Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27432 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Crossword Club
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Don’t forget 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.
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 Round we had — and hadn’t paid (4)
The round letter followed by the abbreviated form of “we had”
10a Two Spanish articles following pop as a local speciality (6)
A couple of the usual Spanish definite articles after a two-letter word for pop or father gives a local speciality in Spain
11a Green buggy? (4,4)
A cryptic definition of a small motorized vehicle driven around a green, and along the fairway!
13a Train rodents to roll over after French bread (8)
To get this train put the reversal (to roll over) of some rodents after the current French currency (bread – see my page on Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing)
14a Wrote from prison: ‘Study’s gone west’ (6)
One of the usual three-letter words for a prison followed by the reversal (gone west in an across clue) of a study
21a Journalist‘s taken back intended hostile challenge (8)
Reverse (taken back) the usual two-letter journalist and add a young lady’s intended husband
24a Many-sided but with no sides? (3-5)
This adjective meaning many-sided or versatile describes something with no sides (or corners!)
26a Monster not on trail (4)
Drop (not) ON from the end of a monster
Down
1d Fully extended providing picnic? (9)
Split as (3,6) this could just about mean a picnic, although I’ve never heard a picnic described thus
2d Satanist‘s lived riotously — wish proper reforming’s to come (5-10)
An anagram (riotously) of LIVED followed by another anagram (reforming) of WISH PROPER
3d Second of this month (7)
Two definitions – a second of brief period of time and a business term for the current month, which is usually abbreviated to four letters
5d Cricketer and members going over feature (3,4)
This cricketer is a fielder and can be found in my new page on Cricket Terms and Abbreviations – some of the usual members or limbs followed by a facial feature
7d Wield cross held in upturned palm perhaps (5)
The letter shaped like a cross inside (held in) the reversal (upturned in a down clue) of the type of plant of which a palm is an example (perhaps)
17d Pronounce as an alternative to wonder (3)
Sounds like (pronounce as) a two-letter conjunction meaning an alternative
20d Footballers agree with a deadly final ending? (7)
The usual footballers followed by a verb meaning to agree
21d Setter perhaps needs clue at the end to cover up dead duck (5)
The creature of which a setter is an example (perhaps) and the final letter (at end) of clue around (to cover up) D(ead) gives a verb meaning to duck or avoid
Highlighted words can be found in The Usual Suspects.
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The Quick crossword pun: {arts}+ {ends}+ {carafes} = {arts and crafts}
Bah! You just beat me. Finished now and ready for the rugby. It’s a Spring day here with blue skies and warmth – at last.
1* for me. 4* for enjoyment
2*/3* for a very enjoyable start to the weekend.
21d was my last one in as I wanted to understand the wordplay before writing in my answer and it took quite a while for the penny to drop. I can’t recall having ever seen the answer to 25a written down and it was a bit of a shock to find out the correct first letter whilst unravelling the anagram fodder.
I agree with you, BD, about 1d, but I thought that was perhaps the reason for the question mark.
The superb 13a was very funny and my clear favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to BD.
No problems today but what with cricket, football and 11a I thought I was going to be in trouble to begin with.
My last two in were 19a and 20d. Until I got 20d I was trying to make 19a an anagram of the wrong letters which was really not helpful.
I liked 13 and 19a and 15d. My favourite was 25a.
With thanks to Mr Ron and BD.
Lovely day now – the sun has come out after a rather grey gloomy start.
Fairly tame I thought after some good challenges mid week. 19a is new for me. Very spring-like in Hertfordshire today. Thanks to The Setter and to BD.
I thought that this was a most enjoyable puzzle and one which, I’m pleased to say, I finished fairly quickly, leaving me free to concentrate on this afternoon’s sport. I mention this in passing because I stepped in at the last minute to score a game of cricket in the ’90s and, as the play was rather tedious, completed the Telegraph crossword at the same time… You did well to find the photograph of a 5d, Dave!
I have had a quick glance at today’s puzzle, but I ground to a halt when I found that our local (South African) newspaper had not printed the full clue for 7d. The clue, in the local paper, reads: “Wield cross held in upturned…” and the rest of the clue is missing. So, will someone give me the rest of the clue, please? (I have not looked at the Hints, because I would like to complete the puzzle – if I can – without any help, so, having opened the blog, I rushed down to the bottom so that I could put this request in.)
I have written to the newspaper to tell them how irritated I am!
Hi Kingsley
The clue for 7d is “Wield cross held in upturned palm perhaps” (5)
Thank you, Kath, I’ll come back to the blog later.
Thank you setter, a nice Saturday puzzle, good fun and not too hard ! Thanks BD for your hints. I have at last found a way of getting rid of over 100,000 Avios points and we have booked a return journey on 13a for later in the year as part of my “special” birthday celebrations. An amusing clue !
Had to do it all myself today 1* and 4* for me though I failed to see 26a for some time
Still cold and overcast up here in Cheshire
6d my favourite out of many good clues today
Nice one today, including a new phrase (19a), that should be easy to slip into one of my letters next week. Bielefeld is warming up nicely, non stop rugby for the rest of the afternoon, cold beers in the fridge, crossword done……aaaaaaaaaah!
I’m stuck on 19d!!!! Have I got something wrong?
I’ve got ??????? help!!!!
Your comment needed moderation because you’ve changed your alias (hope you haven’t been defrocked!). Both aliases should work from now on.
I’ve edited your post because you’re not supposed to include parts of the answer (but your last letter is wrong).
Think of learned as an adjective rather than a verb – as in “my learned friend”. I would say more but I’m really not sure if any more of a hint will send me to the naughtly corner!
Enjoyable and straight forward puzzle – if only I could get to grips with the Toughies – ah well, will keep trying. 19a was a phrase often used back in the day when I was at school, we thought it was terribly grown up. Thanks to setter and BD.
I enjoyed this. **|*** for me. Didn’t need the hints but used the BRB probably more than I should have.
Nice mixture of the straightforward and (for me anyway) some tricky ones which took time for the penny to drop. 13a favourite. 19a was common parlance in the 60’s – or so my parents tell me ;-)
Too quick with answers to 6d and 25a so Tipp-Ex much in evidence I’m afraid.
Off to give the moss it’s first cut of the year. Thanks to BD and the setter.
A lovely puzzle! No hints or electronic aid required for once, apart from looking up the Hebrew prophet in the Quickie. */**** for me.
13a easily my favourite.
Huge thanks to the setter for bolstering my confidence and as ever to BD for giving his time.
I haven’t posted on here for a while as I haven’t been completing the crosswords on the right day but I always enjoy reading other people’s comments.
An entertaining breeze today. **/*** Thank you Mr. Ron. BD not needed but thanks as ever for being there in case of need. Liked 11a. Spring seems to have sprung in W. Sussex too – hurray!
Or should I thank BD rather than Gazza?
Managed today without having to resort to the hints except to check one or two answers so…hurrah. Still cold here on the east coast with just a hint of sunshine. I really like the weekend puzzles. Thank you to Mr. Setter, & to BD.
IMHO the Quickie pun is all wrong. What’s the second “s” doing. Surely it shouldn’t be there. Not very clever I feel, or am I being stupid? Sorry setter.
I’m back! Once Kath had given me the rest of the clue for 7d (not completed in our local newspaper), I started, and spent a pleasant afternoon (actually just over an hour) doing the crossword, without the hints. (I never thought I would say this, but I thought today’s crossword was relatively easy). Last one in was 26a. Once I caught on to “learned not to start” in 19d, “monster not on” became self-explanatory in 26a. I thought 21d was clever.
Thought I was going to complete this without resorting to the hints, BRB or BRB Thesaurus and only had 19d to go, will carry on and hope to break my duck soon.
Still working on the wordplay of 21d but have the answer
Thanks as ever to BD for the hints which assisted with my thinking on 26a
Still stuck on 20d – I don’t know what the usual word is for footballers and can’t see it in the usual suspects list; help!
I’ve restored your comment so that I can reply to it.
The footballers should have been one of the Usual Suspects – and they are now!
Thanks to the setter for an enjoyable romp today – apart from two clues. Thanks BD for hints. I got 5d but still am pretty mystified what it actually is / does. My school played cricket but having caught a high ball on my first outing, and not having been warned to move my arms to alleviate the pain of a straight, hard catch, I rather lost enthusiasm, and my palms were red for ages afterwards, and which didn’t help my piano playing. So piano playing won.
Really not sure that we need to know what 5d does – isn’t it good enough to recognise it as a “crickety thingie”? I would not have been able to do that in P B D (Pre-Blog Days). A pity about your hands . . .
Thanks to the setter and to Big Dave for the hints. A very enjoyable puzzle, I needed the hint for 21d, and electronic help for 21a. The rest was quite straightforward. Favourite was 19a. Was 2*/3* for me. Lovely day in Central London.
I’m new to the cryptic world, you are my tutor Big Dave. Thanks to you I managed to finish yesterday’s dt and did 4 clues today before I came back to your site. Thanks very much.
Welcome Rob to both the blog and the world of cryptic crosswords.
Welcome from me too. This is a brilliant “place” – you’ll learn so much so fast that before long you’ll be able to finish them every day.
Good luck and keep commenting.
Great puzzle! I had the wrong word for the second half of 5d, hence not able to get 11a, but I quickly remembered BD’s cricket terms, which I checked and could correct it. This made 11a my last one in and was my fave. My Mum used to use 19a, I think as an amusing replacement for the rather snootier “not done”. Thanks to setter and to BD for the review.
Don’t even start me on snooty stuff! My parents both used 19a. I have more recently learnt other terms – NOCD (Not Our Class Darling) and not PLU (People Like Us) – I have to confess that they both make me laugh – I wait to be shot down in flames!
You think you’re being funny, but People “acksherly” use those terms. Isn’t it bizarre? In the 21st century, no less.
I didn’t mean to offend anyone
. . .
A jolly little puzzle, which l rate at1*/3*, and my thanks to the setter. I didn’t need the hints, BD, but thanks as always for your hard work. Thanks too to all my fellow contributors – your comments invariably add to the pleasure of doing the crossword. My favourite clue? Definitely 13a.
Enjoyable and easier for in the top half, so about 1-2*/3* .
Thanks to setter and BD.
A very pleasant puzzle it turned out to be , even after seeing the cricketing term ( I haven’t done that homework yet) and a reference to footballers. My mother and her sisters used the 19a phrase , archly, in the sixties and sometimes I use it myself .
I liked 11a, 14a and 15d. I also like the film of 21a.
Thanks to the setter and BD.
Having read the comments, I am obviously the only person who doesn’t get the alternative meaning for 3d – and I run my own business!
My father always used to do the DT cryptic crossword and I never ever got them but they always fascinated me. When my workload dropped off about three months ago I decided to invest in learning cryptic crosswords – made possible by this fantastic blog.
So after hours and hours and hours of staring at incomprehensible clues I can now usually do a 1* and some of the harder ones with a bit of blog help!
So thanks Big Dave and everyone. It has been a great albeit exhausting journey and one that has only just begun.
In business correspondence ult (ultimo) is used for last month and prox (proximo) for next month, as in 20th ult for 20th February and 11th prox for 11th April respectively. 3d is the full Latin word for this month.
Many thanks to the setter. I enjoyed this puzzle, especially clues like 13a, 18a and 25a. Haven’t heard 18a in a while. My parents also used to use it. It’s nice to come across such expressions again.
Many thanks, Big Dave for super hints. I needed the one for 24a.
I now look forward to checking my parsing with the full review when it appears. I hope I won’t be the only one …
Due to a very busy weekend I found myself doing this Saturday prize puzzle on the train on a Monday morning. Thank goodness the Telegraph puzzle website seems to be functioning properly now.
I enjoyed this quite straightforward puzzle, although not being much of a plant person I needed quite a few checking letters before one of the long anagrams became clear.
I must say that after 30 years in business, I have yet to see the latin expressions for last, this and next month used in practice although I clearly recall my father telling me about them the first time I came across one of them in a crossword, c.1977!
2*/3* for me.
Thanks setter and BD.