Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30571
Hints and tips by Huntsman
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***/****
Nice & sunny here in Harpenden at present but wet stuff on the way unfortunately & not sure if I’ll manage to get out for a walk before it arrives.
Don’t know if it’s just me having a bad day but I found this AP production about as difficult as I can remember for one of his puzzles. It was a very pedestrian solve with a fair bit of head scratching trying to make sense of the whys & I had to use a phone a friend lifeline for 1d. As ever some great surface reads & nicely clued throughout.
In the following hints, definitions are underlined, indicators are mostly in parentheses, and answers are revealed by clicking where shown as usual. Please leave a comment below on how you got on with the puzzle.
Across
1a Cross I recovered in ship’s hold (8)
SCISSORS: insert an anagram (recovered) of CROSS I into the usual 2 letter ship prefix. Think wrestling for the definition.
5a The woman’s abandoning husband after rotten presents (6)
OFFERS: remove (abandoning) the single letter for Husband from a contraction for THE WOMAN’S preceded by a synonym for rotten.
9a Spanish golfer next to tree plays regularly and badly (8)
SEVERELY: the diminutive for the great Severiano Ballesteros followed by the alternate letters (regularly) of TREE PLAYS. My favourite golfer of all time.
10a A small amount that is missing I guess (6)
ASSUME: A from the clue + S(mall) + a synonym for amount + 1 of the 2 letter abbreviation for THAT IS (I missing). A fair bit of lego for a 6 letter word.
12a Found groom his stable (9)
ESTABLISH: an anagram (groom) of HIS STABLE. Neat surface & indicator.
13a A court follows former lover’s demand (5)
EXACT: A from the clue + the abbreviation for court preceded by the usual for former lover.
14a Rook caught in trap? Crow (4)
BRAG: insert the chess abbreviation for Rook into a synonym of trap or capture. Definition is a verb not a noun.
16a Proof about European politician’s violent commotion (7)
TEMPEST: place a synonym for proof around E(uropean) & the usual acronym for a parliamentary politician.
19a One who steals several grubby sandwiches on the way back (7)
BURGLAR: hidden in reverse (sandwiches/on the way back).
21a Tirade right in front of social worker? (4)
RANT: a social worker who lives in a colony preceded by (in front of) the single letter for R(ight).
24a Try ignoring a tango’s allure (5)
TEMPT: remove A from the clue & the letter Tango represents (NATO phonetic alphabet) from the front of another word for try.
25a A virtue of training pet (9)
FAVOURITE: an anagram (training) of A VIRTUE OF. Like 12a another neat surface & indicator.
27a Excitement fighting lawsuit (6)
ACTION: triple definition.
28a Shoe without fine garments (8)
CLOTHING: an item of footwear (made wholly or in part out of wood) goes around a synonym for fine or lightweight. Without here means outside of as in the hymn.
29a Hare is after the tailless bird (6)
THRUSH: a synonym for hare or run preceded by (is after) TH(e) from the clue without its final letter (tailless).
30a Hunted deer has gone astray after Charlie’s admitted (8)
SEARCHED: an anagram (gone astray) of DEER HAS + C for Charlie (NATO phonetic alphabet).
Down
1d Nurse threatening to cut hip (6)
SISTER: a synonym for threatening from which you remove two letters that could be an another word for hip or fashionable. Couldn’t see this one so it was SJB to the rescue.
2d Request from present jockey about Ascot’s finale (6)
INVITE: another word for present (adjective) + a synonym for jockey or compete around (about) the last letter of Asco(T).
3d Clean axe (5)
SCRUB: double definition.
4d Wisely only half engaged in telephone banking (7)
RELYING: insert (engaged in) 50% of (only half) of wisely into a synonym for telephone.
6d Chap playing bass in the main? (9)
FISHERMAN: playing here is reeling the fish in slowly while using the flex of the rod as a shock absorber to protect the line & hook. Never having fished in my life I needed Mr G for post solve help with this one.
7d Informed about entering incorrect due date (8)
EDUCATED: insert (entering) the single letter for about into an anagram (incorrect) of DUE DATE.
8d Watch funny tapes, etc (8)
SPECTATE: an anagram (funny) of TAPES ETC.
11d Animal capturing hearts? Rabbit (4)
CHAT: insert the single letter for hearts (card suit) into the animal that features in Mr K’s Friday reviews.
15d Joy after king ultimately reunites sons? (9)
RELATIONS: the Latin abbreviation for king + a synonym for joy + the last letter (ultimately) of reunite(S). I suspect that the 20d may be beyond lasting repair.
17d Draw conceptual picture (8)
ABSTRACT: double definition – the first usually precedes something from.
18d Theatre worker quick with sign of hesitation (8)
PROMPTER: another word for quick followed by the usual interjection for a sign of hesitation. Played a lead role in an am-dram production of The Importance of Being Earnest I once had the misfortune to sit through.
20d Split trousers initially after climbing tree (4)
RIFT: the first letter (initially) of Trousers follows (after) a reversal (climbing) of an evergreen tree.
21d Ponder gun finally going off (7)
REVOLVE: remove the last letter (finally going off) from a repeating handgun. The definition synonym isn’t the first that springs to mind (mine anyway) but is perfectly fine.
22d Stop heartless language (6)
FINISH: think of a North European tongue & take out the middle letter (heartless).
23d Mass above Pluto rising? Neptune perhaps (3,3)
SEA GOD: mass here is a body of water followed by (above) a reversal (rising in a down clue) of Walt’s woofer.
26d Declare golf club lacks power (5)
UTTER: remove the first letter (lacks Power) from a club in the bag sometimes called the flat stick. Mine certainly did on the woefully slow & bumpy greens at West Herts yesterday.
I thought the anagram indicators at 12&25a both excellent & 15&20d beside one another in the grid was also rather neat but I’ll plump for 27a as my favourite. Please let us know which clues ticked your boxes.
Today’s Quick Crossword pun: TIE+ MAN+ THYME + AGAIN = TIME AND TIME AGAIN
Pretty tricky today – the use of without in 28a I just could not see – some clever clues though
The shoe is outside a word for fine, Paul.
The lines in the hymn There is a green hill far away, Without a city wall actually means outside a city wall. Seem to recall some discussion about this on the blog not so long ago & that BD wasn’t keen on without as a containment indicator.
The suburb of York that lies just outside the City Walls is known as Clifton-Without
I went to school close to Thaningtion Without (Canterbury).
Excellent guzzle although it did take a while for me to get into it. The North East corner was the last to fall with 6d holding the proceedings up. Once twigged it became my COTD because it had me going down the musical route for too long.
Thank you to the setter for a fun puzzle. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.
ha ha me too on 6D argh! was my forehead slapper of the day although there were others !!
Excellent puzzle.
Dull mind today.
Slow to spot anagrams,
Slow to spot a lurker.
1d especially brilliant.
3.5*/5*.
Many thanks setter and Huntsman.
Spot on in your assessment as 1D was the last to go in for me. I struggled with this puzzle for ages.
23D was my favourite
I must be having a good day as neither this nor the Toughie stretched me too much. I thought this little gem of a puzzle was terrific fun, with a really good clue mix. The anagrams were cleverly indicated, and the misdirection enough to create some doubt. Favourite for me was 1d.
Thanks to Mr P and The Hintsman.
Seems as though setter got stuck on letter deletions and insertions today. Not a lot of variety
Cor! This surprised me. AP putting me through the wringer.
I wouldn’t have got 1a in a month of Sundays and the parsing of 28a escaped me. I don’t mind part-words in an answer being repeated but it was a shame that they overlapped in the 9a/4d comby. The clue to 6d was certainly a different approach but I quite liked it.
My podium is 5a, 12a and 25a.
Many thanks to Professor Plumb and Hoots Mon!
4*/4*
I must have been on the right wavelength today as I fairly breezed through this with nary a hitch. And a good job too – insomnia had me up very early this morning (East coast USA time) well before the hints were available. And I found it thouroghly enjoyable to boot, so */**** for me. Many thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
Typically Tuesdayish with the usual indicator of the Quickie grid identifying it as an Anthony Plumb production – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 5a, 10a, 4d, and 20d – and the winner is 10a.
Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.
Loved this today but maybe that’s because I was on the right wavelength from the off.
Last one in was 1d.
Top picks for me were 10a, 1d and 6d.
Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
The blog arrives just in time for first coffee break, I solved this whilst waiting for a Blood Test for Mama Bee (suspected pre-diabetic)
My favourite has to be the fine shoe but a phonecall and the fact that a revival of 1d Act is on This Morning on the canteen telly helps raise 1d to the podium
Thanks to AP and Andy on the First Tee, watching Mr Ballesteros in awe
It’s 2*/4* from me for a delightful puzzle. Only the specific meaning of 21d needed a BRB check.
23d was my favourite of many ticked clues.
Many thanks to Mr Plumb and to Hintsman.
I needed my thesaurus for 21d too. When would you use 21d in place of ponder?
For some time she revolved the synonym in her mind trying to think of a context in which it might be used – is about the best I can come up with.
Not good but I’ll buy it!
Absolutely not an example to justify poor clueing.
This one had me going around in ever decreasing circles!
Tricky puzzle especially the NW corner, had the correct definition for 1d but failed to parse-thanks to Huntsman and took a while to parse 2d!.
Favourites were 9a for originality and19a for the lurker ,special mention for the 27a triple lurker.
Going for a ****/****
I usually find AP’s Tuesday offerings simpler than those on Mondays but today it was a different story after yesterday’s walk in the park however it became a fun enigma. Online change to dead tree version of 14a clue would have prevented my initially bunging in wrong solution. IMHO 21d only just passes muster. Don’t know anything about the hold in 8a so another bung in. Spent sometime working on tailless birds for 29a. Trio of straightforward special likes – 10a, 12a and 6d. Thank you AP and Huntsman.
All my online versions have the same clue as above, the paper version is at home with Mama Bee, what is in the paper?
In my paper, the clue is exactly as given in the review.
Fabulous fun with guzzle this morning! I didn’t find it too hard. Agree that 1D was a real head scratcher and when I finally got what I thought it was from ‘nurse’ with the checkers and reverse parsed it ..well… that’s definitely my “OFGS” clue of the day. I admit wholly that I didn’t get the parsing of 28A until again checking letters and the indicator gave the obvious answer and another reverse parse! Is it too bad to say my COTD is 25A cos I love a good anagram!!
Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
Much as I admire the Spanish golfer and listening to the song of the tailless bird, I didn’t particularly enjoy this puzzle. Fortunately, the Quickie pun raised a smile.
Apologies to our setter and thanks to Huntsman for the review and the reminder of that brilliant golf shot.
Sailed through either side of a round trip to Radley. Parsing 28a was my inly real hold up. Great fun.
Thanks to Huntsman and today’s setter.
I thought that this was quite tricky for a Tuesday – thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
As well as the topical 15d/20d I liked 5a, 6d and 23d.
I wish to associate myself with the comments of my learned friend, Gazza.
Challenging, but very enjoyable.
Thanks setter and Huntsman – rather you than me today!
I agree with Huntsman that this was one of AP’s trickier offerings so not ‘typically Tuesdayish’ for me.
3*/3* for me
Favourites include 1a, 19a, 6d, 15d & 26d — with winner 6d
Thanks to AP & Huntsman for blog/hints
Once I read the hints, I don’t know why I found this so difficult. In retrospect my favourite would be 23d. I did find 1d hard to suss out but with the hint, it all of a sudden became clear.
Just one of those days I suppose.
Made a good start this morning thinking it was going to be easy like yesterday, got about half way through and came to a halt. Then I made some progress, 19a seemed too easy and 1a too hard to fathom! 25a is my forerunner.
Thankyou compiler and hinter.
Started slowly, but once I had a toehold it just all fell into place.
Never used the word at 21d in that context but couldn’t be much else.
Two favourites today were 1d and 23d, great fun.
Started slowly, but once I had a toehold it just all fell into place. Never used the word at 21d in that context but couldn’t be much else. Two favourites today were 1d and 23d, great fun.
Not my day – even after reading a couple of hints I couldn’t make sense of them.
I missed the lurker and thought I’d stopped doing that.
I don’t fancy the grubby sandwiches!
I liked 16 and 27a and 3 and 22d. I think my favourite was the topical, if not fair, 15d.
Thank you to the setter and to Huntsman.
Me too, Kath, and it’s only Tuesday! I’m gradually getting squeezed out of the DT cryptic, too many disappointments.
Come on, Merusa! We have all felt like that at some time but it comes back. Apart from which, what would we do without you and Sadie?
You’re right! I just get so disappointed when I look forward to some fun and end up chewing my fingernails. Maybe tomorrow will turn a corner.
I found this relatively straightforward, although I didn’t see how 1d worked, last one in. Not many sparklers in this one, but enjoyed 6d .Thanks to all.
I was so way off wavelength here, though I did complete the East, far too many DNFs in the West. I had to get the hint for 1a, which did help a little but not a lot! Even when I got the answer, I failed the “why”, eg 1d, I needed Huntsman to explain so many. My fave was 6d, I wasn’t fooled and the checkers helped a lot.
Thank you setter, you’re much too clever for me, and Huntsman for solving the West for me!
Nice engagement here with 1D parked for me on the podium.
Thanks Huntsman and AP.
A bump back to earth this morning, after yesterday’s treat. I did at least manage to get the NE corner filled in without any help, and a few random answers across the rest. But then it got decidedly chewy. I cannot watch the 1a “sport”, so I was never going to get that. And disappointed that, after all the press hounding the Royal Family has recently endured, that they seem to have been dragged into this crossword too. Thank to AP and Huntsman,
Agree with Huntsman about pedestrian content with some smooth clues – 1a as an example – but had to ponder the use of ‘ponder’
Hi Shrimp
Pedestrian wasn’t about the puzzle content more my progress working my way through it early doors.
Hi Folks, newbie to crosswords and cryptic here. When it comes to word puzzles I seem to suffer from word blindness so crosswords held little attraction for me for that reason alone.
However I watched YouTube video explains the process of how to read cryptic clues which piqued my fancy. .. I stumbled across this site yesterday via a Google search and found expert explanations hints tips etc. so I took the plunge and signed up to this site and the Telegraph puzzle app and dipped my toes into the deep end this morning without any great expectations of solving one clue let alone the puzzle.
Lo and behold I managed to solve 6 clues completely on my own and a few others I got right but needed confirmation. After the first few clues I did think I needed to be a rocket scientist who did brain surgery on the side for some holiday money – especially 1c and 1d
Many of the others and after sometime I managed to work out the wordplay (?) from the answers which also pleased me. A few I’m still scratching my head about even after reading this blog.
However I did solve 19a from the definitions and letters already there but I can’t work out the full word play even after the hints in this blog. Can someone advise please. I understand the ‘grub’ from grubby ‘on the way back’ to give ‘Burg’ but what sandwich’s what to come up with the end of the solution ‘lar’ ?
Thank you in anticipation and I may be bothering you daily with more daft questions until I enter rocket scientist school! 😁👍
Welcome to the blog, Sam.
Stay with us and you’ll soon get the hang of it. If you don’t understand anything just ask.
In 19a sandwiches is telling us that seveRAL GRUBby contains (i.e. sandwiches) the answer and ‘on the way back’ tells us that the answer is reversed.
Thank you Gazza. I saw the RAL but couldn’t work out how to extract it from its host word. I was thinking of sandwich as something to contain the filling not of the filling being sandwiched and contained but I see that now. Great stuff, ta muchly. 😁
Welcome to the world of cruciverbalism, Sam. The water’s lovely.
Congratulations on getting a few unaided answers under your belt. I don’t know if you are aware that these challenges get harder as the week goes on. So, don’t get too disheartened if your average ‘number count’ goes down over the next few days. For what it’s worth, I gave today’s crossword by Mr Plumb 4* for difficulty when it’s usually 1 or 2. So, for a rookie, I think you did fairly well.
Much more importantly, you’ve set your bar very high with the brilliant line…..’I needed to be a rocket scientist who did brain surgery on the side for some holiday money’.
I look forward to your next post!
Thank you so much Tom, no I didn’t realise this about the rising level of difficulty through the week, handy to know. Important as clue solving is, in these early kindergarten stages for me I’ll be happy just recognising the various clue types and where/what the definition is. Learning to count from 1 to 5, addition to look forward to.
I’ll keep a record of my solving abilities by day of the week and setter so I can judge progress more meaningfully thanks to you.
The rocket scientist and brain surgeons can relax – for now!
Oh that reminds me (you’ll get this if you live UK)
Q. What do you call a London Underground train full of rocket scientists?
Ans: A Tube of Smarties!
Love it, Sam!
If your crossword solving skills are half as good as your humour, you’ll be solving fiendish Friday’s before you know it.
Being a fellow punmeister, I am more than happy to have you on board.
Haha. Thank you
Brilliant! You are going to fit in well, Sam! 🤣
Hi Sam,
I’d also recommend Chris Lancaster’s (DT puzzle editor) book How To Solve A Cryptic Crossword which is available in paperback & is a comprehensive step by step guide. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you improve if you stick at it. Revealing the answer & then working it out with the help of the hint is also a useful learning tool. Keep posting & let us know how you’re getting on.
Thank you Huntsman, yes I bought the book on kindle last night, seems very good indeed
It is excellent! My son bought it for me and I have been working through it gradually and am much improved. I can now finish the crosswords most days, resorting to the (excellent) hints or an online crossword solver only when absolutely desperate, and a few months ago I was struggling. Keep at it!
Thank you JT. I’ll give it a fair crack for sure.
As I wrote in my first post when it comes to word puzzles I tend to have word blindness and brain freezes however with these cryptic working out the ‘Wordplay’ is very different and I shall just have to be patient with synonyms and anagrams
Welcome from me as well, Sam. Keep asking your questions because it’s how to learn. I have been doing the backpager for fifty years but it wasn’t until I joined Big Dave in 2019 that I began to improve. I now solve most days and even solve the occasional Toughie.
Looking forward to hearing from you again.
Thank you Steve. Is the back pager on line too?
Yes it is.
Welcome to the blog from me as well, Sam.
If you poke around you will find a raft of information squirreled away on the various tabs on the top of the page. Two that may be of particular interest are The Mine (on the Features tab) and Usual Suspects (lurking deep down on the Home > Cryptic Crosswords tab). On this latter tab, you will also find the Crossword Guide. You should also familiarize yourself with Comment Ettiqette (on the Comment tab). Special rules are in force for the weekend prize puzzles and should you run afoul of them, you risk being sent to the naughty step (where you may or may not find cake waiting). Not unlike cricket, the rules of the blog are somewhat arcane but, as long as you play by them, you’ll get along famously.
Oh, and don’t neglect the FAQ tab. There you will find answers to many of your questions about the blog — such as why a puzzle is commonly referred to as a guzzle.
Thank you Falcon – I’ve had a brief gander around the site but I’ll search out the etiquette tab tonight so I don’t run afoul and tread on toes I shouldn’t. Thanks for the heads up 👍✔️
Stick with it Sam. this site and its followers will help you greatly
Yes Banksie I’ve certainly found that out already – thank you for your kind welcome
I slowly saw some stretched synonyms so was certainly somewhat sluggish.
Loved 12a and the excellent reverse lurker – yuk!
Although I have been on my knees during a round of golf, I haven’t yet tried Steve’s shot – fantastic.
Many thanks to setter and Huntsman.
Seve!
Never trust spellcheck.
The way 19a was printed made the lurker difficult to find despite knowing it was there somewhere
We seem divided between ‘on wavelength ‘ and ‘interference pattern’ today and I’m in the latter camp. I did finish unaided though it felt a little undeserved as 1& 21d were underparsed. Thank you setter and particularly Huntsman.
Good work Sam Fisher.
Thank you
Found this puzzle quite tricky in lots of places 😳 ***/*** Favourites were 28 & 29 across and 22 down 👍 Thanks to Mr AP and to the Huntsman for his explanations 😃
What a loong guzzle – especially for a Tuesday!
Working down the grid, first one in was 6d, and then with a few checkers things started moving, albeit slowly.
Also in all, pretty fair, and the only query I had was the synonym for mass in 23d, before the penny dropped as it were after talking to myself!
Loved the triple in 27a, closely followed by 1d, but am plumping for 1a for gold, really because it reminds me of the wrestling on TV that my father used to watch 40/50 years ago!
Many thanks to Mr P and to Huntsman.
And was held up on 9a for ages because I’ve always pronounced HIS name with a ‘b’…
Some gently amusing anagrams (eg, 8d, 25a) and charming surfaces (1d, 20d, etc). It didn’t bother me in the slightest but, in 23d, shouldn’t the ?/perhaps strictly go with the Pluto, not the rising? Nice though. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
All finished but definitely trickier than a usual Tuesday. I definitely found a few of the synonyms a bit hard, 21d and 1a. I thought the anagrams were great and the reverse lurker. I could not parse 1d without the hints.
Many thanks to Mr P and to Huntsman
Falcon’s comment to Sam about reading the FAQ section (why is the puzzle called a guzzle) has just made me realise can’t recall seeing a post from Chriscross of late. Hope all ok
Gosh, you are right, H. I do hope all is well with her.
I’ve been wondering too. Maybe one of the village elders (Robert’s words, not mine) can email?
No metaphysical cheating today just electronics to find what on earth were the solutions to so much abstract and stretched wording.
Thanks to Huntsman for partly unravelling some of the clues and to AP for bewilderment in spades.
I found this harder than the toughie which I didn’t find that easy. 1d and 21d were bung ins which I still don’t really get. Threatening and ponder, really? I don’t think so. I needed the hint to parse 28a. After last week’s brain manglers I was hoping for an easier week, this has put the kibosh on that. If I had to pick a favourite it would be 4d. Thanks to AP anyway and Huntsman.
Tricky puzzle for a Tuesday but fun and satisfying to have solved. Thanks to all.
4*/3* …
liked 4D “Wisely only half engaged in telephone banking (7)”
For some reason I am only seeing alternate answers to 30571, so I’m missing half of them.
Can anybody explain?
Welcome to the blog
The post for 30571 works OK for me
Down.1
‘Hip’ is trendy or in… IN is dropped from SINISTER > SISTER
Welcome to the blog, V.Duraikkannan