Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26990
A full review by gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
Morning All! A bit like the Sunday puzzle I reviewed yesterday, this one was a pretty fast solve but I very much enjoyed going over it again. There were some very nice, concise clues that made me smile.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
Across
1a Cavalryman drops round, smart — one’s all aflutter (9)
DRAGONFLY – DRAGO(o)N is a cavalryman. Lose an O and add FLY for smart or arch.
9a Movement provides topic for debate (6)
MOTION – Two definitions.
10a Master of strategy showing diplomacy in charge of Scotsman (9)
TACTICIAN – A charade of TACT (diplomacy), IC (an abbreviation of In Charge) and IAN – a common Scottish name.
11a Drawing second boat (6)
SKETCH – S for second plus KETCH (a small boat)
12a Some hated building this house (9)
HOMESTEAD – An anagram (building) of SOME HATED
13a Was successful with left-wing backing, it’s a miracle (6)
WONDER – WON (was successful) plus a reversal of RED (left-wing when backed up)
17a Form of worship (3)
PEW – A lovely elegant cryptic definition. One needs to remember that a form is also a couch or seat.
19a Jester’s desire — amusement sparked by a sentence? (8,2,5)
LAUGHTER IN COURT – What a jester hopes to do and also a possible reaction after a verdict and sentence.
20a Skill seen in party piece (3)
ART – The answer is hidden in a piece of the word pARTy.
21a Ring the woman in strife (6)
WASHER – SHE (the woman) in WAR (strife)
25a Risk these days putting outlet by river (9)
ADVENTURE – Another charade, this time of AD (Anno Domini – these days), VENT (an outlet or opening) and the common Crosswordland river URE.
26a Creatively, I tarry — that’s not common (6)
RARITY – A creative anagram of I TARRY.
27a One’s in one country or another (9)
INDONESIA – Does what it says n the tin!. Place ONES (fully though not as I’s!) inside INDIA
28a Cricket side getting part of the wicket out temporarily? (2,4)
ON BAIL – Cricketing knowledge required (although not loads). Add the BAIL (one of two on a wicket) to the ON side (not the OFF side).
29a Gambler tours Bath perhaps to dish the dirt? (9)
BESPATTER – Bath is an example (indicated by perhaps) of a SPA town. Place that inside a BETTER (gambler)
Down
2d Sanity found in ‘About a Boy’? (6)
REASON – Split as (2,1,3) and remember that RE: is one of those abbreviations for about (along with CA and C).
3d Collect two articles in Greece (6)
GATHER – A and THE (two articles) in GR, the IVR code for Greece.
4d Tiny reforms accommodating this Parisian’s subtle point (6)
NICETY – An anagram (reforms) of TINY with CE (meaning this in France)
5d Conduct the conga and cause mischief? (4,1,5,5)
LEAD A MERRY DANCE – The first the cryptic definition, the second the straight one.
6d Male fish or insect (9)
COCKROACH – COCK for male (as opposed to hen for female) and the ROACH.
7d Active Fifties teenager’s gone to get equipped (6,3)
FITTED OUT – A charade of FIT (active/able), TED (Teddy Boy, a 1950s teenager) and OUT (Gone, not at home).
8d Hermit as a result of her action, sadly (9)
ANCHORITE – A sad anagram of HER ACTION gives an eremite or hermit.
14d Fellow’s let down over drug in plant container (9)
FLOWERPOT – F(ellow) followed by LOWER (let down) and POT (grass/weed)
15d Sign up to be an underwriter? (9)
SUBSCRIBE – any character below the normal line is a SUBSCRIPT so we have SUB- as a prefix meaning under then SCRIBE for a writer.
16d Head of clan requires cook to admit one before volunteers get in (9)
CHIEFTAIN – I for One inside CHEF (cook) followed by TA (the abbreviation for Territorial Army – the volunteer regiment) and finally IN from the clue.
17d Most of the fruit or vegetable (3)
PEA – All but the last letter of PEA(r).
18d Possessing endless ingenuity (3)
WITH – All but the last letter of WIT(h) meaning possessing or having.
22d Get back from playing area with love in the air (6)
RECOUP – We need to remember the old scrap of ground that we used to play football on – the REC(reation ground). Then add O for love and UP for ‘in the air’.
23d Frisky setter’s way (6)
STREET – Nice an succinct. A frisky anagram of SETTER for a byway.
24d Boating teams discussed pleasure trip (6)
CRUISE – A homophone (indicated by discussed) of CREWS.
I’ll see you all next Friday for the next Saturday Prize Puzzle review.