DT 30537 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
View closed comments 

DT 30537

by Shabbo  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30,537
Hints and tips by Shabbo

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Good morning from Welwyn Garden City, where it looks like being a lovely day. It is the current Mrs Shabbo’s birthday tomorrow, so a trip to the card shop is in order as soon as I finish this blog.

Our sweetheart setter has left his calling card not once but twice, in 13a and 27a, albeit the latter is not the usual E. He also retains his love of brevity, with a remarkable average of a whisker over 5 words per clue. Why use two words, when one will do? 28a took a bit of unravelling and was my LOI. An enjoyable puzzle, which seems about the right degree of difficulty for a Thursday? What do you think?

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined and anagrams are CAPITALISED. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.

Across

1a Mean time retained in stir (12)
INTERMEDIATE: anagram (in stir) of TIME RETAINED.

9a Range including peak over Australia, perhaps (9)
ANTIPODES: a mountain range in South America outside (including) a synonym of peak + abbreviation of over (as in cricket, which consistently proves to be a very useful mine of information for setters).

10a Shock causing alarming real emotion, initially (5)
SCARE: initial letters (initially) of the first five words of the clue. I was debating whether to indicate the definition by underlining the first word only or the first five. Either would work, methinks.

11a Discontented illegals prosecuted then released (6)
ISSUED: discontent (i.e. remove the contents of) illegals + synonym of prosecuted…although our legal friends may say that prosecution is a criminal rather than a civil case?

12a In rage, give out pain (8)
AGGRIEVE: anagram (out) of RAGE GIVE.

13a Sweetheart ran, ran away (6)
ELOPED: take the heart of swEet and add a synonym for ran.

15a Detectives walk taking lieutenant’s first shift (8)
DISPLACE: abbreviation for senior detectives + synonym of walk outside (taking) the first letter of lieutenant.

18a Phantom unstable particles without nucleus (8)
SPECTRAL: anagram (unstable) of PARTICLES without its central letter (nucleus).

19a Chap, say, with ace wine shop (6)
BODEGA: a three-letter slang synonym of chap + abbreviation for say (as in for example) + abbreviation for ace.

21a Unemotional sex rejected in novel (8)
RETICENT: a rather dated two-letter word meaning sex backwards (rejected) inside (in) a synonym of novel (an adjective which has nothing to do with books).

23a Origin of impertinent language we hear (6)
SOURCE: homophone (we hear) of a word meaning “impertinent language”.

26a Game of skill inside empty dives? (5)
DARTS: three-letter word meaning skill inside DiveS.

27a Worried about sweetheart giving reprimand (9)
CARPETING: Ray T is teasing us. The sweetheart here is not E, but a largely northern three-letter word meaning darling. Put this inside a word meaning worried.

28a One gives complaint involving new player (12)
BENEFACTRESS: four-letter word meaning complaint outside (involving) abbreviation for new + a female who might tread the boards (player).

Down

1d Fancy one with wealth comprising silver (7)
IMAGINE: single letter one + a synonym of wealth (think “rich source”) outside (comprising) the chemical symbol for silver.

2d Carries children around end of hike (5)
TOTES: synonym of children outside (around) the last letter (end of) hikE.

3d Queen up, ready for show (9)
REPRESENT: regnal abbreviation of our beloved late Queen backwards (up – this is a down clue) + synonym of ready.

4d Objects and stops … (4)
ENDS: double definition.

5d … certain GI sniper holding up badge (8)
INSIGNIA: hidden word upside down (holding up) in the first three letters of the clue. We may ignore the ellipses here.

6d Support uprising carrying a weapon (5)
TASER: synonym for support upside down (uprising) outside (carrying) A.

7d Steep charge to support staff (8)
MACERATE: synonym of charge (think price) below (to support) a synonym of staff (as in club). The definition is a verb, even though it looks like an adjective.

8d Separate Church denomination’s leader in diocese (6)
SECEDE: abbreviation for church + the first letter of denomination inside (in) a synonym of diocese.

14d Capsize open vessel (8)
OVERTURN: synonyms of open + vessel.

16d Support sole gutless nationalist supporter (9)
PROPONENT: synonyms of support + sole and the first and last letters (gutless) of NationalisT.

17d Salt swallowed by simple crustacean (8)
BARNACLE: the chemical symbol for salt inside (swallowed by) a synonym of simple reveals the type of crustacean that sticks to the bottom of boats. The image below is for Jane to enjoy!

18d Walk in street on journey (6)
STRIDE: abbreviation for street + synonym of journey (think taxis).

20d Retaliates in craven gesture (7)
AVENGES: hidden word clue – our answer is concealed in words 3 & 4.

22d Thrown facing English class (5)
CASTE: a synonym of thrown (let he who is without sin…) + abbreviation for English.

24d Jack up using beams, reportedly (5)
RAISE: homophone (reportedly) of a word meaning beams.

25d Occasionally fair legal department (4)
AREA: every other letter (occasionally) of “fair legal”.


Quickie Pun: DUMB + ASK + CUSS = DAMASCUS

67 comments on “DT 30537”

  2. 28a was my final entry in this highly enjoyable puzzle from the master of concise clueing. As is often the case with this setter, picking a favourite is hard as the list is extensive, but I will select 18a for the surface read.

    My thanks to Ray T and Shabbo.

  3. Now that really was a 3! Last in 28a which had steam coming out of my ears.
    Nothing unfair or obscure and some elegant clues.
    Many thanks to compiler.

  4. A very pleasurable rattle through for me today until I got tripped up…
    Seeing a second sweetheart arise in 27a should have warned me it was not an e I should have been worrying about, but sadly it did not until I had all the checkers.
    And then in 28a I was sure I had the right answer from the clue despite my answer being two letters too short, I fear I suffered a case of mental blindness to the lady players…
    I had ticks against 12 clues today so let me just give my fotd which was 17d – very sneaky.
    Thanks to Ray T for another cracking puzzle and to Shabbo

  5. The Master of Brevity at his very best! 2.5*/5*

    Candidates for favourite – 9a, 19a, 26a, 14d, 17d, and 24d – and the winner is 9a with an Honourable Mention for 26a for correctly calling it a game.

    Thanks to Mr T and Shabbo.

  6. RayT quite generous.
    Many complex constructions.
    Pleasure to unravel.
    Special mention 1 and 28a
    And 17d.
    In summary **/4.5*
    Many thanks, also to
    Shabbo.

  7. Our usual enjoyable biweekly puzzle from Mr T – thanks to him and Shabbo.
    My ticks went to 19a, 28a and 17d.

    The Django Toughie today is pretty gentle and very entertaining – do give it a go!

  8. The usual fine Fursday fortnightly fare from Milk ‘T-ray’ (such a great shout from AB)

    He has taken brevity to another level today. I don’t think he has ever got under the 5 word average mark. There’s a challenge.

    Lots to like with my LOI being, like many others, 28a. It’s safe to say that RayT has used up his annual quota of the word ‘support’ in one crossword!

    My podium is 11a, 12a and 3d.

    Many thanks to the man himself and The Shabster.

    3*/4*

  9. 2*/5*. Lovely jubbly with 28a requiring the most head scratching and last one in. I can’t split 18a & 19a sp I am going to risk the wrath of Kath and have joint favourites today.

    Many thanks to RayT and to Shabbo.

  10. Cracking puzzle from Mr T today. Succinct clues which also contained some clever misdirection, 28a being a perfect example. 26a has a great surface and, having played in many a dive, gets my vote for top spot.

  11. A quick completion though an inability to parse 17d (had forgotten the chemical symbol for salt) slightly took the shine off. 28a was my favourite & raised a smile given yesterday’s comments on wokery occasioned by batter. ✅s also for 9&27a along with 9,16&17d.
    Thanks to Ray T & to Shabbo.
    Ps A surprisingly quick Toughie grid fill but parsing some of the blighters another matter.

    1. I agree with yourself and Gazza about Django’s Toughie today. Fairly gentle but with 2 or 3 right sneaky tricksters in there. Good fun!

  12. Today’s small win is getting the DT on the day because Mrs H is away and she usually hogs it so I do the puzzle a day late.

    Enjoyable solve today **/*** for me.

    Last one in was 28a which was also my cotd, but lots of other excellent constructions. My only bung-in was 21a after I missed the ‘sex’ word.

      1. Hmm, I’ll have to see if we can work out a deal. At present I’m only allowed the sport section on the day 😳

        I know I could do the puzzles online, but on the whole I like the traditional paper version so I can scribble down things like anagram fodder if necessary.

  13. What a pleasurable challenge of a puzzle. I seemed to make heavy weather of it but enjoyed every moment. It’s always more difficult when many of the checkers are vowels. Solved in a haphazard way today, finding lots of lovely words and clever surface reads. I loved Ray T’s deception in 27a. That put an end to my complacency! So many clever clue constructions that it is hard to choose a favourite, but I’ll go for 17d with 9a and 8d sharing the podium. Thanks to Shabbo. I didn’t need your help today but loved the barnacle pic. Thanks Ray T for giving us another wonderful Thursday puzzle.

  14. A strange one for me in that I completed about half of the puzzle by solving via the definitions rather than the cryptic element. As usual, when others comment about what a breeze they found a puzzle to be, I struggle, wrenching the answers from the furthest corners of the remnants of my brain.
    Our Valentine’s evening: H cooked vegetarian steaks, and we watched Love It Or List It* followed by the second half of Lazio v Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Such romance!

    *They made the correct decision.

    Thanks to RayTee and Shabba-dabba-doo

  15. RayT at his easiest by a country mile. I have to say that because I finished with a bit of word wizardry and much longer, it seems, than others. 17d my clear winner today but I could nominate too many for honourable mentions so won’t.

    Thanks to Shabbo and RayT and a very honourable mention to AB for his superb entry under 1 above.

  17. Milk Tray (genius, AB!) at his delightful, concise best. Twas a hop, skip and a jump until 28a’s Becher’s Brook. I didn’t see that coming – brilliant. Very jolly indeed. Thanks to RayT and Shabbo.

  18. Another fine puzzle from Ray T
    Whilst Shabbo remembers the date he
    Should fix in his mind.
    These birthdays I find
    Remind me of Colin (who’s 80).

  19. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle with ticks all over the place. Last one in was 28a.
    My favourite was 7d.
    Thanks to Mr T and Shabbo.

  20. I haven’t got the puzzle in front of me as awaiting the Chairman of Newton Abbot racecourse who I am entertaining to lunch at a seaside Chinese in Plymouth but recall that my last one in was 1a which for some reason I couldn’t see and nudged me into *** time. The lurkers and helpful RayT anagrams were instrumental in an otherwise pleasant solve at **** pleasure rating. Thanks Shabbo and himself.

  21. Plenty of our setter’s trademarks today including his alter ego who seems to get a fairly regular mention. Like others, it was 28a that held out until the last gasp and I also had something of a tussle with 8d. Long list of favourites – 9,19&25a plus 8,14&17d.

    Quite right, AB, the lady does indeed love Mr RayT and sends him her devotions along with thanks to Shabbo for a fine review and the picture of the ‘crustacean’! Shame on you for leaving the card buying until the eleventh hour – hope that doesn’t mean that it will be a garage forecourt offering………

  22. Wotta lotta fun!
    Liked 13, 21, 28a plus downs 14, 17, and 18.
    (Orion has already mentioned the unwokeness of 28a!)
    Much delayed by 17d; as an ex-chemist I always assume salt is a sailor in xwordland, so lots of barking up wrong trees!
    Nominating 21a and 14d as equal faves.
    Many thanks to RayT for the conciseness and to Shabbo for the blog (and Happy Birthday Mrs S for tomorrow!)

    2. The worst thing was going off on a daydream last night about how cool it’d be to put nacl in a clue, not realising it was right there. Was trying to squish ‘tar’ in for another ten minutes! 🤦

    3. I have an idea that female performers actually like being called ‘actors’ and consider ‘actress’ to be condescending.

  23. I guess it was inevitable after some plain-sailing days that we would have to put our thinking caps on today and indeed that was the case for me. Took a while to get going but then the South came on board followed eventually by North. 28a brought up the rear possibly due to player not being PC these days but it turned out to be my Fav. Thank you RayT and Shabbo.

  24. 3/4. Some tricky bits in this very interesting puzzle. I got 28a but had to reverse engineer the why as I also had to with 9a. Thanks to Ray T and Shabbo for the clues. I had a colleague who always introduced his wife as the current Mrs Pearson. He obviously likes to live dangerously.

  25. So this fortnightly offering from RayT, was definitely at the harder end of his spectrum IMHO, at least as far as the east side of the puzzle is concerned. Eventually all came to light but it took some doing. A few words in this one that are certainly not used in my everyday life, but are nonetheless quite straightforward. Required a little thought today.

    Overall 2.5*/3.5* for me

    Favourites include 13a, 21a, 26a, 3d, 6d & 17d — with winner 17d
    Liked that one!
    Smiles from 10a, 26a & 22d

    Thanks to RayT & Shabbo for hints/blog

  26. Can’t claim an unaided finish today, as needed Shabbo’s nudge in 7d to point me in the correct direction. Definitely a Homer Simpson moment when the penny dropped. However I’m taking the positive of the majority being completed unaided, which for me on a Ray T Thursday is good going. Many great clues, including 9a which made me smile. Hats off to the maestro, and Shabbo for the hints.

  27. Super puzzle. A marked step up in difficulty after the last few days, and a pleasure to have a number of clues where I sat pondering where MrT was going until pennies dropped and lights were seen. Great surfaces, trademark brevity, everything scrupulously fair and GK all very accessible; two sweethearts and two supports but not an undergarment in sight – how novel!

    3* / 4*

    Many thanks to RayT and Shabbo

  28. Another great puzzle from the consistent Ray T. Fine clues, a decent challenge and an enjoyable solve. I have ticked a fair few and will pick 19a as my favourite. 3*/4.5*.

  29. Not completed without 3 very helpful hints from Shabbo. Ray T us always a challenge because if his succinct clues. I keep saying – there must be something more here, to no avail.
    My favourite was 17a purely because of the old-fashioned casual word for a male.

  30. A lovely crossword and not too tricky, even for me as my brain is these days.
    My last answer was 28a – just couldn’t see it.
    I found the left side much easier than t’other.
    I’ve lost track of anagrams today but it felt, at the time, there didn’t appear to be many.
    I saw the answer 27a quickly and then took it ages to see why – dim, today!
    Too many to pick from today – 13 and 19a and 2 and 17d. My favourite was 9a – didn’t need to risk break my own rule!
    With thanks to RayT for the crossword and to Shabbo for the hints.
    Now I have to go to look at the Toughie side – not a hope of being able doing the crossword but looking at Gazza’s cartoons are always brilliant!

  31. Another very enjoyable guzzle to follow yesterdays . I loved the reverse lurker at 5d and the lego ckues at 17d at 27a but COTD is the splendid 28a. Thanks to Ray T for another winner and to Shabbo for the hints.

  32. Good afternoon

    What better way to spend a Thursday afternoon than in the company of the Mighty Mr T?

    Thoroughly enjoyed today’s crozzie; I must give 7d a special mention for the classic piece of misdirection. My last to fall is 28a, and is COTD this afty.

    Many thanks to Ray T and to Shabbo.

  33. I struggled with this, as is often the case with Ray T, as I often cannot see what I am looking for. However ai persisted and apart from 28a I managed without the hints. I am therefore pleased. As ever I am astounded at how clever this setter is. I cannot pick a favourite and need a more detailed look at the hints when I have recovered to explain a few of my answers.

    Many thanks to Ray T and to Shabbo for the hints

  34. Not easy but I thought I did pretty well. In the end, I was stuck in the SE and resorted to some ehelp to get going again, but I found I needed even more help to finish, in total four answers were from word search. Natch, 28a was one of them, couldn’t sort that one out. There was a lot of good stuff here, I’ve whittled my faves down to either 9a or 19a, I’ll toss a loony if I can find one.
    Thanks to RayT, I can’t believe I’m finally on your wavelength. Thanks Shabbo for explaining a lot, I hope the current Mrs. Shabbo has a wonderful birthday.

    1. P.S. I had endless trouble trying to get on the puzzle site today, I nearly gave up. What are they playing at? Then the puzzles popped up, just as I was about to throw in the towel. Gimme a break chaps, I’m way too IT stupid to battle a site that should be friendly to old biddies.

  35. Grrr … went wrong at the very start with 1a (‘interference’) and that made the NE corner very tricky! Great clues though – thanks RayT and Shabbo A few

  36. I had to ask myself was this really a Thursday? I completed the first half of the puzzle quite quickly but had to spend longer teasing out parts of the second half. It didn’t help that I put the wrong answer in for 21a which led to some time-consuming frustration trying to get 17 & 23d. Decided to check the hints and once I saw the goose picture realised 21a needed a rethink. Many thanks to Ray T for an entertaining puzzle and to Shabbo for the hints. I do hope Mrs Shabbo is pleased with her card tomorrow and you have lined up a nice day of birthday treats for her!

  37. Evening all. My thanks, as always, to Shabbo for the decryption and to everybody who left a comment. Special thanks to AgentB for the image! Much appreciated.

    RayT

    3. Good evening, Mr T and thank you so much for remembering us this time! Will you be delivering some of those lovely chocolates soon?

  38. I got stuck on 28a but Shabbo helped me sort it out, some nice misdirections and satisfying anagrams. Many thanks to both Setter and Hinter. 19a and 14d were nice, classic clues. It has been a lovely sunny spring day here.

  39. 28a wasn’t my last on, but it was one of them. I completely missed the feminine reference in both the clue and answer, before I get accused of male chauvinism nothing could be further from the truth as I would use the same words for both sexes. As DG points out women find it condescending, so do I. I don’t do political correctness either. Any road up, brilliant crossword as always from Rayt. I set off like a house on fire then hit ‘the wall’, it was fairly slow going after that. Favourite was 27a for being led up the garden path, I wonder where that phrase comes from? I hope it has no sinister connotations. Thanks to Rayt and Shabbo, my predictive text is still not having your name.

  40. Found this one quite hard compared with the last three days. I’ve dipped in and out a few times as I have a friend coming to stay so been doing some housework ,so as at now I have only completed about half. I ll hopefully complete over dinner, let’s see. Probably will need some hints. Thanks Ray T and Shabbo. Think I may need some hints

  41. I am still unclear about the parsing of 17d. I understand NA but what is the synonym of simple? Help please.

  42. My mind usually sinks on a Thursday when i see concise clues as I tend to struggle under those conditions, but i found todays Puzzle highly enjoyable with my only disappointment being that when I finished and turned to the blog ( which I always do though i rarely comment) that I was too early ! Its been a long day since then.
    Thanks to the setter and the blogger and the regular contributors.

Comments are closed.