DT 29968 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
View closed comments 

DT 29968

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29968

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Good morning from South Staffs. A cloudy start to the day, with some sun forecast for later.

A reasonably straightforward puzzle today, with no particular hold-ups for me.

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           Doubt one’s booked (11)
RESERVATION – Double definition, the second being what books you a seat on a train or a table in a restaurant.

7a           Man that’s engaged to be shown round northern capital (7)
FINANCE – Insert the abbreviation for Northern into a male engaged person.

8a           Player using this must be off pitch (5-2)
THROW-IN – Cryptic definition of a way of restarting play in football when a ball goes over the touchline. The player who puts the ball back into play must do so from off the pitch.

Stoke want to KILL OFF long-throws with rule change despite icon Rory Delap's efforts putting them on Premier League map

10a         Alarm with Kew becoming wild — who makes the rules? (8)
LAWMAKER – Anagram (becoming wild) of ALARM and KEW.

11a         Current form (6)
STREAM – Double definition: a current of water; or a form of students sorted by ability or choice of subject.

13a         Roars through small housing area (4)
BAYS – Put together a two-letter word for ‘through’ and an abbreviation for Small, then insert an abbreviation for Area.

14a         Cool way to join clubs with wine (6,4)
STREET CRED – Put together a way or road, the abbreviation for the club suit in a deck of cards, and a colour of wine.

16a         Cricket side scoring boundaries only, apparently at a crawl (2,3,5)
ON ALL FOURS – The side of a cricket field also known as ‘leg’, followed by what the scoresheet would show if you only score by hitting the ball along the ground to the boundary.

18a         European city industrial action with no opening or closing (4)
OSLO – Start with a phrase (2-4) for a type of industrial action short of an all-out strike, then remove the first and last letters.

21a         Plan six hundred Scottish river bridges (6)
DEVICE – Put together the Roman numerals for six and one hundred, then wrap a Scottish (or Welsh) river round the result.

22a         Want to lodge in tower? Up to a certain point (4-4)
KNEE-DEEP – Another word for the main tower in a castle, wrapped round a word for ‘want’ or ‘lack’.

Beautiful Girl In A Bikini Standing Knee Deep In Sparkling Sunlit Water In A Tropical Lagoon In The Maldives While On Summer Vacation Stock Photo, Picture And Royalty Free Image. Image 95079377.

24a         Daughter with severe wavering gets merit (7)
DESERVE – An abbreviation for Daughter followed by an anagram (wavering) of SEVERE.

25a         Comparatively prickly, more like a Macbeth character deprived of whiskey (7)
ITCHIER – There are three characters in the Scottish play who meet around a cauldron. Start with a word which could mean ‘more like such a character’, then remove the letter represented by Whiskey in the NATO alphabet.

26a         What’s eaten at the seaside with bread that’s old-fashioned now? (4,3,4)
ROCK AND ROLL – Put together a tooth-breaking seaside sweet, another word for ‘with’, and a one-person piece of bread, to get a dance from a good few years ago.

Down

1d           Part of airport entered by a person taking flight (7)
RUNAWAY – A (from the clue) is inserted into the part of the airport used for taking-off and landing.

2d           Dessert, when service should be given, we hear (6)
SUNDAE – A dessert which sounds like (we hear) the day of the week traditionally associated with church services,

Strawberry sundae with shortbread biscuits - delicious. magazine

3d           Political comeback and encore lie in ruins — about time (2-8)
RE-ELECTION – Anagram (in ruins) of ENCORE LIE, wrapped round an abbreviation for Time.

4d           Plays a part while holding court (4)
ACTS – Another word for ‘while’ wrapped round an abbreviation for ‘court’.

5d           Jar of water with tons in, not gallons (8)
IRRITATE – Start with a verb for ‘water (a field or a crop)’, then replace the abbreviation for Gallons with an abbreviation for Tons.

6d           Item in magazine: ‘Wye, a river offering special time’ (3,4)
NEW YEAR – Hidden in the clue.

7d           Wholehearted, matador’s opponent came in a rush, employing twisted openings (4-7)
FULL-BLOODED – ‘Twisted openings’ indicates that our old friend Dr Spooner is involved here. Start with a word for the matador’s opponent (or victim) and a verb for ‘came in a rush (like water)’. Then change over the opening letters.

9d           Label on syringe used by groupie? (4-7)
NAME-DROPPER – another word for ‘name’ or ‘description’, followed by a sort of syringe for dispensing small quantities of liquid. The answer is not what I recall groupies being notorious for!

12d         Remember coming from Paddington? Cool view (4,2,4)
BEAR IN MIND – Start with the sort of creature that the fictional Paddington is, then add a word for ‘cool’ and another word for ‘view’ (as in ‘we’re all of one —-‘).

15d         In Madrid the church set up scam, almost being charged (8)
ELECTRIC – Put together the Spanish for ‘the’, the reverse (set up) of the abbreviation for the Church of England, and another word for ‘scam’ minus its last letter (almost).

17d         Counsel Victor to cut radio’s broadcast (7)
ADVISOR – Anagram (broadcast) of RADIO’S, with the letter represented by Victor in the NATO alphabet inserted.

19d         Select starter of shore-caught plaice, battered (7)
SPECIAL – The first letter (starter) of Shore-caught, followed by an anagram (battered) of PLAICE.

20d         Section of travel crossing that makes things fast (6)
VELCRO – Hidden in the clue.

23d         Food, Greek and French, consumed by footballers (4)
FETA – The initials of the governing body for English football, wrapped round the French for ‘and’.

Is Greek Feta Better? | The Cheese Professor


The Quick Crossword pun SCENT + TREE + BOKS = SENTRY BOX

54 comments on “DT 29968

  1. It’s rather strange that I have finished both Thursday’s and Friday’s puzzles unaided while I struggled at the start of the week. It has always been the other way round for me. This was a cracking puzzle with lots to like. Plenty of lateral thinking, head scratching and dropping pennies. My forehead is red from my slapping it while exclaiming “doh”! One of the clues that had me running all over the place was 1d. My brain insisted it was something to do with “landing” and it refused to let the idea go. My last in was 22a because, again, my brain insisted the second word was the tower. My COTD is 12d.

    Many thanks to the setter for the fun challenge and to DT for the hints, which I will now read.

    Wordle in 4. Waffle done with one turn left :phew: . Also a :phew: in Canuckle with no turns left.

  2. Very enjoyable indeed, though I have a feeling (and I may be wrong) that this may divide the commentariat.
    Top clues for me were 14,22and 26a plus 5d&7d with top spot going to 16a. Good stuff

    Many thanks to the setter and DT for the fun.

  3. Great fun while it lasted, a smile-inducing solve at almost every stage. I tuned in immediately to the setter’s wavelength, most fortunate in one sense but also meant the whole thing was over very swiftly. Hon Mentions to 5d and 22a with COTD to 25a – probably because I’ve been listening to some ISIHAC this week and so the Clue-like clue made me chuckle out loud.

    1* / 2.5*

    Many thanks to the setter (yes, Zandio may well be a good call) for the enjoyment, and to DT for the review.

  4. 2.5*/5*. What a splendid puzzle to finish the week with. Super-smooth surfaces and artful clueing lead to the conclusion that this was a Silvanus production.

    We effectively had a Spoonerism without any mention of our much beloved or much hated Reverend depending on your point of view!

    Very difficult to pick a single favourite or even a podium choice, but if you twist my arm I’ll go along with SC @1 and settle for 12d.

    Many thanks to presumably Silvanus and to DT.

    1. Interesting observation, RD – I wonder if that clue would have felt more off-putting had it included a reference to the Rev. S.?

      The pre-switcheroo answer to 7d could also be a reference to Ambridge’s pub – I think it has suffered such a calamity at least once.

      MG

      1. May we all hope and pray that the abominable Rev S is now forever dead and buried – dear, dear Compilers, please use an alternative, as this evident genius has done!

      1. :oops: Apologies both to you and to the actual compiler – my setter detector clearly needs to be sent away for a service. Nevertheless it was a top-notch puzzle, so many thanks to the mysteron. Please pop in and take a bow.

  5. I liked the cluing today and the surfaces in general, favourites were 16a 26a and 25a- read the play in my O level!.
    Although 7d was obvious,I had to read it carefully to get the parsing , enjoyed the solve and a**/**** for me.
    Thanks to DT for the pics- good quickie pun.

  6. Plenty to exercise the thinking-cap but it eventually came together clearing the East first. Not sure where groupie comes into 9d. Made life difficult for myself by ignoring Paddington in 12d and going for keep. Don’t know much about football so didn’t know official meaning of 8a. Merely using food for 23d is a bit weak. Three best for me were 7a, 16a and 26a. Thank you Mysteron and DT.

      1. Yes but nevertheless just “Greek food” is quite broad – bit like cluing cheddar merely as English food.

  7. Puzzle of the week for me. Feels like Silvanus, it’s that good. Not only is there a Spooneristic twist but a wealth of witty insertions and clever lurkers. So many gems to choose from but here goes: 12d, 7d, 14a, for starters, and many contenders. Not knowing the scoring feature in 16a, I bunged in the only thing it could be; I did know the football term, though. And 26a wins the Clarkie for making me laugh and reminding me of Graham Greene–always a good thing for me. Thanks to DT and todays setter. 2*/5*

    1. Well, I see that it’s not Silvanus. Kudos nonetheless to whoever it is. I obviously loved this puzzle.

  8. With proXimal last week and Zandio two weeks ago I was expecting the third member of the Friday triumvirate today. But, during solving, there was a sprinkling of clues that made reconsider my expectation, which said third member has confirmed in Comment 4. So, in the end, I concluded that this was probably an enjoyable slightly tricky Zandio production. Of course, even that might be incorrect. 3*/3.5*.

    Candidates for favourite – 1a, 14a, 16a, and 9d – and the winner is 16a.

    Thanks to Zandio(?) and to DT.

  9. Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to analyse and discuss. Have a great weekend.

    1. Thanks Zandio, especially for murdering the Rev S – but I wish to take you to task for clueing that R&R is old fashioned!

  10. Very enjoyable, lots of clever clues and no weird words. My fav 16a but it was difficult to choose out of so many.
    Nice to see the Setter commenting, thank you Zandio.
    Thx to all
    **/****

  11. I thought this a deliciously bonkers puzzle. My favourite of the week; no Japanese aprons in sight (illustration for future reference). The cryptic elements are drawn most delightfully.

    Often, my last one in is a tidgy answer and it was the same here, with 13a making me ponder, even with checking letters, until I ‘got’ it.

    The weather in Surrey continues to confuse. Yesterday was warm enough to sit outside; today is somewhat shivery. Lola enjoyed a bit of basking yesterday, but today is very much a sofa day for her.

    Thanks to Zandio, and Threat Of The Deep

  12. Haven’t commented all week due to iPad being in sick bay, I’m sure you all missed me terribly 🙄. This was the best puzzle of the week for me, mainly because I finished it. Had to reverse engineer the whyfors on some of my answers and check the parsing with the hints, but they were all filled in correctly and that’s all I care about. Completely missed the spoonerism as I had bunged it in due to it fitting the letters I had already. Thanks to all.

  13. Oh yes. Terrific fun. I’ll throw my vote in with 12d for best clue but 16,22,26a and 5&19d close behind. We are opening our village hall cinema again tonight after 2 years – hurrah. Everyone very excited, at £5 a throw it makes a nice little earner for us every month, happy bunnies all round. I shall be donning my usherette outfit! Many thanks to Zandio and DT ( I couldn’t justify 13a and it is still bottom of the pile). Notice as I said before, I got the crickety ones and have not had a moan. Have a good weekend.

  14. No problems for me. Only slight eyebrow raiser was the word makers in 10a. Great fun though. Favourite was 16a. Thanks to Zandio and DT.

  15. I was bang on wavelength and completed early this am. 12d and 25a were my last two in. Initially had a wrong letter in 21a as I thought of plan as a verb rather than a noun. 15d soon sorted that out. Favourites 18 22 and 26a and 7d. Thanks muchly to Zandio and DT. Bracing ourselves to leave this lovely part of the world and drive North. Super sunny day.

  16. Good puzzle with an abundance of top class clues of which many have already been mentioned. Only gripe is 9d. Since when has the answer been that? Yes the answer fits the cryptic part of the clue except for the word groupie which the BRB defines in the way we all think about them. The answer is wrong as such people are named after Richard Sole.

  17. Felt I had to add my plaudit to all the others here for the best back pager I’ve seen in a while.
    Many thanks Zandio for the entertainment. Many clues could go on the podium but I really liked the four letter 13a with 5d and 12d not far behind.
    **/*****

  18. All good stuff on a lovely sunny day with a perishing wind. No particular hold ups and also enjoy it when there are no obscure Japanese outfits. Thanks to Terence for the information which I shall probably lose. Thanks also to Zandio for popping in and DT. Wordle in 4, Quordle in 8 and Waffle with 3 swaps remaining.. Turned up for my seafood platter last night to be met with blank stares – wires crossed somewhere along the line, both chaps got Covid the day before their much needed holiday so probably still have brain fog. Getting it on Saturday instead.

    1. It’s very disappointing not to get something that you have been looking forward to. Particularly a seafood platter. I’d have cried myself to sleep for sure.

      1. I just felt sorry for them that they caught covid literally the day before they were due to fly to the US. They work so hard as it is a B and B as well and they have transformed the place and really needed a break. I can wait a couple of days.

  19. An excellent workout, Zio. 👏👏

    I am very much in the Speverend Rooner club as I think they’re great fun….in life and in crosswords.

  20. Given the trouble I had with this puzzle I would have guessed it was Zandio. Just can’t click on his wavelength.
    3.5*/2* for me today. Found, (as I do with Zandio), some of the clues somewhat convoluted and hard to fathom.
    Favourites include 1a, 8a, 26a, 9d & 12d with winner 9d

    Thanks to Zandio and DT

    Both Wordle and Canuckle in 4 today

  21. Thanks to Zandio for a do-able puzzle and to DT for clearing up my lazy (non-existent) parsing of 4d & 13a. Chalk to the rest of the world’s cheese, despite some gems (16, 22a), I felt some overly long clues creaking under the strain in places.
    I’m envious you knew some groupies DT.

    1. Knowing what groupies were notorious for, and knowing any groupies, are two entirely different matters, My knowledge is limited to the former!

  22. Evening all! I hope everyone is well.
    A rare excursion back to the DT, and very enjoyable too. Not too tricky after a very difficult puzzle in the Guardian.
    I enjoyed 7d…
    Thanks both…

    1. Well done on your Vlad completion the other day – can’t believe you thought Anto the next harder.

      1. Thanks, Anto and I seem on very different wavelengths, plus Thursday is not a good day for me as I have to go to London for work. Tramp today was beyond me. How did you get on with it?

  23. With apologies for striking a contrary note but this one didn’t quite do it for me. Very surprised RD had it pegged as a Silvanus production because I thought some of the surface reads weren’t great & that’s never the case with him (back me up Jane). That said still an enjoyable & fairly straightforward solve with clues to admire.
    Thanks to Zandio (my 5 bob was on you) & to DT
    Off for a few days golfing in sunny & windy Suffolk at Thorpeness Golf Club – plenty of inviting gorse to swallow my errant shots.

  24. I often struggle with Zandio but today’s puzzle was a delight, thanks! Too many good clues but being a fan of the marmalade loving fella, I’ll go for 12d.
    Thanks to Zandio and DT.

  25. Very late to comment having been out with a friend for most of the day, although I did solve this one before leaving home.
    Never occurred to me that it was by anyone other than Zandio – I don’t write ‘hmm’ alongside any of the clues from Silvanus!

    Thanks to our compiler anyway – he’s used to the fact that I’m not a huge fan – and thanks to DT for the review.

  26. Another very late to comment day as Mrs YS and I have been shivering to death watching Worcestershire play Sussex at New Road. I absolutely loved this Zandio puzzle, finding it pleasingly tricky in places but full of fun and misdirection.

    Thanks to the aforementioned and to DT.

  27. Thoroughly enjoyed this one mostly solved in a very early morning session prior to a day fishing, followed by the last three clues after getting home. Perfectly suited to my day.

  28. Fantastic puzzle — thank you to Zandio for devising the fun, and Deep Threat for a couple of hints I used to check I was along the right lines. (Which I’m claiming I only needed because I was solving it late, after a day’s travelling, on which I somehow managed to get lost while supposedly going straight along the same road …)

    Like Taylor, I was surprised (and slightly thrown by) 10a having “make” in both the clue and answer.

    It’s great to see so many different clues getting mentioned as favourites. Mine were 5d’s jar of water and 20d’s crossing making things fast.

    If all crosswords were like this, I’d never get anything else done!

Comments are closed.