DT 30149 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30149 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30149 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)

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A grey and damp morning brings a fairly typical Saturday Prize Puzzle, which was good for me because, apart from the solving of the crossword, nothing else is going particularly well so far today.  I have an idea who is going to turn up to admit to being the setter – I wonder who will agree with me?

If I haven’t hinted the clue you are stuck on, see if it might be an anagram, a lurker or an old friend.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.

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    Intimidated, we drove criminal across America (8)
An anagram (criminal) of WE DROVE goes ‘across’ the abbreviation for America

9a    Last team member, perhaps (8)
A member of a cricket team, perhaps

18a    Artillery in working port (4)
I know this Algerian port from studying a Camus novel for A-Level French – even if you haven’t heard of it, it is just a case of inserting the abbreviation for the Royal Artillery into a simple way of saying working

21a    One or two girls that might add taste (8)
Two girls’ names go together to produce something that might add taste to a recipe

26a    Gloomy linesman sent back (4)
A reversal (sent back) of a literary word for a poet (linesman)

28a    Cure is found by worker for whom I have great affection (8)
One of Crosswordland’s workers and a way of saying I have great affection for someone

Down

2d    Pure lady loses one pound (8)
A lady’s name without the third instance of a letter representing one, the abbreviation for pounds sterling being added at the end

3d    Type of storage facility with irregular entry (6,6)
Synonyms for irregular and entry combine to give a type of computer storage facility

4d    Notes contents of this small case (6)
A cryptic definition of a small case holding monetary notes

19d    Turn up in notorious surroundings being overbearing (8)
A reversal (up) of a synonym for turn inserted into an adjective, one of the meanings of which is notorious

22d    Put peg in instrument (6)
A verb meaning to put into which is inserted a peg

25d    Drivers touring ancient city creating atmosphere (4)
A motoring organisation (drivers) touring or going round an ancient Mesopotamian city often found in crosswords

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The Quick Crossword pun: PURSE + ANALYSED = PERSONALISED

58 comments on “DT 30149 (Hints)

  1. Best puzzle of the week in my opinion, very tricky with some lateral thinking needed today. Good to see the word at 22d, I think George Martin played one of these on several Beatles songs. Got 18a correct, but had to look it up afterwards to check as I’d not heard of it before. My favourites today were13 and 26a. Well done to the setter, great fun!

  2. Neatly constructed, perhaps easier than the usual Saturday Prize offering.
    Time evenly spread on each clue.
    Smiles at 20 and 22a.
    Liked the clever 12d.
    Thanks to the setter and to CS.

  3. The only one that I needed to check was correct was the port in 18a. I also read Camus for A-level French but do not remember the mention of a port (the one I read was L’Exil et le royaume).

    No particular favourite, however every time I see the ancient city in 25d I always chuckle. It would be interesting to know the percentage of the population who do not solve cryptic crosswords who have ever heard of it.

    Many thanks to the setter, and to CS.

  4. The gloomy linesman was my final entry and became my favourite ahead of 12d. There were a couple of short words I had to drag screaming from my memory bank, but other than that this was a fairly straightforward solve that scored highly for enjoyment and entertainment.

    I have a feeling the setter is one of the two Cs, but I am not sure which one. Whoever it turns out to be, many thanks for the fun, and to CS.

  5. A pleasant puzzle on the whole. I’m not entirely convinced by 9a and the abbreviation used in 25d refers to the organisation not the drivers. We also had the opportunity to guess not one, not two, but three female names!

    My podium today comprises 18a, 20a & 26a.

    Many thanks to the setter. Thanks too to CS. I hope your day improves.

  6. Hmm – not a pangram, some double unches, my five bob is staying in my pocket today. Having said that, very enjoyable and, as Hrothgar said, probably on the easier end of the SPP spectrum – 1.5*/4*.

    I don’t think that we have seen the 18a port for a while but easy enough to recall from the memory.

    Candidates for favourite – 13a, 18a, 26a, and 22d – and the winner is 26a.

    Thanks to the setter and CS.

  7. I knew the port long before studying Camus & The Plague because I had a childhood sense of wanderlust before I ever actually travelled anywhere! (I’ll bet that Chriscross knows what I mean.) Very much enjoyed this puzzle, with the SE holding out briefly until the three pennies dropped–thus, my podium: 26a, 19d, & 18a. Thanks to CS and today’s setter (haven’t a clue). ** / ****

    1. My childhood interest inthe world arounnd me was encouraged by my dad. He hsd been called up in 1940, given commando training, then sent to the Far East inthe larrgest troopship convoy of aworld War 2. They stopped off in South Africa and Sri Lanka before exploring the Sind Desert. He did guard duty in the Taj Mahal, climbed inthe Himalayas annd ended up as an MP during anti-British rots. Hos tales were aygmented by oneof my uncles, who ofought Rommel in North Africa before landing in Normandy ocn D-day and progressing right across Europe through France, Belgium, Germany etc to Berlin.

  8. Just a bit of assistance required to check the port and the piano. Some lovely clues, 11a my favourite. Thanks to today’s setter and CS.

  9. Overall a great puzzle except for 7d which is just a ghastly clue. My favs were 9a (sorry Kath) and 21a.
    Thx to all
    ***/***(7d lost it a star)

  10. Not my favourite puzzle of the week but most of it was relatively straightforward. I’m with RD when it comes to random names and I wasn’t sure that the first word of the clue for 16d was in the correct tense.
    No particular favourite to mention today.

    Thanks to our setter and to CS for the hints – hope your celebration lunch worked out well yesterday?

    1. I’m fascinated to know how you remember the minutiae of other people’s lives. I’m sorry to disappoint but we didn’t go out after all yesterday, but had another M&S meal

        1. The banner was there last Saturday for my birthday. Yesterday was Mr CS’s birthday so no blog banners, just a few birthday cards on the sideboard!

          1. And a slice of lemon drizzle cake?
            I knew your big day was about now but wasn’t that sure when. Don’t know how I missed last week….yes I do. We were driving from Kent to Devon. Better luck next year!

            1. Definitely cake.

              I made a lemon cake for a special event recently and put it in the freezer. The event was cancelled so we had half the cake last week and the second half this week. If I do say so myself, it is a particularly good cake

  11. didn’t realise alliance as in Eastern was spelt different from the building one, so with that and the port in 18 I learnt 2 new things today while enjoying the crossword

  12. Never heard of 18A but the answer could not have been anything else. Never read Camus either, but at least I’ve heard of him. I also needed the hint to fully understand my (correct) answer for 3D. My absolute favorite clue is 26A but I also ticked 20A, 17D and 22D. Thanks to CS and the setter.

  13. After a night of horrible gastritis I doubted I would get far with today’s puzzle but it was most enjoyable. I didn’t like the double unches but I suppose they have to come along every now and then. 23a is quite topical for me as I’m supervising five at the moment. Clues I liked were 11a, 20a and 2d with 11a being my COTD.
    Many thanks to the setter for the diversion and to CS for the hints.

    1. Oh dear – and didn’t you say you were away from home or was that the other Steve? I get confused, unlike Jane! Hope you are feeling better

      1. Thanks, DG. Yes we’re in Yorkshire for ten days. Not a great start to a holiday but getting over it now.

          1. Thank you, ChrisCross. Much better now but taking food with care and drinking water only. Mrs. C and I will have an easy day again tomorrow to help with the recovery then it’s off to Whitby on Monday and Goathland on Wednesday. What we do in the meantime depends on how we feel but it’s looking good at the moment.

  14. Think I found this harder than most who have commented so far. Major stumbling block was inserting confidently a wrong second word in 11a which messed up the NE and the first word of 19d. I tend to think of a slightly different meaning of 19d. I was also much closer to home with the port although this did not interfere with any other answers. Clearly I wasn’t on the right wavelength and I am not a lover of double unches so not very satisfying. Thanks Setter and CS.

  15. Just the right amount of cerebration involved so as to facilitate my keeping one eye on the ATP tennis semis from Turin – enjoyed both – W easier half. Can’t parse 14d. Agree with RD that 25d uses not drivers but their body. Nearly bunged in Scottish equivalent for 18a but couldn’t justify artillery. Thank you Mysteron and CS. (I keep wondering what the news is re wellbeing of our supremo BD who is so much missed?).

    1. He’s at home now – you can send him a message using the Contact link at the top of the page as he is now up to date with his emails

  16. A relatively tame Saturday puzzle this week with a few head scratchers. Had some bung ins … they fit, but the parsing didn’t come on a few of them. Will have to check the blog in the morning as this was done on my Friday night.

    2.5*/3.5*

    Favourites include 10a, 11a, 26a, 27a, 3d & 14d with my winner being 11a … but also thought 10a was very clever.
    Both 10a & 11a made me smile too.

    5d was an unknown word, but a quick google solved that.

    Thanks to setter and CS for the hints.

  17. I started off with thinking this was going to be a doddle – I changed my mind.
    Sorted out why 19d had to be what it was caused trouble – dim – just couldn’t see it for ages!
    28a also took too much time – not that I’m in a rush!
    I couldn’t get 3d – I’d guessed it was going to be something to do with computer word – I didn’t know but husband did.
    I liked 11 and 20a and 14 and 22d. My favourite was either the 21a girls or 26a (took me ages and ages)
    Thanks to whoever set this crossword and to CS for the hints.

    1. I got the wrong 4 letter word for 11a which jiggered me for 12d and made a mess of the paper. No pen for me this week!

  18. I think I made heavy weather of this today.I seem to have found it more challenging than most. The second word of 11a was my third attempt only worked out after I fathomed 7d, a word I agree with Brian on. Is it just me or do others find that the clue you need help with is rarely hinted?! In the event I did manage unaided but it took me far longer than it should and I walked away from it for a while in the middle. I enjoyed 23a, 24a, 3d and 19d and my favourite was 12d. Thanks to the setter and Cripticsue

    1. I did toy with giving a hint for 7d which would probably have underlined the first two words of the clue as the definition, and then said you needed an anagram (re-placing) of MOTION without the ‘second’

  19. I finished it without recourse to the hints but made a mess on the way with 11a. There were some very neat clues, 13a,26a, etc and it was a good accompaniment to a bowl of hot soup on a miserably grey day. No chance of seeing any shooting stars tonight, I bet.
    Many thanks to setter and to CS.

  20. There were some unusual clues in this SPP and it took a while to get on the compiler’s wave-length, but I speeded upas the checkers went in despite having 5 clues where I was uncertain of the parsing. My favourite clue was11a. Thanks to CS for the hints and to the compiler.

  21. I don’t think that today’s crossword feels like either Chalicea or Cephas.
    I’m feeling brave and stick out my neck and say that I think it could be X-Type – I can only be wrong . . .

  22. Thanks to SC for the hint for the port as I had put in a different answer. Otherwise a pretty straightforward puzzle today. I needed the explanation as to how I arrived at 7d. We’ve already had 2 Christmas cards, takes the biscuit, at least one of them was unfranked so I can re-use it. Ta to the setter and SC – i hope you get your meal eventually.

    1. There’s an article in the paper today which suggests that we all ought to post Christmas cards and parcels by the end of November so there is a chance they might get there in time for Christmas because of the strikes etc.

      A parcel I sent last year to No 2 son and his fiancee who live near Drogheda in Co Louth took four months to get there! I’m sending this year’s parcel c/o of his brother and family who lives in Northern Ireland as their parcel arrived without any difficulty last Christmas

  23. I see we have a new puzzle in the DT next week
    Having seen him on Countdown and todays DT magazine, what name does Dave Gorman use when setting crosswords?

  24. I found this quite tricky, two four letter clues gave the most trouble. The last word in 11a took three goes before I got the right one, which didn’t help with the linked clues. Thanks to all.

  25. Not too difficult but a few head scratchers. Favourite was 26a. Thanks to the setter and CS.

  26. Pleasantly straightforward. The port was the only unknown & Mr G confirmed its existence. Like Angellov I toyed with the Scottish distillery port town that makes a rather fine malt.
    Thanks to the setter (surely Chalicea but my money staying firmly in my pocket) & CS

  27. I thoroughly enjoyed today’s puzzle but from reading the comments above realised that I have fallen for the wrong port! When I admitted as much to my husband he immediately picked me up by saying and where is the artillery in that? We live and learn! Many thanks to the setter and CS. The lemon cake sounds lovely.

  28. Very pleased to have finished the puzzle today especially as it was the first time I had done it digitally. I bought a tablet in order to do all the puzzles while staying with my daughter in Italy and not able to buy a paper. Luckily she had studied Camus.

  29. Thank you Cephas for a most enjoyable solve. I particularly liked 11a, beautiful surface and misdirection. Thanks also to our esteemed hintmeister

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