DT 30659 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30659

A full review by Rahmat Ali

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 6^th July 2024

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

Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, straightforward Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and valuable feedback.

I was very inquisitive to learn more about the dysfunctional hotel called ‘Fawlty Towers’, the British comedy television series that was first made in 1975 with six episodes and followed by the second in 1979 with another six episodes was broadcast by the BBC and still regularly repeated as also serving as the answer to the clue of 1a and 12a combined here in this puzzle. So, I visited the net and got to know a lot of things about this erratic hotel. The scenes of the series are in fact set in a hotel in the coastal Devon town of Torquay. The owners of the hotel are Basil Fawlty and his wife Sybil. They are helped by Polly, a young British maid and Manuel, a clumsy waiter from Barcelona in Spain. In series two, there is also a chief by the name Terry. Basil is a rude, angry man who fought in the Korean War. He has been married to Sybil for fifteen years, but there is no love between them. Polly has a talent for painting and this is shown in some episodes when her artwork is laid upon the front desk, annoying Basil. Manuel speaks only a little English and often makes mistakes due to misunderstanding things. When he makes a mistake, Basil usually apologises to the guests by saying, “I’m so sorry, he’s from Barcelona.” The Major is a regular guest. He is old and forgetful. The aged and easily shocked Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby are other regular guests. In ‘Fawlty Towers’, things are always going wrong. Basil Fawlty always makes the situation worse in his wild and funny attempts to hide the problem. One of the most famous episodes is “The Germans”. In that episode, people from Germany are visiting the hotel. Basil dislikes Germans, because he blames them for starting World War II. He tells his staff, “Don’t mention the war!”. Ironically, he himself continually mentions the war and even imitates Adolf Hitler. ‘Fawlty Towers’ has influenced other comedies. It still has many fans, is liked by millions of people and many people regard it as the best comedy series made by the BBC. It was voted 5^th in a poll in Britain to find “Britain’s Best Sitcom” 2004.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a and 12a         Taylor Swift not one we disturbed in dysfunctional hotel (6,6)
FAWLTY TOWERS: The definition of the name of a hotel that is not functioning properly and where things are always going wrong as seen in a British comedy television series of the same name and made in the 1970s is arrived at from an anagram (disturbed) of a combo of TAYLOR SW[I]FT omitting (not) I (one) as the Roman numeral for one and WE

5a          SOS involving British Conservative in tearful tale (3,5)
SOB STORY: SOS from the clue taking in (involving) B (British) as the abbreviation for British followed by TORY (Conservative) as a member of a political party in Great Britain that has been known as the Conservative Party since 1832 takes to the definition of a sentimental story or account intended chiefly to evoke sympathy or sadness

9a          Trio at bar disorderly — right for one to settle dispute? (10)
ARBITRATOR: An anagram (disorderly) of TRIO AT BAR followed by R (right) as the abbreviation for right leads to the definition of someone who is chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue

10a        Aussie bouncer initially tempting batsman Joe (4)
ROOT: ROO (bouncer) as an Australian colloquial term for a kangaroo that is indigenous to Australia and New Guinea and that is having strong developed hindlimbs that enable it to travel by leaping and bouncing followed by the initial or first letter (initially) of T[EMPTING] takes to the definition of the surname of an English international cricketer who plays for the English cricket team, who captained the Test team between February 2017 and April 2022 and whose full name is Joseph Edward Root

11a        Might this soothe a depressed-sounding woman? (4,4)
ALOE VERA: A from the clue followed by LOW (depressed) as depressed, dejected or morose serving as a homophone heard by the audience (sounding) and VERA (woman) as a feminine name of Slavic origin meaning faith or truth and a variant of the name Verena guides to the definition of a gelatinous substance or thick liquid obtained from the leaves of a plant, used especially in cosmetics to treat damaged skin by softening or soothing it

12a        See 1 Across

13a        See 21 Across

15a        Harmless boozer with old US coin (8)
INNOCENT: A charade of INN (boozer) as a house located usually in the country providing accommodation, food, drink and overnight lodging, especially for travellers followed by (with) O (old) as the abbreviation for old as OT in Old Testament and CENT (US coin) as a coin worth a hundredth part of the main unit of money in many countries, an example of which is the dollar of the United States takes to the definition of an adjective meaning innocuous or harmless or not involving or intended to cause harm or offence

18a        House representative’s brilliant crime netting grand (4,4)
STAR SIGN: The definition of one of the twelve signs of the zodiac that serve as symbol representatives of the twelve planetary houses of different names is obtained from STAR (brilliant) as an adjective meaning brilliant, pre-eminent or prominent followed by SIN (crime) as a noun meaning immoral act, crime or offence taking in (netting) G (grand) as a slangy shorthand for grand, a term used to mean a thousand dollars or as an abbreviation for Grand as GM in Grand Master or as GP in Grand Prix

19a        Stench from Zorba maybe not good (4)
REEK: The definition of a strong, unpleasant smell or stench is arrived at from [G]REEK (Zorba maybe) as probably referring to Alexis Zorba, a character in the 1946 novel ‘Zorba the Greek’ written by Nikos Kazantzakis having excluded (not) G (good) as the abbreviation for good

21a, 24d and 13a            Make every effort in Lorna’s flat? Most desirable! (2,4,5,4)
DO ONE’S LEVEL BEST: The definition of a phrase meaning to make all possible efforts is deduced from a charade of DOONE’S (Lorna’s) as of or belonging to Doone, possibly referring to Lorna Doone, the heroine of the 1869 novel of the same name that was written by RD Blackmore, LEVEL (flat) as an adjective meaning flat or even and BEST (most desirable) as another adjective meaning most desirable, appropriate or advantageous

23a        Honestly, deviously or surreptitiously? (2,3,3)
ON THE SLY: An anagram (deviously) of HONESTLY guides to the definition of an idiom meaning in a secretive fashion or in a clandestine or furtive manner

25a        Genuine old Spanish coin (4)
REAL: Double definition; the first being an adjective meaning genuine or authentic and the second a noun referring to a former coin and monetary unit of various Spanish-speaking countries

26a        Ruinous to Eve with vicar doing too much? (10)
OVERACTIVE: An anagram (ruinous) of a combo of TO EVE and (with) VICAR takes to the definition of an adjective meaning doing something too much or functioning at too high a capacity

27a        Is ready and gives support (6,2)
STANDS BY: Double definition of phrasal verb in the simple present tense third person singular form; the second meaning gives one’s support or remains loyal to someone that leads to the first denoting ‘is ready to deal or assist with something’ or ‘is available and ready to act if needed or called upon’

28a        Time to race along — hard going for creature (6)
TURTLE: T (time) as the symbol for time in physics followed by [H]URTLE (to race along) as to move or cause to move at high speed, typically in an uncontrolled manner having H (hard) as the symbol for hard in lead pencils removed (going) guides to the definition of a reptile of the order Testudines, characterised by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs

Down

2d          Pair in trouble for month (5)
APRIL: PR (pair) as the abbreviation for pair present inside (in) AIL (trouble) as to trouble or afflict someone in mind or body yields the definition of the fourth month of the year that comes after March and before May

3d          Take furtive look round cool street in Midlands city (9)
LEICESTER: LEER (take furtive look) as to look or gaze with a sly, immodest or malign expression placed about (round) a combo of ICE (cool) as to cool, cool down or chill and ST (street) as the abbreviation for street leads to the definition of the largest city in the East Midlands of England

4d          Royal house about to return delivery (6)
YORKER: YORK (royal house) as the English royal house that was a branch of the Plantagenet line that reigned from 1461 to 1485 followed by RE (about) as a commercial jargon used to indicate ‘concerning’, ‘regarding’ or ‘about’ to come backwards (return) as a reversal in the across clue takes to the definition of a delivery or a ball bowled which hits the cricket pitch around the batsman’s feet

5d          Any idiot with costume cast for 1 Across 12 Across perhaps (9,6)
SITUATION COMEDY: An anagram (cast) of a combo of ANY IDIOT and (with) COSTUME guides to the definition of a television radio series in which the same set of characters are involved in various amusing situations that serve as an example of 1 Across 12 Across (1a and 12a)

6d          Singer in Italian port to north-east (8)
BARITONE: The definition of a male singer whose fairly deep voice is lower than that of a tenor but higher than that of a bass is got from BARI (Italian port) as a port in south-eastern Italy on the Adriatic coast, TO from the clue and NE (north-east) as the abbreviation for north-east

7d          Deliberately lose most of the argument (5)
THROW: Almost all the letters of (most of) TH[E] followed by ROW (argument) as a noisy acrimonious quarrel or argument takes to the definition of a verb meaning to lose a contest, fight etc deliberately, especially in boxing

8d          Ring road repaired by East River (3,6)
RIO GRANDE: An anagram (repaired) of RING ROAD followed by (by) E (East) as the abbreviation for East guides to the definition of one of the principal rivers in the south-western United States and in northern Mexico

14d        Sociable old pirate stops avoiding alcohol (9)
EXTROVERT: The definition of an adjective meaning highly pleasant and sociable or friendly and enjoying other people’s company is arrived at from EX (old) as a prefix indicating of a person no longer what they were but still living or as someone with whom a person was once associated in a relationship or marriage followed by ROVER (pirate) as a nautical term for a pirate or pirate ship that interrupts by getting inside (stops) TT (avoiding alcohol) as an abbreviation for teetotaller who is a person abstaining completely from alcoholic beverages

16d        One doing the Lord’s work? (9)
CARPENTER: A cryptic definition of a person following the trade similar to the one followed by Lord Jesus

17d        VIPs: intolerant people keeping quiet (3,5)
BIG SHOTS: The definition of a very important and powerful or influential person in a group of organisation is reached from BIGOTS (intolerant people) as the plural of any person who is intolerant or hateful towards people whose race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation etc is different from the person’s own having inside (keeping) SH (quiet) as an interjection used to tell someone to be quiet

20d        Channel having no bends we hear (6)
STRAIT: STRAIGHT (having no bends) as free from curves, bends, angles or irregularities serving as a homophone heard by the audience (we hear) leads to the definition of a narrow passage of water connecting two seas or two other large areas of water

22d        Material used in many longbows (5)
NYLON: Part of or hidden inside (used in) [MA]NY LON[GBOWS] produces the definition of a strong material that is made from a chemical process and that is used for making clothes, ropes and other products

24d        See 21 Across

There were many clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 1a-12a, 5a, 15a, 21a-24d-13a, 23a, 3d, 4d, 5d, 7d, 14d, 17d and 20d; 11a being the clear topper. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NYDK for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.