Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30761 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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A Prize Puzzle designed to cheer up a damp and rainy Saturday morning with a theme that even people who never spot themes couldn’t fail to notice.
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.
Across
1a/5a Prototype for 18 in private hell with mad bats? (4,3,7)
An anagram (bats) of PRIVATE HELL with MAD produces the prototype for a gothic horror novel (18)
10a Trained with Rosa, Leo can type (7)
I’ve hinted this one purely because the definition is so well hidden in the surface reading. An anagram (trained) of ROSA LEO
17a Stellar group with city lawyer (9)
A conjunction meaning with, a European city and an abbreviated American lawyer
19a Go in chippy where there’s no fish? (5)
Chippy is a slang name for a particular skilled person – the fish should be removed from the name to find the solution
22a Top-class puzzle? Wow! (5)
The letter used to indicate that something is top-class and a puzzle
26a Hot film director’s arrogance (7)
The abbreviation for Hot and a film director, especially one specialising in a particular genre
28a Kirk there regularly excited his fan? (7)
An anagram (excited) of KIRK and the regular letters of ThErE
Down
1d Is it 18 in burning heap we hear after 5am? (7)
A homophone (we hear) of a pile of burning material goes after the Roman numeral for five and AM (from the clue)
4d Lasting purpose united leaderless country (9)
A purpose or aim, the abbreviation for United and a country without its first letter (leaderless)
8d Despair’s ending – two biblical characters give solace (7)
The ending of despaiR and two biblical characters, one a priest often found in crosswords and the other the second person on earth
14d Twenty on the job? Result! (9)
A quantity of twenty and an occupation (job)
17d/20d Problem for which 18 potentially responsible? (1,4,2,3,4)
A feeling of acute discomfort for which the solution to 18d could be responsible
23d What’s become of person, late, fired? (5)
The remains of a late person ‘fired’ rather than buried
24d You should take snuff! (5)
A two-word instruction to take something
As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment. If in doubt, leave it out!
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The Quick Crossword pun: CALMER + SUTURE = KAMA SUTRA
That was nicely challenging apart from the 15a of multiword solutions eg 1a which I have to admit remained blank for me however a couple of pieces of cake (10a and 5d) particularly appealed. Altogether a fun run. Thank you to whomever and whomever.
My apologies Sue for failing to identify you – I should know by now that Saturday is invariably CS day.
The two things I hate about the Saturday Telegraph have occurred today.
1. The crossword not appearing on the back page.
2. Adverts stating that your regular magazine/section will appear inside!
I hate that too, together with the ‘Luxury’ magazine which always goes straight into the recycling bin
When you tracked down the crossword, what did you think of it?
I like to start with 1a, then work down the grid, but had to solve the easy 18d first.
A pleasing challenge for a misty Saturday morning.
Thank you CS for the hints.
I once said that to our village shopkeeper, CS. He glared at me and said, “Do you realise I get up at five in the morning to put the damn things into the papers!”
I had a similar reaction from the assistant in the Spar shop next to Prince of Wales pier on Saturday when trying to stuff all of it in my bag.
I’m with you, Peter on the crossword not being on the back page. It makes it very difficult to fold the paper into A4 size with the puzzle facing you. Now “Black Friday” and the C word are approaching, I fear we will see more difficult paper folding over the next two months.
What’s with this inability to fold a page in half 🤷🏻♂️ How is that difficult! And worthy of hate!! Really?
Very much a first world problem! 🙄
My tongue was firmly in my cheek. 😊
Thankfully, Telegraph Towers appear to have ‘fixed’ whatever caused the delays in publishing the Friday back pager on-line and the SPP was available promptly. I am hoping that there will not be any regression for tomorrow’s puzzle.
This can only be NYDK at his most enjoyable best – **/*****
Candidates for favourite – 17a, 23a, 1d, 5d, and 21d – and the winner is 5d.
Thanks to NYDK and CS.
A fine puzzle for a fine, sunny Saturday morning in NE Scotland.
My favourites today are the absurd Endgame of 5d, the late person of 23d and taking snuff at 24d.
Is it just my fading eyes or my fading printer or is anyone else having problems with the numbers on the grid since yesterday?Requests were made to DT Towers to lessen the amount of black ink used – is this what has happened?
Thanks to the setter and CS.
Discovered the reason for the print resolution problem. Despite using the same printer and the Puzzle app, the quality when printing from my phone is poorer than when I print from my tablet. Don’t think there are any settings which I can adjust so I will have to revert to using the tablet. 😟
My heart sank when I saw loads of linked clues as with the new fangled digital version I can only see one clue at a time. But it all fell into place quite nicely and I enjoyed the ride. I had the answer for 10a but simply couldn’t parse it – really very clever. So thanks to the setter for a jolly guzzle today and to CS for the parsing of 10a
If you change the settings you should be able to see all the clues
I don’t seem to be able to do that.
This was wonderful puzzle. Required lots of thought but not overly difficult.
A splendid Saturday solve.
Lots to like about this: stacks of techniques, a multi-worded themed howdy doody (always a hoot), a bit of humour (14d & 23d), cleverness (5d) and a nice nod to THE sci-fi series.
I had to wave the white flag at 26a however as it was way out of my reach.
My podium is the neat 13a, 17a and 7d.
Many thanks to the setter and CS.
2*/5*
I should have thought 26a right up your strasse given your love of film. I always think it’s a term too loosely ascribed to filmmakers & would rather it was confined to directors with a particular style.
A very fair comment but I have slightly misled you when it comes to me and the silver screen.
I love films but have seen nowhere near as many as you.
I like learning information, especially lists, whether it be etymology, world capitals, history dates, sports winners, Oscars and a whole lot more.
But, my depth with a lot of subjects, other than Genesis and certain sports, is seriously lacking.
I’m halfway through watching all the Best Film Oscars which is highly enjoyable.
Have you seen the ‘Discovering’ series on Sky Arts with Ian Nathan and other film critics?
They talk about a famous actor or director for an hour with lots of clips and stories about their personal life.
There are scores of them, possibly hundreds.
You’ll be all over them like a cheap rash (gotta luv Mrs Malaprop)
I recently saw Claude Rains and Peter Sellers. Claude’s voice was almost good as Ronald Coleman’s and Sellers’ personal life was a complete mess.
Yep seen a fair few of ‘em – the directors series is pretty good though I wish it was 2hrs rather than 1. Nathan is excellent.
He speaks so fluently and sure knows his stuff.
I’m sure, like others, that this must be from the pen of NYDK, who seems to have mastered the art of the mini-theme in a succession of SPPs: not too little, not too much, right in the Goldilocks Zone for themes. For me 10A and 24D stood out, but as usual there were no laggards in the race to the podium. Super stuff, and most enjoyable.
Thanks to he, and to Super Sue.
What a great puzzle, for me possibly the best Prize ever! So many great clues but my favs were 17d etc, 1a etc, 28a (because I am and will always be one) and the best of all 5d.
My first thought was the top was tricky but starting in the lower half gradually revealed the answers.
Many thx to the setter and for the hints (not needed today but nice to know they are there).
***/*******
Stop Press! Praise indeed from Brian – Frame this for posterity 😂
Maybe Brian’s account has been hacked again?
Mrs T
I think he might be aiming for a full week without being redacted. 🤣
I think you’ll find he hit fence number 4 (Thurs guzzle) hard so no clear round.
I’m thinking the coming week.
Terrific puzzle today, with plenty of smiles throughout. ***/****
5d reminiscent of one of yesterday’s clues; that sort of thing always elicits a groan before grudging appreciation sets in!
10a was lovely but my favourite has to be the delightfully dark 23d.
A great puzzle, which I completed but had to rely on the hints to parse 24d. COTD 5d which raised a titter when the penny dropped.
Thanks to the setter and for the hints.
Very gentle fare for an SPP IMHO. I was looking for something to get my teeth into, but it disappeared in just one bite. Not exactly blood curdling!
Fangs to the setter and Sue!
Love the ‘fangs’ shout, CR 👏👏
Slightly worried initially that our setter was going to delve too far into a genre I know little about but he skirted round the edges to produce a puzzle which should appeal to everyone.
Podium here is hosting 10a plus 5&7d.
Thanks to NYDK and to CS for the hints.
Well, that was terrific fun and certainly cheered up a damp and grey Shropshire morning. As always for me, the interlinked clues provided both the building blocks for a swift solve, and the favourites.
Many thanks to our Saturday setter and Sue.
One of the most enjoyable and entertaining crosswords I have ever come across. I particularly like the theme joining some many clues. Very nearly ever clue was a potential gold medal winner and I can’t choose between them so I nominate the whole puzzle.
Just in case you wondered, I liked it. 😁👍
Mythical on the way I’m sure. Thanks to the setter and CS.
Absolutely brilliant, best fun in ages, all manner of clue types, what’s not to like? (but I expect someone will berate it for having linked clues, but I love ’em)
1a put me in mind of a car treasure hunt I once set. It also had a general knowledge section of which one question was ‘ Name Marilyn Monroe’s three husbands’
Some wit had written his answer ‘Henry Kissinger, Mohammed Ali, and 1a) I just had to give him all three points for that effort.
Too many favourites today to list them all, but outstanding for me was 5d. All the very best to our compiler, great fun!
At the risk of the naughty step, I thought this puzzle “spooktacular”. The linked clues went in swiftly and released the majority, the only hold-up being the SE, but once 23a fell, so did the rest. With so many genuine excellent clues picking a podium is difficult, but I’ll go with the linked 1 &5a, 25a and 23a in top spot. Thanks to NYDK (?) and CS.
Nothing naughty steppish about spooktacular, Prawnus.
We love it! 🤜
Pumpkin bread on the naughty step:
I enjoyed this immensely, but for one thing, I enumerated 1a as 5, 2, 7 in my printout which caused no end of problems in the NW! However finally twigged 5a so 1a had to be!
I think we’ve had a 29a reference not so long ago as well as the clue type. Also we’ve seen a 25a clue type recently, as well as my fave du jour, 5d!
V many thanks to the setter and to CS for brightening a cloudy morning!
What a joyous moment it is, and quite the relief, to suddenly understand an answer, after some brain-wrangling. It’s like taking off a tight pair of shoes.
10a. The answer had to be what the answer is, but I just didn’t get it. Then I did. Very glever glueing.
I enjoyed this guzzle. I found it was very helpful to solve 18d first, as that opened the door elsewhere.
The supermarket delivery man said it is a lovely day ‘out there’, so the plan is to have luncheon here and then a lovely walk in the Surrey Hills. That sounds a bit like a trek, doesn’t it? In reality a gentle walk, before popping into the pub.
Thanks to the setter and super-duper Cryptic Sue.
A Surrey pub recommendation in my preamble tomorrow!
I look forward to it!
I wonder if it will already be a favourite of ours?
I agree that this was great fun, the themed clues and the cleverness of many others made it very satisfying for me complete. 10a was my favourite for its misdirection, 28a was brilliant and 26a required some checking afterwards as the synonym was new to me.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints.
Thoroughly enjoyable puzzle – great fun. **/***** COTD 28a
I know they are not to everyone’s taste but I like the multi clue answers and today’s was a perfect example of the craft. I wonder what we’ll get the weekend before Christmas.?
Thanks to setter and Sue
I didn’t get on with this as well as everyone appears to have done. I put it down to a night of disturbed sleep because of painful toes. No idea why they were painful but there we go.
Having said that, it was a very clever guzzle with some brilliant clues. The top contender for COTD was, for some time, the absurd endgame at 5d but then along came 10a with Leo who can type – ingenious. The timely themed linked clues were amusing but I don’t like their starting at 1a. Puts me right off.
Thank you, setter for the challenge. Thank you, CS for the hints.
Steve, I see you, SLB and I have joint Favs in common – birds of a feather or …..?
Or a sole?
Penny just dropped 🙂
Another pleasant puzzle again this week for Saturday. Found this one amusing and there are several clues all joined together (I don’t just mean the 1/5 & 2/20 ones), and there are a few others that link to the theme.
2*/4* for me today
Favourites than the 1/5, 2/20 clues I pick 15a, 18d, 21d & 24d — with 21d & 24d tied.
This was a fun puzzle to solve and work through.
Thanks to NYDK & CS for blog/hints
A lot to like about this one, even if it wasn’t very challenging. 10 and 14 clever. 28a last one in.
Thanks to all.
What fun, I enjoyed the theme and didn’t have too many problems. 10a and 26a needed a bit of thinking about but I resisted a 2nd brew and all came into line before I ground some more coffee
Thanks to NYDK and Super Sue
As an aside the rest of my morning was ruined by some cursing at a recalcitrant tap – Do the makers who put Easy-fit™ on the box realise they are being ironic? Anyway sanity and more temperate language has eventually been restored
A lovely puzzle with a lot of smiles. I had to resort to Google to check an element of 26a and was so relieved when it was correct.
Top picks for me were 10a, 17/20d and 5d.
Thanks to CrypticSue and the setter.
Well I am in agreeance, as a long- dead ex PC Chairman used to say. Nothing too taxing and some really lovely lightbulb moments as in 5d and 20a. 1a is a splendid moniker! Many thanks to Mr Setter and the lovely CeeSue. Best wishes to Merusa if she looks in.
Afternoon all. Thank you for the comments, and as always thanks to CS for the hintery.
I remember being consumed with the idea of [redacted – yes I know you are the setter, but thems the rules] as I stared at this grid. What a dread animal that would be, I mused. Anyway, onward and upward, as travellers in aircraft are hopefully able to say.
Cheers
NYDK
A setter being redacted?
That has to be a first.
You don’t mess with she from the crypt, especially this week.
Excellent crosssword, btw. It’s clearly gone down extremely well with the punters. 👏👏
Lovely puzzle – thanks to NYDK from a chilly 46F Boston today dropping from 82F yesterday (8C/28C in new money).
Mr & Mrs T
And the Apostrophe police will be issuing a fine for “thems” – your first offense?
…..or, as we say, this side of The Pond…your first offence?
Think for the fun, NY.
And hopefully many happy landings!
Great puzzle, NYDK and I’m sorry I was too brain dead to appreciate it in full.
Kind of comforting to see a setter being redacted! 😁
Great fun today, even with the linked clues
2*/5*
10a and 5d my favourites.
Would 1d work without the homophone – is the other spelling acceptable?
With thanks to CS and NYDK
A puzzle of two halves for me, with the left side going in and the right side not playing ball. And might be because my brain would not switch off last night and allow much sleep. I also have an aversion to linked clues so not my cup of tea, and as I had problems with the right side I did not find this as much fun as almost everyone above. Feel a bit sorry for Brian, if he complains people are on his case, and today giving him a hard time when he leaves a positive comment. Perhaps the remaining boxes will reveal themselves later. Thanks for NYDK and CrypticSue.
Top notch crossword (not the first time I’ve used that phrase for an NYDK production) and most enjoyable to boot. Lots of candidates for favourite but, like others, we’ll go with 5d. Thanks to NYDK and CS.
Very enjoyable indeed. 16d my fav with podium spots for 5d & 26a & a good few ticks elsewhere.
Thanks to Donny, who I trust enjoyed the cake, & to Sue.
I hope Jean-luc Cheval has time for today’s crossword- he is also a big 28a
I do hope Jean-Luc will be able to join us again soon.
What a pleasure this puzzle turned out to be. We once had a lecture at our Art’s Soc. or as it was known previously NADFAS on the subject of 1 across. It was not well received .
There was so much variety and just enough of a challenge to delight. So glad to get finished unaided as this week of puzzles has been rather a bumpy ride and my time has been very limited.
Thank you everybody: engineering works and rail-replacement bus services meant I didn’t fit this in yesterday: we decided instead to hire a car for going on holiday, and driving down the A1(M) in the rain doesn’t provide the same opportunities for crosswording as the East Coast Mainline.
But all your well-placed enthusiasm meant I tried this puzzle this morning, and I loved it! My favourite is 19a’s chippy without fish, and I’ve learnt the Hebridean island. Thank you NY Doorknob for a perfectly pitched crossword, CrypticSue for hosting, and the rest of you for generally being lovely.
Smylers my commiserations as last Sunday I had to simply give up on a long awaited trip from Cardiff to Cambridge because of overrunning engineering works bus replacements and a shortage of drivers. This puzzle was terrific with 5d being such a clever clue – thank you NYDK and CS
Also got to this late, but well worth the wait. Brilliant wit throughout.
Once we’d cracked 18a, everything fell into to place quite nicely.