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DT 29083

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29083

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

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BD Rating – Difficulty **/***Enjoyment ***

Good morning from South Staffs, where a strange bright object has appeared in the sky.

The usual sprinkling of General Knowledge, some with a religious flavour, needed to make solving today’s Giovanni straightforward. If you have to rely on the wordplay to get to the answer it will take you a little longer.

In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the ANSWER buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Rascal getting caught leaving an Asian boat (6)
SAMPAN – Remove the cricket scorecard abbreviation for Caught from another word for a rascal, then add AN (from the clue).

Image result for sampan

5a           That woman, see, is wrong — unacceptable beliefs (8)
HERESIES – A pronoun for ‘that woman’ followed by an anagram (wrong) of SEE IS.

9a           Writer with label on in US building (8)
PENTAGON – Put together a writing implement, a label, and ON (from the clue) to get this US Government building.

Image result for pentagon

10a         Viewer to look again after turning round? (6)
PEEPER – This word for a surreptitious viewer can be reversed to get the act of coming back for a second look.

Image result for peeping tom cartoon

11a         In retrospect, ‘rubbish’ opera right? Its content is wet! (8)
RADIATOR – Put together another word for ‘rubbish’, a Verdi opera, and Right, then reverse (in retrospect) the result, to get part of a wet central heating system or a car’s cooling system.

12a         Vegetable to spoil one of the lines in garden? (6)
MARROW – ‘To spoil’ followed by a line.

Image result for vegetable marrow

13a         Flag to be positioned by a road (8)
STANDARD – Another word for ‘to be positioned’ followed by A (from the clue) and the abbreviation for RoaD.

15a         Not all candidates take an examination (4)
TEST – Hidden in the clue.

17a         Devilish walk with leader getting lost (4)
ARCH – Remove the first letter (leader getting lost) from a military walk.

19a         Feature of vehicle — it’s green, novel (8)
STEERING – Anagram (novel) of IT’S GREEN.

20a         Caustic comments from father? A time to interrupt (6)
SATIRE – Insert A (from the clue) and Time into a word for ‘father’ or ‘to father’.

21a         Maybe Hearts footballers won’t like the sight of these (3,5)
RED CARDS – Double definition, the first relating to hearts or diamonds.

22a         Critic of food provided for baby at home (6)
RUSKIN – A piece of food given to teething babies, followed by ‘at home’ to get a 19th-century critic and author.

Image result for ruskin

23a         Disorder in NE town — it must be investigated (4,4)
WENT INTO – Anagram (disorder) of NE TOWN IT.

24a         Daughter is given something flowery — not a success! (8)
DISASTER – Put together Daughter, IS (from the clue), and a perennial flowering plant.

25a         Man sounding serious (6)
ERNEST – A man’s name which is a homophone (sounding) of another word for ‘serious’. This is a piece of wordplay which features in a well-known comedy by Oscar Wilde.

Down

2d           Helpful final word expert supplies (8)
AMENABLE – The final word of a Christian prayer followed by ‘expert’ or ‘skilled’.

3d           Like the beauty queen — no ‘queen’, being most small-minded? (8)
PETTIEST – Remove the Latin abbreviation for a queen (or king) from an adjective that, by definition, describes the winner of a beauty contest, and you get ‘most small-minded’.

4d           Not eating out? Maybe one is struggling to get a good deal (9)
NEGOTIANT – Anagram (out) of NOT EATING.

5d           Ye’d rush and draw near, involved in drawn-out conflict (7,5,3)
HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR – Anagram (involved) of YE’D RUSH and DRAW NEAR.

6d           Beryl gives remedial treatment without electric current (7)
EMERALD – Anagram (gives … treatment) of REMED(i)AL, with the symbol for electric current removed.

7d           Businessperson of significance starts to expect results (8)
IMPORTER – Another word for ‘significance’ followed by the initial letters (starts) of Expect Results.

8d           Say nothing about wife — is husband inclined to nag? (8)
SHREWISH – Put together an instruction to ‘say nothing’ or ‘be quiet’, the Latin word for ‘about’ or ‘concerning’, Wife, IS (from the clue), and Husband.

14d         Movement to attract cats and dogs? (4,5)
RAIN DANCE – Cryptic definition of some rhythmic movement designed to call down from heaven something which may be described as ‘cats and dogs’ if it falls heavily. This is something we haven’t needed this summer so far – though we have a cricket tournament which works just as well!

15d         Naughty sort — nude or just having nothing on top? (8)
TONSURED – Anagram (naughty) of SORT NUDE, giving us the word describing a monk’s hairstyle.

Image result for tonsure

16d         Politicians giving mathematical analysis around model set up (8)
STATISTS – Reverse (set up, in a Down clue) a verb which applies to the act of being an artist’s model, and insert the result into an abbreviated form of the mathematical science of collecting and interpreting numerical data.

17d         A female relation breathing in fresh air out in the country (8)
AGRARIAN – A (from the clue) followed by an abbreviated form of the word for an elderly female relation wrapped around an anagram (fresh) of AIR.

18d         Nibbles hard bread endlessly — retaining awful diet (8)
CRUDITES – Remove the final letter (endlessly) from the word for the hard bit on the outside of a loaf, and wrap the result around an anagram (awful) of DIET, to get some raw vegetables served as nibbles.

Image result for crudites

19d         Snacks former body-builder smuggled aboard ship (7)
SARNIES – A diminutive form of the first name of a famous body-builder turned film actor and politician, with the usual crossword ship wrapped around it, producing an informal word for ‘sandwiches’.


The Quick Crossword pun MISTY + MEANER = MISDEMEANOUR

20 comments on “DT 29083

  1. This one just about fitted inro the time for ** difficulty and was a*** for enjoyment. The NW had a few tricky clues but most were straightforward. There were fewer really sparkling clues than in the usual Giovanni but thank you for 14d and 17d and the super anagram at 5d. Thank you to DT for help where I wasn’t sure that I had parsed the clue correctly. Dare I say it, the currant bun is shining here too.

  2. 2*/1.5*. Down to earth after yesterday’s heaven. Not much sparkle but I did like 21a & 14d but not 10a, 11a, 19a & 3d.

    Thanks to the setter and to DT.

  3. Enjoyable with only the one odd word in 16d. Thought 11a and 19d excellent clues and nice to see the return of an old favourite in 25a.
    Needed the hints to explain the rascal in 1a and the expert in 2d (expert – able, not sure), I am an able golfer but sure not an expert!
    Thx for the hints and to Giovanni for a pleasurable puzzle.
    **/***

  4. Admirable setting and always accurate, but for some reason I struggle to really enjoy the Friday back-pagers.

    Absolutely no offence intended to our master setter, but they often seem somehow dry and lacking character or humour or something.

    Thank you Giovanni and Deep Threat (never have worked out that angram!)

  5. NW corner held out the longest with 11A last entry .Favourite 21A .

    A steady solve today .

    Thanks to everyone .

  6. Oh dear Giovanni was unusually not for me this week. It was a bit lacklustre. Three quarters of the puzzle was not bad but then I had struggle needing assistance with several in the SW however not surprised at that when I learned the solutions. Not keen on the 19d word or indeed abbreviating the name therein. Thank you Giovanni and DT.

  7. I struggled a bit with this one. The SW corner was my downfall, although looking at it with hindsight I cannot really see why. 14d my favourite.

    Thanks to The Don and DT.

  8. It all started so well with immediately seeing the long anagram but then seemed to grind to a halt. I knew what 1a had to be but needed your help parsing the clue and also with 11a. I did not much care for 23a. Thanks as always to everyone.

  9. Well, I was galloping along at a good old lick, smiling away to myself…then I got to the SW corner and came to a shuddering halt. 22a, 16d and 19d threw me completely. I’d never heard of the chap in 22a, or the word 16d, and (despite eating one at the time) wouldn’t call 19d a snack – perhaps I’m more a crisps and chocolate kind of gal, which explains a lot.
    9a, 11a, 21a were my favourites today. 23a feels odd, as if the tense of the surface were wrong.
    Thanks to Giovanni and DT. I’m off to get a bar of CDM.

  10. Another good, solid puzzle from G. Nice clues, some quite tricky, providing a reasonable challenge and an enjoyable solve. Favs: 8d, 17d, 19d. 3* / 3.5*

  11. I agree about the SW corner, although I’ve no issue with the quality of the clueing. They all took a bit of wrestling and took as much time as the rest of the puzzle.
    I knew the critic, but it never came to me, as the so called baby food hasn’t been near my grandbaby – he’s more into garlic bread. And I kept trying to squeeze Atlas into 19d, or even considered samosas. I agree that the answer would hardly be regarded as a snack, except possibly by body builders!

    The usual weird way with words (4d, 16d) that I associate with DG and which I rather like……I need a naughty wagging finger emoticon.

  12. Thanks to Giovanni and to Deep Threat for the review and hints. A nice Friday puzzle, with some very good clues. I liked 11a and 8d, but my favourite was 10a, what an original clue. Last in was 19 which made me laugh. Was 3*/3* for me.

  13. I usually enjoy Friday puzzles but this left me a bit flat. I got 19d but like others had messed around with Atlas for a while and don’t believe the answer represents snacks. Nevertheless thanks to Giovanni and DT for the hints.

  14. Normally, I find Giovanni’s puzzles in the **** plus territory for difficulty.
    This one, however, wasn’t so, with one or two exceptions, a pretty routine solve.
    Enjoyable, though.
    Many thanks and also to DT for the review.

  15. I found this very friendly, except for 16d when I needed some electronic help, it’s not a word that rolls off my tongue. The 19d was a bung in, dragged up from somewhere deep in my memory bank.
    Getting 5d right off was a gift, helped enormously. I can’t think of another four-letter opera so that helped at 11a.
    All in all, this was pretty straightforward for me, 21a and 14d being standouts.
    Thanks to Giovanni for the fun and DT for his entertaining hints and pics.

  16. I found this to be be hard work. Not that it was but I kept making mistakes which never help solving a crossword! However, I eventually completed.
    15d was probably my top clue.
    Thanks to the Don, and to DT for the review.

  17. A dry workmanlike puzzle from the Don today.
    Off to a decent start but slowly ran out of steam, with a peppering of clues that required direction from DT.
    3*/2.5*
    Liked the long 5d, but genuinely believed answer 4d was entirely related to wine & didn’t put it in!
    Thanks to Giovanni & DT for review & assistance.

    1. You might be thinking of the French version of the word, négociant, which does apply to wine dealers.

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