ST 2833 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 2833 (Hints)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2833 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Tilsit

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Difficulty *** / Enjoyment ****

Morning everyone.  After a lovely day yesterday surrounded by the great and the good, it’s back to business today with the Sunday Puzzle by Brian and it is to be fair a little tougher than yesterday’s Daily, but no less enjoyable, and packed with clues that are always fair. 22 across is one of those magical clues that most setters would give their eye teeth to find.  Just splendid.

Hopefully the pictures will be allowed out later, and tomorrow there’ll be another souvenir of yesterday with the release of s special Rookie Corner with many of the guests yesterday each contributing a clue.  Do look out for it.

It’s also a sad morning today with the news of the passing of Sir Terry Wogan.  It feels a bit like we’re losing so many people who’ve always been there.  R I P. Togmeister,

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues 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”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Some hints follow:

Across

1a           Secret fortune I moved around for criminals making money (14)
Let’s start with an anagram of SECRET FORTUNE I to give you criminals who do dodgy things making fake money.

images

9a           First-class fare may be enhanced by its addition (7)
This is a double definition clue:  a word that meaning first-class is also something that may go on top of a dessert or cake to enhance it slightly.

14a         With precision, switch position after position (4-2)
An expression that people use to say ‘Exactly!’ is made up of two words that can mean position.  The first as in a location and the second being one of two positions for a switch.

17a         Aquatic animals in a river seen by crew (8)
Another name for the creature known as the sea-cow.  After a word for a team-member goes A and the name of a NE  river.

manatees

22a         For which you need to search within this clue (4)
A lovely hidden answer, one of the trademarks of our setter.  Hidden inside the clue is a word that is exactly what you look for in any cryptic clue to help you find the answer.

26a         Writer above doing double-entry bookkeeping? (9,5)
This was probably the hardest for me today.  This is a cryptic definition for someone up above who sits alongside Him/Her upstairs and makes note of all the good and bad things you’ve done, hence the double-entry.
angel

Down

1d           Trim young lady that’s found in sailor’s arms (7)
The name for something carried by most old sailors and pirates. This is a wordsum.  A word for a young lady is added to something that means trim or slice.

pirate

3d           Cause the fall of Republican in end (4)
What makes someone fall is found by putting R (Republican) inside something that means the end of an object, for example the point of a snooker cue.

7d           Radically changing development in revolt (15)
A double definition.   A word that means radically changing (as in society) is also the way some people change things by dramatic means.
CORRECTION (Thanks to Virgilius!)  A word meaning development or growth goes inside one for a revolt to gives something that means radically changing.

13d         Distress evident in low capital for some South Americans (10)
The name of one of the biggest cities in S America is an anagram (distress) of EVIDENT inside a word meaning low, as in the noise of a cow.

montevideo

20d         In terrible winter, suddenly arrived, like blizzard? (4,2)
Another hidden answer.  Inside TERRIBLE WINTER is an expression that refers to the way how an icy blast enters our lives. Think of the old saying about MARCH and how it arrives and leaves weather-wise.

23d         A harvest unfinished in field (4)
A word for a region, field or space is made up of A and a word that means harvest that is unfinished.


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Today it’s Happy Birthday to Justin Timberlake (35), Franz Schubert (219)  and Minnie Driver (46)
 Justin TImberlake  Schubert  Minnie Driver
RIP Sir Terry Wogan (1938-2016)

49 comments on “ST 2833 (Hints)

  1. Another excellent offering from Virgilius which I found to be towards the trickier end of the spectrum. I’d never heard of 26ac and needed electronic help with it, but apart from that blip I found it to be a steady solve.

    Thanks to Tilsit and Virgilius and agree with ***/****

  2. 3*/4*. Another brilliant puzzle yet again from our Sunday supremo. One particular clue relates to one of my favourite pastimes and there are several lurkers, one of which contains precise directions that should help Kath find it!

    I was hoping for a 22a for 25a as my answer seems to fit the definition but I can’t parse it.

    I’ve got too many favourites to risk the wrath of the aforementioned traveller by listing them all.

    Many thanks as ever to Virgilius and also to Tilsit.

    P.S. Many thanks too to BD for organising yesterday’s Birthday Bash. Even though I could only be there for a couple of hours, it was a splendid occasion and so nice to meet everyone. And there was the little matter of good beer and delicious cake to enjoy too.

    1. 22a…Hmmm…It’s more obvious than you think…Hope I don’t end up on the naughty step…

        1. 25a is a reversal (back) of two parts of the clue, ‘let out’ and ‘without being treated’ (if that helps).

          1. Thanks very much, Jezza. D’oh! It’s so blinding obvious now you’ve pointed it out.

  3. I agree with the ratings. I can think of one 15a( almost) who will object to 26a.
    I pick 13d as my favourite.
    Thanks to Virgilius and Tilsit.

  4. I found this quite straightforward , one of my more lucid days! Some nice long anagrams to get started and the rest fell into place. Got 18a from checkers and took a while to work our why, a clever clue
    **\****. Thanks to Virgilius and Tilsit.

  5. Many thanks for the hints, needed a couple, but a satisfying morning’s work.
    Could not parse 25a, was last one in.
    I liked 18a, 11a and 10.
    Thanks to the setter, as ever

  6. I thought 25a was the 3 letter word for untreated plus the word for let out (or send out) all reversed to give a period of strife.

  7. I certainly needed several prompts, particularly in the West, so thanks for those Tilsit. Overall it was demanding but fair – TVM Virgilius. Needed the long anagrams to help me get off the ground. Not too keen on 9a and 17a new to me. ***/****. Just realised I have been getting my stars in a twist by putting Difficulty/Enjoyment – :neutral:

  8. Having flown back from Tenerife last night and not got home until 2 am, I am quite willing to admit that I was not at my lucid best when solving this top Virgilius Sunday offering. However, as others have mentioned, this was towards the top end of difficulty, and certainly not (for me) straightforward.

    4*/4* sums up my thoughts on this, with the two long anagrams, 1 across and 2 down, fighting for my top spot.

    Many thanks to Virgilius for another marvellous crossword. Your high level of consistency is a thing of wonder. Thanks too are due to Tilsit for his review. I trust everyone who attended yesterday had a good time?

  9. I found this just about the same as yesterday’s cryptic puzzle – needed thought but satisfying. I worked out 16d from the letters but had to check that my answer was actually a word – a new one to me. Many thanks to the setter ***/***

    1. Without saying too much as I can’t spare any time to go in the Naughty Corner this afternoon, ifyou had to check your solution to 16d was actually a word, you’ve more than likely got the wrong word.

      1. The DT puzzles site had no problems with the word I put, and justified in the review I’ve just drafted, so I would say ‘yes’ to you too.

  10. Greetings from Kolkata. Thanks to Tilsit, however my intended parsing of 7d is different from what you have suggested, namely Definition + A contained in B
    (Wouldn’t work for me as double definition because the two definitions are too close.)

    1. Thanks Brian!

      I wasn’t over comfy with my parsing to be honest, and now it all looks so clear.

      Where’s the naughty step?

    1. Lurker – the solution not you or Mrs T!

      Weather not too bad, keyboard normal size, Mr CS reasonably happy.

  11. There’s nothing like having some nice long anagrams to get you going – this one was pretty tricky, the Wordsearch program came in handy and I had to seek further electronic aid to get 26a which was entirely new to me – I’ll have to try and store it in the memory banks for future reference.

    More Football and Rugby today – but no more betting – I know it’s a mugs game but well… it seems like a good idea at the time!

    :whistle:

  12. Lovely stuff, but definitely trickier than usual. 26A was my last one in. Lots of ticks, but my standouts are 15A, 22A, 24A and 4D, with 24A coming out on top. Thanks to the lovely Virgilius and the equally lovely Tilsit.

  13. Enjoyable if a bit of a slog on the bottom half. I was going to ask for a hint for 17d but in writing this the penny dropped and I saw the lurker! Usual very long anagrams which seem to be a feature of Sunday crosswords, is it always the same setter?
    Thx to all.

  14. Superb. **/***** last night. Loved the misdirection in 13d. If I only had time to do one crossword a week it would have to be Mr Greers! Thanks.

  15. Just loved it! I agree, Tilsit, 22a is a masterful clue, and it’s my fave, not to diminish the cleverness of so many others.
    My paper is littered with circles of letters, wonder if M’pops is going to be able to do these in his head.
    Thanks to Virgilius and to Tilsit for his entertaining hints.
    I hope all had a great bash yesterday!

  16. Great to meet people last night! I look forward to more gatherings and good times.

    Only need for a hint was 26A, hadn’t heard of this although I’m mildly kicking myself for not picking up on the meaning of ‘above’ in this clue. Also struggling to parse 24A?

    I was stuck in the SW until I stopped thinking so hard and suddenly 13A came to me – lovely clue! I liked the surface reading of 1A too.

  17. **/****. Very enjoyable. Too many good clues to mention. Thanks to Tilsit for the review and I take my hat off to the setter for a very fair challenge.

  18. I asked Jean-Luc to give my apologies for not being with you yesterday… Feeling much better now. Enjoyed today’s puzzle but needed help with the second word in 26a. 2.5*/4* and too many great clues to name only one favourite. I have been solving the Cryptic every day even when feeling rotten but just did not have the mental strength to comment!

  19. Does this setter ever miss the mark? I think not – this is yet another clever, amusing puzzle from our Sunday maestro. 2* difficulty, but a healthy 4.5* for enjoyment. I loved 1a, redolent of Long John Silver, and the excellent anagram at 1a. Many thanks to Virgilius, and to Tilsit.

  20. How I managed to complete today’s offering is a miracle.
    I think I drunk wine for 12 hours yesterday and felt a bit hungover.
    But had a fabulous time with everybody who managed to turn up.
    Had a great Sunday afternoon in Spitafields Market with friends. Late lunch at The Real Greek.
    15a/8d held me up as I had the wrong ending in 15a which didn’t make sense.
    And had to check Google for 26a as the term was new to me.
    Thanks to Virgilius for the usual treat and to Tilsit for the hints.
    Shall be around Covent Garden tomorrow.

    1. Hi Jean-Luc,
      I (Paso/Rick) have an appointment at the Mac Store in Covent Garden. If you fancy a coffee or a beer, I’d be delighted to meet up – before or after depending on your plans. My number is 07821415083.

  21. Oh what a lovely crossword! Not at all easy but hugely enjoyable. My last in was 4d; the white bird eluded me for ages. 7d was my favourite because it was so blindingly obvious once you had the answer! 4/4* overall.
    Thanks to Virgilius for a superb offering, and to Tilsit for his hints.

  22. We struggled a bit more than usual with Virgillius today but thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to Mr Greer and to Tilsit for all his hard work on a busy weekend.

  23. Another wonderful Virgilius puzzle. Unusually for a Sunday there was a term I didn’t know (26a).

    It was really lovely to spend time with those of you who were there yesterday. I had an absolutely fantastic time. What a shame there were Hanni- and Kath-shaped spaces left vacant. Next time :yes:.

    Many thanks to Mr Greer and Tilsit.

  24. Thanks to Virgilius and to Tilsit for the hints. I enjoyed this, but found it very difficult. Needed the hints and electronic help. Favourite was 7d, last in was 8d, as, like Jean Luc, I had the wrong ending to 15a. Great to meet everyone on Saturday, shame I had to leave early to go and referee the Squash Tournament. Was 4*/3* for me.

  25. Been stuck on 8d since yesterday!!! Like J-L I had the wrong ending to 15a. Now all solved. Didn’t want to give up. Thank you Virgilius and Tilsit.

      1. 8d Playful fellow, potentially harmful (6)
        The abbreviation for fellow is followed by an adjective meaning potentially harmful or dangerous.

  26. I don’t think I did this puzzle after the day in London, but instead I panicked realising that one of the clues we’d handed in didn’t work at all, (it was after many pints)so sent a message to that effect, with a hastily rewritten one. Only to later realise that I’d misremembered what the word was we were cluing, so the original wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. Many apologies, Tilsit.

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