DT 30839 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30839 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30839 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

A chilly but sunny morning to welcome in February.  This week’s Prize Puzzle is definitely one of those where it helps to start ‘with the Downs’.   No multi-word solutions or other NY Doorknob trademarks, so I think we may be back to playing  “Guess the Setter”

Please ask for help if you are stuck on clues I haven’t hinted, but before doing so, please read the comments that appear before yours, so that you are not duplicating questions,  and make sure you obey both THE INSTRUCTIONS IN RED at the end of the Hints and the blog’s  Comment Etiquette – Big Dave’s Crossword Blog)

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.

Across

6a           Spy boss diverted up sideroad on way to work (5,8)
The letter associated with James Bond’s boss and an anagram (diverted) of UP SIDEROAD ON

9a           A number want sandwiches trimmed (8)
A synonym for want ‘sandwiches’ A (from the clue) and a number

14a         Agree examination for Darwin’s survivors? (7)
Be in agreement with and a type of examination

20a         Endlessly detestable beer for Hamlet character (8)
The H for Hamlet is there to mislead!  Truncate (endlessly) a word meaning detestable and add a type of beer

26a         Stretch in lake twists to the west (6)
A reversal (to the west in an Across solution) the abbreviation for Lake and part of a verb meaning twists out of shape

27a         Couples with RNIB worked on pickle-fork (8,5)
An anagram (worked) of COUPLES with RNIB followed by ON (from the clue)

Down

1d           Follower died here throttled by soldier? (8)
The abbreviation for Died and HERE (from the clue) ‘throttled’ by one of crosswordland’s soldiers

3d           Roll a constant husband leaves to be eaten (7)
A synonym for roll, A (from the clue), an abbreviation for Constant and the abbreviation for Husband

6d           Old woman and son, cleric, manage badly (13)
An informal name for a mother (old woman), a boy (son) and a cleric

18d         Snowball in face – fell over! (8)
A slang name for a face and a reversal (over) of an upland tract of land (fell)

21d         Raised in family like some wild animal (6)
An adverb meaning raised inserted into a succession of descendants (family)

22d         Revolutionary Indian instrument good for nothing (6)
A reversal (revolutionary) of an Indian instrument and the abbreviation for Good

As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment. If in doubt, leave it out!

Please read these instructions carefully – they are not subject to debate or discussion. Offending comments may be redacted or, in extreme cases, deleted. In all cases the administrator’s decision is final.

If you don’t understand, or don’t wish to comply with, the conventions for commenting on weekend prize puzzles then please don’t leave a comment.

The Quick Crossword pun: THYME + EXPOS + URE = TIME EXPOSURE

71 comments on “DT 30839 (Hints)
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  1. Gave up after 20 minutes and getting 8 answers. The hints I’m afraid were of little or no help at all (sorry CS).
    Way out of my league I’m afraid.
    One for the experts.
    *****/0

    1. I feel I must apologise for my hasty comment. Further thought revealed a very clever puzzle. My mind was just not switched on at first. Also my apologies to CS, now I see the answers I understand the hints (they are a bit ‘cryptic’ though😀)
      ****/****
      Mea Culpa

      1. I agree Brian – this was fiendishly clever! George and I almost gave up until enormous pennies dropped – Phew! I like your Latin apology – very appropriate.

  2. Certainly was a tricky 24a with a lot of misdirection such as trying to solve an anagram when the answer was not an anagram!

    Didn’t realise that 27a was a real thing and not a poetic invention.

    No real favourite- just an entertaining puzzle for a chilly morning.

    Thanks to setter and crypticsue

  3. I agree with Brian😲, that was quite tough for a Saturday. I don’t agree that giving up was the answer though.
    The Monk and the underworld character were tough to see but they opened the SE, even though they are candidates for THE LIST™
    The Shakespearean that wasn’t 20a was my favourite.
    Thanks to Setter and Sue

  4. It was good to have a different style of crossword in todays SPP . Variety is the spice of life. I anjoyed the guzzle, after aslow start. As with most puzzles things moved faster after a few checkers went in. I loved the anagrams at 6a and27a but best of all was the lego clue Hamlet character at 20a…very cunning. Thanks to CS for tge hints, excellent as ever and to the compiler .

  5. This was perfect for a Saturday though I had to work at it a bit more than usual.

    16a and 26a are great words that are almost onomatopoeic. 27a is another tremendous name. Even though it makes sense, I’ve never heard of the word 6d.

    There are so many to choose from but I’ll go with 6a, 20a (the misdirection mugged me up for a good while) and 18d.

    Many thanks to the compiler and CS.

    3*/5*

    1. I made up a word for 6d that I’m sure would mean the same thing as the actual answer, but didn’t quite parse fully so I knew it was wrong. However it was a very convincing alternative that held me up for quite a while

  6. Our frequent setter of Saturday puzzles did say that he was bringing us some compilations without any linked clues so I wonder whether this is his way of delivering what many asked for but making sure that we had to work a bit harder for it? There were certainly a couple in the lower reaches that demanded some thought.
    Rosettes awarded here to 20&27a plus 18d which made me laugh.

    Thanks to NYDK or whomsoever and also to CS for the hints.

  7. Beaten by this one today with 7 clues unanswered. Got old woman and son in 6d, but am lost as to the cleric.
    Remembered 27a from a nursery rhyme.

    Like to know who our setter was today.

  8. No papers in The Marches today. I tried to use the DT puzzle app but had to give up because I could not get used to it. Whatever I wrote in as an answer came out as gobbledegook. So, no comments from me with regard to the guzzle but, judging by the comments above, I have not missed much.

    Still, thank you setter and thank you, CS.

    At least it’s sunny in the paperless Marches.

    1. Unfortunately you have missed a stonker Steve, too clever by far. I never look at times but this has certainly gone beyond lunch and coffee.

      1. It seems so, DG. I would not have been in with a chance at The Mythical today. I hope Dada is kind tomorrow – if we get papers, of course. They still have not appeared today.

  9. 6a’s a super spot, I loved 14a’s definition and 18d is, for me, the best clue for that word I’ve seen yet. Etc. Masterful stuff. Many thanks to our setter and CS.

  10. I found this very tricky and two failed to reveal themselves (20 & 27a) so thank you for the hints – never heard of 27a and fell hook line and sinker for the misdirection in 20a.

    Hard but fair and a win for the setter – congrats!
    Thanks very much for the hints – you put me out of my misery

  11. A fitting Saturday challenge and I for one was pleased to see no linked clues. I hope Mustafa G got stuck in today.
    The clues were witty with a good mix of general knowledge plus a little whimsy. ***/****
    Well done to setter and CS.

  12. I thought this was excellent with ticks all over the page. I could name them all, but I’ll limit my list to 20a, 25a, 26a, 18d, and my favourite, 22d.

    2*/5*. Thanks to the setter and to CS.

  13. 2*/3*. I thought this was a pleasant puzzle with nothing to upset equine equilibrium one way or the other.

    20a was my favourite with 18d coming in a close second.

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS.

  14. Definitely could not solve this one without crypticsue’s excellent hints…..but got there in the end.

    Quite relieved that there were no linked answers this week. Chasing around the grid is not my cup of tea.

    Thanks to the setter and to crypticsue.

    Doing this whilst staying with our son in wonderfully sunny and just a bit snowy Norway. Beautiful….and not too cold.

  15. Perseverance and CS’s hints got me over the line. But it was well worth the investment in the time and coffee. I thought 7d was a peach of a clue once I did what the clue instructed but this was just one of a number of excellent offerings. Invidious to pick just one perhaps, but I’ll plump for 22d for cotd as it made me smile when the penny dropped.

  16. 5*/3* This was a tale of woe for me.
    I got just half then ground to a halt. Whilst trying various letters in the anagrams, then deleting, I managed to introduce two typos that definitely didn’t help. (stubby fingers /small phone App).
    With the hints I finally got there. There was so much misdirection, no surprise that some may have ‘retired hurt’.

    1. You have changed your alias for the third time: you were Trafdio in June 2023 and Draftol in April 2017 – all three will work in future

      1. I assume your ‘saila’ in 2023 was Trafdlo’?

        If so…we love it!

        Your one from 2017 has foxed me, though.

        Hmm….

  17. I think this must be the ‘no links’ one previously advertised, as the style and humour seem to me to be a match for NYDK.

    A little chewier, but some very well-wrought items in this list. There tends not to be a hair out of place in his clues, and I can’t find one here. Very nice 12, 20 and (the quite wacky) 27 acrosses, and 6, 7 and 18 downs. This week I’ll plump for the Hamlet character for its nice, misleading definition.

    Thanks NYDK (?) and our host.

  18. A Saturday puzzle with the trademarks of NDK, but then again he did say he had some puzzles coming without the multi-word answers. Overall this was a normal level of difficulty for me.

    2*/3.5*

    Favourites 6a, 11a, 12a, 6d, 7d & 22d — with winner 6a
    Smiles for 14a, 16a & 6d for the lego clue.

    Thanks o NYDK(?) & CS

  19. .. I initially 16a’d at this then got a start in SE corner before 26a’ing across the rest before getting to a final 25a in the SW.
    Cotd 20a.

    Now off to watch some rugby.

  20. What a great puzzle, chewy but very enjoyable. I cringed when I saw Hamlet character as my knowledge in that area is so sparse but it all became clear and that clue was one of my favourites.

    Top picks for me were 18d, 20a and 1d.

    Thanks to CrypticSue for being there if I needed her and to the setter.

  21. I found this a tricky little number only solving about half a dozen on the first pass. But ever so slowly it all came together. Like others I looked up the characters in Hamlet to no avail. Had to resort to Mr Google for the Italian monk. Very expensive week, quote for repainting the windows and doors alarming, washing machine blew up and two different plumbers have come and taken photos of the mixer for the shower (leaking since before Christmas) and have never appeared again! Normal for Norfolk I guess. Anyway thanks to the setter and to CS. At least the muntjac don’t appear to like snowdrops.

    1. I have had a similar experience wirh two firms who clear and mend gutters, Manders. Both claimed they would be in touch when they came to do several jobs locally ‘in the near future ‘. The fiest phoned me to ask where I was and when we compared postcodes, it emerged that he had rhe wrong address! Nada from the second

  22. Oh dear Manders, you are going to have an expensive spring! I really almost gave up on this and was about to turn to the hints, my last resort as I do try to get it “ all by my own” but suddenly the Latin kicked in and everything fell into place. Both the Darwin and Hamlet clues were great and whilst I knew 27a I couldn’t believe it was a real thing, I thought it was a nonsense word. Anyway I am chuffed to have reached the finishing line with only 26a having a slight question mark. Many thanks to SeeSue my safety blanket and to the devious Setter. I do wish it was last Saturday all over again there were so many questions I should have asked! By the way, the card ruse worked yet again 😌

  23. Like Brian, I got 8 answers at first pass. Second pass did not reveal anything, so I’m setting aside. If I have time later I might have another stab, but it is clearly above my pay grade today. Think I’ll have a go at the NTSPP instead. Thanks to setter and CS.

  24. Did it in one with a slow, slow, quick quick slow kind of rhythm. Have just googled 24a, which
    I had but did not know. And now I have to go and look at ‘rhythm’….to check my spelling.
    Anyway, pretty tough for a Saturday.

  25. Well I managed it in the end but not without some hints from CS which confirmed I was either on the right or wrong path! First read through brought nothing to mind but slowly I got there and though getting 27a quite quickly the SW corner was the last to fall. Many thanks to the setter and CS

  26. It was the non-linked one folks. Future instalments may include the missing links. Thanks all, thanks Sue.

    Cheers
    NYDK

      1. Can never listen to that Bach piece without thinking of the adverts – golfers of a certain age invariably mention it when someone struggles to get out of a bunker

  27. After a promising start this became something of a slog for me. Perhaps half were unambiguous and the answers were found without effort. For others I needed the checkers and I confess also some hints. Favourites were 12 and 14a and 5d. Last one in was 26a for which I needed some convincing. Thanks Setter (NYDK) and the indefatigable CS. No 90 year olds doing the splits today!

  28. A very enjoyable puzzle which I made rather hard work of completing. Initially pegging badly was an anagram indicator at 6d didn’t help matters nor did trying to look for a 13 letter word at 7d until realising the correct enumeration. Needless to say I hadn’t heard of the holy fella at 23a but with 3 checkers in ‘twas short odds a correct punt on the answer. 18d just pips 20a as my fav &1a can have the other podium spot.
    Thanks to Donny & to Sue.

  29. Plain sailing although I had to check my monk and 26a held out to the last and took me way too long. I thought 20a was an excellent clue.

    Thanks to CS and NYDK.

  30. A bit of a battle only completed with some hints from Sue, so many clever clues with 20a taking the podium.

    Many thanks to NYDK and to CS for the hints.

  31. A dnf for me, needed hints for a couple, although I should have got them in hindsight. Still lots to enjoy though.
    Loved 29a and 6d, Got to be ***** / ****
    Thanks to CS and setter

  32. I am still in Redhill NHS hospital after my stroke minus newspapers and indeed any “luxuries” so am craving a DT Cryptic although several visitors have brought me books of them – I obviously have a certain cruciverbal reputation! I look forward to getting in the loop again soon. Salaams everybody.

    1. All the best to you, Angelov. Concentrate on getting better – we will all still be here on your return.
      In the meantime, send us a few clues from your crossword books for us to ponder. 👍

    2. Oh dear, withdrawal symptoms. I have so books of guzzles but somehow it is not the same as a daily back pager is it? Hope you make a good recovery.

  33. Best Saturday crossword for ages, thanks NYDK…. I much prefer non linked clues! 20a made me chuckle when I realised it was nowt to do with Hamlet! Thanks too to Cryptic Sue.

  34. I’ll echo Moonraker in saying the best one for ages – I really enjoyed that. Difficulty was pitched just about right for me too, just hard enough to be interesting but not brutally unsolvable.

    Thanks to CS and NYDK.

  35. I managed less than half the puzzle before resorting to the hints. That said, once I twigged 6a, almost everything clicked into place. Got stuck again in the SW corner, but with a another bingo or two I made it across the finish line. Phew! Definitely the hardest Saturday in a long time for me. Thanks to NYDK for the mental work out, and infinite thanks to CS for the hints.

  36. Lots of misdirection and amusement when the answer was teased out. This setter certainly did tease . Loved 14 a. And must visit Mr. Darwin’s house again.20 a was clever once it was obviously not Ophelia ! As for 27 a. I have always adored Edward Lear. He used to paint parrots and then landscapes but settled on glorious nonsense. I can quote most of the Owl and the Pussycat. I’m afraid winning the pen is a real long shot these days because so many can get help along the way.
    My rule is that I only submit if it is totally my own work – hence the prize crossword doesn’t get submitted very often. Always grateful that this forum exists.

  37. Great puzzle, a relief to see a decent Saturday challenge with no gimmicky linked clues exploding around the grid. More please, DonnyBrook!

    Thanks also to CS

  38. This was the most challenging backpager I can remember for ages (though that might turn out to be more a comment on my memory than on the puzzle). I only got about halfway by myself, then used most of CrypticSue’s hints and some electronic word-matching and anagram solving to get through the rest. Bring back the linked clues — I could do those!

    Plenty of highlights, though, making it worth persevering with. As with so many others above, I’ll pick 20a’s Hamlet character as my favourite. Thank you, NYDK.

  39. I did most of the Toughies last week and this ranked alongside the hardest of those. There were two where I needed the hints; 26a (total brain failure on my part), and 18d which I didn’t think was a great clue. I’ve not heard **** used as a synonym for face, and I’ve always considered a fell as more or a hill or a mountain (think Scafell, and the nordic root of the word, fjell).

    That said, there were some fantastic clues besides, particularly 27a and fond memories of Edward Lear. After some very easy puzzles earlier in the week, I suspected there was a sucker-punch coming!

  40. Only just got round to this as I had a very busy weekend.

    My gast was well and truly flabbered that anyone has heard of 23a and 27a.

    Loved 20a when the penny dropped. Glad to have nearly completed another toughie Saturday.

    Thanks to all.

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