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DT 30195

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30195

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty **** Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Thursday. I found this puzzle rather tricky and I had to consult a few references to get everything in and parsed.  Lots of fun though, with many smiles along the way. 

In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background. Clicking on a picture will enlarge it or display a bonus illustration and a hover (computer) or long press (mobile) might explain more about the picture. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

6a    Dreadful rule referring to riotous soldiers (5,2,6)
REIGN OF TERROR:  An anagram (riotous) of REFERRING TO followed by some usual abbreviated soldiers

8a    Drink very quietly over in Syrian city (6)
ALEPPO:  Link together a brewed alcoholic drink, the musical abbreviation for very quietly, and the cricket abbreviation for over 

9a    Will fastest guns win this international competition? (4,4)
ARMS RACE:  A cryptic definition of the competition among nations to amass weaponry 

10a   See British getting high return? (3)
LOB:  See or behold with the single letter for British 

11a   Daughter I see in Rome or Split (6)
DIVIDE:  Put together the genealogical abbreviation for daughter, I from the clue, and the Latin (in Rome) for “see” 

12a   Nothing brought back old style printing machine (8)
LINOTYPE:  Assemble the reversal (brought back) of a synonym of nothing, the abbreviation for old, and style or sort 

14a   It takes a crowd outside to cause trouble (7)
AGITATE:  IT from the clue inserted in (takes … outside) both A from the clue and the crowd at a sporting event

16a   Old stager devious viscount caught out? (7)
USTINOV:  An anagram (devious) of VISCOUNT minus the cricket abbreviation for caught (caught out

20a   Lug instrument and books round room? (8)
OTOSCOPE:  Join together a biblical collection of books, the round letter, and room or extent 

23a   Where work to be done is placed within year? (2-4)
IN-TRAY:  A Latin word meaning “within” with the single letter for year 

24a   This bores everyone in conversation (3)
AWL:  A homophone (in conversation) of another word for everyone 

25a   Pinter dissected in papers: that's daring (8)
INTREPID:  An anagram (dissected) of PINTER contained in the abbreviation for identity papers 

26a   That blinking sight screen! (6)
EYELID:  A cryptic definition of a body part that blinks 

27a   Activity that could result in bears showing aggression? (5-8)
SABRE-RATTLING:  The answer read as cryptic wordplay could give BEARS 

 

Down

1d    Precisely locate cask in filling tankard (8)
PINPOINT:  A cask of 4.5 gallons is followed by IN from the clue inserted in (filling) a tankard or glass of beer

2d    Lethargic boozer claims benefit on time (8)
INDOLENT:  A boozer or pub contains (claims) unemployment benefit, and that’s all followed by the physics symbol for time 

3d    Warm female appears in a moral tale (7)
AFFABLE:  The abbreviation for female inserted in (appears in) the fusion of A from the clue and a moral tale 

4d    Morse deciphered before noon lecture (6)
SERMON:  An anagram (deciphered) of MORSE followed by the single letter for noon 

5d    Droll nonsense -- could it bring the house down? (3,3)
DRY ROT:  Droll or flat with an informal word for nonsense 

6d    Group moving sarsens to Avebury? (7,6)
ROLLING STONES:  A rock group whose name might whimsically describe moving sarsens to Avebury 

7d    Matching metal in cargo with price adjusted (13)
RECIPROCATING:  A common metal inserted in an anagram (adjusted) of CARGO PRICE 

13d   Starts to observe Ulyssean traits in Bloom (3)
OUT:  The initial letters of (starts to) the next three words in the clue 

15d   Answer given by Roman Catholic in Bow (3)
ARC:  The single letter for answer with the abbreviation for Roman Catholic 

17d   Blade large Italian lifted in quarrel (8)
STILETTO:  The clothing abbreviation for large and the abbreviation for Italian are joined and reversed (lifted, in a down clue) and inserted in a (3,2) quarrel

18d   Article put out after home brewing (2,3,3)
IN THE AIR:  Putting all the bits in order, we join the usual short word for at home, a grammatical article, and put out or broadcast 

19d   Gone to meet Maker? God giving little away (7)
DEADPAN:  “Gone to meet one’s maker” followed by a Greek god 

21d   Light suit's covering gown (6)
STROBE:  The outer letters of (…’s covering) of SUIT are followed by another word for gown 

22d   Duck small victim for hunting bird (6)
OSPREY:  Concatenate the letter that looks the score known in cricket as a duck, the clothing abbreviation for small, and a synonym of victim 

 

Thanks to today’s setter. Top clue for me was 27a. Which clues did you like best?


The Quick Crossword pun:  SOUP + ERNE + OVER = SUPER NOVA


73 comments on “DT 30195

  1. Absolutely brilliant puzzle today, tricky, misleading here and there and a bit
    of general knowledge and lateral thinking required.
    Very entertaining, but I always like the ones with multi-word answers the best.
    Tough type of grid as the first clues across and down don’t give much of a toehold
    to work from. Too many favourites to mention them all, but 6d and 11a are my
    standouts today. Thanks to our compiler, great fun!

  2. Well, with Ray T, as his alter ego, on Toughie Duty today, my five bob says this very enjoyable challenge is a NYDK production – 2.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 11a, 26a, 1d, 6d, and 18d – and the winner is 1d.

    Thanks to NYDK, or whoever if I lose my five bob, and Mr K.

  3. Although I’m not a fan of this grid (I know setters who wouldn’t use it) I really enjoyed this very clever and cryptic puzzle.
    I don’t know why but I got the impression the setter is a bit of a wily “old stager” (and a fan of false capitalisation!)
    I had to check the Italian “vide” otherwise all went in smoothly if not rapidly.
    My ticks go to 14a plus 1,5&19d with the top spot going to the excellent 27a. Great stuff
    Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

      1. Basically a lack of first letter checkers which some setters think a tad unfair to the solver, though of course it’s an accepted grid (and lends itself nicely to Ninas)

  4. 3*/4.5*. A very enjoyable puzzle which I found quite challenging in parts.

    Quite difficult to choose a single favourite from such a good selection but my top two picks are 27a & 6d.

    Many thanks to the mystery setter. Having failed miserably at setter spotting for the last two days, I am going lick my wounds and keep quiet today. Many thanks too to Mr K. A great review as always with th cat pics the icing on the cake.

  5. A game of two halves. The top went in quite quickly but the bottom half of the puzzle had more head-scratchers and took much longer. Some of my andwers were bung-ins that I couldn’t completely parse so thanks to Mr K for the hints. I liked the 7d anagram, the 6d cryptic definition and the 8a geographical ckue. Thanks to the compiler (NYDK?) and to MrK (nice cat pictures.

  6. I found this very tough but also very well crafted. Stand out favourite has to be 6d.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  7. Having failed to complete a puzzle unaided for more than a month was on track to make it 4 pure solves in a row this week after much effort. But then I put mix instead of air for 18d which was last one in Nonetheless hugely enjoyable so many thanks to the setter and Mr K . COTD 26a

  8. I found this a particularly straightforward puzzle for a Thursday (more like a Monday or Tuesday). It was very enjoyable. If you solved yesterday’s Toughie, there was some almost deja-vu here in 17d

    Thanks to the setter (I’m not going to risk 50p on a guess) and to Mr K

  9. I found this one very difficult. I needed Mr K’s hint for 18d as all I could think of was ‘in the bin’.
    Also needed help with parsing 1d which had to be what it was, as I had no idea of cask sizes. Terence ? The List ?

    Thanks to Mr K and to the setter.

    Mood not improved here by the constant tappy-hammering of the roofers. Should be glad they are beavering away I suppose but cannot help feeling resentful about the amounts of my sugar they are consuming in their teas/coffees. And because they start at 8am which is just Not Fair.

    1. Terence I think drinks beer and would know about a pin of bitter! He is more likely to put 20a on The List.

      1. Back in the days when I worked at the village pub, you could order a polyxxx of Shepherd Neame beer to take away for home consumption. I’ve looked on their website and it doesn’t seem to be there any more

        1. I put “in the bin” and think it’s a better answer than given here. To “bin” something is surely closer to “put out” than “air”. At a minimum I would argue that they are both equally plausible.

              1. If you have a plan that’s “brewing”…it’s “in the air”. I think the “home brewing” was a misdirection.

            1. If one is using a mashing bin, yes. I think “in the air” is more straightforward but “home” + “item put out” = “in” + “the bin” and that fits, enough.

  10. I thought this was an absolutely scintillating puzzle, with some excellent and inventive clueing. I particularly liked 20a, 27a, 6d and 19d. Thoroughly enjoyable.

    My thanks to Mr Ron and Mr K.

  11. A very enjoyable puzzle – thanks to the setter and Mr K.
    Amongst my many ticks are 11a, 6d and 19d but my favourite has to be 27a.

    If you are one of Ray T’s many fans you may like to know that his Toughie (as Beam) today is really no trickier than his back-pagers. It has all his usual trademarks (succinct clues, visits by the Queen and sweetheart, hidden and ‘first letters’ answers). The only thing you need to remember is that as Beam he doesn’t ‘do’ anagrams.

  12. Unlike Stephen L, I loved the look of this grid. Don’t know why – it just appealed visually. Great fun – enjoyed the references to entertainment icons from music and the acting profession, and the parsing of 27a – thanks Mr K. Might be inspired to play ‘Love is Blind’ later – one of my favourite but less celebrated tracks by 6d. COTD – 23a – even though the thought of a full one is the stuff of nightmares. Thanks very much to the anonymous setter – my favourite puzzle so far this week.

  13. Like Chriscross above the top went in very easily but not so the bottom which took at least twice as long. Visited the city at 8a a long time ago – wonderful souk but I kept being buffeted by tiny women (I’m only just over 5.3) I was literally being pushed around. I was wearing long sleeves, long skirt and a scarf but when I looked at them they were grinning away and one said in very broken English ‘we just want to touch you, you are beautiful’! Lordy me, they all needed to go to Specsavers. So sad what has happened to that country with wonderful, generous people. Thanks to the setter and for the lovely catty pics, especially 2d who seems to be smiling.

  14. Very enjoyable and perhaps kinder than usual for a Thursday. SW was the last to fall. Suit’s covering in 21d was my PDM of the day and so my favourite clue amongst a strong list. Thanks to our mystery Setter and Mr K for the review

  15. My favourite back-pager of the week so far – not too easy, not overly complex but plenty to get ones teeth into and a few penny-drops. A lack of obvious anagrams and hidden words possibly. Both 2d and 17d were in yesterday’s toughie also helped! Today’s podium goes to 6d, 26a and the gold to 9a which was hilarious **/****

    Third time lucky with NYDK? Ty to MrK

  16. A bit of a struggle again today partly due to the grid and some difficult parsing.
    Last in was 1d when the cask eventually dawned.
    Remembered the old type and the factory name,knew the owner.
    Saw the 16a old stager at Durham univercity when he presented one of my sons with his degree in anthropology!
    Anyway going for a ****/****,a satisfying puzzle throughout,27a was my favourite

  17. A cracking puzzle.
    I got off to a very slow start and almost gave up, getting on with my daily tasks instead.
    An hour later, I sat down, took two deep breaths, and, miraculously (?), I aligned myself to the wily setter’s workings. My answers quickly slotted in, accompanied by occasional gasps of pleasure at the wordplay.
    Clearly not a (my favourite) Ray T Day, but I feel I was really on today’s puzzle poser’s wavelength.
    Thank you!

  18. It all went in pretty briskly but my last word at 18d (last in) was incorrect. I too had mix & hadn’t come up with an alternative so have only myself to blame for reading the comments as Bob gave the game away. Otherwise problem free apart from needing to check on the Latin. 16a & David Niven we’re two of my favourite raconteurs on the chat shows of old so nice to see him popping up. Fav today a toss up between 19d&27a.
    Thanks to the setter (a couple of bob says Donny can’t deny us thrice) & Mr K whose review I’ll now read.
    Ps didn’t get round to the Toughie yesterday so Logman & Beam to enjoy while watching the snooker

  19. Mr K, you’ve made my day by labelling this charming puzzle as 4* difficulty- and I finished it unaided. Obviously a wavelength thing but really enjoyed the clever wordplay especially 20a and 26a as a retired medic and 11a was delightful. Thank you to Mr K and our setter

  20. A pleasingly challenging Thursday puzzle with great clues providing an enjoyable solve. The first back-pager this week that has inspired me enough to actually comment. I didn’t know that 2-letter word could be a cask. I’ve ticked a few clues but I’ll have to pick 27a for special mention. 3.5*/4*.

    1. If you like good old British rock music, here’s Chris Rea live at the Montreaux Jazz Festival 1986. Brilliant solos on guitar and organ:

      1. Thak you S. I had: PIN(PO + IN)T. PO is a (very obscure) cask and my tankard was a PINT. I can now see it’s much more straightforward than that!

  21. Absolutely brilliant, and a completely different kettle of fish to yesterday. On first look couldn’t see any of the four long ones so progress was slow and very haphazard (I do like a bit of order when solving!) Huge PDM with 6d, where I had been convinced that the second word was ‘citcle’. Plenty to smile about, especially 20a, 5d and 19d. Eventually completed unaided but needed help to parse 1d. They could all be favourites today but I’ll go for 27a and 6d. Thanks to the compiler and Mr K.

  22. Lovely puzzle with loads of smiles and head scratching. I had never heard of the printing machine but it could be nothing else given the clue. A quick check with Mr. G confirmed my answer. Quite a large machine. 20 across had me thinking of every simile for “lug” in respect of hauling until a large coin fell on my head. I did like the reference to the oldest rock group ever but my COTD is 14a because of the dawning realisation it gave.

    Many thanks to the setter for the fun. Thank you, Mr, K. for the hints and pusskits. I love the laid back one at 2d.

    Sunny with showers and blustery in The Marches today.

    In case folk missed it, Peter (LabrodorsRule OK) asked me to post a message, which I put on the page “LabradorsRule OK”.

  23. Like a few others, I couldn’t think of the answer for 18d and put in ‘bin’ for the last word. I could have kicked myself when I saw the answer, especially as I finished fairly quickly.

  24. For me not a walk in the park but enjoyable to tackle. Have chore to which to attend so threw in the towel and sought help for a couple in the SE plus the parsing for 26a (Fav) which amused. Cross with myself for not tumbling to the almost unforgettable 16a old stager (what a unique character/raconteur). Thank you Messrs. Ron and K.

  25. Didn’t find this too uphill at ***/*** but not my favourite so far this week. 11&27a and 6&19d were my pick of the pops. Thanks MrK for the hints to understand 23a & 18d both easily solved but wasn’t sure why! Thanks to the setter. Now. What does Friday hold in store?

    Hopefully nothing too much trickier😳

  26. I found this quite difficult but also very enjoyable. I would not have completed it without the help of Mr K – thanks to you and the setter.
    I can never remember whether 17d has 2 ‘LLs’ or 2 ‘TTs’ 🙄

  27. Thought this looked a bit daunting at first glance but it proved not to be once I got a toehold. Solving was greatly assisted by coming across three entries that we’ve had within the last couple of days, it often happens that we get one duplicated answer but that number seemed somewhat excessive!
    Plenty of tick-worthy clues and my selection is 27a plus 5,6&19d.

    Thanks to our setter and to Mr K and the felines for a great review.

  28. Some very, very, clever wordplay eg 11 and 14a and 17d.
    Steady solve until 20a.
    Only twigged the parsing when experimenting with letters.
    So, added .5 to my 2*time.
    Many thanks, RayT and M K.

  29. I’d be very surprised if this is not an NYDK offering. The cryptic spanner is applied to all the clues to the point where I can’t see how they’d really be improved. So a list of candidates for the podium today: I liked the BEARS immensely, but by a whisker (do bears have these?) I’ll go for the Avebury rockers, which had me chuckling like an idiot.

    Brilliant stuff, thanks setter (we almost know who you are!) and Mr K (nice pic @ 2d).

  30. Third time lucky, folks.

    Thanks to Mr K for his fine blog, and to all for commenting. Lots of kind words, so thank you indeed, much appreciated.

    Cheers
    NYDK

    1. Lovely puzzle Doorknob. I was convinced that stocks and shares were involved in 27a, lots of nice misdirections.

    2. Your clue setting must be brilliant as I solved it without needing the hints or reveals NYDK. The first time I have finished a **** rated puzzle makes it a red letter day for me. So grateful thanks for today’s crossword.

  31. Had to check the Italian in 14a, (my LOI) otherwise a straightforward solve today, for a change NYDK failed to confuse me despite his best efforts! 6d has my vote for favourite amongst several clever clues.
    Wet and windy on The Downs again.
    Thanks to the aforementioned setter and Mr. K for the blog.

  32. A very different puzzle today not from our alternating Thursday setter, but still very pleasant anyway.

    1.5*/4* for me with many good and fun clues.

    Podium contenders include 20a, 25a, 5d, 6d, 7d & 18d with co-winners 20a & 6d … both very clever in different ways.

    Lots of chuckles to be had throughout as well as a couple of penny drop moments thrown in too.

    Thanks to NYDK and Mr K

  33. Thank you Mr K you have excelled yourself with the very relaxed feline. And for unravelling 16a which I just could not get, despite the actor being a favourite of mine. Daisies for 11,25a and 1,6&19d. I completed the toughie last night, another ‘white night’, so thanks for that as well. Salutations to Setter & Hinter.

  34. Late today, and a bit nonplussed that my ‘answer’ for 18d (like Huntsman’s) is not the accepted one since it made perfectly good sense to me at the time. (Oh, nice try, Bobby!). Anyway, I thought this the puzzle of the week for me, with 6d (tickled me, with all those Jaggered rocks) leading the huge pack of winners, most notably 11a, 27a, 19d, and the twice-Oscared and very brilliant 16a. It just doesn’t get any better than NYDK at his best so thanks to him and Mr K for his always enjoyable review and pictures. **/*****

    Great day for puzzles with the splendid Beam on the other side.

  35. A wonderful puzzle which I solved without hints or reveals and a **** to boot. What more can the class dunce ask for? Great clues which stretched my abilities to breaking point and once again a very honest crossword which took time but the solving repaid time and effort.

    Among the plethora of fine clues 27a and 6d get the very honourable mentions. My thanks to Mr K for his blog and the lethargic cat and to NYDK for such a fine puzzle.

  36. I fell at the last, again. Had to BIN my 18d. Otherwise very enjoyable. Should’ve but didn’t pick NYDK. Many thanks to you and fur-friendly MrK.

  37. Very enjoyable and just right for a back pager 😃 ***/**** From the many excellent clues I propose: 11a, 27a, 5d, 6d and 22d 👍 Thanks to Mr K and to NYDK and I learnt a new word at 6d😜

  38. The right hand side went straight in, but the south west corner was a bit of a head scratcher. 5d was my favourite. Thank you setter and Mr K

  39. Tiny brain here did remarkably well. I was right on wavelength for 6a, 27a and 6d, giving me lots of checkers. We’ve had some repeats recently, lug = ear, eg, and 5d sounded familiar. I used a word search to get 1d, 2d and 7d. My old friend at 16a was a gift. All in all, even though Mr. K’s **** scared me, I enjoyed this. Fave was 6d and all the cats! I always look forward them.
    Thanks NYDK for the fun, and Mr. K for unravelling a few.

  40. Thanks to NY Doorknob and to Mr K for the review and hints. What a super puzzle really enjoyed it. Some of it was a bit tricky, I can normally get the long answers, but this was the opposite, the four long clues were among the last to go in. I liked 27a, a reverse anagram, but my favourite was 6d, which I solved just as Satisfaction was playing on the radio ( thanks for the hint Mick ) :-) Was 3*/ 5* for me.

  41. Found it a bit harder than the toughie and as Jane, was surprised to see the same two words as in yesterday’s toughie n° 2990.
    Didn’t spoil the pleasure though.
    Got 6d from the checkers and needed the blog to understand.
    Great charade in 23a.
    Thanks to NYDK and to Mr K for the review.

  42. Almost completed in two halves as was out for the afternoon. Spent ages on 7d trying to make an anagram of ‘metal in cargo’ with p as an added letter. I couldn’t decipher 16a the old stager despite 2 checking letters. Spent some time convinced there was a typo with 6d. (Saracens ie tanks and Salisbury plain!).: But all in all thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Many thanks to NYDK and to Mr K for the hints/cat pictures.

  43. Late, but I wanted post my appreciation of this one. Thank you NY Doorknob for the fun, and Mr K for help with parsing.

    I quite liked the grid: a nice variety of word lengths, including some 3-letter words with 2 crossing, and some other words with 3 consecutive crossing letters.

    The short 24a (“This bores everyone in conversation”) was my favourite of words I’d previously heard of; 20a was my overall favourite. It turns out that even obscure answers can be fun!

  44. 4*/4*…
    liked 5D ” Droll nonsense — could it bring the house down? (3,3)” ….
    not sure about 1D “Precisely locate cask in filling tankard (8)” …
    the most relevant definition for “po” in any of the on line
    dictionaries that I use is a chamberpot …
    how did Mr K get the lethargic cat to pose for 2D ?????

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