Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30856
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today we have a very entertaining puzzle from the setter who uses every letter but X to fill the grid.
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 Perceptive one just losing lead to trap bridge partners (10)
INSIGHTFUL: The Roman one and just or deserved minus its first letter (losing head) are sandwiching (to trap) the abbreviation for one of the pairs of players in bridge
6a Keen poet gets top grade for first of odes (4)
AVID: In a Roman poet, the letter representing a top grade replaces (for) the first letter of ODES
9a Blue laurel uncovered around eastern side of Oz (5)
AZURE: LAUREL minus its outer letters (uncovered) containing (around) the last letter of (eastern side of, in an across clue) OZ
10a Obediently performing lousy duet (9)
DUTEOUSLY: An anagram (performing) of LOUSY DUET
12a Maybe sculpture of king couple stored in chest (7)
ARTWORK: The Latin abbreviation for king and the number that is a couple are inserted together in (stored in) a religious chest or cupboard
13a Person in court starts to judge umpire rashly over rulings (5)
JUROR: Initial letters of (starts to) the remaining words in the clue
15a Invention from company, popular with time (7)
COINAGE: Link together an abbreviation for company, a short word for popular, and a synonym of time
16a New casino outside Italy's capital city (7)
NICOSIA: An anagram (new) of CASINO containing (outside) the IVR code for Italy
18a Release successful song when in band (not B-side) (7)
UNHITCH: A song that is successful on the charts inserted in a band or collection minus an outer B (not B-side)
20a Leading to Middle East, brief excursion on boat (7)
TRIREME: Before the abbreviation for Middle East comes both an excursion minus its last letter (brief) and a short word for on or concerning
21a Island is small, stay away from all edges (5)
MALTA: SMALL STAY with the outer letters in each word deleted (away from edges)
23a Hooked implement angler cast catches carp's tail (7)
GRAPNEL: An anagram (cast) of ANGLER that contains (catches) the last letter of (…’s tail) CARP
25a Drink dodgy lager, European beverage (6,3)
GINGER ALE: Assemble a spirit that goes with tonic water, an anagram (dodgy) of LAGER, and the single letter for European
26a Started game on table without money (5)
BROKE: Started a game played on a table by striking 15 coloured balls with a white one
27a Troublesome situation Southern Water turned round (4)
STEW: The single letter for southern with the reversal (turned round) of a verb synonym of water
28a Fortune left by short noble minister (10)
CHANCELLOR: Join together fortune or luck, the single letter for left, and a class of noble minus his later letter (short)
Down
1d Soldiers dividing in Asian country (4)
IRAN: Some usual abbreviated soldiers contained by (dividing) IN from the clue
2d Feeling nauseous taking part in burlesque - am I shameful? (9)
SQUEAMISH: The answer is found hidden in (taking part in) the remainder of the clue
3d Unfortunate leak at largest source of saline water (5,4,4)
GREAT SALT LAKE: An anagram (unfortunate) of LEAK AT LARGEST
4d Young swimmer thanks head of diving staff (7)
TADPOLE: Cement together a short word of thanks, the first letter of (head of) DIVING, and a staff or rod
5d A French film starring Liam Neeson is free (7)
UNTAKEN: “A” in French with an action film starring Liam Neeson in which he famously warns of his “very particular set of skills”
7d Shade? Perhaps tourist ignores it (5)
VISOR: What a tourist might define by example (perhaps) minus (ignores) IT from the clue
8d The German collecting a pile of leaves covering yard is one preoccupied (10)
DAYDREAMER: “The” in German containing (collecting) A from the clue and a pile of paper leaves sandwiching (covering) a two-letter abbreviation for yard
11d Nasty thing: bilge regularly discharged around Scottish island (13)
OBJECTIONABLE: A synonym of thing and alternate letters (regularly discharged) of BILGE are sandwiching (around) a Scottish island
14d Odd - graduate entered into GCSEs weirdly struggles (10)
SCRUMMAGES: Odd or strange and the abbreviation for a graduate degree are inserted together in (entered into) an anagram (weirdly) of GCSES
17d Sole towel turned abrasive (5,4)
STEEL WOOL: An anagram (turned) of SOLE TOWEL
19d Grow disheartened in house with waste material and rubbish (7)
HOGWASH: The outer letters (disheartened) of GROW are placed between an abbreviation for house and a waste material produced by combustion
20d Take advantage of time with great energy supplier (5,2)
TRADE ON: Link together the physics symbol for time, a slang word for great or excellent, and a UK energy supplier
22d Way to eat cold cut (5)
LANCE: A way or road containing (to eat) the single letter for cold
24d Have facial hair trimmed (4)
BEAR: Some facial hair minus its last letter (trimmed)
Thanks to today’s setter. Biggest smile for me today was the quickie pun. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: NOB + LEAN + EASE = KNOBBLY KNEES
I know it’s Friday, but that was TOUGH.
I’ll have to see the hints to see how a couple of them work, namely 20d and 26a (that’s even if I’ve got them right, that is) but with all the other letters in them they can’t really be much else.
Only one favourites today, the brilliantly clever 8d, a masterpiece.
Just seen the hint for 26a, normally I wouldn’t mind not twigging it, but I was playing snooker last night!
Not for me I’m afraid. I needed far too much help for it to be enjoyable and it’s one of those guzzles I will need to see the hints to understand some of the clues. I did like 7d because I spent a long time trying to get the answer from an anagram of “tourist” without “it”.
Thank you, setter for your efforts and I’m sorry I could not do it justice. Thank you, Mr K for the hints, which I will now look at for explanations.
Great Quickie pun, mind.
Quite a nice challenge almost gave up but got into it and enjoyed.
What a splendid end to the non-work week from pro_imal – 2.5*/5*
Candidates for favourite – 12a, 25a, 4d, and 8d – and the winner is 25a.
Thanks to pro_imal and Mr K, and here’s a picture hint for 25a:
Lovely picture. My Grandfather’s Alsatian Bess used to like a saucer of his beer!
So does Hudson.
I found this tricky and needed the hints to explain my answers to 26a and the first part of 20d. 23a was a new word for me but gettable from the clue.
Top picks for me were 14d (lovely word), 11d and 8d.
I also liked the quickie pun.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I quite enjoyed this challenging guzzle, after getting onlyy one clue in each corner on the first pass. A mazingly, a few checkers helped to fill in the NW corner and the rest went more smoothly. I liked the lego clue with substitute ketter at 1a and the geographical anagrams at 16a and 3a. However, COTD and last in, was the clever Lego clue at 14d. Thanks to the compiler and to Mr K for the hints.
A surprisingly trouble-free finish to what has been an extremely enjoyable week in crossyland. X-rated it certainly was not.
I never knew the word for the hooking device though they clearly didn’t take long to conjure up its name. 2d and 19d are most excellent words.
My podium is 25a, 2d and 11d.
Many thanks to Mr K and Mr X or should that be ‘Missed a X’
2*/4*
That Missed a X was groanworthy Tom. You’ll be writing the Quickie puns next!
There’s no doubt that I have punitis which absolutely works for me.
I can’t get enough!
That must be the root of punishment surely.
I was in Cyprus and heard a street trader yell ‘Get your knickers ‘ere’
Both excellent shouts.
Ha ha ha. I’ve got the Pun a Day desk calendar 📅
I sooooooooooooooo need to buy one of those.
Better still, I can put one together myself!
‘Pun a Day’ can be changed to Yapunda
As spoken by people down under
Not many can speak it
But if you visit next week it
May just be a seven day wonder.
😊
Very good, Pips.
Love ‘Yapunda’.
It’s real, just in case you didn’t check it. Spoken in Papua New Guinea.
I did check it! 😊
And I didn’t, thinking it was a great concoction from the posh poet that Mr Fletcher or Mrs Ayres would have been proud of.
To yap down unda…….brilliant!
Kudos to you though, Pip, for spotting that it’s an anagram of ‘pun a day’.
This was a pleasingly tricky Friday puzzle that was a delight to solve, with plenty of Legoish clues to get the ball rolling. I particularly liked 8d and thw Quickie pun.
Thanks very much to both proXimal and Mr K.
Cracking puzzle, N fell v swiftly, S a little more slowly. Possibly a little more gentle overall for a Friday back page than some with which we have been faced. Took me a long time to get / justify my final two, 27a (thinking it was an indirect anagram until the light dawned) and 20d (did not know / had forgotten that ‘rad’ = ‘great’). Got 5d straightaway (enjoyed all three films, though they got a bit silly) but wondered if the reference might be too stretched for some solvers.
But great crossword, with lots of ticks – Podium to 6am 13a & 5d, runners-up 8d & 11d.
Many thanks to Proximal and Mr K
4*/4* from me for a splendid, albeit challenging, end to the week.
23a was a new word for me, and I was surprised to find out the correct spelling for 10a. I don’t think I have ever had cause to write that word and would have put an I as the fourth letter if there had been one in the anagram fodder.
I detest the Americanism in 20d. The BRB says it is “slang, esp and orig US”. I have never heard anyone in this country say it, although it is clearly being used over here by crossword setters!
I have a plethora of ticks with 25a, 2d & 8d my podium choices.
Many thanks to proXimal for the fun and to Mr K.
eXactly what we need on a Friday – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
I needed to investigoogle the 5d film which I’d never heard of.
Plaudits to 6a, 11d and 19d (and the Quickie pun).
Good film but as someone said the sequels are not worth watching unless sobering up before one’s partner gets home.
Really well said Corky!
Brilliant crossword. Lovely clues with humour.
My favourite of the day was 20 across. I’d hoped it might have been a pangram when I went blue at the sight of blood but the absence of a certain letter reveals our setter.
**/****
Thanks to all
I’m with Steve C on this one as I, too, needed to resort to the hints too often for it to give much enjoyment. That said on finishing I could appreciate the cleverness and skill in it’s construction. Just too good for me to do it justice. Cotd for me is 4d. Thanks to ProXimal and Mr K for the very much needed hints.
Really good puzzle even though I had to rely on Mr K for too many hints. Just lack of skill and ignorance with 20d and 23a mind you. But all, despite the Americanism, fair and cleverer than me.
So many thanks to Mr K and Proximal for their unstinting work and for one no X Factor this week.
I made very heavy weather of this and enjoyed every minute of doing so! The clueing was brilliant throughout with great surface reads, clever misdirection and plenty of humour. I completed the puzzle eventually without reference to the hints but with 20a and d unparsed. It’s just about impossible for me to choose a favourite but the following all deserve consideration for podium places. 1a, 6a, 20s, 7d, 11d, 14d and 19d, as well as the quickie pun. Thanks to Proximal for the challenge – I need to reorganize the timing of the rest of my day now! Thanks also to Mr K for explaining a couple of parsings.
A surprisingly brisk completion for a Friday & with no parsing difficulties. Only the rad slang needed confirmation (though I’m sure it’s cropped up before) & the spelling at 10a somehow looks wrong to me even though I know it’s right. The original film at 5d wasn’t much good so dread to think what the further two in the franchise are like – such a shame Neeson wastes his talent on dross that just pays the bills. I had a plethora of ticks – 1,18&25a plus 2,8,11&19d.
Thanks to proXimal & to Mr K
Had to break off from solving this when a friend arrived to partake of coffee and cake. Very convivial couple of hours which obviously rested the old grey cells as the remainder fell relatively quickly after her departure. Definitely a few tricky bits of parsing which made life ‘interesting’ at times and I couldn’t remember the Liam Neeson film for ages despite having seen and thoroughly enjoyed it! Think I’ll go with our reviewer and award top marks to the Quickie pun.
Thanks to proXimal and to Mr K for the review.
Originally, I did wonder if the Quickie pun might be “No Blinis”.
Me too.
I had to look up Lean Neeson films as I hadn’t a clue on that front but I did know the hooked implement and the ancient boat which made me feel good. A very worthy end to a Good Guzzle Week. The 19d word is nearly as good as Codswallop. Such a lovely day today and my garden is full of snowdrops, many different varieties – so I divided a lot of clumps and took a pail over to the churchyard to add to the plants I have been diligently putting in over the years. I looked for the planets last night but it was overcast unfortunately. Devoted thanks to Messrs Setter and Kaye as usual.
It’s Friday so tougher than the rest of the week. Found it rather troublesome. Two new or unknown words for me in this puzzle too.
3*/3*
Favourites 18a, 25a, 3d, 4d & 8d — with 25a & 8d the clear winners
Like I said, a difficult completion for me..
Oh well.
Thanks to proXimal & Mr K
No idea about rad ! Never heard it in a sentence but it couldn’t be anything else . Struggled with 23 , another I’d never heard of . Having said all of that I did finish what was a superb crossword although it took a while to finish. Awards to 7,14 and 28 .We might need to do a lot of 14 tomorrow to beat the kilts !
Many thanks to all.
4*/4*
Nicely challenging for a Friday. I struggled with a few in the South. Having never heard of the boat and with all checkers in place it was a 50/50 to put on or me first after the abbreviated excursion and needed Mr Google to assist.
26a Fav for the PD moment
Thanks to X and Mr K
Found this tricky and needed the hints to understand 20&26a even though I had them right I couldn’t see why. Didn’t score highly as regards enjoyment but that’s probably just me being grumpy.
Thank you setter and Mr K for the hints
(And thank you to Tom for yesterday’s kind words)
Another enjoyable puzzle to end the (non) working week with particular plaudits going to 18a, 4d and 22d. I am appalled at my failure to parse 26a and ashamed to admit that 20a, while gettable, was a new word to me. Thanks very much to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.
Agree with the difficulty rating; 26a took ages but thank you Mr K for explaining the logic
Good afternoon
A fourser for sure this afty, despite our esteemed blogger’s *** rating. A definite pen-chewer; I shall have to buy another Lucky Green Pen at this rate!
I took ages to find a way in; one by one, the clues fell, until I came to a juddering halt at the SW quadrant. I had to look up a couple of words; I now know what a 23a is, and had never come across 10a either in all my 62 years!
A little help needed with the parsing of 26a, which is, of course, bleedin’ obvious really, so my thanks go to Mr K for the hints and explanations.
COTD: 8d and 14d tie. Thank you proXimal for the challenge.
I got there but thought the south east was tricky, curtesy of two new words in 20a and 23a which I will now attempt to remember. I also did not know that rad was a word although I had guessed the correct answer, so every day is a school day. It was a fun challenge.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr k for the hints.
Completed in two sessions – one either side of a visit into Kiderminster for lunch and to shop. Earlier, I’d blithely began to think that a Monday puzzle had appeared on a Friday, until one or two clues put that thought right out of my head. For instance the RAD in 20d put me totally off balance until I looked it up in my little electronic dictionary. 14d took a while to parse, as did 11d, but all in all a very satisfying solve and a decent pun in the Quickie too. I’ve awarded my Gold, silver and bronze medals to: 1a, (a new word to me) 23a and 22d, with 25a mentioned in despatches. Thank yous to setter and Mr K. PS, it’s good to feel the weather has turned a bit milder, but what a horrible wet, dark, windy, miserable day it has turned out to be here Severnside – roll on warmer days, ‘cos I’ve had enough of this winter. :-) :-)
The film was a bung-in but otherwise no real hold ups. Thanks to Mr K and today’s setter.
Into 4* time for me, but mainly because I got stuck on wanting 7d to be a partial anagram and not seeing 6a for far too long. Enjoyed that one.
I got there in the end, although it took three attempts. Just kept coming back to it throughout the day. I knew the boat and the film, but haven’t heard the expression at 20d being used, and I still don’t understand 18a? Thanks to the setter and Mr K. Thought todays quickie pun was brilliant!
Thanks to Mr K for the review and to commenters for comments.
Thanks for an excellent Friday puzzle, plenty of top clues, favourites 24d, 19d and 28a.
3* / 4* and a brilliant quickie pun
Thanks Mr K – have just re read your explanation of 18a very slowly … now got it! Doh!
Way above my pay grade as 20a boat, and 23a hook were totally unknown to me, and too many clues where I would need a hint to finish. So no enjoyment on this Friday. Congrats to all who managed to make sense of this. Thanks to setter and Mr K, but missed the 🐈 🐈⬛ s.
Did this in bits today and found it pretty chewy but for me not as bad as yesterday’s . Enjoyable and felt pleased to have solved it without help. Some new words learnt too. Looks like this was Proximal – I hadn’t spotted that but thanks so much for a wonderful challenge and Mr K .
A good puzzled spoilt by the US slang in 20d. Compilers must be getting desperate if they have to use such terms in English puzzles. Thanks to Mr K for the hints which I really needed today.
20 down isn’t slang and it isn’t American. It appeared in Martin Chuzzlewit 180 years ago. (Just like ‘eats’, another word that always gets dismissed here as American slang, is old and English.)
I don’t know about Martin Chuzzlewit, but rad in the sense of great was Californian surfer slang that spread in the 1980s, perhaps in part due to the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Chambers has it as esp. and orig. US slang. In any event, I sympathise with what After 10pm is saying as it’s now a bit cringeworthy outside crossword land in the UK. But I imagine it will keep appearing in crosswords because there are loads of words with rad in them and I suspect the alternatives are often more difficult to work into wordplay.
That’s me stupidly getting the wrong end of the stick there, for which I apologise. I thought After 10pm was talking about the solution, not part of the clue. But Dickens does describe Pecksniff as “like, totally bogus” at one point.
😄
Clever, challenging, and enjoyable. I’m not yet quite good enough to solve puzzles like this, but with some electronic letter-matching help I got there in the end. Thank you to Mr K for explaining the game start in 26a, and everybody who enthused about the puzzle; I was busy most of yesterday, but am glad I came back to it.
20d also held me up, but for the opposite reason to everybody else! With just the final E of the first word I guessed what turned out to be the correct wordplay (including the ‘great’ which so many others have mentioned) — but I didn’t enter it because I wasn’t sure the answer was a phrase (rather than just two words next to each other)!
I also didn’t know the 16a capital, the 20a boat, and the 23a hook. I don’t think I’m going to remember any of them. And I’m beginning to regret admiring the Christmas film earlier in the week, encouraging the setters film club to vary their repertoire from constants repeats of ET, as I hadn’t heard of the Liam Neeson film. Come to think of it, I don’t think I know any Liam Neeson films.
I liked the tourists avoiding shade in 7d. My favourites is 19d, both for having wordplay so implausible — surely ‘GW’ can’t be a valid pair of consecutive letters, I thought; I must’ve got that wrong — and for being a lovely word which conjured up a fun mental image (and, indeed, an actual image in Mr K’s review). Thank you to blogger and setter.
Started Friday evening and on first pass seemed beyond impossible but in the end solved a fair amount of the east. Continued again on Saturday evening and solved most of the NW then late this afternoon I sailed down 3d into the SW where I had a lot of battles but eventually solved most of it with 21, 22 and 27 being the most troublesome. This left me with four unsolved: 5 (don’t know his films), 12, 14 and 25 so I resorted to the hints for those. Also, encountered some of the parsing difficulties mentioned in the comments when solving the other clues but overall enjoyed solving most of a very tricky puzzle with no assistance. COTD 21a for its construction. ****/****
3*/4* …
liked 4D “Young swimmer thanks head of diving staff (7)*