DT 29808

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29808

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This puzzle was published on 16^th October 2021

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

A return to the old days with a crossword from Cephas which actually appeared on the back page of the newspaper and didn’t take long solve – I don’t seem to remember quite as many pangrams when I first started blogging Cephas’ Saturday Prize Puzzles but this one definitely was part of the new ‘normal’

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Across

1a    Medieval tournament, not old, is fair (4)
JUST – Remove the O (not old) from a JoUST (medieval tournament)

3a    Show‘s former location (10)
EXPOSITION – EX (former) POSITION (location)

8a    Plainchant in service (8)
EVENSONG – EVEN (plain) SONG (chant)

9a    Right in front of you and me, hard apple (6)
RUSSET – R (right) in front of US (you and me) and SET (hard)

10a    Wicked nuns stripped in front of Christmas decoration — heartless! (6)
UNHOLY – The inside (stripped) letters of nUNs in front of HOlLY without the letter at the ‘heart’

11a    American representative not characteristic (8)
ATYPICAL – A (American) TYPICAL (representative)

13a    Toil with same ground that is most fertile (8)
LOAMIEST – An anagram (found) of TOIL with SAME

14a    Fingers perhaps something found in excavations (6)
DIGITS – IT (something) found in DIGS (excavations)

16a    Felix’s short sleep? (6)
CATNAP – A cryptic definition of a short sleep of a feline called Felix

19a    Reportedly eavesdrop in this direction (4,4)
OVER HERE – A homophone (reportedly) of OVERHEAR (eavesdrop)

21a    Gossip with school facing lows, it’s said (8)
SCHMOOZE – SCH (school) facing a homophone (it’s said) of MOOS (lows)

22a    Open a French shawl (6)
UNWRAP – UN (French indefinite article) WRAP (shawl)

23a    Subtle difference when one’s leaving pest (6)
NUANCE – IS (one’s) leaving NUisANCE

24a    It is said to be coming from young child (4,4)
BABY TALK – How a young child would speak

25a    Pastime building card-castle (4-6)
CATS-CRADLE – An anagram (building) of CARD-CASTLE where even the hyphen plays its part!

26a    Weather when sun god is not out? (4)
RAIN – RA (sun god) IN (not out)

Down

1d    Couple jibe endlessly about average man in the street (3,6)
JOE PUBLIC – An anagram (about) of COUPLE JIBe, ‘endlessly’ telling you to omit the E

2d    Number of orders booked many years ago (3,12)
TEN COMMANDMENTS – Orders put in a Book of the Bible many years ago

3d    Group of organisms, green sort (7)
ECOTYPE – ECO (green) TYPE (sort)

4d    Display insect under leaf (7)
PAGEANT – ANT (insect) goes under PAGE (leaf)

5d    Hurried round fish, kept it moist (7)
SPRAYED – SPED (hurried) goes round RAY (fish)

6d    Judging people’s feelings is what one might be doing getting into bath (7,3,5)
TESTING THE WATER – What you might do before getting into a bath

7d    Old province of birth (5)
NATAL – Double definition

12d    Back at sea (3)
AFT – The nautical word for back

15d    Older lamb’s family’s fleece (9)
SHEEPSKIN – SHEEP (older lamb) KIN (family)

17d    Round bit? (3)
ARC – A bit of a circle (round)

18d    Be first individual to enter wharf (7)
PIONEER – ONE (individual) to ‘enter’ PIER (wharf)

19d    Offer more in order to take the lot? (7)
OVERBID – What you might do at an auction in order to take a lot

20d    Not easily disturbed by question and answer in rising river (7)
EQUABLE – QU (question) and A (answer) in a reversal (rising) of the River ELBE

21d    Young fellow in charge of sound (5)
SONIC – SON (young fellow) IC (in charge)