DT 30371 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30371

A full review by crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 5^th August 2023

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

Chalicea very rarely sets a pangram so this was a very straightforward surprise for all those people who thought they’d solved a Cephas crossword!

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought

Across

1a    Convincing maxim about dizzy fits (10)
SATISFYING – SAYING (maxim) goes about an anagram (dizzy) of FITS

6a    Attend strike (4)
BEAT – BE AT (attend)

10a    Lyric about concert hall (5)
ODEON – ODE (lyric) ON (about)

11a    Chips, some say, go in after fish (9)
CARPENTER – ENTER (go in) after CARP (fish)

12a    Look intently round last of winter feed (5)
GRAZE – GAZE (look intently) goes ’round’ the last letter of winteR

13a    Lots of you once going to beaches (9)
THOUSANDS – THOU (you once) SANDS (beaches)

14a    Exonerates copper separating warring sexes (7)
EXCUSES – CU (chemical symbol for copper) ‘separating’ an anagram (warring) of SEXES

16a    Completely give up ecstasy (5)
QUITE – QUIT (give up) E (Ecstasy)

19a    Retreats from animals finally caught in snares (5)
NESTS – The final letter of animalS ‘caught’ in NETS (snares)

20a    Any temp possibly getting reward (7)
PAYMENT – An anagram (possibly) of ANY TEMP

22a    Female anger is employed in display of temper (9)
FIREWORKS – F (female) IRE (temper) WORKS (is employed)

26a    Hint of colour seen in painting exhibits (5)
TINGE – Lurking in painTINE Exhibits

27a    One politician wandering, making progress (9)
IMPROVING – I (one) MP (politician) ROVING (wandering)

28a    Type of dome you might shed tears over? (5)
ONION – A bulb-shaped dome on a building or a bulb known for causing tears when being peeled

29a    Wagoner, abandoning state of conflict, departed (4)
GONE – waGONEr ‘abandoning’ WAR (state of conflict)

30a    Acts for someone else concerning gifts (10)
REPRESENTS – RE (concerning) PRESENTS (gifts)

Down

1d    Dirty and gloomy small cat (6)
SMOGGY – S (small) MOGGY (cat)

2d    Young people unhappily eat greens (9)
TEENAGERS – An anagram (unhappily) of EAT GREENS

3d    Pronounces judgement on Spooner’s double set of senses? (9)
SENTENCES – Or as the dreaded Spooner would say TEN SENSES (we have five senses!)

4d    Leaders of young aviators couldn’t handle this craft (5)
YACHT – The ‘leaders’ of Young Aviators Couldn’t Handle This

5d    Timidly, upset lover welcomes us visiting New York (9)
NERVOUSLY – An anagram (upset) of LOVER ‘welcoming’ US and then the result inserted into (visiting) NY (New York)

7d    Scoffed in school, we hear (5)
EATEN – A homophone (we hear) of ETON (school)

8d    Husband stops rubbish journalist getting hammered (8)
THRASHED – H (husband) ‘stops’ or goes inside TRASH (rubbish), the result followed by ED (journalist)

9d    High-fliers, West Side Story gang (4)
JETS – High flying planes or the name of one of the gangs in West Side Story

15d    Monitor top six side I’d ignored (9)
SUPERVISE – SUPER (top) VI (Roman numerals for six) and SidE (ignoring the ID)

16d    Expresses doubt about abnormally quiet sons (9)
QUESTIONS – An anagram (abnormally) of QUIET SONS

17d    Purpose of intervention: get rid of doddery Rev. (9)
INTENTION – Remove the REV (doddery telling you they aren’t in that order in the word) from INTervENTION

18d    Smelling some atrocious niff in garden (8)
SNIFFING – Hidden in some atrociouS NIFF IN G

21d    Offence and difficulty mounting in ball game (6)
TENNIS – SIN (offence) and NET (difficulty)

23d    Age of occasionally frail writer (5)
RIPEN – Here age is a verb – the occasional letters of fRaIl and PEN (writer)

24d    Wife loves student’s coat (4)
WOOL – W (wife) O O (loves) L (student)

25d    Source of carbs, Italian sauce is served up (5)
SUGAR – A reversal (served up) of RAGU’s