DT 30680 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30680

by 2Kiwis  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30680

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

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

Kia ora from Aotearoa.
Suspect that we are not the only ones spending a lot of time in front of TV watching what is happening in Paris. Most of it happens while we are asleep so much of what we see are re-plays but still most addictive.
An enjoyable puzzle to work on this week which we feel will please most solvers.

Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

Across

1a    Conducted bag search thoroughly (7)
RANSACK : Conducted or organised, and a simple bag.

9a    Power held by a little craving (8)
APPETITE : ‘A’ from the clue and a word borrowed from French for little contains P(ower).

10a    A big one turned out to be a plant (7)
BEGONIA : An anagram (turned out) of A BIG ONE.

11a    Doctor’s action may be true about following blunder (8)
REFERRAL : True or genuine contains the abbreviation for following and blunder or make a mistake.

12a    In part of Valencia, some retrospective artwork (6)
MOSAIC : A reverse lurker, hiding in the clue.

13a    Friendly sort of shop, one with food (10)
HOSPITABLE : An anagram (sort of) of SHOP, then Roman numeral one and a word for food generally.

15a    Olympian queen in the raw? (4)
HERA : A lurker, hiding in the clue.

16a    Shout, yet to be paid and getting increasingly jaundiced (9)
YELLOWING : Shout or call out, then needing to be paid.

21a    Turning back as it happens is bad (4)
EVIL : The reversal of a word used for a broadcast ‘as it happens’.

22a     Failing to pay attention, as an astronomer might be (10)
STARGAZING : The answer split 4,6 could describe an astronomer’s action.

24a    Season dinner, having had a change of heart (6)
SUMMER : Start with a meal and change the two central letters.

25a    Indicating and taking a turn (8)
SPELLING : A double definition.

27a    Trouble that occasionally occupies a holiday home (7)
AGITATE : The first and third letters of ‘that’ are enclosed by ‘A’ from the clue and a word borrowed from French for a holiday home.

28a    Country person from Ponteland or Rannoch (8)
ANDORRAN : A lurker, hiding in the clue.

29a    Chap drinks last of beer before cheese (7)
GRUYERE : A chap or man contains the last letter of beer and then a poetic synonym for ‘before’.

Down

2d    Plants may offer new means to protect individual (8)
ANEMONES : An anagram (new) of MEANS contains individual or single.

3d    Unsettled as two approach fare-dodger (8)
STOWAWAY : An anagram (unsettled) of AS TWO and then approach or thoroughfare.

4d    Creature that’s cool in part of Asia? (10)
CHINCHILLA : Cool or lower the temperature is enclosed by a large Asian country.

5d    Part of church sees primate welcoming sinners initially (4)
APSE : A large primate contains S(inners).

6d    What sinners should do about exercise on part of the Bible (6)
REPENT : The prefix for about, physical exercise and the second part of the Bible.

7d    Brides getting excited about love drop habit (7)
DISROBE : An anagram (getting excited) of BRIDES contains tennis score love.

8d    Fine – that is the last of his footwear (7)
WELLIES : Fine or healthy, then the abbreviation for the Latin ‘that is’ and the final letter of ‘his’.

11d    Making good call in support of new store (9)
RESTORING : An anagram (new) of STORE and call on the telephone.

14d    Frantically cruising around Georgia for something sweet (5,5)
ICING SUGAR : An anagram (frantically) of CRUISING contains the abbreviation for Georgia.

17d    New game theory – not a hard school subject (8)
GEOMETRY : An anagram (new) of GaME ThEORY once ‘A’ from the clue and H(ard) are removed.

18d    Person in charge of straight-talking soldiers (8)
DIRECTOR : Straight-talking or to the point and then low-ranking soldiers.

19d    Australia and America both up 50, traditionally (2,5)
AS USUAL : The reversal of the three letter abbreviations for Australia and America and Roman numeral fifty.

20d    Manages and gets to the party (5,2)
MAKES DO : Gets to or arrives at, and the two letter party.

23d    Young lady with source of metal in abundance (6)
GALORE : A young lady and the mineral source of metals.

26d    Nifty approach needing time for leader of remainers (4)
NEAT : Approach or ‘get close to’ has its first letter from remainers replaced with T(ime).

Being cheese lovers we can’t resist 29a for favourite and also got a good chuckle from 7d.

Quickie pun    foray    +    nurse    =    foreigners

62 comments on “DT 30680”

  1. It took a while for me to get into today’s offering but, once I did, it was very enjoyable. The little craving at 9a raised a smile as did the friendly shop at 13a. I went through no end of meals and seasonings before the penny dropped at 24a. I have two contenders for the top spot. These are the bloke drinking the beer dregs at 29a and the young lady at 23d. After due deliberation, the beer drinker gets COTD.

    Thank you for a great guzzle, setter. More please. Thank you, 2Ks for the hints.

    Took me a while to work out the Quickie pun. I can’t make my mind up whether it is brilliant or not.

  2. The 7 anagram based clues and three lurkers helped oil the wheels of this **/*** puzzle. Thanks the 2K’s for explaining 25a. No particular favourites but all very pleasant. Thanks to the setter.

  3. Lots to like with this one though the compiler could have parsed 11d some other way to make it a tad more challenging, i.e not use the word ‘store’.

    28a, that has never fought another country, declared war on Germany in The Great War but didn’t send any soldiers as it didn’t have any! At the Treaty of Versailles, it was forgotten and, technically, remained at war with them until the two nations declared peace in 1958.

    I’m very, very happy with that story. Very.

    My podium is 1a, 13a and 17d.

    Many thanks to the setter and the 2 Ks.

    2*/4*

    1. Agreed. I didn’t write the answer in as I felt it couldn’t possibly be correct, having used a word from the clue almost verbatim.

    2. Growing up I often heard it said that Monmouth/Monmouthshire was still at war with Germany – again Great War-based, something to do with the initial formal declaration including Monmouthshire but the ToV not specifically naming Monmouthshire. Academic I guess given the Bonfire Of The Counties in 1972, when not only was Monmouthshire subsumed into Gwent, but even worse, it was forced to become part of Wales!

    3. Re 11d – yes, it is hardly an anagram just shifting the RE to the front. Would “Making good call about cycle shop” have been permissible, or would cycle have to be past tense?

      1. Looks good to me.

        I’m always very wary about commenting on the parsing of a clue as these superstars have to try to nail 30 clues day in day out which is such a hard thing to do. But, I felt I had to say something today.

        3. Oops! Apologies for misunderstanding your post, Gazza.

          I was surprised.

  4. All very straightforward today. The only one I needed to think about was 1a, which was my last in.
    Many thanks to the setter and to the 2Ks.
    1.5*/4*

  5. 2*/3*. Pleasant Wednesday fare apart from a couple of odd surfaces, most notably 19d. I agree with TDS @3 that 11d is a bit weak.

    My podium selection is 1a, 29a & 7d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to the 2Ks.

  6. Sound Wednesday fare, slightly more chewy than the last couple of days. More than 1 in 4 clues contained anagrams, a ridiculous proportion, with a run of 6 in only 10 down clues, while there were 3 lurkers in only 10 across clues and a repetition of plant/plants in crossing clues. Maybe one of the Editor’s less-experienced juniors was on duty when this one came up for review. Good surfaces, plenty of humour, with highlights being the legendary Queen, cheesy chap, and excited brides.

    Thank you to the setter and the 2Ks

    1. Hi MG

      Regarding anagrams, having read your posts over the last couple of years, it looks like you’re okay with 1 in 5 clues being anagrams, e.g 6 of the usual 30 clues. Is that right or is 5 anagrams your accepted amount, i.e 1 in 6?

      If it’s the former, then 8 in today’s doesn’t seem like a ridiculous proportion. If it was something like 12 then ‘ridiculous’ would be fair enough. If 6 out of 30 is acceptable, what is your adjective for 7?

      1. In part it depends on the number of clues. Personally I think anything over 4 of any type of clue in a crossword is verging too many if there are 28 clues or fewer. 5 in 15×15 grids with 29 or more clues would be more than sufficient. In a puzzle such as today’s it soon became apparent when working N-S that “if in doubt, look for an anagram”: there were 8 anagrams in only 30 clues, so more than 1 in 4. I know it’s entirely unfair of me to be critical, as I have not set, let alone had printed, a 15×15 cryptic, but then again most restaurant critics have never been chefs, most book reviewers have never authored books, and most film/tv critics have never produced/directed/acted or worked on a film or tv show.

        1. Interesting. Thanks for that.

          I can picture you, counting them every day…one, two, three, four (okay)…..five, six (hmm)….seven (grrr..)…eight (what the?????)

          I don’t mind lots of anagrams early in the week as it puts everyone in a good mood until the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ rock up to cause mental mayhem.

          1. I am brilliant with anagrams, said the modest little daisy, so never complain !😌

            3. And with similar modesty I should add that I enjoy them too DG and, inspired by a former member of this parish, now only very seldom have to write them out. They often feature in my “highlights” list for a puzzle. I just enjoy seeing a crossword with as wide a variety of clues as possible!

              PS – you possibly didn’t see my reply to your question last week, but yes, I was a rowing man, but am now confined to a land-locked rowing machine rather than messing about with real oars and water.

              1. Hi MG.

                I’ve recently got into the gym, following my wife’s lead, and have found out, to my surprise, that I’m a half-decent rower.

                I’ve set myself an extremely long-term target of breaking the world record for 2k of 6m33s in 2030 for the 65 to 70 year old category as I will turn 65 that year. My best is 6m48s. I appreciate that I will get slower but I hope to get fitter at the same time.

                The 60 to 65 year old record is 6m20s which is probably out of my reach. I’m sure both world records will be lowered in the interim but hopefully by not too much.

                1. Most impressed with your record endeavours, Tom and good luck working towards your targets – if you can do 6’48 now, 6’20 should be well within reach by next year! It’s great exercise, gentle on the knees (we’re of a not dissimilar age), good all round fitness training and excellent for heart and lungs. I prefer endurance training to sprints – an hour 3-4 days a week keeps the blood pressure in the safe zone (and I still have a resting pulse in the mid 60s).

                  1. An hour? That is sooooooooooooooooo good for you.

                    Respect.

                    Apologies for the following gloat but my resting pulse is 45.

                    As Peter Kay would say in the advert……have it!

                    Saying that, Splits-a-lot Day Zee is probably 35 or something ridic like that.

                2. Very impressive boys – I need pain killers now to amble round the golf course & even in younger days rowing was too much like hard work.

              2. I did indeed see it and noted your prowess. I thought I had made a comment but I am sometimes commenting late. The four ladies did well today, George was very impressed. When, 67 years ago or more, I asked George if I could have a go on the rowing machine on Eel Pie Island he was horrified. Oh no, ladies do not row. It develops all the wrong muscles. 😀

  7. An enjoyable and straightforward solve this morning with smiles for 12a, 13a, 29a & 17d.
    19d is a clever clue, but as RD points out above, the surface read is a bit odd.
    Thanks to our setter and the Kiwis.

  8. I liked both the quickie pun and this puzzle. Wasn’t keen on 11d but that’s a minor gripe when I couldn’t create a crossword myself.
    Top picks for me were 29a, 7d and 17d (mainly as it was my favourite subject at school).
    Thanks to the 2Kiwis and the setter.

  9. A curate’s egg for me and I couldn’t decide if this was the work of our now regular Wednesday setter – 2.5*/3*

    Candidates for favourite – 21a, 6d, 18d, and 20d – and the winner is 21a.

    Thanks to whomsoever and the 2Kiwis – Unlike our bloggers, I am managing to mostly avoid the Olympics – so far, I have voluntarily watched about 25 minutes – the young female Canadian swimmer who won the 4 x 100 metre medley leaving all the others in her wake and the final of the women’s Rugby 7s – Canada, who were not rated to make it to the final, against New Zealand which the Kiwis won.

      1. If he and his partner weren’t playing Canadians it is unlikely that the CBC would have shown it. The best chance I have of seeing, if I choose to watch, GB athletes is in swimming and athletics – there were 2 GB swimmers in the event I referenced.

  10. An enjoyable puzzle even if something of an anagramfest – thanks to our setter and 2Ks.
    My ticks went to 8d, 18d and 20d.

  11. Pleasant mid-week fare although I wasn’t particularly enamoured of the double definition in 25a.
    Leader board hosts two in each direction – 13&29a plus 8&18d.

    Thanks to our setter – no guesses from me – and to our 2Ks for the review.

  12. A gentle midweek treat with all readable surfaces which these days is rare as increasingly clues don’t begin to read with any semblance of sense. South came in first. Fav 7d. Thank you Mysteryone and 2Kiwis. So glad to be able to comment again after cowboy gardener cut through ‘phone/wifi cables with hedgecutter and cack-handed Openreach technicians took week to fix – sickening!

  13. Another Wednesday offering that fell into place quite easily. That’s two weeks in a row.
    I thought I had finished until I realised (yet again) that the flower in 2d does not make a soundlike appearance in Ibsen’s ‘An enemy of the people’.

  14. Having confidently inserted daydreamer into 22a, I was left wondering why nothing would fit in the SW. Still at least it prompted a swift rethink! With that corrected it fell togther reasonably quickly. Cotd for me is a toss up between13a and 18d with 13a finally getting the nod. Thanks to compiler and 2K’s.

  15. Better than a normal Wednesday solve for me, but still a bit of a struggle along with a new word in NW.

    2.5*/3*

    Favourites include 28a, 3d, 6d, 8d & 23d — with winner 8d by a muddy country mile!
    6d was a close second.

    Thanks to setter & 2K’s

  16. I found this easier than the recent Wednesdays and completed it unaided. Personally I liked the mix of clues, but then I enjoy anagrams. I rather liked 8d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to the 2 kiwis for the hints.

  17. 25A is still baffling me. Neither of the 2 definitions seem to work with the solution. Of course, I may be missing the obvious which I suppose is the idea!

    1. In the first definition, the answer means indicating or signifying as in “such actions xxxxx disaster for our cause”. In the second, “taking a turn” is used in the sense of taking over from (a person) for an interval of time or relieving temporarily.

    2. Hi Niggle

      Billy Ocean said that red light ******s/indicates danger and a bowler could have a turn at the pavilion end.

      Also, I guess one could have a dizzy turn/*****

    3. Thank you both for your replies which indicate (see what I did there?) that I did indeed miss the obvious.

  18. Apart from misreading ‘may be true ‘ at 11 a and ending the word with the ubiquitous editor which jiggered 8d, it mostly fell into place nicely – just as well as I am very hot and sticky and cannot wait to get on the lounger under the trees. I spent the morning doing an interview for the village magazine Profile and it now has to be typed up, and there is a huge pile of ironing to be done, it is a hard life. Interesting fact about Andorra TDS, not many people know that. 13a possibly the favourite but it is too hot to make such important decisions. Many thanks to Mr Setter and Les Touquets.

  19. I found this harder than a **, but I think it’s just me having a brain-lapse day as nothing was particularly esoteric. What would setters do without that “part of church”? I liked lots, poor little 4d creatures, now being farmed for vanity, thank goodness now going out of style, but fave was 10a, I have a beautiful Rex that is showing off outside my back door.
    Thank you setter for a doable Wednesday guzzle, and 2Kiwis for your explanations, which I’ll now read!

  20. First look I thought this was going to be tricky as I passed over quite a few before getting started but once off it was actually quite gentle ,I think slightly more tricky than yesterday. All in all enjoyable . Thanks to setter and 2Ks.

  21. It took me some time to get on the setter’s wavelength today but once I had locked on I made steady progress. I have no issue with the number of anagrams, they are one of my favourite types of clue.

    I struggled with 8D and 29A and as the hints weren’t available at 0730 I used up some electrons and then thought ‘I should have have worked those out myself’ – typical. No absolute favourite, but 1A and 23A raised a smile.

    **/*** thanks to the setter ans 2 Kiwis.

  22. I’m not really a fan of 25A, but otherwise all great. 14D & 17D my faves.
    Many thanks Setter and 2Ks.

  23. Good afternoon

    One of those crozzies today when I spent forever looking for a way in; then a whole bundle of solutions fell into place; then the familiar sensation of perhaps having peaked a little bit early when staring at three almost complete quadrants and one inkless wasteland, in this case, the NE.

    Not to worry. Time, tea, and my lucky green pen combined to see me through.

    18d was my last to fall; it had me foxed from the start, and is COTD today.

    Many thanks to our compiler and to 2Ks.

  24. Morning all.
    Noticed that a couple of people have mentioned the Quickie pun which we thought was particularly groan-worthy, as a good pun should be, so thanks to our setter for that too.
    Cheers.

  25. Late post as out golfing but it was an early solve & an enjoyable one too. A brisk south to north solve with a minimum of head scratching – which wasn’t the case in the Quickie where I couldn’t twig the pun nor complete the grid without cheating, having been unfamiliar with the barometer. 29a&7d were my top two here.
    Thanks to the setter & to the 2Ks for their review

  26. I found this harder than most and less enjoyable. 25a didn’t really work for me. No real favourite. Thanks to the setter anyway and 2K’s.

  27. All good for me. Appreciate the efforts of the setter and 2K’s. Thanks from TechSarse.

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