DT 29785 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 29785

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29785

Hints and tips by pommers

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Hola from the Vega Baja where summer is slowly drawing to a close. We’re forecast rain for tomorrow and temperatures not reaching 30°C but then normal service is due to return for a few days.

Today we have the usual Monday elegance but perhaps a little on the easier side of the spectrum of difficulty. Well, I thought it so but no doubt many of you will disagree.

As usual the ones I liked most are in blue.  The definitions are underlined in the clues and the answers are under the “click here” buttons so don’t click on them unless you really want to see the answer.  Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across  

1a           Accelerate when favourite’s back in the lead (4,2)
STEP UP:  The usual teacher’s favourite (don’t forget the ‘S) is reversed (back) and followed by a word meaning leading or ahead in a game.

5a           Lark, notice, in flight (8)
ESCAPADE:  A notice or an advert in a flight, as in fleeing.

9a           Popular, a New York fixture, whatever happens (2,3,5)
IN ANY EVENT:  The usual two letters for popular, the A from the clue and New York and then a fixture as in a football match.

10a         Examine some graduate students (4)
TEST: A lurker hiding in (some) the last two words.

11a         Truthfulness of account given by member of the clergy’s office (8)
ACCURACY:  Two letters for account followed by the office of a junior clergyman.

12a         Piece that is for one who’s just started (6)
ROOKIE:  A chess piece followed by the two letters for “that is”.

13a         State of Aunt Kath, regularly (4)
UTAH:  Alternate letters (regularly) from Aunt Kath.

15a         Love fine route followed, naturally (2,6)
OF COURSE:  O (love) and F(ine) followed by a route or direction, of a ship perhaps.

18a         Tackle a gutted plump fish (8)
APPROACH:  The A from the clue followed PP (gutted P(lum)P) and a freshwater fish.

19a         Support husband, advanced in years (4)
HOLD: H(usband) followed by a word meaning advanced in years.

21a         Specimen politician put into auction (6)
SAMPLE: The usual politician inserted into (put into) what an auction is an example of.

23a         A radio broadcast about left and right in force (8)
RAILROAD:  Anagram (broadcast) of A RADIO placed around (about) an L(eft) and an R(ight).

25a         Nobleman given attention by lake (4)
EARL:  A word for attention next to (by) an L(ake).

26a         Formal proposal concerning answer to problem (10)
RESOLUTION:  Two letters for concerning or about followed by the answer to a problem or crossword.

27a         Severely criticise article on Roman temple (8)
PANTHEON:  A charade of a word for severely criticise, a definite article and the ON from the clue.

28a         In close, judge houses (6)
TRENDY:  A word for close or finish is inserted into (houses) a word meaning judge or check out.

Down

2d           Shot in the arm in Washington, I collapsed (5)
TONIC:  Another lurker hiding in (in) the last three words.

3d           Clerical worker in dock, one dealing in drugs (3-6)
PEN PUSHER:  A type of dock, usually associated with submarines, followed by an illegal drug dealer

4d           Page about marvellous quickly assembled property (6)
PREFAB:  A charade of P(age), two letters for about and a slang term meaning marvellous.

5d           All, without exception, envy her sort? Some, anyhow (5,7,3)
EVERY MOTHERS SON:  Anagram (anyhow) of ENVY HER SORT SOME.

6d           New picture frames charged originally at a reduced rate (3-5)
CUT PRICE:  Anagram (new) of PICTURE placed around (frames) a C (Charged originally).

7d           Courtyard built by Irishman I love? (5)
PATIO:  One of the usual Irishmen followed by the I from the clue and O (love in tennis).

8d           Ring about second young lady’s redundancy (9)
DISMISSAL: A word meaning ring, on the phone, placed around (about) an S(econd) and a young lady.  Strictly speaking this clue is wrong.  It’s not a young lady but an unmarried one who might well be 90 years old.

14d         Best fruit for boss (3,6)
TOP BANANA:  A word for best followed by a fruit.

16d         Cinema worker in uniform reset the reels (9)
USHERETTE:  U(niform) followed by an anagram (reels) of RESET THE.  I spent some time trying to make an anagram (reset) of THE REELS, d’oh!

17d         Having few worries about a heartless whistle-blower (8)
CAREFREE:  A single letter for about followed by the A from the clue and the whistle blower on a football pitch but without his middle letter (heartless).

20d         Cocktail made by male wearing waistcoat (6)
GIMLET:  M(ale) put inside (wearing) a type of waistcoat or body warmer.

22d         Guide the Italian aboard vessel (5)
PILOT:  The Italian definite article put inside (aboard) a vessel or container.

24d         Steer clear of area containing nothing (5)
AVOID:  A(rea) followed by a word meaning containing nothing or empty.

Replace this with the Epilogue.


Quick crossword puns:

Top line:          BLEW     +     IDE     +     BUOY     =     BLUE EYED BOY

Middle line:     EKE     +     HONOUR     +     MISSED     =     ECONOMIST

Bottom Line:   EMMA     +     NAY     +     SHUN     =     EMANATION

77 comments on “DT 29785

  1. A great start to the week from Campbell although I did have a couple of bung-ins that will need the hints in order to verify. I’m not sure 7d can be described as a courtyard but I have not checked the BRB so cannot be sure. I did like 8d but I have no real favourites, it was just a joy to complete. I managed it unaided as well so the cruciverbal week is off to a good start.

    Many thanks, Campbell for the fun. Thank you, Pommers for the hints, which I will now check.

  2. Very gentle intro to the week. I’d not heard of the saying at 5d (I suspect it’s fallen out of use) or the cocktail at 20d but both easily obtained from the wordplay and checkers.
    Favourite 28a.
    1/2.5*
    Many thanks to the setter and Pommers from sunny South Devon.

  3. A nice relaxed puzzle from Campbell today, which I enjoyed (1.5*/4*). I liked 27a and 28a but COTD for me was the long anagram at 5d. Thanks to Pommers for the hints and to Campbell for another fine puzzle.

  4. A very friendly Monday morning from Campbell to get the week off to a good start. I thought the whole grid was well clued, with 20d and 18a joining my favourite, 17d, on the podium.

    Thanks to Campbell for the fun and to pommers.

  5. I had to take two bites at the cherry to get this one finished, in **/*** time in the end. It was the SE corner that held me up, with 28a being the last in and therefore COTD.

    Many thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  6. A gentle start to the cruciverbal week aided by some reappearances and several anagrams. I suppose second word of 5d is 7 letters (more discussion about the apostrophe?!). 28a stumped me but have to admit it’s clever. Thank you Campbell and pommers.

  7. Definitely 17d was 14d for me — absolutely brilliant and loi. I, too, mistook the anagram indicator in 16d, Pommers. Thanks for hints and for the super puzzle, Campbell.

  8. Whoosh, barely * time with just 20d to go.
    Shuddering halt.
    After experimenting with various consonants, bingo but pushed into ** time.
    Two words both entirely new to me.
    4d made me laugh.
    Many thanks to the setter and to pommers.

  9. Exactly the same as Hrothgar above. All a write in then ground to a halt with 20d plus for me also 28a. My main problem was slightly misreading 20d and trying to think of a cocktail of 6 letters beginning with M until I realised my error. Pushed me into ** time with *** for fun and thanks to pommers and Campbell.

  10. I liked 23a and 28a as the answers were not obvious. A nice bit of misdirection .
    I’m intrigued by 16d. Do these ladies still exist?
    My COTD is 20d as the answer helped me complete a section in a recent pub quiz.

    1. Not too sure. I haven’t been to the cinema since the old King went to Bognor. Sadly, I still call it the “pictures” which earns me a very sideways look from my grandson. He’s now a teenager and regards me as some rare species of dinosaur. Fair enough, I am.

    2. When we hold (held) our monthly cinema shows in our Community Hall my friend and I act as 16ds. Not in a uniform sadly, but we do go round at the half way break with a tray of ice creams!

  11. There’s a third pun today. I appreciate these are difficult to spot, as most people don’t solve the clues in the order in which they are printed.

  12. Lovely and friendly for a Monday. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers

    If you have crossword time left. Our old Sunday setter is in good form in the Graun and Jane’s favourite non-Irish detective is in the FT

    1. Thank you, CS, I’ve printed off my favourite detective’s offering for when I’ve appeased the housework gremlins.

  13. Nice Monday puzzle with no hiccoughs to report. Top two for me were 11&18a with a mention for the third Quickie pun which I only spotted when our setter mentioned it.

    Thanks to Campbell (loved your 2d in the online puzzle!) and to pommers for the review.

  14. Wot larks! A gentle breaking-in exercise for the cruciverbal week ahead. All enjoyable, but as SC said in (1) above, “no real favourites”.

    A typically polished and perfectly fairly clued Campbell Monday grid, to whom and for which my thanks, also to Pommers for the review.

    1* / 2.5*

  15. A DNF for me today or at least not without revealing the first letter of 20d. Forgot the jacket & never heard of the cocktail. Otherwise very straightforward & enjoyable as ever. On the plus side I did twig the piece at 12a after forgetting another one for the umpteenth time over the weekend so that I was unable to parse my answer.
    Thanks to Campbell & to Pommers.
    Ps Glorious sunshine in the Cotswolds.

  16. Made a note on completion and it seems that the bloggers are in unison today-just the rifgt puzzle for a Monday,nothing obscure and well clued throughout.
    Liked the surface of 27a,favourites were 28a and 23a.
    Thanks to our setter and Pommers for the pics-new cocktail for me.

  17. It’s Monday :good: It’s Campbell :good: 1.5*/4.5*

    No ideas on the third Quickie pun. Can someone with a dead tree version tell us the clues involved?

    Favourite – a toss-up between 28a and 17d – and the winner is 28a.

    Thanks to Campbell and pommers.

    1. I’ve just left you a message on yesterday’s post to say thanks for the ‘young lady’ and the answer is NO!

    2. Senf, the paper only italicises the clues for the first pun.

      So, readers of the dead tree version have no advantage over those without the paper on finding “all” the others.

  18. Lovely puzzle – right at my level, and a third pun bonus!

    We had a good weekend… Of course, Chelsea’s victory over a minor opponent yesterday was outstanding, and on Saturday we went for a smashing short walk – the Wotton Loop. Downside of this is that we were both bitten by something that must have been a cross between a manic mosquito and a pterodactyl, as we have never known bites like it.
    Wotton Loop – https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/england/surrey/watton-circular?u=i

    Today’s crossword soundtrack: XTC – Nonsuch

    Thanks to Campbell and pommers

    1. Seems there are no Tottenham supporters here today Terence. Or none that want to talk about it.

      Strange, cos I thought the top man was a fan……

      1. B. For an amusing exchange on this subject, take a look at comment 48 on DT 28172 – but have a look at the clue (19a) and the photo in the hints above first. :-)

  19. I’ve put the third pun in the review. Only just spotted Cambell’s comment as I’ve been without elecricity for the last couple of hours.

  20. 1* time 4****enjoyment. I don’t know what our old friend Bertie would make of this. Certainly my quickest solve ever. I spent less time on it than some single clues yesterday. I don’t mind as the clues are skilful and I can get on with some jobs. SE last in but that was just the way I was working. I hWad visions of being held up by 20d and 28a but soon in. I didn’t know I knew the cocktail but obvious when immersed in the garment I’m wearing. 16d was gettable having read the first two words of the clue so possibly my least favourite. I’ll give 2 and 23a and 3 7 and 17d as my favourites. Thanks Campbell and Pommers although I guess the hints won’t be much needed today even for parsing.

        1. I am pretty sure he must have been offended and moved off to a site more suited to his brain power.

  21. Thanks so much Campbell and Pommers for a gentle entrance to the week. It all fell into place very sweetly and I liked the top Quickie pun, my brother was definitely my mother’s 7,8,9 – he was and is a charmer and to cap it all, has thick wavy hair. So unfair.
    C’est la vie. Many thanks for the information Manders and we are booked into The Crown. Looking forward to it enormously although I think I shall skip the nudist beach. I’ve also just finished yesterday’s prize CC so all is well. My partner and I didn’t do very well at Canasta – didn’t get enough wild cards when we needed them. We play with each other’s husbands – I don’t know a better way of putting that – but it works very well and we have a lot of fun. We have a little book with a cumulative score which is now into the many thousands. Chris and I are only about 25,000 points behind so no cause for alarm.

    1. Glad to help DG, just hope its OK. Perhaps come up again and we will meet you at the Wells Crab House? Glad you are giving the nudists at Holkham a miss – there is NOTHING to write home about!

  22. Fast and fun…fast finish and fun to do. Glad to see that old axiomatic saying again at 5d; haven’t seen or heard it in years. Ergo, my COTD. The online puzzle #674 is another little gem. Thanks to Campbell for both and to pommers for the review. 1* / 4*

    202 years ago yesterday, John Keats wrote his grand ode “To Autumn” and this week I shall read it again and once more salute the greatest of the Romantic poets.

  23. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers. Like others I found it pretty quick and straightforward; although I hadn’t heard of 5d or 20d the clues and checkers made them very solvable. The only one that eluded me was 4d, just couldn’t see it. But my favourite was 14d; given the lack of complaints from commentators I guess that everyone is now familiar (thanks to a previous appearance) with the excellently colloquial phrase “Boss”, as in “This crossword was Boss, innit!”

  24. A gentle Monday puzzle, enjoyable enough while it lasted. 1.5*, 2.5*

    *8d. Under Miss, the BRB lists: “a person between a child and a woman” – so I believe “young lady” is OK.

  25. A fun challenge to crank up my brain on a sunny Monday in the Peaks. Got stuck finally on 28a but the penny dropped with a huge clang when I went back to it after a short break. My favourite clue was 17d – it just made me smile. Many thanks to Campbell and to Pommers.

  26. Like many others, 5d and the vest in 20d were new to me. At least I had heard of the cocktail so no hold up there. A lovely start to the week, so thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  27. 2/5. Great start to the week. Difficult to choose a favourite from such a packed field but at a pinch maybe 8d. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  28. A quick note to echo RC’s comment in (24) above – for those with access to the online puzzles, Campbell’s second cryptic challenge of the day (674) is just as enjoyable as his backpage puzzle, and is well worth a visit if you have the time.

  29. No problem with this brilliant puzzle, first time I’ve had a straight run from top to bottom. Could not parse 28a although it should have been obvious, but had bunged it in. 7d made me smile, I’m sure it’s been in before. Thanks to all.

  30. 1.5*/3.5*. This was a nice light puzzle to start the day, since when I have been to IT hell and back. After I had posted my comment on Rookie Corner, my laptop shut itself down for no apparent reason and steadfastly refused to reboot.

    It’s still under warranty and after a couple of long calls with the manufacturer, their technical guru recommended reinstalling Windows. It has worked and fortunately I have always been pretty conscientious about backing up all my data, but I have lost all my personalisations and shortcuts and a number of installed programs. I can see I am going to be busy for the next few days so my postings here may be intermittent for a while.

    Thanks to Campbell and to pommers.

  31. A typical Monday Campbell offering. 1.5*/4* for me today.
    Favourites 9a, 11a, 3d & 20d with winner 9a

    Thanks to Campbell and pommers

  32. Such a treat to complete a puzzle without resorting to e-help, I only had to look up the waistcoat. I am well familiar with 5d, my Mum was fond of saying that, probably a bit passé nowadays. As usual, so much to like, it’s really had to single out just one, 27a stood out, so did 3d. I’ve printed off the bonus, I’ll save that for a day when I’m struggling.
    Thank you Campbell, so nice to solve without frying my brain, and much appreciation to pommers for his hints and pics.

  33. A lovely puzzle which passed the time on my train journey from Birmingham to London. All done before Euston! Thanks to Campbell and Pommers */****

  34. Having spent the day learning about how to patch up the walking wounded and doing CPR (renewing my first aid certificate – interesting in COVID world!), this Campbell puzzle was the perfect way to relax and unwind. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers, although hints not required today.

  35. So very nearly finished without recourse to BigDave44 but 8d got me as just did not associate the clue and association. Have been learning how to ‘cryptic’ and BigD has been so helpful and frankly a joy. Thanks to all 😊

  36. Barely had time to eat my dinner but great fun. Favourite was 23a. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers

  37. Late on parade but not because of problems with the puzzle. It was typical Monday fare, enjoyable, straightforward, well clued, nothing to frighten the horses. Campbell’s offerings are the Labrador of back-pagers.
    3d gets my COTD.
    Thanks to both Campbell & pommers
    Losing the will to live with delivery firm Hermes. Four parcels in the last week misdelivered to “our safe place” (with photo which is neither our letter box and nor a letter box on our mile-long road).
    Tried contacting company by bot, useless, telephone got through to an automated response which ended by saying “your parcel has been delivered to your safe place thank you for calling Hermes”. Ironically yesterday I got an email asking me to review them & I gave everything 1 / 10 except “How likely are you to recommend Hermes to a friend”which allowed a 0 / 10 which is what it got. Not holding my breath that it will provoke a reaction.

  38. Evening all.
    Nice puzzle, just held up by the cocktail which was new to me.
    Not too much to say about the crossword other than thank the setter and the blogger.

  39. Quickest solve for a long time for me – I must finally be getting onto Campbell’s wavelength – but all good clean fun!

  40. Bought a Telegraph in Dublin Airport at 6pm and completed the crossword on the plane to Gatwick. Such great fun. How does he do it? So lucky to have Campbell on a Monday, thank you.

  41. This puzzle afforded me a pleasant subway ride home from work. Everything fell into place without much difficulty – lovely cluing (is that a word?) and misdirection. 28a was my LOi and 17d was my obvious COTD because I am a football whistle blower at weekends. I’m off for a quick 20d now. Thanks to Pommers and Campbell. */***

  42. Late to report on this one as had a very busy day yesterday…..mainly house cleaning which I detest….but my temper is much better today.

    I think I did this in my fastest time ever…..which is probably not all that fast compared to many but I claim it as my record.
    Enjoyed it all.

    Thanks to the setter (can it really be Campbell? I usually don’t get on with his clues) and to Pommers. Hope your electric is back on.

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