DT 30151 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30151

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30151
Hints and tips by Twmbarlwm

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***   –  Enjoyment ****

Good morning. Perhaps a little tougher than the average back-pager, but chockful of superb clues, elegant deceptions and amusing surfaces.

Many thanks to the setter.

In the following hints, definitions are underlined, indicators are mostly in parentheses, and answers are revealed by clicking where shown as usual.
Please leave a comment below on how you got on with the puzzle and which aspects you liked etc.

Across
1a Food from disco somewhere in Kent (4,8)
CLUB SANDWICH: Another word for a disco is followed by a town in Kent that’s 2 miles from the village of Ham, to many tourists’ amusement

9a Rue Andrew’s silly bloomers? (9)
UNDERWEAR: An anagram (silly) of RUE ANDREW

10a One gloomy about ordinary turn of phrase (5)
IDIOM: The letter that’s also the Roman numeral for one plus a synonym of gloomy or poorly lit containing (about) a letter short for ordinary

11a Host right to wear tiny knickers (6)
THRONG: The usual character for right goes inside (to wear) an item of skimpy underwear (or the word Australians have for a flip-flop)

12a Catastrophe as diet’s ruined with little resistance (8)
DISASTER: An anagram (ruined) of AS DIET’S is followed by the single letter indicator for resistance in physics and electronics

13a Bit of a swine and more reckless (6)
RASHER: Double definition, one of which leads to something edible

15a Building‘s correct temperature unknown (8)
PROPERTY: A word meaning correct, or seemly, plus a letter for temperature and an unknown variable (in maths etc)

18a Harassment from newspapers almost certain (8)
PRESSURE: A term for the newspaper industry missing its last letter (almost) precedes a synonym of certain

19a Slip up and trip (6)
ERRAND: A synonym of make a mistake plus a word straight from the clue that may at first look like it’s just a link word

21a Commendation from king and old Victor’s in shock (8)
APPROVAL: The letter for King in Latin, a letter standing for old, and a letter indicated by its NATO/phonetic alphabet designation: all three go ‘in’ a word meaning shock (verb)

23a Zoom meeting finally with everyone before work (6)
GALLOP: A final letter as indicated precedes a synonym of everyone and a two-letter abbreviation meaning work

26a Art gallery frames son bent (5)
TASTE: A famous art gallery contains (frames) the usual genealogical indicator for son

27a Rises in signs of aging? (9)
INCREASES: A word from the clue followed by signs of aging, or what are known in polite society as laughter lines

28a Fish worn out a bit swimming around river (7,5)
RAINBOW TROUT: Very neat anagram (swimming) of WORN OUT A BIT ‘around’ the usual letter for river

Down

1d Mess left aboard sailing vessel (7)
CLUTTER: A shortening of left goes inside (aboard) an 18th century sailing vessel

2d Some discovered duck picked up milk container (5)
UDDER: The puzzle’s first hidden solution (some) appears in reverse (picked up). The photo’s for the Pink Floyd fans

3d Celebrity avoiding area annoys unknown people (9)
STRANGERS: A synonym for a celebrity A-lister without (avoiding) the letter that’s short for area is followed by a word meaning annoys, or enrages

4d Want one fed no starters (4)
NEED: Two words from the clue with their first letters removed

5d Soldiers shot arrows – I run inside (8)
WARRIORS: An anagram (shot) of ARROWS containing I and the cricketing abbreviation for runs. We sometimes see a hint when letter insertions are separate, but not here

6d Tea bags at home for friend (5)
CHINA: An alternative term for tea contains (bags) a two-letter word for at home. Nice marriage of ‘tea’ with ‘bags’
For tea-drinking etymologists: https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land-and-sea-to-conquer-the-world

7d Where one might alight from train carriage (8)
VICTORIA: A double definition that reads like a cryptic definition clue. It refers to a London or Manchester location and a four-wheeled vehicle similar to a phaeton

8d Oily sump regularly scrubbed by troops (6)
SMARMY: Alternate letters (regularly) from one word in the clue are added to a synonym of a fighting force

14d Like a farm animal, somewhat embarrassed (8)
SHEEPISH: Another double definition that’s easily gettable as long as you manage to include the right farm animal in your initial list of possibilities

16d Constant exercises and chap’s in tears, nearly (9)
PERMANENT: Another word for exercises (eg in school lessons), plus a word for chap/gent ‘in’ a synonym of tears, or rips, without its final letter (nearly)

17d Forming response, Conservative rises (8)
CREATION: A short clue but perhaps the trickiest. A synonym of response, or backlash, has one of its letters – the one that stands for Conservative – moved to the start (rises)

18d Boxers perhaps boxing 50 spies (6)
PLANTS: An item of clothing containing (boxing) the roman numeral for 50. A clever linking of boxers and boxing as a containment indicator

20d Down payment is picked up in warehouse (7)
DEPOSIT: A reversal (picked up – used similarly in 2d) of ‘is’ inside another word for warehouse

22d Musical drama‘s Oscar for each American (5)
OPERA: The puzzle’s second example of a letter indicated by its NATO/phonetic alphabet word is followed by a word meaning ‘for each’ and a letter that stands for American

24d Cowboy might throw this girl over (5)
LASSO: A synonym of girl and the letter that means over on a cricket scorecard

25d Parrot screech, one’s assumed (4)
ECHO: The solution is hidden (assumed) in the clue

My particular favourites were 9a, 11a, 13a, 23a, 26a, 6d and 8d. What were yours?


Today’s Quick Crossword pun: INN + CAM + TACKS + INCOME TAX

59 comments on “DT 30151

  1. DT now has a new site for downloading the puzzle onto my Apple iPad.
    Don’t like it.
    This morning I completed 95 percent left, came back and now cannot get the puzzle.
    I clicked on the puzzle and this took me to a blank screen with a small circle just going round and round but no puzzle.
    I have e-mailed the DT.
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks.

    1. Oh heavens me too! I print out the crossword as I prefer solving that way – the print is blurry and far too small. Once again I’ve written to ask them why!

    2. i still use the old site. the new one had such a bad press here i decided not to try to find the new one. i guess i may have to move when my subscription is due.

      can you still get access to the old site?

  2. Entertaining puzzle right on my wavelength,liked 7d and the surface of 19a my favourite was 13a
    Nothing obscure, thanks to setter and TWM’s pics.
    Going for a **/****

  3. PS
    Just tried to get the previous site ie puzzles.telegraph.co.uk and lo and behold got it with todays cryptic.
    So, I shall continue, hopefully, to use the this old site rather than the above new one.

    1. I wouldn’t hold your breath. Looks like they’ve been having one or two hiccups this morning but sooner or later – and I totally agree with you here re that awful new site. It will be the only one and I, for one, will get my cruciverbalist fix elsewhere.

    2. Earlier this morning I was unable to access the old site, but it does now appear at least. In extremis I ventured to the new site and, wonder of wonders, the layout of the printed puzzle has been changed! I would urge you to persevere, Roger, when the old site is removed: the clues are now printed below the grid and in a very similar sized font to the layout under the old “it ain’t broke and didn’t need fixing” site.

    3. It took me ages to get into puzzles.telegraph this morning. Thought it was finally the end of the old site.

      When the day finally arrives, I will cancel my subscription immediately.

      The new site is not good for my eyesight!

      1. Thanks Mustafa G and stan XYZ
        Yes, the old site is ideal but the new one is certainly not eyesight friendly.

  4. I found this relatively easy going but have to admit I didn’t finish. 7d defeated me and I would never have got it in a million years. Must store it in the memory bank. Sorry, think the Cross Atlantic puzzle is rubbish especially as there is no indication against the clue as to how many letters are in the answer. Takes too much time to keep glancing up and down.
    Anway, thanks to today’s setter and our Welsh hinter

  5. Apart from a few extra minutes spent in the SW corner, and I don’t know why now, I found this very gentle today. 1a went in immediately – happy days! I liked 11a, 13a, 15a, 21a and the clever 17d. Thanks to the setter for the enjoyment and Twmbarlwm for the amusing illustrations.

  6. 2*/4*. Great fun with 9a, 11a & 23a making it onto my podium.

    Many thanks presumably to Anthony Plumb, and also to Mr. T.

  7. Typically Tuesdayish but, based on the grid, it does appear to be an Anthony Plumb production – **/****.

    Candidates for favourite – 1a, 13a, 7d, and 8d – and the winner is 7d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and Twmbarlwm.

    P.S. The Hudson Tuesday Toughie is quite friendly.

  8. Great fun, elegantly and wittily clued, with a couple of laugh out loud moments, especially from my favourite, 9a. Superb entertainment, for which I offer my thanks to AP and Mr T.

  9. An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to our setter and Twmbarlwm (I don’t drink tea but the information on the source of its names was very interesting).
    The clues I’ve picked for my podium are 13a, 19a and 6d.

  10. Piece of cake this morning…….., except for 7d which took some minutes of deliberation, but as I had all the letters in place it was only a matter of time before the penny dropped. Hadn’t heard of
    this word as the second definition in the clue, had to check it afterwards, we live and learn!
    PS. Just seen the shock of the world cup, what odds would you have got on that?

  11. There were a lot of pretty straightforward clues a with a few head-scratchers that took as long as the rest put together in this puzzle. I was wnjoyable abd challenging in a good way. My favourite clue was 13a for the sly misdirection an thee humour but 1a, 28d and 17d also appealed to me. Thanks to the compiler and ti Twmbarlwm for the hints.

  12. Finished in a marginally quicker time than yesterday but thought this one much more fun. A nice mix of clues with 1,9&11a along with 8&18d the ones that stood out for me. After yesterday’s incessant rain & Stygian gloom the sun is shining here in Harpenden so some much needed exercise beckons
    Thanks to AP & T
    Ps Lloyd can find another horse drawn carriage in Hudson’s excellent Toughie – agree with Senf that it’s a reasonably gentle kick off this week.

  13. Very much enjoyed this one – smooth sailing until it came to 19a & 7d which caused several pauses for thought. Perhaps I should have looked at the Hudson Toughie for inspiration!
    Top honours went to 13a & the sneaky 19a.

    Thanks to our setter and to Twmbarlwm for the review.

  14. Tricky but enjoyable is my take on today’s cryptic. I can’t see what 7d has to do with trains but I have yet to look at the hints. I loved the simplicity of 1a, which is my COTD. In 26a, I’d forgotten that word for bent so it took a while to work out.

    Grateful thanks to the setter for the fun. Thank you to “copy and paste so the spelling is correct” Twmbarlwm for the hints, which I will now read.

    I now know why my answer to 7d had nothing to do with trains. Wisteria doesn’t!

    Whitby this morning was as lovely as ever and I picked up mussels from The Magpie for tonight’s dinner.

  15. Quite heavy on the smalls today. Twmbarlwm nobly resisted the temptation to illustrate so thanks for that. I needed your help in the Granimal department (13a, 14d) – this collection of sparkle and wit was on everyone else’s wavelength but mine.
    Thanks to the setter.

  16. Oh boy, what a great way to begin the day! So much fun, trickery, and elegance all wrapped together within delightful, LOL surfaces. I loved it, especially 7d, 1a, 9a, 8d, 11a, & 13a. Thanks to Twmbarlwm and Mr Plumb maybe? **/****

    Many thanks to all of you for your kind birthday wishes yesterday! Had a great day. Jimmy even gave me some sunflowers–an unexpected largesse from my rock star. A wonderful day ended last night with Hudson’s very engaging Toughie, which I actually finished in bonus time, a great birthday gift. Slept like a baby, in my third childhood now.

    1. I have just finished yesterday’s crossword and popped in to yesterday’s blog and saw it was your birthday. Belated Many Happy Returns from me Robert. I hope you had a smashing day.

      Thanks to all the setters and hinters that I don’t get to acknowledge on a daily basis and thank you Pommers for explaining 8a yesterday, I got the answer but couldn’t parse it. Hello to all here, I do keep up to date just rarely on the right day.

  17. A super and light puzzle over coffee earlier this morning, the completion of which was slightly delayed by 7d, though even without knowing the types of carriage it could hardly be anything else. Bouquets shared between 13a, 8d and 14d.

    1* / 3*

    Many thanks to the setter and to Twmbarlwm

    [Can highly recommend today’s very accessible and enjoyable Hudson Toughie to anyone who has wondered about tackling these puzzles but has not yet dipped their toes into the water]

  18. I must have been bang on wavelength with this as it all went in very smoothly and with much appreciation for the setter.
    I hadn’t fully appreciated the subtlety of 7d so thanks to our blogger for the enlightenment there.
    I thought the lurkers good and I particularly liked 13&23a plus 17d too.
    Many thanks to the setter and Twmbarlwm

    1. Re 7d, the subtlety was so very subtle that for quite some time I didn’t think it a very cryptic clue at all!

    2. SL and MG. 7d is certainly a clever/subtle cryptic clue (at least ostensibly). But the trouble is, if you read it as a quasi/simple cryptic definition, or even a non-cryptic Quick clue (which the solver can’t help but do), the sublety is lost or even undetected. So, was it really worth it?

  19. An enjoyable puzzle again today but I did need some electronic help on the last few especially 19a which I misread as ‘sit up and trip’ so although the answer was what Twmbarlwm put, I had to come and check why and only then found my error.

    Favourites today are 1 and 13a.

    Thanks for the Auden picture. You couldn’t have chosen a better illustration Twmbarlwm.

    Thanks to Twmbarlwm and the setter.

  20. Good fun today, rather an upgrade from the usual Tuesday fare with plenty of misdirection in the clues.
    My winner’s enclosure has 7 & 17d after a photo finish.
    Thanks to the setter for the exercise and Twmbarlwm for a witty and well illustrated blog.

  21. Ditto many of the above, right on my wavelength, held up by 19A, after resort to the hints (many thanks) 7D was straightforward if you can ever say that about the backpager. We seem to be having a smorgasbord of undies lately, just sayin’.
    Thanks to the setter and Twmbarlwm

  22. Victoria, phaeton, diligence …the DT list of carriages increases every day! 7d was clever
    The lingerie theme rumbles on too. Underwear, thong and pants. This site will soon need an “ adult content” warning.
    Reading about the on-site problems, I’m glad I still use the dead tree version.
    I don’t know if it was deliberate but the Toughie has a reference to JFK and today is the anniversary of his assassination.
    No real favourite but I liked the photo of Kevin Bacon for 13a

  23. I note that once again there are problems for our high-tech contingent, no problems for the dinosaur generation using the dead tree version (which I am proud to represent). Only problem here is the humongous price one pays for an upmarket comic and the way that the subscriber’s discount has been eroded at an alarming rate. When I first took out the full seven day cover, the preferential discount was around 40 percent, now it’s much less than 20!

  24. I loved 13a and 14d. They both made me laugh – nothing else seems to have managed to do that today so I’ll award them joint favourites.
    Thanks to everyone.

  25. Lovely, just what a back pager should be 🤗**/**** Took some time to arrive at 7d a little plum 😬 Favourites 13a, 15a, and 19a 😃There were many more but I won’t prattle on 😳 Thanks to the Compiler and to Twmbarlwm

  26. 2/4. Very enjoyable solve. Favourites were 1a and 7d which I remembered from somewhere. Thanks to the setter and Mr T.

  27. I thoroughly enjoyed today’s solve and reading the comments above. Had 2/3 head-scratching moments but a second good start to the week. Many thanks to the setter and Twmbarlwm.

    Re Cost of Printed copies of the DT. We received a subscriber letter dated 6th November 2022 thanking us for our support and advising the new subscription rate will be £221 per quarter starting on 15 Jan 2023 saving us 15%. FYI I discovered that my husband had made a quick note of the increase in price of the quarterly subscriptions:-

    16.07.12 – £78.00
    16.01.13 – £84.50
    16.01.15 -.£97.50
    15.01.18 – £110.50
    15.01.19 – £130.00
    15.01.20 – £149.50
    15.01.21 – £169.00
    17.01.22 – £195.00
    15.01.23 – £221.00

    1. That will mean £884.00 a year. Is that right? If so, Hilary, I will give serious consideration to my subscription.

    2. Yes, I still buy the paper, the price seemingly increases every few months, I find it almost prohibitive now. It was ok when Waitrose included the paper in £10 plus purchases, sadly that stopped.😡
      That £884 per year is over twice my car insurance !!

  28. Thoroughly enjoyed this today. Was over way too quickly.

    I had read 7d as an all in one. With the use of ‘one’ I thought it was a reference to the Queen who the station is named after. Obviously not, but at least I got the right answer and learned of another name for a carriage.

    Thanks to all.

  29. I had to check 7d but couldn’t be anything else and fairly clued, so no complaints from me. No major hold-ups and good clues, my favourite being 3d. Thanks to the setter and T.

  30. Came to a shuddering halt at 19a and 7d.
    Later stared and stared until the pennies dropped, loudly.
    All great fun.
    And teasingly so.
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr. T.
    Liked the photo of Mr. Auden.

  31. A nice Tuesday puzzle for this week, with nothing obscure here.
    2.5*/3* for me today.

    Favourites include 1a, 13a, 26a, 8d, 14d & 20d with winner 14d

    Thanks to setter and Twmbarlwm

  32. Ol’ grey matter was just nicely tested. Needed help to fully parse 16d and 17d. Not sure about 19a being trip. Joint Favs for amusement value 13a and 27a. Thank you Mysteron and MrT.

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