DT 27127 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 27127 (Hints)

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27127 (Hints)

Big Dave’s Crossword Club

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Today is your last chance to enter the March Prize Puzzle.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.

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.

Could new readers please read the Welcome post before asking questions about the site.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

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Across

1a           Dessert wine delayed rumbling (10)
Another word for a dessert followed by a German wine gives this delayed rumbling which follows an earthquake

10a         Turkish empire rejects man such as Bismarck (4)
Drop (rejects) MAN from a Turkish empire to get the first name of a former Chancellor of the German Empire

13a         What managing directors do in panel for the rest (9)
Split as (4,5)  this is what managing directors do, but it’s actually a panel on a bed

20a         The aforementioned singer is a craftsman (8)
A word meaning the aforementioned followed by an American female singer

24a         English island linked with a US state (4)
The abbreviation of an English island followed by the A from the clue

27a         Italian friend hugging daughter in Aga Saga, for instance (10)
What could mean an Italian friend (3,2,4) around (hugging) D(aughter) gives a name for a word or phrase like Aga Saga

29a         GI is barred for abusing officers (10)
An anagram (for abusing) of GI IS BARRED

Down

1d           A capital orchestra in addition (4)
The A from the clue followed by an orchestra based in the capital of the UK

4d           Seeking a lift after punch on jaw is good (8)
A verb meaning standing at the side of the road  looking for a lift comes from a charade of a punch, another word for the jaw and G(ood)

ARVE Error: need id and provider

5d           Start to harmonise in rock-like material for singers (6)
The initial letter of (start to) Harmonise inside a rock-like material

7d           Game to be announced when girl comes around (7)
The abbreviation of To Be Announced inside a girl’s name

8d           American girl’s promise for a blade (10)
An American term for a girl followed by the S from ‘S and a promise

14d         Meddler has drink after plunder (10)
A fortified wine after a word meaning plunder or booty

17d         £2 for new sparkling coin (8)
Put two of the single-letter abbreviations for pound instead of the N(ew) in a word meaning sparkling

19d         Merseyside town has drop of gin illegally produced (7)
A Merseyside town followed by the initial letter (drop) of Gin

21d         Why cow gets confused entering house (3,4)
An anagram (gets confused) of COW inside another word for a house

25d         Untidy place for such as 29 (4)
Two definitions – untidy as a verb and a place where 29 acrosses might dine – it looks like place is doing double duty here, which is why I have indicated that the first definition should be taken as a verb, but it doesn’t work for me

The Crossword Club is now open. Feel free to leave comments.

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

The Quick crossword pun: top row (molar} + {toff} + bottom row (cock) + {tales} = {Molotov cocktails}

109 comments on “DT 27127 (Hints)”

  1. Very enjoyable if a little tricky at the bottom. Loved 27a but it was almost the last in.
    Many Thx to Setter and of course for the hints even on days like these when I somehow managed without them. Sorry also Thx to Mrs B who helps on a Saturday and who is a whiz at anagrams.

    1. Buy her her own paper – or if you have a printer like ours, make a photocopy for her.

      2. Buy the Mrs her own paper? You have to be kidding or must have a very kind spouse. (for me and I assume many of the alpha male population is her paper).

        1. True – the paper is MY paper but I do let him do the number puzzles if he is very good. He’s also quite disappointed in that I only left him one clue in the big GK puzzle today. Still it does mean he has no excuse but to get on with that which he ought to be doing.

          1. I would hate having to share my crossword with anyone else! My son-in-law once filled in some answers on a temporarily abandoned crossword. He knows if he ever does it again he’s out of the will. I occasionally ask my husband for help with those dratted cricket terms.

            1. I’m very possessive about the crossword too. Husband can’t do them at all so I’m safe there.

    2. I ,too, am very possessive about the crossword & get really annoyed if my husband butts in and will only let him help if I’m. really really stuck. But that’s because he’s so much better at doing them than I am !

  2. Thought this was a tad easy for a prize puzzle,no real problems and really liked 27A & 22D last in was 20A.thanks to BD for the review no help needed today.The rain has stopped & the sun has popped out hope the rugby goes well for the boys.

  3. After a difficult week negotiating snow drifts in northern France without the compensation of my daily DT crossword, I am very pleased to be back in Blighty (even with the rain today!) and able to get back into them! I felt surprisingly rusty after only few days off and it took me a while to get back into the groove. However once I got started I managed today’s puzzle without any help, and I would give it a */*** rating. Like Brian, I thought 27a was brilliant.

    Many thanks to BD and to the setter.

  4. Done very early at an M1 service station heading north in the rain. 27a was my favourite by far.

  5. Like guided tour of Kew, lead up a few garden paths.

    Enjoyed the puzzle, after I’d settled down.

    Thanks for the review, not needed today.

    Thanks to setter for brightening a grim grey day in Kent.

  6. A really enjoyable Saturday puzzle. Too many favourites to pick one out. Thanks setter and BD

  8. Delighted to see the hints so nice and early, BD – thank you very much – really appreciate all your labours… :-) I’d be most grateful for some help with the last one I have to go in 27a. I have all the checking letters, but just can see it. Probably a real d’oh is due. Thanks to setter also.

      1. Thanks, CS – I should have added that I’m still being thick even after reading BD’s hint…. Perhaps a strong coffee will clear the cobwebs

            2. Got there ! In Mr P’s Scouse “Worra Divvy” :oops: !Thank you all for such courteous help to such an idiot. And now I see it, I laughed aloud at BD’s hint – superb!

                1. Being translated from Liverpool ‘scouse’ into English as “What an idiot”! And no, Kath, you’re not being dim in the slightest. I only got my Scouse Passport presentation after many years of marriage to one! (Person, not passport, that is.)

                  1. Thanks for the translation – I think I’m quite glad that I don’t live up there – would need to do a language course!

                2. In Guildford: “what a silly chap” , in East London “wadda plonker”, in Belfast “eejit”. In Scouseland “worra divvy”.

                    1. So I’d be right at home in Belfast, Wales, East London or, at a pinch, even Guildford :-D

            2. Thanks, Mary, for those two examples. I can’t believe how slow I was to get it! Hope you enjoy the match. I’m (whispering) following F.1 …. :-)

  9. Very enjoyable only delay iPad version has ? Rather than £ for 17 d .
    Thanks very much .
    27a fave .

  10. Not too difficult, but I did find the SE corner a bit of a holdup, until the pennies dropped for 17d, 21d, 27a and 22d in that order.
    27a favorite clue, puzzle **/**** for me.
    Thanks to setter and BD, though I didn’t need any prompts for once!

  11. Must be me then Dave, I found this one quite tricky today and didn’t know that ‘spare’ in 12a meant that! fav clues 27a, 15a 26a, thanks for the hints Dave, needed one or two of them, getting ready to make cowl now, to enjoy during ‘THE MATCH’,
    once again, may the best team win, hwyl all :-)

    1. I notice that you’ve not made any prediction about the result, Mary, and I think that you’re very wise as I’ve heard on 5 Live this morning that the bookmakers are merely offering ‘evens’. As far as the crossword was concerned, I too was grateful for one of Dave’s hints and didn’t find this puzzle as easy as some of the others have implied.

    2. Hi Mary, Thanks for showing humility to the other side.

      We also will be generous and give the French the wooden spoon.

  12. Last weekend and the early part of this week I visited the Aged P where there is no computer conection and so had to rely on my own brain and yet I managed to complete the crosswords.
    Today, because I know help is at hand my mind went blank and I needed help, so thanks for that.

      1. Wasn’t quite sure that I even had a brain yesterday – I’d never have done that one on my own. Enjoy ‘your’ match this afternoon. :smile:

      2. I must have lost millions of brain cells this week. Needed the clues today….a real dunce.

    2. Yes, I agree with you about always (well, almost always) being able to do the crosswords when no help is available. When we go to France I don’t even have a dictionary, let alone access to BD’s great blog, and usually manage to finish them, even with the somewhat doubtful ‘help’ from my French sister-in-law!

  13. Thank you setter – really enjoyed this one. Thank you also BD for your hints. I finished without them but needed to look at 7d and 17d – fortunately you had given hints for them. I had the answers but must confess to struggling to know why !

    All Quiet On The Western Front today ! until 5.00 pm !

  14. Oh dear – it looks as if I’m the only mug who can’t do 22d – can’t even work out what the definition is. A bit of help would be really appreciated.
    I enjoyed this and thought that it was a good mix of clues – some straightforward and a few rather trickier ones.
    There were some that I had to think about even though it was pretty clear what the answer was – particularly 17d.
    I liked lots – 16, 27 and 28a and 3, 4, (something we used to do all the time and seems to be coming back) 8, 11 and 21d. I also liked 23a as a clue even though I don’t care much for the idea!!
    With thanks to Mr Ron and BD, and in advance to anyone who can bail me out with 22d.
    Torrential rain earlier on but seems to have stopped for the moment. I hope you all enjoy watching people rolling around in the mud this afternoon – I’m going to have a go at NTSPP.

    1. 22d you need to know the name of the Russian space station and then put a Welshman’s name inside to get a word meaning in the sky.

      1. Thanks Sue – will just go away and have a little think about that one.
        No I won’t – just had a gnoment – thought it had to be THAT welshman but couldn’t get any further – space stations of any nationality are not one of my specialities!

        1. Think about what happens when two planes collide (probably sent to the Naughty Corner for this)

          1. That’s even more cryptic than the clue!

            For future reference, if a hint starts with the word “think” then it is probably an alternative clue and should be avoided.

            1. Do you mean that it IS an alternative clue? I thought it was quite helpful and had I not already got the answer I would have done instantly from Brian’s hint – it would just have made me think along different lines.

          2. Thanks Brian – assuming you’re still here and not sitting in the naughty corner waiting for someone to come and keep you company.

          3. Didnt know that there were any Welsh Astronauts? And… It Looks like BD has implemented some auto cybernaughty corner censorship. So now if a post has the answer in it, it gets blocked.

              1. My apols…. i kept getting a publish failed message from my iPod touch when I tried to enter a Liverpudlian equivalent so I assumed some Orwellian filtering. Anyway, as always – thanks for the hints and banter. And to Mrs T for letting me look at her copy.

        2. I had a problem with this clue, my last in, as I thought my first stab at it was a hyphenated word.
          Correct, though, apparently it’s not a hyphenated word.

  15. Right , that’s out of the way. Most enjoyable as usual. Thanks to Cepheus & to BD for the hints

    Beers are lined up, my lads are comhg around to watch Eng Wales & Ms S is making us all a curry for afterwards.Bliss!

    Here’s one for BD from another organ:
    “Out of date team with sudden changes?” (4,3,6)

      1. How come you always seem to know the identity of the setter, do you have an inside line?

  16. Done it ! As always thanks to BD without whose help I wouldn’t have !
    Would be grateful if someone could why sandwiches are involved in 11d – I’ve got the answer but don’t fully understand it.

    Finally, I’ll be thinking of you at 5.00 p.m. Mary ! May the best team win and it be a running rather than kicking match.

    1. 11d – the ‘despatched’ is sandwiched between the sailor and the took care of.

      1. Thanks Sue, one of those Dohh moments !!
        I can concentrate on the rugby properly now !

            1. Some of us are multi-tasking so much already that we don’t have time to fit the rugby in :)

              1. Some of us wished we had never watched the Rugby. Well Done Wales – Shame they didn’t have anyone to play against.

          3. My husband is multi-tasking in the kitchen ,watching the rugby and preparing tonight’s dinner,but I suspect he’s preparing the dinner just now so that he can keep both eyes on the Scotland/ France game later.

  17. Hi everyone,

    Having been lurking here for some time, thought I should say hello.

    Everyone’s help is greatly appreciated (and I’m glad it’s not just me who misses the obvious!)

    Even managed to complete today’s without hints (rare event!).

    1. Welcome John – we do like it when a lurker joins us. Hope we will see more of you from now on. In a strange sort of way ‘Missing the obvious’ is part of the ‘fun’ (??) of solving cryptic crosswords .

    2. Hello John – good you’ve De-lurked yourself! I lurked for over a year before I plucked up my commenting courage, and really regretted I hadn’t joined in so much sooner. And I’ve received bags of very kind and patient help that appears to be totally unstinting… :-) so you’re very welcome from a fellow struggler or even straggler

  19. Oh… and dumb question time/faq – this coupon they mention to accompany an emailed scanned version of the crossword – que?

    TIA

    1. I think it means you have to fill in your name and address in the appropriate place under the grid before you scan it.

      2. Or, operhaps, singers’? But can’t see hoe “singers” fits :(
        Otherwise great fun :)

          1. It means ‘for singers’ rather than ‘singers’ so no missing apostrophe. :-)

  22. Very enjoyable today, thanks to setter and BD. Some lovely clues, liked 23a,27a and when I eventually got it 28a. Bit slow there. Anyway finished in time for the Wales England match

  23. I really enjoyed that today but can’t believe how long it took me to get 27a ,even after seeing BD’s hint!!! Favourites 1a,8d, & 11d. Thanks to Mr Ron and BD for the hints.

  24. Thanks as ever to BD for the hints and blog and to setter too.

    Loved 4d but still haven’t got 2d, a nudge to put me out of my misery pretty please?

    This was a puzzle of two halves for me, SW corner went in easily and then the rest took some considerable effort.

    Thanks too, to CS for your explanation of 11d, I too, didn’t understand the sandwiches bit but now clear. Neither have I been watching the rugby but I shall be watching the F1 qualifying later :-)

    1. 2d the definition is an informal conference – insert a word meaning ‘every individual’ into a metallic element.

  25. Thanks to setter for today’s pleasant puzzle, and to BD for the hints.
    The surface of 19d made me smile at the implied litotes of only a ‘drop’ of gin illegally produced in a Merseyside town !

  26. Wales rampant (30) – England demolished (3). Brilliant performance by Wales. I’m so pleased for Rob Howley who’s had a lot of criticism.

  27. A good Saturday solve.

    Clues that I liked were : 1a, 13a, 20a, 26a, 27a, 3d, 8d, 17d, 22d & 25d.
    23a & 21d were laughs!

    Today it is beginning to look as if Spring is on its way – I’ll say no more just in case!

  28. Loved todays puzzle which I could only look at after some baby sitting for my smallest grandson. Miraculously finished it with only a small amount of help from BD. Was grateful to the comments which clarified the answers I’d managed to work out…..especially11d. Also belated thanks to Cryptisue for help a couple of weeks ago. As always thanks to the setter.

  29. I joined Dave,s site to get help with 27across. marvellous clue and hints from Dave.
    I felt that warm glow of ‘eureka’ and a surge of adrenalin although I had had help! that was my last one in except for 22down which I had thought was something more difficult.
    Wendy

  30. Had a busy day yesterday – we in the Southern Hemisphere have a rugby competition called the Super Fifteen, between five Australian, five New Zealand and five South African sides – so I was “busy” watching rugby for most of yesterday, and only got to the crossword when I went to bed. Rather pleased with myself for finishing it without any help from BD’s hints. although I do want someone to explain 18a to me. I got the answer but the logic escapes me.
    Like everyone else, I enjoyed 23a and 27a. Didn’t understand BD’s problem with the clue in 25d – a **** (my censoring!) is surely “an untidy place”?
    Oh, and congratulations to Wales! A bad weekend for us SA rugby fans: Of the three SA teams who had fixtures this weekend, only one (Free State Cheetahs) won and two (Sharks and Bulls) lost.

    1. I was unhappy with 25d because if the first definition is “an untidy place” this leaves the second as “for such as 29” rather than “place for such as 29”. It only works that way if the word place is doing double duty.

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