DT 30351 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30351

by crypticsue  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30351

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

When I was reading the clues on the screen while waiting for the poor old printer to stagger into life, I solved quite a few of them in my head and thought this might be quite a friendly crossword. However, there were enough trickier clues in the mix to make the whole thing ‘just right for a Thursday’

I have a fair idea of the setters who won’t have set this crossword but whether I’m prepared to risk my 50p to name the person I probably think is responsible is another matter

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought

Across

1a    Broadcast mentioned having vision (7)
SIGHTED A homophone (broadcast) of a synonym for mentioned or quoted

5a    One raising glass appliance in kitchen (7)
TOASTER A person raising a glass to drink to an admired person or an appliance found in your kitchen

9a    Expire wearing a uniform? Farewell (5)
ADIEU A verb meaning to expire ‘wearing’ or inserted between A (from the clue) and the letter represented by Uniform in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

10a    Mega icon a twisted narcissist (9)
EGOMANIAC An anagram (twisted) of MEGA ICON A

11a    Reason local is confused with home endlessly? (10)
ALCOHOLISM An anagram (confused) of LOCAL IS with HOMe (endlessly telling you to omit the E)

12a    Slight legato effect (4)
SLUR A slight or aspersion; a smooth legato effect in music

14a    Pop star perhaps showing authority (6,6)
FATHER FIGURE The more formal way of referring to the parent you might call Pop and a shape (star perhaps)

18a    Discarded material behind in drain pipe (5,7)
WASTE PRODUCT An adverb meaning in favour (behind) inserted between a synonym for drain and a pipe

21a    Notice alpha male is first man (4)
ADAM An abbreviated notice, the letter represented by Alpha in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and the abbreviation for Male

22a    Resolute criminal met dire end (10)
DETERMINED An anagram (criminal) of MET DIRE END

25a    Daggers lit from behind in fights (9)
STILETTOS A reversal (from behind) of LIT Inserted into some fights or arguments

26a    Entertainment round piano with English artist (5)
OPERA The ’round’ letter’, the musical abbreviation meaning to play softly (piano), the abbreviations for English and artist

27a    Secretary brought in clocked writer’s block (7)
NOTEPAD An abbreviated secretary inserted into (brought in) the more formal way of saying noticed (clocked)

28a    Boy harbours plot in Finnish parts? (7)
LAPLAND A boy ‘harbours’ a plot

Down

1d    Doctor-priest not genuine article (6)
SHAMAN False (not genuine) followed by an indefinite article

2d    Girl disregarding Irish hunger problem (6)
GLITCH Remove (disregarding) the abbreviation for Irish from GirL and add a constant desire (hunger)

3d    Feel wrapper for fuse (10)
TOUCHPAPER A synonym for feel and a type of wrapper

4d    Live prosperously with daughter (5)
DWELL The abbreviation for daughter and an adjective meaning prosperously

5d    Divergent routes socialist took (9)
TROUSERED An anagram (divergent) of ROUTES followed by the colour associated with socialism

6d    Jack in sober group unknown hero (4)
AJAX The abbreviation for Jack in a suit of cards inserted into the abbreviation for the group associated with keeping people solver, a mathematical unknown being added at the end

7d    Hearing score for rehearsal … (5,3)
TRIAL RUN A hearing and a score

8d    … judge album by Queen (8)
RECORDER An album and the regnal cipher of our late Queen

13d    New work keeps in Nora Batty’s admirer — and Wally! (10)
NINCOMPOOP The abbreviation for New and an abbreviated work ‘keeps’ IN (from the clue) and the nickname of Nora Batty’s admirer in Last of the Summer Wine

15d    Gathered grain? He starved unfortunately (9)
HARVESTED An anagram (unfortunately) of HE STARVED

16d    Administers oath to witness home after ship crosses river (6,2)
SWEARS IN The ‘usual’ home goes after an abbreviate ship crossing a river in North East England

17d    One dreams about tucking into fresh pasties (8)
ESCAPIST The Latin abbreviation meaning about ‘tucking into’ an anagram (fresh) of PASTIES

19d    Divine messenger initially annoyed woman (6)
ANGELA A divine messenger and the initial letter of Annoyed

20d    Plantagenet king inside unleashed war dogs (6)
EDWARD Hidden inside unleashED WAR Dogs

23d    Drawing support, move gradually to the left? (5)
EASEL A verb meaning to move gradually and the abbreviation for Left

24d    Bottomless River Plate’s source (4)
DEEP A river often found in crosswords and the ‘source’ of Plate

Quick Crossword Pun: RIGA + MORTISE = RIGOR MORTIS

76 comments on “DT 30351”

  1. I found this to be a bit of a teaser but most enjoyable and doable with the aid of lateral thinking. I didn’t understand 2d for a while until I stopped trying to use the letter “i” for “Irish”. Ticks all over the paper again with standout clues for me being 14a, 28a, 3d and 13d among many. 13d is such a great word. However, my COTD is the very clever, to me, 11a.

    Thank you, setter for the fun challenge. Thank you, CS for the hints, which I will now read.

    I think I have been messing with dark forces too much. While doing Waffle yesterday one of the words was “death”. In Squardle, one word was “mourning” then, today there is the Quickie Pun.

    Do you think The Mythical is fighting back? :grin:

    1. I think you may have unleashed mythical stationery forces with your rituals……

      1. On the other hand, Steve, it might be nothing to do with Old Nick and more to do with that old Joker, Coincidence.

        1. I’m not sure, Chrisscross – the Parker pen I use to complete the back pager keeps vanishing.
          Demonic intervention?
          Or Perks?
          Hmm … both are interchangeable.
          🤣

    2. There must be a way of bribing or blackmailing the DT pen distributor. This man has suffered long enough. I have offered him one of my three (☺️) but he scorns that.

        1. I take it all went well yesterday Steve? We missed you and glad to see you back.

          1. Thank you, Merusa. It all went well. Just about half a dozen clicks and it was all over. I only had one eye done and turn next month for the other. It’s great to have crystal clear vision again.

              1. Thank you, BL. All I await now is the result of the biopsy on the “Thing” on my cheek.
                As I said to Merusa, the difference of having crystal clear vision again is so uplifting. When your sight is blurred you, literally, don’t see the whole picture. There is a tendency, without being aware of it, toward introversion but once distant fields and trees on faraway hillsides are clear in outline the heart fills with joy.

  2. I enjoyed this one with today’s favourites being 14a and 27a.

    Picked up my paperback after finishing the puzzle and there was 2d. Spooky yet again.

    Thanks to setter and crypticsue.

  3. There was a lot of clever misdirection in this quite tricky guzzle, along with the feiendly clues CS mentioned. For me the trickiest and the best clues were in the NW 11a, a lovely cryptic definition , foxed me for ages and is my COTD. Runners up are 14a and 3d. Thanks to the compiler ( my money’s on NYDK) and to CS who stepped in to do the hints.

    1. Feiendly is now added to the lexicon. A wonderful mix of friendly and fiendish. As in a feiendly guzzle.
      Really, new readers will begin to wonder …..

      1. Well I for one intend to adopt it forthwith – certainly applicable to today’s Toughie……

      2. I too vote for……. Hang on, I’ve got to check the spelling ……. Friendly!
        No, you stupid spellchecker! I said …. Hang on while I check the spelling …. Feiendly – don’t you dare change it again!

  4. Not a Ray T Thursday, even though the setter ‘slipped’ the Queen in, just look at the multi-word clues in the Quickie. I still have a few half crowns from my recent successes (other than yesterday) so, sorry DG, two of them on NYDK – **/****

    Candidates for favourite – 25a, 27a, 2d, 13d, and 24d – and the winner has to be 13d.

    Thanks to NYDK, or whomsoever if my five bob goes down the drain (again), and thanks to CS.

  5. Like Chris, I found this a tricky little guzzle. Indeed I popped in and gained Sue’s help for a couple to enable me to reboot my brain.

    As noted by Steve Cowling, 13d is such a delightful word. In my mind I can hear Terry Thomas, in School For Scoundrels, telling Ian Carmichael, “Don’t be such a 13d, old boy!”

    Thanks to the setter, PC Security (anag) and Alastair Sim.

    1. There is no one quite like Terry Thomas and never will be again. He was brilliant, thank you for that reminder.

      1. Thanks very much, Terence
        As Merusa says, there was only one Terry-Thomas.
        Brilliant actor, comic genius.

    2. Thank you for that, Terence. Fun was so much better when the likes of Terry Thomas and Ian Carmichael were entertaining us.

      1. When I was working for Associated British
        Pictures, Janette Scott was a new starlet and her mother, I think it was Thora Hird, was in and out of the office with her daughter very often. I met many of the stars of that era including dear Terry Thomas. Dirk Bogarde was The Heartthrob!

  6. Very enjoyable but perhaps just a 3 for difficulty?
    No real stand outs, but all, fair, reasonable and not wildly obscure!
    Certainly no humerous solutions either? Or is it just me?
    Thanks to setter and others.

  7. Definitely not RayT – missing a tell and too verbose for him! – but I tuned-in immediately and there were no delays as it all flowed very smoothly: coffee barely touched and still almost as hot when the pen was put down.

    Enjoyable while it lasted. Good selection of clue types, a few odd surfaces. Briefly misread 10a as being “Megan icon a twisted narcissist” … and laughed delightedly!

    Podium places to 9a and 13d. COTD 17a for the sublime surface – and because I live in Cornwall, home of the Proper Pasty (Devonians just make meat pies …).

    <1* / 3*

    Thank you to the setter and to CS

  8. I really enjoyed this and didn’t find most of it over- taxing. Whoever the setter is I’m definitely on wavelength. Standout clue for me, and an anagram as well, was 11a for the brilliant surface read. I also liked 1d and 5d.Thanks to the compiler and Cripticsue for helping me to parse 2d.
    (You need to amend the first word of the quickie pun, Sue)

  9. An entertaining puzzle – thanks to our setter and CS.
    My ticks went to 14a, 18a, 27a and 2d.

    I hope that SL is well on the way to recovery.

  10. The only thing that puzzled me was the difficulty rating. I found this one of the easiest ones in a while. I suppose different types of clues suit different people.

    1. I didn’t sleep well last night which may have had a bearing on my solving ability, but I found parts of the crossword easy and other bits tricky. I was surprised at the time I’d taken but my difficulty rating is a reflection of that time

      I can never win. If I’d said it was easy, there would have been a lot of comments telling me I was wrong

      1. My reaction was similar to yours, CS, it took twice as long to do the NW corner as the rest of the puzzle.

  11. Top notch entertainment this morning with some excellent clues to keep us on our toes. 2d was my final entry and became my favourite once I had sorted it out. I have no idea as to the identity of the setter, but many thanks to him or her for a fun challenge, and to Sue.

  12. 2*/4* from me for a fairly light, fun puzzle with 14a, 2d & 13d vying for first place.

    A random thought – why is 3d usually blue?

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS.

  13. A mixed bag for me today…some easy, some distinctly tricky. Going against the trend i really do not like 11a….but then I am not a fan of all in one clues.
    Lots of others to like , though, especially the pasties. (We have bridies here in Angus.)

    Thanks to crypticsue and the setter.

    Beautiful day here after torrential downfalls last night.

    1. Mrs. C is from Arbroath and has always raved about Forfar Bridies. Sadly, I have yet to try one. Arbroath Smokies, on the other hand, are often consumed “Chez Cowling”.
      We buy them online from a smokery in the town.

  14. I am sorry to hear our hinter didn’t sleep well. Having just read her hints it doesn’t show as they are excellent! I am with John and thought this just got to ** but these thing are very personal. Great fun at ****. 11a was my favourite and that and the other anagrams all helped plus the easy lurker. Thanks to CS and our illustrious setter

  15. Needed CS’s hints to parse 27a (duh) and 16d, despite having seen photos of that river only yesterday. Fave is 13d for the lovely word, but again needed CS for the parsing, having left the country before the 1st of the Summer Wine…
    Thanks to the setter and very, very many thanks to CS.

  16. Found this one more straightforward. Agree that 13d is a great word. COTD for me is 20d – reminds me of my nephew – like all small boys he takes an odd delight in bloodthirsty scenarios, so I think he would be amused by how his name is hidden!
    Thanks to the Setter and Sue.

  17. This was an accessible puzzle; seemingly perhaps a bit too accessible on a Thursday for the experts who managed to sleep ok (although to be fair, my Monday back pager bingo card only has one entry scratched off). Some nice clues, with 5d and 13d taking longer to solve than they should, especially as I immediately thought of the Nora Batty part of the latter. My favourite probably was 8d. Nothing exasperating. A bit of a wince at 14a maybe, as ‘pop’ isn’t in my Chambers and I’ve never heard it used in this country as a synonym for the corresponding word in the answer, but I can’t complain as this meaning is in my Oxford dictionary, albeit marked ‘(Chiefly US)’.

  18. Thursday lite but thoroughly
    Enjoyable to work through.
    Superb wordplay in 27a and
    13d.
    Good surfaces.
    Last in which should not
    Have been last in, 14a.
    So, 2*/5*
    Gratitude to the setter and CS.

  19. That was a fun run with slowest progress in NE. Failed to fully parse 14a – clever. Wrapper for 3d is a bit loose. 13d delayed by lack of acquaitance with Last of the Summer wine but bunged in anyway. Thank you Mysteron and CS.

  20. A great puzzle, on the button for a Thursday for me.

    11A is very nearly anagram &lit, with just ‘reason’ added. Marvellous. I also admired the pairing at 7 & 8D, but taking the podium for me, as I was a proper fan girl, is the tremendously apposite 13d, where the admirer is, well, who he is, and WALLY (the definition part) the husband of the lady concerned. Bravo indeed for that one.

    Thanks CS and thanks to, let’s see: NYDK?

  21. 11a is so clever, with the anagram fodder woven into the clue so well. Must be my favourite. 20d was last one in – I was looking for war dogs after those unleashed in the weekend PPs. I even tried to insert Ed somehow, then spotted the lurker. Other Daisy stars by 27&28a, 1,13,17&23d. Many thanks to the Setter (NB it is the sign of a true gambler when all winnings are immediately placed on new bets) and to the indefatigable CS.

  22. 2/4. Not a Ray T but an enjoyable puzzle. A good mix of anagrams to give a strong foothold and the rest fell into place quite reasonably. My favourite from a packed podium was 13d particularly as I always wondered what I’d be like when I got to the last of the summer wine – well I’m here now 😀. Thanks to the setter and CS.

  23. Didn’t particularly enjoy solving this but that has little to do with the puzzle, more the fact that I woke up this morning to discover that I had no electricity. Fortunately, No.1 daughter has a friendly electrician who came over during his lunch break and discovered that it’s the pump in my little pond that has caused all the trouble. Power now restored and I’ve just enjoyed my first coffee of the day so all is well with the world again!
    With humour restored, I can now say that I did rather like several clues and prizes are going to 11a plus 2&13d.

    Thanks to our setter and to the hard-working CS for the review.

  24. Happily tuned into this guzzle’s wavelength for a brisk trouble free solve. It would have been quicker but had it not taken a good head scratch to remember the LOTSW character at 13d despite instantly recalling the actor’s name. Disappointed not to have a Ray T but this one was perfectly enjoyable. 11a my clear fav with podium spots for 2&13d
    Thanks to the setter & to Sue for subbing for Stephen

  25. Needed the hints to jump start me on a few of these, and to understand a few bung ins. I’m amazed when some say they complete it over coffee, takes me longer than that to read the clues. At least there are no Latin banana skins to trip me up today😁. Thanks to all

  26. Very enjoyable, definitely not a Ray T, far too logical clues for his quirky mind.
    Last in was 24d which had me stumped for ages. Thx for the hints for the explanation of 27a, obvious now I have seen why!
    Thx to all
    ***/****

  27. Unusually a Thursday completed in between shouting at the telly egging on Svitolina in the semi/ final but to no avail. Clever clues 2d, 13d stand out in a plethora of mental twists and turns. Great satisfaction for me so thanks to all concerned.

    1. I was rooting for her too. Wouldn’t it have been lovely to have her as a champ? She did pretty well.

  28. Cryptic Sue spot on about the nature of this clever crossword – enough easier clues to get one started and then a steady head scratching push to the finish. Admirable crossword but my solving not helped by marking 14a 5,7 instead of 6,6. Agree CS’s marking especially enjoyment. And a Thursday too!

  29. It’s Thursday and I did expect it to be trickier. I had no real problems in the south but north held me up, nearly everything north of 14a needed help. I was lucky that the gimmes 1d and 5a gave me first letters. I initially solved 12a but didn’t write it in, why? I had the wrong answer for 7d which also threw me off. I love the word in 13d, lovely memories of the series, but my fave is 9a, my seed word in Wordle today – not that it helped a lot, still took me 5 goes.
    Thanks to setter and much appreciated CS’s hints, which I needed.

  30. Found this tricky today even though not a RayT puzzle.

    3*/3* for me.

    Favourites include 8a, 9a, 8d, 13d & 15d — with winner 13d

    Thanks to setter and CS

  31. Hugely relieved after my pathetic attempt yesterday, and didn’t find this quite a *** today, must have somehow latched on to the setter’s wavelength this morning. However, 11a was a bung in as the clue makes no sense to me. Very happy with this nice steady solve, especially as it was unexpected being a Thursday. Thanks to the setter and CrypticSue.

  32. Everything seems to have been said already – I could always find something to say but many I don’t need to for once.
    Thanks to whoever set today’s crossword and to CS for standing in for the hints again.

  33. Good evening
    Following yesterday’s dismal show, I’m pleased to report that today’s crozzie is all done. 11a for COTD, I reckon, and a “Crikey!” for 13d – what a clue! 🤣
    Many thanks to our compiler and to CS

  34. Finished! Last one in 5d. I thought this was a good level. 13d the clear favourite. Now back to the tennis.

  35. Hello

    Congrats to those who risked all at the bookies for an NYDK offering. Winners!

    Many thanks to Sue and to all commenters.

    NYDK

    2. Thank you for the guzzle, NYDK. An enjoyable solve with 11a being really clever. Also, thank you for popping in. It is always appreciated. 👍

    3. One day I shall know it’s you! Didn’t have a clue today but you set some great ones. Cheers.

  36. Thanks for popping in NYDK.

    A sound crossword and, as many have pointed out, 11ac was rather clever. Just finished as is the G&T on this very hot day in the Gargano (normal weather for this time of year but try telling that to the tabloid press!)

    Thanks to CS and the setter.

  37. Usual excellence and enjoyment from NYDK. I found this more straightforward than some with just a couple in the NW holding me up. Once I had stopped taking just the ‘I’ out of girl the answer was obvious then 1a was way. Favourite was 13d but I did like 11a. Thanks to NYDK and CS.

  38. What fun this was, I am glad that I managed to complete it after a hectic day. Some great clues which initially seemed impossible and then they clicked into place. 13d was my favourite because of the clue and the reminder of the programme.

    Many thanks to NYDK and CS for the hints.

  39. Life gets in the way – 3/4’s of this went in over a couple of coffee breaks, the tricky NW corner had to wait until bathtime revitalised the grey matter, even then I needed a hint for the rather clever 11a
    Thanks to CS and NYDK

  40. 11a is so clever and really threw me which is why I’m a day late in posting! Thanks NYDK and CS

  41. My kind of puzzle — enough ways in, and some which take more thinking round corners — as I hoped it would be when I saw it was (probably) NY Doorknob: thank you to early commentators for risking identifying the setter, which enticed me to give the puzzle a go on my lunch break yesterday. (Though I didn’t have time to comment then as well. (Obviously.))

    9a is one of those words that I always struggle to spell, so thank you to NYDK for wordplay with clear instructions. I might try to remember the clue as a mnemonic!

    I loved 27’a writer’s block and 14a’s pop star, but my favourite is 13d with its Last of the Summer Wine reference — so clever to get all 3 characters of the not-quite-love-triangle into the clue! Holmfirth, where it was filmed, was our nearest town to where I lived till I was 10. I think somewhere I have autographs of the actors who played Nora and Wally Batty, among others, though Compo’s proved elusive.

  42. What a pleasure this was after yesterday, when I gave up after solving just one clue, and I thought my nearly 90-year-old brain had finally lost its marbles. Today I completed this tricky guzzle unaided, had to check one parsing I wasn’t sure of with the hints. Fav is the amusing and clever 13d – what a lovely word. A few years ago I enjoyed a coach tour of Holmfirth to see all the places of interest from Last of the Summer Wine. I will now enjoy reading the comments. Thanks to setter and CS.

  43. 3*/4* ….
    liked 11A “Reason local is confused with home endlessly? (10)”

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