Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3228
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This puzzle was published on 3rd September 2023
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Another Sunday, another Dada Sunday Prize Puzzle
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Across
1a Up the creek taking a steam bath? (2,3,5)
IN HOT WATER – A slang expression meaning in dire difficulties, or a literal description of where you’d be if you were taking a steam bath
6a Worshipped figure in deity often legendary, first of all (4)
IDOL – The first letters of In Deity Often Legendary
10a Mark delicate flier (5)
COMMA – A punctuation mark or a type of butterfly (delicate flier)
11a Party bringing action with ugly fight (9)
PLAINTIFF – PLAIN (ugly) TIFF (fight)
12a Sadden detective and spook (8)
DISPIRIT – DI (Detective Inspector) SPIRIT (spook)
13a Frenchman and wife begin again (5)
RENEW – RENE (Frenchman) and W (wife)
15a PC in seaside resort doffing cap (5-2)
RIGHT-ON – Politically Correct – bRIGHTON (seaside resort) without (doffing) its ‘cap’
17a Fringes in party, deep red (7)
CRIMSON – RIMS (fringes) in CON (Conservative Party)
19a Reportedly red-hot fruit (7)
CURRANT – A homophone (reportedly) of CURRENT (red-hot, information lately received)
21a Pepper money invested in sugar plant (7)
CAYENNE – YEN (money) invested in CANE (sugar plant)
22a Lift inoperative ultimately, yet to arrive (5)
ELATE – The ultimate letter of inoperativE followed by LATE (yet to arrive)
24a Austere day as little jerk (8)
MONASTIC – MON (Monday) AS (from the clue) TIC (little jerk)
27a English after opening in ball game (9)
BAGATELLE – GATE (opening) inserted into BALL (from the clue), the result finished with the abbreviation for English
28a Some invocation in the ordinal (5)
NINTH – Hidden in invocatioN IN THe
29a One introduced to explosive colour (4)
TINT – I (one) ‘introduced’ to TNT (explosive)
30a Beauty in Romeo overcome by small-minded behaviour (10)
PRETTINESS – The letter represented by Romeo in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet inserted into PETTINESS (small-minded behaviour)
Down
1d Creep at the altar, say? (4)
INCH – IN CH (in church, at the altar, say)
2d Knockout, low sound before bell? (9)
HUMDINGER – HUM (low sound) before DINGER (bell)
3d Hike from bottom of gradient over bank (5)
TRAMP – T (the bottom of gradienT) goes over RAMP (bank)
4d Hopeful, having scratched foot, for basic medicine (7)
ASPIRIN – ASPIRINg (hopeful) without the last letter (having scratched foot)
5d Cold? It’s bitter when flipping over, stretching (7)
ELASTIC – A reversal (when flipping over) of C (cold) ITS (from the clue) ALE (bitter)
7d Lower in qualifying, I edge upwards (5)
DEIGN – Hidden in reverse in qualifyiNG I EDge
8d Player in red? (4-6)
LEFT-WINGER – A football player or a description of someone whose political views might be coloured red
9d Scale of crime otherwise confined to hostility (8)
ENORMITY – OR (otherwise) ‘confined to’ ENMITY (hostility)
14d Pair of creatures, one of those in English willow? (7,3)
CRICKET BAT – CRICKET and BAT – willow being the wood used by the English to make cricket bats
16d Cross about U-turn of assistant ref, perversion of justice (8)
TRAVESTY – TESTY (cross) ‘about’ a reversal (U-turn) of VAR (assistant referee)
18d Feeling one put into words (9)
SENTIENCE – I (one) put into SENTENCE (words)
20d Glass, one about to smash? (7)
TUMBLER – Double definition
21d Show trick, surefire success (7)
CONCERT – CON (trick) CERT (surefire success)
23d Gas in mythological vessel, nitrogen (5)
ARGON – ARGO (mythological vessel) N (Nitrogen)
25d Wrong road for biblical mount (5)
SINAI – SIN (wrong) AI (road)
26d What’s here in truth, I swear (4)
THIS – Hidden in truTH I Swear