Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28982
A full review by crypticsue
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This puzzle was published on 23rd February 2019
BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
I didn’t find this as tricky or bothersome as others did on the day
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a University spoken highly of given a boost (8)
UPRAISED – U (University) PRAISED (spoken highly of)
6a Reportedly one might provide alien craft? (6)
SAUCER – A homophone (reportedly) of SOURCER (one might provide)
9a Brave American lawyer taking on cartel (6)
DARING – DA (American District Attorney, lawyer) taking on RING (cartel)
10a Guerrilla with role in repressing South America (8)
PARTISAN – PART (role) and IN (from the clue) repressing SA (South America)
11a European Union brought in right kind of fur that can be recycled (8)
REUSABLE – EU (European Union) brought in between R (right) and SABLE (fur)
12a East European keeps strange tailless dog (6)
POODLE – POLE (East European) ‘keeps’ ODd (odd – strange – without its ‘tail’)
13a Celebration of moving conflict between two dynasties (5-7)
HOUSE-WARMING – WAR (conflict) between HOUSE and MING (two dynasties)
16a At home during date, father cooked chicken (5-7)
FAINT-HEARTED – IN (at home) inserted into an anagram (cooked) of FATHER DATE
19a Chuck aunt and uncle finally avoiding relations (6)
CHASTE – CHAS (an abbreviation for Charles, as is Chuck) plus the final letters of aunT and unclE.
21a Slap on the mouth (8)
LIPSTICK – Slap being an informal term for make-up
23a & 24a Aspiration provides motivation embracing grand image of Oxford (8,6)
DREAMING SPIRES – DREAM (aspiration) INSPIRES (provides motivation) ’embracing’ G (grand)
24a See 23a
25a This person overwhelmed by small amount of money gets stick (6)
CEMENT – ME (this person) overwhelmed by CENT (small amount of money)
26a Turn around keeping hand in skipping (8)
OMITTING – A reversal (around) of GO (turn) ‘keeping’ MITT (hand) and IN (from the clue)
Down
2d Actor has power over film (6)
PLAYER – P (power) goes over (in a Down clue) LAYER (film)
3d A young lady at fault (5)
AMISS – A (from the clue) MISS (young lady)
4d Plant in river being cultivated by wise old president (9)
SAGEBRUSH – R (river) being cultivated by SAGE (wise) BUSH (one of two former, old, presidents of the USA)
5d Run down bottom of escarp in scrub (7)
DEPLETE – P (the ‘bottom’ letter of escarP) inserted into DELETE (scrub)
6d Cancel boxing match? (5)
SCRAP – A double definition clue
7d Like most police, kept in the dark when second note goes missing (9)
UNIFORMED – The second N (note) goes missing from UNInFORMED (kept in the dark)
8d Authorising woman to get jewellery (8)
ENABLING – ENA (woman) BLING (jewellery)
13d Crew given fish as acknowledgment (9)
HANDSHAKE – HANDS (crew) HAKE (fish)
14d A new suggestion — Italian wine that’s served in trattoria (9)
ANTIPASTI – A (from the clue) N (new) TIP (suggestion) ASTI (Italian wine)
15d A queen needing husband in inferior play (3,5)
WARHORSE – Insert into WORSE (inferior) A (from the clue) R (Regina, queen) and (needing) an H (husband)
17d Old car with restricted amount of actual leg room (7)
ALLEGRO – Found, restricted, in an amount of actuAL LEG ROom
18d Vet show on TV (6)
SCREEN – Rabbit Dave described this as a triple definition, but I think it is a double definition – both verbs, one meaning to vet or check and the other to show a programme on the television. A screen alone isn’t a TV, only part of it. The only person likely to comment on this is Falcon when he blogs the crossword when it appears in the Canadian National Post, but going on current progress, we’ll have to wait until at least June or July to find out whether he agrees with me or the Rabbit
20a Prepare article about Conservative government’s rule (5)
EDICT – EDIT (prepare article) goes ‘about’ C (Conservative)
22a It is not commonly a defect (5)
TAINT – ‘TAINT being a slang (common) contraction of IT IS NOT
Thanks to CS for the review. I can’t remember much about the puzzle but reading through the explanations it all seems pleasant enough.
I’m in the Rabbit’s hutch on the 18d dispute. I think that screen can mean TV in a phrase such as “She’s a star of stage and screen”.
I’m not sue it is a dispute as such, more a difference of parsing opinion – although in the expression you quote above, I always thought ‘screen’ was films, and this is backed up by investigoogling (where one page even says ‘a screen is part of a television’!
I took it as a double definition because of the word “on”, which doesn’t seem to fit anywhere in the triple version.
My thought was that if it was only a double definition the clue could have been just ‘Vet show’.
It would be good if the setter looked in to tell us what the intention was.
I had this as a double definition, exactly as CS describes above. But on reflection, maybe it is a triple with the “on” being a neutral link word. Perhaps it is one of those rare clues which can be legitimately read in two ways?
I took 18d to be atriple definition too. We often read in reviews that an actor is a star of the small screen after all. It’s stretching a point but no further than many other oblique clues.
I seem to remember this not taking too long. 18d – 100% double definition, if it were meant to be a triple def, it would have been worded differently, I’m certain.
4d was a bit of a guess but it seemed like a feasible word so in it went. Thanks for the review CS.
And I just bunged in screen without worrying….. this puzzle went in very easily for me, thanks to the setter and to CS. My biggest smile was for chaste.