DT 30652 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30652

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30652

Hints and tips by Mr K

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.  Today’s finely-crafted puzzle has a grid that when filled contains every letter of the alphabet except X, one signature of our regular Friday setter proXimal.  Tight wordplay and lots of smiles also suggest that the puzzle is one of his. If so, thanks to him for brightening my Thursday evening. 

In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background. Clicking on a picture will enlarge it or display a bonus illustration and a hover (computer) or long press (mobile) might explain more about the picture. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Often accessing short release by Tarantino maybe with good ending (11)
FREQUENTING:  Put together all but the last letter (short) of release or liberate, the first name that Tarantino defines by example (maybe), and the single letter for good 

7a    Aluminium and carbon in thin projection from building (7)
BALCONY:  The chemical symbols for aluminium and carbon are inserted together in thin or skeletal 

8a    Early showing of cleric, one entering church seating (7)
PREVIEW:  An informal contraction for a cleric and the Roman one are inserted together in (entering) an item providing seating in church

10a   Rogue's oddly kind way (5)
KNAVE:  The odd letters of KIND with a type of way or street or road 

11a   Starch perhaps in fifteen crackers eaten by senior (9)
STIFFENER:  An anagram (crackers) of FIFTEEN inserted in (eaten by) the abbreviation for senior 

12a   Those playing recordings of birds on river (7)
DEEJAYS:  Some colourful birds of the crow family following (on, in an across clue) one of crosswordland’s usual rivers 

14a   Reawakening on sleeping-place audibly (7)
REBIRTH:  On or concerning with a homophone (audibly) of a sleeping-place on a ship or train 

15a   Throw priest a plant (7)
LOBELIA:  Assemble throw or toss, a usual Old Testament priest, and A from the clue 

18a   Some do this working out how we might call lift (5-2)
PRESS-UP:  The answer without its hyphen is what you might do to summon a lift to take you to a higher floor 

20a   Duck quiet upon crossing the Spanish lake (9)
SHOVELLER:  An interjection meaning “quiet” is followed by upon or above containing (crossing) both “the” in Spanish and the map abbreviation for lake 

21a   Taking part in film, I am in US city (5)
MIAMI:  The answer is hidden in (taking part in) FILM I AM IN 

22a   One in craft advanced through storm unprotected (7)
AVIATOR:  Put together the single letter for advanced, a synonym of through, and STORM minus its outer letters (unprotected) 

23a   Understands in general about provision for future (4,3)
NEST EGG:  Understands or comprehends inserted in an abbreviation for general, all reversed (about) 

24a   Turning angry, depart outdoor event (6,5)
GARDEN PARTY:  An anagram (turning) of ANGRY DEPART 

 

Down

1d    Mass of leaves, say, trouble related to climbing (7)
FOLIAGE:  Join together the Latin abbreviation for “say” or “for example”, a synonym of trouble, and “related to” or “from”, and then find the answer as the reversal of that lot (climbing, in a down clue) 

2d    Call up first lady that gains approval (5)
EVOKE:  The first lady in the Bible containing (that gains) a short word of approval 

3d    Modernist novel and play is regularly included in works (7)
ULYSSES:  Alternate letters (regularly) of PLAY IS inserted in (included in) works or employs 

The novel in question was written by this cat-loving author

4d    Comparatively swift youngster boxing this compiler (7)
NIPPIER:  An informal word for a youngster containing (boxing) a pronoun the compiler would use for themselves 

5d    Unspeakable new rendering of fine tale (9)
INEFFABLE:  An anagram of (new rendering of) FINE with a tale or narrative 

6d    One with beam that's new replacing old finally in mill (7)
GRINNER:  The single letter for new is replacing the final letter of OLD in a noun synonym of mill

7d    Cakey offering - King Alfred's fifth in sorry state (5,6)
BAKED ALASKA:  The chess abbreviation for king and Alfred’s fifth letter are inserted together in sorry or poor, and that’s all followed by the largest state in the US

9d    Praying with other ranks on transport overseas (11)
WORSHIPPING:  Cement together the single letter for with, the abbreviation for “other ranks”, and a form of transport over the seas 

13d   Parties shunned by top consumer unsuited to upright people (3-6)
ALL-SEATER:  Some parties or dances minus their first letter (shunned by top), followed by somebody who consumes food 

16d   Start of beers flowing leading to this? (7)
BOOZING:  The wordplay leads us to the answer as the first letter of (start to) BEERS followed by flowing viscously and slowly. The entire clue can serve as the definition 

17d   Loose rat with a leg wound (2,5)
AT LARGE:  An anagram (would, as in twisted) of RAT A LEG 

18d   Veg and fruit leaving Spain, good deal (7)
PARSNIP:  A sweet fruit minus the IVR code for Spain (leaving Spain) is followed by an informal word for a good deal or bargain 

19d   Grand temporary residence in which rent goes up (7)
STATELY:  A period of temporary residence in which the reversal of rent or lease is inserted (in which rent goes up, in a down clue) 

21d   One thinks predatory cat has no love (5)
MUSER:  A cat that catches rodents minus the letter representing a love score in tennis (… has no love) 

 

Thanks to today’s setter. I got big smiles from 1a, 23a, 16d, 21d, and the Quick Crossword pun. Which clues did you like best?

The Quick Crossword pun:  GUARD + DENSE + ENTER = GARDEN CENTRE

64 comments on “DT 30652”

  1. I agree with Mr K on his rating of this satisfying solve and needed him to fully understand 1d so thank you. The SW was my last area to be completed 20a a new one on me but parsable. My favourite was 18a and I laughed at 16d. Thanks to the setter for this Friday fun.

  2. What a delightful offering from pro_imal which I also rate as ***/****.

    Candidates for favourite – 15a, 18a, 18d, and 21d – and the winner is 15a.

    Thanks to pro_imal and Mr K.

  3. I agree with 3*/4* for this nicely challenging, fun, x-less pangram. Such a shame to have included the awful answer to 12a, which sets my teeth on edge.

    With lots of ticks, my podium comprises 23a, 16d & 21d.

    Many thanks to proXimal and to Mr K.

      1. Indeed it does. If you need to shorten either term, what is wrong with DJ and MC, abbreviations which have served us well for aeons?

        1. Abbreviations have gone mad this century.

          The yoof of today type CBA for ”Can’t be ar*ed” but say ‘Seebs’ because CBA takes too long to say!

          1. Makes “Fab” as used back in the 60s tame even though my use of it annoyed my father immensely!

  4. I couldn’t really get on the compiler’s wavelength today and had got only 3 clues after the first pass. I left it for a while and couldn’t get any more clues, when I tried again. S ince I have a lot to do today and was shortvof time, I decided to pass on this guzzle. Thanks to the compiler for his efforts and to Mr K for the hints I’ll look at the hints later to figure it all out.

    1. I had a similar experience this morning. Three in the SE corner. I was busy so left and have just come back to it. I’m glad I did because it began to unwind gradually and I finished at a canter in a *** time. I was left feeling rather pleased with myself and reflecting on what a fine puzzle it was.

  5. Great puzzle with which to end the back page week, thank you Proximal. Very appropriately the chewiest of the five, but not overly so and very accessible with minimal knowledge of the arcane required. Knowing we were on for an x-less pangram helped with my last few in the NW. Podium places for me to 12a, 18a, 20a and 21d.

    3 / 4

    Many thanks also to MrK – your youtube clip in 1a is wonderful!

  6. I had to look up a couple of hints but, otherwise, an enjoyable guzzle. It required some head scratching and I couldn’t parse 18d but it could be nothing else. I’ve just looked at Mr. K’s hint so now understand it. Very clever. I misread 6d and took the definition as “mill” so I got the thing “A… over T..”. The predatory cat evaded me for a while because I concentrated on lions and tigers etc. I became a huge 6d once the penny dropped and 21d became my COTD.

    Thank you, proXimal for the fun challenge. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints and pusskits. I loved the one with the bottle.

  7. An Xcellent finish to the week. I had to work for it but that makes the solve that much more enjoyable.

    What chump came out with that word for a predatory cat. Desperate stuff.

    Lots to like but I’ll go with 1a (a tremendous effort to get his first name in an answer!), 18a (love it) and 22a.

    Many thanks to Pro X and Mr K.

    3*/4*

  8. No prizes for guessing the setter today as X certainly doesn’t mark the spot.

    Great puzzle, great fun, great clueing throughout. Tough going at times, but a joy to finish. Loads of favourites here, but if pushed for my two it will have to be 12a and 18a.

    Many thanks to Mr Setter, a real corker.

  9. Nicely challenging for a Friday with a great variety of clue types and some clever misdirection. Tough to pick a winner from such a great selection, but 21d just gets the nod.

    My thanks to proXimal and Mr K.

  10. Not the easiest Friday but one for finding the definition and ignoring the overly complex phrasing.
    Overall quite enjoyable. Needed the hints to explain many of my answers.
    Thx to all
    ***/***
    Just realised it’s a Proximal so pleased to finish at all. His are always very tricky.

  11. A top-notch puzzle – thanks to proXimal and Mr K.
    It’s difficult to select a podium from such a fine selection of clues but I’ll go with 1a, 18a and 7d.

  12. Very clever Friday fare from the setter who likes to set himself challenges. Most of us would struggle to even produce a coherent puzzle, let alone one with self-imposed restrictions on the use of specific letters!
    Plenty of choices for the podium with the short list comprising 15,20&23a along with 9&21d.

    Thanks to proXimal and to Mr K and his felines for the review.

  13. A nice guzzle with lots of smiles. However, I was a bit unsure of 20a as it is usually spelt with only one l for the duck (2 l’s if you are using a shovel). I don’t have a BRB so can’t check that.
    Top picks for me were 15a, 17d and 21d.
    Thanks to Mr K and ProXimal.

    1. The BRB does allow for both spellings but the birders’ bible aka Collins Bird Guide certainly doesn’t!

      1. Thanks Jane. I’ll try to remember both spellings when in crosswordland in future.

  14. Very pleased to finish this unaided although had to take a break to let my grey cells regroup. So many great clues but favourite was 1a closely followed by 7d. Thank you to the very clever setter and to Mr K.

  15. I download this crossword onto my iPad.
    I use both Safari and Chrome.
    I follow all the DT’s advice about downloading.
    But getting access is very, very iffy.
    Today for example had to delete all history on Safari in spite of doing this yesterday.
    With Chrome I gained access after three attempts all about one hour or so apart.
    Does anyone else have this problem about access?
    Extremely annoying and frustrating.
    Is it to do with the DT’s connection to the internet?

    2. Hrothgar, not sure if this helps but …there is a problem using Chrome.

      If the DT site is already loaded in one tab, loading it again in a New Tab will fail.

      Not straight away … but when you select a particular puzzle … it hangs up.

    4. Very many thanks for all your help.
      I got straight on with Chrome just now for today’s SPP.
      I will just have to live with it I guess.

  16. A nice finish to the non-work week with this Friday puzzle. Some great clues and a couple of head scratchers.

    1.5*/4*

    Favourites 7a, 12a, 18a, 7d & 9d — with winner 12a!
    Smiles from 11a, 15a, 18a & 20a

    Thanks to proXimal & Mr K.

  17. Friday morn and the clouds are low
    No need for a place to go
    Proximal gives the right clues, getting in the swing
    All the clues I am solving.

    This old man could be that guy
    Day was young and the hopes were high
    Mr Kitty’s pictures all were fine.

    You’re too stiff for a dance
    But when you get the chance
    You are an old ‘has been’
    Old, no longer seventeen
    Old ‘has been’
    Feel the twinge of your ‘lumberee’
    Oh dear

    You can’t dance, you can’t jive
    But having the time of your life
    Ooh, see that clue, touch that screen
    Keep digging, you old ‘has been’.

    1. A fine effort, Pips, but I’m rubbish with lyrics. So, I don’t have the first idea what song this one is based on.

      But, who cares? Keep ’em coming!

        1. Ah ha! A classic floor-filler. Thanks Sue.

          We love ABBA. Obviously, I was a closet fan in the 70s, playing Supper’s Ready in my bedroom followed by Winner Takes it All, albeit, at a lower volume.

          1. You and I ha e very similar tastes Tom. You would obviously know where my user names comes from!

            1. Of course.

              My sister introduced me to the Trick of the Tail when I was 10 and I was hooked. It’s still my favourite album though Selling England and W&W give it a good run.

              The public and the band were understandably nervous when Peter left. They first 10 seconds of the first song (DOAV) of the next album allayed everyone’s fears. What an announcement!

              It was a sad day when Steve left.

        2. I’ve just re-read Pip’s last refrain. How did I not get it from that, Abba fan or not!

          Very disappointing, Tom.

          1. Abba-fan — is that somewhere in Wales?

            I think that’s one of Pip’s best ditties yet, the words so well chosen that the original tune became apparent (in my case℠) just by the rhythm of them. Thank you, Pip — keep them coming!

      3. Friday night and the lights are low
        Looking out for a place to go
        Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
        You come to look for a king

        Anybody could be that guy
        Night is young and the music’s high
        With a bit of rock music, everything is fine
        You’re in the mood for a dance
        And when you get the chance

        You are the dancing queen
        Young and sweet, only seventeen
        Dancing queen
        Feel the beat from the tambourine
        Oh, yeah

        You can dance, you can jive
        Having the time of your life
        Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene
        Digging the dancing queen

  18. 3.5*/3.5* for me. I stared at this puzzle for some time before any answers revealed themselves, but eventually, some pennies started dropping.

    I had to get some e-help to crack a few clues and the spelling of the duck held me up as all my research told me there was only 1 L. Anyway, I got there in the end and my vote goes 2 7D.

    Thanks to Proximal and Mr K for the hints and lovely cats.

  19. Severe wavelength problems with this one. I was on crackly LW and Proximal on something far higher. Having struggled to half way, I resorted to Mr K’s excellent hints for enlightenment. Wonderful puzzle, but beyond me. Thanks to ProXimal for the challenge and Mr K for the hints

  20. For the first time this week I actually found this more straightforward than most, funny how that happens. Thoroughly enjoyable and well clued throughout and no problems with the parsing. Favourite was 18d. Thanks to ProXimal and Mr. K.

  21. It took a while but I got there in the end, so many clever elegant clues. Some trouble parsing a few but all explained by the hints. 22d made me smile and is my favourite.

    Many thanks to ProXimal and to Mr K for the hints and pics.

  22. I haven’t had time for puzzling this week, so I was hoping for something both gentle and fun to come back to today, for which this crossword turned out to be perfect — a real treat, with plenty of fun while all being quite doable. Thank you to proXimal for the entertainment, and Mr K for hosting us.

    Plaudits to 18a’s lift button and 6d’s new-for-old beam, with my favourite being King Alfred’s culinary offering in 7d. The plant in 15a was new to me, but the wordplay made it clear, and it was the kind of word that somehow sounds like it’s a plant.

    The pic is from the hustings of candidates to be our MP, which I chaired last night — the related admin being my excuse for a lack of puzzling recently. Fortunately the candidates all turned out to be decent people who were respectful of the event and each other, which made chairing a delight — especially when compared to certain national debates lately, on both sides of the Atlantic. (It is on YouTube, but if you find yourself with nothing better to do than watch a hustings for somebody else’s constituency, you might want to re-evaluate your life choices?)

    1. Good work, Smylers.

      I love the irony of the last hymn number on the board.

      1. Hahaha, I hadn’t noticed that! I’m presuming that was genuinely the final hymn at a recent service, rather than somebody putting that up intentionally for the video background.

        1. We’ll never know….

          Bruce Dickinson at his chanting best….

    2. I see you’re from my part of the world. I’m currently doing missionary work in Essex but have 150+ years of family history over the moors in Baildon.

      1. Exciting times in Baildon this weekend: their railway line is re-opening after being closed since early February, following a landslip. The remedial work involved demolishing two nearby houses (and, presumably, finding their former occupants somewhere else to live).

        There was a test trains with staff in them running along the line today to check everything’s OK, I learnt from somebody who had turned up with a massive camera to photograph the test train.

  23. I confess that this a huge struggle for me, needing ehelp galore and Mr. K’s hints in the NE to get to the end. No surprises, it is Friday and I know it’s going to be tricky! I’m not sure I like 6d, how many times would one say “look at ‘im, ain’t ‘e a grinner”? Sounds wrong, but what do I know. My biggest problem was parsing, I had 7d early on but hesitated to put it in. There were many “grinners” along the way, I liked 15a, giggled at 16d, but fave is a tossup between 21d and 21a, natch.
    Thank you proXimal for the workout, and to Mr. K whose help was so necessary. Oh, the pussycats too, such a joy to see them back, particularly loved the video at 1a.

  24. Feeling quite chuffed as I actually didn’t need much help with a Friday puzzle, and likely a proximal to boot. Biggest holdups were 20a and 13d, which I would never have got without the hints. Nicely clued, in that the checkers were a great help in those instances where I was a bit befuddled. Thanks to proximal and to Mr K. Great pictures as usual. Particularly liked 7a, reminded us to much of our Basil, who loved nothing better to be up high on something precarious. Meanwhile, his brother Rupert, would stare up at him as if he was nuts.

  25. Cracking puzzle, review & puss pics. 1a predictably my pick from many ticks.
    Thanks to proXimal & to Mr K

  26. Good afternoon

    By the cringe! That was a tough challenge this afty, definitely a fourser rather than Mr K’s 3*…

    Definitely found the RHS easier than the LHS, though the RHS was tricky enough. And I must admit that 1d, my last to fall, was entered incorrectly as FALLAGE; I looked it up and it means “fallen branches”, so I believed it to be nigh enough – wrong!!

    COTD is 1a. Terrific!

    Many thanks to proXimal and to Mr K.

  27. Thanks to Mr K for the review and to commenters for comments. I’m currently on hols in sunny Montenegro, having a break from setting.

    1. Thank you for the guzzle, proXimal and for popping in especially as you are on holiday. Have a great time in The Balkans. 👍

    2. Thanks for dropping by, and thanks for a fine puzzle to solve and to hint. Hope you have a great holiday.

      Thanks also to everyone who has participated in the blog today.

  28. What an enjoyable puzzle despite making a silly mistake with 1d which caused much head-scratching later. Was so sure 7d was going to begin with ‘burnt’ until the penny dropped or bell clanged. Tried to make an anagram of 15a (priest a) but couldn’t find a suitably named plant! Barking up the wrong tree again but all good fun. Many thanks to Proximal and to Mr K. What a marvelous selection of cat photos for our entertainment. Much appreciated and that’s from a dog lover!

  29. Way above my pay grade today. Solved 8 clues and then resorted to the hints/answers.

    Thanks to all.

  30. Really enjoyable puzzle. I particularly enjoyed 7D & 16D.

    Many thanks, ProXimal – enjoy your holiday!

    Thanks also Mr K and all commenters.

  31. Slow but sure and got there in the end with a sense of achievement , much enjoyment and no need for hints. I too was unsure of spelling of 20a but seems it’s ok. Thanks to Proximal and Mr K

  32. I am way off this wavelength so will just call it a day and opt out after several stabs during the day but at least I’m not entirely alone. Thanks proXimal and MrK 😰.

  33. Waiting for today’s DT. I’m struggling with this. If I could understand the clues it would help! I’m just going to relax and enjoy reading the blog

  34. 4*/4* ….
    liked 6D ” One with beam that’s new replacing old finally in mill (7)” , mainly for the cat pic in the review.

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