ST 3273 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3273 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3273 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where the forecast suggests that the heat and humidity will continue for the next two weeks at least with temperatures up to 30 degrees for several days in a row and the occasional thunderstorm just to provide a little variety.

For me, and I stress for me, Dada very friendly with three long uns in the Acrosses, seven anagrams (two partials), one lurker, and one homophone all in a very asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.  And, remember, the Naughty Step is OPEN!

Enjoyably solved with a different libation – a Winnipeg brewery’s interpretation of a Mild Ale, very good, but a shame that the can was only 0.83 of a pint.

Candidates for favourite – 11a, 13a, 24a, 5d, 20d, and 21d.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.

Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Some hints follow:

Across

8a Frequent painter, so awful (9)
An anagram (awful) of PAINTER, SO – if it helps, the definition and the answer are verbs.

11a This bridge term applied to snooker (9,6)
A verbal synonym of bridge, a synonym of term, and (applied to) a ‘generic’ synonym of snooker – in case you missed it, the definition is the first word of the clue.

15a Spray I sell, ten per cent off (6,9)
An anagram (off) of I SELL, TEN PER CENT – very useful against Manitoba’s ‘Provincial Bird’, they really are this big :wink:

19a Raise a glass claiming premier job in government, highest post (7)
The (formal) reason to raise a glass containing (claiming) the two letters indicating the premier job in government.

24a A tasty right hook, perhaps? (7,8)
An edible (tasty) slang or informal term for what a right hook could be an example of (perhaps).

27a Master of literary hall, he’s rector, surprisingly (9)
An anagram (surprisingly) of HE’S RECTOR.

Down

1d Classic English photo (4)
The single letter for English and the abbreviated form of a synonym of photo.

5d Victim in truthful denial (8)
A synonym of victim (especially of ridicule) inserted into (in) a four letter synonym of truthful.

6d Round dish inscribed with a square (6)
A round (edible) dish (although we also have square and rectangular variants) containing (inscribed with) A from the clue.

9d Month in class coming up for hard workers (7)
The short form of one of the months of the year (remember there are only twelve to guess from) inserted into (in) the reversal (coming up) of a synonym of class.

14d Corroded school, according to report? (5)
The homophone (according to report) of the school across a river from a Royal residence.

16d Biscuits, wonderful things (8)
A double definition – the second is an informal term.

18d For the few different titles, one written in (7)
The Roman numeral for one inserted into (written in) an anagram (different) of TITLES.

23d Something to chew over has come together in club (6)
What ruminants chew over (and over) with (has) a three letter term for come together.

25d Animal heads off hopping, as rabbit essentially (4)
Dada’s favourite clue construction again, look for the indicator – initial letters (heads off) of four words in the clue.

Quick Crossword Pun – a strange Quickie Grid but a pun that, unlike like week, was easily solved:

CANTER + BEAR + RETAILS = CANTERBURY TALES

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Not much going on as far as birthdays and number ones are concerned this week so here is something a little different. Dame Shirley Bassey was created a member of the prestigious Order of the Companions of Honour in the last New Year’s Honours List and, on Tuesday, the process was completed when she attended an Investiture Ceremony at Windsor Castle conducted by the King.

One of Dame Shirley’s claims to the fame (perhaps) is that she is the only singer to perform more than one James Bond theme song, three in total. Here is the first of them as shown in the title sequence for the film and including, some might say, the best James Bond although a brief ‘snippet’ of From Russia With Love seems to have ‘crept in’ (around 1m 45s):

52 comments on “ST 3273 (Hints)”

    2. Thanks. Revision made.

      I must have had a complete brain f*rt – I wrote down the three answers from the Quickie and wrote down the flower without too much thought.

    3. I like how three characters from that work were included. And a fourth if another word for 4d is considered.

      1. Your comment went into moderation because you used what I presume is your name rather than the alias you have used in the past.

  2. Dada a bit on the difficult side for me today. I had completely forgotten the term at 24a and 11a took me an age because the definition was well disguised. I don’t see how “ready’” fits into 12d. Not to worry, I finished it but whether it is correct is another matter. I was in two minds about submitting but, in the end, I did. My COTD is the aforementioned 11a because of the huge PDM when the answer hit me.

    Thank you, Dada for the challenge. Thank you, Mr. Mustard for the hints.

      1. My iPad BRP cannot find ready as a definition for the other two clues. Closest was synonym ****** for the author. It rather threw me.

  3. Another excellent puzzle from Dada today, I thought. Bottom half friendly, top half much tougher, IMHO. COTD has to be 11a. Even when I had enough checkers to make the answer obvious it still took me a good while to crack the clue. Thanks to Dada for the challenge and Senf for the blog. I am keeping the beer on ice – just in case England pull of a miracle!

  4. I, too, found this on the tricky side. Raced off to a quick start and then ground to a halt until I sorted out the SE corner. I did enjoy the challenge and cotd for me is 24a. Thanks to Dada and Senf

  5. I disagree with Senf about the difficulty of today’s puzzle, which I found very tough. I did however enjoy it a lot.

    My rating is 4*/4* with 11a my favourite and the triple definition 12d in second place.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  6. 11&24a my top two in this one. The solve was a game of two halves – a breeze up north & brain fog down south extending completion into ** time. Shame 12d isn’t hinted as like Steve I’m struggling to see how ready is synonymous with the answer assuming it’s a triple definition.
    Thanks to D & to S – nice pics

      1. Guessed so – don’t think it would look quite right if I lumped the BRB onto the 1st tee 😀

          1. Zandio very accessible today I thought & great fun. A fair bit easier than many of his Friday back-pagers & recommended

  7. I started slowly but gradually built up steam today and crossed the line without needing any hints.

    Very enjoyable and the prize has to go to 11A which caused a chuckle when it dawned on me. Runner up is 24A. I was unsure about ‘ready’ and although it’s in the BRB, I can’t see many people using it.

    2.5*/4* for me.
    Thanks to Dada and Senf

  8. 3*/4*. Enjoyable and 10a was my fav. I don’t really understand 9d. How does the answer relate to the clue. Ie hard workers.

    1. The ancient people of that name were famed for working hard which gives rise to an expression relating to working hard

      1. I thank my Mum for that one, as she always used to say “oh he’s been working like a …… all day”.

  9. Wow that was tough! Def a Dada in a very bad mood when he wrote this one. Having said that it was an enjoyable solve once the wet towel was in place. Best clues for me were 24a and 11a.
    Thx to all
    ****/***

  10. Had to use the BRB to confirm both the highest post in 19a and the ‘ready’ in 12d but not to worry, at least I wasn’t faced with solving the puzzle our reviewer illustrated in his hints!

    Top three for me were 11&24a plus 20d.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints and clip of one of Ms Bassey’s claims to fame.

  11. A bit trickier than we normally get from Dada on Sunday – thanks to him and Senf.
    My ticks went to 11a, 19a and 24a.

  12. Took me a while, but I was pleased to have completed before this page went live. 11a was my favourite.

  13. I certainly found this hard, but I finished, so feel pleased with my efforts. 11a was my favourite. Like others I was puzzled by 12d but I thought the answer had to be right.
    The anagrams are always helpful when things are tricky.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for th hints

  14. I rarely disagree with our blogger but I thought this was exceptionally tough and it took me way longer than usual to complete. Well done to the setter for making it hard but fair, with some clever constructions, best of which was 11a.

    Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  15. An enjoyable puzzle for me. 19a was a new word for me but it couldn’t have been much else. Lots to like and top picks were 11a, 5d, 20d and 23d.
    Also thought the Quickie pun was good.
    Thanks to Senf and Dada.

  16. For me, and I stress for me (™ Senf) a complaint has been fired off (special pen with vivid green ink) to Mr Lancaster, Mr Starmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Taylor Swift, with Dame Shirley Bassey and Justin Pierre James Trudeau PC MP copied in. The complaint is about the following phrase: ‘Dada very friendly’.
    Friendly? FRIENDLY? Has Senf lost his marbles in Lake Winnipeg? I say sir, that you mislead your public and only a stiff reprimand from Ms Swift, Dame Shirley, and the others named above will suffice.

    Gawd, it took me forever to get going here. Never were Senf’s tips required more frequently and urgently. I tip my hat to all of those who zoomed through this trickiest of tricky fellows.

    Thanks to Da-doo-ron-ron and The Man From Manitoba.

    1. All I can say is, there were certain aspects of the puzzle that ‘leapt off the page’ for me, but I would welcome a visit from Dame Shirley and Ms Swift, examples are:

      Dada’s favourite clue construction in 25d, in its fairly regular position as the last of the Downs.
      Three reasonably obvious anagrams in the NW.
      The reason to raise a glass in 19a.
      The three long uns – although identifying the Lego pieces in 11a did slow me down.
      And a few more.

      Perhaps the contents of the illustrated can have some performance enhancing qualities!

  17. Completely agree with Terence above, I found this very difficult indeed. Only managed half a dozen at first read through and then managed to complete about half. Came back to it later and it then fell into place but it was certainly no walk in the park. Gripping tennis yesterday but completed spoiled by incessant and inane commentary – during a crucial rally I don’t care about the little village a player grew up in or how many double faults there have been. Sam Smith was the worst and should be taken off commentating duties – on and on she drivelled! Anyway thanks to Dada for the brain mangling and to Senf.

    1. And another thing, get rid of the really annoying Clare Balding and bring back Sue Barker. Thank you!

      1. I agree with you completely about both Clare Balding and Sue Barker, Manders. Wimbledon isn’t as good this year.

    3. I watch tennis with the sound turned off most of the time – after all if attending in person there is no commentary! One of the main differences between Sue Barker and Clare Balding is that the former was a professional tennis player so knows the ropes whereas Balding has to chatter to make up for her lack of knowledge.

  18. As per usual I enjoyed this Sunday Dada offering. Was at the easier end of his spectrum for the most part. However he did have a couple of his quirky clues and he definitely opened his thesaurus this week.
    A couple of chestnuts in this one too.

    1.5*/4*

    Favourites 11a, 24a, 1d, 12d, 14d & 16d — with winner 1d

    Thanks to Dada & Senf for blog/hints

  19. We also found this difficult with some real head scratchers but we stuck at it and eventually stumbled over the line. We enjoyed the challenge though. Favourite was 9d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  20. 5/2. Very difficult and had too many bung ins with low levels of confidence that I’ve got the right answer. Not very rewarding and quite tiresome as a whole. Thanks to Dada and Senf for helping to point out where I was not on the right wavelength.

  21. DIFFICULT Dada day but a very rewarding puzzle once solved . My favourites were the big anagram at 15a, the cryptic definitions at 24a and 11a and the literary clue at 27a. Thanks to Dada for a most entertaining and absorbing guzzle. Thanks also to Senf for the hints.

  22. I thought this was almost fruendly until I got to the NE. I got the first word of 11a but not the second. If you want to know anything about snooker, ask me, I’ve just spent valuable time reading all about it and still don’t understand that second word. The most enjoyable tennis match didn’t help my concentration. I remembered 24a from before, can’t say I like it! As soon as I solved 27a I knew it would be my fave; I was in love with him from lower-fifth form as only a teenager can be! Be still my heart.
    Thank you Dada, that was some workout but fun. Thanks Senf, I needed your hints to get me going again. (Ooh, wotta lob!!!) Thanks for the Shirley Bassey, one of a kind.

  23. I am definitely in the tricky camp today, not finding this friendly at all, particularly anything snooker related and the reportedly 24a item, which is new to me. Not sure about 16a as I don’t believe they are biscuits at all, and wonderful? Just my ignorance I guess. Otherwise a good work out as I watch Peter alternative between his knee icing machine and the recumbent bike machine that his surgeon had delivered to us. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  25. Mr. Google and I didn’t enjoy this ordeal. Amongst several others 24a meant nothing to me. 11a was an unparsed bung-in. Thanks Dada and Senf.

    1. I get the first word of 11a but, for the life of me, I can’t get the second word. What has that got to do with snooker?

      1. As I said in the hint, and probably only to be found in Dada’s personal thesaurus, ‘a ‘generic’ synonym of snooker’ so not necessarily involved with the game – a problem that has to be resolved.

        1. Oh, OK! I’d never heard it and couldn’t find it anywhere. I’ll try and remember.

  26. I am in the three or even four stars for difficulty camp, but I always enjoy Dada puzzles – there is something slightly offbeat about the thought processes involved in some of his clues which v much appeals to me (once I twig them, of course….)

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