DT 30101 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30101 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30101 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by Gazza)

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Crypticsue and Mr CS are celebrating a significant anniversary today – many congratulations to them and best wishes for an enjoyable day. I’ve been called off the bench to provide a few hints for the Saturday Prize Puzzle.

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.

Today’s puzzle is not a pangram so I’ll leave you to guess the identity of the setter.

Some hints for what I consider to be the harder clues follow.

Across

1a Company vehicle covered by MOT in shot, burning (10)
Start with the abbreviation for company then insert a passenger vehicle into an anagram (shot) of MOT IN.

9a Protest, with one-third of listed building knocked down (10)
Assemble a protest or march, two letters of ‘listed’ and a simple building.

15a Swan beset by problems with feet and inner ears? (8)
A male swan is contained inside painful hard growths on the feet.

20a Wild consumers for a very long time eating rook! (8)
FOR from the clue and a very long time containing the chess abbreviation for rook.

27a Detach case of machine in hollow unit (10)
Insert a verb to detach or separate and the outer (case) letters of machine into a hollow or depression.

29a Soldiers by the hundred? (10)
Weakish cryptic definition of officers in charge of a hundred soldiers in the Roman army.

Down

1d Fish with a tail end (4)
A popular fish down the chippy followed by A.

2d One’s unclear about heartless Liberal turning up after old woman (7)
Stick together a preposition meaning about and the short form of Liberal without its middle letter. Now reverse that (turning up) and precede it with an affectionate term for one’s old woman.

11d The sound of someone happy with killing? (12)
What you might hear from a male person who’s happy (3’1,8).

21d Artist regularly cried about entering Lego building (2,5)
Insert the even letters of ‘cried’ and the single-letter abbreviation for about or approximately into an anagram (building) of LEGO.

25d First of all, used trucks easily sell as such vehicles (4)
The first letters of four words in the clue give us a short word used in Australia and New Zealand for small pick-up trucks.

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The Quick Crossword pun: LARS + BUT + KNOT + LEASED = LAST BUT NOT LEAST

59 comments on “DT 30101 (Hints)

  1. 1*/3*. As the main section of the newspaper wasn’t delivered on time this morning, I was compelled to solve this puzzle on line which I don’t really like having to do. Fortunately it all fell into place very quickly with just a small hold-up with my final couple of answers in the SE.

    The Quickie pun was my favourite.

    Thanks to the setter and to Gazza; and a very Happy Anniversary to Mr & Mrs CS.

  2. A DNF for me today. Just 3 that I couldn’t get, 20a, 27a and25d. Having read rhw hint for the last one, not being a resident of the Antipodes, I’m not surprised that I didn’t see it. Thanks for the hint for 20a, Gazza and Mr Chriscross has suggested a plausible answer for 27a. I liked some of the Lego clues and Crypic definitions, favourites being 15a, 11d, 8d and 23d. Thanks to rhe compiler too

  3. Not a pangram for a change–good! A nice, tricky departure from our usual Saturday fare, with terrifically fresh clueing and neat surfaces. The bottom half took much longer than the top, with 17d, 20a, & 11d making the podiium. Very enjoyable, so thanks to today’s setter and to Gazza for stepping in. 2.5* / 4*

  4. Parts were very straightforward but other bits were distinctly tricky. Doesn’t help that 7d is unknown to me. I finally unpicked my last in 27a which really held up for a while. Best clue was 29a.
    Thx to all
    ***/***

              1. This is a prize puzzle! Clearly the answer sneaked in. You didn’t really need to know the composer when it is a simple anagram.

                1. A thousand apologies. Brain fuddled with fatigue and I forgot it was a prize puzzle. I’m sitting on the dreaded naughty step as I write.

  5. Last in, 15a, popped me into 2*time.
    Otherwise, a fairly smooth and enjoyable solve to completion.
    25d a new word for me but easily constructed from its clue.
    Many thanks to the setter and Gazza.

  6. Had never heard of 7d, but had four of the letters anyway so just had a stab at it, which worked out to be correct. Totally foxed by 15a, convinced myself it was a part of the anatomy, but the penny finally dropped, very cryptic indeed!

  7. Not a pangram so probably not a Cephas production. The next option would be a Floughie Lady production, but I am not convinced that it is one of hers so my five bob is staying in my pocket. I found this quite tricky but perhaps my mind was elsewhere thinking about the results of my CT Scan that will be available on Monday which seems alarmingly fast to me.

    Candidates for favourite – 20a, 24a, 4d, and 14d – and the winner is 4d.

    Thanks to the setter and to Gazza and congratulations to CS and Mr CS.

    1. Fingers crossed🤞But at least if it is necessary to get a swift response you’ve got it. That sounds a bit convoluted but meant to be consoling!

        1. Absolutely right Daisy. Its a good thing to know quickly . I had to wait about weeks for the sesults of my chest x-ray recentmly and my mind was running riot. You just wanr to know what’s going on so that you can cope with it or find out it’s clear, Senf. Good luck.

  8. Finished this with a bare minimum of electronic help. 20, and 23a, 11, and 14d, all make my extended podium. 7d would also be there but it was so simple it doesn’t deserve to be. At least my affection for Radio 3 is paying off whereas I can never remember the names old adult nursery rhyme singers the classical lot is much easier.

    My thanks to Gaza and a new (?) setter for Saturday.

  9. */***

    Some great surfaces like the amusing 15a and the misdirection of 17d. Bit scary that 11d crossed with 16a and 24a!

    Thanks to setter and Gazza.

    1. Hello again – not a new Setter; but a new day for this particular Setter. Thanks for the nice comments on the clues: hopefully they raised a smile or two (which is always my aim…)? I may still pop up on a Tuesday as well, but you may also now see me on the occasional Saturday – Ed permitting!

  10. Struggled on a couple and resorted to some e-assistance. Probably the stress of a leaky dishwasher. Thanks to Gazza and today’s setter.

  11. Thanks to Gaza for hints, which – very unusually for me – I didn’t need today! And thanks to setter. Favourite today 15a, if for no other reason than I learnt what parts of the inner ear were called before the truth dawned.

    Congratulations to Mr and Mrs CS!

  12. This was brain- stretching fun, aside from 13a’s chestnut, a fresh set of clever surfaces and misdirection. LOI 20a, didn’t see the rook thing so wasted time on castles, crows and caws. 27a is a hopeful bung-in. Favourites 15, 23a and 17 down.
    Many thanks Gaza’s and the setter.

  13. I suppose this could be a Chalicea production but I’m not totally convinced. Not to worry, it was enjoyable whoever penned it!
    Have to confess that I didn’t know the composer – sorry GD – and I did have the wrong second word for 23a until 22d came to my rescue but those were my only blips.
    Pick of the bunch for me were 15a plus 3,11&17d.

    Thanks to our setter and to Gazza for manning the fort. A very happy anniversary to Mr & Mrs CS – hope you’re out of the kitchen today, Sue!

  14. A good challenge, stretched the grey matter but ultimately doable, thanks to my wife’s GK for 7d.
    LOI by a long way was 27a, took me some time to get a bung in and then even longer to get the parsing.
    I think 11d is my favourite today.
    Thanks to X-Type and Gaza

  15. Good fun for a sunny Saturday here in Shropshire. I thought this was a nicely balanced puzzle, with a good clue mix. Despite the possible number of favourites I am going with the multi-word pun in the Quickie.

    My thanks to X-Type and Gazza, with special congratulations to Mr and Mrs CS.

  16. Very enjoyable, thanks to Messrs Setter & Hinter and all good wishes to Mr and Mrs CS. Thanks also to Yorkshire for giving us lovely weather and beautifully maintained roads, good food and everyone very warm and welcoming. It feels as though we have had a much longer time away. Back home now to face the washing.

  17. A nice change to have a different Saturday setter – thank you, X-Type – not, of course, that there’s anything wrong with Cephas and the occasional Chalicea – oh dear – I’m getting myself in trouble here!!
    27a took me ages (and I’m still not convinced) and 20a was another one that caused trouble, as was 15a.
    As usual the ones that made me laugh so I liked 24a and 11d (maybe not funny).
    Thanks to X-Type for his (or her) crossword and to Gazza for the hints.

    A happy anniversary to CS and her Chris – the same date as us. I do hope that they had a different year as we did – ours chucked it down all day in Pembrokeshire.

        1. Thanks Gazza. You have made my husband’s day. He does the Quick Crossword but insists he cannot do cryptic clues.he is delighted that your hint oroves him right qmabout 27a!.

  18. As always an enjoyable time spent solving to end a pleasant week with Surrey winning the County Championship, congrats to Mr & Mrs. CS, just celebrated 35 years myself,

    As always stay safe and travel safely

  19. Thanks very much for all the good wishes – it is our Ruby Wedding Anniversary today and we’ve been out having a very nice lunch at the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Restaurant. Mr CS is just resting his eyelids for a while and then we have a nice bottle of sparkling wine to enjoy later this evening. So Jane – no cooking for me today – and yes, Kath we did have good weather way back then, very similar to today in fact.

    I did realise that the crossword wasn’t the work of either Cephas or Chalicea but hadn’t got as far as working out who had set it. It didn’t take long to solve so thank you to X-Type and to Gazza for providing the hints – did you see that apparently Gary is coming back into fashion this year as a favourite name for baby boys??.

    1. Happy Ruby Wedding Anniversary CS and Mr C. It sounds like you have really enjoyed your trip to Yorkshire and certainly your lunch at the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Restaurant. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

  20. Tougher than most Saturday’s but not impossibly so. Favourite was 17d, our last one in. Thanks to X-Type and Gazza.

  21. Finished with help from Gazza’s hint for 27a.

    Overall I found it quite tricky but enjoyable.

    Thanks to the setter and to Gazza.

    Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Crypticsue. Hope you have a wonderful day and many more years together.

  22. Thanks to X-Type and to Gazza for the hints. A very enjoyable puzzle, with a few tricky clues. A few made me smile. Good fun. I liked 11d,but my favourite and LOI was 20a. Was 3* / 4* for me.

  23. Took a long time to complete this in about 4 different sittings over Friday evening and then an interrupted Saturday morning. Overall 2.5*/3.5* for me today.

    Lots of good clues with a few chuckles and some head scratching and then I dropped the tea tray when the PDM happened with 23a … DOH!! Great clue!

    Favourites included 1a, 6a, 23a, 4d, 11d & 17d but my top two have to be 23a and for its simplicity 6a

    Didn’t know 7d but with cross checkers got it and did not know the word in 1d, but again a little searching and up it came.

    Thanks to X-Type and to Gazza for the fun puzzle

  24. A steady and enjoyable solve for me. Favourite clue was 15a for well-disguised definition. Thanks to X-Type and to Gazza for the fun. Congrats to Mr+Mrs CS. And Senf, I hope the news about your scan is good.

  25. Happy anniversary to Sue & Mr CS & positive vibes aplenty for Senf. Late to the puzzle which was maybe a wee bit trickier than we’ve been used to of late. 27a my last in too & the parsing required a head scratch. Wasn’t familiar with the French music man (Mr G confirmed) & suspect I steamed in with same wrong second word as Jane at 23a but soon corrected. 3&11d my top 2 in an enjoyable puzzle.
    Thanks to X-Type & for popping in to confirm & to Gazza for manning the fort.

  26. Came to this late last night after a day out and frequent nodding off. Some really hard ones here but managed without help. Favourites 20a and 11 14 and 17d. Particular live the wild consumers! Sending best wishes to Senf. Glad you’ve not got to wait long for result and congrats to CS and Mr CS although comparative newly weds. I’ve got a bigger one coming up.

  27. Great crossword. Haven’t had time to finish it yet, but having bought one this week I think the appearance in a clue at 26d justified my decision. I may be wrong but I think South Africans refer to them as Buckies.
    Thanks to all.

  28. Have just finished this over my Sunday morning cuppa. Obviously a different setter this week and I found some of it fairly straightforward but needed some hints for parsing the rest. Like Pah I got bogged down with the parts of the inner ear until the penny dropped. 27a proved very tricky. Favourite was 29a.
    Thanks to X-type and Gazza. I don’t do the weekday crosswords and haven’t come across X-type before, so this was a nice change. Congratulations to CS & Mr CS on their Ruby anniversary.

  29. Heartiest congratulations to CS and Mr CS on the occasion of their Ruby Wedding Anniversary and I also wish both of them good health, prosperity and happiness in the years ahead.

  30. So pleased to have nearly finished this without BD help, but we are totally foxed on 5 down. Not sure if it’s a cricketers name, or a position we don’t know. Can anyone give us a clue?

    1. You’ve changed your alias since your last comment (in 2017 – where have you been?). Both aliases will work from now on.

      5d is a double definition, the first being a cricketer (a batter but not a specific person).

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