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DT 30837

by Shabbo  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30837
Hints and tips by Shabbo

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

RayT in relatively benign form today, I thought, but enjoyable as ever.  He has averaged bang on five words/clue in today’s puzzle – quite remarkable.

I wrestled with the definition element of 21a for a while and needed the current Mrs Shabbo’s help with the house plant at 28a.  My joint podium clues were the steamy photo at 15a and the snooker rest at 27a.

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, Ray.


Across

1a Underground from nearest urban sprawls (12)
SUBTERRANEAN: anagram (sprawls) of NEAREST URBAN.

9a Correct current slang for vagrant? (9)
MENDICANT: synonym of correct (or repair) + abbreviation for current + synonym of slang.

10a Eccentric figure embracing Republican (5)
DROLL: synonym of figure outside (embracing) abbreviation for Republican.

11a Telegraph’s first edition giving substance (6)
TISSUE: first letter of Telegraph + synonym of edition.

12a Some evangelist lesson is dull (8)
LISTLESS: a hidden word clue (some). Our solution is “hiding” within words 2 & 3.

13a Cupid possibly more playful (6)
ARCHER: double definition.

15a Stretches back before steamy photo (8)
SNAPSHOT: synonym of stretches reversed (back) + synonym of steamy.

18a Scheming criticism involving Labour’s leader (8)
PLANNING: synonym of criticism outside (involving) the first letter (leader) of Labour.

19a Lyrical American writer facing jerk (6)
POETIC: a three-letter American writer + synonym of jerk.

21a Tweeted about truth finally being charged (8)
THRILLED: synonym of tweeted outside the final letter of trutH. For the definition, think charged with excitement?

23a Temple Father welcoming a Lord (6)
PAGODA: abbreviation for father outside (welcoming) A + synonym of Lord.

26a Faithful former partner before decree (5)
EXACT: two-letter word meaning former partner + synonym of decree.

27a Rest cue bridging centre of black (9)
REMAINDER: a lovely clue which has nothing to do with snooker.  Synonym of cue (think prompt) outside the central letter of blAck.

28a Plant London pride spreading around hotel (12)
PHILODENDRON: anagram (spreading) of LONDON PRIDE outside (around) abbreviation for Hotel.

Down

1d Lifted heart amusedly circling island (7)
SUMATRA: a reverse lurker clue (lifted…circling).  Our solution is hidden backwards within words 2 & 3.

2d Curses sweetheart going into bars (5)
BANES: the heart of swEet inserted into a word meaning bars (as in prohibits).

3d Huge container absorbing each gourmet (9)
EPICUREAN: synonym of huge (think films?) + a three-letter container outside (absorbing) two-letter abbreviation for “each”.

4d Honest about practically everything (4)
REAL: two-letter word meaning about (think business letters?) + synonym of everything without the final letter (practically).

5d Food fanatic torn eating pig’s heart (8)
NUTRIENT: synonym of fanatic + synonym of torn outside (eating) the heart of pIg.

6d Check temperature underneath car (5)
AUDIT: abbreviation for Temperature after (underneath – this is a down clue) a German brand of car.

7d Mate who’s drunk a bit (8)
SOMEWHAT: anagram (drunk) of MATE WHO’S.

8d Cabinet secret covering Democrat’s rear (6)
CLOSET: synonym of secret on (covering) the final letter (rear) of democraT.

14d Check pilot is person on board (8)
CHAIRMAN: two-letter abbreviation for check (in chess) + synonym of pilot.

16d Testing old boy inside parking lot (9)
PROBATION: abbreviation for Old Boy inside abbreviation for Parking + synonym of lot (or allocation).

17d Somehow altering key (8)
INTEGRAL: anagram (somehow) of ALTERING.

18d Club, say, supporting power (6)
PUTTER: synonym of say after (supporting – this is a down clue) abbreviation for Power.

20d King George in succession shame (7)
CHAGRIN: regnal abbreviation for King George inside a synonym of succession.

22d Little arm turned catching hook, initially (5)
LATCH: initial letters of the first five words of the clue.

24d Stranger bonded occasionally with Queen (5)
ODDER: the even numbered letters of bOnDeD + regnal abbreviation of our late Queen.

25d Surrounded by a shadowy uprising (4)
AMID: A + synonym of “shadowy” reversed (uprising).

Quickie Pun:  DATA  +  BERTH  =  DATE OF BIRTH

60 comments on “DT 30837”

  1. After getting 1a immediately, I thought I was off to a good start but things soon changed and I struggled with the rest. In 28a, I could see it was an anagram but I could not sort it out. I had only two checkers – 22d and 24d. In the end I had to use an anagram solver. Just as well because I have never heard of the plant. Putting “itinerant” at 9a held things up in the NW. I did like King George at 20d and this is my COTD.

    Thank you, Ray T but I could not do your offering justice today. Thank you, Shabbo for the hints.

  2. The trickiest of the week’s back pagers thus far for me & by a margin. Without the benefit of the current Mrs Shabbo’s help the last in plant took a couple of stabs to sort out the fodder correctly & the missing checker provided by 16d took a while to arrive too. Latest polling suggests there aren’t too many 21a with Sir K’s mob (19a justice maybe) so the surface at 18a was my pick of the clues.
    Thanks to Ray T & to Shabbo – enjoy your trip to the sunny climes of Cape Town.

  3. I hadn’t heard of the plant, but with a few checkers in place, and having heard of a different plant which starts with the letter R, it was fairly easy to work out what it was.
    Apart from that, the rest was reasonably straightforward.
    Thanks to Shabbo and to RayT.

  4. 2*/4* for the usual excellence from Mr Brief.

    28a was a new one on me but, like our esteemed blogger, I was able to enlist my residential horticulturist’s help with this.

    My top picks were 9a, 18a, 19a & 20d.

    Many thanks to RayT and to Shabbo.

  5. A very enjoyable and for the most part benign Ray T with only a few needing either some reverse engineering or head scratching. All in all top rate as one would expect from the maestro. It seems churlish to pick a podium, but I’ll throw in 9a, 3d and 27a. They can fight it out for top spot. Thanks to Ray T and Shabbo

  6. A steady solve, the most difficult of this week. 5d was the only clue I had trouble parsing, because I thought torn was an anagram indicater for a synonym of fanatic. That plus the heart of pig couldn’t account for one n of the answer I had. The hints put me out of my misery. Thanks for them, Shabbo, and to the setter.

  7. Ray T is in fine form today – thanks to him and Shabbo.
    For my podium I’ve selected 9a, 15a and 16d.

  8. Think my brain overslept this morning as I had to work harder than usual to complete this one, given that I’m so familiar with our setter’s ways. After a struggle to determine the pecking order, the rosettes were finally awarded to 15&18a plus 7&20d with a nod to the simple but very effective Quickie pun.

    Devotions as always to Mr T and many thanks to Shabbo for the review.

  9. This was most excellent. Gentle but excellent. Five words average really is something else. It’s a real talent.

    I, too, had no ideas about 28a. But, I worked it out once I saw the letters for the familiar root word for tree as it loves (philo) to climb them.

    I like that 17d, as a noun, is pronounced differently to the adjective.

    My podium is 9a, 15a and 18a.

    Many thanks to Arty and Shabbs

    2*/5*

    1. As someone who never managed the splits even as a child I am in awe of you Daisy and being able to get up off the floor after is also an achievement!

    4. Wow! Total respect – and envy. Could never do the splits as a child, and certainly can’t now. Daisy, you are a marvel!

        2. What about the cartwheel & handstand?
          Seriously though my fit as fiddle 87yr old golf buddy (who today has his grandson assembling a recently purchased exercise bike) was in absolute awe. He loved the birthday card recycling too.

        3. Daisygirl what are you like! When I left you on Saturday you were on your best behaviour, I turn my back and you are on the floor entertaining the esteemed members of the BD Birthday bash with your astonishing flexibility 😉
          I jest…as I said on Saturday you are such an inspiration and quite wonderful.

          I thought this crossword was excellent too. Wonderfully succinct as usual. Thanks to our setter and blogger.

    5. Well done, Daisy. Like many others, I could never do the splits even as a child so I am in total awe – plus the ‘getting up’ afterwards, not to mention travelling to the birthday bash on your own. All so elegantly achieved. Always enjoy your posts. Loved today’s challenge. Always look forward to alternate Thursdays, and join Jane in devotions to RT. Thank you to both RT and Shabbo.

    7. Wish I had stayed a bit later to witness that, incredible Daisy!
      Oh, an enjoyable crossword but took a bit more than normal of the grey matter stuff.

  11. 3*/4*
    Hardest of the week so far. 28a a new plant and clue solves as per Jezza above and needed all checkers.
    15a,14d and 20d favourites today.
    Thanks to Ray and Shabbo.

  12. Like Steve, I filled in 1a quickly. On the wholevit was quite an approachable guzzle but the NE held me up at the end. I liked the 1a anagram, the 1d geographical clue and the 9 a l2go clue. Rhanks to Ray T andShabbo. Thanks also to rhose who left encouraging messages for me yesterday. It helps ro know others are rooting for you. The Roughie yoday wasrather trickier than the previous 2 days

  13. I found this harder than usual to get started on, I missed a couple of the anagram indicators on first pass. Once I pulled myself together and found a couple to get me going it then went very smoothly and was brilliant as usual. I needed to check the hints for the parsing of a couple. I nearly missed the lurker in 1d. I had 18d as my favourite.

    Many thanks to Ray T and to Shabbo for the hints,

  14. I enjoyed this Ray T offering like I usually do. 28a didn’t cause me any problems – being ‘mad about flowers’ has it’s uses!

    Top picks for me were 13a, 20d and 21a.

    Thanks to Shabbo and Ray T.

  15. I agree that this was this was the most difficult, so far, this week, but manageable. My only criticism is with the synonym of figure in 10 across.

  16. Quite hard to get started and it didn’t really flow. Enjoyable though even if I was glad to be finished.

  17. Just great, one day of the ink saver option, then right back to expensive jet black squares, did HP really get their lawsuit in that quickly?

  18. What a joy, from start to finish. Loved the long anagrams – spotted most of the ‘plant’ one straight away, with just the front third causing a bit of head scratching, but I had heard of it. I wasn’t convinced I had the right answer for 9a so thanks to Shabbo for the explanation, and thanks to the marvellous Mr T, as always.

  19. I thought this was a sparkling guzzle until I got to the bottom LH corner where 28, 21 and 26a stumped me. I knew the plant, of course 😌 as I dare say most of the ladies did. 9a is a good word I always think, I very much liked the food fanatic at 5d and the old boy at 16d. Talking of old boys, George is 92 tomorrow and I shall give him one of these two cards I have been giving him for the last 30+ years. He never notices. I clear the cards away at the end of the week and back it goes in the desk drawer. The real art is catching the envelope before he throws it away or even worse, tears it up, ‘cos then I have to source another envelope. Still puzzling over the pun. Many thanks to Ray T and Shabbo, whom I was delighted to meet on Saturday.
    PS I agree , where is Terence?

  20. My favourite puzzle setter for the fortnightly visit of RayT. Another spectacular offering with his concise and precise clueing. Nice to see the Queen and the sweetheart showed up too. It all slipped together very nicely with a couple of head scratchers in the NW to finish up.

    1.5*/5* for me

    Favourites include 12a, 15a, 28a, 16d, 17d & 20d — with co-winners 16d & 20d
    Smiles from 11a, 26a, & 28a

    Thanks to RayT & Shabbo

    Wonder what happened to the revised printing the we had in the Wednesday puzzle??

  21. Ray T at his most devious. By far the most difficult puzzle this week. Somewhat out of my league I’m afraid.
    Most far too tricksy to enjoy.
    ****/*
    Little fun.
    Thx for the hints

  22. I did not find this as easy as others above, principally because of 21a, 26a and 16d, none of which would have sprung to mind even if I stared at it all day. But happy to say I was familiar with 28a and surprised that it stumped so many. Living up to my contrariness 😊. Enjoyed the rest of it as RayT is always succinct and mostly workable. COTD to 1a as it got me started. Thanks to RayT and Shabbo.

  23. Trickiest of the week so far which is as it should be, I made steady progress apart from the plant, which was new to me and dredging up 9a from the depths.
    Thanks to setter and Shabbo
    3* / 3*

  24. Very tricky In parts i.e. 28a ( even though I knew it was an anagram) 😳 ****/*** Favourites were 15a, 21a & 6d 😃 Thanks to Ray T and to Shabbo
    The best act of the day was of course Daisy magnificent 🤗

  25. Another enjoyable puzzle this week. Getting 1a and Id straight-away is such a confidence booster. I do think a good dog walk in the morning helps to blow the cobwebs away. The plant at 28a did not come readily to mind and I had to check the spelling. Many thanks to Ray T and Shabbo.

    Isn’t Daisy amazing?! Brought such 😊😊

  26. Evening all. My usual thanks to Shabbo for the decryption and to everybody else for your comments.

    RayT

    1. Thank you for the puzzle, Ray T. You proved too much for me today but it was elegantly clued as usual. Either I wasn’t concentrating enough or my brain is deteriorating.

  27. Not feeling 19a today, somewhat 12a – pass me an 11a. Perhaps I have Bob Dylan’s 1a blues.
    Nevertheless I managed to complete the crozzie as my morning tea cooled. Thank you Ray T and Shabbo.

  28. I’m pleased I wasn’t the only one to struggle with this today. One of those puzzles where solving one clue makes another crossing clue more obvious. Obviously never heard of 28a, I’m surprised some have. Got there in the end and enjoyed the challenge. Favourite was 27a. Thanks to Rayt and Shabbo.

    1. TG

      I saw yesterday that you found anaesthetic a tricky word to spell which I agree with.

      Just remember that A&Es are where you see anAESthetics.

  29. Gosh that was a brain strain , but finished finally but did need a bit of electronic help. I did make heavy weather of a couple of clues – it was the Derren Brown ‘learned helplessness’ effect. Thanks Ray T for the work out and Shabbo.

  30. I think Ray T has swallowed a thesaurus this week! Very obscure and challenging synonyms and as for the 28a plant – not a hope. Thanks Mr T for the challenge and Shabbo for the hints.

  31. Rather tricky but very clever. Need to be more patient. Sought help at times when could have got there on my own. 28a a mystery to me, alas am not green-fingered.
    When 1a comes so easily, does lead you into a false sense of security 🤣

  33. Who else struggled with 6 down?

    My paper has an extra piece of print across the c for car that, to my bad eyes, made it read ear!

  34. Everyone is absolutely welcome to their own views but I find this setter takes too many liberties with definitions, and writing as a puzzler of mediocre ability, I too quickly lose confidence – and enjoyment. Examples: ARCHER = MORE PLAYFUL? STEAMY = SHOT? JERK = TIC? CHARGED = THRILLED? REAL = HONEST? TESTING = PROBATION? Plus an obscure plant that really belonged in a Toughie. Fair play to all who are on this guy’s wavelength, but in future I will buy the Times on a Thursday.

    1. Hey William,

      Glad to learn your REAL/HONEST opinion about the puzzle. By the way, if you parse the clue correctly, you’ll discover that STEAMY = HOT (not SHOT).

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