Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2511
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Quite tricky for me, this one – possibly the hardest Sunday puzzle for me since I started blogging them, though partly from one of those unfortunate groupings of answers that were hard for me – 16D, 17D, 20A, 27A. If one of these had been in each 20A, they would have caused far less trouble! Another source of difficulty might be the simple fact that every answer except 14D is a single word – this seems to make cheap guessed answers harder to come by. (As usual, I’m writing this before seeing what anyone said on the day, so look forward to finding “This was a doddle” comments when I do …)
Note after reading the Sunday hints messages – the newspaper material in 27A’s wordplay is repeated elsewhere, for a “Nina” that completely passed me by – you can find the Sun in 6D, Independent in 3D, Mail in 14D, and Guardian in 12D. If you want to really push it, the Melbourne Age (9A) and and New London [Connecticut] Day (21A) are also there, along with stories (23A) and just the one lie (15A). I found these while failing to notice the Mail.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Arranged as a winch, it can lower lots of timber (8) |
| CHAINSAW = anag of (as a winch) – nicely done surface | |
| 9 | Approximate time for part of healthy diet (8 ) |
| ROUGHAGE (part of healthy diet) = rough age (approximate time) | |
| 10 | Raised bishop to cardinal (4) |
| BRED – B=bishop,RED=cardinal (think of the bird, or the cleric’s clothing, as the namers of the bird did) | |
| 11 | One who’s bound, initially, to put on an act (12) |
| ESCAPOLOGIST – for once, “initially” really means initially, not “look at the first letters of neighbouring words” | |
| 13 | Tries again with European play, in practice (8 ) |
| REHEARSE – rehears=tries again, E=European | |
| 15 | Person ultimately defending deception in part of India (6) |
| GOALIE = “Goa lie” – until abbreviations like UP=Uttar Pradesh are used, Goa is the hot favourite when you see “part of India” | |
| 16 | Cold youngster wrapped in coat, say (4) |
| CLAD = C = cold,LAD = youngster – simple but elegant | |
| 17 | Here’s to a venerated person (5) |
| TOAST = TO A ST. – an all-in-one, the whole thing making a sample toast | |
| 18 | Finally, did you accept any responsibility? (4) |
| DUTY – last letters of the four words after “finally” | |
| 20 | Incident in football match in which sides meet (6) |
| CORNER – 2 defs, one relating to squares and other polygons, or structures with those shapes | |
| 21 | Current diaries do, compared to their predecessors, alas! (8 ) |
| LACKADAY = alas! (an expression of surprise, regret or grief says the dictionary). The rest is about 2009 diaries having 365 days rather than the 366 in 2008, a leap year. | |
| 23 | Is sitting between right-wingers in church councils (12) |
| CONSISTORIES = IS between CONS and TORIES – you might expect one right-winger on each side but both are plural | |
| 26 | Hot fish provided in part of golf club (4) |
| HEEL – H=hot, EEL=fish – golf clubs have heels – here is a page with a useful picture if you need it | |
| 27 | Frequently ring two of the London papers (8 ) |
| OFTTIMES – O = ring, (F.T.,Times) = two of the London papers | |
| 28 | Mouth I shut in quiet way, as member of order (8 ) |
| TRAPPIST – TRAP = mouth, then I in P=piano=quiet, ST.=street=way | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Henry’s taken over revolt in plant (8 ) |
| HAREBELL – REBEL = revolt in HAL = Henry (as used in Henry IV Part 1), with over = covering as the containment indicator | |
| 3 | I needn’t spend wildly – they don’t need parties (12) |
| INDEPENDENTS = anag of “I needn’t spend” | |
| 4 | Cup supporter liable to alarm people when flying? (6) |
| SAUCER – 2 defs, one about china, the other about “flying saucers” | |
| 5 | Stole when shooting’s over (4) |
| WRAP – 2 defs, one as in “it’s a wrap”, supposedly said by film directors when they’re happy with a scene. | |
| 6 | Insult about international body that’s illuminating, naturally (8 ) |
| SUNLIGHT – slight = insult, outside U.N. = int’l body | |
| 7 | Make heavy demands on one vehicle (4) |
| TAXI – TAX = make heavy demands on, I = one (or TAX = make heavy demands, on (I = one), whichever you prefer) | |
| 8 | Like kid, perhaps, that’s tough (8 ) |
| LEATHERY – 2 ways of saying “resembling leather” | |
| 12 | Mixed a drug in a vessel, as responsibility for ward (12) |
| GUARDIANSHIP – anag. of (a drug in a), SHIP=vessel | |
| 14 | Means of communication some parliamentarians sent up (1-4) |
| E-MAIL hidden backwards (i.e. upwards in a down clue) in “parliamentarians” | |
| 16 | Early birds (8 ) |
| COCKCROW = cock,crow – a bit naughty as cockcrow=dawn is a noun, and early is an adjective, but there’s considerable compensation from the surface meaning | |
| 17 | Boring combination of four notes (8 ) |
| TIRESOME = ti, re, so, me – all possible spellings of notes in that useful source for setters, the tonic sol-fa scale | |
| 19 | Shoes needed by racehorses (8 ) |
| TRAINERS – 2 defs, one descriptive | |
| 22 | Disorder in Central American war area (6) |
| CRIMEA = anag. of merica = “Central American” | |
| 24 | Final score after addition of extra time (4) |
| NETT = final, from NET = score (a goal) with an extra T=time | |
| 25 | Remove from deciduous tree (4) |
| OUST – hidden word | |
Peter
You were not alone in missing the “theme” !!
Same here. Dave very kindly sent me the puzzle – a most enjoyable solve – and I too didn’t spot the theme; amazing when you consider the presence of INDEPENDENTS and GUARDIANSHIP.