DT 30862 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30862

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30862

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. 

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. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Backed up very loudly, creating smoke (4)
PUFF:  The reversal (backed) of UP with the musical abbreviation for very loudly 

3a    Without right, William I's lot obtain neutral territory (2-4-4)
NO-MANS-LAND:  The people who gave us William I (the Conqueror), minus (without) the single letter for right, followed by obtain or get 

9a    Course in mythology gets bogged down during lecture (4)
STYX:  A homophone (during lecture) for a word meaning “gets bogged down”

10a   Thief, grass and long-term felon receiving time (10)
SHOPLIFTER:  Grass or inform on with an informal word for a long-term felon containing (receiving) the physics symbol for time 

11a   Common complaint, flipping crude relations being super-cool (4,3)
COLD WAR:  An affliction or complaint that’s common during the winter, with the reversal (flipping) of crude or unrefined 

13a   Subject in jeans sold a TV set, nothing odd about that (7)
ENSLAVE:  JEANS SOLD A TV SET minus the odd letters (nothing odd about that) 

14a   Hard-headed fuzz stop overlooking outsiders by den (4-2-5)
DOWN-TO-EARTH:  Link together fuzz or soft fine fur, STOP minus its outer letters (overlooking outsiders), and the den of a fox or a badger 

18a   She-Devil broadcast directed in a mess (11)
DISHEVELLED:  An anagram (broadcast) of SHE-DEVIL is followed by directed or guided 

21a   Manage within budget - a repossession's coming around (7)
OPERATE:  The answer is hidden within the reversal of  (… ‘s coming around) the remainder of the clue

22a   Little pickle beginning to grate with that woman's family (7)
GHERKIN:  Assemble the first letter of (beginning to) GRATE, a pronoun for “that woman’s” and another word for family

23a   Part of a kennel club, perhaps, that's short of members? (7,3)
SAUSAGE DOG:  A cryptic definition of a creature with short members that might be found in a kennel club 

24a   Idle frolics in store (4)
DELI:  An anagram (frolics) of IDLE 

25a   Campaign with alpha male who has media contacts? (5,5)
PRESS AGENT:  Campaign or push with the letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphabet by A, and a male or chap 

26a   King and Queen got out of celebrity-style visit (4)
STAY:  A word that might mean celebrity-style minus the Latin abbreviations for king and for queen (King and Queen got out of …)

 

Down

1d    Information for delivery company engaged in job from Parisian (8)
POSTCODE:  Putting the bits in order, cement together another word for job, an abbreviation for company, and “from” in French (Parisian) 

2d    Tear sock, worn at the bottom and shabby (8)
FLYBLOWN:  Put together tear or rush, a sock or hit, and the last letter (at the bottom) of WORN 

4d    Variant bug originally deleted (5)
OTHER:  A word meaning bug or annoy, minus its first letter (originally deleted) 

5d    Tech giant triumvirate in need of hot growth (5,4)
APPLE TREE:  A giant US technology company with another word for triumvirate minus (in need of) the single letter for hot

6d    Dairy food that's highly processed? (5,6)
SWISS CHEESE:  A cryptic definition of a dairy product that might be made at high altitude, up in the mountains

7d    Portion of contemporary art sale's returns missing (6)
ASTRAY:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (portion of … returns) the remainder of the clue 

8d    Stewart, say, making a comeback with group somewhere in England (6)
DORSET:  The reversal (making a comeback) of the first name of Mr Stewart the singer is followed by a synonym of group 

12d   Pay-outs accompanied by article going into slurs (11)
WITHDRAWALS:  A word meaning “accompanied by” is followed by a grammatical article inserted in slurs or speaks slowly

15d   One comes bearing chocolates for a special date (6,3)
EASTER EGG:  A cryptic definition of seasonal confectionery 

16d   Most cracked up as fleapit's opening with funny talkies (8)
FLAKIEST:  The first letter (…’s opening) of FLEAPIT with an anagram (funny) of TALKIES

17d   One with depression - it is linked with variable sense of self (8)
IDENTITY:  Concatenate the Roman one, a depression in a sheet of metal, IT from the clue, and a letter used in mathematics to represent a variable 

19d   Shot on top of second drink causes gas (6)
GOSSIP:  Marry together a shot or attempt, the single letter for second, and a small amount of drink 

20d   Check for every benefit (6)
PERUSE:  A word meaning “for every” or “for each” with a  synonym of benefit

22d   Relative will eat nothing and grumble (5)
GROAN:  An informal word for an older female relative contains (will eat) the letter representing nothing

 

Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?

The Quick Crossword pun:  WETHER + REAP + OUGHT = WEATHER REPORT

73 comments on “DT 30862”

  1. Took one look at this and thought right, plenty of multiword ones, I have this done before the tea’s gone cold. How wrong you can be.

    This was a brilliantly confusing and misleading Puzzle, just the ticket for a Friday, and I for one loved it!

    The only one I wasn’t keen on was 26a, just seemed out of place.

    Too many super clues to mention them all as a long list of favourites always seems to get ignored (by me anyway) so my two will have to be 2d and the lovely (my last one in) 9a.

    Many thanks to our setter (I’m rubbish at guessing them) a real gem today.

  2. That was great fun and had plenty of smiles. I did have to use electrons to sort out 9a because I could get nowhere with it. I totally forgot that particular meaning of “course”. The Kennel Club being short of members was very amusing and so was the little pickle at 22a. My COTD is the highly processed dairy product at 6d.

    Thank you, setter for a fun guzzle. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints.

    Another sunny day in The Marches so I’m hoping to see the seven planets this evening.

    1. You’ll be lucky to see Saturn Steve, it’s a bit too near the horizon, also good luck with the outer two, you’ll need some sort of magnification for them, but I’m sure you’ve already got that covered 😉

      1. I went out in high hopes, TC. The sky was clear and starlit.
        Except for clouds in the very part of the night sky I needed! 😡

  3. A nice tester for a Friday that felt like Silvanus though it could be Zandio.

    I only worked out the parsing of 14a and 12d once I’d biffed them and I hadn’t heard of 2d.

    Plenty to choose from for the podium but I’ll go with 10a, the humorous 23a and 1d.

    Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

    4*/4*

  4. Very enjoyable guzzle today with a few head scratchers. Not sure I quite understand the parsing of 26a though. Steve has sent some of his sun up here but it is still bitterly cold. Mr M was standing behind me when I opened the blog and I told him to stay to look at Mr K’s usual pusscat pics. Oops! Perhaps someone else can add a few Anyway, thanks to the setter and Mr K

    1. Hi M

      The first word of Don McLean’s fabulous song ‘Vincent’ is what you’re looking for.

  5. It took me a fair amount of time to get on the setter’s wavelength but things proceeded quite smoothly until I ground to a halt in Devon and Cornwall.

    A little bit of E help got me going again, and led to a ** finish. Lot’s to like but I’ll nominate the canine porker for a rosette.

    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  6. Not for me today, it must be a Zandio production – ****/**

    I did manage to get some smiles for 10a, 18a, and 2d.

    Thanks to Zandio, or whomsoever if it is not he, and Mr K.

    Even trying to look at it from a different angle didn’t help:

  7. It took me a while to get going but then it all fell into place without too much difficulty.
    My last in was 9a, nicely misled by the word course!
    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

    Surprised to find the Toughie relatively straightforward today (by Friday standards)

  8. Delightful. Broad smiles for 9a, 25a and 19d, etc. The two cryptic definitions are smart too. Many thanks to our setter and Mr K.

  9. Another enjoyable tussle to end the week. The top line went in immediately followed by the clever 10a, so I started with what proved to be a false sense of the puzzle’s difficulty. Failing to progress further in the north I tried again in the south and the canine snack opened the SW corner for me. After that progress was slow and haphazard, but reward was the feeling of achievement on completion. I’m still trying to think of the word needed for 26a to remove the royals from. I’m sure it will be simple but I can get no further than star. So many lovely lego clues today. I’ll choose 10a, 17d and 19d to share the podium. Thanks to our setter and Mr K.

    1. Re 26a – take your answer and add back in the 2 latin abbreviations for King and Queen (as Mr K said in the hint)

      1. I still had to listen to your music, Tom. I simply never saw that simple word, nor did it come to me after reading the hint. Very strange. Perhaps I’m losing it! Thanks all.

        1. Surely, for you to lose it, Mhids, you would have needed to have had it in the first place.

          Oi oi, saveloy!

  10. A pleasingly tricky puzzle for a very sunny Friday morning here in Shropshire, with some excellent misdirection and humour. From a wide choice of goodies, I chose 9a as my favourite.

    Many thanks to our setter and Mr K.

  11. Lovely, lovely puzzle, reasonably straightforward for a Friday – agree with Mr K’s difficulty rating, and it sure ain’t no Toughie. Smiles from FOI (1a) to LOI (12d) and could have ticked almost every clue today – but will narrow it down to a podium of 3a, 22a & 12d, with runners-up 1d & 17d.

    Many thanks indeed to the setter (my fiver is on Silvanus for this cracker, but if it’s someone else, please don’t take offence!) and to Mr K

    1. I don’t think any setter would take offence if they were accused of being Sade, Musty.

      I know it doesn’t have the nicest definition but can I call you Musty, Musty?

  12. I liked that. Lots of amusing and clever clues such as the mythological flower and the vertically-challenged hound. And in the middle of completing it I bought tickets to see Neil Young for what feels like might be the last time. Thanks very much to the setter and to Mr K for helping me parse a couple of stragglers.

  13. Seems to me this Friday puzzle is a tad easier than the last couple have been, so a nice way to end the non-work week.
    One new word for me in this puzzle too.

    1.5*/3.5*

    Favourites 3a, 10a, 23a, 1d, 8d & 19d — with top two being 23a & 8d that both made me chuckle.

    Thanks to setter & Mr K for blog/hints

  14. Never going to be one of my favourite setters but I did have to appreciate some of the cleverness in this puzzle. Top clues here were 10&18a plus 17d.

    Thanks to Zandio and to Mr K for the review.

  16. Very enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    As well as the cryptic definitions (23a and 6d) I ticked 9a and 1d.

  17. 4*/2.5*. I found parts of this quite tricky particularly in the NW corner.

    My top picks were 9a, 18a & 8d.

    Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.

  18. A thumbs up from me. 👍🏻 Last in was the SW for no reason other than it just was. Favourite was 10a. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

  19. I found this trickier than many of you, I put in many answers not sure of the parsing (28a) or of the meaning but I did get there courtesy of the check answer feature on the digital edition. Having read the blog I can now see that the answers made sense. I did like 23a.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.

  20. The east went in relatively smoothly, but the west was another kettle of fish and took some teasing out. But perseverance paid dividends in the completion of a very enjoyable challenge. My podium, from a crowded group, is 22 and 23a with 9a in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.

  21. Enjoyed this hugely. Thought it was less tricky than recent Fridays. Really liked 9a and 2d was a new word for me!

  22. Excellent puzzle with lots of cleverly deceptive clues, our 23a was sitting by my feet but it still took time for the penny to drop as it did with 14a – kept thinking of the slang term for fuzz instead of fuzz itself. Last one in was 2d – never heard of the expression and even with all the checkers in I was left scratching my head.
    ****/****
    Thanks to setter and Mr K

  23. I enjoyed today’s puzzle. 2d was a new word for me.
    Top picks were 14a, 6d and 19d.

    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

  24. Hi,
    Can anyone help – occasionally online, suddenly the grid goes weird and every other square goes blank and you have to click on each individually to add a letter. Most frustratin’ !!
    Please advise!
    Thanks
    Phil

    2. Welcome to the blog from me also.

      As to your problem, it would help if you expanded ‘online’ – what type of device – laptop, cell phone, which browser, and so on?

      For example, if you are using the app on a cell phone it could be as simple as deleting the app and re-installing it. But, if you are using a laptop it could be something to do with which browser you are using.

    3. It happens to me on my laptop sometimes, usually following a mistype on the keyboard. I leave the puzzle, go back to the front page of the website, then re-enter the puzzles section. Works for me.

      1. Yep that works for me too, I also get that pink highlighting misbehaving occasionally but backing out and going again works for me too

    4. Afraid I can’t help you with your issue, Phil but, along with others, I heartily welcome you to the blog. Please comment again. 👍

    5. Yes, this happens to me sometimes on my IPad. Like Y S I go back a page to the puzzles site then straight back to the cryptic and all’s well again. Annoying!

      1. Thanks for reply. Yes I use my ipad with the DT app. I have tried to go back and restart, but find it impossible to delete the existing puzzle! How do you do that?

        1. I don’t delete it. Just going out of the puzzle and back to it seems to resolve things.

    7. Sorry everyone but when I read all your moans about the puzzle app, I smile. I get the paper. Old fashioned? Yes but it works. While you’re all raging at the online app, I’m sitting with the paper, my pen in hand and a steaming mug of coffee by my side.
      Content. 😊

  25. A real struggle for me today – had to resort to a fair bit of electronic help. I obviously wasn’t on the right wavelength at all. Thanks to the setter and Mr K for the much needed clues.

  26. Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, analyse and discuss. Always appreciated. Have a great weekend.

    1. Thanks for the crossie, Z. Very enjoyable.

      Loved the clue for the vertically-challenged mutt!

  27. Slightly easier than most Fridays but very enjoyable .Had to wait for Don Mclean to sort out the royalty clue.Saw him in Edinburgh in the eighties, fabulous night .
    Lots of very good clues maybe having a golden retriever sways it .
    Thanks to all .

  28. Not for me today, too many clues where the answers were strange or stretched. Not sure I would equate 14a with hard headed. I know plenty of hard headed people and they certainly aren’t down to earth…one that is in the news all the time right now. I could have stared at this all day and not solved 2d without checkers. COTD for me was 3a, closely followed by 23a. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K.

  29. Well I completed this eventually with some electronic help. Thanks to Mr K for explaining 26a and Zandio for the mental exercise.

  30. Sorry if I sound pedantic but the following annoyed me:
    20dn since when has peruse meant check
    26ac visit doesn’t mean stay
    13ac even letters of sold are od
    Didn’t really enjoy this one
    Wishing everyone well and have good weekend

    1. Regarding 13a – it’s not just the odd letters of sold,but the odd letters of the whole phrase JEANS SOLD A TV SET
      Hope this helps

  31. Good afternoon

    Well, again, I find myself disagreeing with our esteemed blogger. Today is a fiveser, and I see from the above that the legendary Mind Of Zandio is responsible!

    The MoZ was in particularly tricky form this afty. It took me ages to burrow my way in, and with only five solutions in after an hour, I seriously contemplated hoyin’ the sponge in. The tried and trusted combination: time, tea, and my Lucky Green Pen saw me through, eventually. The NW quadrant held me up at the last hurdle. My last but one and last to fall were, respectively, 2d and 9a, and those get my vote for joint COTD, amongst many fine contenders.

    Many thanks for the challenge to Zandio. Many thanks also to Mr K.

  32. It took two coffee breaks and most of lunchtime but got there in the end, I liked the the stumpy pet and the highly processed dairy product too.

    Thanks to Mr K and Zandio
    Here is a pic of Nieces’ Cat a Polish name I can’t pronounce but I am assured it translates appropriately as “White Socks”

  33. Tipcat’s top two proved a hurdle too far for me, or at least they did until I lost patience & revealed the 2d/9a letter checker. Annoying really as the rest of it went in without a problem & ought to have pegged both from the wordplay. Not my favourite puzzle from this setter but still loads to like – 23a my clear fav with ticks for 9,10&18a plus 12d.
    Thanks to Zandio & to Mr K

  34. Not on the setters wavelength today. It is a long time since I needed to resort to the hints for so many clues. Not for me today, sorry.

  35. 3*/3*
    A few difficult clues upped the challenge today. Favourite clue the mythological river. 26a last one in – needed help with the parsing.
    Thanks to all and have a good weekend everyone.

  36. On the front of ‘Features’ the headlines are ‘Whatever Happened to The Naught Step?’
    We could tell them that it is alive and kicking in the capable hands of Cryptic Sue!
    Nice guzzle today, pretty tricky. I liked the clever lurker and the little pickle. I’ve had a very busy week with complicated Trustee meetings with a subsequent load of minutes to write up, a dozen ladies here for afternoon tea and a delightful dinner at Queens College all taking up guzzle time or rather comment time. But I am still with you. Many thanks to Mr Setter and Mr K.

  37. Enjoyed this Friday puzzle and rated it 2* / 4*, NW was the last to complete with favourites being 9a and last in 2d (new word for me)

    Thanks to Mr K and Zandio

  38. Still dont get the answer to 26A…not sure the explanation was very good….I got Stay from the clue visit….but dont get what the word was without King and Queen…sorry..am I being thick…thanks anyway…Doug

  40. Lots of fun, but trickier than I typically find a Zandio puzzle: having only managed to complete about half of it last night (the top-right half, basically), I slept on it and got the rest this morning.

    9a was my favourite. Annoyingly, I’d thought of the correct ‘Course in mythology’ early on from the definition and number of letters (and that my knowledge of myths is so limited that I couldn’t name any others), but dismissed it because I couldn’t parse the wordplay, until some crossing letters forced me into it.

    Thank you to Mr K for explaining some bits of answers that I wasn’t sure of. I’ll try to remember about the fox/badger home from 14a, and thank you to Zandio for the pleasure.

  41. Solved a few in the NE on Friday evening then on Saturday evening at our wedding anniversary dinner at a local pub I solved a lot more with the assistance of my wife who is very good at solving the precise definitions: doing the DT cryptic crossword helps conversation. Almost finished this evening but could not solve 2d (never heard of it) or 9a (just beyond me) and was wrong on 20d (thought it was a double definition and that “secure” just about worked). **** (even with my wife’s help)/***. Thanks to Zandio, Mr K and the other bloggers.

  44. Could only see the comments today, but not the answers. This has happened before. Am I doing something wrong?

    1. It’s difficult to know whether you’re doing something wrong unless you tell us what you’re doing.

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