Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27426 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Crossword Club
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The March Prize Puzzle is available now. Why not have a go?
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.
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.
Some hints follow:
Across
1a Opportunity to speak about rising tide causing great sadness (5-7)
An opportunity to speak at, for example, a trial around a rising tide or flow
10a A myth? Awful nonsense (2,3)
An anagram (awful) of A MYTH gives an antiquated exclamation of surprise or disbelief
12a Commanding batting attack (2,6)
A two-letter word meaning batting in a cricket match followed by an attack – a good opportunity to introduce my new page on Cricket Terms and Abbreviations
18a Leader of revolt we tartly banged up (3,5)
If it’s not Jack Cade, leader of the Kent rebellion of 1450, or Thomas Wyatt, leader of a Rebellion of 1554, then it’s this leader of the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381! His name is an anagram (banged up) of WE TARTLY
19a In favour of side dropping amateur, for the time being (3,3)
A three-letter word meaning in favour of followed by a side without (dropping) the A(mateur) gives the abbreviated for of a Latin phrase meaning for the time being
27a Fish goes to the bottom to cross lake (9)
These fish are derived by putting a verb meaning goes to the bottom or sinks around (to cross) L(ake)
28a A tennis umpire should be well-informed? (4,3,5)
A cryptic definition of this phrase meaning to be well-informed or understand what should be done
Down
1d Rodent seen in raging stream behind hotel (7)
An anagram (raging) of STREAM preceded by H(otel)
3d Indian-born novelist seen in cutter in Scottish river (9)
Someone who cuts inside a Scottish river
4d Public school board fired head (4)
A phrasal verb meaning to board a vehicle or ship (3,2) without (fired( its initial letter (head)
5d Stylish young socialite attending very happily (8)
The usual socialite (3) could be attending her coming-out ball very happily (2,3)
7d Check on painter, a member of a working-class movement (8)
CH(eck) followed by a painter
8d Bowled in an international under the most favourable conditions (2,4)
B(owled) inside A (an) and an international cricket match – more cricketing terms!
14d Its contents must be made from light wood (8)
A cringeworthy cryptic definition of a container for a number of pieces of wood used to light, for example, a fire
Some music to lighten up the day!
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ARVE Error: need id and provider |
17d Plant in front of florist’s always thin on the ground (8)
The initial letter (front) of Florist followed by words meaning always and thin on the ground
20d Fashionable dressmaker may bring out the poet in me (7)
A word meaning a poet inside ME
25d The pair in limbo there (4)
Hidden (in) inside the clue
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The Quick crossword pun: {how} + {strained} = {house trained}
2*/3*. Back to a more normal level of difficulty after a couple of very hard days.
I needed the BRB to check two new words for me: 7d & 20d, but otherwise no issues.
Many thanks to Mr. Ron for an enjoyable puzzle. Well done BD for your hints even though I didn’t need any today, and congratulations on your Cricket Terms page as well as for selecting the original and best version of 14d!
Happy St Davids Day everyone :-)
Thanks for the daffodil Dave
A two to three star for me today as I was held up by a few in bottom right corner!
A lovely sunny day so far, may take a trip into town to see the festivities after lunch
Happy St David’s Day to you, Mary – at least all the daffs are out in time this year which is more than can be said about last year.
In the absence of anything more appropriate here’s a little rose!
Thank you Kath :-)
Happy St. David’s Day from me too. Thanks for the heads up, I’ll email my friend in Drefach!
Well done for the cricket abbreviations, BD, they will be invaluable to the female contributors to the blog.
I found this puzzle quite difficult in places so thanks for the hints
Before Expat Chris has a grump, I would think there would still be some male contributors who would find the cricket abbreviations too.
Grump? Moi? Never!
Besides, I’m in much too good a mood today! It’s St. David’s Day, the sun is shining, and I’m still smiling over 9A in the NTSPP.
Yes thanks for that Dave although it is amazing the cricket terms I have learnt since starting these four years ago!
Yes, me too. I know all kinds of cricketing terms now – the fact that I don’t know what they mean doesn’t seem to matter much.
The English female cricketers did a lot better than the male cricketers this year!
The English male cricketers continued their woeful ways again yesterday, and they can’t blame that on Kevin Pietersen.
Hear hear!
If you found the back page puzzle as straightforward as I did (thank you Mysteron – just right as I have a very busy day) I can recommend both the NTSPP and the MPP.
I found this much more difficult than usual. All done. Thank to The Setter.
I found this fairly straightforward apart from a few so confidence has been nearly restored after the battering that it’s taken in the last three days.
I did get into a spot of bother in the bottom right corner but got there in the end.
I also had completely the wrong answer to start with for 14d. I’m not saying what it was as I know that we’re not supposed to put even wrong answers although it didn’t have single letter in common with the right answer so it wouldn’t help anyone – it certainly didn’t help me!
I liked 10 and 23a and 1 and 6d. I think my favourite is probably 21a. I don’t really understand why my 16d is right – why the involved bands bit?
With thanks to Mr Ron and BD.
Sun is shining and the Pet Lambs are here for the weekend as it’s husbands birthday – out for dinner this evening.
BD has allowed himself to mention two wrong answers today in his hint for 18a!
So he has but we can’t make him go to the naughty corner – or can we?
He’s the boss – so I guess he can do what he wants
Happy Birthday to Mr K (if he doesn’t mind being called that!) and I hope you all have a lovely family dinner.
Neither fit the (3,5) enumeration – they were given as names to remember for the future.
Thanks – he doesn’t really mind what he’s called although he draws the line when the Pet Lambs call him “Old thing”!
I could do with a gentle nudge on 21a which I can’t see for the life of me
The definition is Greek hero. Put a word meaning poorly inside part of a verb meaning longs to.
Many thanks CS
Hurrah for a cryptic we could manage without resort to the hints, even though it took quite a long time, but it was all worthwhile. Nice & sunny here in Scarborough today, but no daffodils yet, we’ve still got plenty of snowdrops. Thank you to the setter (for helping to restore our confidence) & to BD of course.
We now have daffodils, snowdrops, banks of celandines and primroses all out at the same time, lovely!
No problem with cricket terms, made to score as a child……..
But never heard the 20d term before.
I did like 21a.
Thank goodness, confidence fully restored! I loved this, not just because it was easy, but the “whys” were straightforward too and I didn’t have to contort my brain. Favourite is 18d, with honourable mention to 10a, that was a smiler.
Thanks to setter for the fun and BD for the review.
Enjoyed this very much. Did not need the hints but confess I did need an electronic aid to get 20D I thought 14D was clumsy and not to Telegraph standards. I would rate this 2.5/3. Thanks to BD for the blog and the cricketing terms which will be useful as I am a rugby man myself.
Please can someone give me some help with 15across and 16down. I have no idea where to begin with either. Thanks.
Hi eileen,
15a The definition is “contains what I want”. It’s an anagram (abroad) of WHILST around (touring) a two letter abbreviation for island.
16d I’m not much use here as I don’t understand the ‘involved bands’ bit but it is something someone might say to another instead of saying “Bad luck”.
Good luck and hope this helps.
I had 16d – it was my last in and I got it from the checking letters. I can’t for the life of me work out why it is what it is.
Can anyone enlighten me without risking a trip to the naughty corner?
I have decided that the first word means involved in the sense of difficult. The second is a synonym for bands.
Hope I don’t get sent to the corner as No 2 son has eaten all the chocolate malted milk biscuits .
The answer in the singular refers to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I’ve just finished a very nice lemon drizzle cake .
Not as good as C Sues obviously ;)
So if I’m n the naughty corner whoop whoop, supplies need replenishing
Mine was a hint, I think yours was an alternative clue You’ll have to just go to the corner with the memory of the cake to keep you company.
Just for once I’m happy to be on the naughty step
Sorry Your highness, I’m researching Kuwait and Milton :) :)
None the wiser
Am now -Googled!
If in doubt quote Billy Joel:-
“I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun”!
Both have just come to me!!!!thanks Eileen
Oh good – well done. It’s called “Gnomey’s law”.
Gnome’s Law (to rhyme with Ohm’s Law)
Close – I thought it was to do with him of Chinese river fame!
It goes back to the days nearly 4 years ago now, when I first ‘met’ Gnomey and we used to email back and forth with ‘have you got xx down’ or something similar and you knew that as soon as you pressed ‘send’ the answer would immediately become obvious and make you look daft. Not as daft as the Chinese river, though
I’m glad you said the bit about the Chinese river being daft.
Thank you setter, I found this quite difficult. My defence is that we have spent the day playing with one of our grandsons on our way home. Putting up for the night in the lovely town of Hexham. Thanks BD for your hints – I did sneak a look to keep things moving along !
Hexham is my home town where I went to school. It is a lovely place.
Daffodils, snowdrops, sunshine! and this was so much more straightforward today. Thanks to the setter and BD. For a change from recent experiences, no hints needed today. Hurrah!
Thanks to the setter and to Big Dave for the hints. A bit more difficult than usual. Was 3*/3* for me.
Horse drawn carriage is the definition. This particular one turns up fairly regularly in cryptics. A reversal (turn) of a synonym for skill with an derogatory term for a lout inserted.
A bit of quid pro quo for your guidance earlier. 3d is a novelist born in Calcutta. 11a put 3 letter word for lout inside reversed word for skill. Any help?
see above
Both of your comments went into moderation because you hadn’t put your email address correctly.
I realised that but too late and then did it again hence a series of messages adding insult to injury – apologies!
Psyched up after two previous day’ puzzles.
But unnecessary as this mostly went quite smoothly.
Enjoyable solve, 17d a great clue.
Many thanks to the setter, and to BD.
See two above messages from me (awaiting “moderation” – sorry)
Thanks setter for a prize puzzle with more of a challenge and entertainment than most prize puzzles and BD for, as always, being there in case of need. Nothing to choose between 11a and 21a as fav. ***/****.
Reasonably straightforward but satisfying, so 2*/3* for me. My favourite was 17d. I thought 20d a bit dubious, but it seems to be a genuine sort of poet, so l doff my hat to the setter. Thanks to Big Dave for blog and hints too, though not needed for this one.
Much better today. ***/** with favourites at 14d and 21a. Last in 20d, didn’t see the poet until clue filled in! Thanks BD for the welcome. Races in Newbury again today.
A bit trickier in parts than some Saturdays I thought. ***/**. I got a bit held up in the SE corner for a while but no hints needed and it entertained me and my better half during our train journey to Kew Gardens today. The orchids were the main attraction and certainly impressive, but for me they were upstaged by the carpet of crocuses (croci?) in the lawn near the main entrance.
After last week’s experiences I was quite surprised that submit accepted my offering. I liked it , obviously,although I found the south east corner tricky enough. My favourite ? I think 11a although that word has been used in a very different context over here. Thanks setter and BD.
I found this quite difficult, although I finished it without the Hints (but with the usual help from Mr Roget).
The clue (and answer) that really intrigued me was 23a. As I understand it, “cool” was used by the setter as PART of the answer and also as the WHOLE answer…or did I misunderstand the wordplay/logic somewhere along the line?
The poet in 20d was also a new word to me. Maybe the setter made it up!
23a Cool about wearing tartan (6)
Cool is the definition, but the wordplay is the Latin abbreviation for about inside (wearing) the tartan.
The “poet” in 20d is in Chambers, so the setter didn’t make him up.
Thank you, Dave, I had forgotten about that “about”!
Still don’t like that word for “poet”. Are you sure that Chambers didn’t make it up?
To show you how much I love doing the Saturday prize crossword, on returning from my ski hols, I bought the European edition of the Torygraph (whoops, sorry!)at Geneva airport. At SFR 7.70, the most expensive newspaper I have ever purchased.
Your comment needed moderation because you left the exclamation mark out of your usual alias. Both variants should work from now on.
so sorry, can’t even remember my own name.
Have been away buying a boat (probably) so only got round to this tonight. 20d was my last one in and I needed my BBB (Collins) to prove I was right. Not too many smiles in this, though, so only 2* enjoyment and 2* difficulty, although it was a bit of a relief after the brain ache of the past few days.