Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30786
Hints and tips by Smylers
Hello to everybody attempting today’s Telegraph cryptic crossword. If you get stuck, or you have an answer but you aren’t sure why it’s the answer, then the hints below should help. (If they don’t, then that’s my fault; do leave a comment saying what’s unclear, and somebody from the friendly community here will explain whatever it is I didn’t.)
Usually Monday is the only day of the week in which I both work from home and don’t walk the 10-year-old to school, which is handy for fitting in pre-work solving and bloggling. But today I need to head into the office, so apologies for the lack of pictures below. (Alternatively, if I did find time to add some pictures, apologies for leaving in the previous sentence, which I failed to remove. I’m writing this introduction on Sunday, before I’ve even seen the puzzle.)
It’s Advent, which for me means (among other things) Advent of Code, a story in 25 parts, with a couple of puzzles to solve each day by writing little computer programs. It’s really well done, and recommended to anybody who’s into that kind of thing; it’s also why I generally do fewer crosswords in December than other months, so if I don’t comment as much here over the next few weeks, I’m probably busy trying to help the Elves locate their Chief Historian.
Our household seems as busy as ever. The 12-year-old is off to Cologne on Friday with school, sailing from Hull, and the 10-year-old is in rehearsals 3 times a week for Aladdin. We were delighted to learn on Thursday that we had the winning bid in our church’s fundraising auction for 4 evenings of babysitting, so are now looking at events to book for next year.
Across
1a Al Pacino’s tip for modifying smartphone features? (12)
APPLICATIONS: We begin with an anagram: modify the order of the letters in the first 3 words. The definition is a term that’s usually abbreviated when used about smartphones, the full word more often used on computers.
9a Tree snake seen regularly (5)
ASPEN: Start with a type of snake, and follow with a regular pattern of alternating letters from ‘seen’. The clue doesn’t indicate whether to use the odd or even letters, so we just have to try each in turn and pick those that seem more treelike.
10a Flirtatious fellows send email that’s rewritten (6,3)
LADIES’ MEN: Rewrite the letters of ‘send email’ to spell out the answer. The definition ends in ‘fellows’ and the second word has 3 letters, so I started there.
Did you know that if you just look at the grid and fail to read the enumeration, those letters can also be rearranged to spell the name ‘Mélisande’, a character from a Debussy opera that has nothing whatsoever to do with the clue?
11a Famous duke with a famous Duke (10)
WELLINGTON: A massive thanks to Tom who was not at all disappointing in the comments below for explaining this clue. We need the single-letter abbreviation for ‘with’ (though right now I’m failing to think of a context in which it’s used) followed by the surname of the jazz musician known by the first name ‘Duke’ (though his parents called him Edward).
(I had ‘Duke’ as in fight, but that didn’t really work.)
12a Greek character going after fine Greek food (4)
FETA: Start with the letter written on a pencil with a fine lead, and follow with a character from the Greek alphabet.
The answer and the Greek letter don’t rhyme with each other, which I found curious given they are from the same language. But looking at their etymologies, they have different vowels in the original Greek, both of which have been transliterated to the same letter in English, obscuring the difference.
13a Refined chap accompanying slippery customer (7)
GENTEEL: After another word for ‘chap’ we need the name of a creature so famed for its lack of friction that it’s used metaphorically as a disparaging term for a slippery customer.
15a Loyal Democrat cast a ballot to save energy (7)
DEVOTED: Start with the single letter used to indicate a Democrat in USA politics, and end with a verb meaning ‘cast a ballot’ (in the past tense; it’s hard to tell with ‘cast’). Those then save the letter representing energy in physics by putting it between them.
17a Excerpt from Mozart is a number for a skilful person (7)
ARTISAN: Take an excerpt of consecutive letters from ‘Mozart is a number’ to find the answer.
19a Supports commanding officer in dispatches (7)
SECONDS: Place the abbreviation for Commanding Officer in a verb meaning ‘dispatches’. If that doesn’t produce a word, try placing it somewhere else until it does.
The dictionaries I’ve checked have initial capitals on Commanding Officer when spelling out that abbreviation. Can anybody make this clue work without pretending they are there, or think of a reason why including them would have spoilt the surface reading?
21a Augustus and Henry initially speak effusively (4)
GUSH: I don’t think I’ve ever even met an Augustus, and I’ve certainly never been sufficiently chummy with one to abbreviate their name, so I had to imagine what this pet name would be (though I have known people with a Scottish name that gets shortened to the same thing). Anyway, follow that with the initial letter of Henry.
Given that Henry is an SI unit that uses the symbol H, I don’t think ‘initially’ is needed in this clue.
22a Chaotic brawl? No one is charged (4-3-3)
FREE-FOR-ALL: Here we need a phrase that could whimsically be used to indicate that nobody has to pay.
25a After fun escapade, Tottenham making bloomers (9)
LARKSPURS: We need a term for a fun escapade, then after that goes the nickname for Tottenham football club. The bloomers are of the flowering variety.
Ellen & the Escapades were a Leeds band I saw in a tiny venue about a decade ago. They got some play on the radio but didn’t have any hit songs. I like this one though:
26a Fatuous, trendy leads in awful Netflix entertainment (5)
INANE: Follow a 2-letter word that means ‘trendy’ with the lead letters of the final 3 words in the clue.
27a Harry Potter to miss seeing experts? (12)
OPTOMETRISTS: We saw ‘Harry’ as an anagram indicator a few weeks ago, and here it is again. Use it as a verb on the following 3 words to bash their letters into the answer, in which ‘seeing’ is used adjectivally to indicate the type of experts we want.
Down
1d Old man knocked over friend, creating outrage (5)
APPAL: Knock over a word for one’s father by writing it upwards, and follow it with a synonym of ‘friend’.
2d Poor swan on ship circling African river (9)
PENNILESS: Start with one of the terms for a swan of a particular sex, and end with the usual abbreviation for a particular type of ship. Between those make them circle an African river. Even if your knowledge of African geography is minimal, this is definitely a river you have heard of it.
3d Criminal under the weather – for example, Capone? (7)
ILLEGAL: Write in order: what ‘under the weather’ can mean; the abbreviation that indicates ‘for example’; and the first name of the famous Capone.
4d Artificial human as well as French fashion designer turning up (7)
ANDROID: Start with a word that means ‘as well as’, and follow that with the name of a French fashion designer turned so it goes up the grid instead of down. Again my knowledge of fashion designers (French or otherwise) is minimal, but this one has a multinational expensive clothing company named after them, so they’re pretty well known.
5d Couple I encountered heading north (4)
ITEM: The ‘I’ in the clue simply means to put an ‘I’ in the answer, which is conveniently straightforward. After that is a word meaning ‘encountered’ which starts in the bottom square and heads north up the page (so long as you always correctly orientate your newspaper before solving; harder for those of us who solve on computers, where the screen is generally pointing towards the sky, so not in any compass direction).
6d More insensitive, half-hearted teen in official residence (6,3)
NUMBER TEN: The second half of this clue is easier than the first, because we’re given all the letters: take the word ‘teen’ and omit half of the double letters that are at its heart. Before that we need a word for not feeling sensations in the physical sense, with the suffix indicating more of it. The word has a different pronunciation in the answer.
7d Secretly listen to hesitant remark about a toupee (6)
EARWIG: Think of a short sound somebody might make when hesitating, place that about the ‘a’ from the clue, and end with what a toupee is a type of.
8d International organisation’s support is tacit (6)
UNSAID: Think of a well-known international organisation, and write down its initials, followed by the possessive ‘s’ from the clue. Follow that with a word for ‘support’ as in ‘help’ (not either of the usual crossword supports from golf or women’s underwear).
14d Pan actors playing for absolutely nothing (3,1,5)
NOT A SCRAP: Play with the letters of the first two words until they spell out the answer.
16d Clubs with right-wingers supporting five-one wins (9)
VICTORIES: The abbreviation for clubs used by those who haven’t worked out how to type ♣ is followed by a name used for members of a particular right-wing political party. That all supports the Roman numerals for five and one, which is achieved in a down answer by carefully balancing the numerals on top of the other parts.
17d Travel in a North American city or country in Africa (6)
ANGOLA: This one’s a bit tricksy because the in the wordplay ‘north’ and ‘American city’ are separate elements, even though the city in question is indeed in North America. And indeed even though the letters of the abbreviation for North America feature in the answer. Think of a short word meaning ‘travel’ and put that in the middle of: the ‘a’ from the clue, the abbreviation for ‘north’, and the the common abbreviation for a particular American city.
18d Rear end of Raducanu caught by return shot (7)
NURTURE: The letters of ‘return’ are shot so that they’re in a different order; they catch the end letter of ‘Raducanu’ and insert it among them to create a synonym for ‘rear’ as a verb.
19d Poet getting into novels pens erotica (7)
SPENSER: This poet has got into the final 3 words of the clue, hiding there in consecutive letters.
20d Dodgy lovers for you? (6)
SOLVER: The definition is ‘you’ as in you, the person who’s doing the crossword. We get it by putting the letters of ‘lovers’ in a dodgy order. This was the last one I got, which seems a little ironic.
23d Case of Americans welcoming flipping crazy US president (5)
ADAMS: In cryptic crosswords the ‘case’ of a word is its first and last letters, so get those from ‘Americans’. They are going to welcome the rest of the clue by surrounding it, so put them also first and last in the answer. Between we need a word meaning ‘crazy’ that has been flipped so that it’s written backwards. There are two US presidents with this name, so take your pick as to which one the answer is referring to.
24d Heartless oafs look for European capital (4)
OSLO: Write ‘oafs’ while omitting the 2 letters at its heart, and follow with an exclamation indicating that those in earshot should look at something.
Quickie Pun
The first 3 clues in today’s Quick Crossword are italicized, indicating that their answers when read aloud together can be made to sound like another word or phrase. And today I did have to actually say it out loud and listen to myself in order to work it out! Here are the answers and pun:
PEAT + OTHER + GRATE = Peter the Great
Another great start to the week with an enjoyable puzzle. Harry Potter missing experts at 27a raised a smile as did the old favourite at 22a. I don’t quite see the parsing of the two dukes at 11a but the answer could be nothing else. A huge grin appeared when my dodgy lovers arrived at 20d but my COTD is the rear end of Emma at 18d.
Thank you, setter (Robyn?) for the fun. Thank you, Smylers for the hints, which I will now read.
This was truly superb and a brilliant start to the week. Robyn is in fine form.
I read 11a as a famous duke from history plus the abbreviation for ‘with’ and the jazz dude.
Picking a top three is harder than the crossword itself but I’ll go with Master Potter (great use of the word ‘seeing’), our one-hit wonder tennis player (but what a hit!) and the crazy US president.
Many thanks to Robyn for such a good crossy and Smylers.
1*/5*
Ah, that makes sense for 11a. Thanks so much. I’ll fix the hint when I get a moment.
Stupidly, I completely forgot about that Duke, even though I considered illustrating that clue with the Stevie Wonder song in tribute to him! (I only didn’t because I used a Stevie Wonder song last time.)
I love legends like The Duke and Little Stevie who were/are at the top of their game for 50 plus years. What a joy to be paid for doing something you love, especially art as it’s so creative.
We are mere mortals compared to these behemoths.
What on earth happened with Mr Gordy Jnr for SW to leave Motown Records after 60 years? I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when that conversation occurred.
I am sure you are not referring to Little Steven and his Disciples of Soul but it gives me an excuse…
Thank you for that, Sloops. Most entertaining.
Stevie Wonder was known as Little Stevie.
What a brilliant start to the week. I even liked the anagrams. Lots of smooth surfaces and humerous clues without any obscure GK. I’m going for 17d for favourite as it took me a little while to sort out the parsing – all the right letters, just not necessarily in the right order! Lots of ticks for podium places. Take your pick from these down clues- 2,3,4,16 and 18. Thanks to Robyn for the pleasure and Smylers, whose help I didn’t need but whose comprehensive blog I really enjoyed reading.
What a lovely start to the day, such an enjoyable mix of entertaining clues. There were too many that I enjoyed to pick one favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Just brilliant. How does Robyn maintain such consistency? So many excellent clues to vying for a podium, but I’ll settle for those proposed by Tds65 in 2 above. Thanks to Robyn and Smylers.
Lovely puzzle.
Needed a bit of help parsing the Dukes.
Favourite 27a.
Thanks to the setter and to Smylers
It’s always good to have a Monday to regain my confidence. I’ve been playing catchup since Friday as was busy last week so been a day behind . Fridays I found challenging , Saturday not too bad , and I seem to have made heavy weather of yesterday’s last night and still have 1 clue outstanding. Anyway thanks to the setter for the great start to the week , and to Smylers.
A couple of clues – 8d and 18d – that held me up for a while but not for long enough to spoil the enjoyment – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 25a, 27a, 2d, 4d, and 7d – and the winner is 27a.
Thanks to Robyn (presumably) and Smylers.
1*/5*. Even though I found this only 1* for difficulty, I enjoyed it so much that I am going to award 5* for enjoyment. What a glorious way to start the week.
My top picks are: 11a (which I parsed as W[ith] + [Duke] Ellington), 22a, 27a & 18d.
Many thanks to Robyn and to Smylers.
Apologies for the duplication. I see that Tom had already mentioned 11a in his comment @2.
What a brilliant start to the week. The clever wordplay of 27a makes it my favourite. Thanks to the setter and to Smyler for taking time out of his busy day to write such an entertaining blog.
Just about perfect for a Monday – thanks to our setter and to Smylers for the great review.
For my podium I’ve picked 22a, 27a and 18d.
The usual very elegant Monday fare. Only missed two of the acrosses and then got all the downs so I’d have gone for */**** had I still been in the blog seat.
If anyone is interested the two we missed were 22a, where we were looking for an anagram (chaotic) of BRAWL NO ONE with charged as the definition, and 27a where it just took a while for the penny to drop, d’oh! At first I thought it might be something to do with wizards. Those two have to be on the podium along with 11a.
Many thanks to the setter for the fun and Smylers for keeping up the good work.
Very gentle start to the week but each and every clue was a delight!
Loved Harry Potter and Raducanu’s rear!
*/****
Thanks to Robyn? and Smylers
An enjoyable way to launch into the cruciverbal week. Anagrams have become de rigueur with increasing number of clever indicators but personally I prefer to fathom the clue itself without the means to it firstly. Having said that 27a/harry is novel and crafty. Afraid the musical Duke failed to dawn on me so 11a was a bung-in. Favs 6d and 18d. Thank you Robyn and Smylers.
A great start to the week. LOI was 27a which my brain screamed ‘spoonerisms’ at me even though it didn’t fit and I hadn’t even read the clue!
Top picks for me were 20d, 25a, 11a, 2d and the nothing to do with Spooner 27a.
Thanks to Smylers for his very readable blog and the setter.
Have you tied today’s Rookie Corner submission from Samsa? If so, that might explain your brain’s reaction to 27a (and if not, perhaps it’s a sign that you should!).
I haven’t seen it and hate Spoonerisms so may take a look to satisfy my curiosity but am more likely to stay happy in my ignorance of it!
Wow, what a great puzzle!
1*/5*
Last clues in 18d and 8d
So many great clues to pick from but will go with
18d 27a and 22a as favourites
Thanks to ?Robyn and Smylers
Lovely start to the non-working week from, I presume, our regular Monday setter. Not a tough ask it has to be said but so enjoyable. Tops for me were the famous duke, the poor swan and the bespectacled wizard.
Many thanks to Robyn and to Smylers for the review.
Another nice start to the non-work week with this Monday offering. Nothing to scare the horses here.
1*/4* today
Favourites 11a, 22a, 27a, 6d, 16d & 20d — with winner 6d with 16d close second.
Smiles from 11a, 22a & 27a
Thanks to Robyn(?) & Smylers
Not commented for quite a while but this was a particularly enjoyable crossword.Fairly gentle but so clever and witty.
Thanks to the setter and for the hints
On the whole an enjoyable puzzle with the exception of 26a and 18d, not good imho.
Best clue was def 25a COYS!
Thx to all
***/****
I liked both 26a and 18d — what did you think was not good about them? Do you mean you thought they were unfair to solvers (such as by requiring niche general knowledge or using a dodgy synonym), or you didn’t care for the imagery in their surface readings, … or something else?
What’s ‘COYS’? ‘Clue Of the Year So far’ is the best I’ve come up with.
Smylers, COYS stands for ‘come on you Spurs’.
Ah, thanks. I was presuming it was a comment on the crossword, rather than a lifestyle comment.
Can it also be used to express support for other clubs who have names beginning with S?
Yes. COY is a commonly used acronym, you just add the extra letter for your team. I often sign off with COYL for my team. (The L being for Lions, my team’s nickname, just to confuse you a bit more!)
11 and 27a my top two from this simple yet elegantly enjoyable romp through crosswordland.
Many thanks to Robyn and Smylers.
Wotta treat, all the way, I’m so sorry the solve is over. I needed no help, only a quick check that 7d meant “secretly listen”, I didn’t know that. I’m a sucker for Flash Mobs, so thanks for the one at 17a. What is that itsy-bitsy instrument the boy is playing, anybody know? Loved it all, a few stood out; 11a, clever that, 6d, and the lovely lurker at 19d. My cup runneth over!
Thank you setter for a great start to the week, and to Smylers for your hints, can’t believe not needed today!
Good question, Merusa about the instrument. I have no idea what it is and would also be interested to learn. Ideally before it crops up as an answer in a Friday crossword!
I only learnt of that flash mob today when searching for some Mozart to break up the ‘white men with guitars’ which seemed to be dominating the rest of today’s musical choices; I don’t know anything beyond the description under the video.
I believe it is an Azerbiajan tar.
Thanks, Steve and Jane. T-A-R sound like such useful crosswording letters I’m quite surprised we haven’t encountered it before, just to have some variety from all those sailors!
‘Tar’ isn’t in The OED, but ‘sitar’ obviously is and that gives the etymology of tār as Persian for ‘string of a musical instrument’.
Thank you both! I’ve never seen it before, how interesting.
Apparently, it’s a tar, a member of the lute family and a popular instrument in Azerbaijan. Bet we don’t remember it! Oops – sorry Steve. you got there before me.
No problem, Jane. 😊
I looked on YouTube, I was a bit disappointed with it, very discordant.
Have you ever watched Olive and Mabel?
No, I haven’t – will take a look.
Olive and Mabel are great! 👍🐶
Excellent start to the week 😃 **/**** Favourites 9 & 19 across and 2 & 3 down 👍 Thanks to Robyn and to Smylers 🤗 As I put graze instead grate in the Quicky phrase I failed to get it 😳
Oooh, that’s unfortunate, with both answers matching the definition and the T/Z not crossing anything but being needed for the pun — nothing to be ashamed about with ‘graze’, Jaylegs!
This kind of ambiguity is why I much prefer cryptic crosswords to so-called ‘quick’ ones …
My first thought was graze too Jaylegs.
Really enjoyed this crossword – what a brilliant start to the week. Everything seemed to just sail in so it’s a **/**** for me. Managed to get the answer to 18d, as I realised it meant ‘rear’ as a verb, but needed Smylers’ help to explain why. Completely missed the fact that return was the anagram! Difficult to pick a favourite – all the clues were good, but will go for 1a, 11a, 22a, 4d and 6d.
Thanks to the setter for making me happy! Also thanks to Smylers for a great blog.
What a treat today, a splendid start to the week. Everything there for the solving thereof, and steady progress from start to finish. LI was 17d as I had no idea that it was also a city here in the US. Thank you to Robyn for the fun and for not making feel stupid, and to Smylers. Re the babysitting, in our English village (quite large) we formed a babysitting circle and paid each other with tickets, double after midnight. So you were usually willing to babysit as it also provided the means for your own less expensive night out. Plus your children knew these ladies, mothers of their playmates. One night my promised sitter couldn’t come, so she sent her husband – the vicar 😊.
Hi, BusyLizzie. The US city in 17d is just the last 2 letters of the answer, and is definitely one you’ve heard of!
Though admittedly it isn’t the US city known by 2 letters that’s in the title song I’ve used to illustrate that answer. That’s partly to avoid spoiling things for those just scrolling past (see also using a Blur track last time to illustrate Oasis). Though mainly because I prefer that REM song to those by each of Rachel Stephens and Bran Van 3000 that feature the ‘correct’ city (see also using a Blur track last time to illustrate Oasis).
The whole 6 letters is also a city in Indiana, but I bet not many knew that without consulting googlemaps
So far as I can tell most places around the world are also the name of a town somewhere in America …
True it is also a village in NY
Great start to the Cryptic crossword week. Always enjoy getting 1a straightaway as it sets me up for what is to come. It was almost read and write. 11a my COTD and 27a favourite anagram. Many thanks to the setter and Smylers. Smylers how you had the time to solve, write hints, insert so many sound-tracks and do a day’s work I cannot comprehend!!
Being as straightforward as they come didn’t spoil the enjoyment one jot, loved it. Needed the hint to parse 11a and was pleased to see I wasn’t the only one. Another vote for the brilliant 27a as favourite. Thanks to Robyn and Smylers.
Solved before work and admit that The Duke was a bung in from checkers Thanks to Smylers (and tds) for the nudge
Thanks to Robyn for a great start to the crossword week and thanks to Smylers for a great blog and apologies for putting another white bloke with a guitar in my comments above
Good evening.
Excellent stuff for a Monday; I got about 12 solutions straight away, then thought perhaps that I’d peaked a little bit early when the answers started to dry up! I soon got back into my stride, though.
27a is COTD. Superb!
Thank you to Robyn (?) and Smylers.
Great grid to start the week. Thanks to the setter and Smylers for the tips. 11a was my COTD. Thanks to all who added the music vids! Great stuff! Cheers, 🦇
Great puzzle today with some superb clues. Over too quickly really. LOI was 18d which baffled me till the penny dropped and that’s my top clue. 11a was a bung-in and needed the hints to understand it. Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
Haven’t read the hints or the comments as it is so late. Busy day. But just completed the guzzle in bed, glorious guzzle, loved 1 and 11a but best was 3d. Many thanks to Setter and Smyler.
Don’t we differ! I got the parsing of 11a straightaway. The wording of all clues was superb. It was only 18d and 27a that held me up at the end. Being the only person in the world who had no interest in Harry Potter I spent time looking up characters or titles. Then the penny dropped when I spotted the anagram. Again missed the anagram in 18d which I liked less. Thanks setter you are brilliant and Smyler who I’ve read after this morning’s solve
2*/5* ….
liked 20D “Dodgy lovers for you ? (6)”