ST 3279 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3279 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3279 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, as you may have seen in my SPP Comment yesterday, on Friday, we woke up to fog!

For me, and I stress for me, unless my brain is still ‘fogged,’ Dada very quirky – two anagrams (one partial), two lurkers, and one homophone all in an asymmetric 29 clues; with 14.5 hints, plus a bonus 0.5 of a hint, ‘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!

Candidates for favourite – 12a and The Pun!

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

1a Gold found in load, bringing chaos (6)
(Heraldic) gold contained by (found in) a synonym of load.

5a Meat-packing plant exposed (8)
A type of meat inserted into (packing) a type of plant (as in a type of grass).

11a Fine part of speech, and so meaningful (8)
One of the lurkers (part of) found in four words in the clue.

12a Bird‘s egg sheep rolled over (6)
The reversal (rolled over) of all of a type of egg (that the school nurse was, maybe still is, on the lookout for) and a male sheep.

21a Tenor having scratched rear behind Toscanini’s back – he foolishly went too far! (6)
A famous (Italian) tenor with the last letter of his name deleted (scratched rear) placed after (behind) the last letter of Toscanini (‘s back).

26a Newspaper produced includes article for basic pay (5,5)
A term for a newspaper that is published six or seven times a week and a synonym of produced (as in offspring) contains (includes) a single letter article – should there have been a ‘?’ at the end of the clue?

27a Something musical in opening wine (8)
IN from the clue inserted into (opening) a generic wine.

28a Looking from either side, it’s more bloodshot (6)
A palindrome (looking from either side) of a three letter colour and its reversal.

Down

2d A little telescope rarely works (5)
The other lurker (a little) found in two words in the clue.

4d Poles either side of a toilet in bar (6)
The poles at the top and bottom of Planet Earth (you will have to decide how they are arranged) placed either side of all of A from the clue and an informal synonym of toilet (derived from a railway station or a famous battle?).

6d Toxic love instant when overwhelmed by beauty (8)
The letter that represents no score in a racquet game and a two letter synonym of instant (in time) all contained (overwhelmed) by beauty in the form of a Roman goddess.

16d Honoured agent’s embraced last (9)
A synonym of last (in relative terms?) contained (embraced) by an unindicated US slang term for agent.

17d Old hat on lecturer, gone (6,2)
A term for old hat ‘borrowed’ from the other side of La Manche and our favourite three letter lecturer.

22d King, say, in possession of schoolkid? (5)
A double definition – what a (human) King is an example of (say) or what a schoolkid might possess in their satchel (or is it backpack these days).

24d Speak of regret and the effect, first of all (5)
Something that we haven’t seen for a couple of weeks, one of Dada’s favourite clue types in its usual position, a set of initial letters (first of all).

Quick Crossword Pun:

OTTER + WHIR = OTTAWA

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Singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host Declan Patrick MacManus OBE, better known as Elvis Costello, is 70 today.  His best performing single, recorded with his backing band The Attractions, was Oliver’s Army which reached number 2 in 1979:

53 comments on “ST 3279 (Hints)”

  1. I found this very enjoyable and less taxing than last Sunday.
    5d was pretty good, and so was 9a.
    Many thanks to Dada. 2*/4.5*

  2. Very enjoyable & not overly taxing. I’ll plump for 21a as my pick of the bunch.
    Thanks as ever to D & S

  3. 3*/2.5*. A curate’s egg for me today.

    Horrid is a horrid anagram indicator in 18a. I don’t think dude in 25a is synonymous with the final three letters of the answer (and, in any event, it is an American word). I don’t think party is synonymous with the final part of the answer for 3d. The agent in 16d is American.

    I rather liked 12a, 15a & 5d.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf.

    1. Perhaps Dada was looking at the list of anagram indicators in the 12th edition of the BRB and, given a choice between horrible, horrid and horrific, decided horrid was the one to use in the clue

    2. I couldn’t agree more with all your comments so I will just say hear hear and refrain from repetition.

  4. I think Senf’s description of today’s Dada is being polite. I found some of the synonyms taxing in the extreme and had to resort to electronic help too often. Consequently I didn’t get much enjoyment from completion. I’ll put it down as my turn for a Dada drubbing and hope for a better performance from me next week. Thanks to Dada and Senf for the much needed hints.

  5. Dada is relatively gentle today – thanks to him and Senf.
    I suspect that if the 9a clue had appeared in Rookie Corner it would have earned a comment along the lines of: Definition doesn’t get wordplay; wordplay gets definition.
    Top clues for me were 15a and 21a.

  6. Not on Dada’s wavelength at all today. I found this tough going and I felt like I had the 15a knocked out of me by the finish! Satisfying though.
    COTD 26a for the ‘doh’ moment. Thanks to Dada for the challenge and Senf for the blog – though the reminder about Elvis made me feel very old 😐

  7. I’m pleased to see I’m not alone in finding Dada difficult today. I could not get the agent in 16d even after I had solved it. I got the answer from the middle but would never have thought of the agent. No favourites today.

    Thank you, Dada and thanks you, Senf.

  8. I also found this tricky and had to look up several synonyms. I enjoyed the mix of clues and as ever the anagrams and lurkers helped to get a foothold. I am not certain all my answers are correct (my answers make sense to me) but I have filled the grid so feel pleased!

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.

  9. A bit of a workout this morning! I liked 6d and 24a. However, 9a seems upside down to me.

    Thanks Dada; thanks Senf.

  10. I enjoyed the challenge today. 3d conjured up a lovely image.
    Top picks for me were 21a, 17d and 6d.
    Thanks to Senf and Dada.

  11. ‘Quirky’ covers it nicely, Senf – don’t think it’s the fog that’s caused you problems!
    Can’t say that I found many potential favourites today, maybe just 12a & 5d.

    Thanks to Dada and to our reliable Sunday hintsman – hope you’ll forgive me if I leave that video clip unopened!

  12. Damn near gave up before I got any of them, but gradually got the hang of it.

    Very, very, hard anyway, and was glad to see the finish of it.
    Some great clues nonetheless, my two favourites being 15a and 21a (we stayed in a hotel called this in Tenerife in the early 70s, I was only nine and never been on a plane before, dad worked for BOAC and the whole holiday for four cost about £30 with staff discount!)

    1. Weren’t those airline freebies great? My PanAm days were spent in ‘planes on days off. I worked for BEA in London in the ’60s, before the merger, in the days when working for the airlines was like a country club.

  13. A slow burner of a guzzle and quite tricky. Having solved oblly 3 clues on the first pass, I spent some time on the Panagram , then came back and built my score up to 11 clues. So it was back to the Panagram and then I finished the SPP on rhe final attempt. My favourite clue was the last one in 11a which was very complicated but clever, with superb musical misdirection. 5d and 18a were great anagrams too. Thanks to Senf for the hints and to Dada, nit always griendly but intriguing.

  14. It took some time to get going today and it appears Dada’s personal Thesaurus was busy. However, I managed to get to the finish post without too much trouble. I agree that 9A seems to be back to front!
    Delighted to discover today that marmite solution makes a cheaper filling than beer for my slug traps and it works.

    ***/*** and 15A gets my vote. Thanks to Dada and Senf

  15. Not too sure that much of this was actually in English! Whatever for me an almost complete failure. Not the best weekend for crosswords, both were pretty much way out of my solving abilities.
    That’s two weekends on the trot that Dada has been in a very bad mood.
    Thx for the hints
    *****/0

  16. For me, and I stress for me, (™ Senf) this was indeed quirky. Chris describes it beautifully – a slow burner.
    Speaking of Elvis Costello, we knew each other from the old pub rock days, and many, many, years later bumped into each other in a green room at Central Television. I was working on Spitting Image and he was promoting a new album. None too cheerfully, we got on to the subject of how each of us would be remembered when we shuffle off this rollercoaster of life. I said I would get one tiny paragraph in The Stage, and the local paper, headed ‘Spitting Image Man Dies’. Elvis said Radio Two would play Watching The Detectives and Oliver’s Army back-to-back and then move on to the traffic news. That was probably true then and probably still true today. Although Elvis might now get a TV Special on BBC4 at 11.00pm with clips from ‘Later With Jools’ and ‘TOTP’, interspersed with inaccurate captions.

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

    1. Terence, you should write a book, you’re full of these wonderful stories (maybe you already have?)!

    2. We moved to France in the early 70s, initially on what we thought would be a temporary assignment (still here) so we rented out our flat. Upstairs from us was Elvis’s dad, Ross. And Elvis was one of our first tenants, though we never actually met him.

  17. Well, for me, I found this puzzle at the far end of Dada’s spectrum … and I mean the difficult end. Took yonks to get going this week. Certainly plenty of quirkiness in this puzzle and I am sure Dada’s personal thesaurus is well dog-eared this week.

    3*/3.5*

    Favourites include 9a, 13a, 27a, 4d & 8d — with winner 4d as it made me laugh
    Lots of smiles as many clues were uncovered and the penny dropped.

    Thanks to Dada & Senf

  18. Compared to yesterday’s offering I thought this one was a walk in the park!
    Great fun. Favourites 21a, 4d, 17d.
    Thanks to Dada (and Senf for providing moral support, but not needed today!)

  19. This seemed to take a long time but I didn’t get much sleep last night so am one degree under. I nodded off at one point and my pen doodled across the grid so entering for the prize might be compromised. I wouldn’t have got 16d without the hint – the last sort of agent on my mind – and I also needed 22a to be parsed as I couldn’t justify the egg part. And in 16a I get the the first part but why whitewash? Anyway, it is done. I am too exhausted to pick a winner. Many thanks to Messrs Dada & Senf. And so we start another week!

  20. Like yesterday, there were a few that seemed impregnable but otherwise an enjoyable puzzle

  21. We weren’t keen on 10a, 15a or 25a. Most of the rest were ok but no more than that. All in all not one rave over. Favourite was 21a. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  23. Quirky, Senf? With knobs on! I was swimming in molasses here, though I did get enough checkers to use ehelp to keep going, mostly in the West. I did have two wrong bungins in the East, thanks Senf for the corrections. I still don’t see the “whitewash” of 15a, but it had to be. Is 1a chaos? I s’pose it is, at a push. My fave was 21a, also liked 11a.
    Thanks Dada, whew start for a Sunday, and Senf for your much-needed help.

        2. Thanks! I’ve never heard that, but as it’s a Dada offering, not surprised. When he’s got his foot flat on the pedal, he can be pretty obscure.

  24. After reading that some above found this not overly or less taxing, I was feeling rather pathetic having found it might as well have been written in Russian. My despair lessened somewhat when I saw that some of you also found this decidedly tricky. I was beginning to doubt this was even written by Dada. Just when I think I have got on his wavelength he proves I have a lot to learn. Not something I enjoyed with my toast and cappuccino. Thank goodness I had printed and saved a recent Chalicea’s NTSSP. Hats off to Senf for making sense of all this.

  25. Feeling a bit below par after some uncomfortable medical attention on Friday so it was good to have an absorbing challenge with which to get to grips whilst also enjoying some sunshine. I find it rather unimaginative to unspecifically use “plant” as in 5a. 12a egg didn’t occur to me for my bung-in. As per Merusa and Daisygirl I am baffled by 15a whitewash. Thank you Dada and Senf. Fav 17d.

    2. See Gazza’s response to me above. Feel better soon, have a glass of medicinal wine! US Open on Monday.

      1. Merusa, unfortunately my medicinal wine these days has to be limited to Freixenet non-alcoholic sparkling wine which I actually quite enjoy nightly.

  26. Another tricky crossword – the last few days have all been really difficult – I need a rest!
    When I first looked at the clues this morning it didn’t seem very hopeful but then things get going a bit.
    I liked 11 and 13a and 3 and 4d. My favourite is 5d although we’ve “met” him quite recently.
    With thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  27. Not a bad guzzle at all, just a challenging but enjoyable breakfast’s worth. Got half a dozen ticks and no question marks so all to the good.
    Faves at toss up between 8d and 21a, and will plump for 21a. The tenor in question reactivated an earworm from a line in a Tom Lehrer song, but I can’t for the life of me remember the song itself!
    Many thanks to Dada and of course to Senf.

  28. So since my self inflicted eye injury last week , which has temporarily (hopefully) affected my near vision I’ve been slow to complete each one since Tuesday this week , as my eyes begin to strain, and then I have to take a break. That said I have usually persisted and up to yesterday was a day behind. Ducked out of yesterday’s and started this one at midnight , so managed to complete this one within the day. Didn’t find it too bad today relatively although had to check my last one in 27a , only to find I had spelt 14d the wrong way . Hope to be more back in the saddle this week. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  29. 21A an absolute classic. Doubtless with a bit of AI we could get a picture of this actually happening at the Metropolitan Opera.

    Many thanks Dada & Senf.

  30. I found this much more enjoyable than yesterday’s horror (sorry NYDK!). 21a was my last one and once I’d worked it out, my favourite. I do enjoy the Sunday blog.
    Thanks Senf and Dada

  31. Good evening

    Before we get to the business of today’s crozzie, I think a Clerihew might be in order:
    Elvis Costello
    Was, by and large, a cheerful fellow
    That is, of course, unless he
    Was told he had to go to Chelsea

    Now, then, today’s crozzie: ouch!! A tough one from Dada today – I took forever to find a way in; I solved six or seven in short order, then…….nada! Nowt! Until, eventually, time and my lucky green pen came to the rescue. At least that’s what I thought, until it came to the SE quadrant, and then I was banjoed again. FINALLY, I twigged 15a, and then, after some considerable time, my last one fell: 16d.

    That was a killer! COTD: 21a and 8d tie for runner up; 17d takes it. Many thanks to Dada for the undoubted challenge, and to Senf.

  32. It is Monday – that is how long it took me to get this puzzle – 15a in particular – just not on Dada’s wave length

    Thanks to Senf and Dada

    R.

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