Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30783
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning. Back to my usual Thursday slot and a nicely challenging puzzle to keep us all on our toes.
Quite a few clues involve adding, removing or swapping letters, so it pays to follow the wordplay carefully. A bit of GK is required at 13a, 8d, 12d & 20d, but nothing too tricky. I think 14a is a lovely anagram and we are treated to smooth surface reads virtually throughout.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle. Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.
Thank you, setter.
Across
1a Stand with element calling for change of leader (6)
PODIUM: take a chemical element and change the initial letter (leader) from S to P. I’m being kind to you on the first clue!
4a Taking part of spymaster is Korean star (8)
ASTERISK: “taking part of” indicates that we have a hidden word clue here. The answer is hidden in words 4, 5 & 6.
9a Stop bagging one’s refuse (6)
RESIST: synonym of stop outside (bagging) IS (one’s) – the definition here is a verb masquerading as a noun. Clever.
10a A lot must fancy revealing aggregate (3,5)
SUM TOTAL: anagram (fancy) of A LOT MUST.
11a Teenager conceivably that’s involved in film production (9)
DEVELOPER: double definition.
13a Bridge player Graham, say, not about to lead hearts (5)
NORTH: take a TV chat show host, remove ON (not about) from the end of his name and put what’s left in front of (to lead) the abbreviation for Hearts. The definition is the designation for one of the four bridge players.
14a RAF officer owned car, MG Mini Convertible, I struck (4,9)
WING COMMANDER: anagram (convertible) of OWNED CAR MG MIN(i) – the I being “struck” or deleted.
17a Way doctor comforts sick daughter entering nearby house, reportedly (7,6)
BEDSIDE MANNER: abbreviation for Daughter inside (entering) a word meaning “nearby” + homophone (reportedly) of a country house.
21a Love having in retirement small round gemstones (5)
OPALS: tennis abbreviation for love + abbreviation for Small and synonym of round (or circuit) both reversed (in retirement).
23a Mistrust hint (9)
SUSPICION: double definition – both are nouns.
24a Go off male at first, as 11 may do? (8)
BULLDOZE: synonym of “go off” (as in fall asleep) with the term for the male of several species in front of it (at first).
25a Humble and virtuous person, follower of fashion (6)
MODEST: two-letter abbreviation for a virtuous person after (follower of) a synonym of fashion. Neat.
26a Negative aspect of Denmark’s top individual team (8)
DOWNSIDE: initial letter (top) of Denmark + synonyms of individual and team.
27a Let in Liberal Democrat moderate (6)
LEASED: a word meaning moderate is put inside L and D. Some will no doubt struggle with the construction of this clue, but it is perfectly valid. If you imagine the word “is” appearing between Democrat and moderate, that might help you make sense of the parsing?
Down
1d Satirise standard figure British put down (6)
PARODY: a three-letter word meaning standard (think golf) + a figure without the initial B (British put down). The answer is a verb.
2d Denied American will block odd views being broadcast (9)
DISAVOWED: single-letter abbreviation for American inside (will block) anagram of ODD VIEWS. Broadcast is often a homophone indicator, but here it is an anagram indicator.
3d Greek character Manolis purchasing houses from the south (7)
UPSILON: hidden word backwards, or more accurately, upside down (houses from the south). The answer is hiding backwards within words 3 & 4 of the clue.
5d Even son grasps minute details, regularly making nourishing spreads (6,5)
SQUARE MEALS: a Lego clue – pay attention! Take a synonym of even (or level), add the abbreviation for Son and inside that lot put the abbreviation for Minute and every other letter (regularly) of dEtAiLs.
6d Is no tea brewed here? (7)
ESTONIA: anagram (brewed) of IS NO TEA reveals a country bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland.
7d Lay to rest artist dad disowned (5)
INTER: take a word meaning artist and remove (disowned) a two-letter abbreviation for father. For once there is no reference to Bury or to the football team in Milan. Thank you setter!
8d State briefly hotel, like obelisk ultimately, will rise in desert (8)
KALAHARI: this one is tricky – hopefully you will already have the starting letter, having solved 4a – that will help a lot. Take a four-letter Middle Eastern state and remove its final letter (state briefly) + abbreviation for Hotel + French expression meaning “in the manner of” or “like” + the final letter (ultimately) of obelisK. Join that lot together and turn the whole thing upside down (will rise) and you should find a desert in Southern Africa.
12d Diminutive Dickens character having pasty appearance? (6-5)
POCKET-SIZED: the six-letter Dickens character is from Great Expectations. The “pasty appearance” is nothing to do with his complexion – “pasty appearance” here refers to the substance applied to walls before wallpaper hanging.
15d Oddball strides around in squalor (9)
DIRTINESS: anagram (oddball) of STRIDES outside (around) IN.
16d Enthralled sailors extremely excited to circle globe (8)
ABSORBED: abbreviation for sailors (able-bodied seamen) + the first and last letters (extremely) of ExciteD outside (to circle) a three-letter synonym of globe. A lovely surface read.
18d Guts skinned pink fish aboard ship (7)
INSIDES: remove the first and last letters (skinned) of pink and add a three-letter fish beloved of crossword setters inside (aboard) the abbreviation for SteamShip.
19d Emotions in a mess, time spent that’s hurtful (7)
NOISOME: anagram of EMO(t)IONS – “time spent” tells us to remove the T from the anagram fodder.
20d One old outfit of Fergie’s? (6)
UNITED: ignore the Duchess of York (never a bad idea) – this is a cryptic double definition clue. The latter definition being a football club previously managed by Sir Alex Ferguson. GK is required, but even “non-football people” should know which club was managed by the most successful football manager of all time in terms of trophies won?
22d Admit being inexperienced when caught out (5)
ALLOW: take a word meaning inexperienced and remove the initial C (when Caught out).
Quickie Pun: BEACH + EARFUL = BE CHEERFUL
I found this one a bit on the tough side, which is fine as it is Thursday. I struggled with some of the parsing but managed to see it all in the end. Using the wrong first letter at 3d held me up and it took a while to sort out 1a when my error was revealed. My COTD is Denmark’s top team at 26a.
Thank you, setter for the challenge. Thank you, Shabbo for the hints.
With the way of the world at the moment I suggest we all obey the Quickie pun.
Me too with 3d starter!
In my view this puzzle was trying to be too clever for its own good.
Hope others liked it, but just not one for me today, maybe being spoiled yesterday has something to do with it.
For some reason 20d was my last one in, funny really as I’ve supported them since 1968.
.. I suppose someone has to! Sorry couldn’t help that .. but still better than “rent a team” from the other side of the city.
Oh yes crossword .. this was a chore .. and I didn’t finish it unaided. I was expecting a panagram with the z and q entered .. alas no jumping fox .. by which time I’d given up the will to live.
Thanks to Shabbo for the hints .. as for the setter .. well done!
I have to admit I was huffing about 12d … until I checked the dictionary. Very smart clue, to be fair. 8d’s v sharp too. Many thanks to our setter and Shabbo.
Just seen the hint for 12d, and still don’t see how the second word comes about, is ‘size’ some kind of wallpaper paste?
Just seen ALP’s comment and looked it up, got it now, well every day’s a schools day.
You can also size canvasses before painting. This was my favourite clue!
Welcome to the blog, Cheshire Cat.
This want much fun. Not a happy Thanksgiving at all.
I’ve been forced to use the app (new phone). I’m not sure if this is a bug but it I use another app whilst using DT, when I return I have to re-enter the game. Also I can’t select anything. So if there’s a word I want to look at I can’t cut and paste it into Google. Them when I return I have to enter the puzzle again. Just me?
Not just you – exactly the same for me. Very infuriating☹️
I’m surprised that this was given four stars for difficulty as I managed without help although I did need Shabbo to explain how I got there with a couple. I did look up Manolis before realising it was a reverse lurker so I did learn something. Shabbo, if you go onto Facebook, my neighbour Hanne Siebers, has just posted a fantastic photo taken of Cley Church at sunset with thousands of pink-foot flying over the top. She’s the only reason I’m on Facebook, just for her photos. Thanks to all
Found it – what a great photo!
Stunning photo – North Norfolk at its most beautiful.
Thank you so much, Manders, stunning!
It is a beautiful picture and brought back so many happy memories of my past life in East Anglia and so many visits to Cley where we first gathered and tasted samphire – delicious.
😁😁😁 still a wonderful place and the sapphire still delicious!
4*/2*. I found this quite tough today and it was not my cup of tea I thought some clues were over-contrived and there were several strained surfaces.
23a was my favourite.
Thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.
A nice little Thursday tester which is always good for the grey cells.
The pasty substance was a new one on me. Dickens must have had such fun creating bonkers character names: Wackford Squeers, Uncle Pumblechook, Dick Swiveller, Pleasant Riderhood and the best one Charity Pecksniff. A genius.
8d felt like a crossword on its own as there’s so much happening in it. Maybe we should call the technique an ‘ogel’, i.e reverse lego. Great fun.
I have a question about grammar which Grammarian and others could answer. It’s bugged me for years….as the boy’s book can be written as the book of the boy, then shouldn’t 20d be the old outfit of Fergie not the old outfit of Fergie’s?
My 1a is 2d, 16d and the aforementioned 20d.
Many thanks to the setter (Zandio?) and Shabbs.
3*/4*
I quite agree with you Tom. I asked my old headmaster Sir William Gladstone for clarification of this in 1969, although it wasn’t Fergie involved, something to do with friends of somebody’s. He said “quite right old chap, inaccurate grammar. Trouble is it’s colloquial English”. He didn’t like colloquial English being printed in the Times !!
We love teachers like Gladders, JIS.
I was sooooooooooo happy that Robert Donat won the best actor Oscar for Goodbye Mr Chips, denying Clark Gable for his role in Gone with the Wind.
His last line was superb when he was on his deathbed..”Poor, Chips. He never had any children.”…..”Yes, I did. Thousands of them and they were all boys.”
What a wonderful old movie that was, thank you for that memory.
A pleasure.
One of the best oldies along with ‘Random Harvest’ with Ronald ‘The Voice’ Colman and the wonderful Greer.
You missed “Brief Encounter”.
This is true.
I am on Cryptic’s midweek naughty step that, disappointingly, has no cakes.
For me, etc, just about right for a Thursday with, to borrow from Shabbo’s preamble, smooth surface reads so I am going to risk two of my shiny new King Charles Loonies on this being a Silvanus production – ***/****
Candidates for favourite – 9a, 27a, 7d, and 22d – and the winner is 7d.
Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if my Loonies go down the drain, and thanks to Shabbo.
Actually – a question if I may please?
Do we ever get to find out who the particular setter is for each puzzle?
I can’t help wondering!!
You’ve been Katz before so changing your alias sent you into moderation. Both will work from now on.
Thanks Gazza ! I’d forgotten that I’d changed it to Katz! 🤣
Hi Carnagr
The DT (and The Times for that matter) do not divulge the names of their compilers. There are several views for and against this policy, but they are unlikely to change their ways any time soon, I suspect.
The longer you do the DT puzzles, the more you get to recognise a setter’s style. Also setters generally feature either at the beginning or the end of the week, with Monday normally being the easiest day and Friday the hardest.
“Guess the Setter” is a favourite game of many of the bloggers.
Some setters post on this blog later in the day to take ownership of the puzzle. Let’s see if today’s setter pops in to say hello.
Brill thank you so much!
Yes- I have noticed patterns and indicators … “sweetheart” for example and our setter who tends to use every letter eXcept X…. 😜
(Re name change pls see above from gazza )
If today’s setter is Silvanus, he will probably ‘pop in’ to acknowledge it.
There are several other setters who will do the same – for example, Twmbarlwm (Wednesday), Ray T (Thursday), Zandio (Friday) and proXimal (Friday).
It is just a matter of checking the blog usually quite late in the day.
Brill thank you so much!
Yes- I have noticed patterns and indicators … “sweetheart” for example and our setter who tends to use every letter eXcept X…. 😜
(Re name change pls see above from gazza )
Thanks to senf!
Getting tougher as we head towards the end of the week.
3.5*/4*
I couldn’t parse 12d, solved from the checkers. The z was invaluable here! I felt 8d was a poor clue with an incomprehensible surface.
16d was my COTD.
Thanks for the explanation of 12d and thanks to setter for an enjoyable tussle.
That was certainly a challenge this morning. For once I was grateful for the anagrams to get me started but even then progress was slow. I don’t time myself but, for once, had no other call on my time so I’ve had a thouroughly enjoyable morning. The SE held out the longest and I needed the hint for 25a which led to completion. I’ve got ticks all over the paper so no podium today. 1a and 1d were clever clues to start with, 8d was brilliantly conceived, I liked the surface read of 14a and 16d was right up my street. Thanks to our setter for the pleasurable challenge and Shabbo for the help in his detailed blog.
Managed to solve it, but I needed help from the hints to parse quite a few. Thank you Shabbo, and thanks to the setter. 11a took a while to get, which impacted on 24a, my LOI. Just wondering about 24a, one could also imagine a teenager doing the last half of the solution. My clue of the day has to be 26a, given my nationality.
So many laughs along the way and ticks on my paper that this can only have been compiled by Mr Smooth. Every clue does exactly what it says on the tin although some of the keys took a bit of finding! After much cogitation, I’ve constructed a leader board of 14a (brilliant anagram) &17a (delightful) plus 5d (hilarious) & 12d (pasty appearance indeed!).
Many thanks to Silvanus for the fun and to Shabbo for the very helpful review.
Tough but fair, as long as you followed the instructions. I could not separate 26a and 12d, so they are my co-favourites this sunny morning.
My thanks to Silvanus, with apologies to him and the actual setter if I have got it wrong, and most definitely to Shabbo.
I struggled with this but got there on the end.
LOI was 5d as I became fixated on it ending meats.
Top picks for me were 20d, 18d and 24a.
Thanks to Shabbo and the setter.
An uneventful and swift solve, possibly more Tuesday and Thursday, although had I been sufficiently bothered to parse every single answer I’m sure the overall time taken would have increased markedly (eg 13a, 14a, 17a, 12d). Some lovely surfaces and some … well, rather less so. At the end I was surprised to see I hadn’t ticked any going through and had to re-read, resulting in the podium featuring 4a, 2d & 22d.
Thank you to the setter (no idea this time, maybe someone new?) and also, of course, to Shabbo.
You are funny, “uneventful and swift solve” made me laugh, so thank you for the levity today!
Happy to be of service, Merusa, and it has been an absolute pleasure having your company on the boards again – I know I did not comment at the time, but your absence made this place slightly … “less”, and your return has restored its sparkle. I have been trying so hard not to use ‘straightforward’ of puzzles, as promised, even when merited and you were not here to read the posts!
Hi Tom
You’re spot on
“One of Fergie’s old outfits” would have worked better I think.
Nonetheless ( a regular!) I really enjoyed this one.
Thanks Martyn with a y (how many times??? Grrrr…)
I don’t mean to be picking at the setter; it’s just something that has always niggled me.
Outfit?
A top-notch Thursday-level puzzle – thanks to our setter and Shabbo.
I liked 24a, 26a and 16d with the gold medal being awarded to 12d.
Good afternoon
An early finish for me; I am pleasantly surprised, actually, because initially I thought that this was going to be a struggle. I managed to get most of the top half done at a reasonable pace, but cringed at the thought of the largely inkless wastes of the bottom half.
I cranked up the braincell and reached for my Lucky Green Pen and cracked on! Some parsing issues: 13a and 8d, both of which I deduced, but needed help with the explanations, so I’ll say many thanks to Shabbo at this point. A definite fourser, as you say!
Thank you also to our setter. Possibly the Mind of Zandio at work here; I’ll nip back i later to see!
I enjoyed this, with thanks to the setter and Shabbo for the help with parsing a couple of the trickier solutions.
Sorry if someone has already said this (I’m struggling slightly post eye surgery), but is 20d a double definition, i.e. one, old outfit of Fergie’s? I agree with others that the grammar seems slightly odd either way, but that’s a minor quibble.
Well spotted! Your eye surgery has clearly worked.
I have changed my hint and will now go and sit on the naughty step for 10 minutes.
Excellent puzzle in all respects. No more needs saying. Favourite: 26a. 3.5*/4*.
H-A-R-D so thanks to the setter for the challenge. This was a ‘stare at it for a couple of minutes going WAAHH!’ before solving 10a and then working my way outwards. For a few, parsing was a parcel of uncertainty (I’ve never read a word of Dickens. I know! Philistine!), so much gratitude to Shabbo for revealing the background.
I had to pop into Woking yesterday. When I was young it was thought of as rather an upmarket town, perhaps second only to Weybridge, locally. Now it is rather desolate. With new huge tower blocks, the wind whips through the (deserted yesterday) town centre. People sit, on their own, at tables in Wetherspoons and The Slug And Lettuce. They stare at phones, or Sky News on the television on the wall.
Thanks to the setter and Shabba-dabba-doo
When in Woking go to a cafe called Poppins, great value, nice grub, lovely people. I always go there when my bike’s in for a service.
Oh I saw it! I walked past it as I parked nearby.
I got therein the end but not without a fight. Do you realise how many Dickens characters there are? Investigoogling found that even Wikipedia has to have an indexed list and I gave up bored before I got to P
Many thanks to the setter and Shabbo for sorting out the parsing of a couple
That was a very enjoyable challenge. 14a went in off the bat, as did 17a and these seemed to open up the rest. Perhaps it was just a wavelength thing, and I was tuned in. My podium is comprised of the lovely lurker at 4a, 5d and 26a in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Shabbo.
As this is an off week for RayT, the setter today is a guess. A few tricky clues to come to grips with in this grid, I found, but eventually all came to light.
2*/3.5* for me today
Favourites 11a, 14a, 17a & 16d — with 11a the winner.
Thanks to setter & Shabbo
Oh dear, tiny brain was flatlining today! Way beyond my solving abilities, but what a lovely three days we’ve had, so no complaints from me at all. I did solve 14a on first reading, so that’s fave!
Thank you setter, Silvanus?, I promise to try harder next time. You’re a star, Shabbo, thank you for the enlightenment.
Very kind. Thank you.
Where is RayT when you need him? I did not enjoy this at all. I am nowhere near the wavelength of this setter, getting just 6 answers on first pass. Not my idea of fun on this Thanksgiving morning. Thankfully I have a recent Chalicea saved for such a day. Congrats to all who solved unaided, and to Shabbo who found it nicely challenging. I’ll go put the dunce’s cap on now.
Do you like Dickens?
I don’t know I’ve never been to one
Do you like Kipling?
I don’t know I’ve never Kippled… I’ll get my coat
Taxi!
Way beyond my abilities today. May try again later, but 7 clues solved so far, all in the NE corner.
Good afternoon everyone. Many thanks both to Shabbo for his explanations of each clue and accompanying illustrations and to all those commenting.
When constructing 12d our old friend Robert Clark was at the forefront of my thoughts. I hope he would have approved of the clue, especially since the Dickens character in question is described as a “pale young gentleman”. What larks, Pip! Huntsman especially would know that Alec Guinness played the character in David Lean’s classic film of Great Expectations.
8d is not an easy word to clue (have a go yourself if you’re feeling brave!) but I think I came up with something half decent. I actually consider 14a to be one of the best anagrams I’ve ever come up with, so it was disappointing that so few people seemed to share my enthusiasm for it. Oh well.
Happy Thanksgiving to those across the pond.
I really enjoyed 8d, and felt that reading it with the punctuation made for a good surface. Best I can think of at short notice comes nowhere near, and I’m not certain only using half the name would be permitted: “Desert after Dutch spy follows king”
Thank you for the puzzle, Silvanus, it was most enjoyable – 14a was a cracking anagram, but I’d never heard of the MG Mini being a production line car (though I see there was a prototype MG Mini Convertible, as you doubtless knew!) which is why it didn’t make it to my podium.
14a is a tremendous anagram and the indicator is inspired…..and original? It may be an oldie but I’ve never seen it before.
On reflection, I should have or, as many people type in life (not here), ‘should of’ put it on my podium.
I biffed 8d and smiled when I worked out the parsing.
Thanks for the workout. It was great fun.
I really couldn’t get a toehold today, but I did get 14a and admired the anagram, note it was my fave, but I solved so few! I also solved 8d from your perfect clueing. I always say your clues are fair, if you can work them out.
Thank you for the challenge which I really enjoyed. But mostly popped in to say that 14a leapt off the page as soon as I looked at the crossword – probably because I used to be one!
Despite the late finish (and start ) I didn’t find this one too bad , very much on my wavelength although I didn’t quite get sized’ of 12 d also. Some clever clues. Thanks to Silvanus and Shabbo.
You soooooooooo need to change your alias to WingCo or Winko or something similar.
Don’t you just love BD for bringing together the crossword community that comprises people of varying backgrounds.
Hear hear!
Thanks, tempting, but my alias is a reference to my old air traffic control job and is a nod to one of the least relaxing things you can do. I agree the diverse hinterland of this community is a joy to discover.
Fairy nuff, T5.
I have huge respect for air traffic controllers as it must be sooooo stressful.
You have to love the film ‘Pushing Tin’ and Mr Cusack..or was it inaccurate?
Either way, a top film.
I think it was a documentary!!😂. I think for all concerned you’ll be pleased to know it is very rarely ever as exciting as that. We’re a strange breed. Most controllers wouldn’t describe it as stressful, we really enjoy it.
I remember the David Lean film well Silvanus. John Mills as Pip & Valerie Hobson as Estella but couldn’t for the life of me remember who played Magwitch & had to look it up.
You took me well over my usual back page solve time this morning but in fairness an excess of wine (for me anyway) the night before at a cracking little restaurant in Tavira may have had something to do with mental lethargy. Kept thinking thank heavens it’s not me tasked with providing the hints.
Great puzzle as ever & thanks to Shabbo.
Ps super puzzle yesterday btw. For any golfers reading we played Ombria today (new course in the Algarve) which had the most stunning elevation changes & was very challenging indeed.
It took me ages to find the wavelength and then I really didn’t enjoy the solve. For one thing we seem to be getting quite a few anagrams these days with an obvious competition to come up with most obscure indicator and they’re not my favourite things. N was smoothest passage. 7d had to be but I stupidly hadn’t parsed it. 20d bunged in because I couldn’t think past the Duchess of York and in any case don’t know much about that sport. 17d just manages to secure Fav spot. Thank you Mysteryone and Shabbo.
Have just whizzed through the benign Quickie and enjoyed beginning with the waggish 1a.
I’m another one who’s way beyond my ability.
I gave in a long time ago and knew I was beaten.
Thanks to today’s setter for the crossword and thanks and admiration too to Shabbo.
I really liked 14a Silvanus! But for the bridge player the problem with clues involving ‘Graham’ is that there are so many options, so that was my last one in. Thank you Shabbo as always
Redacted – see Comment Etiquette No 3
That’s certainly telling him, Billy Dubs.
I think your comments are quite unjustified, and rude to the setter. You’re entitled to your opinion, of course, but your inability to parse some of the clues is down to you, not the setter. So today you’ve learnt something, eg what “size” is, and you’ll know for next time. Thursday’s back pager is often trickier than earlier in the week, but not always.
I’m sorry, William, but that was a totally inappropriate comment. The setter of today’s puzzle is very experienced and always has the benefit of a test solver plus the puzzles editor. He does also set DT Toughies on a regular basis so is hardly likely to suffer from the ‘Toughie inferiority’ that you mention.
I think you owe him an apology.
I see that the comment has now been redacted, thanks to whoever did that.
Well put jane
Solved, and I did get most of it, but really way beyond my ability unfortunately. Maybe when I’ve been doing these for 11 years instead of months I’ll love it. But thanks, a challenge is a good thing.
I found this hard to get into but I had a rather disjointed day. It started with finding the boiler not working. I reset it and it started but the house was cold. I then broke a mug making coffee and the day has continued in the same vein. The anagrams were my highlights with 14a my favourite clue. I thought 8d was really clever. I needed Shabbo to help me finish as 12d defeated me.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to Shabbo for the hints.
Wow, what a difference a few hours makes. As mentioned earlier, I revisited this and I am really glad I did. Managed to finish unaided. I must have somehow got on to the right wavelength. Solving 2d was the start that I needed.
I encourage my fellow strugglers to also revisit. Many of the clues aren’t as difficult as they first seem. Some are quite cheeky though.
Very pleased to have solved a Silvanus unaided. Great crossword.
Thanks to all.
I didn’t find this as hard as some commenters but difficult in places, high enjoyment rating though. I did like 14a Silvanus but I rarely pick anagrams as favourite. I needed the hint to parse 13a. Favourite was 17a. Favourite to Silvanus and Shabbo.
Too hard for me I’m afraid. Completed the top half but fell asleep tryng to solve the rest. I really struggle when it’s a Silvanus puzzle. Thanks to Shabbo.
Finished it all this morning apart from one which was down to laziness as I spelt 3d with an E. Generally it was the NW that delayed me until today. Did not look in advance but have checked since for some parsings so thanks Shabbi.
I had HONEST for 25a. Legitimate?
It certainly parses well and fits the grid, but I would query whether humble and honest are synonymous?
3*/4* …..
liked 23A “Mistrust hint (9)”