DT 30707 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30707

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 31^st August 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

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

The splendid theme of season, the answer to the clue of 5a, as also the names of all the four seasons as the answers to the clues of 10a, 27a, 2d and 22d made me nostalgic and reminded me of the poets and their immortal lines. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate” of Shakespeare in his ‘Sonnet 18’. “If winter comes, can spring be far behind” in ‘Ode to the West Wind’ of Shelley. “Every leaf speaks bliss to me / Fluttering from the autumn tree” in ‘Fall, Leaves, Fall’ of Emily Brontë. And, of course, there is an ode ‘To Autumn’ of John Keats. Needless to add, the four seasons also made me romantic and took me to my juvenile days and I started to wonder, “How green was my valley!” There is a song in an old Hindi movie that goes beyond the usual four seasons. It says, “Ek baras ka mausam char; panchwa mausam pyar ka, intezar ka” meaning “Four seasons to a year; the fifth season is that of love, of wait”.

Hello, the answer to the clue of 26d, made me inquisitive to know in detail about the royalist weekly magazine that is celebrated for its celebrity news and so, after solving the puzzle, I explored the net for updating myself on it. I found out that Hello!, as the name goes, followed the format of ¡Hola!, the Spanish weekly magazine that was created in 1944 by Antonio Sánchez Gómez and his wife Mercedes Junco Calderón. Hello! was launched in 1988 by publisher Eduardo Sánchez Junco, owner and chairman of the Spanish ¡Hola! magazine. The first publication date of Hello! magazine was May 21, 1988. Not only does it cover aristocrats, celebrities and royalty, it also publishes human-related stories. Its editorial focus is illustrated by the fact that for 21 consecutive editions, straddling 2022 and 2023, it featured Catherine, Princess of Wales, on its cover; all involved flattering stories. Eighteen years later, in 2006, Rogers Media launched Hello! Canada in Canada. In 2007, the Madrid office reorganised and changed out the management for the Canadian version. In 2019, St. Joseph Communications took over the publishing for Hello! Canada, together with other Canadian magazines such as Chatelaine, Maclean’s etc. The same year when Hello! Canada was launched in Canada, in Thailand, too, Hello! Thailand was launched as a bi-weekly Thai lifestyle magazine targeted at women aged 21 and above. The magazine focusses on royal news, celebrity and entertainment features. It became a sensational success in the year of its birth when its circulation peaked at 300,000.

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Across

1a          Turn up with barge and river’s easy challenge (8)
PUSHOVER: UP from the clue to undergo a change in direction (turn) as a reversal in the across clue followed by (with) SHOVE (barge) as to barge or push someone or something roughly and R (river) as the abbreviation for River, used especially for maps guides to the definition of a noun meaning easy thing, easy game or easy challenge or any undertaking that is easy to do

5a          Ocean’s supported by salt perhaps (6)
SEASON: A charade of SEA’S (ocean’s) as of or belonging to the sea or ocean that is the great mass of salt water covering the greater part of the earth’s surface and ON (supported by) as supported by a part of the body takes to the definition of a verb meaning to improve the flavour of food by adding herbs, ingredients, pepper or other spices, an example may be salt, a verb which means to season or to add piquancy to

9a          Ground covering soft reptile (8)
TERRAPIN: TERRAIN (ground) as ground or a piece of land placing inside (covering) P (soft) as an abbreviation for piano that is a musical term for an adjective meaning soft or quiet, leading to the definition of any of various web-footed pond or river turtles of the family Emydidae, also called water turtles

10a        Amount Stipe’s band returned for 5 (6)
SUMMER: SUM (amount) as the aggregate, whole amount and R.E.M. (Stipe’s band) as an American alternative rock bank, the name of which was selected at random from a dictionary by the American singer, songwriter and artist Michael Stipe that is coming from the opposite site (returned) as a reversal in the across clue guides to the definition of a type of season that has hot, usually sunny weather and falls between spring and autumn

12a        Dynamo in wacky art genre accepting Oscar (9)
GENERATOR: The definition of a dynamo or similar machine for converting mechanical energy into electricity is obtained from an anagram (wacky) of ART GENRE taking inside (accepting) O (Oscar) as the letter represented by Oscar in the NATO phonetic alphabet

13a        Children that might be taken in disagreement? (5)
ISSUE: Double nounal definition; the second referring to something that might be taken in dispute or disagreement that leads to the first meaning offsprings, babies or children

14a        Primate stopped by Saint in church recess (4)
APSE: APE (primate) as a large primate having long arms and broad chest and lacking a tail interrupted or subject to an insertion by (stopped by) S (saint) as the abbreviation for Saint takes to the definition of a large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof and typically at the church’s eastern end

16a        An unsatisfactory lawyer in California county? (7)
ALAMEDA: A charade of A (an) as an indefinite article used before a consonant sound and is taken as a broken form of ‘an’, the other article that is used before a vowel sound, LAME (unsatisfactory) as an informal term for an adjective meaning dull or unsatisfactory and DA (lawyer) as the abbreviation for District Attorney who is a lawyer in the United States working for a city, state or federal government and putting on trial people who are accused of crimes guide to the definition of a city that is in Alameda County, California, United States and located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area

19a        By which meatballs can be made from stale lamb? (7)
ANAGRAM: The definition of a word or phrase that is formed by the letters of another in rearranged order is arrived at from the all-in-one clue by which method (by which) MEATBALLS is the word that is formed from the rearrangement of (can be made from) STALE LAMB

21a        Reportedly virus was airborne (4)
FLEW: A homophone heard by the audience (reportedly) of FLU (virus) as a virus that causes diarrhoea and vomitting takes to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning moved through the air in aircraft or was airborne or carried by air

24a        See 21 Down

25a        Checking out will, hide what’s altered (5,4)
DEATH WISH: The definition of a person’s will or determination to check out, that is a slang term for a phrasal verb meaning to die, that is ‘checking out will’ or ‘possessing a determination for death’ is arrived at from an anagram (altered) of HIDE WHAT’S

27a        Gold corporation first to notice 5 (6)
AUTUMN: AU (gold) as the chemical symbol for gold, TUM (corporation) as an informal or childish word for tummy or stomach, an example of which is a corporation that is a slang term for a paunch and the first or initial letter (first) to N[OTICE] leads to the definition of the name of the third season of the year coming after the end of summer and remaining until the arrival of winter during which leaves start falling from the trees

28a        Take and sell bananas wasted (8)
SKELETAL: An anagram (bananas) of a combo of TAKE and SELL leads to the definition of an adjective meaning very thin, wasted, weak or emaciated, especially of a person or a part of the body

29a        One getting in the way of graceful swimmer’s lovers? (6)
SWAINS: I (one) as the Roman numeral for one going inside (getting in the way of) SWAN’S (graceful swimmer’s) as of or belonging to a large waterbird with a long flexible and graceful neck, short legs, webbed feet, a broad bill and typically all-white plumage produces the definition of the plural of a male lover or admirer, especially used in pastoral poetry

30a        Harris say caught informer on march (8)
DEMOCRAT: The definition of a member of the Democratic party in the United States, an example of which is Kamala Harris, the current and first female Vice President of that country and the Democratic Party’s nominee for US President in the upcoming election in November is arrived at from a combo of C (caught) as an abbreviation for caught by as in cricket and RAT (informer) as an informal term for an informer preceded by or coming after (on) DEMO (march) as a public meeting or march protesting against something or expressing views on a political issue in the across clue

Down

1d          Soup in cooking vessel long time (6)
POTAGE: The definition of a thick, often creamy soup is reached from a charade of POT (cooking vessel) as a round, fairly deep cooking vessel with a handle and often a lid and AGE (long time) as an informal term for a relatively long time

2d          Pair in grass in 5 (6)
SPRING: PR (pair) as an abbreviation of pair placed inside (in) SING (grass) as an American slang for a verb meaning to turn informer or give evidence against someone guides to the definition of the season between winter and summer, marked by the budding and growth of plants and the onset of warmer weather

3d          Broadcasting old melody after new (2,3)
ON AIR: The definition of an idiom meaning broadcasting or being broadcast, especially of a radio or television station, programme etc is arrived at from O (old) as the abbreviation for old as OT in Old Testament and AIR (melody) as referring to a tune or melody that is preceded by or coming after (after) N (new) as the abbreviation for new

4d          Letter from Stone in English collection (7)
EPISTLE: The definition of a formal and humorous term for a letter is got from ST (stone) as an abbreviation of stone put inside (in) E (English) as an abbreviation for English and PILE (collection) as a heap or collection of things laid or lying one on top of another

6d          Explain poor clue: answer in revised edit (9)
ELUCIDATE: The definition of a verb meaning to explain, clarify or make lucid is reached from an anagram (poor) of CLUE followed by A (answer) as an abbreviation for answer placed inside (in) another anagram (revised) of EDIT

7d          American term for term? (8)
SEMESTER: A cryptic definition of a half-year term in a school or university, especially in North America, typically lasting for fifteen to eighteen weeks

8d          Bottle good as weapon (5,3)
NERVE GAS: NERVE (bottle) as one’s steadiness and courage in a demanding, difficult or dangerous situation, G (good) as the abbreviation for good and AS from the clue lead to the definition of a weapon of chemical warfare that affects the transmission of nerve impulses through the nervous system

11d        Killer lurks in Windsor Castle (4)
ORCA: Part of or hidden inside (lurks in) [WINDS]OR CA[STLE] takes to the definition of a toothed whale that is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family, better known as killer or killer whale

15d        In character I’m Frenchman offering fruit (9)
PERSIMMON: A combo of I’M from the clue and M (Frenchman) as the abbreviation for ‘Monsieur’, the French word for a title or form of address used of or to a French-speaking man, corresponding to Mr or Sir in English placed inside (in) PERSON (character) as a character in a play or story that guides to the definition of an orange or red-coloured fruit that resembles a small tomato but tastes extremely sweet

17d        Large Scotsman carrying a box south for Europeans (8)
LATVIANS: A combo of L (large) as the abbreviation for large that is usually referred to large size of shirt or other clothing and IAN (Scotsman) as a male given name of Scottish Gaelic origin and coming from the Hebrew name that means ‘the Lord is gracious’ taking inside (carrying) a combo of A from the clue and TV (box) as a device shaped like a box with a screen that receives electrical signals and changes them into moving images and sound, an example of which is box or an informal term for television or a television set and followed by S (south) as the abbreviation for South that leads to the definition of the natives or inhabitants of Latvia that is in European and hence Europeans

18d        All for end in feud in Maltese capital (8)
VALLETTA: ALL from the clue replacing or taking place of (for) END in V[END]ETTA (feud) as a blood feud in which the family of a murdered person seeks vengeance on the murderer or the murderer’s family yields the definition of the tiny capital of the Mediterranean island nation of Malta

20d        Current where Royal Navy lost form (4)
MODE: MODE[RN] (current) as an adjective meaning current or up-to-date having (where) RN (Royal Navy) as the abbreviation for Royal Navy is not present or removed (lost) fetches the definition of an noun meaning a particular form or kind of something

21d and 24a       One of The Four 5s cured freak in dale, they say! (7,5)
FRANKIE VALLI: The definition of the stage name of Francesco Stephen Castelluccio, an American singer, best known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960, where seasons are referring to 5s as the plural of the answer to 5a, as also for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice is reached from an anagram (cured) of FREAK IN followed by a homophone heard by the audience (they say) of VALLEY (dale) as a long, narrow region of low land between ranges of mountains, hills or other high areas, often having a river or stream running along the bottom, an example of which is a dale or an open valley, usually in an area of low hills

22d        5 with Milan football team? (6)
WINTER: The definition of the last and coldest season of the year occurring between autumn and spring is got from a charade of W (with) as the abbreviation for with and INTER (Milan football team) as the short name of the Italian football team Inter Milan

23d        The French in conversation in alpine hut (6)
CHALET: LE (the French) as the definite article ‘the’ in French language used with singular, masculine words placed inside (in) CHAT (conversation) as a familiar, informal talk or a light conversation guides to the definition of a summer hut used by Swiss herdsmen in the Alps

26d        Celebs magazine that man will love (5)
HELLO: The definition of a royalist weekly magazine specialising in celebrity news and human-interest stories is arrived at from a charade of HE’LL (that man will) as a contraction for ‘he will’ where he is referring to that man as the pronoun used to refer to a man, boy or male animal previously mentioned or easily identified and ’ll the short form of will and shall followed by O (love) as love or the score of zero in a game of tennis

The clues that I liked in this puzzle were 16a, 19a, 28a, 29a, 4d, 6d, 15d and the combo of 21d&24a; 19a being the clear topper. 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. Expecting to be here again. Have a nice day.