Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30179
A full review by crypticsue
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This puzzle was published on 24th December 2022
BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **
Cephas gave us our Christmas Eve Saturday Prize Puzzle – a few nice things to eat but 24a wasn’t really something you’d want for Christmas!
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought
Across
4a Fellow player cooked meat more than once (8)
TEAMMATE – Two anagrams (cooked more than once) of MEAT
8a Cake from city home (6)
ÉCLAIR – EC (the postal area for the City of London) LAIR (home)
9a Dislike remarkable rise in river (8)
AVERSION – An anagram (remarkable) of RISE inserted into the River AVON
10a Not all on this page as well (8)
MOREOVER – Not everything is on this page, there is MORE OVER
11a Bond welcomes brilliant rant (6)
TIRADE – TIE (bond) ‘welcomes’ RAD (a slang word for brilliant, usually and especially in the USA)
12a News of how murder victim died? (8)
BULLETIN – The murder victim died with a BULLET IN
13a Chaperone with Charlie repairing receiver (8)
EARPHONE – So many theories about this clue. It would have been so much less trouble if with had read without! However, an anagram of this receiver and the letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet produces the word CHAPERONE
16a Caught with such as skate and another aquatic creature, lobster (8)
CRAYFISH – C (caught) RAY (another name for the skate) FISH (another aquatic creature)
19a Cure worker that is eating small amount (8)
ANTIDOTE – ANT (worker) IE (that is) ‘eating’ DOT (small amount)
21a Teased mercilessly when in tatters (6)
RAGGED – Double definition
23a Second-placed athlete in front (6-2)
RUNNER-UP – RUNNE (athlete) UP (in front)
24a I omit Peg suffering having skin disease (8)
IMPETIGO – An anagram (suffering) of I OMIT PEG
25a Crusty drone? (6)
LOAFER – A cryptic definition of an idler (drone) which might describe a crusty loaf?
26a Sticking to fan (8)
ADHERENT – An adjective meaning sticking to or a fan or follower
Down
1d Month’s work for one in the main (7)
OCTOPUS – OCT (October) OPUS (work)
2d Flower developing early wilt (5,4)
WATER LILY – An anagram (developing) of EARLY WILT
3d Party’s initial intrigue for Bush (6)
PRIVET – The initial letter of Party and RIVET (intrigue)
4d Display frenzied grief, start to become bald? (4,4,4,3)
TEAR ONES HAIR OUT – Interestingly the definition of this clue, which implies you might start the process of going bald, is taken word for word from that in the BRB
5d Opening resulting from new departure (no opening) (8)
APERTURE – An anagram (new) of dEPARTURE without (no) the opening letter
6d Skinflint‘s endless woe (5)
MISER – MISERy (woe)without the end letter
7d Had put one’s foot in it? (7)
TRODDEN – There doesn’t appear to be anything particularly cryptic about this clue
14d Deal with counter that’s found on two-wheeler (9)
HANDLEBAR – HANDLE (deal with) BAR (counter)
15d Turn part of organ air-passage (8)
WINDPIPE – WIND (turn) PIPE (part of organ)
17d Back on coastal area shortly with new weapons (7)
REARMED – REAR (back) MED (abbreviated Mediterranean, coastal area)
18d Good person, impolite, left dessert (7)
STRUDEL – ST (saint, good person) RUDE (impolite) L (left)
20d Fish, tons first, in web (6)
TANGLE – T (tons) goes first before ANGLE (fish)
22d Land in single benefice (5)
GLEBE – An area of church land belonging to a single benefice is hidden in sinGLE BEnefice
CS, 13a. For my own benefit, and probably some others, have I got this right please:
1. With “without” the clue would be a normal anagram clue: fodder angrind and definition (in the clue) = solution.
2. With “with” most of the fodder is in the solution with a bit more fodder, the angrind and definition in the clue combining to produce the word chaperone. Does this make the clue a reverse anagram??
Thank you.
Also, am I correct in thinking that “repairing” is the anangram indicator and not a deletion indicator to remove the C(harlie)?
Thank you.
I think it is supposed to be a compound anagram, but what do I know?
Yes, compound! I’m getting reverse/compound mixed up. Thank you. That’s the first time I’ve identified one of those withou a hint – even though I got its name wrong. Progress, I suppose …
I just think it’s an error. I had ‘receiver’ as definition, I can’t see ‘chaperone’ as the definition for ‘chaperone’.
If repairing means remove then we’re left with ‘haperone’ but with no further instruction as to how to get to the definition.
If repairing is the anagram indicator then we need to find a word meaning chaperone with C added to get to a word meaning receiver – but that means getting 10 letters into an 8 letter solution.
I cannot make the clue mean remove the letter C from ‘chaperone’ then anagram that to make a synonym for receiver and I also can’t make it mean think of a word for a receiver and anagram that (and I don’t think I’ve been asked to do that in a crossword before), add C to that and then see if you can make the word at the start of the clue.
Anyway, I got it right, I just either really didn’t like it, or thought it was a mistake.
I looked up ‘compound anagram’ and got no hits that relate to this technique! Thanks for your patience CS!
It could be just an error – with “without” it would be a very straightforward, normal anagram clue. But I think you’ve glimpsed the truth in the first sentence of your 3rd paragraph.
Repairing is the anagram indicator and you need to find a (8 letter) synonym of receiver (the definition) which, when combined “with” the C (Charlie), produces an anagram of Chaperone – and that word is EARPHONE, the solution.
I’m not sure if that makes it a conventional compound anagram clue, or if it’s a sort of hybrid one. Only an expert could determine that.
Isn’t broken the anagram indicator. Repairing means the C (NATO Charlie) leaving Chaperone.
2*/4*….
liked 6D ” Skinflint‘s endless woe (5)”