ST 2681

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2681

A full review by crypticsue

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

Another great Sunday crossword with lots of excellent clues.   A Virgilius clue  might take a while for the penny to drop when solving,  but I m sure Gnomey will agree with me that they are some of the easiest to explain when writing a review.  My top favourite clues are marked in blue.

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           Ruthlessly running clubs after top side demolished (8)
DESPOTIC –   Follow an anagram (demolished) of TOP SIDE with C (clubs).

9a           For which a daughter’s one possible choice? (8)
ADOPTION –   A (from the clue) D (daughter) OPTION ( possible choice).

10a         Wild animal in ring kept in by stick (4)
BOAR –   Insert O (ring) into a BAR (stick).

11a         Arranged special calls for place in outback (5,7)
ALICE SPRINGS –   An anagram (arranged) of SPECIAL followed by RINGS (calls).

13a         Part of house in end I idiotically blew up (8)
INFLATED –   Insert  FLAT (part of house) into an anagram (idiotically) of  END I.

15a         Imposed tax, say, and governed without struggle (6)
LEVIED –    ‘Without’ tells you that you need to put LED (governed) outside  VIE (struggle).

16a         China accepting you, it’s said, as missionary (4)
PAUL –   St PAUL, an early Christian missionary, is obtained by inserting U (you ‘said’) into PAL (China being Cockney rhyming slang for mate).

17a         Legal volume needing a cover (5)
VALID –   V (volume) needing, or followed by, A (from the clue) and LID (cover).

18a         Oddly spoiled, so disposed of (4)
SOLD –   The odd letters of SpOiLeD.

20a         Make big effort, taking son to school (6)
STRAIN –  S (son) plus TRAIN (school, teach).

21a         Mischief-maker, ringleader, and one child put in jail (8)
IMPRISON –   IMP (mischief-maker) R (the ‘leader’ of Ring) I (one)  SON (child).

23a         Male with corrupt lawyer in East producing collective frenzy (4,8)
MASS HYSTERIA –  M (male) followed by ASIA (East) into which has been inserted a SHYSTER or unscrupulous disreputable lawyer.

26a         Spell for beginner in Hamlet, ironically, rather than petty role (4)
TIRO –    There are two ways you can spell TIRO meaning a beginner or novice.    One is hidden in HamleT IROnically, and the other in petTY ROle.  Rather than, tells you to put the former spelling in the solution, and this was confirmed once I had checked my paper solve by entering the solution into  the grid on the  Telegraph puzzles site.

27a         Smuggler on horse who’s behind one? (6-2)
RUNNER-UP   –   A RUNNER or smuggler UP on a horse.

28a         Person who pokes fun at flower-girl in street (8)
SATIRIST –    Insert into the abbreviation for street – ST – AT (from the clue) and IRIS (a girl named after a flower).

Down

2d           For example, subject of sultan with a personality disorder (8)
EGOMANIA –  EG (for example)  OMANI (someone from the Sultanate of Oman) and A (from the clue).

3d           Sign of equality in gymnastic event (8,4)
PARALLEL BARS –   An equals sign in mathematics  consists of two parallel lines or bars = – the latter description is also a gymnastic event.

4d           Type who believes, in a way, in what he is told (6)
THEIST –  Another hidden word – this time in whaTHE IS Told.

5d           It’s worn over shoulders and head (4)
CAPE –   A double definition – a sleeveless garment worn over the shoulders or a piece of land pointing out into the sea.

6d           Bizarre polemic Democrat put together (8)
COMPILED –  An anagram (bizarre) of POLEMIC followed by D (Democrat).

7d           Foreigner at first without a right to a lawyer (4)
LIEN  –  Remove A (without an A at first) from an [a]LIEN to get a legal term for a right to retain possession of another’s property until the owner pays a debt or fulfils a contract.

8d           Well positioned as player, pinching English forward’s rear is not fair (3-5)
ONE-SIDED  –   Insert into ON-SIDE (in the correct position as a football player) with E (English) inserted  between the N and the S and the last letter of forwarD (forward’s rear) added at the end.

12d         Explorer that is getting anxious, initially, when trapped by bear, say (12)
INVESTIGATOR –  A bear is an investor who sells stocks for delivery at a future date, anticipating a fall in price.   Insert between the INVES and the TOR the initial letters of That  Is Getting Anxious.

14d         Capital husband put into food business (5)
DELHI –  The capital of India – simply put a H (husband) into a DELI (food business).

16d         Like euro for German, it’s added to envelope (8)
POSTMARK –   The Germans have used the Euro for their currency, POST (or since they stopped using) the [Deutsch]Mark.

17d         Source for some bars in a very unusual key (8)
VINEYARD –   Where a wine bar gets its stocks –   an anagram (unusual) of IN A VERY plus the musical key of D.

19d         They are invariably spotted as pro deals crookedly (8)
LEOPARDS –  Another anagram – crookedly – of PRO DEALS.

22d         Authorise possible instruction for shock treatment (6)
PERMIT –  Split 4, 2 a verb meaning to authorise or allow might be an instruction as to what to do to your shock of hair  PERM IT!!.

24d         Polish tiny moving bits in old timepiece (4)
SAND –   The tiny moving parts in a old-fashioned timepiece still used by many when boiling an egg – the same word is a verb meaning to polish with abrasive material.

25d         Sticky wicket set up for spinners (4)
TOPS – A sticky wicket is another way of saying that you are in a SPOT of bother.   This should be reversed to get some spinners..

See you tomorrow with a review of last Saturday’s Prize Puzzle.

 

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