Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30,579
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Wet again in Welwyn Garden City this morning, but we are promised better weather over the weekend. Fingers crossed.
Our setter has treated us to a highbrow puzzle featuring two classical poets in 16a and 18a, a university and a college in 1a and 1d and a Cambridge College in 5d. If you think 4a looks familiar, it is! The same answer appeared in exactly the same position in the grid on Tuesday. I thought this was tricky in parts, but I enjoyed the challenge. Thank you, setter.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. 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 At university old Ruth gets arrogant (6)
UPPITY: two-letter word meaning “at university” + archaic synonym of ruth. Ignore the capital letter in the clue.
4a Turn up bed in pilot’s home? (7)
COCKPIT: synonym of “turn up” + synonym of “bed”.
9a Drug of European that stops endless burping somehow (9)
IBUPROFEN: OF + abbreviation for European inside (stops) an anagram (somehow) of BURPIN(g).
10a Submarine about to have a refit (1-4)
U-BOAT: anagram (to have a refit) of ABOUT.
11a Unsettled feud revolutionary carries over (7)
OVERDUE: hidden word backwards (carries over) in words 2 & 3. Our setter must like cricket, as there are three “overs” in the clue/solution.
12a Start off being more charming – and more irritating? (7)
ITCHIER: a word meaning “more charming” (as in magic) without the initial letter (start off).
13a Roughly treat male composer on the radio (9)
MANHANDLE: synonym of male + homophone (on the radio) of a German/English classical composer. I spent too long trying to justify MIS for the first three letters.
16a Homer’s work one day will enthral storyteller briefly (5)
ILIAD: letter representing one + abbreviation for day outside (enthrals) story teller (think fibber) without the final letter (briefly).
17a One in four perhaps? (5)
ROWER: cryptic definition.
18a Poet’s right to vanish before becoming amateur crimefighter (9)
VIGILANTE: another classical poet, remove the R (right to vanish) + a synonym of before.
21a Principal means to make progress (7)
HEADWAY: add together synonyms of “principal” and “means”.
22a Sweet wine, unfortunately stuff on the turn (7)
MARSALA: add together synonyms of “unfortunately” and “stuff” (a verb) and reverse them (on the turn).
25a Speech dismissing case for relationship (5)
RATIO: a word meaning speech without its first and last letters (dismissing case). Neat.
26a Gad about, dashing across Roman square (9)
GALLIVANT: synonym of dashing outside (across) a Roman numeral which is the square of two.
27a Officer engaged in complete retreat (7)
SHELTER: two-letter abbreviation for an officer inside (in) a synonym of complete (and utter).
28a Language of Conservative occasionally we’d let rip about (6)
CELTIC: abbreviation for Conservative + every other letter (occasionally) of wEd LeT rIp + single-letter abbreviation for “about”.
Down
1d Regular college entrance application? (7)
UNIFORM: abbreviation for an institution of higher education + synonym of entrance application (a “definition by example” – hence the question mark).
2d Choice over shape ultimately for crest (5)
PLUME: synonym of choice (as in best) on top of (over – this is a down clue) final letter (ultimately) of shapE.
3d Turned out removing apricot’s skin grew tedious (5)
TIRED: a synonym of “turned out” (think dressed) without the ApricoT‘s skin at the beginning.
4d French bread, previously decent, I’m eager to purchase (7)
CENTIME: bread in crosswordland often means money – as it does here. The answer is a former French coin hidden (to purchase) inside words 4, 5 & 6.
5d Cambridge college chapel is attracting international students (9)
CHURCHILL: synonym of chapel + abbreviations for international and student (x2). Having got the starting letter C, I spent far too long trying to get Clare into the answer.
6d Stock clause in contract (9)
PROVISION: double definition.
7d Instructed Times to claim posh socialist supports nothing (7)
TUTORED: abbreviation for time (x2) outside (to claim) single letter signifying “posh” + the colour associated with socialism underneath (supports) a single letter signifying nothing.
8d Put out side in cricket finale (6)
OFFEND: synonyms of “side in cricket” + “finale”.
14d Maybe keep undermining modern city (9)
NEWCASTLE: a synonym of keep (?) underneath (undermining) a synonym of modern.
15d London borough initially ignored rubbish outside old plant (9)
ARROWROOT: take a borough in NW London, drop the first letter (initially ignored) + add a synonym of rubbish outside an abbreviation for old.
17d Takes on again Leicestershire rogue? Not half! (7)
REHIRES: anagram (rogue) of leicestERSHIRE.
18d Person travelling from Goa, very out of sorts (7)
VOYAGER: anagram (out of sorts) of GOA VERY.
19d Wager club’s regularly taken up during contest (6)
GAMBLE: every other letter (regularly) of cLuB, upside down (taken up) inside (during) a synonym of contest (think match).
20d Flexible credit reduced after mounting auction (7)
ELASTIC: slang word for credit without the final letter (reduced) after a synonym of auction upside down (mounting).
23d Hike up slope that overshadows area (5)
RAISE: synonym of slope outside (overshadows) abbreviation for area.
24d Notice suitable fashion (5)
ADAPT: two-letter abbreviation for notice (or advertisement) + synonym of suitable.
Quickie Pun: SHAM + PANE + BAAS = CHAMPAGNE BARS
With the first gander at this one I thought I had no chance, got exactly one on the first read through.
Kept at it though, and soon the top half was complete, then thought ‘here we go, this’ll be a classic game of two halves’ but gladly it wasn’t, and the bottom flew in even faster than the top.
Only one I found a bit iffy was 12a, can you also get ‘warlockier’ who knows?
Never heard of the wine, but it couldn’d be much else from the letters and the clue.
Some real crackers though, my two favourites today are 18a and 1a. Many thanks to our setter.
You and me both!
Top end *** for me this Thursday challenge with the NE falling fairly quickly but the remainder less so. 17a was nicely economic and 25a clever. No other particular favourites and the GK all reasonably familiar. Thanks to Shabbo and our setter.
A light, swift and very enjoyable puzzle to accompany the mid-morning coffee. Plenty of great surfaces, a couple of lovely lurkers, straightforward GK, a perfect ratio of anagrams (1 : 8), and everything entirely fair: what’s not to like? Ticks all over the place, so shall limit Hon Mentions to 17a, 26a, 7d & COTD 12a.
1* / 4*
Many thanks to the setter (not risking my fiver anywhere this morning: I have no idea whatever!) and to Shabbo
Solid for a Thursday.
I love clues like 17a when you have to sit back and think. 18a was fun and the parsing of 17d is a hoot.
My podium is 10a for its neatness and simplicity, 26a and 18d.
Many thanks to the setter and Shabbs.
3*/4*
It’s just dawned on me that we use the negative version of 1a all the time.
It is funny how the negative antonym gets the gig ahead of these positive bad boys: couth, ruly, gruntled, wieldy, kempt, ept, flappable and mayed.
I meant ‘ruth’ not the answer to 1a
Nothing too tricky this morning, with plenty of enjoyable clues from which to pick a winner. Like Mustafa G above, that accolade goes to the excellent 12a. Interesting to see 16a mentioned, as it popped up in yesterday’s Toughie. Speaking of which, today’s Beam is very accessible and good fun.
My thanks to our setter and Shabbo.
Much sleep eluded me last night so I have done all4 of the puzzles on the new app, this was my favourite.
If we are having a classical poet day today a headless Italian author of The Inferno is there along with the R’less Roman
Thanks to Shabbo and setter
More coffee required before I fall asleep at my desk
Made unnecessarily hard work of this by not reading the clue to 13a properly & having the wrong 2nd&3rd letters in rendering 14d impossible with the wrong checker. Once sorted straightforward enough but a bit of a pedestrian solve. 18a my favourite of a nice bunch.
Thanks to Ray T & to Shabbo.
…it’s not RayT today.
No of course not – I was on autopilot
I thought no chance at first. My first answer was 21a. then it was SW corner, NE corner: the rest just seemed to happen!
I think those are the best sort of puzzles! Hopelessness giving way to a growing sense of satisfaction as the answers slowly drop, one-by-one.
First read through produced only a couple but then East acquiesced followed by NW but SE hung fire (mainly due as per Huntsman to putting wrong first 3 letters for 14a) however altogether it was an enjoyable challenge. 12a was a bung-in but I agree with Tipcat as to its iffiness. Like Shabbo I too tried to use Clare for 5d rather than the more modern (1960) establishment. Thank you to Setter and Shabbo.
Very enjoyable and, as Beam is on Toughie duty, just right for a guess the setter on ‘not a Ray T Thursday’ – 2.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 13a, 26a, 15d, and 24d – and the winner for the ‘Roman square’ is 26a.
Even with the lack of a Scottish football team, a language or group of languages doesn’t count, my Toonie is going on Silvanus as the setter so thanks to him, or whomsoever if my Toonie does go down the drain, and thanks to Shabbo.
Having gone to the Harry Potter tour yesterday 12a went straight in although I was wondering if there was such a word.
This solve was tad ponderous for me but I got there on the end.
Favourite was 27a.
Thanks to the setter and Shabbo.
Very timely but
Unaided completion.
Thought 2d a rather
Stretched synonym.
Loved 10a, especially.
So, 3*/4*
Many thanks setter,
Certainly not RayT,
And Shabbo.
Thanks, Silvanus.
I thought this was going to be harder than it turned out to be.
With the checking letters in place for 17a, the answer was obvious, but I would normally associate the sport with eight (I’m completely ignorant on that sport).
Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.
2*/4*
I found the Beam even more gentle than this, for those who normally give the toughie a wide berth.
I wish I could say I enjoyed it but I didn’t – too contrived for me / thanks though Shabbo
Found this quite hard going but got there in the end. However being pedant, not happy with 28a, Celtic is surely a group of languages (or a Glasgow football team!).
Thanks to setter and Shabbo.
Firstly, a big ‘hello!’ to 4a, the new Serengeti. I will be disappointed if we do not see this pilot’s home at least five times in the next fortnight.
11a – one of the most unwelcome words in the English language, particularly if delivered in a cheap brown envelope, with an official return address written on the reverse side. No longer the task of a poor Civil Servant in Whitehall, these demands are now generated and sent by software; meaning that even if you paid the alleged 11a amount six months ago, the ‘machine’ keeps sending the missives until one is forced to telephone some outpost in Belfast. “You are number… 47… in the queue” and “Our telephone lines are busier than usual, please try later”
Groovy guzzle – particularly for those of us who were force fed Latin at school.
Thanks to the setter and Shabba-dabba-doo.
Very enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Shabbo.
Cream of the crop for me were 1a, 26a and 3d.
Incidentally in case of any interest today’s Toughie by Beam was not too bad either – I found it to be of similar difficulty and merit as our back pager.
1.5*/5*. Surely this was the handiwork of our own Mr Smooth giving us a wonderful Thursday double with a Beam Toughie to follow.
My page is littered with ticks and 1a gets the nod as my favourite. It’s always a great hook to start with a humdinger.
Many thanks presumably to Silvanus and to Shabbo.
This wasn’t as difficult as it first appeared. Started in the NE, courtesy of 4a, and continued in a clockwise direction. Got held up for a while in the SW but finally all came together once I’d sorted out 13a. I find it strange that the word in 1a is regarded as archaic while we use the negative form regularly. Looking at Tom’s list it seems that we may be a negative, complaining nation at heart! No especial favourite but ticks for 26a ( great word) 27a, 7d and 20d. Thanks to our setter and Shabbo. Off to try the Beam toughie now.
Good fun. Not overtaxing for a Thursday guzzle. Solved this corner by corner – SE SW NE with NW last to fall. Struggled to justify the solution to 11a with, as our reviewer points out, the same word appearing three times in the clue and solution. 2d last one in.
Thanks to Shabbo and our mystery setter.
Some unusual words appeared today, but it all made sense after a bit of head scratching.
I couldn’t get Madeira out of my mind and although I couldn’t parse it I put it in as a temporary measure, then forgot to remove it. This slowed me down in the south east until I corrected 22a.
Another fine mess I got myself into, but all became clear.
Thanks to Shabbo and the setter.
… I feel your pain – I tried to justify Moselle for far too long.
No fun to be had in this one for me.
Took ages and did not deliver any satisfaction ,just groans.
Sorry to be so negative , just having a Brian moment.
You’re not alone Ora.
Looks as though Mr Ed has finally allowed me to have another Dream Team day – Mr Smooth in the back-pager and Mr Concise in the Toughie. My cup runneth over!
Ticks galore as expected – 1,18,21,22&26a plus 8&15d all making the cut.
My thanks to Silvanus and Shabbo along with CL for bringing the team back together.
Tricky little devil that only yielded with patience. Needed the hints to parse some of the clues most of which to be honest I thought were often clumsy.
Completed but def not one of my favourites.
****/**
Thx for the hints
Really Brian Silvanus puzzles may not be to your taste but one thing the clues most certainly are NOT in any way, shape or form is clumsy
This was a challenge but an enjoyable one despite my having quite a number of bung-ins. When the first three across went in with no trouble I thought a walk in the park was in the offing. Silly me – it’s Thursday, Cowling! I had to ponder at length over 11a, 17a and 14d but they revealed themselves after doing a spot of cleaning and polishing. My COTD is the college application at 1d but it only just pipped Old Ruth at 1a to the post.
Many thanks to the setter for the mental workout. Thank you, Shabbo for the hints.
Herefordshire sausages for dinner tonight so I better go to Hereford and get them. 😊
Stupidly spelling 1a with one p and two t’s meant I couldn’t get 2d. Also had to check the hint for 11a as I had the answer but thought it couldn’t be as the word over was in the clue, perhaps carries across would have been a better option. The rest I found a struggle but got there in the end. Thanks to all.
This went swimmingly…until it didn’t and I hit the brick wall and stared at the grid and clues for ages. It didn’t help spelling 9a incorrectly and trying to ram Moscato into 22a. Needed Shabbo’s hints to confirm answers and the parsing on a couple, so thanks to him and the compiler.
Many thanks to Shabbo and to everyone commenting. Much appreciated.
I’m a little annoyed with myself for using “over” in 11a when it is part of the solution but I hope it didn’t confuse too many of you.
There will be at least one more Scottish football team appearing in a future puzzle, but then I think I may close that particular book!
Inverness Clachnacuddin?
Not my favourite today. More clues in this one that I just did not gel with. Weird clueing and parsing in many I thought, but that is my issue not the setter’s.
3*.2*
Favourites were hard to find … 4a, 10a, 28a, 14d & 17d — with winner 28a
Thanks to Silvanus & Shabbo for descrambling this
I solved the right hand side first and slowly unpicked the left. Definitely a few clues that I’m going to review with the hints above as I got answers that seemed right that I couldn’t fully explain
Good afternoon
Phew! That was a challenge, and yes, an enjoyable one. The top half went in fairly straightforwardly; however the braincell took a bashing as I wrestled with the bottom half, with the SW quadrant particularly taxing. Last to fall was 27a, which is one of four joint COTD contenders along with 22a, 4d, and 17d.
Many thanks to the Brain Of Silvanus for the crozzie, and many thanks to Shabbo, whose explanations proved invaluable in the parsing of 3d and 12a.
Surprisingly medium: neither fast nor slow; I mostly got there in the end, but I needed a few hints — thank you to Shabbo, especially for explaining what Ruth was doing in 1a.
For once the wine was one I’d heard of — mainly because I confuse it with the similarly-spelt curry. Wonder if anybody ever orders the wrong one? In a restaurant recently the server was taken aback when they thought the 9-year-old had asked for “a margarita”. Given they were taking food orders at the time and their children’s menu included margherita pizza, I really think they should’ve been able to work out what was meant.
My favourite was 15d’s old plant. Thank you to Silvanus for the puzzle.
Finally got there, for me no walk in the park, although now it all seems so obvious. I enjoyed it and have a great sense of achievement even though I needed help parsing a couple and one hint to get me going when I ground to a complete halt. Many clever and enjoyable clues with 18a my favourite,
Many thanks to Silvanus and to Shabbo for the hints.
Didn’t have a great deal of success today, thank you Shabbo for your much needed hints. I hope the reds show more determination as well as success this evening on their visit to Stamford Bridge! Thanks setter.
So like a few others I too thought I was going to be stumped by this. As usual I started in the NW , but drew a blank , but then found my way in the East, then SW and last in the NW. Had a few bungins have to say so I’ll be reading the hints shortly to understand some of the parsing. Was totally misdirected by my last one in 13a , which once I revealed the D realised it wasn’t an angram . No wonder I couldn’t quite make sense of the clue – doh 🙄. Overall enjoyed it so thanks setter and Shabbo for the hints.
Oh dear! I’ve just written a comment on this crossword on the Wednesdays page!
Never mind – can’t be bothered to start all over again.
I did find this crossword very hard but now I know Silvanus was the setter I have an excuse – I always find him difficult – enjoyable but still tricky!
Thanks to Silvanus for the crossword and to Shabbo for all the hints.
Excellent Thursday puzzle! Great clues, a reasonable challenge and very enjoyable to solve. I’ve ticked a few and will pick 3d as my favourite. 3*/4*.
A very enjoyable Silvanus puzzle today, with no favourite jumping out for for some reason. Quite tricky too, but it is Thursday!
My Mum always did say I was at the back of the queue when they were handing out patience. So not being able to tackle the crossword until after a very trying morning meant I did not get very far, as anticipated being Thursday. I admire the patience of others who persevered and managed to finish. Too many odd synonyms for me, and cricket, no not for me. Now I need to try to be less grumpy before we head off to Bocce this afternoon. Thanks to Silvanus but way above my head, and to Shabbo.
Today’s Toughie by Beam is quite friendly – it must be because I completed it (bar two). If you don’t usually look at the Toughie give today’s a try.
Thoroughly enjoyed this solve.
The SW corner took twice as long as the rest of the crossword for me. The key clue was 12a. Once I had the penny drop moment, the rest followed relatively quickly.
17d was a great clue for misdirecting me. I was trying to think of a rogue from Leicestershire along the lines of Robin Hood but for a different region.
Love the word in 26a which I use fairly often.
Thanks to all.
3*/3* …
liked 22A “Sweet wine, unfortunately stuff on the turn (7)”