Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3239 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, on Monday, one of our radio stations began the annual ‘tradition’ of playing non-stop music with a Christmas theme (I was going to write Christmas music but I think that could be a bit of a stretch).
Quickly moving on – today is five years and one day since the first Dada Sunday PP appeared to test our cruciverbal abilities – 262 so far and counting and, as I have said on more than one occasion, I still have more hair on my head than my son and baby brother put together.
For me, and I stress for me, Dada more friendly than he has been of late – an anagram fest, eight (three partials) and two of the partials are three letter ‘non-anagrams,’ one lurker, and no homophones, in a slightly asymmetric 27 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 20a, 22a, 3d, 7d, 18d, and 19d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Some hints follow:
Across
1a Reject swine involved in racket (6)
A (female) swine inserted into (involved in) a (noisy) synonym of racket.
10a Down in second, moved up (6)
A two letter informal abbreviation of a synonym of second (as in short period of time) and a synonym of moved up.
13a Place hand for final stretch (4,8)
A synonym of place (as in where one lives) and a hand in poker.
16a As 50 per cent of building in Thames, decide on refurbishment! (4-8)
An anagram (on refurbishment) of THAMES, DECIDE.
20a Gambler has small drink for the wife (6,4)
A synonym of gambler and (has) a type of small drink (beer rather than spirits).
22a Seafood dish, one served with pickle (6)
An oldie but goodie but one that often ‘trips’ solvers up – the Roman numeral for one placed after (served with) a synonym of pickle (as a small or troublesome child).
25a Rule broken by unknown character in valley (6)
A synonym of (a) rule (in ecclesiastical matters?) containing (broken by) one of our favourite algebraic unknowns (unknown character).
Down
1d Fantasy in use with old novel (8)
An anagram (novel) of IN USE and (with) OLD.
3d Dog favourite, cat superior (7)
A type of cat (formerly used for administering punishment) placed before (superior, it’s a Down clue) a synonym of favourite.
6d Served up first in cinema, it is a clip of a bloodsucker (9)
The reversal (served up) of all of the first letter of Cinema, IT IS A from the clue, and a synonym of clip (as in a sharp blow).
14d Estimator miscalculated where Dili is capital (4,5)
An anagram (miscalculated) of ESTIMATOR.
15d Check on form (8)
The two letters equivalent to on (as in with respect to) and a synonym of form – you may not agree, but ‘form’ is in the first definition of the synonym required in the BRB.
18d River swallowed up woven fabric (7)
Guess a river, but one we may not have seen before, which rises in the Brecon Beacons and ‘empties’ into Cardiff Bay and the reversal (up) of a synonym of swallowed (food).
21d Musical, blooming thing! (5)
A double definition – there are two musicals (1923 and 1982) with this title and the blooming thing is illustrated.
Quick Crossword Pun:
LARVA + BRED = LAVERBREAD
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American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era Tommy Dorsey was born on this day in 1905. He was known as the Sentimental Gentleman of Swing because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. He is best remembered for standards such as Opus One. It was recorded in 1943 for the film Broadway Rhythm but it ended up on the cutting room floor. Here it is – an audio track with a mash-up of video elements:
Missed out on doing the crossword yesterday as we had a day flying birds of prey, absolutely great fun, but really tired when we got home. Anyway, as for today’s offering, a quite superb puzzle pitched exactly right for a Sunday.
Got caught up for a while in the far SE corner as 21a had me down the wrong alley for a time, however, the thing finally clicked into place and the end soon came after that. My two favourites today were 13a and the lovely 3d. Many thanks to our compiler today, super fun.
I took the first definition of 21d to refer to an adjective rather than a specific musical
So did I!
Moi aussi
The use of the word as an adjective appears to be distinctly British and it wouldn’t surprise me if it is a relatively recent addition to the language explaining why those of us on this side of the pond (including longtime expats) didn’t twig to it.
For me Dada at his cryptic best.
3d is clever but would benefit from “perhaps” after cat in my opinion as they are not strictly synonyms.
Favourite was 5d, brilliant clue.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
But that cat is surely a very common shortened version, so sound enough?
A terrific and very fair challenge for a Sunday that should please most solvers as the degree of difficulty seemed about right. Some delightfully cryptic clues, especially 13a and 5d.
Thanks Dada for the fun, and Senf.
Agree with Senf that this was a more friendly Dada. At least for me it came together steadily, with no real hold-ups.
My one question mark is the parsing of 24a, I’m pretty sure I have the right answer but there’s a piece of the wordplay I don’t understand. Any insights without troubling the naughty step appreciated.
My favourite today is 3d.
Thanks to Dada and Senf
24a – the second part of the answer is an archaic definition of what solver points to from the perspective of the setter.
It took me a while to fathom 24a.
I have the answer but your definition confirms it not. I have no idea what you are trying to say. But thanks anyway
It was my LOI as well, and I’m finding it hard to accept!
Me too, Daisy, but it just had to be.
Hoping to avoid the naughty step, if “setter’s” (posessive) is xx, then “solver’s” (archaicly) is xxx.
Rather late to the party; guess I hadn’t refreshed my screen — so hadn’t seen following comments before writing mine.
Thank you Jezza, that’s kind of what I was thinking, a possessive pronoun.
It would have been more accurate if I had written “…an archaic definition of what solver’s (with the emphasis on the possessive apostrophe) points to from… etc”.
Apologies for that!
I didnt find rhis guzzle as enjoyable as the usual Sunday puzzle and thought some of the clues tipped over the edge from misleading and misdirectional to just plain vague. However, as Senf says, it was an anagram fest and I l did like 10a and 14d, the geographical clue. Thanks to Senf for the hints and to Dada for the ouzzle
Enjoyable way to kick off a rainy Sunday and plenty to smile about in the clues. Tops for me were 20a (of course!) 22a (my dear old dad called me ‘pickle’ for many years) and 3d in deference to Mr K.
Thanks to Dada for 5 years of entertaining SPPs and to Senf for his dedication to solving half-puzzles and rooting out timely musical clips – nice to listen to a big band rendition today in honour of Tommy Dorsey.
5 years… and how we grumbled ! (Snap below – apols to Merusa)
But now our synapses are rewired and we would again grumble if Dada ever left us.
And when we grumbled when Dada first appeared, little did we know that one day we would look forward to Sundays, as a relief from Fridays (and sometimes Thursdays) 😊.
Snap, see below.
Little did I know that five years later I’d look forward to a Dada puzzle as relief after a very difficult week. At the same time, Tantalus, did you have to remind me? I still love you though. Who thought I’d still be here!
An enjoyable puzzle in spite of a surfeit of anagrams – thanks to Dada and Senf.
I liked 20a, 7d and 21d.
Lovely puzzle – I’m an anagram junkie!
Actually started with 3d on second pass.
Wish all Sunday’s were thus.
Thanks to compiler
Enjoyed this puzzle once I got going properly.
Favourites 18d and 21d
Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Now for the Toughie 🤔
Can’t believe it’s been 5 years since that debut Sunday Dada puzzle (who did he take over from?). Remember well the reception it got. Bit slow out of the blocks today but fast down the 13a for a brisk & very enjoyable solve. No real favourite but nicely clued throughout.
Thanks to D&S
Dada’s Sunday predecessor was Virgilius (Brian Greer) who set 536, plus or minus a few, Sunday puzzles. Dada is only the fourth setter in the ST’s nearly 63 year history.
Ah thanks – just couldn’t bring the name to mind
And what happened to Mr Ron? Or was he the mainly Saturday?
Lovely puzzle to go with our tea and toast in a 31F Boston morning.
Mr & Mrs T
Mr Ron used to be Tuesdays
Any idea where Shamus is hiding these days CS? I used to enjoy his Tuesday/ Thursday puzzles.
Sorry to disagree about 15d but my copy of the BRB gives no definition for form equal to the answer and vice versa.
Whatever, it is definitely the weakest clue in an otherwise superb Dada puzzle.
My fav was 8a.
Thx to all
***/****
PS 14d doesn’t exist anymore!
BRB Revised 13th Edition – If you look in the first definition of the word required for the second part of 15d you will find form ‘buried’ therein.
I’ll take your word for it Senf – I don’t have the 13th edition. I think I have the right answer, but the BRB app doesn’t seem to include ‘form’ as a synonym. Unless I am missing something, the closest it gets is the 5th entry for the second definition, which is marked as archaic.
Think of … oh no, BD always said, if your comment starts “think” you’re probably breaking the rules. I’m not sure if I am by saying eg form of bacteria.
Thanks Merusa. I would hope what you say is fine since it doesn’t appear (to me anyway!) to go as far as Senf already has. What you say gives me confidence that I have submitted the right answer. As it happens, that is specifically the fourth entry for the second definition of the noun in the BRB app. The fifth entry includes a word that I might say you have been to help. Incidentally, I got the app for free when Apple did a ‘12 Days of Christmas’ give away. That bit of luck has proved very useful!
By no means a walk in the park but absorbing while I struggled to parse several e.g. “clip” in 6d. No particular Fav(s). Thanks Dada and Senf.
For me, and I stress for me, {™ Senf} this was not as easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy as the Man From Manitoba found it. Indeed when I arrived at the south coast I had to check in with his hints to confirm my guesses fro 24a and 21d were on target.
Admittedly, I have been distracted throughout by the Cricket World Cup Final, in which, at the time of writing, India have left themselves with a mountain twice the height of Everest to climb.
H and The Youngster have managed to become infected with our old pal Covid, so it is me in isolation at the moment as I hope not to succumb (for the third time for me). So far, so good.
H and The Youngster are bearing up quite well, but are finding the experience exhausting.
I am conducting myself as an angel descended from the heavens and attending to all of their needs (well… to be accurate…one trip to the supermarket late last night for chocolate muffins, croissants, and lemsip).
Thanks to Da-doo-ron-ron and The Man From Manitoba.
Sorry to hear that Covid has reared its ugly head again Huntsman. Hopee you manage t a void it. My husband, Jim is still suffering Long Covid symptoms after a bout in February. It goes around in achool now and then and I live in fearthat the grandchildren will bring it when rhey visit but also also delight in seeing them
I meant to address this to Terence.
Thanks Chris. We both think we have long Covid from previous bouts. Continuously achey – especially in the legs; lacking in energy. x
I still can’t abide the taste or smell of food, 18 months later!
I thought that was just me getting old. Perhaps it is the big LC – I have to blame something.
If we are getting Covid again does it mean that the vaccinations are becoming less effective?
It is likely the virus mutates faster than the vaccines can be modified.
Hope everyone recovers soon, Terence and that you do not succumb.
2*/4*. Enjoyable Sunday fare as usual, although I did think that 9d was rather weak and 21d was a bit strange even when treating the first word as an adjective rather than one of two very obscure musicals.
My favourite was 20a with 13a & 5d taking the other podium places.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
Dada at his best, full of clever clues requiring lateral thought but no obscurities and all fair and above board – thanks and bravo!
PS 3d definitely COTD for me…clever and amusing…
Longish breakfast puzzle from Dada today. And a couple of new things. Never heard of that particular synonym of pickle. Liked the 24a reference to a biblical solver. I’ll put 18d as fave today as it does reference a river from my wife’s original country (though she was more southerly!)
Thanks again to Dada and to Senf – particularly as he found a nice way of parsing 6d, which I’d messed up. (The penny dropped as I was reading his hint, so gave myself a good clip on the forehead.)
Finished in ** time. Thought it was going to be a write in at first.
Mostly enjoyable
Had 8, yes 8 questionmarks on the parsing.
E.g.hand in 13a
Last word on 24a
2d beloved.
3d cat
6d couldn’t decide which of the answer was “up”
14d Had no idea where Dili are spent
15d I too baulked at the second word.
18d I thought the river only had 3 letters. Wrong again.
21d never heard of the musicals.
Nevertheless it was very clever all told.
Favourite and last in 19d
Enjoyment ****
Re 14d Bob – nowt to do with readies.
PS. The penny has just dropped on 24a. Except its the wrong way round and therefore annoying.(to me)
Very enjoyable. Was on a roll into the NE slowed me down. Favorite 6d .
PPS. Thanks to setter and Senf fir hinting
For Dada this week, I thought this was toward the harder end of his spectrum with good use of his personal thesaurus and a little of the quirkiness he can be known for, thrown in.
2.5*/4* for me
Favourites include 12a, 16a, 20a, 22a, 23a & 14d — with winner 16a
Got a chuckle from 8a, 20a, 5d & 7d
Thanks to Dada & Senf for hints/blog
We didn’t like 22a, 24a or 9d and were bung ins we weren’t that keen on 21d down either but parsed it as CS at comment 2. Didn’t enjoy this as much as other Sunday offerings and no particular stand out clue. Thanks to Dada anyway and Senf.
Not the hardest of Dada’s puzzles but I certainly wouldn’t call it a push over. The second part of 15d seems a bit of a stretch depending on which version of the BRB you have to hand. I could see what 22a was straight away as I had a couple of checkers. But the parsing was difficult until I read the hints. Thanks Senf. I am not overly keen on slang in crosswords and there were four slang answers in this one. But otherwise, I thought it was a fairly good puzzle.
I saw no problem with the second part of 15d — we’re constantly hearing about new ‘forms’ of various viruses.
In England, we tend to refer to new ‘variants’ or ‘emerging variants’ of viruses. There is a specific entry in the BRB for ‘a variety of bacterium or other organism’ (the 4th entry for the second sense of the noun), whereas the 5th entry for the second sense of the noun seems more on point (not sure if I can say what it is but I can see it being loosely analogous to ‘form’). However, my Chambers thesaurus doesn’t include ‘form’ as a synonym, nor does my Roget’s thesaurus. So, while I’ll go along with the clue, it does seem a bit of a stretch. I guess I prefer precise language, so I don’t know what I am doing in crosswordland!
It seems to me the term variant (applied to viruses) entered our vocabulary with the advent of Covid. Prior to that, I recall forms of flu being referred to by the word in 15d.
Yes, agreed, where I live we used to refer to what we now call variants as the word in the answer almost always rather than ‘form’ too, which the BRB bears out. The fifth entry of the second definition of the noun is ‘kind, type’, which is loosely related to ‘form’, and ‘form’ is included in Senf’s 13th edition. So, I’m not losing any sleep over it. Perhaps I find the detail more interesting than the clue sometimes!
I was all prepared to differ with Senf on his appraisal of today’s Dada as “friendly”, but surprise, surprise. I did find it friendly, and a darn sight more friendly than a couple we have been the victims of this week. I started slowly, but it gradually came together, albeit with help from the checkers. 19d was my LI for which I needed help, and still not sure how the clue works. But otherwise an enjoyable challenge. Thanks to Dada and to the handsome Senf 😊.
Overall good. NE last in mainly because I couldn’t parse 6d. Not fond of 21d and I was uncertain about 21d but I think I’ve got to the heart of the matter. Ticks for 25a and 18d. Thanks Dada and Senf for confirming some of the parsing
Just struggled with 15 d. I enjoyed the rest. COTD 23 a
Another lovely Dada, though I did have ?? for a couple of bungins; natch 24a, 5d and 21d. I see in my thesaurus that 5d is slang for stinking, who knew? On the other hand, heaps to love. I have driven by the river at 18d many, many times, so that gets a mention, I liked 14d, maybe ‘cos I knew it and its capital, but maybe best is 3d for the cat and dog.
Thank you Dada, you’ve got the right hat on today, and to Senf for explaining quite a few.
Not my cup of tea today I’m afraid.
Needed several of Senf’s excellent hints to finish.
Oh well, there’s always next week.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf.
Nice day here today. Finally not raining. Mr Meringue managed to get the gutters cleared of leaves that had built up when we were away. We had a (very) small water ingress problem caused by the blocked gutters when it was bucketing down yesterday. All dry now thank goodness and no damage.
I had just finished the guzzle when DD2 arrived with Stan & Baxter so have only just come back to clock in. George developed an abscess under a back tooth yesterday and is definitely in full invalid mode, there is a strong smell of oil of cloves in the air and he cannot wait to get to the dentist tomorrow. The guzzle was a welcome distraction as he bravely supped a little soup. There was a lot to like, my only query was the middle word in 24a, I feel I have the right answer but don’t quite get the why. Anyway, very much obliged to Messrs Setter & Senf for the pleasure I had in completing the grid and, at the risk of offending someone, I shall submit it in the hope of flaunting another pen!
Does it help re 24a if you bear in mind the middle word is a possessive and look at it from the point of view of the setter?
Poor George, I do hope he can get seen by the dentist tomorrow. Why do these things always happen at the weekend?
I am much better at Dada than 5 years ago, thanks mainly to Senf and the fact that for me, Dada follows the Toughie
I did enjoy 16a as it half reminded me of the same structure in the toughie. It was nice to see a less than usual river too
Thanks to Dada and Senf
And for those who still have a crossword itch to scratch can I re-plug Shabbo’s puzzle in the Indy on Sunday
https://puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/cryptic-crossword-independent
Thanks SJB. I’ve done Shabbo’s crossword. I thought it was very good. There was one clue that employed fairly dated American slang, but apart from that was enjoyable. It has enough approachable clues to get going and provide something to work with on the more esoteric clues. I saw the wordplay of 22a fairly quickly but then started wondering what the answer has to do with an evening out. Of course it wasn’t ‘an’ evening out! I’m going to put that down to clever misdirection rather than my brain making problems for itself!
Good puzzle. Astounded to learn it is 5 years since Dada started. Congratulations to him.
I really enjoyed this although I am sad to say that Dada just pipped me to the post: I had to look at the hint for 15d which, thankfully, was one of the ones provided by Senf.
The parsing of 19d has me stumped so I will have to wait for the full reveal next week. I liked 20a and also 25a once the penny dropped.
If you have the correct answer to 19d, split your answer into two three letter words and closely check them against how you read the clue.
Shropshirebloke
Thanks. I looked at it again with fresh eyes this morning and saw the reasoning.
Can’t believe it’s five years, my how time flies. Great weekend entertainment during that time. Love anagrams – have been fascinated by them for years, which means 14d is my favourite today – a superb anagram for sure. 16a ain’t bad either. :-) Not overly hard today, but great fun, Thank you Dada – here’s to your next five years and thanks to Senf as well.
After a hectic few days, it was a pleasure to relax and work my way leisurely through this puzzle. Thank you to Dada and congratulations on reaching the 5 year milestone. Thanks also to Senf for the hints and good luck to your Bombers tonight although being a masochist, I may be cheering for the underdogs.
I completed this with a little e help and use of the hints to explain several of the parsings, I thought it was a bit easier than some Dadas. 20a made me chuckle.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.
Hello to anybody still reading. I struggled with this, and only finished it at bedtime. Probably too many anagrams for me to get a decent start, since I usually have to leave those till last.
Thank you so much to Senf for the hints — I needed several of them today. Congratulations to John Halpern on 5 years. My favourite clue today was 7’d tutorial.
Late commenting but wanted to add thanks to Dada for 4 years and 358 days (the first one doesn’t count!!) of cryptic, Sunday evening fun. Also big thanks to Senf for the hints and tips over the last five years. And to the full Sunday reviewers, thank you too.