Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30336
Hints and tips by pommers
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from Almoradí on a lovely sunny morning. The humidity seems to have dropped a bit so we are having a spell of really pleasant weather over the last few days. I don’t suppose it will last through July though.
As for today’s puzzle it’s a tad trickier than last weeks and I didn’t clean the acrosses on first pass. In fact I got just half of them! However I only missed two of the downs so it can’t have been too tricky! There’s a couple of slightly obscure terms, to me anyway, and a couple of bits of complicated wordplay but it’s all gettable from the wordplay and very enjoyable it was.
As usual my podium three are in blue. The definitions are underlined in the clues and the answers are under the “click here” buttons so don’t click on them unless you really want to see the answer. Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Heavy food awkward to digest without it (6)
STODGE: An anagram (awkward) of TO DIGEST but without the I and T (without it).
5a Day of celebration perhaps, in flats I’ve renovated (8)
FESTIVAL: Anagram (renovated) of FLATS IVE. There was a music one of these at Woodstock in 1969 and this is Jefferson Airplane playing there . . .
9a Speak, interrupting very different type of prophet (10)
SOOTHSAYER: A word meaning speak is inserted into (interrupting) a word meaning very and a word for something different.
10a Measure some chinchillas (4)
INCH: A lurker hiding in (some) the last word of the clue.
11a Drink Italian provided after a rep returned (8)
APERITIF: Start with the A from the clue. After that you need the REP from the clue but backwards (returned) and then two letters for Italian and a short word meaning provided.
12a US prosecutor needs to disguise material (6)
DAMASK: The usual two letters for District Attorney followed by a word meaning to disguise or hide.
13a Record temperature, then take off (4)
TAPE: T(emperature) followed by a word meaning to take off as in copy.
15a Cooking method, first of three broadcast on radio (8)
TANDOORI: T (first of Three) followed by an anagram (broadcast) of ON RADIO. With the words broadcast and on the radio I was convinced there was going to be some sort of homophone involved!
18a Sorry tale about legal document excluding women (8)
CONTRITE: A word for a tale or short story, especially of adventure, is placed around a legal document but without the W (excluding W(omen)). The word for a tale was a new one on me but the answer was fairly obvious!
19a Papers produced by the French unemployed (4)
IDLE: Your papers followed by the French definite article.
21a Failing to change sides (6)
DEFECT: Double definition.
23a Sort of menu left next to a trolley in A&E (1,2,5)
A LA CARTE: Start with L(eft) next to the A from the clue. Then another word for a trolley and the whole lot is then placed between (in) the A and E from the clue.
25a Dog’s breakfast in canteen (4)
MESS: Double definition. My grandad used to refer to a dog’s dinner rather than breakfast!
26a One may be used to exercise in Delhi gym, maybe (6,4)
INDIAN CLUB: Something you may use to exercise sounds as though it might come from a gym in Delhi, or Mumbai, or anywhere else in the sub-continent.
27a Impressed by energy charge (8)
STAMPEDE: A word meaning impressed, as your passport might be, followed by E(nergy).
28a Poet in dreary study (6)
DRYDEN: A word for dreary or dull followed by one of the usual studies.
Down
2d Body of soldiers, tense, without means to ascend (5)
TROOP: T(ense) followed by a word meaning without means or broke but it’s reversed (to ascend in a down clue).
3d Put off by fellow cleaner (9)
DETERGENT: A word meaning to put someone off followed by another word for a fellow or chap.
4d Rates unusual zircon, initially, as imitation (6)
ERSATZ: Anagram (unusual) of RATES followed by Z (Zircon initially).
5d Lose it, knowing of article supporting female name (3,3,3,6)
FLY OFF THE HANDLE: Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once . . . You need a word (3) meaning knowing or arch followed by the OF from the clue. After that you need a definite article placed after (supporting in a down clue) an F(emale). Finally you need a slang term for name, especially one used on CB radio. Split that lot (3,3,3,6) and you get a phrase meaning to lose it or go ballistic.
6d Loud type of jazz music — name trio’s leader (8)
STRIDENT: A style of jazz played on the piano followed by N(ame) and a T (Trio’s leader). Never heard of this style of jazz before but apparently this is an example of it . . .
7d Turn of phrase I love about Diane and Mike (5)
IDIOM: I from the clue and the letter representing love in tennis are placed around (about) the diminutive of Diane and followed by the letter represented by Mike in the phonetic alphabet.
8d Inherited a northern castle? Oddly, that’s about right (9)
ANCESTRAL: A from the clue and N(orthern) followed by an anagram (oddly) of CASTLE all placed around (that’s about) an R(ight).
14d Reparation from that one mentioned (9)
ATONEMENT: A lurker hiding in (from) the last three words of the clue.
16d Form of government that may make one go charily (9)
OLIGARCHY: Anagram (that may make one) of GO CHARILY.
17d Face endless people giving a torrent of abuse (8)
DIATRIBE: The face of a clock without its last letter (endless) followed by a people or clan.
20d Comic circulating an unfounded rumour (6)
CANARD: A word for a comic or wit placed around (circulating) the AN from the clue. The word is also French for one of these . . .
22d Course record therefore momentous, originally (5)
EPSOM: To get the course where the Derby is run you need an old type of record followed by a word meaning therefore and finally an M (Momentous originally).
24d Ceasefire, short, set up on base (5)
TRUCE: A word for short or abrupt is reversed (set up in a down clue) and followed by the base of natural logarithms.
My podium today is 15a, 23a and 20d with 15a on the top step.
Quick crossword puns:
Top line: YEW + GANDER = UGANDA
Bottom line: SINGER + PAW = SINGAPORE
The middle line looks like it might be a pun but, if it is, it’s one I can’t fathom.
A great start to the guzzling week with a very satisfying poser from Campbell. Plenty to like from the write ins to the ponderers. Some good misdirections as well. Did anyone else think 26a was an anagram? I’m not sure about the parsing of 15a. I know there’s some kind of homophone in there but I can’t see it. My favourite and COTD is the dry poet.
Thank you, Campbell for the fun. Many thanks, pommers for the hints, which I will now read and get the explanation for 15a.
It has cooled down in The Marches to a pleasant 18 degrees so I will be back in the garden tackling the dreaded sticky willow that is rife this year. Also, Mrs. C and I have the pleasant task of trying out various pubs for lunch. Our daughter and son-in-law are coming over from Melbourne in September and want to take us out one day so we are sampling as many as we can before they arrive. So far, The Dragon at Montgomery is top of the league.
Pleased to see I wasn’t the only one to think there was a homophone in 15a, pommers.
The homophone indicator is “on THE radio”, I don’t know if it would permissable to abbreviate that Steve.
The Small Red Book has ‘on radio’ in its list of homophone indicators.
Thanks Senf. Interesting, I’ve never seen it on any lists (and I’ve looked at a lot!) and can’t recall seeing it abbreviated in use.
My problem is whenever I see “radio” I always think homophone.
26A was an anagram in my mind but then my brain started scrambling!”
Thank you, Minerva! I’m so glad it wasn’t just me! 😀
Is it Friday already? usually race through Monday’s offering, but this seems much trickier. Maybe it’s just me being dim, or me being on AM when the compiler’s
an FM sort of bloke. No just don’t get it today, even after three separate bashes at it
still have three clues to go, will try once more then give in and peep at the hints. Will re-tune before tomorrow’s attempt.
I thought a tad easier than pommers at */** but the anagrams always help me and there were some attainable ones here. I did scratch my head with 20d and 26a as I hadn’t seen those before but v parsable. Nice Monday fun. Thanks pommers and the setter – I am advised Campbell.
Pleasantly straightforward this sunny morning with no great delays in completing this fun crossword. 9 and 28a were my top two clues.
My thanks to the double punner and pommers.
Typically enjoyable Monday offering.
I thought 6d had a bit of a “manufactured” feel to it and 23a is very clever but not really natural.
My top three are 15a plus 2d with top spot going to the cleverly disguised lurker at 14d.
Many thanks to Campbell and Pommers.
I parsed 23a slightly differently to our blogger in that I had L(left) coming after A (next to) followed by the insertion of cart in A&E but I guess both work.
Great little puzzle and just right for Monday morning!
I wonder how many younger gym bunnies will be familiar with 26a?
Not just EP’s and LP’s and shellac that that might confuse the children?
Thanks to the setter.
Enjoyable light fare to accompany the mid-morning Monday coffee: swift and steady progress from N to S, with a brief hold-up over the last few in the SW. The generous dollop of anagrams was helpful, and I’m happy to see I wasn’t the only one looking initially for a homophone in 15a – for that matter I also looked for odd letters in 8d. Hadn’t heard of that Jazz term and only dimly recollected the short story, but fortunately both answers were clear anyway!
COTD 9a with runner-up 26a
1* / 2.5*
Many thanks to Campbell and to Pommers (and thank you for the jazz clip!)
It’s Monday
It’s Campbell 
1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 21a, 25a, 20d, and 24d – and the winner is 25a.
Thanks to Campbell and pommers.
Quite relieved to learn that our blogger didn’t know the 18a tale or the 6d jazz music – thought it was just me having a particularly dim day!
Enjoyable fare from our Monday man and my top three were 27&28a plus 20d.
Thanks to Campbell and to pommers for the review.
This was very enjoyable being a little tricky in parts, but with nothing that couldn’t be worked out from the excellent clueing. I spent time looking for the non-existent anagram in 26a and homophone in 15a, both very clever misdirection. A couple of things were new to me. The use of ‘fly’ as a synonym of ‘ knowing ‘ required an appointment with the BRB, and the word ‘conte’ to mean a story was completely new to me. Today I liked 15a, 25a, 2d and 8d. Favourite is 9a. Thanks to Campbell for a great puzzle and pommers for the jazz music.
Sound start to the week with straitforward cluing. and a new type of Jazz music for me too-wanted to put trad in !
A new tale for me in 18a, and as Pommers says the definition is fairly obvious, nicely mislead in 15a and my favourite-followed by 26a
Anyway a **/**** for me
Loved 26A! I now have an image stuck in my head of some skinny British army officer type in singlet, knee length shorts, and boots swinging a striped club in each hand. A hazy memory of some old film, perhaps. Other picks include 9A, 27A and 28A. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.
I remember seeing some old sepia photos of my dad and his WW2 comrades in India, swinging 26a, complete with the singlets and knee length shorts. There was leapfrog and human pyramid too!
Mostly straightforward, apart from the 6d jazz music, which I didn’t know but found on Google. After a slight hold up in the SW corner, I finished unaided and greatly enjoyed a challenge, well-judged for a Monday back page guzzle. I liked 14d, 7a, 17d and COTD 6d because it was very clever, i wAs just too clueless to know about the jazz. Thanks to Pommers for the hints and to acampbell for a delightful guzzle.
A very pleasant start to the crosswording week – thanks to Campbell and pommers.
The jazz music was unknown to me but it couldn’t be anything else.
My ticks were awarded to 18a, 27a and 20d.
2*/4*. Light and fun as usual on a Monday. In common with other commenters, the tale in 18a and the jazz in 6d were new to me, but it was obvious what was needed in each case.
My top picks were 21a, 3a, 8d & 20d.
Many thanks to Campbell and to pommers.
It was just a question of hanging in there and it gradually all fell into place without any major hold-ups and good fun it was too. SW slowest corner. Thoughts of Jean de la Fontaine et al helped with 18a. 6a type of jazz music a new one on me but I did enjoy Scott Bradlee’s impressively energetic performance. Clandestine 14d is Fav. Thank you Campbell and pommers.
Testing
Passed!
First time in a week have managed to access this site. Glad to see all the regular commenters still around. Manage to download the guzzle every day though. At North Cape in Norway at the moment in thick fog, in fact we have been in thick fog whole cruise since leaving Dover, not like boiling U K. The cruise is a bit of a disaster on several fronts! Hey ho only anoth 11 days. This is so HUGE compared to Minerva. Have enjoyed all the guzzles despite Saturdays D T taking 8 hours to download and the P P is the last page! Hopefully see you all again in a week’s time or thereabouts. Have so missed the banter. Thanks to all the setters this last week but could not access the hints which fortunately didn’t need.
It can only get better! 🤞
I miss Minerva too!
Late to this today after the twice yearly trip to the Dentists for a checkup and clean.
I’m in the tad trickier for a Monday camp! Pleasant offering which challenged the vocabulary part of the brain with some lesser seen words, but good to clear out the weekend cobwebs.
2*/3.5*
Fav 20d LOI 16d.
Thanks to setter and pommers.
Compact and neatly clued.
But back to front solving.
Most Insert then parse.
Funny that.
Slight delay at last in, 21a and 17d
Ashamed, former, a regular, took longer.
9a my COTD.
Many thanks Campbell and pommers.
Campbell starting off the non-work week with a bit of a head scratcher as far as I am concerned. It was at the tougher end of his scale, methinks. Several required hints and extensive digging to suss out some the clues he gave us. Enjoyable in the end, but tougher than recent offerings.
2*/3.5* for me
Favourites include 10a, 25a, 3d, 5d & 22d — with winner 5d … with 22d a close second.
Thanks to Campbell & pommers for hints/blog
A great start to the week – finished each quadrant in turn without any holdups. Solved 26a from the clue but had no idea what an Indian club was. Still gyms are alien territory to me! 18a proved most difficult, mainly because I have never heard “conte” used in English. Fortunately the BRB has put me right and I now have a new word in my vocabulary!
Many thanks to Campbell and Pommers.
I really enjoyed this despite a fearsome wind blowing the paper and the parasol around wildly. There seems to be a wide range of favourites today, I liked the lurker, and the comic duck at 20a, I got off to a good start with 1a which made me laugh. But the favourite One (Kath) is 22d. It brought back happy memories, we lived not far from Epsom and my parents liked to go to the races. In 1939 they took me with them and I remember being excited by the crowds, the pounding of the hooves and seeing Prince Monolulu. The following morning, very early, my father got me up and drove me to the race course and showed me the litter, the terrible mess that several thousand people had left behind even in those days of less packaging. It was a lesson I never forgot and I have always hated litter and “litterbugs”. Rant over, many thanks to Messrs Campbell & Pommers who really should be solicitors. Such a busy week ahead I hope I can keep up with the guzzles.
1/4. Very enjoyable and made easier by the anagrams. Favourites were 13&18a and 5&20d. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.
Good fun, a tad trickier than last week. Fave was 9a, lovely word. The poet at 28a also amused.
Thank you Campbell for the fun and pommers for unravelling 18a among others.
Hi Merusa,
Just wanted to let you know that I finished reading about HHC aka the Snow Lion last night. Quite a ‘different’ and very enjoyable slant on the tenets of Buddhism, which has always struck me as being one of the more sensible branches of faith. Not at all sure that I could handle the amount of meditation advised but I can at least try to feel more empathy with all beings.
I do hope the kittens turn out to be fabulous!
Like you, like their philosophy but not ready to convert! The cat, though, was enchanting! (I love cats)
Usually on a wavelength with Campbell, I did not find this a breeze. Although au fait with the jazz genre, ducks and tales slowed me up. SW yielded last. COTD 1a.
Many thanks Pommers and Campbell.
The top was great but the bottom esp bottom left was more a typical Campbell whose wavelength I struggle with.
However not as tricky as he usually is for which I for one am grateful.
***/***
Thx to all
That was a little challenging in places, but enjoyably so. Might have finished it without the hints had it not been for the jazz music and tale clues. I was a bit slow solving 15a, probably because I cannot eat any Indian food, apart from the delicious naan bread. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.
If anyone watched the film “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”, you might like the sequel book “All the Broken Places” by John Boyne. I came across it in the library and was soon quite engrossed. It’s one of those books where you are sad when it is finished.
Thanks for the recommend, BL. The paperback isn’t available here until 20th July so I’ve put in a pre-order with Amazon.
With you on Indian food. Why destroy the taste of the individual ingredients with stuff that requires yoghurt to make your mouth feel as it should.
Fortunately it’s possible to enjoy “Indian” food without it being so hot that one cannot taste what one is eating – my wife dislikes the heat of chilli and so we simply cook many dishes without adding chillis, whether fresh, dried, or powdered.
Can highly recommend “The Three Sisters Indian Cookbook” for a wide range of easy recipes – just omit the chilli, and then the yoghurt becomes entirely optional!
I think doing your own thing is the key, as you seem to do, Mustafa. I use varoius Indian cookbooks to create spice mixtures that are less hot a nd arespicy in a way that suits my family’s taste. I avoid using proprietary brands snd make my own curry paste, curry powder etc from freshly ground whole spices
I agree. I mix my own masalas and they range from aromatic through to vindaloo. I never use “curry powder”, which is an abomination. Subtlety is the key so that the spices don’t swamp the flavour of the main ingredient. Also, I use chilli powder sparingly. It has no finesse. I grow my own chillies and use them. They have a far more fruity flavour and lend a piquancy that chilli powder never can. I leave the seeds in because a chilli without its seeds is like a Rolls Royce without seats. If the heat needs to be removed from the chilli then I cut out the white membrane that lines the pod. That is where the heat lies.
Please don’t dismiss Asian food so lightly. Prepared properly by expert chefs it is a delight. Indian takeaway outlets do not do the cuisine justice. You need to dine at such restaurants as The Tamarind in Mayfair to truly experience the delights of Asian cuisine.
Golly. I wish you gave classes!
Sailed through this until ground to a halt in the SW corner. Needed lots of help there
Enjoying the tennis but why is it whenever I start to support a player they go rapidly downhill?
Yes isn’t it great how much tennis is available to watch in comfort of home these days (beats all those queues!) and there’s still Wimbledon and US Open to which to look forward. Have neglected all chores recently as I have been hooked.
Campbell back at last to his best. Good clueing, a mixture of clues, and all solvable, some needing more thought than others. A wonderful Monday puzzle to get the week off to a good start. Finished in the car going to York Hospital early this morning. Then a visit to the railway museum, and finally the goodbyes to our oldest grandchildren at York Station who set off home on an LNER train to London.
Now for a siesta late as it is. Grandchildren are wonderful but keeping them entertained for a week is tiring in your seventies. We had a wonderful week.
An excellent start to the week: lots of concise clues with some great surfaces and a couple of new terms to add to the memory bank.
28a often pops up in quizzes as he was the first Poet Laureate.
Talking of all things quizzy….8d was the first in a sequences round in Only Connect and I knew that it was an anagram of Lancaster. So, I immediately worked out that the fourth in the sequence would be an anagram of Stuart as the sequence was Lancaster, York, Tudor, Stuart ( four consecutive royal houses in chronological order). They didn’t get it until the third one turned up.
As they say these days…….boom!
I was a very smug chappie.
COTD 8d (obvs)
2*/4*
I’ve noticed before that Campbell varies a lot in the difficulty of his crosswords – today’s seems to be one of the more trickier ones or am I having a particularly dim day?
I’ve never heard of the jazz or the less known word for story.
It took me ages to remember the word that I was hunting for the rumour – so annoying!!
Lots of good clues today – 26a and 8 and 17d.
Thanks to Campbell for the crossword and to pommers for the hints.
Mostly very Monday, enjoyable and light. I hadn’t heard of the jazz music of 5d or the Delhi gym in 26d which I needed checkers for. Having had a similar solve to pommers I’m intrigued that he awarded two stars for difficulty! 15a gets my COTD for the misdirection */***
Thanks to Campbell and pommers
Took me a tad longer than usual for a Monday, though not knowing the jazz style of short story was not where i was held up. Thanks for the Jefferson Airplane clip. Enjoyed that.
Good evening
I rattled through most of today’s crozzie, once I’d wormed my way in, until I got to the SW quadrant, and then a struggle to the finish line ensued.
I note that I’m not the only one to have been misdirected towards homophones with 15a; nor am I the only one to have had to rely on Pommers to explain 18a and 6d. For which, Pommers, many thanks, and thanks also to Campbell.
A good start to the week. SW corner took longer than the rest of the crossword combined.
Quite a few new terms/names for me in 18a, 26a, 28a, 6d and 20d.
Thanks to all.
Nice crossword to start the week 😃 **/**** needed help with 18a 🤔 ( I knew tortoise was wrong, but it fitted “tort”) Favourites: 26a,28a and 20d 👍 Thanks to Pommers and to Campbell
A quick grid fill that then required a few things checking out – the jazz term, the tale in 18a & the fitness tool all unfamiliar. Very enjoyable guzzle with a good number of ticks – 15,18,23,27&28a along with 5,17&20d stood out for me with 5d my fav.
Thanks to Campbell & to Pommers for the review
I am another defeated by the tale of derring-do, but I bunged the letters I had left after removing the legal doc (sans W) into the BRB app and lo and behold every day is a school day. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers
Late on parade but this was a two slices of marmite on toast with coffee affair (with a bit of new jazz thrown in).
Thanks to Pommers & today’s setter.
BTW, pommers I forgot to thank you for the clip of Jefferson Airplane. I was in Toronto when Woodstock happened. The guy I was staying with asked me if I wanted to go to Niagara Falls or to “a kind of pop festival that everyone was talking about”.
To this day I regret I chose Niagara Falls!
Even allowing for the fact that I’m my own worst enemy on a Monday I thought the SE was toughie in territory. 18a ‘tale’ and 16d ‘jazz have no place in a Monday back pager. I think I’ll leave it there.
I finally completed this very late yesterday but needed a few hints as there were several new words for me.
So thanks as ever to Pommers for the much needed help and to Campbell for the challenge
3*/4* …
liked 16D ” Form of government that may make one go charily (9)”