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DT 30613

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30613
Hints and tips by Huntsman

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Not Quickie Pun required but distinctly cooler & depressingly soggy here in Harpenden today. Hopefully it will have all moved away by tomorrow & I’ll get a game of golf in now that I’ve been reunited with my sticks.

I thought today’s puzzle almost Ray T like in the brevity of the clueing. I’m assuming it’s our usual AP production & while I didn’t think it quite matched Robyn’s opener yesterday it was still perfectly enjoyable & as usual well clued throughout.  I found it pretty straightforward so suspect that the hints will not be required by many.

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 Female regularly blushes after answer is wrong (5)

FALSE: the single letter for Female & for Answer + the alternate letters (regularly) of bLuShEs.

4a Fill up net at sea, overflowing (9)

PLENTIFUL: an anagram (at sea) of FILL UP NET.

9a Pans we moved with a rag (9)

NEWSPAPER: an anagram (moved) of PANS WE followed by an alternative to A in the clue (as in 3 times a week for example).

10a Challenged father over religious education (5)

DARED: the most popular informal term for father around the usual two letters for religious education. Is it still taught in schools today I wonder.

11a Tidy area right behind stove (7)

ARRANGE: the single letter for Area & for Right precedes a cooking stove.

12a Stuff that’s made for Mussolini? (7)

PRODUCE: the usual preposition meaning in favour of + the Italian title (derived from the Latin dux meaning leader) of  Miss Jean Brodie’s favourite fascist.

13a Drunkard pinching papa’s hat (6)

TOPPER: insert (pinching) the letter represented by Papa (NATO phonetic alphabet) into another word for a drunkard.

15a Found everyone following British game (8)

BASEBALL: link synonyms for found or establish & for everyone then insert the single letter for British in between. A major league sport that contest a World Series even though it’s only really played in two countries.

18a Defend prisoner swallowing meat pie nearly (8)

CHAMPION: insert (swallowing) a type of meat & most of (nearly) pi(e) from the clue into the usual slang abbreviation for a prisoner.

20a Martial artist bitten by snake becomes numb (6)

ASLEEP: insert (bitten by) the surname of a Hong Kong- American martial arts actor into the snake that did for Cleopatra.

23a Lover with nothing on – one fools around (7)

BUFFOON: lover here refers to someone who knows a lot about & is very interested in a particular subject (film for example) then add the letter for nothing & ON from the clue.

24a Take care of scheme after change of heart (7)

PROTECT: swap out the middle letter (change of heart) of a synonym for scheme.

26a Thinner vegetable absorbs sauce (5)

NERVE: a lurker (absorbs) hidden in the first two words.

27a Touring Greece with tin full of beans (9)

ENERGETIC: an anagram (touring) of GREECE & TIN.

28a Spoke about India after the man paused (9)

HESITATED: a synonym for spoke into which you insert the letter India represents (NATO phonetic alphabet) is preceded by the nominative form of the masculine personal pronoun in the third person singular.

29a Drops from dark liquid found in ships (5)

SINKS: insert (found in) a dark liquid or writing material into the original civilian ship prefix.

 

Down

1d Great carbonated drink – it’s turned up cold! (9)

FANTASTIC: a brand of carbonated drink + a reversal (turned up) of IT’S from the clue & the single letter for Cold.

2d Daisy, perhaps, not the first cow (5)

LOWER: remove the initial letter (not the first) from what a daisy is a species of.The definition relates to the sound made by cattle.

3d Fee from ten writers in eastern Spain (7)

EXPENSE: insert (in) the Roman numeral for ten & writing implements between the single letter for Eastern & the IVR code for Spain.

4d Little dog, favourite poodle (6)

PUPPET: link the abbreviation for a young canine & a synonym for favourite. The definition nowt to do with the pic of the cutie on the right.

5d Working on a purée? Swede maybe (8)

EUROPEAN: an anagram (working) of ON A PURÉE.

6d Little swimmer’s time on pedalo wound up (7)

TADPOLE: an anagram (wound up) of PEDALO preceded by (on/down clue) the single letter for Time.

7d Lucky for fish the hook’s first removed (9)

FORTUNATE: a bit of lego: FOR from the clue + a saltwater fish that’s now rather pricey in the supermarket + T(h)E from the clue (hook’s removed). A neat clue & an excuse to play this fine cover of a Creedence classic.

8d House deposit (5)

LODGE: double definition.

14d Philosopher almost makes passengers wait on these? (9)

PLATFORMS: truncate (almost) the name of an ancient Greek thinker of the Classical period + a synonym for makes or constructs.

16d Make-up stays on cheek? On the contrary (9)

LIPSTICKS: on the contrary tells us it’s the synonym of cheek or 26a that’s above (in a down clue) another word for stays.

17d Gloomy conductor might indicate this (8)

DOWNBEAT: a double definition (I think) with the latter an accented beat & usually the first of the bar.

19d Demonstration from professional ahead of cricket match? (7)

PROTEST: a diminutive for professional + an international cricket match.

21d Cakes son smells around rear of bakehouse (7)

SPONGES: the single letter for Son + a synonym for smells into which you insert the last letter (around rear of) bakehous(E).

22d Quietly studied after second meal (6)

SPREAD: the musical letter for quietly + a synonym for studied all preceded by (after) the single letter for Second.

23d New English Bible initially turned up on church pew (5)

BENCH: reverse the first letters (initially turned up) of the opening three words in the clue & append an abbreviation for church.

25d School, we’re told, is demolished (5)

EATEN: a homophone (we’re told) of the almer mater of  Boris & Call Me Dave,  the last two in a long line of 20 Tory PMs who went there.

 

Podium spots today for 23a plus 4&7d. They can fight it out between themselves for positions on it. Please tell us which ones you liked.

Today’s blogging music was Ohio Players, the latest album from the Black Keys. I was a little disappointed that this excellent cover of a William Bell classic didn’t make it onto their setlist at a great gig at the Brixton Academy last week

 

 

 

 

 

 


Today’s Quick Crossword pun:WIN + TAR + COTES = WINTER COATS 

 

 

61 comments on “DT 30613

  1. Tuesdays can occasionally be tricky but this was one fell easily. A pleasant affair and I agree with Huntsman’s rating. I thought 12a very good and 23a was my second favourite. Thanks to him and our setter. So far an easy week.

  2. Impeccably crafted and very gentle Tuesday fare. Cannot disagree with Huntsman’s “perfectly enjoyable & as usual well clued throughout” assessment. HMs to 23a (for the smile-inducing surface), 7d (Huntsman – you need to change your parsing slightly – it’s the h that goes, not the t), and 19d.

    Many thanks presumably to AP, and also to Huntsman

      1. Huntsman,
        Have another look at the hint for 28a. I hate to tell you that India is displaced a couple of lights to the west.

        1. Hence the 1 & counting comment. How did MG miss that one?
          I got carried away with the He description which I looked up you’ll probably not be surprised to know. Another case of all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order

  3. About as straightforward as a 15 x 15 puzzle can get in today’s Typically Tuesdayish offering from Anthony Plumb – */****

    Candidates for favourite – 12a, 1d (I had to ponder for a while on the drink), and 21d – and the winner is 1d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.

  4. This one took me a smidgen longer that yesterday.
    The only one I paused at was the parsing of 1d, where I was at one point trying to fit in a different carbonated drink – the disgustingly sweet one from Italy (each to their own taste…).
    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the write-up. 2*/4*

  5. Just right for a Tuesday and enjoyable throughout. I did like 23a with it’s misleading parsing. I was thinking ‘ in the buff’ as nothing on. Favourite was 3d with the clever use of the X to indicate ten. Lots of other ticks, so sharing a large podium are 18a, 7d, 14d, 17d and 23d. Thanks to our setter and Huntsman.

  6. Puzzle of vertical halves.
    West easy
    East hard.
    Excellent, novel
    Clues 7d and
    18a.
    Former my COTD.
    Big smile at 12a.
    In summary, 2.5*/5*
    Many thanks setter
    And Huntsman.

    1. Had a subscription problem with the DT.
      Largely my own silly fault.
      Must say they were most efficient in sorting it out.

      1. They haven’t been efficient at sorting mine out. I cancelled my newspaper subscription mid-term as needed to do it before they took another term’s fees. I am still current now. However they disabled my digital access which has been a real bind as I take my IPad when I go away. I contacted them and eventually got a person who said they’d made a mistake and it would be restored. It has not been restored and they’ve also taken another direct debit.

        1. Thanks.
          Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.
          I e-mailed them and had an almost immediate reply from a named person.
          She asked me to explain my problem.
          Following my response, she e-mailed me the next day and explained how
          she had resolved it.
          I was very pleased as it was quite complicated, involving two subscriptions.
          Good luck with your problem, Weekend Wanda.

  7. An enjoyable puzzle today. For some reason I struggled with the Gloomy conductor, but the hint resolved eveything.
    Thanks to the setter and to Huntsman….so glad you have your sticks again. Hope the weather co-operates for you.

    On our first day of a short trip to Toulouse….and it could not rain any harder…sigh….

    In better news, though, the ghastly cold/cough is slowly abating….slowly….

  8. For some reason this was a down clues first puzzle which led to a speedy and satisfying solve. I had plenty of potential winners but my overall favourite was 12a.

    My thanks to, presumably, Mr P and The Hintsman.

  9. Gentle and enjoyable – thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.
    Top clues for me were 23a and 4d.

  10. Enjoyable but not all that straightforward as far as I was concerned. I have not heard 4d used in such a way and 5d held me up for ages despite my knowing it was an anagram. I simply could not sort the letters out in my head. I did like wandering around Greece with a tin full of beans and that is my COTD.

    Thank you, AP if it be you or to whomsoever if not. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.

    There’s fat Wood Pigeon on the bird table, which is very slowly leaning over from the weight. 😁

  11. No hold ups for me with this very enjoyable puzzle.

    Thanks to Huntsman for the hints and especially for the Fast Show clip which features my wife’s favourite character. 😂

  12. 1*/4*. This was very light but great fun with 12a & 4d my top two.

    Many thanks to the setter (AP?) and to Hintsman.

  13. Our second gentle puzzle of the week, can’t help but think that we’ll pay for that somewhere down the line!
    Plenty to smile about in today’s – top marks going to 7&16d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb, presumably, and to Huntsman for the review – hope you don’t have to wait too long for the return of that ridiculous import charge.

  14. Yay! Solved without help. Creedence track – a real bonus.
    Delighted to learn of the return of the golf clubs to Andy On The First Tee.

    The Azerbaijani born again chap (yesterday with his mate) has completed the painting of the log cabin. Now we only have the electrician to come and wire us up, and The Youngster will have her sanctuary. I’m rather envious.

    Thanks to the setter and Hintsman

    1. Terence, have you or any of your agents infiltrated Tesco? I bought two bottles of their orange juice with bits last week, and there is not a bit in sight (or in mouth)! Smooth orange juice is so bland (IMHO).

      1. Yes – I deploy my people everywhere. Mainly in the Home Counties, but our robust recruitment scheme means we have more and more ‘No Bits’ agents throughout the network.

        1. For complete success, you probably need to infiltrate the orange groves of Florida, and elsewhere, with GM orange trees created to produce fruit ‘without bits’. A GoFundMe account might help, but don’t expect a contribution from RD! :wink:

        2. Orange juice without bits is like a kiss without a moustache. Not, in fact, that I have ever kissed anyone with a moustache other than Great Aunt Florence. But Grandad Angus, moustachioed as he was, would frequently quote that. Well the moustache bit not the orange juice bits. I’ll just shut up, shall I?

  15. Today ‘twas almost a quickie
    ‘Cos none of the posers were sticky
    So I started the day
    In an earlier way
    With a mug of my tea, but no biccy.

  16. Very enjoyable and superbly clued, mind you after the first pass doing the across clues I thought this was going to be a stinker, but the down clues were very kind and gave me enough fillers to finish quite quickly.
    May COTD 18a
    Thanks to all

  17. A tougher than normal Tuesday puzzle I thought this week.

    2*/3*

    Favourites include 27a, 2d, 7d & 14d — with winner 14d

    Thanks to setter(AP?) & Huntsman for blog/hints

  18. As has been said, quite a gentle ride today with some really smart clues. Like Steve I enjoyed wandering round Greece and also the lucky fish at 7d. It is drizzling here – good for the garden but the Pocket Rocket has arrived and I always feel guilty if I don’t go out and try to help. On the other hand she may prefer to be left alone! Mark – I don’t know if you saw my late response last night about the vitamins for George – I make him take a multi vitamin. I thought that conversation was a bit worrying – do we really know what we are doing to our bodies? Anyway, thank you for being concerned about the poor old boy – he would say his biggest problem is being married to me. Many thanks to our nice Setter and the Merry Man with his sticks.

    1. Yes, thanks Daisy, I did see. The multivitamin is a good thing, although sometimes people need a relatively big boost with B12. The NHS website says anything up to 2mg of B12 supplements is unlikely to do any harm.

      I’m sure George would only be joking about what his biggest problem is!

  19. Very nice and straightforward. I think I completed quicker than yesterday. I didn’t really stop to think about 23a so did assume it was naked buff. Also wondered if I was kicking the right ball at 15a but I think so. I’ll know for sure when I look at the hint. Thanks Mr Plumb. My maternal grandmother was a Plumb. Also thanks to Huntsman.

  20. Easy breezy. Very pleasy.

    Concise cluing with lots of nice surfaces.

    My podium is 1d and 7d with the gold going to 23a, helped that it was my pater’s favourite word.

    Many thanks to Professor Plumb and Hoots Mon!

    1*/4*

  21. Are our setters thinking of our buddies in the Southern Hemisphere? Yesterday’s quickie pun was hibernate and today we’re being asked to don out ……………s!

  22. I didn’t find this as easy peasy as our hinter, but still Tuesday-ish. I had “aster” for 2d, to master = to cow, solving 9a put me right after a long time. I liked 1d and 7d.
    Thank you setter, and Hintsman for helping me understand a few.

  23. Very enjoyable, with much to like. 23a my favourite but I also enjoyed the Lego clues and anagrams.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman as ever,

  24. I liked this puzzle a lot. Before I got 14d I wanted to put tifter in for 13a. Couldn’t parse it but once it got into my head it refused to leave. I was relieved when 14d didn’t start with an f so I could tell the voice in my head to pipe down.
    Top picks for me were 23a, 7d and 14d.
    Thanks to Huntsman and the setter.

    1. I think the hat you were looking for at first was titfer, rhyming slang for hat [tit for tat], so you’d have been doubly confused if 14d began with t !!

  25. What a delightful, if all too brief, walk in the park today. The East went straight in with West following on. All very fair cluing. I liked the red herring in 15a and the surface of 2d (presumably so did our Daisy of this parish!). Tuesdays usually come up trumps and today was no exception. Thank you AP and Huntsman (I see not the 4-lettered alternative this week).

  26. I too enjoyed this light and gentle solve. My fave was 4d thinking at first it was a type of poodle I’d not heard of , so a bit slow there. Thanks to setter and Huntsman .

  27. As often happens, Tuesday has defeated me. Gave up and watched. “ The Way to the Stars” instead. Having listened to a lecture on Bomber Command streamed from the Royal Canadian Military Institute in Toronto last night, it seemed appropriate It didn’t disappoint

  28. As I do not write regularly, I forget my ‘name’ when I do appear!! Will have to create my own clue for it 😀
    Worked gradually through, working round the clock with just 17d causing problems for a while. Loved the amusing clueing of 7d but 23a has to beat it for the buff meaning mentioned before. Great puzzle and thanks to all concerned

  29. I enjoyed this puzzle which I completed in a clockwise fashion. Only 17d held me up for a little while. Loved 7 down’s amusing clue but it was beaten by 23a because if the double meaning of buff. Thanks to all involved

  30. Although this was pretty straightforward one still needed to be on one’s mettle and keep your thinking cap on at all times, there were plenty of traps to fall into. Most enjoyable. Favourite was 2d, I was convinced it was going to be aster. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

  31. Felt sure this was my nemesis Campbell but it turns out to be another tricksy setter. Took some getting into and gradually it came together but all in all a bit of a damp squib.
    ***/**
    Thx for the hints

  32. Hello fellow cruciverbalists,
    First time post here – very helpful forum (and thank you, Dave) for a relative newbie. Could someone please shed some light on 26a? I don’t see the connection. I understand the lurker but not the answer itself. Many thanks, Oracle Minsk

    1. Sauce, as in being cheeky, is nerve. As in ‘what a nerve’ ! Hope this helps

    2. Welcome Oracle Minsk. Sauce is a synonym for nerve or impudence. Keep commenting & don’t hesitate to ask if you need clarification. What did you think of the puzzle?

    3. Hi OM. My Oxford dictionary has “impertinence; cheek” as a definition of sauce, while nerve can mean impertinence, as in “he had the nerve to criticise my cooking”.

      1. I can’t see if anyone else has replied without refreshing the web page, which happens after going to the dictionary and typing the comment and posting it (otherwise I lose the comment). So now you’ve got three answers, but when I posted there were none I could see. Adding a third explanation looks a bit absurd, so I thought I’d explain!

    4. Welcome from me as well, Oracle Minsk. We would all love to hear more from you. 👍

  33. Good evening

    Reasonably straightforward Tuesday fare, for which I am grateful – just the right amount of trickiness today.

    2d – oh dear, oh dear! 🤣

    14d is COTD.

    Many thanks to our compiler and to Huntsman.

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