ST 3201 (full review)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3201

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 26^th Feb 2023

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

Greetings from Kolkata. Dada has given us an enjoyable solve this Sunday and now I present to you a full review of his puzzle. Hope to have your valuable feedback and comments.

Goliath, the answer to the clue of 22a, reminded me of the Philistine giant from Gath who was killed by David with a stone shot from a sling, as mentioned in Samuel 17:4 in the Old Testament.

I became inquisitive to learn why a Mod, part of the wordplay to the clue of 18d, and a Rocker were so much at loggerheads and learnt from the net that Mods and Rockers were two conflicting British youth subcultures of the 1950s and 1960s. The elements of the Mod subculture were fashion comprising often tailor-made suits; music that included soul, rhythm and blues, ska and jazz; and scooters, usually Lambretta or Vespa, while those of the Rockers subculture were fashion consisting of protective clothing like black leather jackets and motorcycle boots or brothel creepers, music that included Rock and Roll and R&B; and motorcycles. Both dominated the pop culture for a brief period between 1963 and 1966 and it was within this cultural framework that the sounds of the British Music Invasion emerged. British bands recorded some of the best music ever composed, some of which remains iconic to this day. Despite so much positivity and fame, each despised the other. They were frequently involved in brawls. In 1964, their confrontation reached its zenith when they rioted in the coastal resort towns in Southern England, such as Margate, Brighton, Bournemouth and Clacton. A second round of tussle took place over the Whitsun weekend when thousands of Mods descended on Margate, Broadstairs and Brighton, only to discover that an unusually large number of Rockers had made the same holiday plans. Soon the day merriment turned into a nightmare. Their worst fighting took place in Brighton, where clashes lasted two days and spread along the coast to Hastings and back, earning it the moniker ‘Second Battle of Hastings’. Media coverage of the events between the two bitter rivals sparked a moral panic about the British youth and the two groups became widely perceived as violent, unruly troublemakers.

The singular of lieder, the answer to the clue of 23d, is lied. There is a remarkable difference in the sound of ‘d’. Unlike lieder which is pronounced as lēˈdər, lied is pronounced as lēt.

The singular of magi, the answer to the clue of 24d, is magus. There is a noteworthy difference in the sound of ‘g’. Unlike magi which is pronounced as māˈjī, magus is pronounced as māˈgəs.

Three clues, namely, 15a, 22a and 7d, presented ‘giant’ as the definition. Part of the wordplays to the clues of 13a and 22a, featured swine and pig respectively, with sow and hog as their corresponding synonymic answers.

Happy Holi to all those who will be celebrating the festival of colours in the United Kingdom and across the world on March 8, 2023, the day when this review will be published.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

8a    Note written about a surplus (9)
REMAINDER: REMINDER (note) as a note or notification designed to prompt or aid the memory placed around (written about) A from the clue takes to the definition of a part of something that is left over when other parts have been completed, used or dealt with

10a    Freebooter losing head, furious (5)
IRATE: [P]IRATE (freebooter) as a person who attacks and robs ship at sea is being deprived of (losing) the first or leading letter (head) in the across clue, arriving at the definition of an adjective meaning feeling or characterised by great anger

11a    Things wrong with cast: error in group of players (6,9)
STRING ORCHESTRA: An anagram (wrong) of THINGS and (with) CAST ERROR guides to the definition of a group of people playing solely the stringed instruments that include violins, violas, cellos and double basses

12a    Underwear in record time! (7)
SINGLET: The definition of a vest or a sleeveless garment worn under a shirt is arrived at from a charade of SINGLE (record) as a gramophone record with usually only one tune, or other short recording, on each side and T (time) as the symbol for time in physics

13a    Superficial swine passing round room (7)
SHALLOW: SOW (swine) as an adult female swine placed around (passing round) HALL (room) as the room or space just inside the front entrance of a house or flat, taking to the definition of an adjective meaning of no great depth, concavity, profundity or penetration

15a    Giant ear can flap in the winds (7,8)
AFRICAN ELEPHANT: An anagram (winds) of EAR CAN FLAP IN THE guides to the definition of the elephant native to Africa, which is larger than the Indian elephant and has larger ears and a two-lipped trunk and thus a giant that means anything much above the usual size of its kind

19a    On being consumed by deluge, flattened (7)
FLOORED: The preposition RE (on) as a commercial jargon used to indicate ‘with reference to’, ‘concerning’, ‘on’ or ‘about’ being taken inside (consumed) by FLOOD (deluge) as an inundation or a great flow of water, arriving at the definition of an informal verb in the past tense meaning knocked someone to the ground, especially with a punch

22a    Giant back in pig, returned (7)
GOLIATH: TAIL (back) as the back end or the hindmost part of an animal placed inside (in) HOG (pig) as a domesticated pig, especially a castrated male reared for slaughter, both having come back (returned) as reversals in the across clue, leading to the definition of a noun meaning a giant or a person of abnormally great stature or power

24a    Unremarkable location of white lines? (6-2-3-4)
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD: Double definition; the second being a noun referring to the location on the road wherein mostly broken white lines appear, indicating that one is allowed to change one’s lane or overtake another vehicle but with caution vis-à-vis solid white lines at few places, denoting that vehicles cannot change lanes that leads to the first an adjective meaning very ordinary and not extreme and acceptable to or liked by most people

26a    Obscene amount before tax deducted (5)
GROSS: Double definition; the second being a noun denoting the amount of income, profit or interest before deduction of tax that leads to the first an adjective meaning vulgar or very rude or coarse

27a    Soldier on manoeuvres ever trailing as such (9)
PERSEVERE: An anagram (manoeuvres) of EVER preceded by or following (trailing) PER SE (as such) as an adverb meaning by, in or of itself or themselves in Latin, arriving at the definition of a verb meaning to continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success

Down

1d    Teacher I stood up, bit of a looker? (4)
IRIS: A combo of SIR (teacher) as used for talking to male teacher and I from the clue taken upwards (stood up) as reversals in the down clue leads to the definition of the contractile curtain perforated by the pupil and forming the coloured part of the eye that is cryptically constructed as a looker whose function is to look on or observe narrowly

2d    Indication in slang isn’t taken the wrong way (6)
SIGNAL: Part of or hidden inside (in) [S]LANG IS[N’T] coming from the right hand side (taken the wrong way) as a reversal in the down clue takes to the definition of a noun referring to an indication of a situation

3d    Demon not proving fiendish in North American city (8)
EDMONTON: An anagram (proving fiendish) of DEMON NOT leads to the definition of a city in West Canada, capital of Alberta, that is in the continent of North America

4d    Bloomer feeding you to ferocious animals (6)
CROCUS: The definition of a small yellow, white or purple spring flower is arrived at from providing to take in (feeding) U (you) as an informal abbreviation for the pronoun ‘you’ to CROCS (ferocious animals) as an informal term for crocodiles that are large, carnivorous, thick-skinned, long-bodied, aquatic reptiles of tropical and subtropical waters

5d    I’m a twerp to rectify distortion of science-fiction (4,4)
TIME WARP: An anagram (to rectify) of I’M A TWERP guides to the definition of a hypothetical distortion in the time continuum, allowing one to pass from the present to the past or future or to stand still in the present as in science fiction etc

6d    Crayon made from petals? (6)
PASTEL: An anagram (made) of (from) PETALS leads to the definition of a chalk-like crayon made from powdered pigments bound together with gum

7d    Giant rolling up a stone (4)
MEGA: Going upwards (rolling up) as a reversal in the down clue is a combo of A from the clue and GEM (stone) as any precious stone, especially when cut, taking to the definition of an informal adjective meaning enormous or huge

9d    Sailor in river, airmen flying over (7)
MARINER: The definition of an especially literary term for a sailor is arrived at from R (river) as the abbreviation of river as we find in geography that has an anagram (flying) of AIRMEN placed across (over)

12d    Crook in workforce? (5)
STAFF: Double nounal definition; the second being a body of people employed in an establishment, usually on management, administration, clerical etc work as distinct from manual that takes to the first referring to a stick carried in the hand by a shepherd or a stick as an ensign of authority, used by a king or bishop

14d    Eye ticker (5)
WATCH: Double definition; the first being a verb meaning to look at or observe attentively over a period of time and the second referring to a small timepiece for wearing as a strap round the wrist or carrying in a pocket that is also informally known as a ticker

16d    Hasty touch coming round ends in unfortunate goal (8)
CARELESS: CARESS (touch) as a gentle, loving or affectionate touch placed around (coming round) the last or ending letters (ends) in [UNFORTUNAT]E [GOA]L, leading to the definition of an adjective meaning hasty and without attention to detail

17d    Binder with uglier tab cut off (8)
LIGATURE: A combo of UGLIER and TA[B] having its last letter separated (cut) is subject to an anagram (off) that brings forth the definition of a bandage or anything that is used for tying or binding something tightly

18d    Bitter about a rocker’s rival being fashionable (1,2,4)
À LA MODE: ALE (bitter) as any of various types of beer, usually one that is dark and bitter placed around (about) a combo of A from the clue and MOD (rocker’s rival) as any person from the British adolescent subculture ‘Mods’ who were at daggers drawn with ‘Rockers’, their peer group, particularly during the 1960s, and hence a Rocker’s rival, leading to the definition of an adverb and adjective meaning fashionable or according to the fashion

20d    Strange issue likely (4-2)
ODDS-ON: A charade of ODD (strange) as strange or different to what is usual or expected and SON (issue) as a male child or offspring leads to the definition of an adjective meaning very likely to happen or succeed or rated as more likely than evens to win, especially of a horse

21d    Hanging head in disgrace, unknown have-nots turned up (6)
DROOPY: The topmost or the head letter (head) in D[ISGRACE] in the down clue is followed by a combo of Y (unknown) as a variable, unknown or yet to be ascertained quantity or factor as used in mathematics, especially in algebra and POOR (have-nots) as poor people or those without wealth, social position or other material benefits collectively, taking to the definition of an adjective meaning hanging down heavily or limply

23d    German songs governor listened to? (6)
LIEDER: The definition of German lyrics or songs, especially art-songs is arrived at from a homophone heard by the audience (listened to) of LYDER (governor) as the County Governor of Østfold, Norway whose full name was Lyder Døscher Bull

24d    Wise guys, most are genuinely ignorant, first of all (4)
MAGI: The initial or first letters (first of all) of M[OST] A[RE] G[ENUINELY] I[GNORANTS] take to the definition of the three Wise Men from the East who brought gifts and paid homage to the infant Christ

25d    Act the same either way (4)
DEED: The definition of the act of performing or a usually illustrious act or action that is performed intentionally or consciously is arrived at from its palindromic characteristic of being read the same downward and upward (the same either way) in the down clue without any change in appearance

There were several clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 8a, 11a, 15a, 19a, 22a, 24a, 27a, 1d, 4d, 5d, 18d, 20d and 21d; the best of the lot being 27a. Thanks once again to BD for the encouragement, to Dada for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a pleasant day.