DT 27047 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 27047

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27047

Hints and tips by Big Dave

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Judging by the number of references to food, Jay must have been feeling hungry when he compiled this puzzle!

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    Without a taxi back, gets something to eat (5)
{BACON} – reverse (back) a phrase (2,3) that could mean without a taxi

4a    Cook‘s part played by fool in church (9)
{CASSEROLE} – a part in a play is preceded by a fool inside the Church of England

9a    Question put to cleaner: ‘What would chef do?‘ (9)
{CHARGRILL} – a verb meaning to question aggressively is preceded by (put to) a four-letter word for a cleaner

10a    Carpenter‘s key joints (5)
{CHIPS} – a slang word for a carpenter comes from a charade of a musical key and some body joints

11a    Sweet abandon, embracing sin (not at home) (7)
{DESSERT} – a verb meaning to abandon around (embracing) SIN without the IN (not at home)

12a    Area of ship producing the best team? (7)
{TOPSIDE} – the part of a ship that is above the surface comes from a charade of an adjective meaning best and a team

13a    Lost shirt? Time and drink will cure it (6)
{THIRST} – an anagram (lost) of SHIRT followed by T(ime)

15a    Dish for preparing oakum to protect area on ship (8)
{MOUSSAKA} – an anagram (preparing) of OAKUM around (to protect) A(rea) itself preceded by (on) Crosswordland’s favourite ship

18a    Daughters heartlessly surrounding a fashionable couple to get treats (8)
{DAINTIES} – drop the inner letters (heartlessly) from DaughterS and put what is left around (surrounding) the A from the clue, a two-letter word meaning fashionable and a verb meaning to couple

20a    Scoundrel‘s terrible horse, say, full of energy (3,3)
{BAD EGG} – an adjective meaning terrible and how a child might refer to a horse around (full of) E(nergy)

23a    Tea with fresh pita bread (7)
{CHAPATI} – a slang word for tea followed by an anagram (fresh) of PITA

24a    Hopeful, as Agnes reveals what’s for dinner (7)
{LASAGNE} – hidden inside (reveals) the clue

26a    Dwell on origin of oak tree (5)
{OLIVE} – a verb meaning to dwell or exist follows (on) the initial letter (origin) of Oak

27a    New deal with China providing food for Mexico (9)
{ENCHILADA} – an anagram (new) of DEAL with CHINA

28a    Thoughtful friend with no name for food cooked so (4-5)
{DEEP-FRIED} – an adjective meaning thoughtful followed by FRIE(N)D without the N (no name)

29a    Ray‘s small girl in musical (5)
{SKATE} – a fish that is a kind of ray comes from a charade of S(mall) and the girl being asked for a kiss in a famous musical

Down

1d    Defender, old-fashioned but effective in retrospect (4-5)
{BACK-DATED} – a defender in, for example, football followed by an adjective meaning old-fashioned

2d    Credit sailors for things caught at sea (5)
{CRABS} – CR(edit) followed by the usual sailors

3d    Raising weapon, acquires some bits of gold (7)
{NUGGETS} – reverse a weapon and add a verb meaning acquires

4d    Material from tip in Czech Republic (6)
{CHINTZ} – a tip or clue inside the IVR code for the Czech Republic

5d    Clue for ‘Liquid‘ requires it! (8)
{SOLUTION} – what is required by a clue of “Liquid” in a non-cryptic puzzle, in more ways than one

6d    Gets away from rest inside, with carbon copies (7)
{ESCAPES} – the inner letters (inside) of rESt followed by the chemical symbol for Carbon and a verb meaning copies

7d    Independent spirit stifled by talk, but begin (9)
{ORIGINATE} – I(ndependent) and an alcoholic spirit inside (stifled by) a verb meaning to talk

8d    Result in French — institute legal proceedings (5)
{ENSUE} – the French for “in” followed by a verb meaning to institute legal proceedings (or procedings as it said in the clue before it was amended!)

14d    I married one, a vet — it turns out to be not the real thing (9)
{IMITATIVE} – the I from the clue followed by M(arried, I (one) and an anagram (turns out) of A VET IT

16d    Total attendance after George gets in terrible rage (9)
{AGGREGATE} – the attendance at an event after G(eorge) inside (gets in) an anagram (terrible) of RAGE

17d    Sickness of one supporting kid in ale (4-4)
{BERIBERI} – I (one) after (supporting in a down clue) a verb meaning to kid inside some ale

19d    Thief‘s contribution to hot drink (3,4)
{TEA LEAF} – rhyming slang for a thief could be used to make a cuppa

21d    Comes down and lies around after six-pack (7)
{ABSEILS} – an anagram (around) of LIES after a six-pack of muscles

22d    Head of clan wears tartan, unruffled (6)
{PLACID} – the initial letter (head) of Clan inside (wears) a tartan cloth

23d    My editor talked lovingly! (5)
{COOED} – an exclamation like My! followed by ED(itor)

25d    Nation in the grip of thorough anarchy (5)
{GHANA} – hidden (in the grip of) inside the clue

As I’ve said many times before, Jay always sets a typical Telegraph back-page puzzle – neither too easy, nor too difficult.

The Quick crossword pun: {seedy} + {fences} = {sea defences}

75 comments on “DT 27047”

  1. Very enjoyable. For one moment I thought there were going to be a lot of clues about life at sea, but then the foodie theme kicked in big time. Must be time for elevenses now.

    1. Incidentally, I wonder how many non-Christians have contacted the Telegraph complaining that 1A is NOT something that should be eaten?

  2. Enjoyable, but a bit difficult for me today. So it’s a 3*/3* .
    Not too keen on some of the clues, such as 10a and 29a because they didn’t make sense until I read BDs hints. Classic misdirection, methinks.
    Thanks as ever to Jay and BD for the puzzle and hints

    1. Surely the whole point of a cryptic clue is to misdirect and 10A and 29A did this excellently so I cannot see why you should not be keen on them.

  3. I honestly thought this was on the mellow side for a Wednesday so only 1.5* for difficulty but 3 .5 * for the smiles some of the cleverly constructed clues gave me .
    Thanks once again .

  5. Most enjoyable. I did find it a tad harder than normal. 1A went in very quickly but then there was a long long pause before I got anything else. Some super clues. As a furniture maker 10a had me scratching my head for all the joints I knew…tenon, box, combs featured briefly!!

    Favourite clues 9,10 29 21. Thanks to all.

  7. Just goes to show that a puzzle can be untaxing, but provide pleasure at the same time. 1*/4* for me today.
    Thanks to Jay, and to BD for the review.

    1. jezza, if you had waited 3 minutes, your comment would have been timed at 12:12 pm on 12/12/12.

      Time for Lunch!

      1. i’m confused, why did my last comment go to “awaiting moderation” when previous two have worked with my normal avatar?

          1. ah, that be it then, my e-mail address is quite long, when I type it in on a different device I end up blind typing, before I finish entering it the entry box closes and I don’t see what I’ve typed! 26 Jan tickets booked today.

              1. I know… I know, I’m compooter iliterate, But unless I crash this machine I can’t see how I can re-enter the e-mail address. Apologies to the “we”, don’t set out to be a nuisance honest!

              2. Well I crashed something. Am in Leeds and logged onto the umpteenth laptop this week and it works, I hope.

  9. Found this quite hard and needed BD’s hints to explain the wordplay for more than one clue – 21 for example. Had the answer but never heard of “abs”.

    Thank you Jay – good fun and BD for explanations.

  10. An enjoyable tasty treat indeed – not least because the back page puzzle has returned to the back page. Thanks to Jay and BD

    Fans of Giovanni will enjoy his not to tricky toughie.

    1. I do hope lots of respondent’s to the DT’s recent app survey asked for the Toughie to be included in the next update.

  11. Lovely! Really enjoyed today’s puzzle, favourites are 26 and 28A, 5 and 21D Thank you very much Jay and BD

  13. Thanks to Jay & to Big Dave for the review & hints. A very enjoyable puzzle with some super clues. Was 2*/4* for me. Favourites were 4&5d and the 9&20a. With 20a being my clue of the week

  14. Thanks to Jay for an enjoyable crossword and some thought provoking clues yielding those ‘aha’ moments. Didn’t help myself by putting ‘solvency’ in at 6d and then wasting precious moments online looking for words to fit across! Ray’s small girl at musical took me the longest to get. Great clue. Thanks all

  15. This is such a brilliant site – got stuck on carpentry terms, but enjoyed it very much. Many thanks to setter and to heroic help from BD

  16. A veritable feast today,even 10a,12a,and 26a were edibles as well as the ‘definition! Like most ,found it very enjoyable and score it **/***. Certainly very different and food for thought – sorry;having a good day as i put up the outdoor lights and they worked!

    1. Hi Beaver,
      Wish I was!!
      They keep on fusing, so maybe time to replace them – well, they have performed for over 15 seasons.
      Food and the Sea – 2 of my favourite subjects, and a delightful puzzle.
      I hope tomorrow’s is as good – or even better!?
      Thanks to Jay & The Boss.

  17. Thanks for the welcome Gazza, much appreciated. I’ve been rather a shy follower of this site so thought I must say hello to everyone. Just back from getting a hair cut – not such a good idea with the heavy frosts around here!

    1. When you’re replying to a comment it’s a good idea to use the ‘reply’ button within the comment you’re replying to, rather than starting a new comment – that way all the comments in a thread stay together.
      Where’s ‘here’?

  19. I’m so sorry & I think I’m messing up again as I couldn’t find any way of selecting a specific reply button. So I went to BD’s site but couldn’t get into FAQs either. Mine is an iPhone 3GS & I downloaded the app twice but still can’t find how to attach a reply to a stream. It will offer me Copy, but that’s all. Any advice?and I can’t work out how to make this comment private so as not to bore everyone else on this blog. Sorry everyone! ‘Here’ is journeying between Scotland & Hampton Court as I’ve been ‘commuting’ between over last twenty years.

    1. Hi Poppy. I use the iPhone app too and the reply button doesn’t always (in fact rarely) shows. You have to go to the site to see the reply function.

    2. Hi Poppy – welcome from me too. I normally use a PC to access the blog, but this from my smart phone so that I can try to appreciate your problem. On my screen, just below the name of the person making the Comment and the date, is a blue “button” REPLY, which is what I’m doing. Let’s see what happens!

      1. Hi Digby. I find if I go to the website on my iPhone I get the “reply” button but if I use the app I don’t.

        1. Oh what a lovely group of people you are! Now I’ve found the secret – which is that my iPhone will not give me a reply button (sadly, unlike Digby’s smartphone), but if I go online to the main site, I get an option of a linking reply. So it must be the mobile app part that isn’t happy with giving me all the options. That’s so helpful, and I’ll try not to drive folk mad with my clumsy learner-driver attempts. Thank you for so much kind (and patient) help. Now safely back near Hampton Court, and several degrees warmer than Scotland.

          2. I agree with Franco, not for the first time! How often do you do that commute? Surely it can hardly be worth it from the point of view of money or time.

            1. Hello Kath, it used to be monthly, then three monthly, then six monthly (all work related) but now my other half isn’t well enough to do a regular commute, so we’re in the drawn out process of settling down south. You’re right about petrol costs, quite apart from general wear and tear. Our dog loves it though.

    3. Welcome from me too! You’re certainly right about it being a brilliant site and I bet you won’t feel shy for long – everyone is really friendly. I read the hints and all the comments for ages before I managed to summon the courage to post a comment. I shouldn’t worry about boring everyone – it doesn’t seem to stop the rest of us!! :smile:

      1. Thank you for the welcome. It’s taken me ages to take the plunge, but I’m now so glad I did and wonder why on earth I didn’t before….

  20. Enjoyable but bit harder than 2 star for me. Best clue for me was 4a very clever.
    Thx to Jay for the puzzle and to BD for providing the answer to 7d which had me really foxed.

  21. Very enjoyable despite taking ages to see the obvious answers staring me in the face! ***/**** for me – thanks to the setter and for the hints I didn’t need but liked anyway.

  22. A fairly easy but very enjoyable offering today from Jay!

    I really enjoy his style of clueing (lots of clues within each clue, if you see what I mean).

    BD’s pictorial hints left my lunchtime cheese sandwich somewhat lacking!

  23. Really enjoyed this, and Wednesday isn’t usually a favourite. 29a took ages for penny to drop.

    Thanks BD for the review, and to the setter.

  24. Very enjoyable puzzle. Was happy to have the food theme to help me see the answer to 15a! Learned a few new British words and expressions today such as 10a, 20a (the gg part!) and 19d. Got the answers from the word play but looked them up after to be sure. Is rhyming slang still a living language or are there just some well known expressions that have become mainstream (so to speak)?
    Thanks to Jay and to BD.

    1. Hi Cathrine, Cockney rhyming slang is still a living language, but not so much within the cockney community these days. Outer lying areas of London seem to have adopted it and are indeed adapting it – an example is the rhyming slang for curry – it always used to be Ruby (Ruby Murry) but has lately become an Andy (after some tennis bloke). My favourite piece of new rhyming slang is a Wallace which meant to be sick (from Wallace and Grommit, our beloved cartoon heroes).
      Whilst I was on holiday in Indonesia one year, I taught the owner of the bar where I was staying a whole bunch of rhyming slang, he got so much business from passing Brits, he gave me a 50% discount on the room rental. His patter was incredible – ‘Me Diamond geezer, you come park Harris I have Dog and Bone, Cushty’ wonderful stuff

  25. Phew – what a day. Spent the morning sitting in JR Xray dept waiting to get a ‘picture’ of my jaw to see what badly behaved wisdom tooth is up to – should have had the wit to take the crossword with me!
    I always enjoy Wednesday puzzles and this was no exception although I did find it a bit trickier than usual. At least a 3* for me.
    I had a complete mental block with 29a – just couldn’t do it. I did, eventually, manage to beat the rest into submission.
    I liked 9, 20 and 24a and 5, 19 and 23d – and am now feeling very hungry!
    With thanks to Jay and BD.
    Ray T tomorrow, hopefully! :grin:

      1. Funny how these teeth always play up at holiday times. I’m off to the dentist tomorrow and thanks for the tip, I’ll bring my crossword.

        1. If my experience today is anything to go by you need to take more than one crossword – unless it’s a Toughie!

  26. No sign of Mary again – has anyone heard anything from her? I don’t think she was ‘here’ yesterday either.

  28. Enjoyable themed puzzle today. Interestingly we had “opine” for 26a. Parsed it as: dwell on = have an opinion, then origin of Oak and pine = tree. We had thought of olive but rejected it in favour of opine. Should learn to trust first thoughts.
    Thanks Jay and BD.

    1. Hi Kiwis. I had opine as well with the same parsing as you had. I guess given the theme of the puzzle I should have realised my mistake!

  29. Enjoyed this work-out and after a slowish start the syncromesh kicked in and I zoomed into 6th gear.

  30. I’m sorry folks, but I have to disagree with your ratings…

    … I’m giving this eleven stars for enjoyment :-)

    Thanks to BG for a wonderful website, and big thanks to Jay for a wonderful crossword.

    Now I really want my dinner…

  31. relished todays crossword. I think I might be improving slightly or was it just very easy? .thanks to Jay and Big Dave.

  32. A very foodie do from Jay!!
    We had no foreign papers at all today at the newsagents – I expect they had them at Schiphol but my driving days are now but memories.
    Thanks BD for the grid.

    Faves : 1a, 15a, 26a, 5d, 17d & 21d.

  33. Hi all.

    Been reading the blog for some time, but have only today set up an account. I’ve been sat in our staffroom with a colleague, trying to make sense of today’s. Haven’t yet looked at the clues, as I haven’t given up hope, but I’m stuck with only about half right. Currently looking at 5d with a growing sense of frustration – I just can’t work out how to read the clue!

    Will give it a couple of hours, look at it again, and then use the hints if I’m still stuck!

    1. Dubious is an anagram indicator PP – welcome to the blog, it looks as though you might be posting some of your comments on the wrong page?

      1. Yeah, I accidentally went to yesterday’s page to write about today’s comments. Because I didn’t want to read the clues I skipped down past anything which might have told me I was on the wrong page! Thanks for the heads up.

        I’ve got it now though, thanks!

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