DT 30743 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30743

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 12^th October 2024

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

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

I learnt from the net that Nicks, as the second definition to the clue of 19a, is more famous as Stevie Nicks; ‘Stevie’ being her nickname and her actual name is Stephanie Lynn Nicks. As a toddler, Stephanie could only pronounce her name as ‘tee-dee’ that led to her nickname of ‘Stevie’. Another interesting fact of Stevie Nicks is that she is of German, English, Welsh and Irish ancestry.

I also learnt from the net that Tweed, as the answer to part of the wordplay of 20a, is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod licence is not required for angling. The river generates a large income for the local borders region, attracting anglers from all around the world. Interestingly, the etymology of Tweed vociferates of probably representing an Old Brittonic name meaning ‘border’.

Brynner, part of the wordplay to the clue of 8d and one of my favourite Western actors reminded me of my maternal uncle who knew him by the name Yul Brando. He often spoke to me in my childhood about the movie, ‘The Ten Commandments’ and Yul Brynner’s role as the Pharaoh. Years later, when I myself watched the movie in a cinema hall, I saw that his name was Yul Brynner. I returned home to tell my uncle that his name was not Yul Brando but Yul Brynner. Subsequently, I watched many other movies of Yul Brynner as also a few movies of Marlon Brando, including his ‘The Godfather’. Much later in life, I guessed that since my uncle was not literate, he must have heard the names of the actors Yul Brynner and Marlon Brando from his friends with whom he went to watch the English movies and the names must have overlapped in his mind while he was trying to recollect those pertaining to the actors. Further, one of the quiz questions on Yul Brynner that I remember to this day is “What is the screen name of the actor claiming to be born as Taidje Khan?” This time, I learnt from the net that although Yul Brynner was born in 1920 in the city Vladivostok in Far Eastern Republic, in 1922, after the formation of the Soviet Union, his father was required to relinquish his Swiss citizenship and thus all his family members were made Soviet citizens. In 1943, when he was himself 22 years old, he became a naturalised US citizen while living in New York as an actor and radio announcer. Haplessly, he renounced his US citizenship at the US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, in June 1965 because he had lost his tax exemption at the American resident working abroad and became a Swiss citizen for the rest of his life.

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Across

1a          See 6 Across

6a, 9 Down and 1 Across             Distracted abroad, accompanied by 21 & 14? (4,4,3,7)
AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES: A charade of AWAY (abroad) as elsewhere or abroad, WITH (accompanied by) as a preposition meaning accompanied by and THE FAIRIES (21 & 14) as referring to the two fairies that bedeck the answers to the clues of 21d and 14a, i.e. Oberon, King of the fairies and Titania, Queen of the fairies, respectively, in William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream guides to the definition of an adjectival phrase meaning mad, distracted or in a dreamworld

10a        Like fresh lettuce? Or fried snack? (5)
CRISP: Double definition; the second being a noun referring to a potato chip that is a very thin slice of potato fried and eaten as a snack that takes to the first an adjective meaning firm and fresh, for example crisp lettuce

11a        Firm with exceptional Chilean red (9)
COCHINEAL: CO (firm) as the abbreviation for Company, an example of which is a firm and (with) an anagram (exceptional) of CHILEAN takes to the definition of a red dye consisting of the dried bodies of female cochineal insects

12a        Is it Fudd in tree? Let me think (5)
ELMER: The definition of the forename of an animated cartoon character ‘Elmer J. Fudd’ in the Warner Bros Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny is arrived at from a charade of ELM (tree) as a tree of genus Ulmus with serrated leaves unequal at the base and small flowers in clusters appearing before the leaves and ER (let me think) as an interjection used to express hesitation or uncertainty or prompting one to think once more before saying

13a        This we wrote on church chaps filling role (9)
PARCHMENT: The definition of a piece of a material used for writing on, made from animal skin is obtained from a combo of CH (church) as the abbreviation for church and MEN (chaps) as male members of a workforce or team getting in (filling) PART (role) as the function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation

14a        Old ship docked, meeting a drama queen? (7)
TITANIA: TITANI[C] (old ship) as referring to RMS Titanic that was the ill-fated British ship that sank on 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City cut short or reduced with the deletion of the last letter (docked) followed by (meeting) A from the clue produces the definition denoting the name of the Queen of the fairies and wife of the Fairy King, Oberon in William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

16a        Shown around Sumerian city and seduced (5)
LURED: LED (shown) as a verb in the participle form meaning shown someone or a group a course or route by going in advance placed about (around) UR (Sumerian city) as an ancient city in the region of Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, in what is modern-day Iraq leads to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning enticed, tempted or seduced

19a        Cans for singer Stevie? (5)
NICKS: Double nounal definition; the second referring to the surname of the American singer-songwriter known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist that brings to the first denoting the plural form of a slang term for a prison, an example of which is cans, that is the plural of a slang term for a jail that is another word for prison

20a        ET trapped in river posted comment (7)
TWEETED: ET from the clue stuck inside (trapped in) TWEED (river) as a river flowing east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England yields the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning posted a short message as a comment on the Twitter website

22a        City editor at home sending back hot food (9)
EDINBURGH: ED (editor) as the abbreviation for editor, IN (at home) as at or inside one’s home followed with a combo of H (hot) as the abbreviation for hot, especially with reference to water and GRUB (food) as a slang term for food returning from the other end (sending back) as reversals in the across clue guides to the definition of the city of Scotland that is also serving as its capital since at least the 15^th century

26a        Notice Elizabeth dropping by spontaneously (2-3)
AD-LIB: AD (notice) as a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service or event and LIB[BY] (Elizabeth) as a diminutive form of Elizabeth that is devoid of (dropping) BY from the clue takes to the definition of an adverb meaning spontaneously or freely

27a        Going bananas, how do nuts heckle? (5,4)
SHOUT DOWN: An anagram (going bananas) of HOW DO NUTS leads to the definition of a verb meaning to make another speaker inaudible or to silence or overwhelm by shouting or talking loudly, an example of which is to heckle i.e. to interrupt or harass a public speaker or performer with embarrassing questions, or shout or jeer abusively and disruptively

28a        Person with no future on Ecstasy in Greece (5)
GONER: The definition of a slang term for a person who has no chance of continuing to live or who is ruined beyond recovery is deduced from a combo of ON from the clue and E (Ecstasy) as the abbreviation for Ecstasy put inside (in) GR (Greece) as the IVR code for Greece

29a        Informer has the gen we’re told (4)
NOSE: The definition of a slang term for an informer is reached from KNOWS (has the gen) as a verb in the simple present tense third person singular form meaning has the gen, that is a slang term for general information serving as a homophone heard by the audience (we’re told)

30a        Shield lets axe in once and he’s ruined! (10)
ESCUTCHEON: The definition of a shield on which a coat of arms is represented is fetched from CUT (axe) as to make an opening in something, usually with something with a sharp edge, an example of which is to axe i.e. to chop or fell any cutting tool with a sharp cutting edge put inside (in) an anagram (ruined) of a combo of ONCE and HE’S

Down

1d          Calvin Klein in row shows heart (6)
TICKER: CK (Calvin Klein) as the abbreviation of Calvin Klein, one of the world’s leading global fashion lifestyle brands, as depicted on their garments placed inside (in) TIER (row) as a row or layer of something that has other layers above or below it produces the definition of a slang term for a person’s heart

2d          Giant mice can be mysterious (9)
ENIGMATIC: An anagram (can be) of GIANT MICE guides to the definition of an adjective denoting puzzling, perplexing or mysterious

3d          Soldier dropped in wearing apt US equipment (9)
APPARATUS: PARA (soldier dropped in) as a colloquial short term of paratrooper who is a soldier trained to drop by parachute into enemy territory covered by (wearing) a combo of APT and US from the clue takes to the definition of a machine or piece of equipment with a particular purpose

4d          Run – speed up – go over (5)
RECAP: R (run) as the abbreviation for run or runs scored in cricket followed by PACE (speed) as rate of speed or movement in work, often applied to fast living in an upward direction (up) as a reversal in the down clue leads to the definition of the short form of the word recapitulate that is a verb meaning to repeat or go over again the chief points of a statement, argument etc

5d          Roast ox with rice prepared and consumed (9)
EXCORIATE: The definition of a verb meaning to criticise severely, an example of which is to roast that is to criticise excessively, even sarcastically is arrived at from an anagram (prepared) of a combo of OX and (with) RICE and followed by ATE (consumed) as a verb in the past tense meaning took a meal or consumed food

7d          Wife present at which place? (5)
WHERE: A charade of W (wife) as the genealogical abbreviation for wife and HERE (present) as denoting present as used to answer a roll call takes to the definition of an adverb denoting an interrogation asking at or in what or which place

8d          Brynner restrained, did you say, for Xmas period? (8)
YULETIDE: Homophones as heard by the audience (did you say …?) of YUL (Brynner) as the professional surname of Yul Brynner, the celebrated Russian born Hollywood actor and TIED (restrained) as a verb in the past tense meaning confined, limited, restrained or restricted bring forth the definition of the time or season of Yule or Christmas

9d          See 6 Across

15d        Infamous old port guarded by other people? (9)
NOTORIOUS: The definition of an adjective meaning infamous or publicly known only in a bad sense is derived from a combo of O (old) as the abbreviation for old as OT in Old Testament and RIO (port) as referring to Rio de Janeiro that is a city and port in Brazil protected or taken inside (guarded) by NOT US (other people) as referring to people other than the setter of this puzzle and their team or the setters as a group

16d        Slow race with light winds (9)
LETHARGIC: The definition of an adjective meaning sluggish, slow or lazy is arrived at from an anagram (winds) of a combo of RACE and (with) LIGHT

17d        Smell Communist victory – I must leave conflict (9)
REDOLENCE: The definition of a noun meaning fragrance or a sweet or pleasant odour or smell is obtained from RED (Communist) as referring to a Communist, Socialist or Soviet having alongside [VI]OLENCE (conflict) as a political conflict between or within states from which a combo of V (victory) as the abbreviation for victory and I from the clue must be removed (must leave)

18d        Storyteller with Irish name (8)
ANDERSEN: The definition of the surname of the Danish master of the literary fairy tale whose stories achieved wide renown and whose full name was Hans Christian Andersen is reached from a charade of AND (with) as used to connect words of the same part of speech, clauses or sentences that are to be taken jointly, ERSE (Irish) as an alternative name for especially the Irish language among Goidelic languages and N (name) as the abbreviation for name

21d        Honour right on for woodland king (6)
OBERON: A combo of OBE (honour) as the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, an award given in the United Kingdom for a special achievement, R (right) as he abbreviation for right and ON from the clue leads to the definition of the king of the fairies in stories and folklores of the Middle Ages and best known as the King of the fairies living in forest and husband of the Fairy Queen, Titania in William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

23d        Jeremy the player for certain clubs (5)
IRONS: Double nounal definition; the second being the plural of a golf club with a metal head that takes to the first referring to the surname of the English actor whose full name is Jeremy John Irons and who is one of the few to achieve the ‘Triple Crown of Acting’ in the US having won Oscar, Emmy and Tony Awards for Film, Television and Theatre

24d        Crazy cricketers? (4)
BATS: Double definition; the second referring to the plural form of a batsman, who is a cricketer that leads to the first denoting a colloquial term for an adjective meaning crazy

25d        Believer in church in Dumfries (5)
HINDU: The definition of a person who believes in or is the follower of the religion called Hinduism is arrived at from part of or hidden inside (in) [CHURC]H IN DU[MFRIES]

Some of the clues that I liked in this puzzle were 6a/9d/1a, 11a, 12a, 22a, 26a, 28a, 1d, 15d, 16d, 17d and 18d; 22a being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NYDK for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.