2Kiwis.
I agree with our reviewers that there was only one winner today: the excellent 7d. In terms of difficulty I thought this was a notch harder than a traditional Wednesday but all the more entertaining and rewarding as a result.
My thanks to, I assume Jay, for the fun and to the 2Ks.
Couple of slight niggles here regarding the ‘party’ in 9a and the answer to 6d but otherwise another excellent Wednesday puzzle.
7d takes the honours today.
Thanks to Jay(?) and to our 2Ks for the review. Hope your spring-like weather continues.
Some head scratching required to complete this somewhat tricky puzzle – 3*/3.5*.
Candidates for favourite – 25a, 27a, and 8d – and the winner is, the nearly oldie but goodie, 25a.
Thanks to the setter, I’m not convinced it’s a Jay, and the 2Kiwis.
Not really my cup of tea. A very slow start and just kept stumbling through. I needed checkers which weren’t there and so took a long time to see things although I finally got there in ***/**** time.
A bit too laboured to be more than *** fun factor.
6d gets COTD with 28a R/U..
Thanks to setter & the 2Ks for the review.
RIP Charlie Watts, thanks for the entertainment.
Thanks LROK, you’ve summed up my thoughts completely, especially the very likable Charlie Watts.
I struggled a bit with this but enjoyed the challenge despite that. The SW held me and I had to resort to the hints for a couple. For some reason, I had “Hardball” for 9a and that threw 6d out completely. 7d is my COTD.
Many thanks to Jay, if it is he, and to the 2Kiwis for the helpful hints.
Finished but no enjoyment at all, just a series of very poor clues – 11a, 24a, 6d, 8d and 20d.
All in all not difficult but poor quality puzzle.
Thx for the hints.
***/*
I also struggled in SW corner; didn’t previously know 26d outside half a piano. Glad to see someone else found 28a the favourite – literally laughed out loud when I twigged.
Not a barrow-load of laughs but reasonably entertaining with just a slight hiccup in SW. 22a Fav. Thank you to the 3(?) birds.
Trickier and a bit tougher than most Wednesday puzzles but quite enjoyable nonetheless. Lots of contenders for prizes today, but 20d, 7d, 23a, and 28a are locked in a four-way tie for CsOTD. (Sorry about that; I simply couldn’t decide.) Most of this seemed like the clever workings of a Jay, so thanks to him if it is he, and to the Kiwis for the review and illustrations. *** / ****
Excellent crossword, with knowledge of Scottish witchcraft not required.
*From time to time I see mention of a newsletter. Please would someone let me know how I may subscribe?
Today’s crossword soundtrack: Saint Etienne – London Conversations
Thanks to the setter (Jay?) and, of course, the 2Ks
You need to subscribe to the Telegraph on line AND subscribe to Telegraph Puzzles. I believe if you just have the app, you cannot get the Puzzle Newsletter.
Steve – I do subscribe to the Telegraph online and to Telegraph Puzzles…
In that case, here is the Newsletter Page.
https://auth.telegraph.co.uk/customer-portal/myaccount/e-newsletters.html?currentPage=http://auth.telegraph.co.uk/customer-portal/myaccount/index.html
Excellent! Thank you Steve – I have subscribed.
Not to my taste today.
Struggled through and got it all solved but needed the 2Kiwis help for a lot of the parsings…..which reduces the pleasure.
Thanks to the setter and to the 2 Kiwis.
Difficult today so enjoyment was very low.
Loved this crossword, solvable and there were so many brilliant clues 😃 and the icing on the cake the barwits, migration paths 🎂
***/**** Amongst the best were 6, 14, & 26d 👍 Many thanks to the 2xKs and to Jay 🤗
Is anybody having problems with subscription vouchers for printed paper. Tesco not accepting voucher coming up on till .
Welcome to the blog Veronica
Please don’t use capitals for your name.
Welcome, Veronica. Hope to hear from you again.
I’ve had no problems with the vouchers but I do use the local village shop and not a supermarket.
The local shop outside of Downtown LI still receives my tokens. If that helps them (who help so many people) then so be it. I get the paper downloaded to my iPad sometime during the night ready for when I awaken at dawn
Asda have made us take it to the customer service desk for a refund.
Only one day I went into Tesco local. New young man behind till said not valid and handed back. I disputed and sent for a manager. He came and it worked. No explanation given. Only other time I had a problem was at Tesco’s and my fault. I had ripped off a voucher for a future date! You can use any date in small shops which don’t scan the bar code!
From the sublime (yesterday) to the ridiculous (today). Well ridiculous is too strong and not the right word, just too tricky today, with some questionable clues, including 6d and 28a, so low on the enjoyment scale. Oh well, can’t win them all I suppose. Thanks to setter and 2Kiwis.
I really didn’t enjoy this crossword today as I found the clues and synonyms just not smooth or cohesive. The answers for many just did not link with the clue … I use 6d as an example but there were many more.
Didn’t feel like a Jay puzzle to me, but I am no expert.
Had to use too many hints and even the parsing was clumsy today.
****/*
Thanks to setter (Jay? or not) and 2K’s
3 completed out of 3 for me so far this week – I’m getting better! Thanks for the hints, I really enjoy them whether I need them or not. Thanks to the setter for a good excuse for sitting in the sun
Thanks for the thanks Alfie. It keeps us going
In the quickie pun isn’t the second wordFOOL as I don’t know how FULL could be IDIOT?
Thanks John.
It is now.
A typo that sneaked past the eagle-eyes of the proof-reader.
Morning all.
Bet we weren’t the only ones puzzling about the spelling for 3d and we did find that trying to sort it out via Google just made us more confused. However the anagram fodder in the clue is very clear so no problems putting in the correct answer.
Cheers.
I started this morning totally off crossword wavelength and struggled mightily. I did the NW corner without too much of a problem, then I took a break for an hour and when I came back to it, my brain seems to have switched on again and I completed it, with some e-help I hasten to say! My fave was the lovely word at 7d, but 28a and 3d earned honourable mention.
Thank you Jay, and 2Kiwis for unravelling a couple, notably 20d.
I actually quite enjoyed this one – a tad challenging in places but manged to find the right wavelength of our setter and completed in fair time.
Many thanks to the 2Kiwis for the blog ‘n hints, and of course to our setter (Jay?) for another stimulating puzzle.
Cheers!
Tackled this one at silly o’clock in the middle of the night after waking up & unable to get back to sleep. If it is Jay I reckon he was a wee bit sneaky leading us most of the way up the pangram path with both this one & the Quickie. Other than needing to confirm 3d I found it pretty straightforward so must have been on wavelength. No issues with 6d (agree with Jose & Miffs) but am inclined to share Jane’s reservations re party synonymous with ball. Anyway I found it very enjoyable with a good quota of excellent clues – 22,24&28a plus 4,7&20d would be my picks. Favourite was 28a if only because while writing this I’m listening to Jethro Tull’s album.
Thanks to Jay (?) & 2Ks.
Ps out all day golfing & oblivious to the cricket score so the beeb highlights an unexpected joy.
9a, have a ball = enjoy oneself/party?
Agree with many of the comments.3d,6d and 9d don’ t quite work for me. However liked many of the other clues. 24a last one in but I couldn’t see why till I read the hint.
Thanks to the Kiwis and the setter for making us work hard! ***/**
Hard, hard, hard or maybe not on the right wavelength. Either way the usual Wednesday for me. I think my phone has just crashed out of the internet again, it blinked. Favourite was 10a. Thanks to the setter and 2K’s. Yep had to reboot my phone before it let me post (this site could not be reached). This happens frequently on this site. It could be my phone of course.
Excellent. Only poor clue for me was 26d as I have never heard of the word. No problem with 6d as the answer is a physical consequence and not related to the anagram of let and the fast car – Jag. I could not parse 11a so thanks to the 2Ks for enlightening me. This makes it a brilliant clue. Other favourites 10 13 22 25 and 28 a and 4 and 20d. One contributor thought this puzzle was poor. I have concluded that the clues he does not like are the ones he does not understand. When I don’t understand the setter’s reasoning I always check the parsing with the hint before I complain.
I usually struggle with *** puzzles, but I finished it with only one piece of electronic help. I didn’t like the answer to 26d which was the one i needed help with. **/***
Finished this unaided except for the SW, had not heard of 26d. Lots of clever and tricky clues but challenging and doable. Although not one I solved, 20d is COTD. I have to admit I looked for the unknown answers in Thursday’s newspaper, which is delivered at my early morning tea time. The Quickie pun eluded me also, and I got this from Thursday’s newspaper as well. Thanks to setter for a very enjoyable puzzle and to 2 Kiwis for the hints which I shall now enjoy reading.