Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30449 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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Having fought my way through wind and heavy rain to do the shopping, and buy the all-important Saturday paper, I was cheered no end on my return to find an email telling me I had won £200 on the Premium Bonds. Add to that the discovery that Robyn’s alter egos are in the Guardian and FT today, and I think it might be a good day after all.
Today’s Prize Puzzle has some nice cryptic definitions. If I haven’t hinted a particular clue you can’t solve, it may well be an anagram or a lurker
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 Firm restricted guests (7,7)
Synonyms for restricted and a group of guests
8a Not in any way having specialised skill reported (5)
A homophone (reported) of some specialised skill
12a Diocese to make sure about (3,2)
Another name for a diocese and TO (from the clue)
14a Mrs Simpson maybe allowed to return message (8)
A reversal (to return) of Mrs Simpson, the cartoon character, and a synonym for allowed
24a Impressive building: see around it! (9)
An impressive building found in a see
25a Dispensed with current measure for gas (8)
Dispensed with or sacked with an abbreviated measure of electrical current
27a Rugby player confused ref with right move for three-quarters, say (6,8)
A rugby player, an anagram (confused) of REF with the abbreviation for Right and a move
Down
1d Lengthy split in schoolwork? (4,8)
More synonyms – this time for lengthy and a split
2d Grumble about this hairdo (7)
Grumble or complain goes ‘about’ a Latin pronoun meaning this
6d Angrily lets rip, welcoming answer in column (8)
An anagram (angrily) of LETS RIP ‘welcoming’ the abbreviation for Answer
15d Profoundly involved but not up to one’s neck (4-4)
A cryptic definition of an informal expression meaning profoundly involved
20d Limits to public transport? (7)
End points to journeys on public transport
21d Places reversed — soldiers in a daze (6)
Reverse another way of saying places and follow with an abbreviation for soldiers
22d Digestive spasm following fizz (6)
An involuntary spasm goes after (following) an informal word meaning fizz in the sense of vigour or life
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The Quick Crossword pun: FRANC + EINSTEIN = FRANKENSTEIN
It took me a while to get into this. I had solved only four after the first pass but these gave entry to the rest gradually. I had not heard of the word at 8a and it took quite a while to parse 21d. My COTD is 24a because of the penny drop that came with a huge clang.
Thank you to the setter for the fun and CS for the hints.
Sent it off for The Mythical in forlorn hope.
Rain again in The Marches so the Hoover beckons!
I’d say 8a was slang, though it is in my dictionary … I think it’s wrong, and it should be indicated as thus! And it says British English!
I can’t remember hearing 8a used by anyone I know, but it was used in the 1939 Wizard of Oz film. Perhaps it’s dated slang.
Also took a little while to get started but then it was plain sailing. Few unfamiliar words 25a, 6d. Good fun
A fairly straightforward guzzle until I got to the SW, where I was stuck for some time. There was a lot of General Knowledge i nvolved in the clues which I enjoyed and a few cryptic definitions, which were not so good. I liked the 9a charade, the anagram at 19d and the two lego clues at 2d and 25a, the latter being my COTD. Thanks to CS for the hints. If the weather at your end was anything like ours, I don’t envy your struggle to get the shopping. The A417 westbound has been cut off by fflooding after the heavy rain, although the high winds didn’t materialise. Thanks to the compiler for an absorbing guzzle.
Good fun whilst it lasted. I liked 16d and 27a.
Thanks to today’s setter and CS.
Well, I made a complete Horlicks of the South so it is probably not appropriate for me to offer assessments of difficulty and enjoyment but thank goodness for the discoveries of graphite and rubber.
I did like 1a, 9a, 1d, 14d, and 20d.
Thanks to whomsoever and CS.
All but 16d solved. Have an inkling that last 5 letters are something to sit on, but could do with a hint if anyone feels so inclined. Many thanks.
Think of part of the body for the first part of the clue.
Ah, thank you.
2*/3.5*. Typically enjoyable Saturday fare, although my joy at winning Premium Bond prizes totalling £150 has been overshadowed by CS’s bigger win!
Surely 2d should have a Latin indicator.
I got held up a bit on the lefthand side by entering a plausible but incorrect second word for 1d which assumed that the clue was a cryptic definition. Once I realised the error of my ways everything came together quite smoothly.
24a was my last to parse and favourite when the penny dropped.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS.
2d should definitely have an indicator, RD, as I have never heard it used in English.
No problem if it’s the Latin for therefore, thus, other self or seize the day but ‘this’. No, no, no.
A perfect challenge for a Saturday: concise, friendly and not too much Danish plastic.
My podium is 1d, 1a & 27a.
Many thanks to CS and the setter.
2*/4*
Depending how often one frequents the things, it’s often seen on old gravestones. In this case, “xxx jacet” means “xxx lies”. Most famous example I can think of is in St Bartholomew the Great in London (often seen in films), the first Prior, Rahere, has an impressively well preserved C12th tomb with gothic text on it, beginning with the phrase.
Nice knowledge AB but, if the word ‘lies’ was in a clue with the answer being ‘jacet’, all solvers would lose the plot. (excuse the pun)
If it’s a one word expression that’s ‘out there’ somewhere then okay. But, it most certainly needs an indicator if it’s part of a two worder.
I thought I’d better quickly edit out the word after Senf put me in the naughty corner last week. The word in question translates to “here or this location”. One of those ones that’s obscure if you don’t know it and fine if you do, but still workable-outable with the clue and checkers
And now your Latin is coming along nicely, I’ll expect to see you in many more graveyards! 😅
Good shout.
I do love graveyards, it has to be said.
Ernie must be feeling generous this month as I had a record 7 wins totalling £450 😀
I started off at a good rate of knots, the four long peripheral clues going in straight away, only to come to a juddering halt in the SW corner. As is often the case, taking five minutes away from it then returning did the trick. This enjoyable puzzle certainly cheered up a dull and damp morning, with 27a my favourite of many.
Thanks to our Saturday setter and CS.
A thoroughly pleasant guzzle.
The Grand Hall was booked for a meeting of the committee to consider 25a for THE LIST, but a combination of bad weather and ennui led to the only attendee being me, and I abstained.
I think we shall postpone heading out for a lovely walk until tomorrow at least. Every path and track is ankle deep in muddy slush and such a walk would be an ordeal rather than a pleasure.
At least with our team not playing until Monday evening, our weekend cannot be plunged into despair by the underperforming Mighty Chelsea.
Thanks to the setter and PC Security (anag).
T. I assume that “ennui” is already on The List? It’s a word I learned decades ago but I only ever see it in crosswords. Or is it an example of “cacozelia” – which should go straight onto The List if it ever crops up!
Hi J
I have seen and heard it mentioned over the years. It’s common enough.
I suppose that’s true – I have seen/heard it a few times in the real world over the decades, but have encountered it many time in crosswords (in fact, it featured in one in a DT book this very afternoon) . To be honest, I only wrote the comment so I could introduce the rare/interesting word “cacozelia” to any fellow semanticists.
…whereas cacozelia is most certainly listworthy!
What a great word that I’ve never heard of with a splendid etymology.
Caco’s root is hilarious and is the same as cacophony here https://www.etymonline.com/word/cacophony
Thank you, Jose.
The root word is still used here in South Florida with that meaning. S. Florida being 90% Spanish speaking.
Cacozelia is a word I entered in my MRB (Medium Red Book) decades ago, in the 80s I think. It means: A stylistic affectation of diction, such as throwing in foreign words/phrases to appear learned.
There’s me thinking it was a type of moth! 😏
It’s a splendid word 👏👏
Throwing in foreign words/ phrases to appear learned🤔, thankfully that never happens on this site.
You should ask a coalminer about its inclusion – they all know of it. A thoroughly enjoyable Saturday workout. Thanks to all
And anyone who has done o level chemistry
A very generous SPP.
Fun and satisfying to complete.
25 and 27a deserve an honourable
Mention.
The former my last in
After a little more thought
Than the other clues.
Thanks, indeed, to the setter
And CS.
Greasy fingers and crossword puzzles are very poor bedmates, so with bacon and egg sarnie in one hand and the newspaper on the table and well to my left side I read and solved several clues before finishing my brekky. Eventually all the four longer clues were quickly answered and written in ( with clean hands, I would add
) and the remainder were very quickly aded with no real hold ups, with maybe 25a being a bit of an exception – well the checking letters once all in place did look odd, to me at least. Super prize puzzle, 25a gets my vote for CotD. Thanks to setter and CS – well done on your windfall.
You win, CS, Ernie only managed to cough up £175 for me although I did get £300 last month! Could be something of a swansong because I’m going to need to cash them in fairly soon.
Took a while to deal with the 25a gas in this one but everything else slotted in quite smoothly.
Podium contenders are 1&24a plus 15,16&18d for the laughs they produced.
Thanks to our setter – I’m tempted to bet some of my winnings but will resist – and to CS for the hints.
My Mum had some premium bonds and won something every now and then. I often wonder what happened to them, do they just lie fallow, or do they die after a certain length of time?
I won £20 on a scratch card the other week. Does that count?
They’re supposedly entered into the draw every month unless you cash them in but it does seem to be that a fairly high percentage of the prizes go to more recently purchased bonds – in my experience.
You can cash them in if you have a death certificate of the person who owned them.
They can win for a year after the death and money goes to the heir if notified to NS&I. After that they pay out to the heir, again if they know who it is. Millions of pounds lie unclaimed. My husband and ai have had decent wins this month. Only done puzzle this morning as in Falmouth for a Dinner. Needed some help from Sue so thanks.
Surely Chalicea?
Enjoyable and just taxing enough.
If so thanks
I seem to be the PB winner so far with £225 this month, an improvement on £50 last month.
Back to the puzzle… nothing too tricky, an enjoyable solve. My last one in was 25a.
Thanks to the setter and to CS.
Horses not at all nervous here. Very pleasant solve.
Thanks CS and setter.
This Saturday puzzle was quite approachable compared to the last two we have had. For me no weird words, ( although a couple were not common), or awkward parsing… it all made good sense, and as I find that with all Cephas puzzles, I’m gonna throw my 5/- on it being one of his. So logical and fun to work through.
1.5*/5* for me
Favourites include 1a, 9a, 26a, 27a, 1d & 15d — with winner by a hair 27a
I got a chuckle out of 26a, 1d, 3d & 15d too as well as the winner.
Great clues, great puzzle.
Thanks to Cephas (or whomsoever if I am way off) & CS for hints/blog.
And anyone who has done o level chemistry
I’m sat here staring at an almost complete puzzle, bar the 2 empty squares in 19a
I’ll go for a walk to see the see and see if I can see the solution
Thanks for your hint on 25a, an unknown gas to me
💡!
It’s clicked
The definition is a particular pronunciation of the first word in the clue followed by the second. The solution is made up of two abbreviations
Had to confirm the Latin at 2d post completion & a brief head scratch until the right Mrs Simpson dawned on me but an otherwise problem free quick solve. Fun while it lasted. 26a + 15&22d my podium choices.
Thanks to the setter & to CS – congrats on you win.
A fine Saturday puzzle with 2 new words for me which needed checking with google, 6d and 25a. Otherwise a mixture of quick answers and ones which took ages to see the light. 24a was my favourite with 16d being my last in.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints, congratulations on your win, always nice to have a pleasant surprise.
With checkers coming at regular intervals these made the less obvious clues much more straightforward then suddenly it was done. Favourite was 27a. Thanks to the setter and CS.
Hi TWLC.
May I ask the story behind your fabulous alias?
Don’t be nosy, they’ll get the hump 😁
You love it!
Hi TDS65, in reply to your query when I first joined the blog and mentioned my old school established in 1392 -yes, it was Penistone Grammar. I had an absolutely fabulous time there. In answer to where is the photograph – surely not Barnsley-les-Eaux. Quite right it was Maryport Marina – I was hoping it would become my emoji, just highlights my lack of understanding of how the blog works.
We’re all a work in progress in this modern world. Just when we are getting used to IT, AI rocks up.
It was a fabby pic. Such a beautiful part of the world.
Have been in a wet and very windy northern France . Consequently have not been near our crossword for a week. Coming back I always have this fear that I will not be able to get back into cross-wording. Well, today was perfectly O.K. so happily back on track. Pleased by 2 d and 16 d. Many thanks to all and methinks I should have some premium bonds .
Off to a good start, the top half going in in no time. It was a different matter at the bottom, since I didn’t know the word at 25a and I took an age to work out 21d. I particularly liked 1a and 1d but favourite today was 27a which I solved in a back to front way. 24a was cleverly misleading and I doubt that I am the only one to try and cram a six letter word into 22d! Thanks to today’s setter and Crypticsue
I mean a seven letter word, of course
Enjoyed the puzzle today, only holdup was 25a, which was new to me, despite having done A-level Chemistry, and needed CS’s helpful clues to get. Favourites were two of the longs, 1d and 27a.
Thanks to CS and the Setter.
Well I got £100 on the PB today which is nice although I got £275 last month after a couple of months of drought. Great guzzle today with no particular favourites. I guessed at 25a but Mr M confirmed it to be the case. Our meal yesterday was a bit of a let down and didn’t live up to expectations but two more restaurants to go before the end of the promotion next week. Thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints which I will now read.
Fairly straightforward. Favorite 1a.
Went up and down the page looking for 30449, then realised it is listed as 30049…. But found it and the fact that there are more than a few head scratchers today. Pretty confident this is not a Chalicea. Either 8a is a new word (to me) or it is what I have always seen written as 2 words. I went chasing after the wrong Mrs. Simpson. Not my best efforts and I’m going to blame waking up as silly o’clock and watching daylight arrive. Thanks to setter and CrypticSue.
Argh!! Still struggling just not on the right wavelength me thinks but a long night on stage left me to a late start to this today … forehead slapper so far is 1a 🤣 happy Saturday all hopefully I’ll get this finished!
Happy Saturday, Carnage! 🍻
A *** for difficulty for me, caused especially by the gas. Thank you compiler and CS
Rats!!
Just written quite a long comment and it’s disappeared – too bad – can’t be bothered to write it again!
Not too tricky – from what I can remember last week was a bit of a little piglet!
Thanks to whoever set this one and also to CS for the hints.
Off to spend tomorrow with our Elder Lamb and her family to celebrate her birthday – trust her to have a noisy birthday!
What exactly did she have to do with selecting her birthday?!
Probably nothing at all but it’s certainly appropriate for her – very talkative and very funny too!
I’d never heard of 25a. Confused by 12a – I have an answer but the second word appears in the clue. Do I have this right? Other than that I found this an enjoyable level.
At first I thought I was going to have problems but I soon got on wavelength. I did have a holdup at 11a, surely he doesn’t get plastered, plaster is what he does? That gave me some confusion with the ending, but 5d fixed that. Oh, you mean THAT Mrs. Simpson! I know no chemistry so 25a was no problem, I just had to google that it was, indeed, a gas. I spent ages looking for rugby positions at 27a, still have no idea what rugby had to do with the answer! Lots of fun along the way, tops 16d.
Thank you setter for the friendly puzzle, and CS for the hints and pics. My advice on your winnings: blow it, have fun.
What is a guzzle?
Look under FAQ No 34
Thank you
Great Saturday puzzle and enjoyed many of the clues. I seem to be the only one to get held-up in the SE as was convinced I had the right answer for 22d but didn’t put it in as couldn’t get 26a from it. Really wasn’t happy when I saw a Rugby clue and spent sometime deliberating before being confident ‘to take the bull by the horns’. Had to go out leaving 22d and 26a unfinished. Returned 2 hours later took another look and had a Doh! moment. My thanks to the setter and CS. Now I must go and check my e-mail and see if Ernie has been kind. Have a nice weekend everyone despite the rain. 🌧️ 🌧️ 🌧️
Slow start, but warmed up – except for 25a which was completely new. Quite fun though, once you got going. Think 2a was a bit dodgy tbh, but put it in anyway…
Thanks for your kind comments.
Thought it was you but not brave enough to put the coins on the counter! Very much enjoyed this, especially the classical/ecclesiastical references. Favourite had to be 14a though, great spot 👍
A solve before I’d finished my dram tonight. Enjoyable except for 8a which I don’t like, even if others say it’s a word. Thanks to the setter and CrypticSue.