DT 30683 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30683

A full review by Rahmat Ali

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 3^rd August 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Kolkata. A wonderful and entertaining Saturday puzzle from the setter that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and important feedback.

I wanted to know still more that is not known to me about the two Presidents of the United States that came up as answers to two clues and so explored the net. Washington as the answer to the clue of 3d is referring to George Washington who was an American Founding Father, military officer and politician who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Second Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army in 1775, he led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and then served as President of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 which drafted the current Constitution of the United States. He was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. Upon the death of his father in 1743, he inherited Ferry Farm and ten slaves; his older half-brother Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon. Washington did not have the formal education his elder brothers received at Appleby Grammar School in England, but he attended the Lower Church School in Hartfield where he learned mathematics and land surveying and became a talented draftsman and mapmaker. Washington retired to Mount Vernon in March 1797 and devoted time to his plantations and other business interests. But he did not live for long. He died two years later, on December 18, 1799 at Mount Vernon, where his body was interred. He was somewhat reserved in personality, but was known for having a strong presence. He made speeches and announcements from time to time, but he was not a noted orator and debater.

Obama, the answer to the clue of 28a, was the 44^th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. His full name is Barack Hussein Obama II. As a member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American President in the history of the United States. He was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a decision that drew a mixture of criticism and praise. Obama left office on January 20, 2017 and continues to reside in Washington, D.C. Historians and political scientists rank him among the upper tier in historical rankings of American Presidents. Outside of politics, Obama has published three books: Dreams from My Father (1995), The Audacity of Hope (2006) and A Promised Land (2020).

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

9a          Longer and shorter periods reversed in Greek letter (5)
OMEGA: Longer and shorter periods can be split up and rewritten as longer period and shorter period whereby the combo of AGE (longer period) as the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed and MO (shorter period) as referring to moment or a short period of time seen returning (reversed) as a reversal in the across clue takes to the definition of the 24^th and last letter in the Greek alphabet

10a        Signalling English plan to invade beach (9)
SEMAPHORE: The definition of signalling by means of two flags or mechanical arms, held in various positions to represent letters is arrived at from a combo of E (English) as the abbreviation for English and MAP (plan) as to design, plan or project to enter (invade) SHORE (beach) as referring to a beach that is an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake

11a        Energy in pop one among things that get us down? (7)
FEATHER: E (energy) as the abbreviation for energy in physics placed inside (in) FATHER (pop) as the male parent of a child, an example of which pop that is a short form for the colloquial poppa, as used in North America, as referring to papa, another term for a father that takes to the definition of one of the light growths that form the soft covering of fluffy hair or down of a bird

12a        Like some cakes put before daughter (7)
LAYERED: The definition of an adjective meaning arranged in different strata or levels, for example, like cakes with different strata are said to be layered is reached from a charade of LAY (put) as to place, put or be in a particular state of position, ERE (before) as a poetic word for the conjunction or preposition ‘before’ and D (daughter) as the genealogical abbreviation for daughter

13a        Fabric light with no backing (5)
RAYON: The definition of an artificial silk fabric made from cellulose is obtained from RAY (light) as a narrow beam of light travelling in a straight line from its place of origin and (with) NO from the clue coming back (backing) as a reversal in the across clue

14a        Are we told put up a poster or flyer? (9)
RAZORBILL: A homophone as heard by the audience (are we told … ?) of RAISE (put up) as to put up, build or erect, followed by A from the clue and BILL (poster) as a poster advertising an event, product, often as a combining form, as in playbill, handbill etc takes to the definition of a black-and-white auk, that is a seabird, with a deep bill that is said to resemble a cut-throat razor, found in the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea

16a        What may make CV an exact reference? (7,3,5)
CHAPTER AND VERSE: Splitting CV into C and V, where CHAPTER (C) is one of few words abbreviated as C and VERSE (V) is one of very few words abbreviated as V takes to the definition of an exact reference to, or a complete specification of, the source or sources of one’s information

19a        Bright idea: view a barn that’s renovated (9)
BRAINWAVE: The definition of an informal term for a sudden clever or bright idea is fetched from VIEW A BARN that’s subject to an anagram (renovated)

21a        Kelly in Greggs keeps serving up Whoppers! (5)
LYING: Part of or hidden inside (keeps) [KEL]LY IN G[REGGS] leads to the definition of a slang verb in the continuous form meaning indulging in a large, flagrant lie or untruth

23a        Thrash trespasser’s extremities with cat (7)
TROUNCE: The definition of a verb meaning to beat or outscore someone is got from the extreme or outermost letters (extremities) of T[RESPASSE]R (trespasser’s) followed by (with) OUNCE (cat) as referring to any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild such as snow leopard, jaguar or cheetah

25a        Female, Italian head, shows suitability (7)
FITNESS: A charade of F (female) as the abbreviation for female, IT (Italian) as the abbreviation and NESS (head) as a headland or promontory shows the definition for a noun denoting suitability or appropriateness

27a        Art with models posed in work of Michelangelo? (3,6)
OLD MASTER: An anagram (posed) of a combo of ART and (with) MODELS guides to the definition of the work of any of the distinguished European artists prior to the 19^th century, an example of which is Michelangelo, an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance and one of the best-documented artists of the 16^th century

28a        Zero degrees — one seen at many a summit? (5)
OBAMA: O (zero) as the letter that resembles a zero followed by BA and MA (degrees) as the abbreviations for Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts respectively that are academic ranks or degrees conferred by a college or university after examination or after completion of a course that takes to the definition of the American politician who served as the 44^th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and seen at various summits like GCC Summit, 2016 Hangzhou Summit etc

Down

1d          Make mistake — almost get fired (4)
GOOF: The definition of a verb meaning to make a blunder or mistake is reached from GO OF[F] (get fired) as a verb meaning to explode or fire, especially of a gun, bomb or similar device with most of the letters (almost)

2d          Something left on account: variable amount (6)
LEGACY: The definition of a noun meaning something left in a will by someone who has died is attained from a charade of LEG (on) as referring to ‘on’, a term in cricket referring to the leg side, AC (account) as the abbreviation of account and Y (variable amount) as a variable, unknown or yet to be ascertained, amount, quantity or factor as used in mathematics, especially in algebra

3d          Leader once exceptionally busy in launderette? (10)
WASHINGTON: The definition of the American Founding Father, military officer and politician who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 is arrived at from WASHING TON (exceptionally busy in laundrette) as referring to the situation of being too busy of a laundrette where people can pay to use machines to wash and dry their clothes

4d          Extortionist confident in ancient city (6)
USURER: The definition of a person who lends money at interest, especially at an exorbitant or unlawfully high rate, an example of which is an extortionist who gain or draw out money by compulsion or violence is arrived at from SURE (confident) as an adjective meaning confident, as of something awaited or expected placed inside (in) UR (ancient city) as an ancient city in the region of Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, in what is modern day Iraq

5d          Criminal blame attaches to last character on display (8)
EMBLAZON: An anagram (criminal) of BLAME has alongside (attaches to) Z (last character) as the last letter of the alphabet and followed by ON from the clue takes to the definition of a verb meaning to decorate, show or display

6d          Nimble ace ejected from jet (4)
SPRY: The definition of an adjective meaning agile or nimble is reached from A (ace) as the abbreviation for ace that is removed (ejected) from SPR[A]Y (jet) as a jet of fine particles of liquid discharged from an atomiser or other device

7d          Attendant in uniform entering my bank (8)
COURTIER: The definition of an attendant at a sovereign’s court is obtained from U (Uniform) as the letter represented by Uniform in the NATO phonetic alphabet getting inside (entering) COR (my) as a slang term for an exclamation of surprise, amazement or admiration and followed by TIER (bank) as a noun meaning row, bank or layer

8d          Scots head meets the Spanish composer in city (10)
HEIDELBERG: HEID (Scots head) as a Scot word for head that comes into contact with (meets) EL (the Spanish) as the Spanish for masculine singular definite article ‘the’ and BERG (composer) as an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School forming a charade that takes to the definition of a town on the Neckar River in south-western Germany

13d        Fish on sea bed finds lowest possible level (4,6)
ROCK BOTTOM: ROCK (fish) as referring to rockfish that is any of various types of fish that live among rocks or rocky bottoms placed upon (on) BOTTOM (sea bed) as referring to the sea bottom, sea floor or sea bed in the down clue guides to the definition of an adjective denoting the lowest possible level

15d        Surprising fact about Victor and Joy (10)
REVELATION: A charade of RE (about) as a commercial jargon used to indicate ‘concerning’, ‘regarding’ or ‘about’, V (Victor) as the letter represented by Victor in the NATO phonetic alphabet and ELATION (joy) as a feeling or state of great joy or pride guides to the definition of a fact disclosed or revealed, especially in a dramatic or surprising way

17d        Woman deceived reportedly by a snake (8)
ANACONDA: Homophones as heard by the audience (reportedly) of a combo of ANNA (woman) as a feminine given name in wide use in countries across the world and CONNED (deceived) as a verb in the past tense meaning deceived, defrauded or cheated having alongside (by) A from the clue leads to the definition of a very large non-venomous arboreal and semi-aquatic snake,, of tropical South America, which kills by coiling around its prey

18d        Laboratory chemicals are working on toilet (8)
REAGENTS: The definition of a substance used to carry out a laboratory test in order to cause a chemical reaction is deduced from an anagram (working) of ARE placed upon (on) GENTS (toilet) as referring to a public toilet for males in the down clue

20d        Shot where force breaches European citadel (6)
EFFORT: The definition of an informal term for a shot or an attempt to score in a game is reached from F (force) as the symbol for force in physics that breaks through (breaches) a combo of E (European) as the abbreviation for European as EU in European Union and FORT (citadel) as a citadel, fortress or stronghold

22d        What’s melting in current century with rising speed? (6)
ICECAP: I (current) as the symbol for electric current in physics, C (century) as the abbreviation for century and (with) PACE (speed) as the speed of movement, especially of walking or running going upwards (rising) as a reversal in the down clue guides to the definition of a mass of ice and snow that permanently covers a large area of land, for example, the polar regions or a mountain peak that is melting at an alarming rate

24d        Ham he produced, but saved some animals (4)
NOAH: A cryptic definition of the name of the Biblical character who begot Ham, his second son but was also responsible for building the Ark as per the command from God in order to save not only himself and his family before the advent of the Great Deluge, but also animals whom he included in pair into his Ark

26d        Hands over an item exchanged? (4)
SWAP: PAWS (hands) as the plural of an informal term for a human hand, especially one that is large, rough or clumsy that is overturned (over) as a reversal in the down clue leads to the definition of an exchange of one thing for another

The clues that I liked in this puzzle were 10a, 11a, 14a, 17d, 18d, 24d and 26d; 10a being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to the setter for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.