DT 30346 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30346

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30346

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. 

In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background. Clicking on a picture will enlarge it or display a bonus illustration and a hover (computer) or long press (mobile) might explain more about the picture. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Palace caught out rearranging cup match, or not? (7,5)
HAMPTON COURT:  An anagram (rearranging) of CUP MATCH OR NOT minus one copy of the cricket abbreviation for caught (caught out

9a    Quiet, mostly upset about using new translators maybe (9)
LINGUISTS:  All but the last letter (mostly) of quiet or calm reversed (upset) and containing (about) an anagram (new) of USING 

10a   Sense hawk is circling top of mountain (5)
SMELL:  Hawk or flog containing (circling) the first letter of (top of) MOUNTAIN 

11a   Admit latest peccadillo's over to some extent (6)
ACCEPT:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (… ‘s over to some extent) of LATEST PECCADILLO 

12a   Family members run into trouble heading for station (8)
BROTHERS:  The cricket abbreviation for run is inserted into trouble or annoyance, and that’s all followed by the first letter of (heading of) STATION 

13a   Submits  products (6)
YIELDS:  A double definition

14a   Dire plane was a total failure (4,4)
FELL FLAT:  Synonyms of dire and of plane 

17a   Point east of bend in US toll road (8)
TURNPIKE:  A type of point comes after (east of, in an across clue) another word for bend

19a   Chat with doctor keeping loose skin oddly hidden (6)
GOSSIP:  An abbreviated doctor containing (keeping) the even letters (oddly hidden) of LOOSE SKIN 

22a   Pandemic policy depressed rugby player to begin with (8)
LOCKDOWN:  A rugby forward comes before depressed or sad 

24a   Argument in club banker defends (6)
DEBATE:  A club or hitting instrument inserted in (… defends) a well-known river (banker = object with banks) 

26a   Window about to be removed from No 18, it's broken (5)
ORIEL:  An anagram (… it’s broken) of the answer to 18d minus the single letter for roughly or about (about to be removed

27a   Sound study of a revolution remains as reported (9)
ACOUSTICS:  A from the clue with homophones (as reported) of revolution or uprising and remains or adheres

28a   Dish out all of awards, dramatically at first (7,5)
WALDORF SALAD:  An anagram (out) of ALL OF AWARDS is followed by the first letter of DRAMATICALLY 

 

Down

1d    Mountaineer is student interrupting term at Oxford (7)
HILLARY:  The single letter for a student or learner driver inserted in (interrupting) a term at Oxford University that’s not Michaelmas or Trinity 

2d    Handcuff chap covering Conservative with beer (7)
MANACLE:  A chap or fellow is followed by the single letter for Conservative contained by (covering .. with) a type of beer

3d    European political party supporting US president? That's false (7-2)
TRUMPED-UP:  The single letter for European and the abbreviation for a Northern Island political party are both coming after (supporting, in a down clue) a recent US President 

4d    Broadcast recognises flair (4)
NOSE:  A homophone (broadcast) of a synonym of recognises 

5d    Witness old British tennis player starting game (8)
OBSERVER:  Link together the single letter for old, the single letter for British, and the tennis player starting a game

6d    Took exam again, extremely repetitive test (5)
RESAT:  The outer letters (extremely) of REPETITIVE are followed by a test taken as part of the national curriculum 

7d    Show American city always mounts (6)
REVEAL:  The fusion of an abbreviated Californian city and a synonym of always is reversed (… mounts, in a down clue) 

8d    Private detective essentially gets wasted inhaling drug (6)
CLOSET:  The central letter (essentially) of DETECTIVE is followed by a synonym of wasted containing (inhaling) the single letter for a drug associated with raves 

15d   Noiseless stray cats (9)
LIONESSES:  An anagram (stray) of NOISELESS 

16d   Horse son walked randomly round centre of stables (8)
SKEWBALD:  The genealogical abbreviation for son is followed by an anagram (randomly) of WALKED containing (round) the centre letter of STABLES 

17d   After conclusion of diet concede being fat (6)
TALLOW:  After the final letter of (conclusion of) DIET comes concede or agree 

18d   Stagger back from park over field on a regular basis (6)
RECOIL:  An informal contraction of a type of park is followed by the cricket abbreviation for over and alternate letters (on a regular basis) of FIELD 

20d   Dog that is left underneath bridge (7)
SPANIEL:  The Latin abbreviation for “that is” and the single letter for left are both placed after (underneath, in a down clue) a synonym of bridge 

21d   Did the ironing  in a hurry (7)
PRESSED:  A straightforward double definition 

23d   Greek character that's coming after Charlie? (5)
DELTA:  The element in the NATO phonetic alphabet that’s coming after Charlie is also a character in the Greek alphabet

25d   Meagre crowd having love for United (4)
POOR:  A verb synonym of crowd in which the single letter for united is replaced by the tennis score known as love (having love for United) 

 

Thanks to today’s setter. Top clue for me was of course 15d. Which clues did you like best?


The Quick Crossword pun:  HAND + ROOM + OCEAN = ANDREW MOTION


86 comments on “DT 30346

  1. I know it’s Friday but this was tough, nearly a DNS, took simply ages to get a toehold, but suddenly got the gist and was off.
    Still don’t quite know how some of them work despite managing to finish it, so will see the hints for enlightenment.
    Some great clues nonetheless, my two favourites today were 15d and 8d. Thanks to our setter today, great fun….. eventually!

  2. Got through it fine (I think) – 10 and 27 were amusing but I did have a few “ hmmm, I’ll give you that one, I suppose” moments in 4, 14 and 25 😊. Assuming I am correct, the ‘dire’ synonym is not one I have considered in that sense since school Shakespeare and Macbeth ”….. at one f*** swoop”, or “To do worse to you, were f*** Cruelty” and nothing I have now suggested it.
    Perhaps I should invest in the BRB 😉

    1. Pat. Collins Online Dictionary lists the following. F**l (archaic): cruel or fierce; terrible; destructive or deadly.

  3. Unusually for a Friday, I found this most entertaining. To begin with I only managed three across clues so I thought there would be a struggle. Then the downs came to my rescue with eight coming straight off. These gave checkers that led me into the across clues and off we went. The anagrams at 1a and 28a helped as well. 9a took some working out and I spent ages toying with “languages”. Plenty to like but my COTD is the total failure at 14a.

    Many thanks to the setter for the cerebral exercise and Mr. K. for the hints, which I will now read.

    Set to go to 27C today. That’s me doing nothing outside and following the Test Match.

    1. I’m with you Steve. Got up early, gave the living roonand dining room a good clean , mowed the lawns and heelped my neighbour trim back a Ribes shrub before 11am. Tennis for me as the temperature climbs.

      1. You make me feel guilty, Chriscross! I couldn’t do all that before 11am but then I do spend quite some time gassing in the village shop in the morning.

        1. I do sort of fizzle out by 9 pm though Steve. No fun at an all-night party you’re either an early bird or a night owl in my family and I’m the former.

  4. Well, I am not sure how long it will last but our esteemed editor seems to be keeping to the sequencing of the Friday triumvirate. We had Zandio two weeks ago and proXimal last week so, with the two element homophone in 27a, five bob on this being a Silvanus production. 2.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 9a, the 26a/18d combo, and the aforementioned 27a – and the winner has to be the combo.

    Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if my five bob goes down the drain, and thanks to Mr K.

    1. Out of the Friday triumvirate I get on best with Silvanus so I think you might be right, Senf.

  5. Very enjoyable indeed.
    I thought the 18d (a great clue in itself) 26a device was very quirky and clever. I also liked the excellent 28a plus 3(lol) and 8d but could have mentioned several more.
    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the top-notch entertainment.
    Ps…the clue on The Telegraph app version for 18d is different to the one in the review and in my opinion slightly better.

  6. Super puzzle, a Friday cracker. Most of the top half went in very swiftly, only to be slowed in the S. Felt very early on that this must be a Silvanus production from the witty delight of the so-smooth surface reads. Ticks all over the place but will limit to a COTD of 15d (and thank you MrK for the great YouTube clip) with the other podium places shared between 1a, 27a and 3d. Special mention to the 18d/26a combo, very clever – I got 18d by reverse-parsing it from 26a.

    2.5* / 4*

    Thank you Silvanus (presumably, or otherwise whomever you are, Setter!) and of course to Mr K

  7. My first thought was Silvanus because his clues are more variable in difficulty so the more straightforward ones giveve you a start. That is exactly what happened today and,conce I had a few checkers in, the tougher bits slowLy fell into place. So a tough but doable guzzle for me. Iiked the 1a , 16d and 27a anagrams and the 14a lego clue, which was my COTD. Thanks to Silvanus andd to Mr K for the hints and cats.

  8. That was fun and not too taxing. NE last section to yield and that not helped by trying to use flop in 14a and slowness in parsing 8d. Word for crowd in 25d rather obtuse. Joint Favs 27a and 15d. Thank you Silvanus (?) and MrK.

  9. Struggled with the NE corner so a DNF.

    Did like 27a and 28a. -surprised no-one has mentioned Basil Fawlty yet.

    Thanks to the setter for defeating me and the hinter for explanations.

    1. ‘We’re out of Waldorf’ is a classic but nothing beats ‘Care for a rat?’

      Wonderful stuff as was this: not too beastly but enough lego clues to require a clear head. 27a defeated me.

      Some tremendous new words to lock in the memory bank, especially the Oxford term. I’ve just looked up the etymology of 16d on a couple of sites and they’re in the dark as much as I am!

      My COTD is 1a.

      Many thanks to Mr K and Mr S.

      3*/4*

    2. I mentioned Fawlty Towers as soon as soon as we found the second word of 28a! 14a tricked us as a clue but process of elimination got us there in the end! Very enjoyable!

  10. Great fun – many thanks to the compiler and Mr K.
    From a long list of ticked clues I’ll just mention 12a, 22a, 3d, 15d and 17d.

  11. As per normal for a Friday puzzle, this was a tad tricky for me. Needed some lateral thinking as well as some grey cell usage.

    For me 2.5*/3.5*

    Favourites included 13a, 17a, 19a, 2d & 15d with winner 19a

    Thanks to Silvanus (??) and Mr K

  12. More of a chewy one, and a lot of fun. I’m with those who found the stray cats the most appealing.

    As for ‘most appealing’, I see Bazball is failing again. Oh well.

  13. Definitely a Friday level puzzle but so beautifully constructed that it was well worth every minute spent solving it. As others have already suggested, this simply has to be the work of Mr Smooth.
    So many potential favourites but I’ll limit myself to mentions of 3,15,18&20d.
    Took me ages to arrive at the answer to the Quickie pun – silly girl!

    Many thanks to Silvanus and also to Mr K and his flattened feline for the review.

  14. Loved this from start to finish, a very classy production which stretched and rewarded in equal amounts.

    3*/5*

    Fav 28a LOI 24a.

    Thanks to setter and Mr K.

  15. A top-notch Frday puzzle with great clues offering a decent challenge and much enjoyment. I have ticked a fair few of this excellent bunch and any one of half a dozen could be my favourite. I’ll give a special mention to 17d. 3*/4.5*.

  16. Pleased with myself as I got through this having got barely any in on first pass. It is Friday and so I often really struggle, today goes to show how easy it can be to dismiss a puzzle as impossible with out giving your self a fair chance to get on wavelength. There were some really lovely clues which suddenly dropped into place. I will give 9a my favourite spot but it could have been many others, I needed the hints to explain my answer to 8d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K who helped me understand a couple of my answers.

  17. All been said. Fizzing Friday Fare full of ‘favourites’. Only one? OK 28a but only singled out ‘cos I love the dish. SE corner was the last to fall, so thanks for the hints Mr K. Love the cat waiting to be ironed. When animals lie like that it is called ‘spluting’. I believe. We have friends coming round for canasta and dinner tonight – for two pins I’d put them off as it is so hot. Many thanks to Mr Setter as well.

  18. Many thanks to Mr K and to everyone commenting.

    I visited 1a last year, a fascinating place for sure, but not a cheap day out!

    May I wish everyone a good weekend.

    1. Thank you for a very entertaining puzzle, silvanus and for popping in.

    2. I used to know it so well as it was our nearest ‘stately home’ and all visitors were taken there. I loved it, deeply romantic and full of atmosphere in those days. It made the Tudors my favourite era. Thank you for all the pleasure you bring us!

    3. So nice that you always pop in, Silvanus, it’s very much appreciated.
      Such a shame that so many of the places we’d like to visit have become so prohibitively expensive – I guess they’re feeling the pinch just as badly as the rest of us.

    4. Thank you for providing a Friday puzzle I could actually finish, a lovely surprise.

  19. Just wanted to give a recommendation for ProXimal’s Friday Toughie – it’s not by any means the usual Friday brain-mangler, has some wonderful laugh-out loud moments, great clueing, and is much more accessible than one might otherwise expect.

  20. Hard, required three
    sittings but cheering to
    complete unaided.
    Outstanding certainly 10, 19, 26 27
    And 19a and 8d.
    Thought first part of 14a a
    Bit obscure.
    Many thanks Sylvanus and Mr K.

    1. Unaided, that is, apart from
      Checking that the first word of
      14a was a synonym of dire.

  21. More Friday crosswords like that one please! Just challenging enough and plenty of clues that made me smile.
    Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K

  22. Hurrah, back at home and therefore access to proper WiFi and not reliant on passing ships. So miss the banter of this site when I can’t access it. To the puzzle – most enjoyable although I also did not know that word for ‘dire’. 8d also held me up quite a while. Love the picture of the pusscat on the ironing board. Literally whizzed home yesterday in 4 hours from Dover instead of the 7 it took to get down there. Curious holiday, met some lovely people and then never saw them again – 700 passengers seemed vast although we were parked next to P & O Britannia with 3,500 which made us look quite small. Bring back Minerva I say. Anyway, thanks to Silvanus for the work out and Mr K. One tiny bit of controversy, Bairstow was out fair and square – he would have done exactly the same against the Ozzies and the Barmy Army would have cheered!

    1. Have to say that I agree with you about Bairstow and the reaction had the boot been on the other foot but I didn’t dare to mention it!
      So sorry that your holiday didn’t really live up to your expectations, Manders.

    2. When I was young, we went to England every three years, after the war of course. We went on the banana boats, that was heaps of fun, Jamaica Producer was 12 passengers, though Elders carried 30. I wonder if they still run. I would never go on a “cruise”, I’d be scared of that many people!

    3. We love the Viking river cruises, which are less than 200 passengers if I remember rightly. Been toying with booking one of their ocean cruises, but they are 1000, and we are very comfortable with the smaller number. It does give you more chance to meet some nice people several times during a trip.

      1. We’ve did quite a few Viking river cruises before taking the plunge and doing an Ocean one. Wonderful.

  23. It’s Friday so I expect to struggle, but, surprisingly, I completed the top half on my own. I needed copious help in the south, though I don’t think I should have made it such hard work; eg, 28a, missed the anagram. I can’t believe the unmentionable earned a mention two days in a row, so appropriate! Fave is 16d, one of the few I solved in the south.
    Thank you Silvanus, I did better than expected, and to Mr. K for all his help. Though I do have a bone or two to pick: only one kitty pic? That was music at 15d? I’ve probably stepped on someone’s toes. Finally, who the heck is Andrew Motion? Must google.

    1. My brain has taken flight, of course I’ve heard of Andrew Motion! What was I thinking.

  24. 14a was a bung in as I didn’t know the archaic meaning of the first word, I do now. This was about right for a Friday, difficult but doable. Favourite was 20d. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.

  25. I completed this puzzle early this morning and, against my better judgement, I have been working in the garden getting hotter and hotter and more dehydrated. I’ve stopped briefly for a drink, and ice cream and to post this comment.

    What can I say? In my opinion, this has been one of the best ever weeks for DT back-pagers and this one was the best of the lot with my rating 2.5*/5*.

    I didn’t know the required meaning of “dire” in 14a but the BRB put me wise. 17a was well-known to me courtesy of Paul Simon who wrote a brilliant song containing a reference to it (and thanks to Silvanus for tagging it as “US”!)

    As for picking a favourite – impossible to single any one out.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.

    1. Your video was blocked to us, what is the name of the song? I like Paul Simon, streets better than Mr. K’s choice at 15d!

      1. Makes a change for videos to be blocked on your side of the pond, Merusa, it’s usually this side that has a problem!
        The song RD posted was ‘America’.

        1. The videos on this site are frequently blocked over here, goodness knows why.

  26. Completed in two sittings with a trip to Lidl in between. Too many bung ins to really call it a success but as a dear departed member( not that departed ,he’s still around somewhere) once said “they all count” or words to that effect. Thanks to all.

  27. Do not understand why I found this so easy and straightforward when I struggle on days when others sail through. Can only thank Silvanus. Did manage to spell 28 across wrongly but down clues showed there was a fault so that something new learnt.

    1. Conveniently, the 2nd and 3rd letters of the salad are linked to the aforementioned Mr Simon.

      I can call you Betty. And Betty, when you call me….

  28. Thank-you Dave Rabbit for America. I was at the Romford County High School and in the same year as Kathy. We used to go to the folk club in Romford where Paul Simon came regularly to sing. She was his girl friend and is in the song America having gone to join him in the USA. In those days when they met he was bumming round europe. We all knew he was great but had no idea just how great. Happy days.

    1. How wonderful that someone on the blog knew Paul Simon’s Kathy. As you say, happy days!

      With apologies to our Kath(y), one of my many favourite Paul Simon compositions is Kathy’s Song, which inspired me (to try) to play the guitar like him.

  29. Do s anyone know what’s happened to American Robert – I always look forward to his comments?

    1. He’s about to embark on a course of intensive chemo/radio therapy – I’ll post something on the blog when I have any further news. All we can do for now is to wish him well.

  30. Found this tricky 😳 ****/*** Did not like the answer to the quickie phrase I presume he is the brother of “Poetryin” 🥴 Favourites 10a and 20d Thanks to Mr K and to the Compiler

  31. Not too bad but does “ pour “ really equate to “ crowd “. in 25d? I cannot find it as such in either the BRB or Bradfords

      1. It seems very obscure. To me people pour through, say, a gate or door, which may result in crowding if the other side of the opening is a restricted space that is already nearly full. But crowding doesn’t seem to me to necessarily be implied by the word on its own. It’s not in my Oxford dictionary or my copy of Chamber’s dictionary in that sense. But it is in Chamber’s thesaurus in that sense, so fair enough. I can’t imagine myself ever saying ‘the players poured the ref’ though. I was reading that there is a term for that sort of thing invented by teachers whose students have pushed use of the thesaurus too far – ‘rogeting’. But it’s Friday and we are in crosswordland, so I’m living with it today.

    1. Just found it in my useful Chambers “ dictionary of synonyms and antonyms”.1992.

    2. 25d was my last one in since I too, could not reconcile ‘crowd’ with ‘pour’. Feel a bit miffed by that one, even if it occurs in the obscure depths of a reference book.

  32. Way out of my league today. Managed two clues before conceding defeat.

    Thanks to all.

    1. I have to confess to giving up too easily. Possibly due to being exhausted from a long river paddle.

      Anyway, plans changed giving me the time to have a second look.

      Nowhere near as hard as I originally thought. Managed to solve unaided other than confirming the term at Oxford.

      A hard but enjoyable challenge.

      Thanks again to all.

  33. Early start as Peter had an eye check up, which we followed with breakfast at a small French cafe. I’m sure the huge croissants will really help my waistline 🤭. Followed by shopping and an indoor mall walk (recovered enough from yesterday’s back procedure) so late starting today. Very pleasantly surprised with today’s puzzle, as I have begun to think I shouldn’t waste the paper and ink on Fridays. Got a lot of this done, some from checkers, and then a few hints helped me to finished. I was helped by 1a, which I visited many times as a child as it was nearby, 17a of course, the Florida one being quite close to us and we use in frequently, 28a is a favourite of mine, and of course the inevitable 2d. I thought 14a began with dead, so that held me up. Definitely tougher but not unreasonably so. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

  34. For a Friday, I found this fairly accessible, managing about 3/4 of it before consulting Mr K’s kindly provided hints. I must make a mental note that a word having the suffix ‘-er’ following a noun can mean something that has that noun. Didn’t know the Oxford term, but I now know three of the terms thanks to Mr K. There were some obscure definitions (e.g., in 13a, 4d, and 25d {I have never used the synonym for ‘crowd’ in that way and I can’t imagine I ever will}) but most checked out when I consulted the Chamber’s dictionary (although 25d only checked out in my Chamber’s thesaurus). I also struggled with 14a because the answer, to me, does not really mean a ‘total’ failure.

  35. 3/3. A DNF for me, defeated by the NE quadrant. Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  36. Was it just me? On the iPad version my clue for 18d was slightly different which made it impossible to parse……

      1. “Stagger back from park tipsy ,downing mead regularly.”
        This is on my digital subscription.
        Regards

        1. Personally, I think that still makes sense. There’s the informal word for park, a word meaning tipsy that sounds like the person is well lubricated, but minus (downing) letters of MEAD regularly.

  37. Good evening
    Today’s crozzie was a marathon, but that was mainly because I did most of it during lulls at work. Some great misdirection and a few chewy synonyms, but that’s all part of the fun. Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K – your explanations were especially welcome for 14a and 8d

  38. A day late but popped in to say classy guzzle as per from Mr Smooth. Very enjoyable indeed.
    Thanks to Silvanus & to Mr K

  39. Was I the only person to be stumped by the online clue for 18D? Completely different from the clue resolved by BD. No mention of ‘over’ or ‘field’. !!

  40. 4*/3* ….
    liked 15D “Noiseless stray cats (9)” … although not quite so much the music in the clip to the hint !

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