DT 26918

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26918

A full review by gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **

Morning All!. Discussions among the bloggers suggested that we were expecting a ‘Bastille Day Special’  given the date of the 14^th July. Sadly that was not to be!.

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Across

1a           Riding with us (2,5)
ON BOARD – If you are riding a train or ship you are on board. This also means ‘with us’ in terms of ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’ in an organisation.

5a           Rages at new riot control measure (4,3)
TEAR GAS – An anagram (new) of RAGES AT gives the riot control measure that gets in the eyes and up the nose.

9a           Finished last of lasagna, food of Italian origin (5)
PASTA – PAST for finished/history with the A from the end of lasagne gives the other generic Italian food.

10a         Inlaid work — make sample (9)
MARQUETRY – Inlaid wood working on furniture. A charade of MARQUE (Make/model of a car perhaps) and TRY for sample.

11a         Certain, after short time, to become fascinated (10)
SPELLBOUND – The definition is fascinated. A charade of SPELL (a brief time) and BOUND – sure or certain.

12a         Fine jet (4)
WELL – A double definition. Fit and well and also a jet or spring of water

14a         Concealed around new accommodation in rear (12)
HINDQUARTERS – Place HID (concealed) around N for New then add QUARTERS (e.g. Military accommodation). The definition is ‘rear’.

18a         Method used to buy some — brief argument follows (4-8)
PART_EXCHANGE – One method of purchase. PART for some and EXCHANGE (of words) for a brief argument.

21a         Runs excellent competition (4)
RACE – Simply R + ACE (excellent) for a sporting event on track.

22a         Get on outfit for old charity (3,7)
AGE CONCERN – Another charade of AGE (get on) and CONCERN for an outfit or business gives a charity to help th e old.

25a         Epilogue in story reportedly by King? (9)
TAILPIECE – An epilogue or closing section. A homophone (reportedly) of tale (story) and then PIECE (of which the king is an example on the chessboard)

26a         One portion is perfect (5)
IDEAL – I for One and DEAL for portion gives perfect.

27a         Ballerina — often misspelt, Darcey’s last name (7)
FONTEYN – The ballerina Margot FONTEYN. An anagram of OFTEN (indicated by misspelt) then the last letter of DarceY (Bussell the current ballerina) and finally N for Name.

28a         Actor’s assistant, a help in the theatre (7)
DRESSER – Two definitions: someone who dresses an actor and someone who dresses wounds in an operating theatre.

Down

1d           Brief operation on model’s face (6)
OPPOSE – To face in confrontation. OP is an abbreviation of Operation and follow that with POSE for model/sit.

2d           Dog in front of building, something well worth having (6)
BASSETT – Definition IN wordplay time so the definition is dog and the wordplay is the front of Building with an ASSET (something worth having).

3d           Always a great name for a newspaper? (2,3,5)
AT ALL TIMES – A from the clue then TALL (great) and the TIMES newspaper leads to a phrase meaning ‘Always’.

4d           Round after silent film (5)
DUMBO – The round is just the circular letter O after DUMB for silent/mute. The definition is the classic Disney film.

5d           Sailor, ahead of a giddy aunt, carrying large spider (9)
TARANTULA – Spider is the definition. Place a Jolly Jack TAR (sailor) in front of an anagram (giddy) of AUNT that includes L for Large.

6d           Fit in extra guest (4)
AGUE – Any Victorian fit or illness tended to be the AGUE. It is hidden inside extrA GUEst.

7d           Get heard abroad, and understood (8)
GATHERED – An anagram (abroad) of GET HEARD for a word meaning understood or picked up (information say).

8d           Mata Hari, perhaps — young woman smuggling good telescope (8)
SPYGLASS – A similar construction to a number of the days clues. Start with SPY (Mata Hari being a famous one) then take LASS (young woman) with G for good being smuggled in between the two.

13d         Be taken round new training ship (10)
BRIGANTINE – The definition is “A two-masted sailing ship with a square-rigged foremast and a fore-and-aft-rigged mainmast”. Place BE around an anagram (new) of TRAINING.

15d         Dixon’s London manor shown in clip incompletely prepared (4,5)
DOCK GREEN – I suspect that this one had to go in because of the checking letters. The fictional London Area that PC George Dixon patrolled is formed of DOCK (clip a tail of a dog perhaps) and then GREEN (incompletely prepared)

16d         Boiled tripe provided after a preprandial drink (8)
APERITIF – An anagram (boiled) of TRIPE followed by IF (provided) gives an originally French word for a drink before dinner.

17d         False story about king results in conflict (8)
FRICTION – A small conflict or bit of needle. Place FICTION (a false story) around R for Rex, king.

19d         Engineers’ former tax break (6)
RECESS – The abbreviation of the Royal Engineers followed by CESS (an old tax). The definition is ‘break’, in a court trial for example.

20d         Sportsman in corner close to boxer (6)
ANGLE – Not so much a sport as a pastime!. The corner is the ANGLE followed by the closing letter of boxeR.

23d         Faith shown by Indian leader in Delhi (5)
CREED – The American Indian is the CREE. When the leading letter in Delhi is added we get a faith or moral code.

24d         Part of church making error dropping Latin (4)
APSE – LAPSE for error dropping L for Latin gets part of a church

Thanks to the setter – I will see you all next week.