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DT 30570

by Falcon  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30570

Hints and tips by Falcon

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Ottawa, where Mother Nature continues to be in a frolicsome mood. It can be -10 C with snow on the ground when one awakes and +10 C with bare ground by afternoon.

Campbell serves up a very gentle offering today in the Cryptic although I found the Quickie to be somewhat more of a test that usual.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

Across

1a   Right-winger, after drinks, makes up a tale (5,5)
SHORT STORY — a political right-winger following drinks of spirits

6a   Golf club: Irish one, not English (4)
IRON — the lexicographer’s abbreviation for the Irish language and the ONE from the clue with the single letter for English removed

10a   Envious politician (5)
GREEN — double definition; the colour associated with envy and an environmentally-conscious politician

11a   Get to know when positive (9)
ASCERTAIN — string together synonyms for when and positive or sure

12a   Sceptic acting so ridiculously (8)
AGNOSTIC — an anagram (ridiculously) of the two words in the middle of the clue

13a   Mannequin‘s exposed hand (5)
DUMMY — double definition; the second a term encountered in the card game bridge

15a   A space left blank editor got round (7)
AVOIDED — A from the clue, the name for a space left blank, and the usual shortened version of editor

17a   Passage right inside bar (7)
EXCERPT — the single letter for right inside bar or not including

19a   Fellow leaving Cambridgeshire market-town in pursuit of game (7)
HUNTING — a teaching fellow removed from a Cambridgeshire market-town

21a   Fruit with a soft cheese? No ta (7)
APRICOT — A from the clue, the abbreviated musical direction to play softly, and an Italian cheese with TA removed

22a   Cold, husband in Scottish river having capsized boat (5)
YACHT — the water tap symbol for cold and the genealogical abbreviation for husband inserted into the reversal (having capsized) of the longest river in Scotland

24a   Where there’s scope for a snapper to develop? (8)
DARKROOM — a cryptic definition of the location where one who snaps photos develops the fruits of their labour (or did at one time)

27a   Awfully upset foot is not in line with the others? (3,2,4)
OUT OF STEP — an anagram (awfully) of the two words following the indicator

28a   Chat with climbers finally going to summit (5)
SPEAK — the final letter of CLIMBERS going (next) to another word for summit

29a   Repeat code word (4)
ECHO — double definition; the second references a code word in the NATO phonetic alphabet

30a   To see this fairground attraction, good publican goes by coach (5,5)
GHOST TRAIN — concatenate the numismatists symbol for good, a publican, and to coach or teach

Down

1d   Indication of vice involving head of government (4)
SIGN — vice or moral shortcoming containing the initial letter of GOVERNMENT

2d   Covered with weeds throughout — gardener gutted, worried now (9)
OVERGROWN — another word for throughout or across, the initial and final letters (gutted) of GARDENER, and an anagram (worried) of NOW

3d   Dance beat good? Not half! (5)
TANGO — beat or thrash and GOOD with half the letters removed

4d   Sampled first drop of ouzo inside, and drank to someone’s health (7)
TOASTED — a synonym for sampled containing the initial letter (first drop) of OUZO

5d   Extremely rare bike to use over again (7)
RECYCLE — the initial and final letters (extremely) of RARE and another word for bike

7d   True leader of men in field (5)
REALM — true or genuine and the initial letter of MEN

8d   A new name in New York, say, in a government seen as overprotective? (5,5)
NANNY STATE — A from the clue and the single letters for new and name contained in the abbreviation for New York followed by another term for say or express verbally

9d   George Martin, for one, mixed up record (8)
PRODUCER — an anagram (mixed) of the final two words in the clue

14d   Tearful, my Rachel, so distraught (10)
LACHRYMOSE — an anagram (distraught) of the three words in the middle of the clue

16d   Tendency of female to fall asleep (5,3)
DRIFT OFF — a tendency to move, the OF from the clue, and the genealogical abbreviation for female

18d   Perhaps Tommy, troubled half-hearted rapper and cook (4,5)
ROCK OPERA — an anagram (troubled) of both RAPPER with one of its middle letters removed (half-hearted) and COOK

20d   Travel with wife, pay separately (2,5)
GO DUTCH — another word for to travel and a Cockney name for one’s wife

21d   A move not entirely suitable (7)
APROPOS — A from the clue and move or put forward a motion at a meeting with the final letter removed (not entirely)

23d   Hear start of carol at church (5)
CATCH — the initial letter of CAROL, AT from the clue, and the cartographer’s abbreviation for church

25d   I, during break, have another go at paper (5)
RESIT — insert the I from the clue into a break or period of relaxation

26d   Hide family beneath roof of synagogue (4)
SKIN — a synonym for family following (beneath in a down clue) the initial letter (roof in a down clue) of SYNAGOGUE

Being partial to this type of clue, I will go with the cryptic definition at 24a as my clue of the day. Which one did you enjoy most?

Quickie Pun (Top Row): RAIN + SOUP + REAM = REIGN SUPREME

Quickie Pun (Bottom Row) : CROW + KAYE + BAWL = CROQUET BALL

97 comments on “DT 30570”

  1. It’s Monday :good: It’s Campbell :good: 1.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 15a, 24a, 7d, 8d, and 20d – and the winner is 20d.

    Thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

  2. Rip roaring progress
    Until just 15a and 16d.
    Brain ceased to function.
    Returned to puzzle,
    Bingo.
    Thanks for the ride
    Campbell and thanks
    Falcon.

    2. Thanks to you both, you made my day 😊, as I had zero problems with those, and you are much more adept at solving than me.

  3. 1*/4* for a light, fun start to the week including nostalgic reminders of seeing The Who perform Tommy at the Isle of Wight in 1969 and in 1970.

    My top picks were 1a, 13a, 19a, 30a, 1d, 8d & 21d.

    Many thanks to Campbell and to Falcon.

    P.S. Normally I would expect to solve the Quickie without needing to look anything up. However, 25a today put paid to that, even with 5 checking letters in place.

    1. Sympathise about the Quickie 25a. Spent ages Googling to by the answer, then went to the (Welsh) wife, who knew immediately (speckled bread!). And didn’t I remember it was mentioned in a travel book written by a friend!

  4. Now that’s more like a Monday puzzle, just my level. Only slight hold ups were 15a and last one in 17a. I hope we don’t get any complaints about it being too easy. Lovely wording on every clue. Thanks to all.

    1. As I was doing this, I tried to list the names of complainers about it being too easy!
      How is Emmy? Sadie’s arthritis is bothering her.

      1. Poor Emmy and Sadie. It’s bad enough for us when we know what it is and what to do. It must be a real mystery to our furry friends.

  5. Light, enjoyable, amusing, generally great surface reads, a great start to the week. Lots of ticks but will limit to 21a, 22a, 30a, & COTD 16d

    <1* / 3*

    Many thanks to Campbell & to Falcon

  7. Well it was easy but still a fun way to start the week so certainly no complaints from me
    An erroneous bung in at 17a needed Martin and Tommy to come to the rescue
    Thanks to Campbell and Falcon

  8. 20 and 21d were my two top picks from this very friendly yet highly enjoyable romp through crosswordland. A nod,, too, for the two puns. Great fun.

    thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

  9. No complaints from me. Lovely puzzle to start the week.
    Many thanks to Campbell and to Falcon.

  10. A splendid way to open the week’s proceedings. Campbell is in fine form with stacks of great surfaces.

    I hope this is not spoiling 22a (apologies if so) but I was told a great acrostic for the spelling of it which is…

    *****s Always Catch High Tide

    Lots of contenders for the laurel wreaths but I’ll go with 21a (‘no ta’ is inspired), 22a and 2d (both for effort)

    Many thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

    1*/4*

    1. I’ve always thought 22a was a spelt strangely, doesn’t seem to connect to the way it’s pronounced. Thanks for the tip on how to remember it, now what was it again 🤔.

      1. If it works for Dopey Dave then I’m a Happy dwarf.

        It derives from the Dutch word jacht meaning ‘hunt’.

  11. ‘Is that all your own work Corcoran Minor?’
    ‘Yes Sir’
    .You didn’t consult any websites whilst I dealt with that unfortunate incident with Johnson B ? Or look at that Canadian’s paper. A clever little soandso who always gets Monday’s test right and has the nerve to explain them to me. ‘
    No Sir. I did try to get into the mind of the setter though and was, I think, very successful.’
    ‘So not all your own work. Metaphysical cheating is worse than plagiarism. I shall put your paper in the bin along with Johnson B’s pack of lies’
    ‘But Sir’.
    ‘You will be sent to Thatcher M in the ninth circle if I hear another word from you.

    Yes a perfect morning with13a and 8d sharing first place. With thanks to Campbell and Falcon

    2. There once was a schoolboy called Corky
      Who went for his hols down to Torquay
      Met a physical cheat
      Plagiarism complete –
      Denied it by telling a porky.

      2. Another solid ‘Cyril Fletcher ode’ hits the back of the net.

        The BBC didn’t mean to ask him to appear on That’s Life!? It was a muck-up but they kept him on.

  12. Very enjoyable and let’s hope it heralds a better week than the last one. It was just one mug of coffee long and that is most satisfactory. It allows me to get on with other things otherwise I’m tempted to linger. Plenty to like but my COTD is 21a because it gave a huge grin after the proverbial fell.

    Thank you to Campbell for a terrific start to the week. Thank you, Falcon for the hints.

      1. Big toe getting smaller, ta.

        Sadly, Mrs. C back in hospital with a very nasty attack of gastroenteritis.

        1. Glad the toe is on the mend, so sorry to hear Mrs C has returned to hospital, it is so exhausting for you both, best wishes to you.

        2. Only just picked up on your comment, Steve, how distressing for both of you. Every step she takes forward seems to result in another step back – it’s so darned unfair. Please let her know that our thoughts are with her and – no, that doesn’t mean you get to eat all the Easter eggs!

          1. Thank you, Jane. Rest assured I do let Lesley know that the kind folks of this wonderful blog are thinking of her and she is touched by everyone’s kindness.

            Easter eggs will await her return. 👍

  13. That has to be the cushiest DT cruciverbal challenge ever but was still enjoyable to fill in with just 18d, not surprisingly, holding fire until the end as I have never heard of that Tommy or those. 28a would seem to be a fairly loose synonym. It was good to have a Quickie requiring rather more cranial exercise particularly 25a for which I required MrG’s assistance. Thank you Campbell and Falcon for providing a great start to the “working” week.

  14. Gentle introduction to the non-working week, much appreciated. Last to fall here were the crossing 15a/16d – nicely misleading wordplay in the former.
    If pressed for a top three I’d go for 21&22a plus 16d.

    Thanks to Campbell and to Falcon for the review.

  15. Lovely crossword for me today…especially with the reference to the Tay…which today is looking decidedly grey, not silvery.

    Favourite 27a.

    Thanks to Falcon and Campbell.

    1. Ah, Sir William Topaz McGonagall!

      “Beautiful silvery Tay,
      With your landscapes, so lovely and gay,
      Along each side of your waters, to Perth all the way;
      No other river in the world has got scenery more fine,
      Only I am told the beautiful Rhine,
      Near to Wormit Bay, it seems very fine,
      Where the Railway Bridge is towering above its waters sublime,
      And the beautiful ship Mars,
      With her Juvenile Tars,
      Both lively and gay,
      Does carelessly lie
      By night and by day,
      In the beautiful Bay
      Of the silvery Tay.”

      3. I love poetry and have some lovely CDs, but I’ve never heard of this chap nor the poem. I’ll have to google to complete my education!

        1. Ah, William McGonagall … Not without good reason did Terry Pratchett call the War Poets of the Nac Mac Feegle “Gonnagles” – who “repel enemies through deliberate use of excruciating music or poetry ‘offensive to the ear and a torrrture [sic] to the soul’ “

        2. As TDS65 says, Merusa he has been called the worst British poet. His poem about the Tay Bridge railway disaster is particularly awful.

          Find out more on this link.

          Home

          1. In the meantime here are the first few lines of ‘The Sorrows of the Blind”

            “PITY the sorrows of the poor blind,
            For they can but little comfort find;
            As they walk along the street,
            They know not where to put their feet.”

      4. I’ve just looked him up. Dubbed the worst poet in British History.

        Brilliant!

        Thanks for alerting him to us, SC.

        1. ‘us to him’

          Oh, you know what I meant. There should be a film called ‘Carry on disappointing’.

          Peter Rogers’ wife was called Betty Box.

          It just had to be.

  16. Fortunately this was completed early and was a lovely start to the week. I rather liked 21a, which we have had before.
    My good spirits did not last long as my volunteer rescue dog walking resulted in a nasty bite to my forearm (would have been a lot worse if I hadn’t had a coat and jumper on) and I now feel frustrated that I am not going to get all of the days jobs done, particularly now the weather is improving. Of course that will mean I can do more puzzles!

    Many thank to Campbell and to Falcon for the hints.

    2. Oh, that’s not nice when you’re trying to give him some fun. I applaud you for your volunteer “rescue” dog walking, that’s a lovely thing to do. Thank you.

      1. It’s usually a lovely way to have a nice walk with a dog without having to own one, it benefits us and them.

  17. Very pleasant fun and typically crisp surfaces. 16d did make me smile but I especially liked 9d. Spot on. Many thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

  18. Found this Campbell puzzle a little trickier than normal this week.
    Nothing really out of line, except me perhaps, recovering from TKA surgery on Friday, and dealing with the myriad of meds to take to keep pain at bay. Can’t wait until it matches last years new knee!

    2.5*/3.5*

    Favourites include 24a, 26a, 30a, 6d & 26d — with winner 24a

    Thanks to Campbell & Falcon for hints/blog

    1. Gosh, two TKAs?

      Ouchy!

      I hope you’re back on the field of play soon, P.

        1. Lovely jubbly.

          As I’m sure you are aware, I can’t stop playing with solvers’ names (mine has turned into a mouthful)…..shall we go with PQL?

          May I ask the story behind your alias as I am intrigued? (I can’t stand ‘backstory’)

          2. Tom, you won’t be disappointed if you read today’s obituary of Patrick Hanks.
            Even with your depth of knowledge you may learn a few things about names.

            1. You’ve used a different email address so this required moderation. Both addresses will work from now on.

            2. Thanks for this, Pip. It looks like he’ll give Susie Dent a run for her money. I now know what a corpus linguist is.

              His mentor was Yorick Wilks.

              You couldn’t make it up, could you.

  19. Gentle and very enjoyable – what more’s required on a Monday? Thanks to Campbell for the puzzle and thanks to Falcon for the review (and for the 1d image which made me laugh).
    Top clues for me were 13a, 30a and 8d.

  20. Everyone has really said it already. A delight, and although the answers flowed the wording of the clues was very clever. I did not know 18d but it was an obvious bung in. I’m going for 17a as my favourite. Many thanks to Campbell & Falcon -I liked the quickie puns. We played a lot of croquet when we lived at the farm, I am not much good at ball games so I always cheated just a little bit. Stood by the ball and when no one was looking nudged it into a better place. George and the girls knew but ignored it as we only played for fun. One day one of my bridge four (a very proper Grande Dame of Royston) asked us to tea and a game of croquet with her and her brother. I took my first shot and stood innocently by the ball. Oh no, off the lawn, we play by the rules. Needless to say we lost spectacularly and were not asked again!

  21. I forgot to say – a lovely obituary on Patrick Hanks in the D T – I would like to look at his dictionary of surnames. A wonderful suggested provenance for Shakespeare! I bet Patrick would have made a wonderful dinner partner.

  23. Good afternoon

    With MacGonagall mentioned above, a Clerihew might be in order:
    William Topaz MacGonagall
    Wrote lines that were serious in intent, yet inadvertently comical
    With his unique sense of rhythm and timing
    We can at least name it poetry, if only because his lines are rhyming

    As for the crozzie, what with holliers and a seriously busy week on my return, this is my first guzzle for a fortnight. Pleased to report that it’s all done, albeit after a very slow start! I hope my brain is re-engaged now!

    Good to be back. My thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

    1. Love the clerihew, SJ! (great word)

      We are being spoilt today, what with Pip, SC and now you.

  24. I’m so relieved to have a doable guzzle to start the week. I didn’t find it a walk in the park, there were a couple of answers that held me up. I’d never heard of 18d, though I guessed the second word. George Martin was another unknown, word search helped me out there. Luckily, I did know the town at 19a, who knows how? I liked many, top billing went to 14d ‘cos I could spell it, 8d, and 13a for my bridge playing years.
    Thank you Campbell for the fun, and Falcon for his hints and tips. How do you stand that cold?

    1. We have a saying: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”

  25. What a pleasure this morning! Just in time, as I was thinking it was time to give up on cryptics after failing abysmally all last week. As my answers fell in steadily, I wrongly thought perhaps Chalicea was standing in for Campbell, but pleased that he too can produce something right on my wavelength. Also helped by coffee machine now fixed. Called Nespresso yesterday and could not be more impressed with their support. Sent a link to my iPad, and talked us through taking it apart (using the iPad camera), cleaning, soaking and reassembling, three times, until bingo it started frothing again. Spent at least 30 minutes with us. Very pleased as a new machine is not cheap. So a decent cappuccino and a lovely cryptic this morning, what more could I want? 😊. Thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

    1. I just tried to place my regular order for Nespresso pods online only to get an error message at the final hurdle saying: “Your payment has failed. Do not attempt to repeat the payment but please telephone Nespresso”. I did this and was amazed and delighted to get straight through to a proper, pleasant human being without being regaled with the likes of: “Your call is important to us. We are currently very busy but we will be with you as soon as possible. You are currently at position number 683 in the queue”.

      It was all sorted out in a jiffy and my pods will be delivered tomorrow. :smile:

      1. Or having to press buttons that don’t get you anywhere. I’m almost tempted to get one of those machines just to experience the last remaining (must be) company with any service! Alas, I only like my coffee as it comes out of the pot, nothing added.

        1. I only drink strong black coffee, which is delivered to perfection by my Nespresso machine.

      2. Agree. Last year I ordered regular instead of decaf by mistake. On receipt I called Nespresso to ask if I could return it. They said not to bother, keep it, give it away, whatever and they would send a free replacement order, no charge. And like you say, you get to talk to a real person. Wonderful customer service.

  28. Yessir a proper start to the week 😃**/**** Favourites 19a (how nice to see a Cambridgeshire town other than Ely get a mention 😬) and 26d. In the Quicky is 25a one word or two 🤔

  30. Can’t believe this is a Campbell. I solved it in the quickest time I have ever done a DT puzzle!
    */****
    Fun though.
    Thx to all

  31. I think everyone enjoyed today’s offering. I certainly did, then had plenty of time to prepare my garden for its new lawn.
    Quick crossword pun describes Big Dave. All hail!
    Thank you Campbell and Falcon.

  32. 1/4. Over all too quickly although I’m not complaining. 2d and 21a were favourites. Thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

    1. VBC, looking at post no 18 above….you and PCBC need to meet up to discuss all things crosswordy.

        1. Your country is an absolute behemoth which I’d love to visit one day, especially BC, as I’ve heard wonderful things.

  34. Late to this & posting having read neither the comments nor the review. Found this much easier than the Quickie, which I failed to complete having forgotten the type of wren (despite the McCartney song) & never having heard of the Welsh bread. I don’t play bridge but somehow knew 13a was a hand in it. Guess I should pick 19a as my favourite as I’m name checked & it’s a very pleasant racecourse.
    Thanks to Campbell & to Falcon whose review I shall now read.

  35. Hello,
    Much too late to even bother so I’ll just say how nice to have a simple crossword.
    I appreciated 10 and 13a and 8 and 18d. My one favourite was 24d.
    Thanks to Campbell for the crossword and to Falcom for the hints.

  36. Unbelievably I agree with Brian! I couldn’t believe it was a Campbell either. I’m usually so far off wavelength that I could be on a different planet. No Americanisms and straightforward, why can’t it be like this every Monday? I don’t often pick an anagram as favourite but I’m going with 18d. Thanks to Campbell and Falcon.

  37. A very easy ride – except for 14d. A horribly obscure word! I could see the anagram but had no idea what it parsed into. I hate using a synonym app, but it was the only way.

    I’m surprised there weren’t more complaints about this one!!

    1. I didn’t think it as very obscure! I knew what it was right away, however, to spell it I needed the given letters.

      2. Oh well, I admire your vocabulary!

        I must try to introduce it into more conversations …. 😃😃

  38. I have been lurking for a long time, although my 90 year old brain has attempted to solve every day and read all the hints and comments. Although this was certainly one of Campbell’s kinder offers it had some clever clues and was certainly very pleasurable to solve. I didn’t think 14d was particularly uncommon. Fav had to be 30a – brought back many (chilling?) memories. Many thanks to Campbell and to Falcon for the hints although not needed this time.

    1. Great to hear from you ToniGiggles, especially as you’re a nonagenarian and you’re still crosswording.

      One of my aims is to be still solving these when I get to 100.

      Keep us posted!

  39. Good morning (well, it is 02:00!)

    Home late from work; I attempted the crozzie during my break and got three quadrants in, but fell at the last few hurdles in the NW, viz. 1a and 1, 2, and 4d. Just couldn’t get ’em, and so it’s a DNF. Definitely on the tougher end of the spectrum today.

    10a is my COTD. Many thanks to Mr P and to Huntsman.

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