DT 26175 – Hints – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 26175 – Hints

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26175 – Hints

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club

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Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 4th March.


Across

5a    Initially walk over stream at abbey (6)
The initial letters of Walk and Over are followed by a small stream or brook to get an Abbey in Bedfordshire

26a    Warm wear for someone taking a leap in the cold (3,6)
This could be worn by Eddie the Eagle!

31a    Restless desire by the way when there’s sudden pain (6)
Put a restless desire or yearning after an abbreviated street to get that sudden pain that often afflicts athletes

Down

1d    Outcry — group loses 500 before week following (6)
This outcry could be made by a turkey – a group of soldiers loses 500 in Roman numerals and is followed by a two-letter abbreviation for week

25d    Judge doing badly having little inner energy (6)
The society responsible for putting Bibles in hotel rooms is named after this judge – you find his name by resolving the anagram, indicated by badly, of DOING and then inserting the abbreviation for Energy

27d    Shared part of Sunday lunch (5)
The second part of this double definition could be roast beef or lamb

The Saturday Crossword Club will open at 10.00 am (after Sounds of the Sixties on BBC Radio 2). Membership is free and open to all. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions before that time.

Please don’t put whole or partial answers in your comment, else they may be censored!

115 comments on “DT 26175 – Hints”

  1. Morning, was going so well with this one, quite a few nice clues but have come to a grinding halt with 10a, think I may have made a mistake with the ones down? Any help gratefully received!

    1. Macky57
      10a Shining precious metal of little value (5)
      The definition is shining. You want the chemical symbol for a precious metal followed by an adjective meaning not a great deal.

    2. 10a – “Shining precious metal of little value” – You want a word for shining made up from a two letter word being the chemical symbol for silver (precious metal) with a word meaning of little value (as in a *** price).

    1. 17a – I think is N umber followed by another word for you and I turned round (backed).

      20a – like you -HELP !!

    1. Hi garfield – welcome to the blog.
      20a. Sort of job provided by firm (6)
      Description of a job which is nothing spectacular but secure is also an adjective meaning firm.
      18d. Two features on the coast in Scotland (8)
      The name of a place in Scotland is made up of two things you’d find on your face.

    1. 17a – Definition is modern made up from an abbreviation for number and a pronoun for “you and I” reversed.

      20a – double definition for something that is firm (as in stable) and a regular job.

  6. Looks like there are several new members of the CC waiting to gain access Mary, better get the register out !
    Todays puzzle was pretty tame which was what I needed after the last toughie, that was a great puzzle.
    Notice the little French fancy sneaking in again, I like the prawn ones. trouble is I was at a very posh do once at a stately home, wearing my new suit when I bit into one and covered myself in thousand island dressing, happy days

    1. Certainly agree this weeks was much more enjoyable than last ! Just before mid day and I’ve only one to solve, it has me in a muddle is the answer to 4d Japanese or BIG ?

      Trouble is once that one’s done what will I do for the rest of the weekend ? The Hoover’s staring at me !!

  8. Am I stupid or what??? don’t answer that :) had wrong second word for 26a, should have been so obvious! so I just couldn’t fit 18d in – back to shady corner in CC! welcome all newcomers to CC

    1. Hi Mary, feel I’m a well qualified candidate for CC in that I can’t find the way in – I’ve clicked on the Clueless Club thingy on the right hand side but all I can then find is lots of DT crossword numbers but I can’t work out how people talk to each other on it.

      As a confirmed Dinosaur (living on the Jurassic Coast !!) I’m quite used to failing to understand computery things but it does get frustrating sometimes!

      1. Hi D P Most of us just chat away on the main blog, I think that when Big Dave set up a seperate corner for us he didn’t realise quite how clueless most of us are :) myself included! I think it is only Shrike who managed to get in and chat to himself! We do quite nicely on the main blog and refer to the fictional CC, so don’t worry we are all here

        1. Thanks Mary – I must say it’s something of a relief to be told I don’t need to learn anything else, learning how to try to master crosswords is more than enough !

  9. Once again, being stupid, got 5a wrong, correct now, all finished apart from 16d, it seems obvious but if i am correct i have never heard of it, anyone??

    1. mary
      16d. It catches fish from east Kent (5,3)
      If the answer you’ve got is an anagram (from) of EAST KENT then you’ve probably got it right!

        1. Got the anagram, just never heard of the term it describes but google assures me it is a means of catching salmon! Every day we learn something new. Took me ages to realise that 30a was an anagram, missed the indicator word! DOH! How are you doing Mary, feeling better now I hope.

          1. oh thanks for info Barrie, were you on hols last week, we put up missing person posters int the CC but no one had seen you:) Still having tests, so we’ll see, thanks for asking

            1. Yes was in the snowy wastes of Scotland climbing mountains, damn silly thing to do at my age! :-)
              No i/net reception in the highlands so missed the blog although did manage the DT crossword a couple of days inc (with help from the rest of the party) finishing Mondays on a mountain top at 3500 feet whilst resting during a snowstorm!!
              Fingers crossed for the tests.

      1. Welcome to the blog Roydonjohn & markbogs

        22d Unchangeable sports match? (7)
        This is a double definition – what do you call a list of games to be played in the season?

        28a Made choice — put wrong mark (5)
        When you have made your choice in the polling both you have done this – the other part appears to be an attempt at a cryptic definition

  12. Liked this one as I’ve found most clues quite easy. Not like yesterday’s!!
    Still stuck on 7D and not sure I’ve got 20A correct.

  13. Not bad today, with some help of course, but not as much as usual. Just a few gaps …

    9a: think I know it, but how does ‘fashion’ relevant to first part of answer?
    11a: no idea on this one!
    7d: is there an anagram involved?
    12: symbols for gold, ** or (did I just type it ??)

    5d made me smile, once the penny had dropped …

    1. Geoff
      9a. Letters 2-4 of the answer mean fashion
      11a. Sandy old-timer? (9)
      An old timer that uses sand!
      7d. see response above

      1. Thanks Gazza. All done then and I even understand some of the clues today! But still can’t see how letters 2-4 of 9a mean fashion, perhaps it will be revealed on Thursday.

        We had 7d quite recently and I should have remembered it.

        Never heard of a 16d or 18d, although it shows up on google earth.

              1. Hi Claire, COW stands for ‘clue of the week’ it is a site run by Anax, where a word is posted each week and you have to make up clues for it, it is good fun and helps I think to understand how clues work, the winner posts the word for the next week and so on, there is a lonk for it on the R/H side of this blog under the comments

          2. Thanks Mary, gradually getting the hang of some of these.

            Have a treat today you might enjoy. I accompany a welsh male voice choir and we have a St David’s day concert this evening.

            1. when you say accompany Geoff do you mean piano? and where would this be? my brother is playing in The Millenium Centre today, he plays flute in Carmarthen Wind Band

        2. May I join in this excellent web site? I am most impressed with it!

          Geoff……the letters 2 3 and 4 in 9a make an eighteenth century word meaning fad, the latest fashion or gimmick, that everyone who is anybody Must Have. Also can mean breeding, polish, style, whatever.

          QV those other 18th century high falutin’ expressions such as ha-ha, kerchief etc etc.

          I have never heard of this fishing tool either, for 16d, but nothing else will fit.

          Frances.

  14. 7D is an anagram of desiring. Just realised I had the wrong second part to 11A.
    Just unsure I have 20A correct.

  15. Very proud of myself. My first completed crossword unaided. Is Saturday’s considerably easier than the others or have I turned into a genius overnight? Some answers I only got because of the clues other answers gave me and still don’t know why 21d is what it is. Not happy with answer to 16d – where does the fish come in?. Other than that I loved 22d (I’m a PE teacher!), 4d (I like the ones where the answer is hidden) and thought 5a and 29a were very clever. Hx

    3. Helen, as a PE teacher, you must have inside knowledge to 22d which stupidly is the only clue I can’t solve! I have a possible solution but it doesn’t ring true. I would appreciate a steer. Thanks.

      1. I posted a hint back on comment 11.

        The first definiton is something that is unchangeable – think of those things which are usually sold with a house.

        The second is another name for a sports match – again think of the list of matches that is issued at the start of a season.

  16. Well that was a nice straightforward Saturday puzzle. Finished it while having coffee at Starbucks after I did some shopping. I liked 5a and 12a.

      1. This is so much fun. I’m loving the crosswords and have never done this blog thing before. Feel like I’m getting to know some new friends!

  18. I enjoyed doing this crossword because like others it was easier than most Saturdays. I only needed your help with two. 25d and 10a. I had got 2d wrong. I liked 11a and 1d

  19. Phew – all done! 26a took ages due to an incorrect anagram in the first part of 16d. I’m obviously hungry!

    Kind reagrds to all,

    Paul.

  20. Can someone explain 16d to me. I know what the answer is. I know it’s an anagram. I just don’t get it. Hx

  21. Pretty straightforward after the golf win.
    Some plesant clues but BD pointed out the one that confused me.

    Thanks Cephas.

  22. Fairly easy I have to say, after failing to get even a quarter of yesterday’s toughie a boost to confidence. Maybe a level between regular and toughie is my domain !!

  23. I have to agree with the comments above. Relatively straightforward today but some nice clues with which to get to grips. On the way home from taking the boys out to the London Tombs I picked up a discared copy of the Times and spent a pleasant journey solving that one (about midway between a regular and Telegraph Toughie. Probably what Werm is looking for!

    2. Or today’s Guardian themed puzzle by Araucaria – which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s free, online and interactive.

  24. Very happy with todays effort – only had to look up a couple of words in the thesaurus. Must be a record!! Thought 6a was neat reading and liked 11a,29a and 5d. Finished over brunch so thought I’d have a go at Thursday and Friday’s as I hadn’t had a chance before. Thursday was ok & enjoyable – feeling very pleased with myself but Friday’s has sent me right back to the bottom of the CC! :-(

      1. Yes you’re right. Isn’t it strange how sometimes it just clicks and other times you seem to be stuck in the mire right from the start. Every time I think I’m improving one comes along to send me right back to the bottom of the class!! Oh well – onward and (hopefully) upward. :-) By the way – asked above but repeat here – what’s COW?

  25. Finished today’s but held up because had 2d wrong so could not get 10a, suddenly realised 2d was not a fish for smoking (curing) and then got 10a. Enjoyed the crossword today and had never heard of 16d.

  26. I had an easier time with Friday’s (DT 26,174)…not a boast; more evidence of how bad my brain is I think.

    I have three to go: 9a, 21d, and 23a. I think if I sit and stare at the latter two I might get there. As for 9a, I’m sure I have the answer but I don’t understand how fashion or first gear are involved – I’ve just reverse engineered an answer from the checking letters and the clue “making amends.” Could anyone explain 9a?

    1. Tom
      We’ve been given the A and the IN. Between the two we need a 3-letter word meaning fashion. End up with the first letter (first) of gear.

      1. Thanks Gazza.

        Hey, is it me, or has everyone got a different reading on this fashion reference? My (very) limited knowledge of crossword speak always suggests “in” or “fad” whenever I’m digging for fashion references.

        However above there was a chap saying “***” meant fashion. And you say I need a three letter word for fashion – hmm (I know it can’t be fad – or I hope not, since there’ll be major rewriting to do on my crossword!)

        Just to check, Ian McEwan wrote a novel with the same word (the same root, anyway) in its title. (very nice book too by the way!)

  27. Tom fashion is “in” and g is first letter or gear-i think! For 23a think of your first romantic meeting.

    2. Many thanks Percy.

      Yes, OK, I thought the “in” in my answer would have to be the fashion reference; and the gear thing – honestly couldn’t have made that leap without having my answer in the first place. It still doesn’t explain away the first four letters though… (I know sometimes there are redundant words in a clue, or, like this case, not enough clue words in the clue, but, really, the “for a fashion in first gear” seems completely arbitrary to me. It’s not satisfying even having got the answer I suppose I’m saying)

      Thanks for the tip on 23a. Ah, the memories!

      1. Tom the answer comes from ‘a (3 letter word for fashion) in and the first letter of gear ‘ as Gazza says we are given the ‘a’ & ‘in’ in the clue, then it tells us to put a word for ‘fashion’ in the middle and end with the g from gear, hope that makes it a little clearer, took me a while to see it too, the 3 letter word for fashion is not one that i knew :)

  29. Thanks Mary and Gazza – I’ve learnt a new (three letter) word today. It needed using a dictionary though!

    It says [***] is a french word in my dictionary…what’s going to happen when the people who chose German at school get old enough to start composing Telegraph cryptics!?

    Gefuhrt!

  30. A gentle amble although 10a stumped for a while. Also learnt the correct spelling for 15d – DER!. 2*.

  31. I got all bar 16d & 20a without pausing for breath. I have googled what I thought the answer to 16 was and found I’m correct.
    Still no idea what 20a is . I thought firm would be co but clearly isn’t and I thought sort was an anagram indicator but it isn’t.
    Must be some obscure type of job which means widget greaser or the like!

      1. Do you know I had never realised that comments were numbered? Have given in and used a solver which comes up with two choices. I think I have picked the correct one though it doesn’t really matter as I don’t enter the comp as a fountain pen to a left hander is as much use a chocolate fireguard. Not a good clue imo -plenty of jobs are anything but in the current climate.

  32. Hello,
    Re: 9a, I’ve guessed the answer which is confirmed by Clued Up, but I’m not familiar with the 3 letter word as a synonym for ‘fashion’. Glad I’m not the only one.

  33. Whilst not difficult, some good clues, and I was able to relax and enjoy it after the more taxing effort of completing both the new Saga and The Week crosswords.
    Favourite clues 29a and 5d.

  34. Hi everyone, for once I’ve done well on my own with just a little help from you, so I’m pleased with myself! But I can’t get 2d the more I look at it the less I see!! any help pse, I’m going to kick myself I know :)

    1. Cas
      2d. The man with a fish for curing (7)
      Start with a male pronoun and add A and the name of a fish. The whole thing means curing or making better (as a doctor might).

  35. Not a difficult puzzle but a pleasant one to solve quickly. Some good clues.
    I liked 6a, 11a, 13a, 26a & 30a. In 23a it was nice to see the word cardinals instead of the usual indicators! 3d, 5d & 16d. 15d would be easy for Libellule and anyone who has travelled from London to Edinburgh on the old LNER route must have seen 18d.
    In my days in GB there were the GWR, LMS, LNER & SR and the trains used to run on time.
    I don’t know who messes them up nowadays!

  36. Like a lot of people, I got 9A but didn’t get the “fashion” reference. A bit like the “see” meaning a diocese we had last week. Does “cardinals” mean the 2 letters I can’t get the clue for in 29A?
    Never lost momentum on this one, and completed in around an hour, best ever, with SWMBO getting 30A for me, I had all the checked letters but just couldn’t get it.
    I liked 13A, simply because there’s a double reference to royalty. Clever.

    1. The setter is using a bit of licence with cardinals – strictly speaking they are cardinal points.

      Chambers:
      cardinal point
      noun
      any of the four chief points of the compass

  37. This crossword was not too difficult this week and we finished it yesterday whilst watching the Winter Olympics on the BBC

  38. When you get 17a, 20a, 26a, 29a and 31a then 18d can only refer to two juxtaposed facial features – somewhere in Scotland.

  39. Too easy to the point of unsatisfying for us this week. Very disappointed.

    We’re quite keen to learn how to do The Listener/Enigmatic Variations/Azed to give us more of a challenge at the weekend but don’t know where to start really.

    1. Hi The FranTom Menace – welcome to the blog.
      Can I suggest the NTSPP-003 puzzle (see post on this blog) if you want something harder than the Saturday puzzle?

  41. Found it tough once again today finished it with a little ( or rather a lot ) of help and perseverance, ref 8d never heard of a state of ******?

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