DT 29186

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29186

A full review by gnomethang

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 19^th October 2019

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

Morning All! This was about a 3 star solve for difficulty but I appreciated some very nice clues upon reviewing. It also seemed like a large number of Double Definitions!

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Water bird, one that’s in decline (6)
DIPPER – Two definitions – The wading bird and also anything that declines/dips.

4a           Gusher’s output providing energy — strong power source (8)
EFFUSION – E for Energy, F for Forte (strong/loud as a musical direction) then Nuclear FUSION for a (not yet possible) power source.

9a           American coming to the forefront of most unusual book (6)
ARREST – Move the A(merican) forward in the word RAREST/most unusual.

10a        A sports official wearing appropriate item — not this (8)
BAREFOOT – Place A REF(eree) or sports official into a BOOT which would be appropriate for him on a pitch.

12a        Spots danger coming from such actions (4)
RASH – The first def. is a synonym for spots on the skin, the second is descriptive of the RASH actions that cause danger.

13a & 17Across                Enjoy an innings of torment after being dismissed very quickly (4,1,3,3,2,4)
LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL – Start with LIKE A BAT or ‘Enjoy an innings (of cricket) and then place OF from the clue and HELL/torment after OUT/dismissed.

14a        Flier uses electronic equipment first (4)
KITE – E for Electronic (as in E0Mail, E-Cigarette etc) with KIT for equipment first.

17a        See 13

20a        Looks to the future with pacy attack (4-8)
FAST FORWARDs – pace attack(er)s in e.g. football might cryptically be described as FAST FORWARDS.

23a        Extremist regularly found in Stormont (4)
TROT – Take the even/regular letters in s T o R m O n T. Oooh! Little bit of politics!

24a        State of excitement that’s less half-hearted! (5)
FEVER – A nice spot!. The middle or letter in the heart of FEWER/less is a W. Half a W (so half-hearted) is effectively a V giving FEVER.!

25a        TV presenter with current member of opposition (4)
ANTI – The TV presenter ANT out of ANT and DEC followed by I for the SI unit of current.

28a        Drive to the side of the road in Jersey (8)
PULLOVER – To drive/steer to the side of the road is to PULL OVER and a JERSEY is the top or PULLOVER.

29a        Roman soldiers, say, suffering fate of victims in Colosseum? (6)
LEGION – Another nice clue!. E.G. for say/for example is eaten by a LION (i.e. suffering one of the fates of a prisoner in the Colosseum).

30a        What could provide meatiest quote (8)
ESTIMATE – An anagram (what could provide) of MEATIEST.

31a        Craftier character on radio (6)
ARCHER – Take your pick from any of the eponymous characters in the (popular) Radio 4 soap about everyday farming folk.

Down

1d           Cooked bird — I ate a mouthful (8)
DIATRIBE – A cooked anagram of BIRD I ATE.

2d           A fluke perhaps in HQ of the Red Devils? (8)
PARASITE – The HQ (main site) of the Red Devils (paratroopers or PARAS) might be described as the PARA SITE.

3d           Festival the queen doesn’t attend to make a point (4)
EAST – Remove Elizabeth Regina or ER from the EAST(er) festival.

5d           Weapon the army endlessly redeployed in bloomer (12)
FLAMETHROWER – Make an endless anagram (redeployed) of THE ARM(y) and place inside a FLOWER or bloomer.

6d           Waste product from bureaucracy (4)
UREA – A hidden word FROM b UREA ucracy. All ‘piss and wind’ – Ooh! Little bit of politics!!.

7d           One line of mathematicians with popular appeal (6)
ICONIC – I for one and then a CONIC line or section from mathematics (the main types beautifully illustrated by BD on the day).

8d           Character in middle of manic state? (6)
NUTTER – The middle letter of ma N ic and then UTTER for state/say.

11d        Beating champion ice-hockey team? (3,2,3,4)
SIX OF THE BEST – The first Is the main definition and the second cryptically alludes to a 6 person hockey team that are the best.

15d        French aristocrat occupied with old coin (5)
DUCAT – A French DUC (or Duke) followed by AT (occupied with).

16d        Escaped criminal, not English, holding women (5)
FLOWN – A F(e)LON or criminal with out (not) the E for English but with W for Women inside (being held).

18d        Flourish having simple breakfast food prepared (8)
BRANDISH – A simple breakfast food might be a DISH of BRAN or BRAN DISH.

19d        Person transferring assets in the manner of Italian gentleman (8)
ASSIGNOR – A charade of AS (in the manner of) and a SIGNOR or Italian gentleman.

21d        Fastener regularly used (6)
STAPLE – Two definitions – that which fastens pages together and also a frequently used/bulk commodity.

22d        Miscellaneous collection of biblical characters (3,3)
JOB LOT – A collection of the patient JOB and the patriarch and depravity escaping LOT from the bible.

26d        Class structure (4)
FORM – Another double definition – A class in a school and the structure of an edifice or creation.

27d        River to cause erosion (4)
WEAR – One more DD to finish with – the river in the NE England and to abrade/cause erosion.