Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30803
A full review by crypticsue
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This puzzle was published on 21st December 2024
BD Rating –Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
This particularly tricky Saturday Prize Puzzle was the work of NY Doorknob
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a Try to please cool wife stuck inside (4)
FAWN – W (wife) ‘stuck inside’ FAN (cool)
3a Fix a soft drink – Stateside lawyer makes cocktail (4,6)
PINA A COLADA – PIN (fix) A (from the clue) COLA (soft drink) DA (US District Attorney)
10a See 16 Across
11a Uncomplaining character in visits to Iceland (5)
STOIC – Hidden in visitS TO ICeland
12a Dictator’s sinister observation post? (5)
EYRIE – A homophone (dictator’s) of EERIE (sinister)
13a Is it the right change? (9)
NINEPENCE – A reference to the expression ‘right as ninepence’
14a Celebrated barman, very French, about to bring in fish (8)
SCHUBERT – A reversal (about) of TRES (the French word for very) into which is inserted CHUB (fish)
16a/10a Out to lunch, drunk met by tearful lieutenant’s woman (6,9)
MADAME BUTTERFLY – MAD (out to lunch being an original US informal way of saying this) and an anagram (drunk) of MET BY TEARFUL
19a See 27 Across
20a/26a Probably out on Italy’s lakes (2,6,2,3)
AS LIKELY AS NOT – An anagram (out) of ON ITALYS LAKES
22a Wretched daughter especially worried outside emergency room (9)
DESPERATE – D (daughter) ESP (especially) ATE (worried) goes ‘outside’ ER (Emergency Room)
24a Hamster’s nemesis? Rodents in retreat run! (5)
STARR – A reversal (in retreat) of RATS followed by the cricket abbreviation for Run. A reference to the Sun newspaper’s 1986 front page headline “Freddie Starr ate my hamster!”
26a See 20 Across
27a/19a One saying Dante had is revised now as cliché? (2,4,3,3,3)
IN THIS DAY AND AGE I (Roman numeral for one) and an anagram (revised) of SAYING DANTE HAD
28a Duck seen in ruined US coastal city (10)
TUSCALOOSA Did you look at the checking letters and see what was left to insert from an anagram (ruined) of US COASTAL and O (duck), or did you just go straight to an online anagram solver?
29a Strongly advise pumping gallons into Yorkshire river? (4)
URGE – The abbreviation for Gallons pumped into the Yorkshire River URE
Down
1d Tale marvellous – extremely labyrinthine? (5)
FABLE – FAB (marvellous) and the extreme letters of LabyrinthinE
2d TV transition saw three-D broadcast (9)
WATERSHED – An anagram (broadcast) of SAW THREE D
4d Baby tracks men on foot (8)
INFANTRY – INFANT (baby) RY (railway tracks)
5d Some person in company on estate (6)
ANYONE – Hidden in compANY ON Estate
6d Food transport vehicles? (9)
OESOPHAGI – Parts of the body that transport food
7d Trouble with sailors below deck (5)
ADORN – ADO (trouble) below which goes (in a Down solution) RN (Royal Navy, sailors)
8d A Republican, Dubya’s Dick, imprisoning male opponent (4-5)
ARCH-ENEMY – A (from the clue) R (Republican) CHENEY (the surname of the Vice-President under George W (Dubya) Bush
9d Wilder element that’s inherited? (4)
GENE – The forename of the actor Mr Wilder or an inherited element
14d Leap to one’s feet? Refuse to budge! (5,4)
STAND FAST – Leap to one’s feet quickly
15d Mammoth, black, roaming Earth: weapon needed! (3,6)
BIG BERTHA – BIG (mammoth) B (black) and an anagram (roaming) of EARTH combine to give the nickname of a German First World War howitzer
17d King needs drink before kiss with Queen (9)
ALEXANDER – ALE (drink) X (kiss) AND (with) ER (the regnal cipher of our late Queen)
18d Answer SOS to save finest building material (8)
ASBESTOS – A (answer) and SOS (from the clue), the latter ‘saving’ BEST (finest)
21d Better to enjoy an evening here? (6)
CASINO – A cryptic definition of a place enjoyed by betters
23d Martians at last in American airspace (5)
SINUS – The last letter of martianS, IN (from the clue) US (American)
24d Bargain vasectomy? (4)
SNIP – A double definition
25d Poem Frost read out? (5)
RHYME – A homophone (read out) of RIME (frost)
A mixed bag . ‘As likely as not’ means the odds are even, not probably. ‘Ate’ for worried was very obtuse,
I enjoyed Starr and Schubert, some other lovely clues. Happy Christmas
Welcome to the blog
Thank you CS for your review and hints on the day, I am usually in need of some hints
Somehow I dug 28a out of my brain (how and when I learned it will be one of life’s mysteries but I will confess to searching for it to see if it was correct)
Are you baking for tomorrow’s naughty step … I don’t mind what 😀
Best wishes to all and grateful thanks to all bloggers for your time and effort that goes into your posts
Thank you, CypticSue. Having read your explanations, I know understand all the answers. I can’t actually remember what questions I still had about my full grid on Saturday (was that really only 6 days ago?), but whatever they were, you have answered them!
(It might have been 16a/10a, in which I hadn’t spotted the partial anagram.)
I like the ‘snow replacement’! That would’ve been (half) handy yesterday, for spotting one of the answers in the backpager …
4*/2* ….
no stand out clues for me