DT 26122

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26122

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

Today’s crossword by our Monday Maestro is mostly easy but there are also a few difficult clues that yield themselves only after we consider them for a while.

As usual, the answers are whitened. If you want to see any, please select the space within the curly brackets. Wordplay is explained in such a way that, if one wishes, one might work out the answer oneself before proceeding to uncover the solution.

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Across

1a Tired out intellectual is not very helpful (11)
{DETRIMENTAL} – Anagram. of TIRED + a word meaning ‘intellectual’. Definition is ‘not very helpful’ ; if help is still needed, try ‘harmful’ as the definition –  Is the definition really helpful?

9a Pluck the strings (4)
{GUTS} –  Two definition – Pluck, n., in the sense of ‘courage’ / ‘strings’, as on a musical instrument.

10a Brief cry of punter foundering (11)
{PERFUNCTORY} –  Anagram of CRY OF PUNTER – definition is ‘brief’ as a glance or inspection might be. – A nice anagram.

11a Group of musicians — or it could be (4)
{TRIO} – Anagram of ORIT – Definition is ‘group of musicians’ similar to ‘quartet’.

14a Caress a girl on the knee (7)
{PATELLA} – A three-letter word that means ‘caress’ + the name of a girl. Definition is a medical term for the kneecap. Compare AXILLA, which is the armpit.

16a Remains within easy reach of Naples (7)
{POMPEII} – ‘Remains’ not in the sense of ‘stay back’ but ‘ruins’. For the answer think of an ancient city near the volcano Vesuvius in Italy.

17a A huge shipping order? (5)
{AVAST} – Just pick up A from the clue and add a word that means ‘huge’ to get an order or a command that might be heard aboard a ship.

18a Has now moved South (4)
{OWNS} – Anagram of NOW + the compass point from South for “has”.

19a Correct reversal of flow (4)
{EDIT} – Reverse a word that means ‘flow’ (which may ebb and fall) for ‘correct’ (what a journalist might do)

20a It will get one off drill (5)
{TWILL} – A contraction of “it will” formed by removing I (get one off) for a fabric that rhymes with the given ‘drill’.

22a Soup ingredient one sold in error (7)
{NOODLES} – Anagram ONE SOLD for what may be found in a bowl of soup.

23a Hide in N Africa (7)
{MOROCCO} – You needn’t betake yourself to N Africa, just find a word that means ‘hide’ in the sense of leather and you will get a place name in that region.

24a Handy aid to warmth (4)
{MUFF} – The name of an item of winter gear, what we wear on our hand to keep it warm.

28a Honeymoon express, perhaps, may be held up (6,5)
{BRIDAL TRAIN} – The fanciful expression “honeymoon express’’ leads us to the trailing part of the dress of a woman during her wedding day.

29a Keep this bouquet clean to avoid trouble (4)
{NOSE} – Two meanings – One is bouquet or smell and the other is what we must keep clean (or from poking in others’ affairs) if we want to avoid trouble

30a Comprehensive horoscope for every performer in the show? (3,4,4)
{ALL STAR CAST} – Two meanings – One is “every performer in the show” as an epic movie might be billed; the other is ‘comprehensive horoscope’ which will take into account every planet that affects the subject’s life.

Down

2d Flat race not completed (4)
{EVENT} – For a word that means ‘flat’, take a word that means ‘race’ or an item in a programme of sports but don’t complete it, keep it short of the last letter.

3d It floats right astern (4)
{RAFT} – R, abbreviation for ‘right’ + a three-letter word that means ‘astern’  gives us a flat structure of logs for conveyance on water.

4d Chap unfit to work on a tough paper (7)
{MANILLA} – Putting together a word that means ‘chap’, another that means “unfit to work” or even just “unfit”, and A (taking it just like that) , we get a word that means “tough paper” – of which envelopes are made.

5d School set up record (4)
{NOTE } The name of a famous school, when “set up”, that is reversed, fetches the required word that means “record”.

6d A new crop, it yields fruit (7)
{APRICOT} – Take A and add an anagram of CROP IT and you get the name of a fruit.

7d Clubs, possibly, where naval officers may be found? (11)
{QUARTERDECK} – Think of a part of a ship used by superior officers, please see if what you have in mind might be interpreted to mean one-fourth of a pack of cards (namely, clubs). – Perhaps the most difficult clue of the puzzle.

8d Football club? (11)
{ASSOCIATION} – Two meanings –  a form of football / a club

12d Post date (11)
(APPOINTMENT} – Two meanings – post (n.) / date  (n.) – against which on a calendar you may jot down something that you want to keep – A pithy clue that is very satisfying.

13d Reserved stall for seafood (11)
{STANDOFFISH} – For a word that means “reserved”, aloof, think of term which –  if looked at in a different way by breaking it into a phrase of three words – could suggest “stall for seafood”. – A beautiful clue which may also be termed difficult.

15d Admits making promises (5)
{AVOWS} – Two definitions – Admits / promises

16d Song of starling starting in tree (5)
{PSALM} – Inserting S (‘starling starting’) in a word that is a kind of tree gets us the answer defined by ‘song’. – Do birds sing in trees or on trees? I had this doubt but it seems that “in trees” also is acceptable. What do you think?

20d A growing attachment to climbers (7)
{TENDRIL} – Cryptic definition  –  The part of a climbing plant that coils around a supporting object

21d Plant daggers in Capone’s back (7)
{LOBELIA} – The name of a plant is obtained by inserting a word that means ‘daggers’ (its singular form is obelus, † , a sign that is used in printing) in two letters which are the reversal of gangster Capone’s first name.

25d But they could be even for the better (4)
{ODDS} – ‘better’ is one who lays wagers and for him/her these might be “even”.

26d Man in hysterics (4)
{ERIC} – The name of a man is hidden in the word “hysterics” (He may hail from America, if I may add presumptuously).

27d Appreciates one’s accommodation (4)
{DIGS} – Two meanings – appreciates / accommodation (or lodgings)