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DT 30023 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30023 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club

Hosted by Senf

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

Hello, it’s me again.  Apparently Mr Mick Lynch does not appreciate that Tilsit has an important, non-railway, task on Saturdays and that the ‘fallout’ from a railway strike should really not be allowed to interfere with it.  Heigh-ho.

Somewhat repetitively, for the last six Saturdays we have had Cephas pangrams, so I was expecting a Floughie Lady production today but we have another pangram, detected very early on for me, so I must conclude that it is the seventh Cephas puzzle in a row.

Some of the usual features of the Saturday Crossword Club might be missing, but the important parts are here.

Candidates for favourite – 4a, 12a, 21a, 4d, and 18d.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.  Thinking of weekend prize crosswords – CL tells us on the DT Puzzles Website that Sunday Toughie Number 22 will be another by Zandio.

Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Some hints follow:

Across

7a According to three-quarters of panel, Edwin lied under oath (8)
A three letter term equivalent to according to, three of four letters of a panel (in a court), and an abbreviated form for Edwin.

9a Target i.e. fluttering bird (8)
An anagram (fluttering) of TARGET I.E. – I thought that Cephas might have slipped in a French word here but the BRB does not think so.

10a Meat from father’s vehicle found in ship, oddly (8)
A childish or familiar synonym for father followed by a type of vehicle (that has made a comeback in several British cities) contained by (found in) the odd letters (oddly) of ShIp.

13a Nearly everyone in union has parity (8)
A synonym of everyone with the last letter removed (nearly) inserted into (in) the name of a (trade) union for creative practitioners.

21a Joint holder (6)
A device often used when a joint (of meat) is rolled up to hold it together during roasting.

23a On strike, catch in the deep? (8)
A three letter term for on strike and a verbal, and more generic, synonym for catch (in a ball game).

26a An engaging person (8)
A term for a person who engages someone after satisfactory review of CV, interview, etc.

Down

1d Not perturbed having fun with adze dangerously (7)
An anagram (dangerously) of FUN with ADZE.

2d Bachelor edited psalm — it related to religious ceremony (9)
The two letter abbreviation for a bachelor who has completed a university programme and an anagram (edited) of PSALM – IT.

4d Is it plain sailing in this covered wagon? (7,8)
A synonym for plain (particularly in North America) and a type of sailing vessel (sailing in this).

5d Just terrible, leader being deposed (8)
A synonym of terrible with the first letter removed (leader being deposed).

14d Ample light acceptable on moving train (9)
A three letter synonym(?) of light (as in illumination) and the single letter used for acceptable all placed before (on) an anagram (moving) of TRAIN.

22d Feel dizzy in this pool? (5)
A double definition(?) – the second refers to a pool in which water is not still.


A little tongue in cheek (I suppose I should add this for those who aren’t or never were anoraksCoronation Scot – Wikipedia ):

The Crossword Club is now Open, and I will ‘see’ you again tomorrow.


The Quick Crossword pun:

APPLE + HAITIANS = APPALACHIANSa system of mountains in Eastern to Northeastern North America.


Could new readers please read the Welcome post and the FAQ before posting comments or asking questions about the site.

As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment.

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62 comments on “DT 30023 (Hints)

  1. I enjoyed this. 4a and then 1d fired an eary pangram alert. I like 19a. Thanks to Senf and today’s setter.

  2. I started with the downs and was immediately on pangram alert. Steady progress anticlockwise brought me to the Geordie corner and that was where I found the final letters I needed. A new to me spelling of the bird but BRB to the rescue as usual. 10a 19a and 14d get the podium today.
    Thanks to Senf and setter, presumably Cephas but I am beginning to wonder if Chalicea might also spring a pangram occasionally.

    1. No, it might happen by accident for me but I don’t try to create pangrams, as using all of the J X Z V Q gang does tend to oblige the setter to include a few more obscure words and it’s tough trying to be a Floughie lady if those creep in. I’m hoping to be with you again soon.

      1. It’s good to hear from you. Thanks for popping in and I will be looking forward to ‘seeing’ you again soon.

  3. Excellent puzzle that was just on my level. 9a was a new bird to me and my last in was 16a, needed to Google to make the association with Oldham, not a team I know. Best for me was 4d, reminded me of Rowdy Yates in Wagon Train.
    Thx to all but the hints were only needed for those that were not hinted – Plus ca change, plus ce la meme chose!
    **/****

  4. ‘Plus ca change’, indeed, Brian! Yet another pangram, yet full of all kinds of different goodies, like 14d, 21a (my LOI), & 4a. A fast but enjoyable finish for me, as I reminisced over John Ford’s great Western, ‘Stagecoach’, and longed for the days of my youth once again–so a special Clarkie award to 4d. Thanks to senf and Cephas. 1.5* / 4*

  5. Smooth and sweet, today’s pangram brought lots of smiles and no head-scratching. A couple of quick Google’s required to double check the wagon and alternative birdie spelling. Many thanks for stepping up again Senf, and to the setter for 4 & 5d, 23 & 24a.

  6. A brief and gentle start to the cruciverbal weekend, rather heavy on anagrams and, with this particular grid, sadly short on clues! Hon Mention to 4a.

    1* / 2*

    Thank you to the setter, and to Senf for standing in.

  7. 2*/3*. An enjoyable pangram to start the weekend.

    In cricket, I don’t think that “catch” is synonymous with the word needed to solve 23a, but perhaps it is in baseball or some other sport?

    4d & 14d were my top two.

    Many thanks to Cephas (?) and to the ever ready Senf.

    1. [redacted – it’s a prize puzzle – read the instructions in RED below the hints] is in the BRB, RD, specifically in relation to cricket or baseball. One might indeed say of some great [redacted – it’s a prize puzzle – read the instructions in RED below the hints]

    2. When I read/solved 23a I thought ‘Oh dear, what will RD say about this one?’ which is why I decided to describe the synonym as ‘more generic’ in the hint. The best I could do considering the clue.

    3. I’m pretty sure that (even in cricket) a player can ***** the ball by a clean catch or stopping it somehow from bouncing/rolling towards the boundary.

      1. Tiz not the case, Jo South East. You are clearly not a cricketer.

        Catch, in cricket, is most definitely not a synonym of the second half of the answer. To ***** is to gather or stop the ball.

        RD, being a cricketer, knows this. He was just being polite.

        But, as he correctly says, Cephas may be referring to another sport.

        1. I apologise for bruising your ego, but, clearly you have not looked up the second half of 23a in the BRB!

          Rule 1 – The BRB is right even when it’s wrong.

          Rule 2 – If in doubt consult Rule 1.

          I will have to try and remember to ensure that a direct quote is included as a comment in the full review of the puzzle on Friday.

          1. You too are obviously not a cricketer which is most definitely the case with Cephas.

            The cricket term to ***** has never been used on a cricket ***** meaning solely to catch.

            People say ‘The team did ***** well today’ which means their ground *****ing, catching and keeping was top notch’. If someone said ‘Their *****ing was great today, they are not referring to their catching alone. They would say ‘They caught well today’ or ‘Their *****ing was great today, in particular, their catching.

            *****ing is not an individual thing. It’s a group of actions:

            Ground *****ing
            Catching
            Backing up
            Keeping
            The captain’s ***** positioning
            How quickly the team change between overs

            You would not say ‘The wicket keeper *****ed well today’. You would say ‘They kept well today’

            My bet is that Cephas has looked it up, hoping to find ‘catch’ as a definition and, unbelievably, it is in there. Saying that, two of the three definitions are baseball.

            I have said over the last two or three years that, if a rarely-used synonym is in the dictionary, it is a synonym. None of this stretched malarkey.

            But for the verb ***** to mean catch is plain wrong as the listener would reply ‘What part of the *****ing are you referring to?’

            It’s never used.

            I am amazed that it’s in the BRB.

            In fact, I’m tempted to get on their case.

            Cephas, please accept my apologies and ignore all of the above if you’re referring to baseball.

            You do need to try and park personal comments like ‘bruised ego’, btw.

            It has no benefit.

          2. Having read my post, I was being overreactive to catch (in cricket) being in the dictionary which is plain wrong and I will argue that to the hilt.

            So, I went off on one.

            You are, of course, correct. If it’s in the BRB then all is tickety boo.

            Forgive the rant and my personal comment to you at the end, Senf.

            Apologies, once more, Cephas.

            That’ll teach me to post after midnight.

            I’m off to the Land of Nod.

  8. Another Saturday, another pangram and another stint of overtime for Senf – quite a pattern that’s set up over the past few weeks!
    12a amused and 4a was probably my favourite.

    Thanks to Cephas and to the afore-mentioned hard-working blogger.

  9. Went smoothly until halting at 23 and 26a and 15d.
    Got stuck into a groove about matters matrimonial with 26a until the proverbial penny.
    Then successfully ignored matters maritime and solved 23a.
    Then 15d fell thanks to its last checking letter.
    Gold for 12a.
    Many thanks to the setter and Senf.

    1. Matters maritime foxed me at 23a….needed the hint for the penny to drop.

  10. I don’t have a BRB just dictionaries and books on birds and none of them gave 9a so I resorted to Mr Google. NE held me up the longest but an enjoyable solve and spotted the pangram early. Still can’t parse 11a though but it has to be what it is. Thanks to the setter and Senf for nobly standing in again.

  11. South went in smoothly however North contained a few hiccups but I did come through in the end. I agree with Senf re 9a in feeling that in English it is not the bird itself. It seems to me that from the the clue the ‘s’ is doing double duty (possessive and ship oddly) or am I misreading it? My Fav surface was 1a and that was joined by 4d when Google jogged my memory. Thank you Cephas for the enigmatic fun and Senf for being there yet again in case of our need. Commiserations to Tilsit in his labours.

    1. In 10a – I parsed it as the possessive S being being there to aid the surface reading and nothing else, which is not an unusual occurrence.

    2. The possessive S is indicating what the (singular) father “has” after/on it in the answer once you’ve worked the word-play out.

  12. A fairly straightforward puzzle, which even I recognized as a pangram an what a rhoroughly enjoyable crossword it was. COTD was 4d, with 4a, 9a and12a as runners up. Thanks to Cephas for his consistently good pangrams and to Senf for filling in for Tilsit. Like many others, I suspect, if it weren’t for the lack of a shredded wheat hairdo, I would think I was listening to an Arthur Scargill 1980’s rant, not Mick Lynch in 2022. Plus ca change….. etc as others have remarked akready.

    1. I remember Paul Temple jumping off a burning building into the Thames, nearly drowning and having to be rescued. Everyone wanted him to go to hospital but our hero shrugs it all off with a stiff brandy and gets on with things. 😎

      Also, what an obedient wife Stevie was!

  13. Good puzzle for a Saturday with only a little electronic help needed. Thank you to the setter and to Senf.

  14. For some reason I struggled a bit with this one, mainly I suspect, because I refused to use electronic help to solve 9a and 4d which would have speeded up the solving process. That said, it was still entertaining and challenging enough to be worthy of a prize puzzle. 14d proved to be my favourite.

    Thanks to Cephas and Senf.

  15. I, too, was on pangram alert with solving 1d. Standard Saturday puzzle, as have been the last few, considering Cephas appears to be on again this week. 2.5*/4* for me. Left side went is easily with SE last area completed.
    Favourites include 4a, 19a, 4d & 14d with 14d winner
    New bird for me in 9a and new plant in 25a. Live and learn.

    Thanks to Cephas and Senf for another DD weekend to let Tilsit play trains.

  16. A bit late on parade today as we went to Anglesey for the day. Had rather a pleasant lunch in The Anglesey Arms by the Menai Bridge. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed today’s challenge and, for once, I saw the pangram. I didn’t know 9a despite understanding how to work out the answer – trying to avoid the naughty step here. I am not sure about 11a -the answer fits but I can’t parse it.

    My COTD is 10a.

    Huge thanks to Cephas for the fun. Thank you, Senf for stepping in for the hard worked Tilsit and for the hints.

    1. You were only a stone’s throw away from me in Beaumaris! Glad you enjoyed your lunch although it’s not an eatery I would have recommended.

      1. We went to Beaumaris, Jane! We nearly visited The Gazelle but a rather impatient driver was behind us and we missed the turn. The Anglesey Arms served its purpose, though.

  17. An enjoyable Saturday puzzle for me.
    Needed Senf’s excellent hint for 23a .
    Also needed to check the BRB for the bird and for 6d.
    Spotted the pangram which is always a help.
    Thanks to Cephas and to Senf.

    Solved in the pretty borders town of Kelso where we are spending a few days. The sun is shining, the skies are blue.😊

  18. Excellent puzzle with lots to like. Only problem for me was 9a bird. These are frequent visitors to the lake behind out house, and taking off and landing is a sight to see. Not so pleasant is to see them swallow a large snake, whole. We know it as the five letter name. Not the 8 given in the clue. When I googled it, the information was that the 8 letter word actually refers to the plumes on the bird’s head, not the bird itself. Big smiles for 8a, 16a and 4d. 16a was a throwback to when we had to be quiet when my Dad was doing the football pools. Thanks to Cephas and to Senf for stepping into the breach.

    1. That’s exactly where I was taken back to, BL. Checking the football pool was a regular weekly occupation for my dear old dad – he never did come up trumps.

    2. My Dad also did the pools and we had to be deathly quite as the results were read out. I used to love the name of Hamilton Academicals. 😃

      One Saturday Dad wanted one score draw for a huge win. When he did not get it, he screwed the pools paper up, threw it in the fire with a loud curse and never did the pools again.

      I have him to thank for my love of cryptics.

  19. Not on the wavelength today at all. Got about half a dozen clues then came to a grinding halt.

    Thanks to all.

    1. Had another visit and got a few more, but still staggered that everyone else thought this was an easy solve.

      Is everyone here a twitcher to get 9a?

      The plant in 25a – the acronym results in two different answers. I picked the wrong one, which certainly didn’t help the SE corner. I hadn’t heard of either plant, so I had no way of knowing I had picked the wrong one.

      There also seems to be a never ending source of new cricketing terms. My brain doesn’t have the capacity for them all.

      I resorted to another website for many of the answers. Not something I normally have to do on a Saturday.

      I’m sure the above sounds like a whinge, but it certainly isn’t, I just wanted to give some feedback for the not-on-the-wavelength people.

      Again, thanks to all.

  20. 1/4. This was the easiest SPP of the year for me but enjoyable. Right up my street. The pangram alert came early on (1d). Thanks to the setter and Senf.

  21. Thanks to Cephas and to Senf for the hints. A very enjoyable puzzle, with some good clues. Was beaten by 9a, despite having all the checkers, and the anagram fodder. Had never heard of it. I liked 19a, but my favourite was 22a. Very clever clue. I realised it might be a pangram when I solved 1d. Was 2* / 4* for me.

  22. Can someone let me know how *** is used for “acceptable” in 14d – thanks

    1. Welcome to blog.

      Firstly, I have had to remove a significant part of your comment; as it is part of the answer it ‘goes against’ the instructions in red underneath the hints.

      Perhaps more properly the interpretation of the use of the letter in this situation should be socially acceptable and there is the companion opposite of non-***. However, over time and especially by crossword compilers, it has come to be used as acceptable. This is shown in the ‘Big Red Book’ – Chambers Dictionary and I suspect that an e-search would provide similar information.

  23. 9a new to me & took an educated stab at arranging the fodder correctly then confirmed. An brisk solve helped considerably by being on pangram alert after 2d & 4a which were my first 2 in. All very enjoyable. 4d my favourite & like Robert immediately thought cinema.
    Thanks to the pangram king & the super sub.

  24. What a lot of comments today! Terribly late as I have just done this lovely puzzle sitting on a nice hot bath with a wee dram. DD2 took me on a shopping spree today and we were very late back so I missed my lunchtime session. I have been very naughty but had to make up for the bunch of garage flowers. And yes, it’s the thought that counts but the point is not much thought went into it! After 65 years I should be used to it but I have taken a stealthy revenge. No problems for me to have a moan about except the crickety one which I guessed at. Pangram alert was helpful for 13a. Many thanks to Cephas and to Senf for standing in.

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