Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30826
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today we have a challenging and enjoyable puzzle from our setter who fills the grid with every letter except X.
In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background. Clicking on a picture will enlarge it or display a bonus illustration and a hover (computer) or long press (mobile) might explain more about the picture. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a Fellow I encountered in seaside resort, bass singer (5,7)
BARRY MANILOW: A synonym of fellow and I from the clue sandwiched between (encountered in) a seaside resort and another word for bass
9a Contender far off catching up from behind (9)
DISPUTANT: Far off or not close containing (catching) the reversal (from behind) of UP from the clue
10a I'm hesitant to leave ground transport (5)
TRAIN: A synonym of ground minus (to leave) a short spoken expression of hesitation
11a Cut-off time published with date appended (6)
OUTAGE: Another word for published is followed by a synonym of date
12a Barking lip to me is rude (8)
IMPOLITE: This looks like it should be parsed as an anagram (barking) of LIP TO ME IS, but in that case I don’t know where the “S” went. Or perhaps I’m barking up the wrong tree with that explanation
13a Tough nautical unit evacuated territory (6)
KNOTTY: A nautical unit of speed with the outer letters (evacuated) of TERRITORY
14a Direct view across Torbay occasionally obscured (8)
STRAIGHT: A synonym of view containing (across) alternate letters (occasionally obscured) of TORBAY
17a Guards posted with unprotected priest (8)
SENTRIES: Posted in a mailbox is followed by PRIEST minus its outer letters (unprotected)
19a Metal cage closed by first two in elevator (6)
NICKEL: Cage or prison is followed by the first two letters in ELEVATOR
22a Nothing wrong about entering one as federation member (8)
UNIONIST: The letter representing nothing and the reversal (about) of a wrong or moral offence are inserted together (entering) in a synonym of one
24a Hoarding scrubbed of old series (6)
STRING: Hoarding or putting aside minus (scrubbed of) the single letter for old
26a Curse cycling sports (5)
SWEAR: Cycle one place the letters in a word meaning sports (clothes, perhaps)
27a Uncertain to tell man plot (9)
ALLOTMENT: An anagram (uncertain) of TO TELL MAN
28a Rider's garb scared cattle (6,6)
YELLOW JERSEY: Scared or chicken with a breed of cattle
Down
1d Remain dancing at front and shake fundament (7)
BEDROCK: Link together remain or continue, the letter at the front of DANCING, and shake or oscillate
2d Gent served up extravagant duck dish (7)
RISOTTO: The reversal (served up) of another word for gentleman, an informal abbreviation meaning extravagant, and the letter representing a duck score in cricket
3d Kid guy on rest breaks (9)
YOUNGSTER: An anagram (breaks) of GUY ON REST
4d A swing in which son's dropped off (4)
AWAY: A from the clue with a synonym of swing minus the genealogical abbreviation for son (in which son’s dropped off)
5d Private eventually receives tips for assignment (8)
INTIMATE: A (2,4) phrase meaning eventually contains (receives) the outer letters of (tips for) ASSIGNMENT
6d Best ingredient of ragout dominated (5)
OUTDO: The answer is hidden inside (ingredient of) RAGOUT DOMINATED
7d Stunning advert lifted spirit (6)
DAZING: The reversal (lifted) of a short form of advert is followed by spirit or vitality
8d Design in outlet (6)
INVENT: IN from the clue with an outlet for air, perhaps
15d Noble characters regularly found in atelier learned Greek (9)
ARISTOTLE: An informal word for a noble with alternate letters (characters regularly found in) of ATELIER
16d He's troubled with small dining room (4,4)
MESS HALL: An anagram (troubled) of HE’S SMALL
17d Snub fruit (6)
SQUASH: A straightforward double definition
18d Secured lead in cast (6)
NAILED: An anagram (cast) of LEAD IN
20d King puts up with queen falling for emperors (7)
KAISERS: The chess abbreviation for king is followed by a word meaning “puts up” or erects in which the Latin abbreviation for queen has been moved down several places (with queen falling)
21d Removing top, a bit frivolously (7)
LIGHTLY: A bit or a little, minus its first letter (removing top)
23d Tongue right in the middle of facial feature (5)
NORSE: The single letter for right inserted in a facial feature
25d Not many crossing lake went fast (4)
FLEW: A word meaning “not many” containing (crossing) the single letter for lake
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: HEIST + ACHES = HIGH STAKES
I found this to be a tough one but no complaints as it is Friday. I needed help with too many for it to be enjoyable but it was well clued. There are a couple where I can’t see the parsing so will need to peruse the hints for explanations. The cycling sports at 26a is one such clue. I did like the singer at 1a but my COTD goes to the scared cattle at 28a.
Thank you, setter for the challenge. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints and pusskits.
Hi! I assumed it was “wears” (sports) with the last letter moved to the front (cycling) hope that helps!!
Thanks, Carnage. Yes I see it now after looking at the hints. As I say below I was going after the wrong “sports”.
That’s the joy of a puzzle like this the misdirection !!
I know its Friday, but even so, that was tough with a capital T.
Thought I would have to give it up as a bad job when only about a third through, but gradually the answers came, but they certainly were in no rush today.
Not sure about 7d, is that really a word? Ah well, no BRB to check it, so I s’pose
it must be (if I’ve even got it right that is)
Always remember when Mrs TC got drunk on holiday once, and kept calling our waiter (who had a very large nose) 1a, she had to be removed from the bar by me after the third time she did this.
Favourite for me today was 15d, many thanks to our setter.
With my bare pass in English O-level, 7d is a gerund (-ing ending) as the root word can be a verb or a noun (per the BRB).
Ta for that Senf, gerund is also a new word to me, ah well, every day’s a school day………
Tough but solvable if you ignore most of the clue. On the whole fair except for 26a
*****/**
Thx for the hints
I can’t see a problem with 26a, what’s unfair about it?
Nothing, as far as I can see, so long as the right “sport” is chosen. I chose the wrong one so it sent me round in circles – good misdirection.
I think it might be because you could cycle either word to get the other?
Even for a Friday, a real head scratcher – ****/****
I agree with Mr K on 12a – either there is an ‘I’ missing or there is a surplus ‘S’ in the anagram material.
Candidates for favourite – 28a, 17d, and 25d – and the winner is 25d.
Thanks to pro_imal and Mr K.
What if and I’m only trying to guess a reason, 12a were phrased, “barking lip to me I’s rude”, or something along those lines? I too cannot fault 26a. In all this was a very enjoyable, but rather slow solve with very few hold ups. First in and favourite was 1a. How I regret never seeing him live in concert. Thank yous to setter and Mr K. As for the Moggy Lewis’s? I can’t pretend to be a huge fan of them, sorry and all that, but they really don’t do a great deal for me.
Mine says barking lip to me is initially rude……..how odd?
Isn’t 12a an anagram of – ‘lip to me’ plus the initial letter of is?
I see now there appear to be two versions of the clue!
At the time of submitting this comment, the web site version has been amended to ‘is initially rude’ but the app version is still showing ‘is rude’. So those in Telegraph Towers have half admitted the error of their ways.
A enjoyable, tough workout for a Friday as it should be.
It took a while as the 19a/20d took an age to drop (not ‘penny drop’!). Once I got it, I couldn’t parse the dropping of the initial letter in the latter nor the parsing of 10a. I thought that caging someone was to put them behind bars as opposed to arresting them. A new one for me.
Yesterday’s howler has been followed by a technical boo-boo with 12a. I won’t punish Mr X as we are all human but I do think the TT team should have their knuckles rapped.
Other than that, it was a nicely constructed crossword with my podium being 14a, 2d and 5d.
Many thanks to the aforementioned and Mr K.
4*/4*
Hi Tom
I wondered about 19a as well. I assumed that the first 4 letters (noun) was a synonym of (a) “cage closed” (noun).
TDS & Jezza, “cage” and “nick” are both synonyms for prison.
It would make more sense than it being a verb.
Hmm, you could be onto something, Jezzingtons. Maybe ‘cage’ is a noun in this context?
What role is ‘closed’ playing? Is it saying that the end of this word is closed (ended) by the first two in ‘elevator’?
Hopefully, Big X can clear it up for us (The Great Escape is an outstanding film)
Either “closed” is padding for the surface read, or as I originally thought a closed cage was a prison (nick).
Whichever way, I am only speculating….
I read this as synonym for “cage” followed by (“closed by”) 2 further letters.
Tough in places and needed a little nudge here and there.
So thanks to Mr K and the setter.
Thank you for that, Jackson (we love a bit of variation). It’s an interesting one.
3.5*/4.5*. I enjoyed this challenging x-less pangram, which I would have awarded 5* to for enjoyment except for the presumed error in the anagram fodder for 12a.
Talking of errors, we have got another one (admittedly very minor) in today’s PlusWord (again!)
My podium comprises 14a, 28a & 15d.
Many thanks to proXimal and to Mr K.
Yeah, I noticed that in the PlusWord as well: on reading 7a I initially discounted the correct answer on the grounds that it wasn’t plural, only to do the downs and find out I was right in the first place. However, by then the description of “impossible-to-fold items of bedding” had made me smile sufficiently to more than make up for the superfluous S.
I’m impressed by how Brian manages to complete the crossword while disregarding the clues. I certainly needed them today along with a couple of hints to explain the parsing. I hadn’t noticed the Xless pangram but should have because I was unhappy about the use of the z in 7d. I can’t imagine using that word. I’m also in agreement concerning 12a with its surplus s. Favourite today was 28a, joined on the podium by 1d and 20d. Thanks to our setter for the enjoyment and Mr K for sorting out my parsing ( and the pusscats!)
I really enjoyed this one. Some were a bit obscure, but I managed to get into the rhythm of it all and figured them out from parsing. The parsing of 20d confused me – thanks for the clarification!
Nice end to a good week.
I think what Brian means by ignoring most of the clue is that he identifies the likely definition, disregards the wordplay & tries to find a synonym. It’s a tactic I often employ with some of the Toughies that are above my pay grade & then work backwards.
Agree, I use that method quite a lot too. Two valuable tips I got from this blog were to ignore the clue and work on the synonym (always assuming you have settled on the right definition 😊), and if not, look for a lurker.
Very tough, particularly in the top half of the guzzle. I nearly gave up after the first pass wirh only rwo clues filled in but made a breakthrough in the SW corner. Like Brian, I found that the definition and the checkers are more useful than the wordplay with some clues. I did, however, like the 1a lego singer, the 15d lego Creek philosopher and the 28a cryptic cycle racer, the latter being my COTD. Thanks to the compiler and Mr K. Ishall now read the hintas so rhT I can digure out the parsing of a few puzzling clues
A proper Friday-level puzzle which is very enjoyable (pity about the 12a boo-boo) – thanks to proXimal and Mr K.
I have lots of ticks including 11a, 26a and 28a.
Tough challenge today, but as it is Friday it should be expected. Like others I could not find any use for the S in the anagram of 12a. I needed e-help with 22a, partly because it took me an age to get the fruit in 17d. I thought 26a was fair enough. Top clue for me was 28a. Thanks to the setter, and to mr K for the hints.
A steady grind through the puzzle today, although it all seems rather straightforward in retrospect and with the benefit of Mr K’s excellent hints (funny how that happens). Fairly clued nevertheless and I enjoyed 1a much more than his oeuvre, while 28a also raised a smile. Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.
For a Friday puzzle found it at about the level of difficulty I would expect.
Several head scratchers that required grey matter use to get the solving done.
2.5*/3.5* for me
Favourites 12a, 17a, 28a, 2d, 3d & 20d — with winner 28a
Smiles from 1a, 13a & 16d
Thanks to proXimal & Mr. K.
Borth Manimoo was new to me.
Promising singer from north of Aberystwyth😉
I enjoyed the puzzle but needed help parsing 20d. LOI was 17d.
Top picks for me were 28a, 26a and 5d.
Thanks to Mr K for the hints and cats and Proximal for the challenge.
Three quarters of this went in ok, then hit a bit of brick wall with 4 in the SE & they nigh on doubled the solve time. Last in was 20d which was initially a bung in before I pegged the fallen queen. Very rare & possibly unheard of for there to be boo-boos on successive days but it didn’t detract from the enjoyment. Top 3 for me were 28&22a + 20d.
Thanks to proXimal & to Mr K
Enjoyable and properly Friday but the 12a cock-up should not have got past through the edit, while I felt 26a is utterly ambiguous until checkers are in place as without checking letters the definition could legitimately either be curse or sports; not a fan of 20d, either, with no qualification of emperors, but that’s probably fair game for a Friday.
Honours to 28a and the surface read of 14a.
Thanks to Proximal and to Mr K
I nearly threw in the towel on this one. It took me an age to get going and only persistence, sheer b’mindedness and the odd hint or two got me over the line. Maybe I have a touch of the grumps today, but I felt that 1a was a bit of a stretch, even for a Friday: I would not have got it without Mr K’s hints. Cotd for me by a country mile must be the scared cattle. Thanks to ProXimal for the mind beating and Mr K for the hints.
Waaay above my solving capabilities, having solved only two … wudda been three if 12a had been clued correctly. I knew I was rusty, but, really, that bad? Added to which, Godson printed it twice! The highlight without a doubt, the pussycats.
Thank you setter, and, of course, Mr. K, I enjoyed reading your input.
Far too much of a slog for any enjoyment today, but typical Friday fare. 12a just doesn’t work as pointed out by Mr K. Strange words in 9a and 7d. Five sad faces in the margin, and no smiley ones, so I cannot honestly answer “which clues did you like best” 😟. Cat pictures were the best feature, thanks Mr K.
Took ages to really get going. Got through it eventually after a long nap. This is common for me.
28a was amusing. Challenging but satisfying.
I see the clue for 12a has been amended on line to “Barking lip to me is initially rude (8)”.
Late in the day as we have had so much on recently and this was certainly a challenge.
The digital crossword has the following for 12a which I think would have helped many of you.
Barking lip to me is initially rude.
I was held up by 20d and needed hints to get that. I enjoyed the challenge and had 1a as my favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.
Solved this morning but then we had an 11a which lasted for a couple of hours before the power was restored. Sadly, it only remained on for about half an hour before we had another 11a – does our setter have inside information, I wonder? Back on again now but it’s quite frightening when you’re forced to remember just how dependent most of us are on having an electricity supply.
Mixed bag for me, some I really liked such as 13&17a plus 21d and others that I didn’t such as 1&19a. I also went the wrong way with 26a and finished up ‘sporting’ rather than ‘cursing’ which left me with problems elsewhere until I corrected it. Actually thought that was a somewhat unfair clue as it works perfectly well either way round.
Thanks to proXimal for the Friday challenge and to Mr K and the felines for the review.
Tough today.
4*/4*
I had the incorrect 12a in my version but the answer went in smoothly enough.
Favourite today 28a for the penny drop moment, especially as a hobby of mine. The SL8 is a bicycle made by Specialized after all!
Needed help for 20d. Even with all the checkers, just a mental block.
Thanks Mr K and proximal.
I have also been busy all day and just grabbed time to guzzle before going out to man the ‘bar’ for village cinema night. Jolly hard and I needed the help for several, whilst others sprang to mind immediately. Very odd. I particularly liked the old Greek and the kittens. Many thanks the Setter and Mr Kay. I’m still cogitating on the idea of guessing the answer and ignoring the clue????
Well i loved this ! XXXXX [solving time redacted] and no hints … a fair bit of forehead slapping by working out answers with checkers and reverse Parsing but a brilliant puzzle thank you proXimal I presume!
Good evening
Pen down – finally! I genuinely believed at several stages that would never finish the crozzie today. That was a properly tough challenge today; a fiveser if ever there was one.
My only parsing issue was 22a; thanks to Mr K for the explanation, and for today’s blog.
COTD is without doubt 1a! A little belter!
Many thanks to proXimal.
Arrrrgh. Thanks Mr K for the explanations. And the cats
Best clue 1a. Took me quite a while.
Thanks to Mr K for the review and to commenters for comments. Sorry about the error; unfortunately, they do sometimes happen.
Almost got to the tape but I had the benefit of being at the hairdressers which gave me sit down time with the puzzle. Failed 12 a because it just could not be an anagram with the letters provided so that left 1 down and 9 across needing Mr. K. Favourite was 15 d. Terry Wogan would refer to 1across as Manly Barrylow. He also named Demis Roussos as The Singing Tent.
Many thanks to Mr. K and proXimal
Ah, Terry Wogan! Janet and John stories, “we catch in jars” (remember that?), TOGS with Mick Sterbs. A unique man who looked at the world and made fun of it.
Tough as we expect for a Friday. Enjoyable and fair.
DNF (9a) we decided that we would sit on 1d as a bit of anatomy.
Top Clues 28a and 7d ( we spotted the initially after is in 12a a hence excluded the s.
Thank you to the setter and also for the hints.
Have a great weekend all! Gary and Val
Difficult, but I wasn’t going to give up! Needed help for 2 and got 2 wrong, but enjoyed the challenge.
Maybe the last comment of the day ? Just finished this having been out for the evening. I thought I d struggle but managed to get 1a and then slow but sure began to solve. I need to check some of the parsings tomorrow and my last one in was 12a due to the error but pleased to have finished. Have to confess fresh eyes albeit in the early hours really helped and I finished the final few that I had struggled with earlier with no trouble. Oh yes it’s proximal ! Didn’t spot that. Thanks for the fun and Mr K.
Enjoyably beyond my abilities! I needed quite a bit of assistance (thank you, Mr K) but was having so much fun that I didn’t mind. Lots of potential favourites, but I’m going with the old series in 24a. Thank you, proXimal.
5*/2* …
but I did like 21D “Removed top, a bit frivolously (7)”
and the speeding cat in the hint to 25D.