DT 30095 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30095 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30095 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)

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Good morning from a lovely sunny, if very chilly, autumnal day here in East Kent. It doesn’t take long to work out who set this week’s Prize Puzzle – the pangram with quite a lot of anagrams means it must be the work of Cephas

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.

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

2a    On good terms with class, head regularly knowing enough (4-8)
An informal expression meaning on good terms with, a school class and the regular letters of hEaD

9a    Officer of business cross with lover (8)
A officer in charge of a boat or crew – an abbreviated business, the letter that looks like a cross and a poetic word for a lover

13a    Drip returning, normal to remove front of optics? (6)
A reversal (returning) of an abbreviated (medical) drip and a synonym for normal without its first letter (to remove front)

17a    Forty winks Felix has? (6)
A cryptic definition of a short sleep, Felix being a common name for a feline pet

23a    Most wishy-washy from pub included by the way (8)
A pub inserted (included) between THE (from the clue) and an abbreviated way

24a    Simple type dressed in iron with gold torch (8)
Something simple or sweet inserted between (dressed in) the chemical symbols for iron and gold

26a    Infected? No admittance unfortunately (12)
An anagram (unfortunately) of NO ADMITTANCE

Down

1d    After most of month I take alternative lower rank (6)
Most of a month, I (from the clue) and a conjunction used to link alternatives

3d    Protected, like a building like one in Pisa (6)
A type of protected, usually historical, building or something that is leaning over like the one in Pisa

4d    Desperately recruit next man to bring in old form of assessment? (6,3,6)
An anagram (desperately) of RECRUIT NEXT MAN to into which (to bring in) is inserted the abbreviation for old

7d    Astonishingly, April due to give back number (8)
An anagram (astonishingly) of APRIL DUE – the number referring to anaesthetics rather than maths

14d    Second rug removed and purloined (9)
I’ve included a hint for this one because it took me a long time to see that it was an anagram (removed) of SECOND RUG

15d    Final defeat
that’s the end of the line? (8)
A final defeat or the name of a London railway terminus (at the end of the line)

22d    Own up now Frenchman has sex appeal (5)
The two-letter abbreviation meaning in the current times (now), an abbreviated Frenchman and one of the words used (mostly in crosswords these days) to mean sex appeal

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The Quick Crossword pun: WART + ERR + WHEY = WATERWAY

43 comments on “DT 30095 (Hints)

  1. Not the trickiest Saturday but great fun. There seems to a trend amongst setters at the moment for dodgy anagram indicators and today in 14d is no exception (goes with ‘blue’ for the other day). My favs were 24a and 7d as I had totally forgotten the usual meaning of that word in the clue.
    Thx to all
    ***/****

    1. No problem with the anagram indicator at 14d but can’t say I’d come across the definition as being synonymous with the answer

  2. 1.5*/3*. A nice light pangram for the first autumnal day of the year.

    Many thanks presumably to Cephas and to CS for her review, beautifully illustrated as ever.

    P.S, Sue, in your hint for 13a you have included the synonym of “normal” rather than the word “normal” itself.

    1. Thanks RD – it doesn’t matter how many times you read these things before publishing them, there’s always something not quite right :(

    2. Hi, RD. It is remarkable how often when writing hints our brains want to insert the required synonym instead of the word appearing in the clue. It was happening to me often enough that I added code to my blogging template to check for it.

  3. Like others before me, this proved to be the simplest solve for some time, yet it still managed to be most enjoyable and entertaining. 7d stood out for me as the outstanding clue of the grid. Great fun.

    My thanks to Cephas and CS.

  4. Got through it in ** time, despite taking too long to spot the anagram indicated in 14d. I particularly enjoyed 7d, 15d, and 17a.

    I was a bit surprised by half of 19d, but it’s in Chambers. Clearly it’s not something I have any knowledge of or particular interest in.

    1. You’ve expanded your alias since your last comment (in 2012 – where have you been?) so this needed moderation. Both versions of your alias will work from now on.

  5. Lots of fun as usual from our weekly pangrammer (though I find myself occasionally longing for the return of Chalicea!). My picks today are 7d, 14d, and 12a, which rather sounds a bit like someone very close to me these antique days. Thanks to CS and Cephas. ** / ***

  6. Excellent fare.
    Some great surfaces and clueing.
    Especially, 2 and 12a and 16d.
    Last in, to my shame, 15d.
    Pushed me into 2* time.
    Many thanks, Cephas, and CS for the nicely illustrated review.

  7. I did not find this one as straightforward as many have, but enjoyable nevertheless.
    Needed crypticsue’s hint for 14d……and doubt if I would ever have solved the clue without it.
    Also, to my shame , last in was 8a…..dim or what? Please nobody answer that.
    I did spot the pangram.
    Favourite has to be 7d. Won’t explain why for fear of the naughty step, but see Brian above.

    Thanks to Cephas and to crypticsue.

  8. As I solved this on my Friday evening, I can’t say that I got out of the wrong side of bed before looking at it but I thought that this pangramic anagram fest was not one of our setter’s finest offerings. For example, I am inclined to agree with Brian on the 14d anagram indicator. 2.5*/2*

    No standout favourites but I had smiles for 17a, 21a – pleasing to ‘see’ a different river for a change, and 24a.

    Thanks to Cephas and to CS.

  9. An enjoyable enough puzzle and I appreciated theanagrams and the crafty lurkers Some of the definitions were new to me, particularly 14d, and I couldn’t find anything to help me in the BRB. Thanks to CS for the hints, which were very helpful. I liked the long clue at 4d, 2a, 2d, 7d ( brings back a memory of great joy ). Thanks to Cephas, king of pangrams also.

    1. Chriscross – the 14d definition is in the listing for the answer, not in the past participle, in my BRB (Revised 13th Edition).

  10. Our Saturday setter seems to have an endless supply of pangrams, I can remember when they used to be viewed as something quite unusual!
    Both of the ‘2’ clues raised a smile as did 19d and 17a deserves a mention if only for CS’s delightful illustration.

    Thanks to Cephas and to the afore-mentioned CS for the hints – not needed today but nonetheless enjoyable.

      1. It certainly was although goodness knows what the health and safety gang would have to say about it these days!

        1. Granimal Doctor thoroughly approves. Although one might want a risk assessment before straying into MrK territory.

  11. Another Cephas pangram today, I am sure.
    A really nice puzzle with ‘x’ in twice! Enjoyed this solve on my Friday night after a lousy start to the day with torrential downpours, that did actually clear the air of smoke from forest fires in the interior of B.C.

    For me tonight it was a 1.5*/4* puzzle.

    Favourites include 23a, 24a, 5d, 15d & 16d — with winner 15d … a very clever clue that was also a chuckle.

    Thanks to Cephas and CS

  12. A very enjoyable puzzle and a pangram to boot!

    My last one in was 7D which was also my favourite.

    I’m sure someone will enlighten me, but to my mind 25A seems to be lacking an indicator word for that type of clue.

  13. Straightforward as they come and on pangram alert from the start. An enjoyable Saturday diversion. Favourite was 3d. Thanks to Cephas and CS.

  14. I think there are several ways of spelling 18 across and put in the wrong one, which took a time to move on. Grrrr Cooperman

  15. Just nicely stretching with NE last to yield. As I have previously noted there certainly do seem to be a miscellany of obscure anagram indicators these days (will avoid referring to them as “dodgy” as per Brian) but have to admit I really liked 7d. Perhaps the 13a 2-letter drip synonym is medically accepted as a stand-alone noun but I would regard it as an adjective. Thank you Cephas for the fun and CS for faithfully being there for us in case of need.

  16. I enjoyed this. Hard to pick a favourite. 17a has to be on the list, of course, and 7d has a lot going for it, but I’m going with the super smooth 26a.

    Thanks to our setter for the fun and to CS for the hints and pics, especially the one for 17a.

  17. Thanks to Cephas and to crypticsue for the review and hints. A very enjoyable puzzle, quite straightforward, but good fun. LOI was 13a, which took me a while to parse. Favourite was 24a. Was 2* / 3* for me.

  18. Over in Sheringham for Forties Weekend – everyone having fun but managed time for the crossword. Got stuck in the NW corner for a bit then everything fell into place. As usual didn’t notice it was a pangram.

  19. Lovely start to the weekend. I had to check the sewing case (again), spotted the pangram early (not that it ever helps) and had no issues with the contentious anagram indicator. COTD 2d for me. Thanks Cephas and CS.

  20. Oh dear – out of practice AND terribly tired out of spending two/three days in Sheffield with my sister – too much yapping!
    Too tired now to write much but thanks to CS.
    My last, and consequently favourite, was 19d.
    Thanks to Cephas for the crossword and to CS for the hints.

  21. Well that bought me down to earth, especially reading some of the above comments. I really struggled with this and took three visits to finish even with some electronic assistance.
    Must try harder 😒😒

  22. The genius of 8a. How could I have been thrown off track for so long by the deliberate mis-placed punctuation?

      1. I think the clue must qualify for inclusion in the list of the top ten examples of setters’ skills. Nice one, Cephas.

  23. Really liked 15d, my last one in and a proper ‘doh’ moment when I finally resorted to reading the hint! Thanks to CS and Cephas.

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