DT 30355 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30355

by Huntsman  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30355
Hints and tips by Huntsman

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

I’ve got to 1d off to hack it around Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands Golf Club so hopefully no typos or duff hints in today’s review.

I reckon this Mr Plumb production a typically Tuesdayish guzzle. Precisely clued as ever, pretty straightforward & without the need for any GK though I did find in writing the hints that there seemed rather more than usual single letter abbreviations to be added or deleted & it was maybe lacking a bit of humour.

In the following hints, definitions are underlined, indicators are mostly in parentheses, and answers are revealed by clicking where shown as usual. Please leave a comment below on how you got on with the puzzle.

Across

1a Thong goes back to front (5)
STRAP: reverse (back to front) a word for goes or leaves

4a Make-up remains on the right side of cheek (9)
LIPSTICKS: another word for remains or stays goes after (on the right side) a synonym for cheek or impertinence. A nicely misleading surface.

9a Remove section of novel – I’m in a test (9)
ELIMINATE: a lurker (section of) contained in the last 5 words of the clue

10a Annoy king moving the front row (5)
RANGE: find a synonym for annoy then move the single letter abbreviation for king from the back to the front of it

11a Typical claim by a geek? Not half! (7)
AVERAGE: start with a synonym for claim or state then append the A from the clue & the first two letters (not half) of geek

12a Weary former lover, American in Homburg? (7)
EXHAUST: insert a two letter abbreviation for American into what a homburg (ignore misleading capitalisation) is a type of & precede it with the usual two letters for a former lover.

13a Bloody shattered (6)
DASHED: a double definition. The first a somewhat dated informal adjective used for emphasis or a mild expletive maybe; the second what all too often on the golf course my hopes for a birdie or par are after an errant tee shot

l15a Runs away eating son’s sweets (8)
DESSERTS: insert the single letter for son into a synonym for runs away giving you a posh word for pud.

18a Unexpectedly agree upon removing lead from Great Dane? (8)
EUROPEAN: an anagram (unexpectedly) of AgREE UPON less the initial letter of great (removing lead). The ? indicates a definition by example. Nowt to do with 17d fella pictured below

20a One possibly on web page entering point of view, right? (6)
SPIDER: insert the single letter for page into a synonym for point of view & append the abbreviation for right

23a Replace suede pants keeping Charlie cold (7)                                                                                                                           SUCCEED: insert the single letters for Charlie (NATO phonetic alphabet) & cold into an anagram (pants – cue comments) of SUEDE

24a Cleaning liquid’s counterfeit and substandard, virtually (7)
SHAMPOO: start with another word for counterfeit & then add one for substandard less (virtually) its final letter

26a Perceptive answer darling! (5)
ACUTE: the single letter for answer plus a synonym for darling

27a Hope hospital leaves amount for medical procedure (9)
OPERATION: remove (leaves) the single letter abbreviation for hospital from the first word in the clue & add a synonym for amount. A topical surface read with the state of the NHS

28a Most charming setter with tip: move the letters around
PRETTIEST: an anagram (do what it says) of SETTER & TIP

29a Bit of a shock from former PM after a change of heart (5)
TRESS: alter the middle letter (change of heart) of the Conservative Party members choice to succeed Boris. The definition misleadingly alludes to I guess the economic turmoil that ensued

Down
1d Take off rider’s seat accepting tips from keen equestrian daughter (9)
SKEDADDLE: insert the initial letters (accepting tips) of the last 3 words in the clue into a rider’s seat. A nice surface.

2d Salary increase? Plaudits but no penny (5)
RAISE: remove the single letter for penny from a synonym for plaudits

3d Soldier putting two & two together in talk (7)
PRIVATE: insert the roman numerals for the maths into a synonym for talk as a verb

4d Rolling in it under the table (6)
LOADED: a double definition – the second alcohol related

 

5d Parking, goes back and goes in front (8)
PRECEDES: begin with the single letter for parking then add a synonym for goes back as in hairline maybe

6d Sets fire to rubbish picked up on church pews regularly (7)
TORCHES: start by reversing (picked up) a synonym for rubbish then add the abbreviation for church & the alternate (regularly)/letters of pews

7d Conservative working with despicable person, socialist agreed (9)
CONCURRED : a charade: link the single letter for Conservative, a word for working, a synonym for a despicable person & finish with a term for a socialist

8d We sat boiling – this is the result? (5)
SWEAT: an all-in-one clue (I think). An anagram (boiling) of WE SAT. Guess they’ll be a good deal of with the heatwave in Europe

14d Flipping short time filling certain form (9)
STRUCTURE: reverse (flipping) a synonym for short or terse then append the single letter for time then insert them into another word for certain. A bit of a parsing head scratch

16d Fences in small old city grounds no good (9)
SURROUNDS: begin with the single letter for small then add the Sumerian city of ancient Mesopotamia & finish with grounds omitting the first letter (no good)

17d Good-looking worker? A bit (8)
HANDSOME: link another word for a worker & one for a bit. A quick reappearance for this one after yesterday.

18d Stop publicity prior to competition? (7)
PREVENT: a two letter acronym for a type of publicity is followed (prior to) a synonym for competition in the sense of Wimbledon or The Open for instance

21d Attractive student’s ignored country worker (7)
PEASANT: remove the single letter abbreviation for student from a synonym for attractive

22d Appearance from wild apes? About time (6)
ASPECT: begin with an anagram (wild) of APES then add the single letters for about (latin) & for time

23d Second instrument not in tune? (5)
SHARP: the single letter for second precedes a stringed instrument. I needed to read up to fully understand the definition: if two simultaneous notes are slightly out of tune the higher one is this assuming the lower one is properly pitched.

25d Group of big cats putting pressure on horse, possibly (5)
PRIDE: the single letter for pressure precedes travel by horse

 

1d my favourite as it’s a word I use often. Ticks also for 13&27a along with 4,7&14d. Tell us which ones ticked your boxes.

Today’s Quick Crossword pun: WAG + URN + WEALS = WAGON WHEELS

76 comments on “DT 30355”

  1. I found this on the tougher side of Tuesday fare with a couple baffling me. I think I know the parsing of 4d but I’m not at all sure of it. Equally, 13a did not click. Putting in “protest” at 19d messed up the SW corner for some time. I did like 4a but my COTD is the soldier putting two and two together at 3d.

    So, all in all, tough but doable is my take on it. My thanks to the setter for the brain workout and Huntsman for the hints, which I will now read.

    We’re having a stairlift fitted, hopefully, and the engineer came yesterday to survey the stairs. Boy could he talk! He could have done the job in an hour but we got his whole life story. Mrs. C and I were exhausted after he had left.

    1. I was very unsure aboutc13a too, Steve as its a long time since I’ve heard anyone use it as an expletive.

    2. 13a didn’t click for me either – as you will see Huntsman note, in the sense required it is an antiquated adjective, and I am not sure it has ever been used widely (was it used as a kind of ‘bleep’!?). I have heard 4d used in the second sense (which you will see Huntsman refer to), but rarely and my dictionary says it is ‘chiefly N American’.

    3. Excellent idea, the stairlift! I’m so glad you’ve got that done (sorry about the chatty installer)!

  3. Unlike Huntsman, I found today’s puzzle rather tricky and not really my cup of tea. Some of rhe clues were rather convoluted and I shall look at the hints after this to figure out the parsing. On the plus side, I did finish it so there was a sense of accomplishment and the two well disguised anagrams at 18a and1d were good clues.

    1. Forgot my manners. My apologies and thanks to the compiler and toHuntsman for the most helpful hints.

  4. I would certainly rate this harder to solve than our esteemed blogger’s one and a half stars. Some of the parsing was tricky, and a few synonyms were stretched to breaking point. That said, it was all fairly clued, and a good and rewarding challenge. My favourite has to be 1d as it such a great word.

    My thanks to our Tuesday setter and Huntsman.

  6. This was perfick for a Tuesday.

    The first thing that appealed was the grid itself because it gives you a few ways to get into each corner. It was extremely well clued with some clever parsing. I also liked the Ray T nod with no two-word answers.

    My COTD goes to 18a – I’ve seen squillions of clues for this answer but this was a new one on me.

    Many thanks to the Big H and Professor Plumb.

    2*/4*

  7. All very jolly – enjoyed 1 d and a the most. Thought 13 a wee bit contrived – but good fun all round.

  8. Payback for Monday’s failure.
    Gotcha and in 1.5* time
    Steadily laboured to a
    Satisfying conclusion.
    Loved 13, 18 and 29a especially..
    Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

  9. A pleasant Tuesday puzzle – thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
    My boxes were ticked by 29a, 1d and 3d.

    The Dada Toughie isn’t that tough. How do you think it compares with his Sunday prize puzzle?

    1. Today’s Toughie is better particularly the clue construction. Expecting comments on 11a maybe.

  12. This was right up my street but I found it a tad trickier than Huntsman’s star rating. The head scratching and convoluted clues are what made it so enjoyable for me. One or two elastic synonyms but no specialist knowledge required, and no cricket references! Favourite today has to be the very clever 14d with the misleading 20a as runner-up. I also liked 18a, 27a, 6d and 7d. Thanks to our setter for the absolute pleasure and Huntsman for confirming my parsing of 13a and 4d.

  13. A tad more difficult than the usual Tuesday puzzle and at least a ** difficulty in my view.
    Took a while to find a reasonable definition for 13a; assumed it was a doubled one, last in was 4d when the penny dropped.
    Going for a *** enjoyment.
    Favourite was 29a, head scratched the PM, liked the surface of 4a

  14. 2.5*/3*. Generally enjoyable, but a handful of clues didn’t quite cut the mustard for me today: the (non)-expletive in 13a; “cute” in 26a for me is not a synonym of “darling”; in my book, the answer to 2d is American (despite the BRB’s assertion esp N American); and finally, can someone please provide an example to show that “ride” and “on horse, possibly” are synonymous in 25d?

    Those niggles aside, this was good fun with the lovely 1d my favourite.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.

    1. Hi RD

      I think ‘ride’ for ‘horse’ works okay: ”Who’s your ride today, Lester?”

      ‘on’ means put the abbreviation ‘on’ top of the four letter word for horse.

  15. I agree a bit trickier than the usual Tuesday fare, with a couple of clues taking longer to parse than it took to get the answer from the definition.

    2*/3*

    Fav 3d LOI 26a.

    Thanks to setter and Huntsman.

    Huntsman reference to Woburn Sands reminded me of a you tube golf video that I quite enjoyed recently, with Rick Shiels & Ian Poulter playing at Ian’s home course at nearby Woburn Golf Course.

  16. Like several pals above, I found this a bit trickettywitch.
    A small handful of bung-em-ins but the rest needed careful deduction,

    I see that the 11a White Band have announced their farewell tour – in April and May of next year. I’d like to see them but it would give me the heebie-jeebies to book up for something taking place in a year. Anything could intervene. Someone is bound to be getting married, or getting buried, or getting something else. It would make me wobble to have to buy a 2024 diary just to put AWB in there for 2nd May at the Royal Albert Hall. Of course it will be sold out by the time I get round to remembering it in nine months time (if I’m spared).

    I first saw AWB at the Marquee in Wardour Street on 12th January 1975. It was one the greatest, most perspiriest, sticky carpetted gigs ever.
    That was one of the features of the Marquee – you had to prise each foot off the floor as decades of beer had congealed the carpet into a sea of gluiness.

    Thanks to the setter and Andy On The First Tee.

  17. First read through was somewhat daunting but it turned out to be relatively easy going particularly in the North. Here we go again with 15a and indeed 17d. 23a pants always grates. Bloody in this context has apparently become acceptable these days but 13a does seem milder. 20a was Fav partly due to possible web misdirection and 1d is such an expressive word. Thank you MrP (?) and Huntsman.

  18. I thought this a disappointing and below-par crossword for a Tuesday, and really didn’t feel it was from Mr Plumb – if it was, maybe he was just having an off day. As it ‘goes’ the clueing was rather repetitive (more than half involving add/subtract/switch letter or letters obtained from abbreviations); 13a & 25d don’t really doesn’t work, 26a is tenuous, and 28a may have a good surface but is as weak as an anagram clue can be.

    On the other hand nice to have a bit more of a challenge on a Tuesday than has generally been the case for a while. COTD 29a – the best-forgotten PM whose finest / only achievement has been to add to the cruciverbal lexicon another option for clueing this particular word!

    1* / 2*

    Thank you setter, but this really wasn’t for me today; thank you also Huntsman – enjoy the golf!

    1. Personally, I thought 28a was quite amusing, but I can imagine it might leave seasoned experts flat! I would be interested to know what you thought of the perhaps less than highbrow anagram indicator in 23a?! 😀

      1. I did say 28a had a good surface, and I’ve no issue with ‘pants’ – not that I am a “seasoned expert” or have any particular penchant for clues being highbrow, although I do draw a line at what’s considered acceptable in the Grauniad!

        I do notice I got my ratings the wrong way round, though – I’d intended noting 2* for difficulty.

        1. Fair enough. I’m a bit surprised that no-one has taken issue with 23a, but then again it is in the dictionary in the correct sense.

  19. Took a while to get going, but once I’d got on the setter’s wavelength it went fairly smoothly. Happy to see myself mentioned for the second day running in 17d! Fave has to be 1d, lovely word which I haven’t heard in years (and years).
    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.
    PS ‘Bonne partie, Huntsman’ as we golfers would say in France.

  20. This was a good and accessible puzzle, probably a ** for difficulty IMHO, but I would understand if the experts thought it was less (today’s Toughie might give you a bit of a workout though? After 3 1/2 mins I’ve only managed one word and perhaps one letter in another word! So, abandoned). I needed help with four clues: 4d and 13a are fairly obscure, can’t believe I forgot the relevant PM in 29a and I didn’t initially like the synonym until I properly took into account the first word of the clue, and 1d isn’t a word I ever use so didn’t come readily to mind. Thanks for the hints Hunstman. 1a seemed a bit stretched, but apart from 4d and 13a that’s about the only gripe. Best clue for me, 3d.

    1. On the first pass of The Toughie, I have 8 solved, Mark. I think I’ll keep on working at it.

      1. Thanks Steve. I’ve had another look and I’m up to 8 now. Maybe I’ll persevere with it for a bit.

  21. Quite tricky with some very dodgy clues such as 13a, many dubious synonyms and some very clumsy clueing.
    Def not my favourite puzzle today.
    ***/**
    Thx for the hints

  22. No real problems today and it was interesting to see that good-looking fella turn up again at 17d.
    Best across clues for me were 4&19 and from the downs – 1&6

    Thanks to Mr Plumb(?) and to Huntsman for the review – enjoy your round of golf.

  23. I found this about twice as hard as Huntsman did and not quite so enjoyable. Needed his help to see why 14d was right. Definitely needed to write on my napkin to get this finished.

  24. I agree with many of the above comments- I found this a tad harder than Huntsman suggests. LOI was 13a which was basically a bung in because nothing else fitted. I see 17d and 15a (this time with a double S) also featured yesterday. I am now getting obsessed with words that repeat in quick order. I presume it’s just coincidence and chance. Joint COTD 1d (great word) and our 20d web inhabitant. Thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.

  25. One answer the same as yesterday, but with a different clue.

    I liked 18A, despite having struggled with it for ages after missing the obvious.

  26. I was getting a bit worried as the usual email did not arrive today so I have had to log into the website – I hope it arrives OK tomorrow. Well I for one enjoyed this guzzle and didn’t find it too taxing but had a few bung ins so it was nice to finally read Huntsman’s hints. Thanks to all and hope to see you all tomorrow.

    1. I didn’t get my email either Manders. And when I did get up todays page, all my
      details had been wiped. Bugs in the air?

      1. I think the emails come from Big Dave’s twitter or Facebook which may be closing. I hope the powers that be find a way to keep it going some other way
        The last email I got was for Dharma’s rookie corner

  27. A little trickier than anticipated, but enjoyable and I (almost) got there in the end. Thank you to Huntsman for the hint for 13a; as an adjective for emphasis, I can imagine Captain Hastings saying it in Poirot (well, in the ITV TV series with David Suchet, anyway). And also for explaining 4d, which I had but I was missing the alcohol-related part.

    And thanks to the setter for the fun.

  28. Average difficulty for a Tuesday I would say. Nothing too obtuse in this one at all.

    1.5*/3.5*

    Favourites include 20a, 27a, 19a, 1d & 6d with winner 1d

    Thanks to setter and Huntsman for the hints.
    Hope Senf recovers soon from whatever is ailing him.

  29. My COTD is 1d simply because it is such a wonderful word and rarely used these days. Thanks setter for a ** challenge and Huntsman as always

  30. Just 5 answers at first pass, and definitely more than a * difficulty. Disappointed to find this waiting for me when I returned from breakfast out, when I was hoping to settle down with something rather more doable. Having looked at a handful of hints, I don’t think I have time to dwell on this any further.

      1. No, but that was the first film Peter took me too, so of course “Moon River” is our song 😊.
        Today’s breakfast was with a neighbour, and I regretfully succumbed to a Belgian waffle, probably the lightest thing on the menu.

  31. Tough for a Tuesday, so therefore for me not very tough, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless.

    Thanks Huntsman and compiler.

  33. Not surprisingly as usual at the moment I found it quite tricky, again.
    It took me a while to decide which way round to change 10a – that sort of thing has always caused trouble for me.
    I liked 24 and 29a and 21 and 23d.
    Thanks to today’s setter and to Huntsman for the hints – I needed them!

  34. A fine Tuesday teaser today. I will join the throng praising 1d, both the clue and the word. Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.

    The giant Huntsman 20a

      1. You need a big vacuum cleaner – the giant Huntsman has a legspan of about 12 inches :o

  35. Very late today as I spent the day in lovely Saffron Walden meeting an old friend – what a lovely market! Narrowly resisted buying a new pair of cut-offs – do I need them? Now I wish I had. Committee meeting tonight but somehow I will squeeze in this guzzle as it sounds slightly contentious. Speaking of which, and really why I have logged in, – did anyone notice anything odd about the photograph in features this morning of James Bond aka Daniel Craig talking to the Princess of Wales? I was on to the editor straight away, but I daresay he said there’s that batty old woman from Cambridge again and threw my email in the WPB. I’m very put out at not having had time to do the Xword yet and SW Waitrose didn’t have my OJ with bits. 😥

      1. That’s what struck me, Manders, but so few gents do that today I’m not surprised.

        1. Merusa, my other half always stands for a lady and he’s 84 with very dodgy knees!

      2. Absolutely Manders you’ve got it in one. I find it hard to believe as George would always stand, for any lady princess or pauper. It used to be called manners!

    2. Just had to go in search of that picture. I can only hope that he started to stand and she said “Oh no, please sit”…

  36. Like most of the previous commentators I found this tricky with just nine on my first pass. Solved from the NE anticlockwise with 13a LOI with the comment ‘I suppose it has to be. Favourite was 2d. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

  37. Hi all. Sorry I got the difficulty rating wrong. In retrospect it probably was a **/***.
    Shame the setter never pops in to acknowledge the puzzle.

  38. Good evening
    Took a while but I got there.
    Definitely 18a for COTD, what a clue!
    My thanks to our compiler and to Huntsman

    1. Try looking for it below the hint for 21d & above the one for 23d – ie where you’d expect to find it.

    2. You’re more likely to get a response to such queries if you ask politely. Please read point 12 of the site’s comment etiquette which says:
      Do be polite when asking for help. You are much more likely to get an answer if you say “Please can someone give me a hint to help with 1a” than if you say “No hints for 1a?”.

  40. 3*/4* …
    liked 29A ” Bit of a shock from former PM after a change of heart (5)”

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