DT 30137 (hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30137 (hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30137 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)

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A very chilly November morning brings a Prize Puzzle where the most time was taken not only in deciding which clues to hint but also working out the Quick Crossword Pun, the latter probably working best if you come from a particular area of London ;) I know where I’d put my 50p in a game of Guess the Setter but I’ll say nothing and see who agrees with me and/or if the setter turns up!

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

1a    Form an attachment with good French ex-copper (4)
The French word for good and an abbreviation for a copper in pre-decimal currency

13a    Succeed in establishing meaning of price he’d negotiated (8)
An anagram (negotiated) of PRICE HED

16a    Monkey, he’s in short grass (6)
HE[‘]S (from the clue) inserted into a type of grass without its last letter (short)

23a    A record set by accountant that’s beastly (6)
A (from the clue), a type of record and an abbreviated accountant

24a    Charlie with previous request to make unsolicited visit (4-4)
The letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, and an adjective meaning previous followed by a request or demand

26a    Piece of fencing lacking colour (4)
As the clue says, a piece of fencing or a simple way of saying lacking colour

Down

1d    Onlooker not to sit in collapsing byre (9)
What you do if you don’t sit inserted into an anagram (collapsing)of BYRE

2d    Person waiting at home (8,7)
A cryptic definition of someone employed to perform duties at home, including, perhaps, waiting at table

6d    ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in China? (1,5,2,1,6)
A great commotion about nothing very much

7d    Woman at a loss somewhat in province (5)
A South African province is hidden in part of (somewhat) womaN AT A Loss

17d    Bird alternatively turned up leaving another bird (3)
Remove a reversed synonym for alternatively from a wading bird to get another smaller bird

20d    Move around, grasping tail of camel with small humps (7)
An anagram (move) of AROUND ‘grasping’ the tail or last letter of camel

21d    Bill is a leading man (5)
IS A (from the clue) leading or going before an abbreviated bill

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The Quick Crossword pun: HAVE + HALE + ABEL = AVAILABLE

64 comments on “DT 30137 (hints)

  1. Weekend greetings from a pretty rainy Sandhurst. Well, a piece of cake today, did it with on eye watching the cricket from Sydney. No real standout favourites,
    but did like 6d, which was the first one in for me today, made me smile. Many
    thanks to the setter for a nice easy ride

  2. Not the most sparkling puzzle after a week of gems, but it was a fine start to Saturday and a good mental exercise before tackling the QPP.
    Thanks to setter (no guess from me as I am hopeless at setter picking) and CS, especially for the parsing of 17d.

  3. More or less a read and write.
    Enjoyable and satisfying nonetheless.
    Thanks to the setter for a comparatively easy Saturday Prize puzzle and to CS for the nicely illustrated review.

  4. My only pause for thought was with the parsing of 17d, where the answer was obvious, but it took me a while to work out why.

    Many thanks to the setter, and to CS.

  5. A straightforward puzzle but nonetheless enjoyable for that. It had a nice variety of clue types, which kept things interesting and needed a soupcon of General Knowledgeplus there were some good anagrams Some crossword enthusiasts dont seem to enjoy clues involving GK and anagrams but, for me, a puzzle without them lacks sparkle. I liked 1d, 6d, 19d and15d. Thanks to CS for the hints and to the compiler for a super puzzle to lighten a deeary, damp November day.

  6. A cheery puzzle for a miserable Saturday morning in Worcester. This was much less challenging than recent grids but still an entertaining challenge, with 6d my favourite.

    Thanks to the setter and of course to CS.

  7. Very enjoyable and a pleasant diversion on my Friday evening – 2*/3.5*.

    Candidates for favourite – 3a, 24a, and 6d – and the winner is the outstanding 6d.

    Well, I was very successful with my ten bob yesterday but I am going to be much more cautious today and place half a crown on this being a non-pangram Cephas production.

    Thanks to him, or whoever it might be, and thanks to CS.

  8. 1.5*/3.5*. This was light and fun, just right for a dull, wet morning. I thought 9a was a bit weak, but everything else was in good order with 14a & 6d my top two.

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS.

  9. Never before have I filled three quarters of a grid on the fist pass. This makes today’s crossword my fastest solve to date – so much so that I had to go out into the garden earlier than I would have done (overwintering the chillies). I did struggle with the parsing of 17d until a huge metal coin dropped from the sky behind me with a loud crash. I started to put the wrong answer into 3d until I realised there were not enough letters. My COTD is the aforementioned 17d with a mention for the Quickie pun, which I had to repeat several times in different accents until it dawned on me what it was.

    Many thanks to the setter – my money is on Chalicea but I am always wrong – and to CS for the hints.

    1. Last but not least, I hope – glad to see you again.
      Anyone else going to crawl out of the woodwork . . . . plenty of space of others . . .

  10. Such a difference from the last two puzzles of the work week. This was a sheer delight and the type of cryptic that brings not only pleasure but a sense of satisfaction.
    1.5*/5* for me.

    Lots of great clues but top for the podium include 9a, 11a, 13a, 23a, 1d, 2d & 6d … and I can’t single out a winner

    Thanks to setter and CS for the hints/blog

  11. Very pleasant and very smooth to solve, with 6d, 17d, & 11a leading my pack of favourites. A lovely if gentle puzzle which has all the charms of Chalicea, but I seldom seem to hit the mark. Thanks to CS and today’s compiler. 1.5*/4*

  12. Enid, Sadie, Charlie, Bill and Rose had a (nonetheless reasonably enjoyable) day out here. 3a plus 6&18d took the honours for me.
    Thanks to the setter and Cryptic Sue

  13. Very rare for me to complete a puzzle without any help at all. Had to think twice about 17d but otherwise plain-sailing…which is mightily good for morale!

    1. You’ve changed your name from Alfie to Clare – either will work from now on!

      I think we all had to think twice about 17d

  14. Yes, that was pretty straightforward. A couple of clues I felt weren’t particularly cryptic but that was all. The quickie pun was appalling.
    It is difficult to talk about 17d without landing on the naughty step. I just felt an adult bird had jettisoned it’s younger self . Your picture proves me wrong but I like my faulty reasoning better!l
    I think my COTD is 6d.

  15. Very enjoyable. Wordle in 2 after having nothing on the first attempt! It must be my lucky day.

    1. I wordled on two as well, pure luck, having been knocked back to square one two days ago by using the wrong consonant. It IS addictive!

      1. It certainly is! Wordle. I usually do it in the middle of the night. I’ve had some good results recently but was down to four today. There were alot of alternatives.

          1. I don’t know why it is doing that. I usually spot it and erase it. I am finding it a challenge to fill in my details every time even on the same puzzle. I am using my phone so may try on my laptop or IPad.

  16. Nearly managed to solve it over a big mug of tea at silly o’clock but drained the last gulp before parsing 17d. Wasn’t much fun today out in the weather – the small number of hardy souls who braved it & played a lot keener than I’d have been. Another vote for 6d as pick of the clues. Pleasant if all over too quickly. The Quickie took longer & had to cheat – couldn’t recall, if I ever knew, the name of the lily & no wordplay to help. I’m with JB on the pun too.
    Thanks to Chalicea (probably yet another Sat 10 bob for the bookies satchel) & to CS

  17. 2/3. Enjoyable while it lasted. No stand out favourites although 6d deserves a mention. Thanks to the setter and CS.

  18. At last after three days of hell a finish and with pleasure. A puzzle produced for those of us who can read and follow the clues without having to sort out gnomic and misleading words and phrases especially those phrases where every word has several meanings.

    A very heartfelt thank you to the setter which is I hope Chalicea, and to CS.

  19. After a grueling week, it was a pleasure to stroll through this crossword at a comfortable pace. 17d was a bung in until I read the hints. Thanks so much to the setter for a fun puzzle well within my pay grade. */****

  20. I also agree with you all, a very pleasant workout done after a morning manning my stall at the Autumn Fayre where I was so cold I needed a large Sherry when I got home. Though in this village we welcome a wet Bonfire Night as we have so many thatched cottages around us. Now cosy with a nice log fire burning. George was selling his ‘Orrible Christmas Quiz, a £1 a go and you have until 31 January to complete. A man stopped to buy one and, taking a look at it, asked are you a Telegraph crossworder? G answered well, my wife over there is, and they had a lengthy conversation about our puzzles. I wish he had come over to me because he might have been a BD lurker! I never make guesses about the compiler ‘cos I’m rubbish at it, but I love you all – and thanks to CS as well.

  21. A very enjoyable solve today. My first one in was 4dn, followed by 9ac. My clues of the day 18dn and 6dn.
    Thanks to the setter and CS.

    1. thanks for your nice puzzle, just right for a Saturday. It seems that the bookies will be celebrating tonight as only Senf went for the non pangram Cephas option.

    2. Good job I am not a betting man. Thanks for a great puzzle which although nota read and write for me was well suited to my ability.

  22. I enjoyed today’s puzzle and it flowed easily. Damp day here in the NW. Many thanks to Cephas and for dropping in to say hello. Thanks also to CS.

  23. Favourites 8 and 19a and 6 and 18d. Last three in were 8a 18d and 23a. Took a while to parse 17d but got there! I didn’t find it as easy as some and always find the double unches difficult. Thanks Cephas and CS

  24. Found this more straightforward than the back pagers from the past few days. Top clue for me was the smooth 19a. Thanks to Cephas and to CS.

  25. Only partial concentration on this during afternoon thanks to tennis from Paris Masters but in any case didn’t find the solve particularly enjoyable however did manage to complete bar a couple of parsings. No Fav for me today. I too have reservation about pitiful Quickie pun. Thanks ephss and CS.

  26. I too, like one of your earlier contributors, completed three quarters of the puzzle in one pass thinking this is great…and then am at a loss for 22 across
    I seem to have the correct down clue letters, but not the other 3 !
    Help !
    Christine

    1. When you see the word ‘some’ in a clue, it more often than not indicates that you are looking for a hidden word found in ‘some’ of the other words in the clue

  27. Thank you so much crypticsue. Of course ! I should know that by now !Puzzle completed.

  28. Have just managed to complete the Quick Crossword. You haven’t half got to stretch the English language to make the three words sound like the intended answer 🤔

    1. I often think the Quick crossword is an awful lot more difficult than the cryptic, even before you start to worrying about what it sounds like!!

  29. A bit late now to pop in but never mind – been rather busy doing other ‘stuff’ – bit tired too!!
    Thanks to Cephas for the crossword and to CS.

  30. Thanks for al those kind Chalicea comments – I will be back soon but, of course, Cephas popped in to take the credit for his enjoyable non-pangrammatic work. Thanks, Cephas!

  31. The grid was filled in 1* time, but we failed on the parsing of 17d, so thank you CS for the explanation. Failed with our ‘spot the setter’ attempt too, but a quick scroll down put us right.

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