Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27128
Hints and tips by Libellule
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Enjoyable, but over far too quickly. Re 16a, was there an attempt at a failed nina on the line below?
Across
1. Dogs responsible for mother’s quarrels (8)
{MASTIFFS} – An informal word for “mother’s” is followed by a word that is used to describe petty quarrels. The result large powerful short haired dogs.
6. Follow Rex inside to make certain (6)
{ENSURE} – Place R (Rex) inside a word that means to follow as a consequence.
9. It may be carried on, though by-laws forbid it (6)
{LITTER} – Another word for a stretcher for example, is also carelessly discarded refuse.
10. Regulation I ignored in making guns (8)
{ORDNANCE} – Remove I (ignored) from a statute or regulation, to get another word that describes cannon or artillery.
11. Result of strikes in the metal industry (8)
{CLANGOUR} – A loud resonant repeated metallic noise.
12. Hilda is upset about a bloomer (6)
{DAHLIA} – An anagram (is upset) of HILDA around A.
13. Bound to fight bravely? (2,3,7)
{ON THE WARPATH} – The route a native American Indian might take to a battle.
16. Healthily, Ron gets involved in congress (4,2,3,3)
{ROLL IN THE HAY} – An anagram of HEALTHILY RON is a slang term for sexual activity,
19. Union measure (6)
{LEAGUE} – Double definition, an association, or a unit of distance equivalent to 3 miles.
21. Puritan club team (8)
{IRONSIDE} – A member of Oliver Cromwell’s army perhaps, can be made from a metal golf club and another word for a football team perhaps.
23. Sort of alibi that cannot be forged (4-4)
{CAST-IRON} – An alloy that cannot be wrought could also describe something that is certain or definite.
24. Look after little devil causing harm (6)
{IMPAIR} – A word that means to weaken or reduce in strength can be made from a three letter word for a small demon (or mischievous child) and another word for appearance or manner.
25. Point that was put on record (6)
{NEEDLE} – A gramophone record in this case.
26. One who hasn’t made a score in years (8)
{TEENAGER} – No not Phil Tuffnell, but a person between the ages of 13 and 19.
Down
2. A venue for a match away from home (6)
{AFIELD} – A word that means away from ones home or environment could also be “a” and a place to play.
3. Giant bird on a pole (5)
{TITAN} – Somebody who is of prodigious size (or one of the offspring of Uranus and Gaea) is a small bird followed by A and N (North pole).
4. Out of one’s mind (9)
{FORGOTTEN} – Something that’s not been remembered.
5. Company in rush to get cat (7)
{SCOURGE} – Place CO (company) inside a word that means a sudden onrush to get the sort of cat that has nine tails.
6. Concluded many may be in dire need (5)
{ENDED} – D (the Roman numeral for 500, many) inside an anagram (dire) of NEED.
7. Upset friends, content to be casual (4-5)
{SLAP-HAPPY} – Reverse a word that describes your mates, then add a word that means satisfied for a phrase that means cheerfully irresponsible or careless.
8. Set price being fixed, proceeds (8)
{RECEIPTS} – An anagram (being fixed) of SET PRICE.
13. Bound to be glad I came round (9)
{OBLIGATED} – An anagram (came round) of TO BE GLAD I.
14. Atrophied form of the goddess of love (9)
{APHRODITE} – A simple anagram (form) of ATROPHIED
15. 100’s too old for insurance (8)
{COVERAGE} – C (Roman numeral for 100) and a word that means older than usual for a particular position or activity.
17. Lock-keeper comes out of the rain (7)
{HAIRNET} – An anagram (out) of THE RAIN is an item used to hold the growth on your head in place.
18. Respect maiden in a grave environment (6)
{ADMIRE} – M (maiden) inside A and a word that means fraught with extreme danger.
20. Eastern lake found in the Midwest? Strange (5)
{EERIE} – E and one of the Great Lakes.
22. Cuttlefish very good in sea setting (5)
{SEPIA} – A dark brown pigment from cuttlefish is PI (very good, pious) inside SEA.
The Quick crossword pun: (Haydn} + {Sikh} = {hide’n’seek}
A nice pleasant start to the week. No real problems for me today. Thanks to Rufus and to Libellule for the review.
I fully agree with you Libellule */*** – enjoyable but all over too soon. I raced through three quarters and got held up a little in the NW corner before 11a emerged from the depths of my memory as a word I had not heard of for many years. Until I got that one I was wrongly convinced that 3d must be totem.
Regarding the possibility of a nina, the G seems to have escaped to four rows higher!
Many thanks to Libellule and to the setter.
Nice gentle warm up for the week ahead.
Thanks to Libellule for his review, as always a model, combining clarity with brevity.
Thanks to Rufus for an enjoyable start to the day, as I have time might just pop over to the Grauniad, another Rufus I hope.
Colmce,
Merci pour le compliment!
I would also recommend the FT for another gentle start to the week
Thank you Rufus, enjoyable as usual. Didn’t help myself by putting the “H” in the wrong place in 12a ! but managed to get it sorted eventually. Thank you Libellule for your review. Lovely day in the grim North. Tomorrow we have out biennial trip to the ROH – this time to see Alice in Wonderland. The 2hr 4 min rail journey is just about right for me to do the Mr Ron ! I will never be in the ” Finished this between Manchester and Stockport” league !
I did the same thing for 12a, so I never did get 7d until I looked at the hint, then I saw the error of my ways. Will I never learn to check spellings before giving up. Shame on me!
It was when I realised that “warpath” must be right that the alarm bell went off as”amply” and “apply” really were never going to work in 7d !!
Very pleasant start to the week. Like going back to how Mondays used to be to ease one into the working week.
Thx to Rufus for the puzzle and for once I didn’t need Libellule’s excellent hints.
Personally I find Libellule’s hints the best of all the contributors although they all do a great job esp in the time available. Is sleep an optional extra when you are doing the blog? :-)
Brian,
Et encore :-)
And it’s on the back page :grin: !
Agree with Libellules’ rating for difficulty tho’ I must admit to spending far longer in the top right corner than I should have done. Agree with previous postings, a nice gentle introduction to the week. */**** rating for me.
Thanx to Compiler and to Libellule for his excellent Review.
Who cares about difficulty ratings when you have a puzzle as pleasant as this .
Faves 4d,13a,26a and 21a.
Brightened up a dark,wet,windy,cold morning in N Yorks .
Thanks very much
Owwww. Suffering from an extremely sore head after Saturday (I suspect that several bloggers on here aren’t though).
Fun puzzle, but was held up for a while in the NW corner as I was trying to fit something to do with coins or medals into 11A – I blame it on he hangover.
Didn’t they do well :-)
I think Wales won the game before the kick off – I’ve never felt such a tingle up my spine when the anthem was sung, so much passion nearly brought me to tears
We even gave them a start :-)
Just to lull them into a false sense of optimism. Honestly though, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such commitment from any rugby team (maybe some of the All Black teams from the 70s ran fairly close) and the tackling was some of the best of seen and in some cases heard.
No matter where you go everyones talking about it
A slow solve for me today, with the NW taking the longest.
Many thanks to Rufus, and to Libellule.
Good afternoon Libelulle and thans once again for the hints, I needed them to finish of the top NW corner being stuck on 9a, 11a and 2d so a two to three star for me once again today, lots of clues I liked today, so thanks to Rufus also, although I got 16a I didn’t have a clue what it had to do with anything, such a sheltered life I’ve led!
Many thanks to Rufus for a most enjoyable if untaxing start to the crossword week and of course to Libellule for the usuall superb review.
I suppose it was about a */***, but after the weekends entertainment ,had a couple of D’oh moments,last one in was inexcusably the third word in 13a,especially as i was thinking of redskins and in 20a thought the lake was eyrie -i know! dropped a proper 11a.Anyway thanks to setter for enjoy able srart to the week.
Agree, a pleasant start to the week. Put a different sort of point in for 25a before realising it was wrong. Enjoyed 13 and 16 across and 7 and 17 down.
Thanks to Rufus and Libellule
Thanks to Rufus and Libellule, such a good start to the week. Apart from shooting myself in the foot by spelling 12a incorrectly and so unable to get 7d, it was a nice exercise. Couldn’t get the “congress” sense for 16a until I googled it. Am I the only one who finds that a new meaning? Thanks to all.
Unfortunately not Merusa. I think it was used as a euphemism back in mediaeval times and I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be used in the bible too. Says a lot for American politics :)
Yes, you might say they’re pretty screwed up
Me too Merusa, never heard of it in that sense before
It was the NW corner that gave us the most trouble also. 2d was our last in and it was actually our son who was first to come up with the right word. It is now 6am here in Rarotonga and we are just about to depart to the airport to fly home to NZ. It has been a great two weeks for us in this tropical paradise with this part of our family.
Thanks Rufus for the puzzle and Libellule for the review.
Just googled Rarotonga and I must say it’s gorgeous. Exactly like one imagines a Pacific island looks like. I was born and brought up in Jamaica (of Brit parents, Glos folk) and our island today is so built up with a proliferation of hotels all along our beaches, which in my youth were paradises just for us! You can no longer find a deserted beach. That’s progress, which is good, it provides work.
Thanks to Rufus for a lovely puzzle which took me longer to finish than it should have, 2d&5d held me up & it didn’t help that I had put forgetful in 4d. However got there in the end. Thanks to Libellule for the hints which I didn’t need today.
As usual, a gentle start to the week from Rufus!
Liked : 9a, 16a, 21a, 26a, 2d, 7d, 15d & 22d.
Apart from the normal birds in the woods across the road, there is a colony of parakeets and they are becoming noticeably more numerous each year and they stay all winter!
I think they have almost reached “pest” status around Esher RUFC. A pretty bird, but rather noisy i understand !
Tremendous racket as I’m under their flight path between Esher and Bushy Park where they spend each day, flying over in their multiple thousands! But some rather beautiful green feathers float down from time to time which is nice.
Had fun with this although, like a few others, got slowed up in the NW corner. And must learn to spell the 12a bloomer without resorting to my dictionary – which I imagine Kath didn’t need to! Much appreciated this puzzle, but I’d give it a 2* rather than just 1! Still on my learning curve. Thanks to setter and to Libellule.
Thanks to Rufus for a v pleasant start to the week.
Am I the only person in the World never to have heard the word in 11a?
And 2d took me far too long!
Thanks Rufus and Libllule.
re 11a, no, i’m with you on that one Hrothgar, and too got stuck in NW.
thanks to rufus and Libellule
Enjoyed this enormously. My sort of clues. Thanks Rufus. Also Libellule for the hints enjoyed retrospectively and all the comments. NW corner last for me too. Only got 2d after being reduced to combing the BRB. Pick out favs as 1 9 13 16 & 26a and 4 15 & 17d.
Thanks to Rufus and Libellule for the review and hints. A very enjoyable start to the week, late blogging due to hill walking, knee holding up ok :-) Needed the hints for 13a and 19a, just couldn’t see them. Apart from that plain sailing. Was 2*/4*for me.
11a Got CLANBOUR but only as a definition – where’s the cryptic clue? 13a also seems substandard cryptically – don’t get “bravely”.
Welcome to the blog WGCman
11a is CLANGOUR (I assume CLANBOUR is a typo).
13a Have you heard of American Indian Warriors being referred to as braves? In that context you would expect them to fight bravely.
Hi Thanks, 13a, t believe also the word WARPATH originated with the Native Americans. I retract my comment – this was an excellent clue. 11a However i still can’t see CLANGOUR except as a definition.
WGCman,
Re. 11a, this is a classic Rufus misdirection clue. The definition is indeed “Result of strikes in the metal industry”, i.e. repeated loud resonant noises. However the clue is meant to make you think about workers laying down tools in a foundry for example.
Thanks again. I see the pun on STRIKES but it still looks like two definitions and nothing cryptic. I’ve probably come across this before, but on this occasion I just don’t see it. Heigh Ho!