ST 3305 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3305 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3305 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where the meteorologists (didn’t I comment on them recently?) are clinging to their forecast on the end of the Arctic freeze and by today we might be 35 degrees Celsius warmer than we were on Wednesday – minus 31 to plus 4!  For my Southern neighbours that is 63 degrees Fahrenheit warmer.

For me, and I stress for me, Dada quirkily friendly again with his personal thesaurus at hand but there are a couple of parsings that I am not certain of – if you think that you can help me, don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints.  Three very long ‘uns, seven anagrams (four partials), one lurker, and one homophone, all in a very asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.  And, remember, the Naughty Step is OPEN!

Candidates for favourite – 13a, 15a, 19a, 6d, 12d, and 17d.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.

Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom 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.

Some hints follow:

Across

8a Irish flag perhaps seen in court, or I waved around Lithuania’s first (9)
An anagram (seen in . . . waved) of COURT, OR I containing (around) the first letter of Lithuania.

11a The certified tale in novel (8,7)
An anagram (novel) of CERTIFIED TALE IN.

15a Far too expensive – or is it a steal? (8,7)
A double definition – in the second steal is a synonym for a type of crime (committed in the middle of the day?).

19a Precisely ten perform in Cambridgeshire city (7)
The Roman numeral for ten and a synonym of perform all inserted into (in) a three letter Cambridgeshire city, there can’t be many of those.

24a Poor calibre model and scoundrel – politician! (7,8)
An anagram (poor) of CALIBRE MODEL flowed by (and) a three letter scoundrel.

27a Failing to start, developers lazily don’t respond to alarm call? (9)
An anagram (lazily) of dEVELOPERS with the first letter removed (failing to start).

Down

1d Short major in hunky chap (4)
A ‘bung in’ for me – a synonym of major, which I can’t find anywhere, with the last letter removed (short).

3d Out to eat game – last day of Lent perhaps? (8)
A synonym of out, commonly seen with go as first word(?), containing (to eat) a synonym of game (in an elimination competition) – one does need to know the ‘symbolic’ number of days in Lent.

5d General character digitally reduced? (3,5)
Another ‘bung in’ for me – a term for being of reduced stature where the second term is a digit (on a hand).

9d Youth I think filled with ambition at last (7)
The last letter of ambitioN inserted into (filled) I from the clue and a synonym of think – I am not convinced that the definition and the answer are synonymous, but I found them in an on-line thesaurus so what do I know.

12d Chancellor’s plan not entirely bringing shift (5)
The Chancellor’s (annual) plan presented to Parliament with the last letter removed (not entirely).

16d Source of information, testament featuring in entire broadcast (8)
The abbreviated form of one of the biblical testaments, you’ve got a 50% chance of being right, or wrong, inserted into (featuring in) an anagram (broadcast) of ENTIRE.

17d Stone thrown initially into rising river, went very quickly (8)
A term for a large stone followed by the first letter (initially) of Thrown inserted in (into) the reversal (rising) of a river (of which there are five so named in the British Isles) – another opportunity to use one of my favourite illustrations.

23d Trigger a devious plan to trap leader of opposition (6)
A from the clue and a single word for a devious plan (intended to deceive?) contains (to trap) the first letter (leader) of Opposition.

25d Kind to write (4)
A double definition – the second may be mechanical (obsolete?) or electronic.

Quick Crossword Pun:

DULY + ERR + SEA + SIR = JULIUS CAESAR

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German-British Baroque composer George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel was born on this day in 1685.  Born in Halle, Germany, Handel spent his early life in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727.  In 1717, in response to King George I’s request for a concert on the River Thames he composed a collection of orchestral movements now known as The Water Music.  This movement, being played by the Festspiel Orchester of Göttingen, directed by Laurence Cummings, is a Hornpipe:

73 comments on “ST 3305 (Hints)”

  1. I’m afraid this was not my cup of Tea today.
    1d – I saw this as a shortened form of an American way of indicating a subject followed at university.
    5d – no idea
    Really not a fan of 3d either
    Thanks for hints and to dada
    3*/2*

  2. 1d. If you are North American or, apparently, Australian, you can major in a particular subject

    There was an American circus performer of small stature known as General 5d

    1. Thanks to all. I was thinking along those lines but even by Dada’s standards not two of his better clues.

  3. I’m glad Senf had cause to question a few parsings, because I certainly did as well. The rest however fell into place relatively smoothly giving a puzzle that was good fun for a Sunday morning between chores. Cotd is 15a, probably an oldie, but still a goodie. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  4. Lots of hmms for me today, I’m sorry to say.

    1d involves an unindicated North American or Antipodean term. How is “lazily” an anagram indicator? Even knowing the General in 5d, the clue doesn’t hang together for me. I can’t imagine anyone describing those who use the 18d call as “fighters”.

    I did like 10a.

    1. Pretty sure it’s uttered in Ridley Scott’s directorial debut, The Duellists. They weren’t messing about.

  5. I enjoyed the puzzle although my brain feels like it has had a good workout.

    Top picks for me were 13a, 4d and 17d.

    Thanks to Senf and Dada.

  6. Never got on the right wavelength and was defeated by 2d even with all the crossers. When I got it with help I thought it was a terrific clue. Liked the long clues a lot and quite a few others. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  7. I thought that Dada had raised his game a bit today and given us an enjoyable workout – thanks to him and Senf.
    Ticks from me for 2d, 5d and 24d.

  8. I was also a little confused with 5d. There seemed to be two parts to the clue. The first being the General, and the second the fairytale character who was no bigger than his father’s X (it’s a prize puzzle and I do not want to divulge any more).

  9. Haven’t looked at the crossword yet. But people may be interested to read a letter in today’s Telegraph from an esteemed member of this site. It’s titled “Bourbon Bulge”.

    1. Brilliant!

      What a legend Day Zee Gee is. She said that her son went far. I’m dying to know what he did.

      Reveal all please, Splitseez…

      Thanks for alerting us to it, DB.

    3. I wish I had access to read it – I only subscribe to the puzzles site and the DT isn’t available via my libraries eNewspaper section.

      1. Thanks Senf, unfortunately it is asking me to subscribe and, much as I’d like to read what DG has written, I’m not going to subscribe just for that!

      1. Here we go, Crazy river et al…

        Title: Bourbon bulge

        SIR – Reading about the nation’s favourite biscuits (Features, February 16), I was transported back 22 years to my grandson’s addiction to Bourbons.

        One day, aged about six, he asked me why the cream filling did not go right to the edges of the biscuit. I suggested he ask the makers. Supplied with pencil and paper, he wrote a very sweet letter, complete with drawings of how the biscuit looked and how he thought it ought to look, and it was duly posted. Some days later he received a charming letter from a member of staff at McVitie’s, saying they understood his concern, but that at all costs they had to avoid the filling bulging out and causing sticky fingers.

        They also sent him a very smart tin of biscuits to thank him for taking the trouble to write.

        Jeremy was thrilled. Then, after a while, he said, “Grandma, is there anything else I could complain about?” I knew then that he would go far.

        Mavis Howard (aka Daisygirl/Day Zee Gee/Splitseez/’Nana’genarian)

        Melbourn, Cambridgeshire

        1. Thank you so much Tom. This Eccentric Stream is very grateful for you taking the effort to share DG’s letter.

  10. Not one of Radio’s best but still nice to solve on a rarely seen grid (11 acrosses * and 18 downs).

    My LOI was 3d as the synonym for ‘out’ eluded me. I’m up for setters creating new imaginative anagram indicators but what’s ‘lazily’ all about???

    I liked the use of ‘digitally’ in 5d and 24d is superb. Enter, stage left, Allo Allo’s Officer Crabtree….

    My podium is 13a, 15a and 24d.

    Many thanks to Dada and Senf.

    3*/3*

    * I wonder if ‘acrosses’ is in the dictionary as it’s only used in crossies or should that be…acrossies?

  11. May I suggest a small change to your comment for 3D?
    “one does need to know how many weekdays there are in Lent.”

    1. Your comment went into moderation as you used a slightly different alias compared to the last time you commented – no ‘underscores’ between the words.

      Well, a little research indicates that the number of days in Lent is a ‘symbolic’ number – a little tongue in cheek; it’s the church’s ‘game’ and it controls the rule book and relies on its abacus for calculating, no new fangled electronic gizmos. After e-searching the start and end dates of Lent for this year, weekdays only is less than the number required for 3d while weekdays and weekends is more. So I have amended the hint accordingly.

      1. Thanks for moderating me!

        Letting symbolic stand for the answer to 3D, I can say…

        The ODE entry for Lent says “In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, and so includes symbolic weekdays.”

        But what it actually MEANS is that from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday (inclusive) is symbolic+6 days, but you don’t count the six Sundays because you don’t have to fast then, so there are symbolic days of fasting in all.

        :-)

        1. My grandmother always said you did not have to practice abstinence on Sundays as they were La ‘mi-careme or Demi-careme – little Lent. However, strictly speaking I believe Demi Careme is only the third Thursday in Lent, so she was giving herself more leeway for indulgence. That of course was not the strict Presbyterian Scottish grandmother!

  12. I can’t remember a Sunday Prize Puzzle being much quicker or simpler to solve than today’s has been. Quite straightforward and a pleasure to solve over a (for me) a very late breakfast. My favourites have to be all three fifteen letter answers. 3d was the most cunning I thought, with 21d probably the most obvious. All good fun – thanks to Dada and Senf.

  13. Woohoo I did the whole thing in [redacted – please refer to Comment Etiquette #6] and only needed help with two of the clues. A record for me. I liked 24d that made me giggle. Share the same views as others on 5d that was a dodgy clue in my opinion.

    1. Welcome to the Blog, please comment often.

      But you will see that your solving time has been redacted. Please refer to Comment Etiquette #6.

  14. Loved this Dada, right up my street with a cricketing clue to offset the religious one!
    No favs, all good.
    ***/*****
    Thx to all

  15. I really enjoyed this one today! Probably because I did it in record time ([redacted – please refer to Comment Etiquette #6] – don’t laugh(!), that’s good for me!). Happy Sunday, all. Vic :-)

  16. Like others I struggled with understanding the parsing of 1d and 5d but otherwise managed to complete it unaided and really enjoyed it, especially the long across clues.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.

  17. Our Sunday setter earned a few hmms from me today but such is life and there were a few ‘smilers’ to compensate. Top three for me were 13&15a plus 4d.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf for hints and glorious music – I can just envisage the royal barge gliding along the Thames to the strains of Handel’s Water Music.

  18. I emailed the guzzle to DT Towers only to find I had not entered the answer to 12d. So, definitely no Mythical this week.

    As for today’s offering – 11 across clues and 18 down? I’m sure it has happened many times but I can’t recall having seen it.

    As with others, I could not parse 1d so many thanks to those who explained it. A bit tenuous, I thought but I’m not Dada or Chris Lancaster. My COTD is the steal at 15a.

    Thank you, Dada for the puzzle. Thank you, CS for the hints.

    1. This seems an opportune moment to point out to Telegraph Towers for the umpteenth time that if they made the grid a little bit smaller, there wouldn’t be a clue on the second page of the print out. Fortunately I noticed that there were two pages before I pressed print

      1. Well done and thank you CS. It’s the second time this week that that’s happened, so I did spot it in time today. (Luckily a short one so easily added by hand!)

      2. I couldn’t quite ‘catch it’ in time! But, heigh ho, the second sheet turned over and back in the printer ready for tomorrow’s back pager. Puzzles seem to be the only things I print these days!

      3. I spotted it and set my printer to print on both sides. Unfortunately I then almost forgot there was one more clue on the other side 😔. Need more coffee …. But as I can only have decaf that will not fix me.

      4. I have never encountered the problem, maybe because I have instructed my printer to use narrow margins

  19. Dada confirmed today that his surreal wordplay is so far beyond ne that I should find other things to do on Sunday mornings. Church is out, playing sport a no go area, so will continue with gardening and being generally a friend of the real and garden.

    Thank you to Senf for giving a realistic view of what the words can mean and to Dada for freeing up Sunday mornings.

  20. A few Americanisms but most were easily gettable in rhis enjoyable SPP and there were no linked clues to annoy me. I liked the cryptic definition at 5a and the anagram at 11a, which showed excellent wordplay. The double definition at 3a was a crickety clue ro my liking too. Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.

  21. Certainly an uptick in difficulty, with a little bit of guesswork needed to get over the line. It certainly cheered up a drab and dreary day here in Shropshire. For a favourite, I selected the clever anagram at 24a. On the subject of politicians, I believe it was the late Robin Williams who said that politicians, like babies nappies, should be changed regularly; and for the same reason.

    Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  22. An enjoyable romp today, so thank you Dada. But some funny stuff along the way, 5d for instance. I keep thinking that the general here was a in fact a Major… So thank you commenters for clarifying that!
    Despite this being a Sunday, took a while to get the testament, duh!
    My fave du jour is 27a, first because it’s Sunday and I do, and second because I immediately spotted lazily as the indicator and liked it.
    Already thanked Dada, so just Senf to thank for the blog! Thank you Senf!

  23. For me, and I stress for me (© Senf), I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms. Nobody but nobody refers to a ‘youth’ as being in their 9d. Oh don’t give me yer Big/Medium/Small Red Books. I see you there, thumbing through yer Chambers.
    This alone is enough to arrest this setter and pack him off to the remotest island in the Pacific Ocean, with only a box of foolscap sized paper and a hundred pencils for company. After twenty years he would be eligible for parole, but only if he has been able to supply an improved clue for 9d.
    Harsh? Perhaps, but it is the only sort of punishment these people understand.

    Additionally, I am now even further in love (secretly) with Daisy following her biscuit revelation.

    Great guzzle. The long uns were good fun to unravel.

    All hats off to Da-doo-ron-ron and The Mighty Man From Manitoba

  24. Good morning from NY! The reactions herein to the “major” in 1D have me wondering how UK university students break the ice upon meeting a peer. “What’s your major?”probably comes out before asking about hometowns over here. At least it did before the Internet changed all human interactions.

    The last one I twigged was 12d, but I am a fan. Favorite today was 2d. “Bit of a looker”…so tidy!

  25. This Sunday offering from Dada this week was about mid range for his difficulty but had plenty of quirkiness and liberal use of his personal thesaurus abounded all over the grid.

    2*/4* for me.

    Favourites 11a, 15a, 19a, 27a, 2d & 18d — with top two winners 15a & 2d

    Thanks to Dada & Senf for blog/hints

  26. We thoroughly enjoyed this sitting in the conservatory with two heaters blasting away whilst eating a healthy salad lunch. There was a nice fencing clue for George. The first two long ones jumped out at me, I didn’t even have to write the letters down in a circle as is my wont (I love writing that). 1d was only pencilled in for some time but that is all it can be especially now I have read how it is used. Our smart new computer is almost up and running, lovely young neighbour overseeing the transfer of files. With any luck I shall be able to submit the guzzle tomorrow. Many thanks to Messrs Setter and Senf, the man in the red scarf🧣

  27. Like others we weren’t keen on 1d, 5d, 9d, 18d or 27a if it comes to it. Despite those, not that hard but not that enjoyable either. No real favourite but if pushed we’ll go with 19a. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  28. The usual enjoyable Sunday afternoon with a Senf challenge, this time with an exciting 6 nations rugby game going on in the background. Well done DG on the letter! Thank you Senf for the hint regarding Lent, could not have worked it out otherwise

  29. A rather enjoyable Sunday puzzle with just a little help to fill in the missing boxes. Spent too long ruiminating over possible novels for 11a. Thanks for Dada and Senf.

  30. Took a while to get going with this but once off found it to be a steady and enjoyable solve a little chewy but not too bad at all . Another cricketing ref that I had to groan at though ! I’ve learnt a lot about it over the last few years doing these. Thanks Dada and Senf

  31. I rather enjoyed this one. A brisk solve on the mobile other than 3&17d which waited until I’d returned home. Had to investigate the general at 5d but otherwise straightforward. 2d my fav but a number of ticks elsewhere.
    Thanks to D&S

  32. Everything went in quite smoothly today, although I did have to confirm the parsing of a couple. Last one in was 3d which took way longer than it should have.
    2* / 4* and favourite 13a
    Thanks to Senf and Dada

  33. Everything went in quite smoothly today, although I did have to confirm the parsing of a couple. Last one in was 3d which took way longer than it should have.
    2* / 4* and favourite 13a
    Thanks to Senf and Dada.

  34. Pretty straightforward for Dada/Paul.
    Mrs Hoofit had to help with a couple, teamwork, eh!!

  35. Dada was fairly friendly today. In common with others, we struggled to parse 1d and 3d – so thanks to Senf for the clarification. And to Dada for the workout.

  37. …even later than Manders after v late return last night from a sunny & warm break from the winter snow in VA 😎
    Struggled with this Dada offering initially, and then the three long Across clues suddenly became clear and things started to fall in place.
    Others have commented on a couple of ‘Hmmm’ clues…I agree.
    My COTD was the excellent anagram at 11A…very clever Mr D!👍
    Thanks, as ever, to Senf for today’s blog’s hints – enjoyed the watery music!😉
    Cheers!

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