Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3061
A full review by gnomethang
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This puzzle was published on 21st June 2020
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Morning All! When I came to review this I realised I hadn’t quite finished it with a cuppa before an early Sunday morning round of golf which makes it at least a *** for difficulty and a fair degree of emjoyment for me..
Across
1a Jolly clever: fresh too (6,3,6)
BRIGHT AND BREEZY – BRIGHT for Clever and (too) BREEZY for fresh.
9a Trough into which goes a head (7)
MANAGER – Place A from the clue in a MANGER or trough.
10a Article on every novel, capital (7)
YEREVAN – AN, (indefinite article) aftr (on in an Across clue) a NOVEL anagram of EVERY.
11a Typical male fleeing from emu, camouflaged in trees (9)
EUCALYPTI – An anagram (camouflaged) of TYPCAL E(m)U from which M for Male is removed (is fleeing).
12a Man perhaps in silver, oddly (4)
ISLE – The Odd letters from I n S I L v E r.
13a Mean — and waspish? (6)
STINGY – The second is the cryptic def, as in a wasp stings so like a wasp (waspish) is STINGY.
15a 25 per cent off wine in items for sale — big deal! (3,5)
WHO CARES – Remove the fourth letter (35% off) from a HOC(k) wine and place inside WARES or items for sale in a shop.
18a Framework rested upon change of date by county (8)
BEDSTEAD – An anagram (change) of DATE next to the county of BEDS (Bedfordshire).
19a Game over for purchase (4,2)
SNAP UP – The card game SNAP and UP for over.
22a Area I found after two sharp bends? (4)
ZONE – ONE for I after the letter Z which contains two sharp bends (I suppose you could clue NONE in a similar fashion!)
23a At risk, support melting away? (2,4,3)
ON THIN ICE – A simple cryptic definition for being in trouble/at risk.
26a Don’t open post: deliver note (7)
OBSERVE – Remove the starting letter (it doesn’t open) of (j)OB or post and then add SERVE for deliver (food).
27a Passion behind prayer, nothing special (7)
AVERAGE – RAGE or passion behind an AVE Maria as an example of a prayer.
28a Clean up the seafront, seen in a mess (7,4,4)
FEATHER ONES NEST – An anagram (in a mess) of THE SEAFRONT SEEN and a very apposite clue, currently (scumbags!!).
Down
1d Sweet Rottweilers knocking stuffing out, those in a 5 Down raid perhaps? (7)
BOMBERS – A BOMBE or sweet/desserts followed by R(ottweiler)S where the inside letters or stuffing has been removed/knocked out).
2d Old Greek charged (5)
IONIC – A compound or radical that is charged contains ions so could be described as IONIC.
3d Sun, possibly most interesting part (9)
HIGHLIGHT – The Sun might cryptically be described as a HIGH LIGHT.
4d Short bar put another way round (6)
ABRUPT – An anagram (another way round) of BAR PUT.
5d Daughter always fair for broad stretch of time? (8)
DAYLIGHT – D for Daughter then AY for ever followed by LIGHT for fair.
6d Happening once in a blue moon, red! (4)
RARE – Two definitions – Uncommon and ‘bloody’ in a steak.
7d Bug spread over cut, unfortunately (9)
EAVESDROP – An unfortunate anagram of SPREAD OVE ( r) which has been cut.
8d Americans always standing, then bending knees (7)
YANKEES – We have AY for always/ever again – this time reversed (standing up in a Down clue) and then an anagram (bending) of KNEES.
14d Individuals invading country, island nation (9)
INDONESIA – ONES for individuals inside/invading the country of INDIA.
16d Caution taken with money, might figures start to spiral? (9)
CANNINESS – CAN/might, NINES for figures/numbers and then the starting letter in S(piral).
17d Subversive regrets boxing to a degree, when knocked over (8)
SABOTEUR – RUES or regrets contains/is boxing TO from the clue and B.A. or a degree (Batchelor of Arts) and then the whole thing is reversed (knocked over).
18d Go — as might workers? (4,3)
BUZZ OFF – If the workers are bees then they would BUZZ OFF when going.
20d Something given here (7)
PRESENT – A simple double definition.
21d Sound of Music, major effort (6)
STRAIN – Two definitions – a STRAIN or air of music and a large effort on the body.
24d Einstein an egghead, not entirely silly (5)
INANE – A hidden word is found in some of the letters (not entirely) of Einste IN AN E gghead.
25d Chief knowing structure of bridge, say (4)
ARCH – A triple def. – ARCH for main as in arch rival, it also means sly or knowing and finally the spanny bit in a bridge.
I thought it was tricky crossword, which would have made a perfect Dada Toughie – it was definitely a ‘start with the Downs’ and, even allowing for a few ‘old friends’ still took a good while to solve. There was also a bleep from the repetition radar.
Thanks for the review (It’s definitely Thursday today ;) )
That’s encouraging if you thought it was Dada Toughie level, CS. Easier than Paul in the Guardian whose clues I find unintelligible, sometimes even after the explanations on 225.
It was considerably trickier than the usual Dada Toughie offerings which really aren’t that tough