DT 27289

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27289

A full review by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **

There must have been lots of entries for this week’s prize puzzle as it was extremely  easy and in some places hardly cryptic at all.

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Across

1a           Enter about fifty in total (8)
COMPLETE –  Insert L (the Roman numeral for 50) into COMPETE (enter).

5a           Benefit for female with sex appeal (6)
PROFIT –   PRO (for) F (female) IT (sex appeal).

9a           Spiral dive bothered alpinist (8)
TAILSPIN –   An anagram (bothered) of ALPINIST.

10a         Smart circle’s old beer? (6)
STINGO –  STING (smart) and O (circle)to get what Chambers describes as ‘strong malt liquor’.

11a         Strangely docile about college being freezing (3-4)
ICE-COLD  –   Insert C (college) into an anagram (strangely) of DOCILE.

12a         Carried outside when ready to eat (7)
TOASTED –   Insert AS (when) into TOTED (carried).    Having checked the BRB, I remain confused as to why this means ‘ready to eat’.

13a         Long odds about lunchtime? (6,2,3)
TWENTY TO ONE –   Long betting odds or around lunchtime.

16a         The ‘Scotsman’ for instance did it to get rid of surplus energy (3,3,5)
LET OFF STEAM –   The Flying Scotsman may well have done this, we do it to work off excess energy.

21a         Eight pints and a quarter inside vessel (7)
GALLEON –  Insert E (East, a quarter) into GALLON (eight pints).

22a         It’s baked in pastry, not cold, for during the journey (2,5)
EN ROUTE –   When baked in pastry, salmon, for example, is said to be baked EN CROUTE.   Remove the C (not Cold)to get an expression meaning during the journey.

23a         Originator put gold repeatedly round unfinished article (6)
AUTHOR –   AU (the chemical symbol for gold)  TH (almost all of the, the definite article) and OR (the heraldic term for the colour gold.

24a         She does an entertaining take-off (8)
STRIPPER –  Just glad I don’t have to either explain or illustrate this one!

25a         Try that’s made in rugby (6)
TACKLE –   To challenge or attempt something;  the act of intercepting a player who has the rugby ball.

26a         Rebuilt cart — it is creative (8)
ARTISTIC –   An anagram (rebuilt) of CART IT IS.

Down

1d           Illicit rice contains this acid (6)
CITRIC – this acid  is hidden in illiCIT RICe.

2d           Single from over with no runs? (6)
MAIDEN –   A young unmarried girl or an over in a game of cricket in which no runs were scored.

3d           Left before beer round’s got in — missed a trick (4,3)
LOST OUT –  L (left)  O (round) STOUT (beer).

4d           He is following two others (5,6)
THIRD PERSON –   The third person singular could be someone following two other people.

6d           Withdraw what’s said about pamphlet (7)
RETRACT –   RE (about) TRACT (pamphlet)

7d           Social event‘s loud, followed by something soothing (8)
FUNCTION –  F (the musical instruction to play loudly) followed by UNCTION (something soothing).

8d           Like a sword that’s doubly sharp (3-5)
TWO-EDGED  –   A definition of a sword.

12d         Strictly directed at landlord (2,3,6)
TO  THE LETTER –  An expression meaning exactly, in every detail, could be a missive directed at someone who lets out property.

14d         Iris’s bluster — shameless! (8)
FLAGRANT –   An iris is also known as  a FLAG.   RANT is one meaning of bluster.

15d         Lithe cat may jump to get fit (8)
ATHLETIC –   An anagram (may jump) of LITHE CAT.

17d         Foul lie about energy source (4,3)
FUEL OIL –   An anagram (about) of FOUL LIE.

18d         Swallow single cocktail (7)
MARTINI –  MARTIN (a bird similar to a swallow)and I (single).

19d         Initially puts up with dog perhaps — one’s highly strung (6)
PUPPET –   The initial letter of Puts,   UP (from the clue) and PET (dog perhaps).

20d         Containing a metal, could be terrific without it perhaps (6)
FERRIC –  Containing iron –   Remove the letters IT (without it) from TERRIFIC and rearrange what’s left.