DT 30457 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30457

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30,457
Hints and tips by Huntsman

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

It’s a miserable day here in Harpenden with heavy rain on the way so reckon an afternoon walk not the best of ideas. A repeat of last week’s grid so we can safely assume it is an AP production. Pretty gentle I’d reckon & not as challenging as Campbell yesterday. Anyway at least I remembered it’s a Tuesday & solved this one which I enjoyed without thinking it up there with his best.

 

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 Confused tea with orangeade initially? Sign of nerves (7)
CHAOTIC: an informal word for tea + the first letter (initially) of orangeade + a physical expression of nerves.

5a Since the start of Brexit, Spain imports sauce, strangely (7)
BECAUSE: the first letter (start of) of Brexit followed by an anagram (strangely) of SAUCE. Insert the IVR code for Spain between the two.

9a Work for each group of schoolchildren (7)
PERFORM: a preposition meaning for each + a word for a class of schoolchildren so organised by age & maybe academic ability.

10a One may be treating canine with biscuit finally – it ends barking (7)
DENTIST: an anagram (barking) of IT ENDS + the last letter (finally) of biscuiT. A nicely misleading surface – regular readers should think Steve Cowling rather than his dog

11a Approach banker, creating excitement (9)
ADVENTURE: a synonym of approach or coming + a N Yorkshire river that flows into the Ouse.

12a Time before river revealed fish (5)
TROUT: the single letter for River preceded by that for Time + another word for revealed or made public

13a Ink discharging both ends – a pen’s dreadful (5)
NASTY: What remains once both ends of iNk are deleted + A from the clue + pen in the context of an animal enclosure.

15a Flung niece out with no good effect (9)
INFLUENCE: an anagram (out) of FLUNg NIECE less the letter for Good.

17a Meet in Paris bar (9)
ENCOUNTER: the French preposition meaning in + another word for bar.

19a Some pretty pessimistic characters (5)
TYPES: a lurker in the two words preceding the definition.

22a Stick with cold swimmer (5)
CLING: the single letter for Cold + a member of the codfish family.

23a Substituting western pine with grass outside (9)
SWITCHING: the single letter for Western + a synonym for pine or long for then insert them into (outside) a word for grass in the context of spilling the beans.

25a Writer left with yen, quickly  (7)
SWIFTLY: the surname of a writer – an Anglo Irish satirist & political pamphleteer of the late 17th & early 18th century or a Booker prize winning novelist in the nineties. Then add the single letter for Left & for Yen.

26a State dept half abandoned Irish county (7)
DECLARE: 50% of DEpt (half abandoned) + a county in southern Ireland in the Munster province.

27a Justify Edward returning first tennis shot (7)
DESERVE: reverse (returning) a diminutive for Edward then add the opening shot in tennis.

28a Stores are in retreat? Most close  (7)
NEAREST: insert (stores) ARE in the clue into a synonym for retreat or shelter

Down
1d Murderer grabs appropriate leader (7)
CAPTAIN: insert (grabs) another word for appropriate into a biblical figure from the book of Genesis who murdered his younger brother.

2d Comes and goes far? (7)
ARRIVES: not sure whether this is a double or a cryptic definition. I’ll plump (probably wrongly) for the latter – goes far in the sense of achieving success presumably

3d Something prickly ripped clothing horrendously at first (5)
THORN: insert the first letter of Horrendously into (clothing) a synonym of ripped.

4d Red tonic mum’s drunk (9)
COMMUNIST: an anagram (drunk) of TONIC MUMS. American paranoia in the post war period feared they were under the bed.

5d Move bird not I ! (5)
BUDGE: remove the letter I from a diminutive for a small seed eating parrot.

6d Make prisoners almost honest in front of court (9)
CONSTRUCT: some lego – the usual slang for prisoners + a synonym for honest less (almost) its final letter + the two letter abbreviation for court.

7a Mythical creature Greek character picked up – one with growth on foot? (7)
UNICORN: start by reversing(picked up) the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet then add the letter that could represent one & append a condition of thick skin painful on the plates of meat.

8d Call hospital department that is nursing tense student (7)
ENTITLE: our usual hospital department then add the two letter abbreviation for that is or in other words having inserted (nursing) the single letter for Tense & that for student between them.

14d Shaver’s gone rusty unfortunately (9)
YOUNGSTER: an anagram (unfortunately) of GONE RUSTY.

16d In favour of Democrat interrupting US president getting banned (9)
FORBIDDEN: insert the single letter for Democrat between a word indicating to be in support of & the current White House incumbent.

17d Forgave former lover and swore to ignore king (7)
EXCUSED: the usual for a former lover + a synonym for swore removing (ignore) the letter that signifies the Latin for king.

18d Under church climbers will find badgers (7)
CHIVIES: the usual two letters for church + evergreen climbers. giving you a definition in the sense of harasses – my instinctive spelling would have scored an extra 4 points in Scrabble.

20a Retiring soldier (7)
PRIVATE: double definition- the first in the sense of reserved or discreet.

21d Subdivision from group including FBI agents (7)
SEGMENT: insert the American slang for their government agents into (including) a word for group.

23d Kind Liberal bandaging eye infection? On the contrary (5)
STYLE: it’s the eye infection that contains (bandaging/on the contrary) the single letter for Liberal.

24d Twice actor oddly rejected a drink  (5)

COCOA: the alternate letters (oddly rejected) of aCtOr. Repeat (twice) then add the A from the clue.

 

10&23a along with 16&21d were my picks here but my fav today was the Quickie pun for the simple reason than it prompted me to dig out my copy of Mike Leigh’s wonderful film which I’ll watch tonight. Please tell us which clues hit the mark for you today.

 


Today’s Quick Crossword pun: LIE+ VIZ + SUITE = LIFE IS SWEET

102 comments on “DT 30457

  1. What a fabulous guzzle and probably one of my fastest solves as I finished with half a mug of coffee remaining. I must like 10a of course having spent my working life with them. I liked the discharging ink at 13a, the grassy western pine at 22a and the climbers under the church at 19d. My COTD is 24d for the simple fact it made me smile when the penny dropped.

    My thanks to today’s setter for the satisfying solve. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.

    Yet more rain in The Marches so Hudson will get yet more mud in his paws. He spends ages licking it out.

    1. I’m curious Steve. How do you manage to post your comment so quickly after the review is posted ?
      Please apologise to Hudson – I was going to name check him as I was 99% sure of his name then Biggles sowed a seed of doubt – was that the name of LabradorsRuleOK’s dog ?
      Enjoy your walk

      1. No secret, Huntsman. If I finish the puzzle before the blog is posted I write the review and copy and paste when the blog appears. I am often on the laptop so tend to get the post the moment it appears.
        Yes, Biggles belonged to LROK. Hudson says he will accept your apology if you give him biscuits – not Garibaldi, though! 🤣

      2. Agreed Steve, good fun. I’m glad you apologized to Hudson, Hintsman! He’s the man of the house.

  2. A bit more gentle today but no less enjoyable.

    Good variety of types of clue with no stand out favourite.

    Thanks to setter and Huntsman.

  3. Most enjoyable, and a terrific way to cheer up a soggy morning here in Shropshire. 10a and 1d were my favourites.

    My thanks to Mr P and The Hintsman.

  4. Like a small glass of prosecco on a hot summer afternoon, this was light and refreshing, over almost before it had started. A few rum surfaces, but also many wonderful ones (eg 3d, 8d & 16d) in return. I always like to see anagrams representing at the very most one in six of the clues, so todays tally of 5 ticked another box for me. Podium places to 9a, 11a & 17a.

    1* / 3*

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman – today’s a good day to avoid the golf course! Incidentally, is the arm any better or are you having to swing one-handed?

    1. 5 weeks & severe withdrawal symptoms but my course is clay based. Wonderful in the summer but doesn’t winter too well so I’m not missing much. Am on the mend (slowly) thankfully.

      1. I had forgotten about the arm🤭 and was going to say you will have a doggy dst on the golf course. But you are obviously tucked up warmly somewhere!

          1. Did you clock my reply to you the other day re DT charges & package? You shouldn’t be paying much more than £170 annually.

            1. No I don’t think I did. I have not been able to do the guzzle everyday due to pressure (of life generally!) or
              sometimes done it very late at night.
              I am so confused by all this. The DT comes out of the joint account which George handles, I have my own account otherwise.
              It looks as though we were paying £71.50 p.m. and are now paying 82.33 despite me having telephoned them and apparently getting a new package!
              Seems to me it has gone up not down, but perhaps it did not go up as much as it might have done.
              But still far more than £170 p.a. It IS the paper version we have, are you talking about digital subscription?
              Why don’t you just live round the corner 😕

      2. Thank heavens for small mercies – if yours was a links course you’d really be missing the game. Do be sure to make the most of this oppportunity to rest the arm completely, and hopefully the summer will see you return to the course!

  5. A pretty average guzzle from Mr Plumb today, with no real sifficulties once I got going but I found it hard ro get a start. For me, the best clue was the 14d anagram, with characteristic misdirection from Mr P. Thanks ro Huntsman for the hints and to our Tuesday compiler its been bucketing down here in South Oxfordshire since mid- morning after a more pleasant start to the day. The garden is too sodden and bedraggled tto do any pre winter tidying up. I suppose I could get ahead with writing Christmas cards☺️

  6. Pleasant and simple, a bit like my cat Nimrod. So straightforward in fact, that I have absolutely no scribbling or workings out on the sheet at all today. No real favourites as it was just a plain old read and write affair.

    1. How boring for you, I’m sorry you had such an easy guzzle today. Never mind, only three days to Friday, but you’ll probably find that too easy for you too. Have you tried the Toughie? I can recommend it for the more brainy solver.

  7. I whizzed through this as if travelling in spacetime. At warp 8.

    I thought for a bit 10A to be a contravention of DT style, but it isn’t. You just have to see that the (last-letter-indicated) T is ‘with’ the anagrist as in ‘added to’ it, rather than mixed in with the ‘itends’ anagrist. Phew. That was a close one.

    Thanks AP and Huntsman.

        1. BD disliked intensely the use of such terms – he was very keen that clues should be explained in plain English. See the strapline at the top of the main page.
          Point 13 of the site etiquette explains:
          Don’t use jargon when explaining how a clue works. Nothing puts off new solvers more than unintelligible gobbledegook. There is no place on this website for dreadful portmanteau words like anagrind and inserticator, or for abbreviations such as cd and dbe. Instead use the full expansions, for example anagram indicator, insertion indicator, cryptic definition and definition by example.

          1. Indeed. I know BD hated such jargon and that’s why you don’t see much of it used on this blog, especially from the bloggers and other regulars (including me). I was merely explaining to DaveG because he was mystified at JV’s “anagrist”. But point taken, no harm in posting a reminder of the etiquette.

  8. Before I go any further……Hintsman, you don’t like Garibaldi’s???? Hang your head.

    We love an AP crossy. This was at the gentle end but very enjoyable, nevertheless. His surfaces are right up there with the best and his humour shines through.

    My podium comprises 17a, 6d & 24d.

    Many thanks to the aforementioned and Hintsman from Harpenden in Hertfordshire.

    ”In Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen.”

    It’s said that Rex was the first rapper because of his chanting in My Fair Lady. He taught The Sugarhill Gang everything they know.

    2*/4*

    1. TDS65 Is that rap with a silent c 🤔, and remember don’t call me DG or you’ll be in trouble with a certain lady.

      1. Thanks for the reminder, Davie G. I would have gone down that route.

        Us ‘Chuckle Brothers’ need to keep our ‘Snigger, snigger’ sister happy.

        I take it that musicals is not your ‘thang’.

        Sound of Music….Oliver (Lionel Bart – genius)…..Scrooge….Guys and Dolls……Westside Story…..Grease…..what’s not to like?

  9. A Typically Tuesdayish package of entertainment from Anthony Plumb – **/****

    Candidates for favourite – 13a, 23a, 1d, 6d, and 18d – and the winner is 13a.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.

  10. After a slow start it was 26a finished and much enjoyed.
    Many thanks to Huntsman for parsing one that In got but did not understand and to the compiler for a real joy.
    Regarding yesterday’s report that the inventor of predictive text has died – his funnel will be tomato.

  11. I wondered about the second definition for 2d, however Chambers does give a definition as “colloq: to be successful or to attain recognition”.

    Thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.

  12. Just the right level for me, not a read and write though. Last in was 23a,and 2d got a 🤔. Thanks to all

  13. Fairly gentle and enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
    I liked 13a (an allusion to our new King’s incident with the pen?), 17a and 3d.

  14. 1*/4* – as I’ve said many times previously, just because it is light doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. This was great fun with 10a, 17a & 24d making it onto my podium.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Hintsman.

  15. Sad to have bit of rain and injury instead of a little white ball to spoil a good walk. (Be careful, Huntsman, my arm injury 20 years ago led to a herniated disk after 2 months of desk work, which has put paid permanently to proper golf.)
    Took two meals to finish this one, but was in a real hurry over breakfast, so only managed the NW corner. Liked 1d, when the penny dropped. Also liked 13 & 15a, along with 26a (mainly because it forced me to remember my Irish counties). Fave perhaps 24d.
    Many thanks to MrP and Huntsman.

  16. Easy does it but an enjoyable romp.
    Rosettes awarded to 10&13a plus 14d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and to Huntsman for the review.

  17. Awoke at an early hour today, and my brain took a while to catch up with my body. Stared helplessly at north west, then slipped down to south west, which quickly became clear. Continued widdershins and all soon fell into place.
    I was soaked through after my morning Cotswold jaunt, but dry enough later to take a wheelbarrow load of books to the charity shop. It’s hard getting rid of old friends when you downsize.

  18. I derived 28A thus:
    Most (from the clue) of “sTorES ARE iN” in reverse (retreat) gives you the letters required for the answer

    1. I was going to ask the same question. I always like to know who the toughie setter is before deciding whether to look or not.

      1. Well it’s tough in my book but 20a worth the admission on its own. Taken & age for the penny to drop despite the answer nearly featuring in one of my hints today.

  19. Excellent puzzle, very enjoyable. I was only held up by the murderer, might have known it was biblical!
    Be invidious to select a favourite as they were almost all excellent clues.
    **/*****
    Thx to all

    1. It might be Cain Dingle from Emmerdale! Right wrong ‘un, he is – sure he’s done a murder or two. :-)

      1. Mrs RD assures me that, despite being a very unpleasant character, Cain Dingle has never killed anybody. Back to the bible …

  20. This puzzle puzzle was very
    Mondayish.
    But enjoyable and cheerful
    Throughout.
    13a clever construction and 16d
    Also and it brought a smile
    Thanks to Mr. Plumb and Huntsman.

  21. As for Hrothgar above, Tuesdays, more so than Mondays, are my go to spot for an enjoyably smooth beginning to the week and today was just that. Missed the appropriate part of 1d bung-in. Not sure about use of abbreviations such as in 1d. 14d new one on me. Altogether a lot of fun. Thank you AP and Huntsman.

    1. I confess I had the same initial reaction as you regarding 1d, but then realized that what I had taken for an abbreviation is actually a word in its own right.

      1. I of course meant to say 5d (not 1d) re abbreviations. Checking with MrG I take your point Falcon.

        1. I actually was referring to 1d. I thought you must be seeing the three-letter inserted word as an abbreviation for “appropriate”.

  22. I don’t know how all you worthy folk get the guzzle done so early. Maybe it is because you are mostly male? I’ve made breakfast, cleared the kitchen, changed the bed, put the washing on, been down to the Mother & Toddler group to try and find a Baby Jesus, cleaned the bedroom, rescued George innumerable times whilst he tried to renew his driving licence etc etc. just like most women, a walking miracle. I digress. A very gentle Tuesday offering with which I had little problems except for 21d for some reason and I struggled with the meaning of 2d although it had to be. Thanks for sorting me out Hintsman. 13a and 5a were very nice clues. Many thanks to Setter & Hintsman.

    1. “been down to the Mother & Toddler group to try and find a Baby Jesus” …. well, that’s certainly one way to accelerate a second coming, and it seems to be a more logical and pragmatic approach than is adopted when trying to find the next Lama in Tibet!

      1. That is quite a smart reply! Real baby. Real donkey ( lambs not real) and George the Innkeeper with the lantern. Make sense now?

        1. I love the idea of ‘auditioning’ the local babies – did you go for the right size, the right temperament or ???

          1. You would have to be quick at the local maternity hospital if you wanted the right size of baby

          2. We have had to have some hefty ones, but as long as they cannot wriggle off mother’s lap
            it is OK.. Sex is not a problem! Once we had twins, used the boy to start with – he played up and
            howled so we did a quick swap for his sister. It is more a question of getting both parents to commit to dressing
            up and being there on Christmas Eve. I love seeing the smart older brothers saying wisely
            Don’t be stupid, it isn’t a real baby!

            1. Have you ever had a John Noakesian “accident” If the baby lets go it would probably be contained but the donkey could easily render the Nave/Stable unbearable

              1. The donkey HAS let us down. He is led in the north door and walks twice all round the aisles followed by Mary & Joseph sans baby whilst we sing Little Donkey. One year Noah did misbehave himself and I had this vision of him, with M & J following, walking all through the steamy pile and spreading it around. All I could do was gather it all up in my hands and throw it out of the door. Everyone said it was the best crib service they had ever been to, the sight of Mrs. H picking up the donkeys dung made their Christmas.

    2. Evening, Day Zee.

      You said in Saturday’s blog that the clues you were stuck on were ones that Cryptic Sue didn’t cover.

      Are you aware of Danword? It has the answers to any clue. So, you don’t need to wait nine days for the answers.

      1. Oh dear. That puts us in a moral dilemma, surely?. It is bad enough knowing that during the week
        one can do a reveal of the answer but The Prize? Surely that is not right?

          1. Using Danword is cheating IMO, for the Sunday Toughie I may use the BRB and its anagram sorter and I have very occasionally asked the answerbank for help with parsing particularly tricky bits of Sunday Toughies but Danword is verboten here, especially on puzzles I’m not blogging but as was said before a full grid is a full grid and it is entirely up to you to decide what tools you may use

            1. I only use it to confirm an answer, ie if I’ve finished it at, say 10am, and I don’t have the patience to wait an hour.

              I never use it for an answer.

            2. I agree about Danword. I feel that if I’m going to use that, I may as well just go to the hints.

  23. I enjoyed this puzzle. Thank you to AP and Huntsman.

    By the way, Huntsman, the affliction with kings that affected my review yesterday seems to have carried over to today. The wrong one appears in the hint for 17d. Also, a little too much is underlined in 24d.

    1. Bit like many of the nags I used to back – a case of tiring in the final furlong 😀
      Now amended.

  24. I found this Tuesday puzzle a little trickier than normal with some clues that had hard parsing to figure out. It was a fun solve but required some lateral thinking as well as a bit of head scratching too. Not sure why it was so tricky as there were no weird words at all. Just me I suppose, but it has been a long day this Monday prior to this solve on Monday evening.

    2*/4* for me today

    Favourites include 5a, 10a, 26a, 28a, 5d & 6d — with winner 5d
    18d is a word that I haven’t used in a long time, but was easily figured out.
    I got a smile from 1a, 10a, 7d & 20d.

    Thanks to AP & Huntsman for hints/blog

  25. A very nice follow on to yesterday 😃 **/**** Favourites are 1a, 1d & 18d 🤗 Thanks to Huntsman and to Mr Plumb 👍 (was there a typo in the paper version 🤔, I cannot get an answer for 11a in the Quicky)

  26. Smooth and steady solve, had forgotten the lovely word ‘shaver’ as used today, thank you compiler and Huntsman

  27. Had to rush the puzzle today but thank goodness it was amendable and fun. I have organised a trip to The Musical Museum and had to tout it to the neighbouring Art Society to get enough takers to pay for the coach. That necessitated getting up and out early. Today’s puzzle seemed easier than yesterday and perhaps not quite so satisfying for that reason. Thanks to Huntsman who seems to feature very regularly and a thank you to Mr. Plumb who gave us a plum of a puzzle.

  28. Good afternoon

    I particularly enjoyed the misdirection in 26a and 28a; I’m awarding COTD to 13a though. I correctly “intuited” (oh, all right, guessed!) the answer, and then had to parse it. The CLUNK! as the penny finally dropped must have been audible five miles away.

    My thanks to our compiler and to Huntsman the Hintsman

  29. 2/4. Enjoyable puzzle with 28a my favourite once I realised the pronunciation of close was not what I originally thought. Thanks to the setter and huntsman.

  30. For some reason I find it difficult to get on wavelength with this setter. Some answers fall nicely into place, and others are arrived at via the checkers, when the clue is leading me nowhere. Could not figure out how “it ends barking” relates to 10a answer, and I truly do not understand why the 14d answer is a synonym of shaver? I see that most of you sailed through today, so clearly it is just me. But at least I solved today’s unusual Wordle, so brain is not completely dead. Thanks to the setter for the challenge and to Huntsman.
    If anyone is looking for a good read, I thoroughly recommend Ken Follet’s latest “The Armour of Light”, a real page turner. I have learned more about the history of the period covered by his books than anything I was ever taught in school.

    1. Shaver is an antiquated word for a young lad, my grandfather used to call my brother a young shaver.

    2. Was quite pleased today, spotted their evil plans just in time
      Wordle 878 5/6
      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  31. Nice puzzle with some imaginative clueing mixed with a few chestnuts in the wordplay.
    My favourite was “dreadful” (or as Charles would have said “ghastly”) pen discharging both ends.
    Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

  32. What a lot of comments – having read them all I’ve run out of energy now – only joking!
    I liked 10 and 25a and 7 and 18d. I think my favourite was probably 7a.
    Thanks to today’s setter and to Huntsman – I agree with you about how to spell 18d!

  33. Ah, at long last, a guzzle to solve with pleasure all through, none of the brain strain of the last four days. It’s hard to choose a fave, there were many that qualified. I think 1d and 24d stood out, but I pick 10a for our resident dentist.
    Thank you Mr. Plumb for the fun, and Huntsman for the hints and pics.

  34. An enjoyable solve though I dithered over 1d and didn’t fully parse it until reading the hint later. A good start to the week despite failing to solve the Quickie pun. Many thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

    I so enjoy reading the comments. The different lives our bloggers lead and their taste in literature and music not forgetting those with green-fingers and appreciative walkers. Other than golf and tennis I will leave out sport! Thank you all for the entertainment especially Daisygirl!

  35. Not as straightforward for me as for some with a few head scratchers in the west. Favourite was the tricky 13a. Thanks to the setter and Hints man.

  36. Well, this puzzle took me longer than yesterday’s! I did enjoy it and finished unaided though. I suppose it is just that sometimes you get on the same wavelength as the setter and sometimes you don’t …..

  37. Yippee! an unaided finish despite a tiring day. 14d was a new synonym to me but I got it from the checkers, and it helped it was an anagram. I will have 7d as my favourite but it could have been many others in this fun puzzle.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.

  38. Late on parade but finished with a smile of satisfaction. Must have been the effect of the Belgian beer accompaniment to supper loosening the old grey matter.
    A number of clever clues just at my level, favourites being 1d,10a, 14d.
    Thanks to all.
    And so to bed…

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