ST 3238 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3238 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3238 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where early winter continues and when we had rain on Wednesday which cleared most of the snow on the ground Mother Nature replaced it on Thursday!

As for last year, I was privileged to lay a wreath on behalf of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association at the main Remembrance Day Ceremony held yesterday.

For those of you unable to access puzzles on-line:

The Dada back pager – puzzles.telegraph.co.uk/print_crossword?id=49894

The Toughie, unknown setter at time of posting – puzzles.telegraph.co.uk/print_crossword?id=49901

For me, and I stress for me, Dada not very friendly even with seven anagrams (four partials), one lurker, and no homophones, in a slightly asymmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.

Candidates for favourite – 17a, 8d, 13d, 18d, 22d, and the Pun (one of Dada’s better ones).

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.

Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!

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

7a Toy in test I ran, failing (5,3)
An anagram (failing) of TEST I RAN.

11a Position car alongside something round — roundabout! (8)
A single word term for position car (at the end of a journey?) placed after (alongside) something round (different sizes used in many games).

12a Old neon light flickering, one of a set (4,2,3,5)
An anagram (flickering) of NEON LIGHT and one of the illustrated ‘set.’

17a Game with striker in the box? (5)
A double definition(?) – the first is a generic term that can involve two sets of opponents.

20a When everything seems to fail, yet nosh with seafood works (3,2,5,4)
An anagram (works) of YET NOSH and (with) SEAFOOD.

23a Upset with bad tours in European capital (8)
An anagram (tours) of UPSET and (with) BAD.

28a Supporter of monarchy: lot I say about getting behind king (8)
An anagram (about) of LOT I SAY placed after (getting behind) the single letter for king (not on a chess board).

Down

1d Mark on guitar appearing regularly in ferment (4)
Alternate (regular) letters of ferment.

4d Case where rule lifted, then allowed (6)
A type of rule (enacted by Parliament) reversed (lifted) followed by (then) a three letter synonym of allowed.

5d Supply required outside, work on cold tap (8)
A synonym of supply placed (required) outside of all of the two letter abbreviation for (musical?) work placed before (on) the single letter for cold.

8d Bone problem restricts bird (7)
An arithmetical problem contains (restricts) a type of bird.

13d Crackers temporarily unavailable (3,2,5)
A double definition – the second may be on a sign at the entrance to a business that cannot be accessed in the middle of the day.

18d Welcome, lie forgotten (7)
A two letter interjection used when welcoming a visitor and another term for lie (as in untrue).

26d Bad lesson, every other one of those too (4)
Alternate letters (every other one of those) of bad lesson.

Quick Crossword Pun:

TOR + WRIST + RAP = TOURIST TRAP

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As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES OR HINTS in your comment.

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For Remembrance Sunday:

78 comments on “ST 3238 (Hints)”

  1. Very enjoyable! I was delayed for a while by entering an incorrect answer (which fits both definitions) in 14d and that was my only real “snag” though it certainly wasn’t a write-in.
    I particularly liked 12,20&25a plus 6&21d but my favourite was 11a. Top stuff.
    Thanks Dada and Senf.
    I can’t see whose birthday it is but Happy Birthday anyway!

    1. It’s CS’s birthday – so I’ll join you in saying “Happy Birthday” Sue!
      A bit early but anyway :rose:

      4. There are some Welsh cheese and leek birthday scones on the naughty step if you don’t tread *********.

        Mr & Mrs T

        1. On that theme John Halpern’s (aka Dad) apparent fav of his clues ever set – To make cheese, how do you milk a Welsh 🦔?

      1. Thank you for providing the links for the hard copies, I did not need them but I thank you, I enjoyed chewing the fat on this crossword, by the way can I call you my mad Manitoban (I mean no offence and will not do so if it offends you),

        1. I am slightly curious as to how I have ‘earned’ that three letter epithet but I am prepared to, perhaps mistakenly, accept it as a term of endearment.

          1. When it is cold in Manitoba it is COLD! I live in BC and if we get a small dusting of snow we consider it winter, My friend Elmer said Winnipeg is 1 day outside Civilization and to live in Manitoba you must be mad, also my other friend Peter went to New Westminster Pier in mid November when it was -7, he said he found it quite warm as he was a native of Winnipeg. Hence the name ‘Mad Manitoban’ personally I do not function in Sub Zero Temperature. It is meant as a term of endearment. My firm has a branch in Dauphin!

            2. Way back in the 1990s, I lived in Montréal and my son and daughter were in Vancouver. When visiting them for Christmas, Vancouver had its worst snowfall in forever. Cars abandoned in unsafe places and, from what I saw at the airport, no-one knew how to use what little snow clearing equipment they did have. The upshot was that I had two extra days with son and daughter and only escaped because Canadian Airlines, as it was, ‘threw me over the fence’ to Scare Canada.

              Let’s talk football!

  2. 2.5*/4*. This was good fun with the SE proving a bit more difficult than the rest of the puzzle.

    I would have said that “mark on guitar” is too much of a stretch for the definition for 1d, and I’m not sure why 25a might be considered specifically German.

    My favourite was 12a with 11a & 21d joining it on my podium.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf, and a very Happy Birthday to CS.

  3. Can’t honestly say that I enjoyed this one, got caught out by 14d as there is another word that fits both the clue, and the letters already in 3rd and 5th place perfectly, which in turn held me up in getting 12a.
    Just not my thing today.

  4. Another of Dada’s I found to be on the tough side. There are a number I’m not sure about but I sent it off for The Mythical anyway. I managed 6 on the first pass and the long ones held me up for ages. This was not helped by my entering the wrong but plausible answer at 13d. No favourites today.

    Thank you, Dada for the mental workout. Thank you, Senf for the hints.

    Pouring with rain at the moment in The Marches.

    Happy Birthday, CS! 🎂🍾

      1. Thank You

        Wasn’t really my cup of tea today – thought after yesterdays prize cryptic today would be a little gentler

      2. Thanks, Senf — I was in the same position of having the answer to 9a but not understanding it.

    3. Only managed to get 9a today (Thursday) it having been pondering it off and on since Sunday. Resorted to trying to think what words could actually fit with the letters from the down clues. Eventually the answer kind of appeared from out of nowhere. Strange how the brain works or sometimes doesn’t. Perhaps apltly 20A gets the favourite clue vote !

  6. It was a couple in the SE that held me up as well this morning, but it’s good to be tested, and I found this puzzle far from easy. It took a bit of teasing out, but it was worthwhile and good fun to solve. 12a was my top clue this morning.

    Many thanks to Dada for the challenge and to Senf. Many happy returns of the day to CS.

  7. Good fun – thanks to Dada and Senf.
    My highlights were 11a, 17a, 25a and 13d.
    Happy Birthday to Sue.

  8. Seems to be day for entering the wrong answer. I had plausible entries for 13d and 22d pencilled in but had to change 13d when checkers became available.

    Unfortunately no hints for the three which I am still struggling to parse fully. 🤔

    Favourite 12a which is how I feel today. Just glad I am no longer required to stand wearing Highland Dress at the War Memorial at Buckie with a freezing wind off the sea whistling round my nether regions.

    Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  9. Not one of Dada’s finest and I struggled with the SE corrner. I thought the best of the clues were the anagrams at 23a and 6d and the double definition at 13d . I thought the clue about German music was a bit off the wall. Thanks to Senf for the hints and to Dada for the guzzle, just not my cup of tea today.

  10. Great Sunday crossword! Really enjoyed steady progress and smug satisfaction on completion.
    20a and 12a both fell over right away and set me off.
    Big thank you to the compiler!

  11. I have finally finished but found it tricky, although easier than the last 2 days. I needed some ehelp and a hint to do so. I fell in the same 14d trap which held me up until I twigged 12a.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.

    Happy birthday to CS

  12. Found this very hard and was grateful for the hints. My fav was 7a but had to Google 25a, only made sense when I saw the answer.
    Not my favourite Dada, just too difficult to really enjoy for me.
    *****/**
    Thx to all

  13. Happy Birthday to Sue and thanks to Senf for posting the Toughie
    22a in the toughie is most appropriate for your weather at the moment
    You look very smart in the intro

          1. Mr Kitty is many things but one would assume not clairvoyant. The list on the blog appears when the list appears in the old Telegraph Puzzles site, and I’ve just checked and it still hasn’t been updated

            1. As far as I can see, the list on the old TP site only includes the Tuesday to Friday Toughie setters, not Sunday’s. Or is the Sunday one well hidden somewhere else on that site?

      2. Sorry I should have said Zandio was revealed when the new app updated after I solved it on the old

  14. One of my favorites over the last few days; challenging enough but eventually doable with no electronic help. *** time but definitely **** for enjoyment. Thanks to Dada and Senf

  15. Add me to those who made the wrong choice with 14d,obviously it’s 20a!
    Held up for a while with several clues in this one where alternative answers seemed plausible but I suppose that’s fair game for the setter.
    Podium places went to 11&20a plus 6&22d.

    Thanks to Dada and to our very smartly dressed reviewer! Thank you for the Remembrance Day music, Senf, it’s always that one that reduces me to tears.

  16. Definitely not my favorite of the week. Not quite sure why since on reflection it was a good puzzle.

  17. A curate’s egg sort of guzzle, a mixture of write-ins and impossibles.
    Nevertheless liked the two longuns at 12 and 20a, but had to give COTD to 25a, bringing back memories of 55 years ago passing through Germany on a bike tour of Europe.
    Thanks to Dads and Senf. And many happies to CS again!

  18. Well there were enough gimmies in there to balance out the ones requiring more thought. Trickier than usual & for me perhaps not quite up there with vintage Dada but still very enjoyable & at least today it was in the digital paper so a welcome distraction on a miserable morning up on the first tee – only the diehards ventured out. Liked the 2 long ‘uns plus 6&18d but I’ll give podium spots to 11&25a + 13d.
    Thanks as ever to D&S & birthday greetings to CS.

  19. A slightly trickier Dada this week I thought with his personal thesaurus at hand and a touch of his quirkiness today too. A couple of clues answers that were a little strange, but there were the usual great ones from Dada.

    2*/3.5* for today.

    Favourites include 12a, 20a, 25a, 6d, 13d & 22d — with winner 12a

    Thanks to Dada & Senf for hints/blog and Happy Birthday to CS!

  20. Add me to the growing list of solvers who initially put in wrong answers for a couple of clues. I liked this one: steady, with a few clues on the first pass, and eventually revealing itself. The 15a hamsters stumped me for the longest. My favourite was the German music in 25a. Thank you to Senf for the hints, and Dada for the challenge.

    At church this morning a group of 9-year-olds from the local school told us about the lives of 3 men from Ilkley who’d been killed in World War 1: the addresses they’d lived at — one of them was on our road — their families, jobs, and so on. It was a very moving way of honouring them, and helping us to think of them not just as statistics, but as real people.

    1. There is a road in Winnipeg that was renamed as ‘Valour Road’ in 1925 in honour of three members of the Canadian Army who were close neighbours and all three, two posthumously, were awarded the Victoria Cross in WW1.

  21. It must be me… I found this to be one of those most doable of Dada’s puzzles, especially after the last two days when I was up the creek without the proverbial. Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. Not that I didn’t get stuck on some clues, but all were fair and just needed a bit of unraveling. Thanks to Dada for not making me feel stupid, and to Senf for the helpful hints where I was stuck. And, if I may so, a very handsome chap too 😊.

  22. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. The bottle of fizz was a thank you for looking after next door’s tortoise for a week back in the summer and it was a lovely accompaniment to a delicious birthday lunch

      1. I understand she’s hibernating now so I won’t be needed again for tortoise duty until next year

  23. Yes, BusyLizzie, such a treat to have a puzzle that I could write something in. South was great, no problems, the NE was last in with two unsolved in the NW, both unhinted, natch! I’m just so happy I am still able to solve these things, yesterday I was ready to give up as 12a to strain the brain any longer. I think 11a is fave, but others qualified. I’m so happy, my cup runneth over.
    Thank you Dada for restoring my faith in myself, and Senf for unravelling some. How nice to be able to put such a handsome face to a name! And the music, very goosebump-y, thank you for that.

  25. Found this a bit of a grind with several tenuous clues which took a while to get a handle on. South came first. Bunged in another solution to 13d prior to getting checkers particularly 20à which had to be. Surely 5d is not necessarily tap. Thank you Dada and Senf.

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