DT 30552 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30552

by pommers  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30552

Hints and tips by pommers

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Hola from Almoradí where spring has unsprung itself in the last few days and it’s been very windy. Apparently there was a tornado on the other side of town from where I live last Saturday that did a fair bit of damage to sun awnings  and suchlike.

Today’s puzzle has to be a Campbell as there are three puns in the quickie.  On the whole it’s not too tricky but, as usual, there are a couple of head-scratchers.  I enjoyed it and I’ll be interested to hear what you all thought of it.

As usual my podium three are in blue.  The definitions are underlined in the clues and the answers are under the “click here” buttons so don’t click on them unless you really want to see the answer.  Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Plenty of silver stocked by British store originally (4)
BAGS:  Insert (stocked by) the chemical symbol for silver into a B and an S (British Store originally).

3a           Prompt plonker to embark (55)
IDIOT BOARD:  A word for a plonker and a word meaning to embark, on a ship perhaps, together give a slang term for an autocue.

9a           Complete system may be inappropriate, if not loud (4)
UNIT:  If you put the letter for loud in music notation into this answer it would mean inappropriate.

10a        Aberrant, sinner rose in a cantankerous state (10)
ORNERINESS:  Anagram (aberrant) of SINNER ROSE.

11a        Check a second one’s leather (7)
CHAMOIS:  A charade of an abbreviation of check, the A from the clue, a two letter word meaning a second, the letter that looks like one and finally the S from the clue.

13a        A grant secured by the hurdler, maybe (7)
ATHLETE:  Start with the A and THE from the clue and insert (secured by) a word meaning to grant or allow to get what a hurdler is an example of.

14a        Hardworking threesome on river with us (11)
INDUSTRIOUS:  Place a word for a threesome, of musicians perhaps, after a middle eastern river and follow with the US from the clue.

18a        Serenade Ivy, hopelessly? Don’t give up, no matter what (5,3,3)
NEVER SAY DIE:  Anagram (hopelessly) of SERENADE IVY.

21a        Runs French city club (7)
RANGERS:  R(uns) followed by a French city gives a Scottish football club.

22a        A week facing custody may be difficult to deal with (7)
AWKWARD:  A from the clue and an abbreviation of week followed by a word for custody.

23a        Easy to name leader of several nitwits (10)
SIMPLETONS:  A charade of a word meaning easy, the TO from the clue, an N(ame) and an S (leader of Several).

24a        One nursing husband in pain (4)
ACHE:  Take a word for one, in a pack of cards perhaps, and insert (nursing) an H(usband).

25a        A drop in the ocean? (10)
SPLASHDOWN:  Cryptic definition of how the Americans return a space capsule to earth.

26a        Reword part of deed italicised (4)
EDIT:  A lurker hiding in (part of) the last two words.

Down

1d           First-rate low golf shot (4-4)
BLUE CHIP:  A word for low, as in sad, and a short range golf shot used to put the ball on the green.

2d           Clown in ghastly supermarket (8)
GRIMALDI:  A word for ghastly followed by a German supermarket.

4d           Runs quick  pub game (5)
DARTS:  Double definition.

5d           A regular at the Met, perhaps, in poorer age, unfortunately (5-4)
OPERAGOER:  Anagram (unfortunately) of POORER AGE.

6d           Witty type, cheerful and flash (6,5)
BRIGHT SPARK:  A word for cheerful followed by a flash.

7d           Examination of American uniform (1,5)
A LEVEL:  A(merican) followed by a word meaning uniform or flat.

8d           Somewhere nice to live one leaving wants (3,3)
DES RES:  You needs a word meaning wants and remove the I (one leaving).

12d        Influential film-maker‘s role (now less involved) (5,6)
ORSON WELLES:  Anagram (involved) of ROLE NOW LESS.

15d        Like “Brideshead” looked at again? (9)
REVISITED:  If you know the title of the Evelyn Waugh novel and TV series featuring Brideshead Castle this clue is very easy.  If you don’t know you’ll just have to guess.

16d        Forward  subbed (8)
ADVANCED:  Double definition.

17d        Tie with father, full of energy and passion (4,4)
DEAT HEAT:  Take on of the words for father (3) and insert an E (full of Energy) to get the first word.  The second word is a synonym of passion or fire.

19d        Conservative rebels in times of intense difficulty (6)
CRISES:  C(onservative) followed by a word meaning rebels.

20d        A shiny paint — English celebrity put on litres (6)
ENAMEL:  E(nglish) followed by another word for a celebrity and anL(itres).

22d        A good recent US vice-president (5)
AGNEW:  A from the clue followed by a G(ood) and a word meaning recent or not old to get Tricky Dicky Nixon’s vice president.

Podium today is 13a, 25a and 7d with 13a on the top step.

Quick crossword puns:

Top line:        BUFFERS     +     OWNS     =     BUFFER ZONES

Middle line:   MISTER     +     MEANER     =     MISDEMEANOUR

Bottom line:     CORE     +     TISANES     =     COURTESANS

89 comments on “DT 30552”

  1. Great stuff from our regular Monday setter, with the amusing 2d on top of my podium, ahead of 21 and 25a. I thought 10a was an American phrase, certainly not in common usage this side of the pond.

    Many thanks to our triple punner and pommers.

    1. I’ve replaced your name (presumably) with your usual alias. If you actually wanted to change your alias let me know and I’ll reinstate what you wrote.

      1. Thanks Gazza. I am breaking in a new laptop and inadvertently put my name instead of YS.

  2. Pretty standard Monday fare at 1.5*/*** from Mr C. My only head scratcher was 10a which was a new one for me but with all the cross checkers just about guessable. A pleasant start to the week with my favourite being 17d. Thanks to pommers and himself.

  3. 3*/3*. I found today’s puzzle much tougher than usual. It was mostly enjoyable but has a distinctly American flavour. The only instance that was beyond the pale was 10a. This is 100% non-British and, in my book, has no place in a UK crossword without an indicator.

    Thanks to the setter and to pommers.

    1. I agree – I don’t know about today – just wasn’t on the right wavelength – found it difficult and to be honest not much fun.

      Thanks to pommers

    2. I’m with you on that. I would not have thought it was a proper word but I dare say the Big Books say otherwise. I needed Pommers for that one and even I, as a self appointed Anagram Queen, could not work it out. 😟

    3. Today I’m going to agree with you. I needed an anagram solver, (yes, Madame anagram, herself, needed a solver) to get 10a and was surprised to see it here, it’s outright slang, no?

    4. Awful word and can’t say I’ve ever heard it used in the 42 years I lived in the US.

    5. ***/** Glad to see I wasn’t the only one to find this tougher than a usual Monday. Never heard of 8d but then again I’ve been in the US since before Margaret Thatcher became PM. I have heard of 10a but I also needed a bit of electronic help even with most of the down letters in and with full knowledge that it was an anagram. 3a was also new to me but guessable from the clue. Thanks to setter and pommers.

      1. You’ve used a different alias so this needed moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

  4. I enjoyed this Campbell puzzle – slightly more challenging than usual with, as Pommers says, a couple of head scratchers. In contrast I found the quick crossword a real challenge in places. 10a my LOI and I instantly wondered whether RD will have something to say about it! A near perfect anagram: others ratio – I loved the variety of clue types – and many good surface reads. COTD the wonderful 2d, with podium places to 14a & 21a, with runners-up 25a & 15d.

    1.5 / 4

    Many thanks to Campbell & Pommers

    Edit to add: and having posted this, I see I was right!

  5. It’s Monday :good: It’s Campbell :good: but he has definitely upped the ante this week and spoiled the quality with the likes of 10a – 3*/2.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 3a, 26a, and 1d – and the winner is 1d.

    Thanks to Campbell and pommers.

  6. Hadn’t realised 10a was from over the pond. I’d never heard of it either & it seemed a decidedly 22a word. Agree that it was trickier than usual for a Campbell production (as was the Quickie for me too) – enjoyed the solve though maybe not quite as much as much as I usually do on a Monday. ✅s for 3&14a along with 1&2d. I don’t shop at 2d but the last time I found myself in one of their stores I have to say the clue’s surface read was pretty accurate so trust it can’t have been typical of the general standard of their estate.
    Thanks to Campbell & to pommers.

  7. Gosh, that took me by surprise. I had to work at that, especially in Geordieland.

    10a is hilarious: I’ve never heard if it, spelling it is hard as is its pronunciation. Talk about being put through the wringer. That clue was almost a crossword on its own!

    It was a very enjoyable guzzle with some brilliant surfaces and fab constructions.

    Some of you may not know that big companies are called 1d as it’s the most valuable one in a casino.

    My podium is 3a (plonker – such a top word), 14a and 2d.

    Many thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

    3*/4*

    1. I was getting quite excited looking up 10a’s etymology because I was intrigued to know its root, wondering if it was Latin or Greek. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. It derives from (I assume I’m allowed to say it)…..ordinary!

      I cannot believe it has been officially recognized. Saying that, it doesn’t really surprise me as gonna, wanna, gotta and gotten (I despise that one) are now so common…in more ways than one.

      This dreadful word will never cross my lips.

      1. Something nags at the back of my mind telling me that ‘gotten’ was used by The Bard, which if true Must Make It All Right, however ugly it may be as a word. The other three are all common lazy formulations of two separate words and so should be condemned to the abyss. Innit.

        1. Good shout.

          As much as I admire Billy Waggledagger, I can’t give the ‘thumbs-up’ to ‘gotten’.

          It ain’t all right to me but all wrong.

          It hurts too much.

          1. Gotten is an old form of English, hence it surviving more in American usage, as they have preserved many of the olden parts of the language. I think “-en” was the standard past or passive participle, which has largely phased out in British English.

            1. ….but is worming its way back in with the yoof of today, having been influenced by American singers and influencers etc.

      3. I confess to using gonna, wanna, et al, when I’m trying to be Miss Smartypants! And, I might add, I’ll keep doing so.

        1. I love the ironic juxtaposition of two American slang words and a Latin expression.

        1. Long before he rose to fame in OFAH, David Jason first came to my attention in an utterly daft and extremely funny TV comedy in 1974 called The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs. I suspected then he was destined for great things even though that particular series didn’t prove very popular and very few people seem ever to have heard of it.

            1. Very dated, I’m sure, and puerile. But DJ’s comic timing was fully formed even then, and it appealed to my childish sense of humour.

    3. I would think the 10a word (at least the adjectival version of it) has featured in every cowboy movie ever made 🙂

      1. As has words like gonna and wanna.

        We have to accept our cousins over The Pond, warts and all….or is that ‘anawl’.

  8. Perhaps a smidgen trickier than usual for a Monday but nothing to scare the horses and it read pretty well. Not heard of 2d’s clown but ‘twas very fairly clued and 18a was fun. I didn’t have a problem with 10a – don’t we all love old Jimmy Stewart flicks? He must have said that on screen at least a dozen times! Thanks to Campbell and pommers.

  9. Slow start but once underway no real obstacles apart from 10a where MrG’s help had to be sought however overall for me not a barrowload of fun. N gave smoothest ride. Liked surfaces of 22a and 1d. Thank you Campbell and Pommers.

  10. 10a, really, are we living in 1940s Arkansas or what?
    This one felt more like a later week puzzle to me, not the usual Monday breeze by any measure, still enjoyable nonetheless. Loved 3a which has to be my clue of the day.

  11. I found this quite tricky to start with but once I had a few checkers in place got on OK. Thought 2d was absolutely brilliant. Feeling every so slightly smug as I have just put a new ‘fake’ cartridge into my HP Envy printer and it thanked me for using a genuine HP cartridge. So there HP!

    2. Watch out, though.
      I put in a fake HP cartridge , it thanked me too then absolutely failed to work.
      No joy when I asked for a refund….in fact no reply.
      Sticking to the real ones now.

      1. My fake (Amazon, what else) laser toner works just fine. The print does tend to rub off occasionally, but I’m only printing for me now so it doesn’t matter.

      2. I can recommend Cartridgesave.co.uk. They refill genuine cartridges at a fraction of the price, respond to orders very quickly with free delivery and remind you when you might be needing a new one.

  12. I found this more difficult than usual for a Monday, but pleasantly so. 10a was a new word for me and I needéd electronic help, but I don’t think I’ll bother trying to commit it to memory.A good variety of clue types, not too many anagrams and some well thought out surface reads made for an enjoyable solve with sufficient head scratching to merit a sense of achievement on completion. Lots of choice for favourite. I liked 3a, 14a, 25a and 2d in no particular order. Thanks to Campbell and pommers.

  13. As appropriate for Monday
    But delay in solving
    10 and 21a popped me
    Into ** time
    Former a new word
    For me.
    15d a gem.
    Many a smile eg 3a and
    8d.
    Many thanks Campbell and
    pommers.

  14. Really enjoyed this – full of interest and challenge.
    10a is a great word, hardly used to day but familiar from the past.
    Many thanks.

  15. A good way start the week but no walk on the park. Last one in 21a.This and 1d my favourites. 10a certainly not in my top three.
    Many thanks to all.

  16. Enjoyed this Monday challenge, with the exception of 10a, which felt rather out of place. I do admire Campbell for frequently giving us 3 puns in his Quickies – some of our setters seem to struggle to produce even a singleton!
    Rosettes going to 3,14&25a plus 2d – that one being my favourite.

    Thanks to Campbell and to pommers for the review.

  17. 10a is being arrested this afternoon and will stand trial where consideration will be undertaken regarding placement on THE LIST. It looks like an open and shut case to me.
    Otherwise all was well; quite a tricky fellow but to paraphrase Senf ‘I was able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues’. Isn’t ‘Spiro’ a magnificent first name?

    Went to the theatre yesterday – relatively local, The Mill At Sonning, where they feed you with jam roly-poly on a Sunday lunchtime and then expect you to stay awake in darkened auditorium. I found that a challenge and was grateful for H nudging me a couple of times.
    However this doesn’t compare to when my late mother visited the same theatre about twenty years ago for a matinee performance, full of people of mature years. One lady opposite my mother had fallen into a deep slumber. As part of the play a doorbell rang. The poor lady who was snoozing leapt up from her seat shouting “Who is it? Who’s there?” before her friends calmed her down. My mother reported that many audience members thought it a clever Pinter-esque part of the play.

    Thanks to Campbell and pommers from the Vega Baja del Segura.

    1. Lovely anecdote Terence and a chuckle, thank you.

      Spiro is indeed a great name but must admit I found myself wondering – very briefly – how Aggers had time to be a VPOTUS as well as doing the much more important job of commentary for TMS.

      Defence of 10a: it may be thoroughly American, but surely ornery is a word that has appeared in every cowboy western since talkies were first shown, and possibly before? And in all the “Little House On The Prairie” books I read as a young child!

      1. Gotta admit I hadn’t really thunk 10a properly through & until I read your observation (& ALP) – of course I’d come across it before – can almost here Jimmy Stewart saying it.

  18. i think there is a typo in the ‘CLICK HERE’ for 17 down.

    an enjoyable romp today completed in * time with 1d and 9a giving me the most trouble. thanks to the setter and the reviewer.

  19. A very enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Campbell and pommers.
    Apart from the amusing 2d I particularly liked 3a, 25a and 1d.

  20. A spot on Monday puzzle, a most enjoyable steady solve with no hold ups!
    Liked 25a, favourites were11a and 15d, I did revisit this splendid series not long ago especially the univercity days.
    Going for a **/****

  21. **/*** for me today.
    For my top three I liked the clown, the place to live and the amusing drop in the ocean.
    Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  22. I spent an inordinate amount of time on 10a and in trying to be a Sport in 1d. Once I fell into the second word the first jumped in swiftly. Just no. 10. I am backing Terence all the way in this and will testify for the prosecution. 2d was an outstanding favourite. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Solver. Off to Addenbrookes this afternoon for biopsies on three suspect moles. What fun.

  23. Got through this unaided but not my cup of tea today…..just when I thought I was getting the hang of Campbell.

    Thanks to the setter and to Pommers

  24. Another good start to the non-work week with this Campbell puzzle. Very enjoyable with the usual clues that made me smile along with the answers.

    1.5*/4* for me

    Favourites include 10a, 25a, 2d, 7d, 8d & 22d — with winner 2d as made me laugh.
    Smiles too from 1a, 23a, 6d & 22d

    Thanks to Campbell & pommers for hints/blog

  25. The excellence of 2d made up and more for the unmitigated squalor of 10a.

    Thanks to Pommers and Campbell.

  26. Hello everyone!
    A combination of things that I’d never heard of in my life and a few others that I just couldn’t do made it all pretty tough today, for me anyway.
    Other things I do admit that I really should have managed – give in!!
    I guessed 22a – I’m not great at British politicians and utterly at hopeless at American ones.
    Do we know if Campbell comes from the other side of the pond?
    I liked 18a (specially once I stopped making the last word “day”) and 22a and 2 and 6d.
    My favourite by a long way was 15d – I loved the book, the series and the music, just wonderful!
    Thanks to Campbell for the crossword and to pommers for the hints too.

  27. More difficult for me than the usual Monday offering. I needed a couple of hints to finish, one of which was for 10a which defeated me, even though I live “over the pond” and I knew it was an anagram. Loved 2d and 25a. ***/*** Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  28. Feel somewhat deflated after this Campbell offering. Needed Pommers’ help in confirming 3a which was new to me and 10a that I never expected to find in a DT crossword. Also spent far too long trying to find a golf related answer to 1d. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  29. 10A does seem a weird entry, doesn’t it! And it is an anagram! That will not please some people. Was there no way around it? I’m going to ignore it actually, and say that this was a very enjoyable Monday puzzle. Accordingly, I’m going to nominate 23A as I personally know several nitwits.

    Thanks Campbell if it is you, and pommers too.

    1. Jeanne, having spotted 10a was an anagram, my first attempt was “erroniness”, which doesn’t exist but is probably less unpleasant than the answer!

  30. OK but tough for a Monday esp that nasty Americanism 10a. Typical Campbell, little to enjoy.
    ***/**
    Thx for the hints

  31. I’m not sure that I would have solved 10a if Pipette had not leaned over my shoulder and given me the answer, telling me that it’s one of my characteristics. Hmph.
    Anyway, I enjoyed the whole exercise and appreciate the slightly different style.
    Thank you Campbell and pommers.

  32. Great crossword, really enjoyed it. Got stuck on 10a and see I wasn’t alone, but eventually managed to work it out and was thrilled that my guess was right. Not so lucky with the much easier 21a however, and had to concede defeat on it. Kept thinking of the Belgian city Anvers – so close but still a fail. Loved 18a, 25a, 12d and 22d. Many thanks to Campbell for an excellent start to the week and Pommers for the hints.

  33. You can put me on the 3a for this one. Bottom half went in fairly quickly but top half felt like it was written by someone else. Totally agree with Paul Gowans above, found little enjoyment in this today. Surely 4a should read runs quickly… I really dislike the non use of “ly” these days, my English teachers would have covered your paper in red ink if you did this. I do think that started over here. I too cringed when first hearing “gotten” and still can’t bring myself to use it, right up there with “very excellent” – it’s either excellent or it isn’t. Thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  34. A tricky Monday and a DNF for me, I didn’t know the clown. I’ve already said my say about 10a. On the other hand, there was some good stuff, 1d and 6d were tops for me. I guessed 21a, I forgot the “club”. I got 18a right away, then worked out that it was an anagram. Is the abbreviation at 8d allowed?
    Thank you Campbell, glad of the workout that was doable, and to pommers for helping me to finish and some explanations.

    1. Hi Merusa, it wasn’t my favourite, but 8d is listed as informal/jargon in both the BRB and Collins.

  35. The BRB says that 10a is “North American dialect”.

    It really should have had an indicator of some kind, in my book.

  36. Finally finished! I had to come back to it after a busy day and as often happens the ones that I was stuck on fell into place. I did find it tricky as there were bits of general knowledge that I didn’t know but managed to make guesses and then use e help to check them. Like others I struggled to work out 10a. However after all that I feel great satisfaction in having finished and I am pleased to see it was not just me who found it hard.

    Many thanks to Campbell and to Pommers for the hints which I will now read to clarify a couple.

  37. For what it’s worth. I have just asked my California born wife if she recognised 10a and she said: ‘Of course I do.’. That was then followed by a tirade against Americanisms creeping into UK English…particularly ‘You guys’ which we both hate. Nothing so zealous as a convert.
    I enjoyed today’s crossword. 2d was my favourite followed by 25a.
    Thanks to the setter and for the hints.

  38. Found this a little trickier than recent Mondays ***/*** failed on 21a 😟 Favourites 1,2 & 7d Thanks to Campbell and to Pommers 😃

  39. Good evening

    As is the case with many of you, I had some trouble figuring out 10a. Most of the rest of today’s crozzie fell into place, although the SW quadrant proved to be the trickiest.

    Nevertheless, perfectly pitched for a Monday.

    My thanks to Campbell and Pommers.

  40. Not for the first time with a Campbell crossword I’m afraid but not one for me. There were a number I did not like, never heard of or just downright obscure. I’ve done easier toughies. As usual I was off wavelength. I’ll leave it there.

  41. 10a was a new one on me, although a very dim and distant bell rang that ‘ornery’ is an American word (possibly uttered by Abe Simpson) so I hammered it into place and hoped for the best.

  42. Finished in *** time. Like everyone else I didn’t like 10a but worked it out from the checkers then looked it up to see if it was a real word. I spent some time trying to find a clown called ****asda before realising I had the wrong supermarket. Thanks to Pommers for the blog.

  43. Some fun clues esp 5d and 25a. I also had never heard of the answer to 10a and having worked it out had to check if it existed.

  44. Found this quite hard, did it on a bus from Dublin to Galway, jet lagged and thought that I was just tired and having seen some of the comments, I realized that it was challenging.

  45. Was quite surprised to see that Albert II was considered a clown in 2d.
    La principauté de Monaco should complain.
    Had trouble with 10a until I managed to untangle the first 5 letters and check it.
    Liked 25a.
    Thanks to Campbell and to Pommers for the review.

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