Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27435
Hints and tips by scchua
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
This shouldn’t pose a problem to many, but it was enjoyable, short as it was. A 1*/3* for difficulty/enjoyment. Thanks to Jay.
P.S. If you still find the mechanics of the hints a mystery, you should read the following, which should help in understanding.
Definitions are underlined in the clues (in blue).
Words in blue are lifted from the clues.
Italicised words are instructions for constructing the answer. Parentheses following these enclose the indicators from the clues. Eg. Reversal of(up, in a down clue).
[xxx;yyy] denotes that a synonym for xxx or yyy is required.
{} are used to give the order of construction. Eg. Reversal of(up, in a down clue) AB + C is different from Reversal of(up, in a down clue) {AB + C}.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
Across
1a Spike drink given to one politician (6)
{IMPALE} : [an alcoholic drink made by fermenting a cereal] placed after(given to, in an across clue) [Roman numeral for “one”] [abbrev. for a politician in the House].
5a Approaches after work, dismissing fine for disputes (8)
{WRANGLES} : [approaches;different ways of looking at a thing, situation, concept, etc.] placed after(after, in an across clue) “work” minus(dismissing) [abbrev. indicating “fine”;all right].
9a Dishonesty from keen doctors? (5,8)
{SHARP PRACTICE} : [keen;with a fine cutting edge, like a razor, say] + [the ‘business’ of doctors – or each doctor].
10a Cut charge by £1? (8)
{LACERATE} : [a charge;cost of a service, usually per unit] placed after(by, in an across clue) [letter representing £] [in a deck of cards, the one with 1 pip].
11a A good hotel welcomed by supporter from an Asian country (6)
{AFGHAN} : A + { [abbrev. for “good”] + [letter represented by “hotel” in the phonetic alphabet] contained in(welcomed by) [a supporter, eg. of a sport] }.
12a Irishman wearing a coat? (6)
{PATINA} : [a name typifying an Irishman] + [a preposition for “wearing”] + A.
14a Don’t say a word – liquid silver dries up (8)
{SHRIVELS} : [interjection asking for silence] + anagram of(liquid) SILVER.
16a Tramps across the west of Ireland for papers (8)
{DOSSIERS} : [homeless tramps sleeping in any convenient place] containing(across) the 1st letter of(the west of, in an across clue) “Ireland”.
Defn: … containing detailed information about a particular person or subject.
19a Criminal offence on quiet man of the church (6)
{PARSON} : [a criminal offence, putting something to the torch] placed after(on, in an across clue) [abbrev. for the musical direction to play quietly].
21a Date with title holder is a depressing experience (6)
{DOWNER} : [abbrev. for “date”] plus(with) [the legal title holder of property].
Defn: …. aka a bummer.
23a Sweet from Italy carried by public transport is acceptable (8)
{TIRAMISU} : [International Vehicle Registration code for Italy] contained in(carried by) [a public transport vehicle;in North America, a streetcar] + IS + [letter indicating appropriateness to;acceptability by the upper class].
Defn: A dessert, originating from Italy, too.
And where does all that dessert go to?
25a A banking term for reputation and class (8,5)
{STANDING ORDER} : [reputation;status in society] plus(and) [one of the groups in the classification of biological forms].
Defn: … for an instruction from the client to the bank.
26a One needs to be reminded in the morning in case working (8)
{AMNESIAC} : [suffix for the hours before noon] + anagram of(working) IN CASE.
Defn: … not only in the morning but at other times too.
27a Deeply affected, let out a scream (6)
{YELPED} : Anagram of(affected) DEEPLY.
Down
2d How mother hides a sign of injury? (7)
{MASCARA} : [a term for one’s mother] containing(hides) { A + [a sign of a former injury] }.
Defn: What a mother (or any woman) might use to cover some sort of eye injury. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue, though I’m not sure how good a cover-up it might be, but I’ll leave that to the ladies.
3d Conscious of a revolutionary green source of energy (5)
{AWARE} : A + reversal of(revolutionary) [green;inexperienced, like a recruit, say] + 1st letter of(source of) “energy”
4d Walk along the seafront – and see lap dancing (9)
{ESPLANADE} : Anagram of(dancing) AND SEE LAP.
Defn: What the public walks on along the seafront.
The doer done…. but not along this walk, where the most exciting thing you might see is a ship up close :
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5d Kew, for example, gets women to replace head keepers (7)
{WARDENS} : [a famous example of which is Kew in London] with [abbrev. for “women”] replacing(gets … to replace) its 1st letter(head).
6d Capital – and credit – squeezed by an accountant (5)
{ACCRA} : [abbrev. for “credit”, say, in accounting] contained in(squeezed by) { [an indefinite article, like “an”] + [abbrev. for an accountant who has passed the professional exams of one of the Institutes] }.
Defn: … city in Africa, which is her hometown:
7d Reviewing home rule mainly supporting leave (5,4)
{GOING OVER} : { [at home] + [to rule, say, over a state] minus its last letter(mainly) } placed below(supporting, in a down clue) [to leave;get thee hence].
Answer: He does it again and again (great lyrics and performance):
8d I weep audibly and go face-to-face (7)
{EYEBALL} : Homophone of(audibly) { I + [to weep;to cry loudly, usually done by babies and young children] } .
Answer: The first things to be noticed… or maybe not.
13d Unable to feel popular, as tense, worryingly (9)
{INSENSATE} : [popular;trendy] + anagram of(worryingly) AS TENSE.
15d Vacant role for each right-winger is a sort of theatre (9)
{REPERTORY} : “role” minus its 2 inner letters(Vacant) + [for each one, expressing, say, a unit rate] + [short for a political right-winger in the UK – not extreme right of course].
Defn: The sort of theatre (the building or the presentations collectively) where a resident company performs several works regularly or in alternation.
17d Animal giving sailor problem after work (7)
{OPOSSUM} : { [abbrev. for a seaman – not AB] + [a basic mathematical problem, not one you should have any problem with] } placed below(after, in a down clue) [abbrev. for a musical composition;work].
18d A saint converted Charlie? Like Hell! (7)
{SATANIC} : Anagram of(converted) A SAINT + [letter represented by “Charlie” in the phonetic alphabet].
20d Notice rising smell and do one’s duty (7)
{OBSERVE} : Reversal of(rising) [abbrev. for a lingering smell from one’s person] plus(and) [to do one’s duty, eg. doing National Service].
22d Broadcast without finishing one’s lines (5)
{RADII} : [to broadcast over the air] minus its last letter(without finishing) + [Roman numeral for “one”].
Defn: … , in geometry.
24d Mine misses home with son up for a decoration (5)
{MEDAL} : “mine” minus(misses) [at home] plus(with) reversal of(… up) [son;a young boy].
Both out of the pool, but she isn’t showing her golds:
The Quick crossword pun: (note} + {hawking} = {no talking}
Morning scchua and thanks for the blog I needed the hints to finish off 17d and 5a, once again I always get these the wrong way round, having ‘gardens’ instead of wardens!!!! I got going quite quickly on this one but slowed right down with about eight to go!! Another bright sunny day here so with apologies to Kath for not putting in requests for leave of absence off I go to enjoy a walk on the beach followed by art class…have a lovely day all :-)
Forgot 2d???? Mascara doesn’t hide anything if anything it enhances
fav clue 8d
Only one favourite Mary?
She’s got the sun – maybe she wouldn’t want to risk having more than one favourite today – we’re in thick fog.
Strange one today, solved only 4 clues on first reading. Things then gradually fell into place and completed in reasonable time. Got the 1st letter of 5d mixed up initially and took some time to parse 5a. Best clue for me was 2d. **/****
Thanx to Compiler and to scchuaa for the Review which I always read, but not need the hints.
Thank you Jay, I didn’t find it easy but managed to finish with the usual help from BRB etc. There were a few clues where I had the answer, but it took a while to understand the wordplay. Good fun ! Thank you Scchua for your review hints and photos as usual.
Many thanks to Jay (I always enjoy your puzzles! ), and to scchua for the review.
A pleasant solve today.
Faves : 10a, 16a, 23a, 5d, 17d & 22d.
Sunny day here in NL – spring definitely coming in! Hey ding-a-ding -a-ding!!
I enjoyed it although spent longer on the SW corner than all the rest; 1*/3* for me. Thanks to Jay; and to scchua for the entertaining review and the explanation for the animal in 17d (I’d totally forgotten OS can be an abbreviation for a seaman).
Favourite was 26a.
3*/3* for me as I struggled with a few clues today. This was as a result of two new words for me (12a & 13d) plus some stupidity on my part :oops:
My errors were, firstly, like Mary and Wayne, to have put the wrong first letter for 5d, and, secondly, misspelling 17d. My charade for 17d was work (2) + petty officer (2) + problem (3) givng me 2Ps and 1S instead of 1P and 2Ss. These two slips made 21a & 5a very difficult.
Many thanks to Jay and to Scchua.
Lubbly Jubbly full of terrific clues with just enough food for thought. Northwest last to go in as I looked for form of masque for 2d (agree with Mary) and I was looking for an overcoat of sorts for 12a. **/****. Big thanks to Jay and scchua.
Think about a **/*** today as the NE corner took some thought-never know how to spell the second word of 9a ie a C or an S (letter 7)? dictionaries are equally vague , or is it me . Liked 5d and 9a made me smile-lots at Cheltenham today , enjoyable start to the day.
C when noun and S when verb, is how I understand it. A doctor practises medicine in his private practice.
Yes – I agree with Merusa. The only way that I remember which is which is to say “advise” and “advice” to myself and then it all becomes clear. You wouldn’t “advice” someone, would you?
Another two parter with a break in between. Held up by a wrong spelling at 17d and the thought that “west of Ireland” indicated the letter D. Doh. Thanks to Jay and also to Scchua. A great day out at The Cheltenham Festival yesterday. As usual we found what may well the only bar selling real ales and made that our base. The winnings from races 1 and 5 were swallowed up by the losses elsewhere. Stupid bet of the day was on Grandad’s Horse in the sixth. I should know better. This horse is a rank outsider probably owned by a conglomerate of bookies who take millions in from sentimental punters (I was not the only one in our party to back it) safe in the knowledge they will never ever have to pay anything out. That is it with horses until the first day of The Festival next year.
I got my west and east mixed up too! I love Wednesdays – thanks Jay and Scchua
I thought that I was the only one who got all the North, South, Easts and Wests muddled up – really nice to know that it’s not just me after all.
After the first read-through of the across clues I had one possible which I didn’t dare write in. Luckily the downs provided an entry point and the coffee a bit of lubricant to get things moving and then BINGO finished. Looking back, I can’t really see why I was held up at all.
Re 2D : there are a few gothy type peoples around here and they certainly don’t wear the stuff for enhancement and I would suggest neither did Alice Cooper.
Still freezing here, I’m never going to believe the BBC weather peoples again (unless they forecast rain of course)
Today I have to hang my head in shame
as I just couldn’t get going and, in the end, had to give up. So thank you for some super illustrations & hints, Scchua, but your one star for difficulty confirms me as the Dunce of the class. Ah well…. I’ll hope for better things tomorrow. Thanks to setter for (for me) a real brain twister!
Cheer up – everyone has off days and wrong wave length days.
Thanks, Kath. Dunno what’s the matter with me today, but appreciate the encouragement. Are you hinting again soon? You were/are a brilliant team…
I’m sure that there’s nothing the matter with you. I always enjoy Jay’s crosswords but I do think that they vary a lot in difficulty – maybe more than any of the other setters. Now I wait, yet again, to be shot down in flames.
In answer to your question – yes – very soon – in fact just beginning to have a bit of a gibber . . .
I didn’t find this as much of a write in as the last two days – not helped by thinking 23a was ‘suitable’ at first go. On the whole though enjoyable and now the mist has cleared, another sunny day here on the Wirral.
Thanks to setter and Scchua.
A lovely crossword – as a couple of others have already said I always enjoy Jay’s puzzles too. I agree with the 1* difficulty but would give it nearer 4* for enjoyment.
and I always have to check the spelling of 23a – it’s horrible stuff anyway.
My last two answers were 10 and 16a – don’t know why – they just were.
8d would have been easier if I’d spelt 14a the right way
I liked 9 and 12a and 5 and 8d. My favourite was 4d.
With thanks to Jay and scchua.
It was pretty good fun.
I have to agree that the only thing mascara can disguise is fair eyelashes………if you tried to put it on the eyelids ( or even all around the eyes…) you would look like a Jack Russell. Perhaps Jay is getting mixed up between mascara and eyeshadow? Or concealer?
This is a par with thinking that trout pouts are caused by Botox……
While I’m about it, the word amnesiac to describe a sufferer of amnesia is well out of modern usage.. (Unless you’re a Radiohead fan, which I’m not). Let’s consign it to the early c20 where it belongs (along with maniac, spastic, nucular…….hang on a minute).
I probably made harder work of this than I needed to, not many completed before lights out last night. However, completed without help this morning, other than Chambers and Ask.com (for 13d – a new word for me). So, **/** – favourite 12a, a big smile when the penny dropped. Thanks to Jay.
Enjoyable if untaxing crossword, thanks to Jay and to scchua for the amusing review.
Well, we got about three quarters of the way through & then ground to a halt & had to resort to Scchua’s hints. It’s so annoying when the answers are so obvious only after looking at the hints. ***/*** for me today. Sunny but cold here on the east coast.
Sorry, forgot to thank setter & hinter
I did find this a bit of a slog today, I must admit but great enjoyment once finished. I would rate 3.5*/4.5* Thanks Schuaa, I needed your hints on half a dozen today.
Thanks to Jay and scchua. A very enjoyable puzzle, was 1*/3* for me. Favourite was 12a. Did it in two sittings, before & after the Camden Beer Festival. Lovely spring day in Central London.
Mmmm. beer festivals!
I’ve struggled with this one all day, on and off, and managed to finish unaided although confirmation of some clues was necessary, thanks to Scchua
I just cannot get in tune with Jay. A 4*/1* for me. Needed clues for nine of them, and felt no sense of satisfaction with anything. Shame.
What JW said. Poor puzzle that’s not up to scratch
Changing you alias puts you into moderation.
I prefer that criticisms of this kind be supported by examples. There are an average of 30 clues in a puzzle – did you not like any of them?
The” hides” of 2d was certainly very misleading. When I saw 1a I thought “Oh no! They’ve mixed up the puzzles again” as I have seen that same clue recently, though I can’t , for the life of me , remember where. 8d and 23a were the last two in , and are my co-favourites.Thanks Jay, I almost always enjoy your puzzles and thanks to scchua.The sun shone all day here, again !
Actually I don’t know why I said almost, I always enjoy your puzzles, Jay.
I’d call this a 2*/4* puzzle, and it raised quite a few smiles (particularly 12a). Thanks to Jay for a pleasant diversion, and to schuua for an equally diverting review.
1*/3* today for me. We don’t mention times here but I broke my record on this puzzle. Still very enjoyable though. Thanks setter and Scchua for the entertaining review.
Like others, it was a slow start but ok once got going. Logged to see why 3d was not asleep, only to find out, we got it wrong, so much for smugness as have to needed hints since last week!
Untaxing but enjoyable. Thanks to setter and Scchua for well-illustrated blog.