DT 30311 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30311 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30311 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)

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A lovely sunny morning making this a perfect day for a family outing


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    Separate part that’s dry inside (6)
A synonym for dry (usually applied to wines) inserted into a part

4a    Argue with guy eating last piece of white meat (5,3)
Dispute or argue followed by a verb meaning to tease (guy) between which is inserted (eating) the last piece of whitE

15a    Learned student: say it again (8)
The usual abbreviated student and a verb meaning say it again

18a    Running battle? (8)
A famous battle from long ago gives its name to a running race

25a    Swimmer hoping to develop into jumper (7)
A cryptic definition of a small swimmer hoping to live long enough to develop into an amphibian that jumps

26a    Animal returning to the ark on a regular basis (5)
A reversal (returning) of TO followed by the regular letters of ThE aRk

29a    Feast before cutting down (6)
A preposition meaning before (remember it because you’ll need it again shortly) inserted into (cutting) a synonym for down in the sense of miserable

Down

1d    Live male insect, monster (8)
A verb meaning to live, a male and an insect

2d    Fog coming from south-east a worry (3,4)
The abbreviation for south-east, A (from the clue) and a verb meaning to worry

5d    Fate revealed before end of journey (14)
A preposition meaning before and the end of a journey

19d    Self-denier like this Parisian having nervous reaction (7)
An adverb meaning like, the French (as used in Paris) word for this and a nervous reaction

21d    Defeat their hollow measure (7)
The outside (hollow) letters of TheiR and a measure of weight

22d    Foolishness, as I had oxygen in cold surroundings (6)
A simpler way of saying I had and the chemical symbol for oxygen inserted into a synonym for cold

24d    Frenchman’s top gear? (5)
A cryptic definition of something a Frenchman might wear on his ‘top’

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The Quick Crossword pun: POOR + KEW + PINE = PORCUPINE

45 comments on “DT 30311 (Hints)

  1. A fairly straightforward guzzle with enough of a challenge to make you think a bit. I enjoyed the anagrams and geographical clues very much and some of rhe lego clues were very good i liked2d, 27a, 5d, 2d and COTD 1d (what a lovely word). Thanks to the compiler and to CS for the hints

  2. A charming crossword guzzle. No additional toast required.
    A supermarket delivery this morning and I suspect the driver thinks I am insane, because I checked the orange juice once, then again, then for a third time. We simply cannot have the ‘bits’ debacle again.

    And another thing – ‘provides good ground coverage’ says the Royal Horticultural Society of ‘Herb Robert’. Well I would like to chuck a thousand Herb Robert seeds around Wisley and see how they like it. I don’t know who Robert was but I have taken heavily against him. I drag out the last of the blasted stuff and sit down contented with my work; yet before my very eyes more of the damned ‘good ground cover’ appears willy-nilly all over the place. It should be legal to napalm Herb Robert and to hell with what the Just Stop Oil lobby thinks. Get me a flamethrower!
    And then there’s the borage – Herb Robert’s equally invasive pal. Gardening is a stressful business.

    Thanks to the setter and PC Security (anag)

    1. Terence, don’t be too hard on borage which I miss in my current small garden for a ready supply for Pimms – mint is too overpowering!

    2. I think I’d trade Herb Robert for the bloomin’ couch grass that I’ve been digging out of my allotment for years. Fork, glyphosate, black polythene, whatever and still the darned stuff keeps coming back!

        1. I’m a slave to cooch grass elimination too. The crafty plant winds itaelf in and out of the roots of all sorts of desirable vegetation so that you can’t pull it out without digging uap the whole rootball and disentangling it. It loves my lavender!

      1. You need a honeysuckle so that the bindweed can “fall flat on its face”! (Flanders and Swann)

  3. Two crosses, 5d with 18 and 20a
    And 9d with 14 and 15a
    Formed the basis
    Of a more or less R and W completion.
    Perhaps more more than less.
    Pleasantly satisfying confidence boost.
    Thanks setter and CS.

  4. A short but sweet way to end the cruciverbal week. Will refrain from top-listing any in particular as this was a collection of nicely enigmatic clues. Many thanks Mysteron for a fun-time and CS for backstopping in case of need.

  5. Hmm – not a pangram, no double unches, X-Type was on duty last Saturday – possibly faulty logic suggests that I should put two half-crowns on the Floughie Lady for some straightforward Saturday fun – **/****

    Candidates for favourite – 18a, 25a, and 1d – and the winner is 1d.

    thanks to Chalicea, or whomsoever if my five bob goes down the drain, and thanks to CS.

  6. A good way to start the weekend and completed before I got out of bed.

    Favourites included 18a, 2d and 6d. We use a different word for 2d in Scotland but I had heard this answer before. 6d was also dredged from the depths and I will not comment on this answer further or I will end up on the naughty step.

    Thanks to setter and hinter.

    1. You make me feel less gulty as most days I attempt to finish Cryptic before getting out of bed but am often enbarrassed for example when postman rings doorbell and I’m still in nightdress!

  7. Very enjoyable puzzle at just my level. I really enjoyed 25a but had to look up my answer to 2d (I think we have had that before but my memory is not what it was).
    Thx to all
    **/****

  8. I originally had the wrong second word for 2d which held me up for a bit – stupid really as we often have 2d round here. An enjoyable solve with no particular problems. Our visit to the Watatunga Wildlife Reserve was great but my photos were not so great – rather difficult from a moving golf buggy but I did get quite a good one of a Great Bustard called Dave who was quite aggressive and wanted to get into the buggies and I suspect have a good peck at any flesh showing. Lovely to see all these endangered animals roaming freely. Thanks to the setter for the fun and CS for her hints which I did not need today.

  9. Gentle, sunny puzzle, quite in keeping with today’s weather. Ticks here went to 4,27&29a plus 5&9d. 9d raised my hackles over the ‘woke’ brigade!

    Thanks to our setter and to CS for the hints and charming illustrations.

  10. 1.5*/4* This was light and fun. 18a was my favourite with 29a runner-up.

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS.

  11. Nice & gentle with no head scratching necessary & a lovely time filler between announcing participants in the medal off the 1st tee in glorious sunshine. Top two for me 1d (because it’s a great word) & the fodder for 9d which made for such a good surface read.
    Thanks to the setter (2 bob on Cephas) & CS & with continued thoughts/best wishes for Robert

    1. Gosh, you must belong to a very prestigious golf club, we don’t get announced off the tee in Lamberhurst!!

  12. Thoroughly enjoyable Saturday puzzle with no obscure knowledge required, and no argument about unqualified foreign phrases, I hope. Best of the bunch for me were 4a, 18a, 1d, 19d and my favourite 25a. Thanks to all involved.

  13. Good honest crossword with clues that could be solved with sound thinking. April 1983 was when we moved to Scarborough and while the rest of the country enjoyed the spring and summer we enjoyed a 2d for most of that time. Travel a few miles die west and the sun was shining but Scarborough and the coast were grey, misty and cold. If you know the area you will appreciate why Ravenscar failed to develop into a North Yorkshire holiday destination.

    Favourites today are 18 and 25a, and 1d. Thanks to CS and the setter.

  14. Found this Saturday puzzle a little trickier than normal. Not sure it was a Cephas, so keeping my money in my pocket this week.

    2*/4* for me today.

    Favourites include 1a, 13a, 23a, 25a 27a & 9d with winner 25a

    Thanks to setter and CS for hints/blog

  15. How do I change the icon on my
    posts? I’m not always grumpy, but sometimes on Thursday and Friday.
    Struggled with this at first but after a couple of hints it seemed fine for a Saturday. Thanks to the setter and crypticsue.

  16. Thoroughly enjoyable, I liked 25a which brought back happy childhood memories, 27a had me going down the garden path erroneously, I think I am going to plump for 10a for my One Favourite.
    We are going out at four to play Canasta and have an early meal at half time, so we skipped lunch. However , one has to have something and George had a beer (surprise, surprise) and I had an orange. A large, juicy orange from Waitrose which came, surprisingly, straight from the tree au naturel with built in bits! That’s all I am prepared to say as I have made my vow. Many thanks to CSue and Setter.

  17. Enjoyable crossword – especially sitting in the sunshine and listening to FOUR hours of bellringing from St. Chads!

  18. Nice and easy! Thanks to setter and blogger.

    I will put all my Canadian Dollars on Cephas!

  19. A short but pleasant diversion. Favourite was 25a. Thanks to the setter and CS.

  20. A welcome Saturday respite from struggling as we’ve had to do in the last two days. I made it more difficult for myself by getting 2d wrong, but I was able to correct when I got 12a, seem to remember that second word in 2d from past crosswords. I completely missed the anagram at 9d and only solved that when I had all checkers and I used ehelp to get it. I surprised myself by remembering the queen in 3d, at long last. My fave has to be 1d, what a lovely word!
    Thanks setter, that was fun if a little trickier for a Saturday, and CS for parsing so many and the pic of the beautiful swans.

    1. The cynets have grown a lot in the couple of days since I took the photo. The highlight of today’s walk was the number of large dragonflies all along the stream

    1. Lovely guzzle, many thanks. I don’t know what I would do without my daily Xword fix.

  21. Just finished this sitting in the sun having a cuppa as the day has been non stop with other things to do. A lovely puzzle to complete with 25a my favourite.

    I share DG’s and Terence’s frustrations with Herb Robert, ground Elder and Bindweed but would add Ivy to the list as it invades from every direction.

    many thanks to Cephas and to CS for the hints and pics.
    I hope everyone has a good bank holiday weekend as the weather seems to be rather good considering it’s both a bank hol and half term, usually an invitation for rain!

  22. A bit late on parade because of visiting The Kinnerley Beer Festival. It was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny May Bank Holiday. Folk were drinking beer in the church, the village hall, the playground and anywhere there was a place to sit. Live musicians played folk songs and Irish jigs while the local pub and the food/ice cream vans did a roaring trade. Everyone was given a free glass engraved with a picture of the church and the words “Kinnerley Beer Festival”.

    As for the puzzle, I was slow to start but managed to pull it all together for a satisfying finish. My favourite is 1a. I will submit in forlorn hope!

    My thanks t the setter for the challenge and to CS for the hints. I loved the cygnets.

    1. That’s lovely! Looks like everyone knows everyone else! Real village life.

  23. 1/4. Another enjoyable puzzle although over too quickly for a Friday early evening. My favourite clue was 2d but I can’t remember where I came across this. Strange how the brain works. Thanks to the setter and CS.

  24. Appropriately gentle for the 4th (I think) large Pimms of the evening after a long day out and about on various farms doing ‘stuff’ in high temperatures. Enjoyable, straightforward, well-clued, with plenty of variety and fewer anagrams than I feared would be the case (solved from S to N). Top 3 for me were 11a, 29a and 5d.

    1 / 3

    Thank you to Cephas and of course to CS

  25. After last weeks confidence builder, I found this quite challenging but still enjoyable. Still stuck on a few that just aren’t “clicking” but as is usually the case the answer pops up sometime during the week, usually during a dull work meeting!

    Favourite this week was 23a. It had a certain classic cryptic-ness about it.

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