ST 3310 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3310 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3310 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg from where I hope that in the UK, at zero dark thirty, you all woke briefly to advance your clocks by one hour to mark the start of British Summer Time!  Or did you cheat and reset your clocks before retiring for the evening?  Or did you just forget?

On meteorological matters, Old Man Winter made another unwelcome appearance with 15cms of the fluffy white stuff courtesy of an Alberta Clipper from 5:00pm on Thursday until 9:00am on Friday!

For me, and I stress for me, every so often Dada provides a reminder of November 18th, 2018 and this was one of those (his first Sunday puzzle for those wondering if I am losing my marbles (which I might be)).  Three long uns, four anagrams (one partial), one lurker, and no homophones, 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 – 8a, 10a, 2d, 6d, 17d, and 18d.

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 Key left to be collected by fellow: it is outside (9)
A Russian doll clue – IT from the clue containing (is outside) all of nautical left inserted into (collected by) a synonym of fellow (not the academic one).

10a Pretty pack in back of store (5)
A single word equivalent to pack in (a job?) and the last letter (back) of storE.

11a Still collection kept here? (10,5)
A type of book containing memories of days gone by.

15a Pointless draughtsman using it? (6-9)
A device that a draughtsman (or should it be draughtsperson) might use when something in his or her ‘tool kit’ has become pointless.

19a Titian first for Van Gogh, say? (7)
The colour represented by the term titian and a synonym of first.

24a Adult presumably getting this right: my tone wrong (15)
An anagram (getting . . . wrong) of THIS RIGHT: MY TONE.

27a Knights trapped by wicked pursuer? They aren’t the first! (7-2)
The chess notation for knight repeated (for the plural) contained (trapped) by an anagram (wicked) of PURSUER.

Down

1d Strand is found in empty workshop (4)
IS from the clue contained by (found in) WorkshoP with the interior letters removed (empty).

3d Blonde head, just quality? (8)
A synonym of blonde (for hair colour?) and a geographical head.

6d Stretch to grab bar, having missed a ring (6)
A synonym for stretch (in prison) containing (to grab) BaR with the A deleted (having missed).

9d Necessary nutrient for figure injected with iodine (7)
The Latin based synonym of for, then guess a figure between nine and eleven containing (injected with) the chemical symbol for Iodine.

14d Wise Men, for example, travelling there (5)
An anagram (travelling) of THERE.

18d Egg on jokers, idiots (7)
An egg which was one of the things the school nurse came to look for placed before (on) a synonym of jokers.

20d Motorist‘s club? (6)
A double definition – a club that a motorist might use for aerodynamic testing of small white spherical objects.

25d Gazing at pink elephants primarily, stare in wonder (4)
The first letters (primarily) of four words in the clue.

Quick Crossword Pun:

KOALA + LOOM + PURR = KUALA LUMPUR

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Rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music, Eric Clapton is (or should be) celebrating his 80th birthday today. This is one of his most successful solo singles that he wrote as a catharsis following the loss of his four year old son in a tragic accident (easily found on Google/Wikipedia if you want more details):

38 comments on “ST 3310 (Hints)”

  1. As I’ve just asked in my draft review of this typical Dada crossword, does moving one letter in 14d necessarily make this an anagram?

    1. Short answer – No! Three and four letter anagrams are my ‘windmills’ (á la Don Quixote). Now I will have to add five letter anagrams. There should be a minimum number of letters, more than five – any suggestions?

      The worst I have ever seen, probably on a Sunday, was cluing the ‘RIA’ part of ‘SANGRIA’ as an anagram of ‘AIR’ when a reversal would have been much more appropriate.

      1. According to the BRB, 14d qualifies
        anagram /anˈə-gram/
        noun
        A word or phrase formed by the letters of another in different order

  2. A fairly benign Dada today with many clues providing entry points. Part of 18d made me shudder at the thought of it, but overall it also had a smile factor so makes a podium place alongside 16d and 5d in top spot. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  3. 2.5*/2.5*. A mixed bag today with the extremes being 11a (very good) and 14d (very poor).

    I rather liked the Quickie pun.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  4. This certainly didn’t trouble the horse’s grey cells but was nice enough to solve with plenty of straightforward constructions.

    My podium is 8a, 27a and 18d.

    Many thanks to De Do Do Do De Da and the Manitoban mountie.

    1*/3*

    1. A tricky grid, I thought, with a few head-scratchers to make it more difficult. I liked the ceyptic definitions at 11a and 15a. The anagram xlue at 16 d was well-misdirected but mt COTD was the craftily qrought 19a. Thanks ro Dada for an absorbing and enjoyable guzzle and to Senf for the hints. I was one of those who reset the clocks before I went to bed by the way.

  5. I found this tricky but enjoyable. LOI was the long 24a.

    Top picks for me were 24a, 15a, 18d and 11a.

    Thanks to Senf and Dada.

    Most of our clocks reset automatically with just the wristwatches and oven to do ourselves this morning until we come across something we missed! The microwave gets turned off after every use so that doesn’t trouble us.

  6. Another super Dada with anagrams and lurkers to get you going then some very elegant clues in 15a (my fav) and 16d. I love it when Dada is in this sort of mood.
    ***/*****
    Thx to all

  7. I’d love to try his puzzle from Nov 18th 2018. Is there a link?
    Quite a few head scratchers, and ah-ha moments. I was tickled by the four or nine clue, and the John.
    Belated (by one hour) thanks to all.

      1. I just did this crossword and I really enjoyed it. Tough in spots, but it rang true of being a Dada.

        Favourites 6a, 9a, 18a, 25a,17d & 20d — with winner 25a
        Smiles for 6a, 13a, 21a & 25a

        Thanks to Dada & Senf (for providing the link)

  8. Tricky in places but I got there. Several excellent clues including the misdirected anagram.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.

  9. Gentle but enjoyable. The two I ticked were 15a, and 18d. 19a made me smile for the useless trivia re Van Gogh.

    The changing of the hour always reminds me of a 4-week cruise that I went on in April 2003 on the QE2, that was a round trip from Southampton, that incorporated New York, Florida, the Caribbean, Bermuda (where I met my wife-to-be), Rhode Island, and back to Southampton.
    The first 5 days on the ship were transatlantic, and to compensate for the 5-hour time difference, the captain told us on the first day of the cruise, that at 2pm every day we would revert to 1pm. Take it or leave it, as captain of the ship, that was his orders and non negotiable.
    I would have to say – pure genius! We did the same but in reverse 3 weeks later.

    1. When umpiring a fairly low level game of hockey one Sunday morning about 20 years ago a friend turned up ready to play in the following game. He said “I’d better warm up, how long is there left?” . As we’d only been playing for about 20 minutes I was somewhat bemused. We then both realised that he’d put his clocks back an hour rather than forward. He was also at the wrong pitch…..😂

      As so often with Dada I found, that for me, some clues grate, others are great but overall I quite enjoyed it. Thank you to Dada and Senf as always.

  10. The usual high quality from Dada with 11 and 15 across being my favourites. Thank you Senf for the reminder regarding “slow hand”’s birthday … BBC2 screened some great stuff from their archive last night, what a guitarist.

  11. Found this one a collection of the good, the bad and the ugly, but I suppose that’s the way it goes! Top marks here went to 8&27a plus 4d, which made me smile.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints and music – first time I’ve heard that piece from Eric Clapton.

  12. Funny sort of day with DD2 taking us out to lunch at 3.45!! G is having a nap so I have been guzzling. I liked the pointless draughtsman – reminded me that the drawing office personnel were excited about new all singing all dancing boards arriving. One of our men had been in a POW camp and when the drawing boards were unbackedvin big letters along the bottom – made in Japan. The man passed out! We had to put masking tape over the words before he would go near it. However, I digress – lovely guzzle completed in lovely sunshine (sorry to rub it in,Senf but it is almost summery) Brian is happy so all is well with the world. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Senf. PS Wordle back to four, today.

    1. Well done on four, took me five today. Merusa and I used to use the Wordle “share” option each day to email our results to each other and I do so miss her. You cannot see the letters just colours.

      1. Must admit that I do Squaredle every day as well! It’s all so time consuming though. Wordled in 3.

  13. I thought this Dada puzzle was for the most part at the easier end of his spectrum and quite friendly. A couple of quirky clues in there but overall quite tame.

    1.5*/4*

    Favourites include 11a, 15a, 24a, 5d, 16d & 20d — with winner 11a
    Smiles for 15a, 1d & 15d

    Thanks to Dada & Senf

  14. Have to admit I needed a clue for 10a which helped to get last one in 5d. Apart from that aberration everything went well.
    3* / 4* Favourites the Still collection, pointless draughtsman and the quickie pun made me smile.
    Thanks to Dada and Senf

  15. Good afternoon

    My first Sunday crozzie in a while. Sundays tend to be busy; my wife and I are both on our second marriage, so there are in total five grown-up children, three sons in law, and five grandbairns, plus wor lass’s Mam & Dad, and so there’s always someone here for Sunday dinner. But not today. So it’s crozzie ahoy! All done with just enough trickery to keep the braincell ticking.

    Many thanks to Dada and Senf.

  16. I have completed all of this except for 23d.
    I have an answer but cannot parse it. Grateful for any help.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf

    1. Hi OM

      23d is an a = b + c jobbie

      A three letter word for ‘in print’, ie something that is published for the world to read plus a three letter for ‘schedule’, in this case a list of songs at a concert is called a ‘*** List’ often shortened to ***

  17. Well my marbles must have been on duty today as I found this a very enjoyable puzzle. Unlike when Dada first appeared and I used to end up with many empty boxes. COTD for me 15a, and LI 6d. Very much enjoyed this one from start to finish. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  18. Managed all but 4 in bed this morning and just couldn’t see them at all. Fruitless trip to the car wash and then they went straight in, odd that. Enjoyed this a lot with several good ones. Agree with CS about 14d. Thanks to all.

  19. Late on parade today, but never too late to thank both Dada and Senf. I didn’t find this overly taxing but I did enjoy the challenge, with 15a my favourite.

  20. Really enjoyed today’s puzzle. Had a couple of head-scratching moments. Couldn’t believe how long it took me to get the anagram at 24a Doh! Many thanks to Tom 65 answering request from Ora Meringue re 23d as it was so opportune for me! Many thanks to Dada and Senf.

  21. Fairly straightforward other than a bit of crumpet scratch over last in 24d where (assuming I have the answer correct) I’m uncertain as to what separate is doing there – unhinted & nobody else has passed comment so probably me just being dense. Podium spots to the 14d long ‘uns.
    Thanks to D&S
    Ps with a 7am start I wasn’t happy at losing an hour’s kip & getting up in the dark again. The glorious sunny weather on the 1st tee made up for it though.

  22. Much easier than the usual Dada but still enjoyable. Not impressed with 14d but 5d and 19a made up for it! Thanks to Senf for the comments.

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