Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30152
Hints and tips by 2Kiwis
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Kia ora from Aotearoa.
We were away in Whanganui at the weekend at a book launch. On Sunday evening, when we were home again, Carol developed a few snuffles and then on Monday morning tested positive for Covid. So we are both in isolation. Carol still snuffly but not too bad and I am still testing negative (fingers crossed).
We’re still able to do crosswords though and expect that it is Jay back in the setter’s chair this week. Not too tricky and loads of fun.
Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a Being prudish and upset I’d start storing delicate material (6-5)
STRAIT-LACED : A delicate material, possibly from Bruges is contained within an anagram (upset) of I’D START.
10a Subject to pressure in charge (5)
TOPIC : ‘TO’ from the clue, then P(ressure) plus the two letters for in charge.
11a Maxim mostly about target food for livestock (9)
PROVENDER : A maxim or wise saying without its last letter contains target or aim.
12a Relevant or cheeky? I’m off (9)
PERTINENT : Start with a synonym for cheeky and remove I’M from from its beginning.
13a Chap admitted to A&E gets home (5)
ABODE : An informal word for a chap is enclosed by A and E.
14a Keen on Geordie chant? (6)
INTONE : Keen on or being a fan of and the geographical region where a Geordie hails from.
16a Star reportedly studied docking facility (3,5)
RED DWARF : A homophone of a word meaning studies at university and a ship docking facility.
18a Cultivated a few — sounds horrible (8)
GRUESOME : A homophone (sounds) of a 4,4 phrase that could mean cultivated a few.
20a Wasted without protection, with sailors at the back (6)
ASTERN : The central four letters of wasted (without protection) and then sailors in one of the services.
23a Ground ready for planting until this holds (5)
TILTH : A lurker, hiding in the clue.
24a Biscuit offered by Spooner’s royal Arab leader? (9)
SHORTCAKE : Solve it as we did. Get the biscuit from the checking letters then chuckle about the Spoonerism.
26a Northern editor keeps rats — say it doesn’t matter (5,4)
NEVER MIND : N(orthern) and ED(itor) surround what rats are an example of.
27a Contents of lager after American tradition (5)
USAGE : The two letter American and then the central letters of lager.
28a Drink to broken heart, being practical (4-2-5)
DOWN-TO-EARTH : Drink in a guzzling manner, then ‘To’ from the clue and an anagram (broken) of HEART.
Down
2d Trap designed to catch one animal (5)
TAPIR : An anagram (designed) of TRAP contains Roman numeral one.
3d Legal case covering university sale (7)
AUCTION : A legal case or proceeding contains U(niversity).
4d Advice for each person showing appreciation (6)
TIPPER : Advice like we are offering here and then a word meaning ‘for each’.
5d Religious folk from America dancing topless (8)
APOSTLES : An anagram (dancing) of TOPLESS follows A(merica).
6d Green mould originally occupying busy leader (7)
EMERALD : The first letter of mound is within an anagram (busy) of LEADER.
7d Two ways to protect forest location, and one means of progress (8-5)
STEPPING-STONE : A well-known forest close to London is enclosed by two instances of the abbreviation for a thoroughfare and then ‘ONE’ from the clue.
8d Brief notice on election including accountant (8)
ADVOCATE : A notice or poster and then an election or plebiscite contains the abbreviation for a Chartered Accountant.
9d What gardener may be seeing new genre identified (5-8)
GREEN-FINGERED : An anagram (new) of GENRE and then identified as an informer might have done.
15d At the outset, Tories regret nothing, darling (8)
TRUELOVE : The first letter of Tories, a synonym for regret, then nothing as a tennis score.
17d Issue undertaking to support energy (8)
EMISSION : An undertaking or venture is preceded by E(nergy).
19d Music school getting zero possibly (7)
SCHERZO : The abbreviation for school and an anagram (possibly) of ZERO.
21d Fruit that’s a necessity when up? (7)
SATSUMA : Reading from the bottom (when up) we have ‘A’ from the clue, a word for necessity and a synonym for when.
22d Cause of bad luck gangster loves? (6)
HOODOO : A word for a gangster and two tennis score loves.
25d A snare set up independently (5)
APART : ‘A’ from the clue and the reversal of a snare or capturing device.
Lots of ticks again today but the Spoonerism gave us the best chuckle.
Quickie pun barbaric + oast = Barbary Coast
My rating is 2*/4* for a light Wednesday delight. I just needed a quick BRB check for my answer to 23a which was a new word for me.
14a, 16a & 5d made it onto my podium today.
Many thanks to the three birds.
P.S. to the 2Ks. I hope Carol makes a speedy recovery from Covid, and you don’t need to be too long in isolation.
Enjoyable and relatively straightforward. A couple of new words in there but nothing that couldn’t be worked out from wordplay and checkers.
Top three for me 12&26a plus 7d, hope Carol recovers quickly.
Many thanks to the setter and the 2Ks, hope Carol recovers quickly
Ps…Re 7d, I can’t be the only one who thought of this
I thought of that too & had a sneaky feeling you might post it – haven’t listened to it in years
I thought you may have done Huntsman! Just played it, seems very dated now, another era almost.
You’re not wrong there – can still listen to the Lamb Lies Down but little from their earlier stuff
Greetings from a pretty changeable Sandhurst today. Thought this one was great fun, with many enjoyable clues, apart maybe from 16a which I thought was a bit iffy.
For me the stand out clue today was easily 7d, very clever. Thanks to the compiler.
A nice Jay puzzle for a terribly cold and rainy morning
23a reminded me of my dad, who always liked the garden to have a fine 23a
Thanks very much to Jay and the 2Ks – get well soon Carol and stay safe Colin
My dad was the same – I remember him toiling for hours with a large metal riddle in hand.
Mine too. It is a lovely word!
A horrendous journey down the M1 to the Royal Free in driving rain for a venesection. Completed the puzzle while Cynthia efficiently drained a pint – thankfully her phlebotomy skills considerably better than her coffee making. Tony Hancock wouldn’t have been impressed & not a sniff of a biscuit either. Anyway lovely crossword today. Gentle but thoroughly enjoyable. 23a was the only thing requiring confirmation. Among a host of goodies I’ll plump for a podium of 5,7& 9d with another early vote for 7d as top of the pops.
Thanks to Jay & 2Ks – wishing you both better soon
Ps A quick read through of the Giovanni Toughie yielded 1 answer – not a good sign🙁
Good fun – thanks to Jay and 2Ks.
The top clues for me were 24a, 28a and 7d.
Get well soon, Carol, and don’t pass it on to Colin!
There were some very good clues in this puzzle, whoch I quite enjoyed, but, although I bunged then in, the parsing of 7d and 9d partially eluded me. I liked the Spoonerism at 24a, the charade at 26a, the lego clue at11a ( a lovely word) and the musical clue at19d. Many thanks to Jay and to the Kiwis for help with the parsing. I hope it’s a mild dose of the Covid and that Colin doesn’t catch it. When my son and 2 grandchildren had it, my daughter in law was unscathed, despite looking after the other three.
Both the old and new DT sites are now working.
Put both on my iPad.
Completed this puzzle correctly on the new site and a lady waving a flag popped up and said Bravo.
Still, I prefer the layout on the old site.
Well that was a touch of after the Lord Mayors show. Compared to yesterday this was turgid and lumpy. I must admit to fully understanding fully less than half of the clues. No favs.
Thx for the hints
****/**
Neatly clued.
Hesitation at 12a and 7d popped me into 2.5* time.
Also, a natural aversion to the mere mention of Spooner delayed completion.
Many thanks to Jay for the enjoyment and to the 2Kiwis.
A steady solve today ,nothing obscure and some excellent surfaces like7d and28a and 16a,
Favourite was 18a,going for a **/**** as per 2K’s-Thanks for the pics.
That was fun! 2.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 12a, 13a, 16a, 20a, 7d, and 8d – and the winner is 12a.
Thanks to Jay and the 2Kiwis – get well soon Carol.
Good fun from Mr Wednesday with just a couple of hesitations along the way – in 12a I had the first 4 letters of the answer as ‘cheeky’ which left the remainder unaccounted for until the penny dropped and I also found it hard to accept 15d as one word.
Rosettes to 18&26a plus 7d.
Thanks to Jay and to our 2Ks for the review – hope you feel much better very soon, Carol.
Lots of fun today, fairly gentle I thought. Dragged 11a from the recesses of my mind, but knew 23a, though I don’t know why. I’m no gardener. Loved all four long clues but my favourite was 24a with special mention for the quickie puns. Thanks to Jay and the 2Kiwis. Get well soon, Carol.
A fun puzzle for midweek and most enjoyable. It brightened a horribly wet day here in Ryedale. For once, I saw the Spoonerism and I liked 18a. I nearly put a form of magic in for 22d but realised in time that it didn’t fit the clue. I assumed that “down” meant “drink” in 28a and this is my COTD.
My thanks to Jay for the fun and the 2Kiwis for the hints. I hope Covid is kind to you all and that it soon passes.
As usual, I’m completely floored by a Spoonerism. What on earth is funny about a Court Shake? Or have I got it wrong?
23a and 28a can relate to 9d, a gift I’ve never had. My fingers are more 18a!
No real favourite. For those about to try it, the Toughie is doable.
Sheikh not shake.
Even so…… I hate Spooner!
Me too!
Although the best ones are, I’m don’t think Spoonerisms are obliged to be funny or even mildly amusing – but the elements must rhyme correctly after being Spoonerised. I’m not sure this one works – does short rhyme with court? It needs to be precisely homophonous for a Spoonerism in a DT cryptic.
I think it’s another dialect thing. It works here in Yorkshire!
I just wish the appalling man would go away!
This was pretty gentle. LOIs 4 & 5d for no discernible reason. As a student, I was deputed to meet the 11a rep on farms given I had no other useful function.
COTD 19d for me.
Thanks Jay, Ks and get well soon Carol.
Light and gentle, most enjoyable. Contrary to other views I thought 24a an untypically weak example of the genre and that it let the side down today. Ah well, it would be a dull world were we all to sing from the same humn sheet! Special mentions to 14 & 16a, 7 & 9d.
1* / 3*
Many thanks to Jay, and of course to the 2Ks – hope Carol’s recovery is swift and full, and that Colin’s negativity is long-lasting!
The Spoonerism doesn’t work! For me, it’s a quasi-Spoonerism – so not really valid.
Interesting, Jose. I didn’t realise they had to rhyme. So my favourite Spoonerised poem is not a true example of the genre? 😏
Little Muss Miffet
Tat on a siffet,
Eating her words and kay.
A-spong came a lider,
And bat sown beside her,
And whitened Muss Miffet affray
Some are:
1. OK.
2. Should be: bat on a suffet.
3. OK.
4. Better with a hyphen: a-lider.
5. Should be: dat sown.
6. How is whitened affray a Spoonerism of frightened away? The initial word sounds/letters only need to be transposed, not just two words that generally rhyme with each other.
Have you not read my book: The Oxford Guide to Spoonerisms? Send me £25.00 and I’ll forward you a copy.
Incidentally, I learned all about Spoonerisms in the Sixth Form from my friends Mary Hough and Betty Swollocks!
That may be what is nagging at the back of my mind, Jose. I should have thought that for it to work properly, ‘court sheikh’ should become ‘shourt ceikh’, however what we have here is a transposition of sounds. However I am an ignoramus in such matters and am content for it to remain no more than a niggle!
Not even a hint of a niggle here with this Spoonerism. As far as I am concerned, court rhymes with short and sheikh rhymes with cake.
Agreed. I thought it a good ‘un
Round here, court absolutely doesn’t rhyme with short. Back to the old “homophones don’t necessarily work for everybody” syndrome.
When will someone have the honesty to admit that Dr Spooner is a waste of space?
I don’t know why, but I have a slight suspicion that you are not entirely enamoured with Spooner clues.
*The main problem is that some people on here don’t really know how Spoonerisms work in the first place.
MG. Yes Spoonerisms are based on transposing the initial sounds/letters of the two words. Court sheikh becomes Shortcake. But, round here, Court does not rhyme with Short – so it doesn’t work. It must be a regional dialect thing as it apparently does work for others.
Late today but worth the wait as this was a gem of a puzzle, with 5 and 7d taking the honours.
Thanks to Jay and the Covidy Kiwis.
Best of the week for me so far–welcome back to Wednesday, Jay! 26a made me laugh and deserves the Clarkie, with 7d, 5d, and 11a (or any of about six others) strutting their way to the podium. Even managed the Spooner clue easily, for a change. Lovely puzzle. Thanks to Colin and Carol and best wishes to both of you, and as always, kudos to Jay. **/*****
I’m watching an old Betty Grable / Dan Dailey 1947 film, ‘Mother Wore Tights’, which–believe it or not–I can remember seeing with my parents at the cinema when I was nine years old. Perfect viewing for our Thanksgiving Eve.
Don’t know that one. I’ve been rewatching a series on Sky Arts called The Directors – an hour long programme devoted to a review of the filmography of of a great director & a bit about their history.
Hi, H. I just checked and the ubiquitous Walter Lang, whom I’m sure you know, directed this one. Grable at her most radiant, Dailey showing off his hoofing talents…a frothy confection perhaps but I can be very Old School at times.
Maybe it is me, but I found this a real tough puzzle today. Nothing seemed to come to mind yet when the answer was put in, I don’t why it took so long.
3.5*/3* for me.
Unknown words for me in 11a, 22d & 23a
Favourites today include 16a, 24a, 26a, 28a & 9d with winner 28a
Thanks to Jay and the 2K’s … and get well soon.
I’ve just done this on my return from having an X-ray at Saffron Walden Hospital. Took the paper with me thinking I would start it whilst I waited but no, I was in and out in 10 minutes, spit spot. I have a lot of daisies, 18,20,26a and 7,21d amongst them. 7d was the best. Hope Carol does not have the dreaded Lurgi too badly, hopefully you’ve had all the jabs and hope Huntsman has a good outcome. Quite a lot of hopes there. Driving home from SW the rain suddenly stopped and there was a fabulous rainbow – and with the flat fields and wide East Anglian skies I could see the start and end of the rainbow. It only lasted a couple of minutes but it was very beautiful. Why does a rainbow lift one’s spirits? Many thanks to the three birds.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
–Wm Wordsworth
Of course Robert! thank you for reminding me.
My pleasure, DG!
There’s something very profound about this poem. Wordsworth at his best, marvelling at the natural world. It’s long been a favourite and often quoted when I see a rainbow!
It’s a symbol of hope. And beautiful.
You’ve expanded your alias so this comment required moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.
I quite often find Jay difficult – today was one of them.
I’ve missed the point of the Spoonerism – I’ve tried it lots of times and still don’t ‘get’ it. Never mind!
My favourite was 28a.
Thanks to Jay and to the K’s – hope you feel better soon, Carol.
PS – Is anyone trying to do the other crossword – not the Toughie but the one that’s like the one that’s in the New York Times. I had an American friend who used to do it – she loved it and I couldn’t do them then . . . .
Kath the royal Arab leader is a Court Sheikh.
It made us laugh.
Oh dear!
Morning all.
We found this a particularly delightful puzzle to solve and good to see that so many commenters agree with us. Many thanks Jay.
I (Colin) have woken up still symptom free so expect another negative test when I do it in an hour or so. Carol still in her isolation bed but doesn’t sound too snuffly from what I can hear. (And I’ve put my hearing aids in.)
Cheers and thanks for all the kind wishes.
Hooray! An unaided finish. I liked 18a. I had the wrong letter at the stat of 22d until I tried to parse it and then the penny dropped. Thanks to the setter and the 2Kiwis.
An OK crossword 😬 ***/*** I just couldn’t get 11a 🤔 Some amusing clues though 13a, 16a, 8d & 22d 😃 Spoonerisms are like Marmite you love them or you hate them 😳
Found this really tough. Only just finished after coming back a few times. Definitely ***
for us. Tilth was not a word I had heard of.
Good evening all/ morning Carol and Colin and many thanks for the lovely blog and all the comments. Guess we’ll have to live with the reverend Spooner for the moment (I do try to use RP for the pronunciation, rather than any regional accent)
Many thanks, Jay, for another splendid puzzle…and for joining us too!
Enjoyed this solve today. A couple of new words as others have said but solvable. I did Google to check I was right for 11a and 23a though.
Wish me luck for the back page toughie tomorrow…
Thanks to all.
If this was Jay then for once I was on wavelength. I’m not sure what the problem with the Spoonerism is, it works perfectly well in Leicestershire. I didn’t have a problem with 16a either or any other clue, top notch puzzle. Cotd was 26a and rats are that. Thanks to the setter and 2K’s. I usually try and stay away from commenting on Covid but just to give heart to Carol I don’t know anyone who’s died of it, with it but not of it. Get well soon.
This was a veritable curate’s egg for me – some good and some below par. West was first to acquiesce. Wonder if 13a component is necessarily a chap or 8d brief. Agree with Jane re 15d as one word but it did at least allow me a moment of nostalgia as I recalled one of my favourite tear-jerking films of all times – thank you Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Thank you also Jay and the 2Kiwis. All good wishes Carol for a speedy and complete recovery and Colin do stay safe. 💐.
Hi, not a comment about today’s crossword, but the DT backpager in general: I can normally complete these crosswords but have hopped back in time to 2006 on the DT app and have been attempting some puzzles from that period which I am finding significantly more challenging. Have the crosswords become easier over time? If so, was this a gradual process or was a time when there was an agreement to make the back pagers more accessible?
Welcome to the blog, George..
I suspect that the backpagers were made somewhat easier after the introduction of the Toughie (in 2008, I think) although recently the end-of-week backpagers seem to have become more challenging.
Thanks Gazza.
That makes sense. I have found some 2006 Mon/Tues right up there with the Fri/Sat of the present, with some abstruse synonyms.
Thanks to all the regular contributors – I have been an admirer of the Big Dave blog for many a year but a bout of covid had encouraged me to break my radio silence.
3*/4*…
Liked 26A “Northern editor keeps rats_say it doesn’t matter”