Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30894
Hints and tips by Smylers
Good morning. Last week I said I found the crossword harder than any recent Monday backpager, but I think today’s puzzle has topped that: by the time I’d been through all of the across clues, I’d only entered 2 answers! But YMMV — there was such a range of views on how hard last Monday’s was that it would’ve been impossible to give a rating that matched even a majority of commenters, let alone all of them. Today’s puzzle is ideally suited to fans of reversing things.
Hints and explanations for each clue are below, with the definitions of each underlined and the answers hidden behind the 
— something for everyone! blobs. Do leave a comment sharing how you found it, which clues you particularly liked, if any of my explanations aren’t helpful enough, or if it isn’t clear what a picture or video has to do with the clue it’s supposedly illustrating.
A local director has made a short documentary about dancing and the mental health benefits it brings children and teenagers, filmed at the dance school our children are part of. They both performed live at the recent preview screening (the reason Falcon was depping for me in this slot a fortnight ago, for which I’m grateful); the 10-year-old is second from the right in the above photo. The event has a double-page spread in the local paper — on sale in Ilkley and the surrounding area till Wednesday, but for most of you it’s probably easier to read the article online. I hosted a Q&A with the director and dance teacher after the screening, which means there’s also a picture with me in it — and a caption with the name I’m known by IRL, for anybody curious.
Across
1a Pay Bill to give Greek character a lift close to pub (4,2,3,3)
PICK UP THE TAB: Ignore the capital letter on ‘Bill’. The character is a letter in the Greek alphabet. If you were giving them a lift then you’d need to drive to an arranged meeting point and collect them. Put that together as a phrase and end with the closing letter of ‘pub’ — which handily brings to mind the kind of place where you might pay a bill like this.
Pic credit: Timothy Hales Bennett
9a Audibly blooming vulgar (3,4)
OUT LOUD: I spent ages trying to find a synonym of ‘vulgar’ which sounded like something meaning ‘blooming’ — but as you can see from the underlining, that isn’t how this clue works. It’s just a term meaning ‘blooming’ (as in being in flower, not the expression of annoyance) and one for ‘vulgar’.
10a Namby-pamby lawyer and cleaner swapping starters (7)
MILKSOP: For the lawyer here we need a metonym used for a particular category of barrister. The cleaner is the device used for cleaning something, not the person who does it. Swap round their first letters to get the answer.
11a Theatre worker‘s shift possibly next to emergency room (7)
DRESSER: This theatre worker surprised me by uncryptically working in an actual theatre, rather than an operating theatre or a theatre of war! We need what a shift can be an example of, followed by the abbreviation used in America for an emergency room.
12a Business that’s turning over, or folding? (7)
ORIGAMI: This is a cryptic definition of an activity which involves steps of repeaedly folding and turning over a particular item.
13a Registers rested soldiers coming back (5)
ROTAS: We need a past-tense verb for what somebody may have done when they rested, taking the weight off their feet, then some usual soldiers. Those are combined and then they come back as a whole, from right to left across the grid. The definition and answer are both similar things, but I don’t think they are quite interchangeable.
14a Get Grease hit as DVD’s hidden feature? (6,3)
EASTER EGG: Hit the letters of the first 2 words until they spell out the term used for a surprise extra in, for instance, a DVD or the ‘click here’ blob in my intros.
16a Conversely, Gripper Stebson initially interrupting Lynn? (4,5)
VICE VERSA: Gripper Stebson was the name of a bully in BBC children’s school drama Grange Hill in the 1980s. You don’t need to be aware of that to solve this clue, but knowing that those aren’t just two arbitrary words placed next to each other explains the surface reading — and helps appreciate the setter’s skill in constructing the clue. I couldn’t find evidence of a Lynn in in Grange Hill, but let’s presume one of the background characters was called that. Anyway, we start with the name of some equipment that grips. Then think of a famous person with the surname Lynn; we want their first name, with the initial letter of ‘Stebson’ interrupting it.
I was thinking of Grange Hill last week because the head cook retired from the 10-year-old’s primary school. (When the pupils return after the Easter holidays, meals will be outsourced.) I made her a leaving card featuring the iconic sausage from the programme’s opening titles — partly because of the obvious school dinner reference, but also because she’s called Mrs McCluskey.
19a Tense argument about hotel price (5)
WORTH: Abbreviate ‘tense’ to the single-letter I’ve only encountered it being in crosswords, follow that by an argument, turn the combination about to reverse it, and end with the letter represented by ‘hotel’ in the Nato alphabet.
21a Stop aunt cycling in school (7)
STAUNCH: Cycle the letters of ‘aunt’ by moving them all along one position and putting the letter that falls off back on the opposite end. Even allowing for the possibiliy of doing this multiple times, for a 4-letter word, there are only 3 possibily arrangements. Put one of them inside the abbreviation for ‘school’ seen, for instance, on maps.
23a Dissenter‘s quote on closure of church retracted (7)
HERETIC: We need: another verb meaning to quote something (especially in an academic paper); a Latin term meaning ‘on’ (as in, ‘on the subject of’); and the closing letter of ‘church’. Retract the whole thing by reversing it.
24a Was of help to five in car club – one steered (7)
AVAILED: The ‘car club’ here is one of the UK’s motoring organizations commonly known by its initials. We have to put the Roman numeral for five inside it, and given the result has to be pronouncable in English, that very much favours one of the car clubs over the other. Follow with the Roman numeral for one and then a word meaning ‘steered’ or being in charge of which direction a group went in.
25a Ploughing up to date? (7)
TILLAGE: This made me laugh when I finally got it: the definition is a gerund made up of a preposition meaning ‘up to’ and a verb meaning ‘date’ in the sense of determining how old something is.
26a Appropriate when American con is in good nick (3,2,1,6)
FIT AS A FIDDLE: Enter in order, with each component of the clue aligning with the word breaks in the answer: a synynym for ‘appropriate’ or ‘suitable’ (for a particular purpose); another word for ‘when’, especially in crosswords; an abbreviation for ‘American’ — the enumeration indicates which one; another word for a con or swindle
Down
1d Case is conspicuous when going around island (7)
PATIENT: Think of a word for ‘conspicuous’ or ‘obvious’ and put it around the single-letter abbreviation for ‘island’ to make a case for a certain type of professional.
2d Courses cooked for wealthy king (7)
CROESUS: Cook the letters of ‘courses’ to arrange them into the name of somebody who was a king several hundred years BC in a place that I hadn’t even realized had kings. His Wikipedia page says he wasn’t actually called this anyway — though I don’t suppose having to put ‘Qλdãns’ in the grid would’ve made things any easier.
3d European articles deteriorate in drawers, perhaps (9)
UNDERWEAR: The articles here are grammatical. We need two of them, each in a different European language. End with a synonym of ‘deteriorate’.
Pic credit: Nuno Silva
4d Rhythm in work by The Police rising (5)
TEMPO: Here we need the usual work and the shortened name of a well-known police force. Make the whole lot rise by entering it up the grid to get a word which informally could be used similarly to ‘rhythm’.
5d Periodically, we’re slyly held up by US president, elusive and slippery (3-4)
EEL-LIKE: ‘Periodically’ here indicates taking non-consecutive letters at a regular period — which, as usual, turns out to be a period of 2. The first letter could be one we take or one that we skip, with the pattern continuing from there. Doing either with ‘we’re slyly’ yields an unlikely series of letters, but one of them can be followed with the nickname of a US president to give the answer.
6d In danger, only 50 per cent of cheats cheat (2,5)
AT STAKE: Take 50% of the word ‘cheats’. End with a word that can also mean ‘cheat’, especially if followed by ‘in’. The whole phrase is adjectival, describing something that could be lost.
7d Solver rapidly worked out Jack Straw’s former role (4,5,4)
LORD PRIVY SEAL: I’d forgotten that Jack Straw had had this title for a year, among other roles he’s probably better known for. And I spent some time pondering historical uses of straw, but it’s actually an anagram: work out the letters of ‘solver rapidly’.
8d Youngster bound to be supported by Coward (6,7)
SPRING CHICKEN: We need another word for ‘bound’ as in making a leap, and an informal term for a coward; ignore the capital letter.
Pic credit: Allan Warren
15d Something tasty from The Gap – it’s new (9)
SPAGHETTI: Put the letters of ‘The Gap — it’s’ in a new order.
17d Bread produced by man at one (7)
CHAPATI: Two food clues in a row. This one’s easier to work out from right-to-left: end with the Roman numeral for one; before that put ‘at’ from the clue; and start with another word for a man, using the number of letters you have left.
18d Virginia shown up, very tired as usual (7)
VANILLA: Start with the 2-letter code for Virginia. Then we need a phrase meaning ‘very tired’ or ‘exhausted’ (usually preceded by “I’m”). Show the phrase upwards by reversing it, and put that after the state code to get a colloquial term for the usual or ordinary version of something — because it’s the default option in a particular context:
19d Sang sweetly – and brawled unexpectedly (7)
WARBLED: Put the letters of ‘brawled’ in an unexpected order.
20d Partly upset apple-cart, ardently struggling to get ahead? (3,4)
RAT RACE: Upset not only the apple-cart but also ‘ardently’ by writing them from bottom to top, then extract part of that to get the answer. Is this a definition by example? The answer is a noun in which one struggles to get ahead, but I can’t quite get the parts of speech to match as synonyms. Regardless, the answer is clear and this clue put a massive smile on my face — fantastic wordplay from the setter.
22d Monster‘s heads you don’t relish attacking, first of all (5)
HYDRA: Spell out the answer with the first letter of the rest of the words in the clue.
Quickie Pun
In today’s Quick Crossword the first 3 clues are italicized, indicating that their answers when read aloud together can be made to sound like another word or phrase. 1a was unknown to me. If you want to check, here are the answers and pun:
PEAT + TUCK + HOOK = PETER COOK
I found a suitable video for the answer, but when I attempted to include it, it gave a message saying that embedding on other websites isn’t allowed, and I’ve run out of time to find an alternative, so you’ll have to click to see it. Actually, this one will nearly(!) do:
Yep, tough for a Monday, but getting all the long ones early made it doable.
Don’t really get 14a, so will see the hint.
Has anyone else had a nasty coughy cold with no raised temperature for over a week, just wondering if it could be a strain of covid?
Yes, number 2 daughter recently had Covid just like that, and only knew because she tested. Was almost three weeks before it was completely gone.
Yes! Most unpleasant and has pretty much grounded me for days and made just about everything trickier than usual, including crosswords. Not tested but I suspect Mr C. I hope you get over it soon. I’m definitely on the up now.
I thought a tad tougher than the usual Monday at **/***. 2d was one I had to dig deep for and Smyler’s hints helped to fully understand 14&22a. I thought 1d a bit of a stretch in meaning although of course within limits. 18a was the trickiest for me although 6d my LOI. Thanks hinter and setter.
Clearly a wavelength thing, Smylers, for I had the fortune to tune-in from the off and there was very little to delay a swift and untroubled completion. Some lovely and imaginative clueing, good surfaces, an ideal Monday morning challenge. Honours to 10a, 12a, 16a (for using a “real” name so well) and 22d (surface).
Many thanks to the setter and Smylers.
PS – The Quickie pun brings to mind yesterday’s Sunday Times cryptic, which had wonderful Campbell-esque top and bottom puns and certainly raised a broad smile!
A real name of beyond the knowledge of many younger solvers.
Hi AL
Crosswords are forever referencing people and events from days of yore to keep the punters happy which they do. I’m sure you are aware that 90%, if not 95%, of solvers are over 50. So, to keep this huge majority happy, a tiny minority suffer.
Seeing Gripper’s name put a huge smile on my face but, ironically, I will be in the minority with that one,
Quite, Tom. One of the reasons I thought this clue so very good was that as a solver you really didn’t need to know who (or indeed what) Gripper Stebson is/was – the clue read well whether one was in a state of amused awareness or bemused ignorance.
So many crosswords require one to know as answers the names of films / directors / actors / songs / poets / playwrights etc from the early 20th century or earlier, that for me a clue like this, where the culture reference is specific to a period but irrelevant to the solution, is welcome and refreshing! My problem is going to be when they start referencing pop music and films from the last 20 years …
I can’t wait for an answer being, say, the rapper Lil Pump.
It would be totes hilaire.
Monotonous songsmith’s attraction weak for the Reverend! (3,4)
Get yourself to rookie’s corner pronto, MG!
TDS65. I’m not sure if AL is complaining about the fictional character name in the clue or the reference to the “real surname” (Vera) Lynn; or maybe both are before/way before his time? But you only need knowledge of VL to work out the cryptic word-play.
You’re probably right, Jose (long time no speaketh, btw. I hope you’re well). My point still applies, of course.
She was a TRUE legend who racked up 103 years on this rock we inhabit. Her album, released when she was 100, was denied top spot in the charts by Mr Sheeran and Drake.
Isn’t that just a brilliant top 3!
Happy (and not in the least concerned) to say I could not name a single piece of work by Mr Sheeran – of whom at least I have heard – or Drake, whoever/whatever he/she/they/it is/are. But I do have some drakes in the freezer …
Gosh, you really are in trouble when they or their work appear in crosswords.
Drake, is arguably, one of the top five artists this century, along with Ed, Adele, Taylor and Kendrick (Eminem was mainly 95/05)
His stats and impact are off the charts, so to speak.
I believe Adele performed one of the Bond themes, ‘Sky-faw’ comes to mind. A blank on the rest – is Taylor the Swift lady? And Kendrick? No idea without googling, sorry Tom.
Today’s Times theoretically needed a C17th English poet and politician. Fortunately the answer was very biffable in a similar state of ignorance!
Well, there’s the full gamut, right there.
Filppin’ eck Tucker!!
Every school must have had a Gripper.
GH v cutting edge at the time which made a welcome change from cushy Blue Peter and the like! Still an all time favourite!
Tom you didn’t disappoint – ear to ear grin here too on hearing his name.
Just say no!!
Good shout, Todge.
Being 13 at the time, it had a huge impact on me.
I loved it.
I found this Monday guzzle harder than last Friday’s. Like Smylers I got only teoclues on the first pass, both at the bottom the bottom filled up slowly and the top even more slowly. The Lego clues at 26a and 9d were two of my favourites and I liked the wealthy king anagram at 2d. However some of the parsing was a complete mystery and it was with a feeling of surprise that I actually completed the grid. So I shal now consult the hints–thank you Smylers. Thanks ro the compiler for your efforts..
I really enjoyed that even though it was more difficult than we’ve come to expect on a Monday. 2d was first in and 20d last in. I see I’m in good company with Smylers in failing to see the lurker. I seem to have a problem with lurkers! I needed help to parse 12a and 18d as well. I loved all the peripheral clues and together they’ve squeezed onto the podium and are fighting it out. Many thanks to our setter and Smylers.
Apologies to Smylers. I failed to read and understand your hint correctly.
This all fell in quite nicely with no sleeping policemen to slow things down.
At least I now know the maximum age of the setter as the majority of people over 60 wouldn’t have heard of Gripper Stebson (a great character). Talking of ‘never heard of’….the term in 14a has been added to the crib sheet.
I like the Spoonerism alternative ‘swapping starters’ in 10a which is on my podium with 19a and 23a (very neat). Namby pamby is a great expression.
I’ve come across some easy anagrams in my time and 19d is right up there with them.
Many thanks to the setter and Smylers.
2*/4*
Being exactly 60 – well plus a few months, I can confirm your comment. Never heard of Gripper Stebson, but was vaguely aware of the alternative meaning of the answer to 14a. I found this crossword much tougher than the usual Monday fare but did eventually solve it which was very satisfying although i didnt understand the parsing of 18d until i read the comments
Apart from the original villain, Doyle, I remember Booga Benson and Imelda Davies but that’s it.
Phil Redmond is a genius.
For me, this was very hard and took ages to break into, I needed a couple of hints to get to the end. The outside clues were clever. Having read the comprehensive hints I think I am just having a bad day, although I still think this is tougher than we expect on a Monday and probably should be later in the week.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
The days when Monday meant light delights from the likes of Rufus, Campbell and Robyn seem to be long gone.
My rating for today’s offering is 3*/3*.
I’ve never heard of Gripper Stebson. I’d have gone for Gloria Swanson, as being more in keeping with Vera Lynn.
If I were a politician, I’m not sure I would want to be called 7d.
Many thanks to the setter (X-Type, as a guess?) and to Smylers.
Gloria doesn’t work as “Gripper” gives you the first part of the answer. To know the character you really need to have been born in quite a narrow age-band!
Yes, of course. I obviously wasn’t born in the requisite age-band!
It was one of those clues where I switched off as the surface seemed meaningless using what looked to me like a silly made-up name.
Thank goodness for the ‘delayed’ start to the week with Mr Plumb on Tuesday’s!
Agree, I really miss the those friendly Mondays.
RD, 16a. No knowlege of the character Gripper Stebson is required to parse the clue (I’ve never heard of him eihter). Gripper Smith would have worked too. Goria Swanson wouldn’t work because Gloria isn’t a synonym of “vice”. A fine clue, I thought, but probably more suited to a Toughie puzzle rather than a Monday backpager.
Thanks to our setter for the enjoyable (and trickier than usual) Monday puzzle and many thanks to Smylers for the entertaining review complete with 14a.
Add me to those who have never heard of Gripper Stebson (a character played by Ronald Reagan in a film rang a bell but I think he was Gipper rather than Gripper).
My ticks went to 10a, 21a and 20d.
The same opening comment as RD! However, quite enjoyable while trying to suppress thoughts that this was not what a Monday puzzle should be – 2.5*/4*
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 26a, 4d, 8d, and 18d – and the winner is 8d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Smylers.
Can’t say this one would number amongst my favourite Monday puzzles & I too had the same thoughts as RD in his opening remark. I did like the peripheral long ‘uns however & like Mhids they would be my picks. Remembered the Grange Hill bully & the king who wasn’t short of a bob or two though had to wait for the 9a checker before deciding which order the first two vowels in his name went in. Would love to have seen the great Freddie Jones playing Sir & Tom Courtenay as Norman on stage in Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser (11a) but did see Ken Stott & Reece Shearsmith in a revival at The Duke of York a number of years later – loved the film adaptation too.
Thanks to the setter (reckon RD’s punt on the money) & to Smylers for his usual very thorough review.
Hi H
If it helps, the word ‘roe’ is in the king’s name who probably had an abundance of it when scoffing caviar.
Funny really, I too had only managed two first time round and started to curse Mondays with a vengeance, but second time through, in just ▩▩▩▩ ▩▩▩▩▩▩ I had finished. Nine days in a row completed which gives me satisfaction but little pleasure.
Hi, Alasdair. Thanks for your comment, and well done on your completions. Please see Big Dave’s Etiquette Guide point 6 for why I’ve censored some of your comment.
I’m in the tough for a Monday camp, but once a handhold had been made, it went together relatively smoothly apart from 9a where I spent far too long looking for a vulgar flower. 2d reminds me of Harry King, a character in Terry Pratchet’s Discworld novels, being described as being as “rich as creosote” . My podium is 10a, 4d and 22d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Smylers.
“Rich as creosote” immediately sprang to my mind, too – crops up in quite a few of the books. Harry King, a great character: the leopard can change his shorts …
I didn’t participate last Monday as I was on holiday and beyond the realm of the paper edition. I’ve tried on line and it’s not the same. I therefore thought that today’s offering was a challenge , especially for the start of the week. 14a never heard of it in this context (I need to get out more). No real favourite clue as it was all a bit of a chore. Where’s Steve these days btw?
Steve’s wife died recently, Big Eck and, understandably, he has other things on his mind apart from crossword blogs. He has said, he wouldn’t be ccommenting for a while. We are allthinking of you , Steve, hope you are in good heaith.
Very sorry to hear that my heart goes out to him and thanks for your post. I always enjoyed reading Steve’s comments which were usually first up .. a bit of a bellwether.
A Monday puzzle that seemed trickier than the norm IMHO (and as noted in several of the comments too).
A couple of quite tricky clues as well as a couple of chestnuts too.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites include 1a, 11a, 16a, 26a, 7d & 22d — with winner 1a … made me laugh too.
Smiles for 11a, 26a (I liked the American con part!) & 8d
Thanks to setter & Smylers
This was very nearly a DNF for me but I persevered with 6d my LOI.
I needed Smylers hints to parse 12a as I was looking too deeply into it and for 18d as I just couldn’t see it.
Although of the pertinent age group, I never watched Grange Hill but was ok with the concept of 14a and Vera Lynn.
Top picks for me were 3d, 8d and 10a.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
I can only agree this late in the day that this was a tad harder than usual for a Monday but it was certainly enjoyable enough. Grange Hill was never on my radar but the surface of that clue was excellent and my favourite.
Many thanks to both setter and Smylers.
Not the usual light Monday but I was on wavelength and didn’t find it too bad , a bit chewy in places but enjoyable. I didn’t know the nickname for the US president so nice to learn something. 10a is a lovely word which I always forget, so spent a while pondering that one. I hadn’t seen the comment that Steve’s wife had died so that’s sad to hear. He’s seems such a lovely chap , always welcoming newcomers and upbeat, so hope he’s doing ok. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
I too found this quite a challenge with 6d LOI and holding out for me to check the hints! Otherwise, the south fell more easily than the north. Favourites were 16a and 6d. Looks like gentle starts to the week are over.
Thanks to setter and Smylers
Not much fun with this one today, certainly not the wished for gentle Monday start to the week. I don’t think I’ve ever seen “hit” as an anagram indicator, per 14a. Several answers I achieved despite the clues. Feel sorry for any first timers today who probably won’t return after staring at this one for too long. Surprised that I didn’t do better having got 3 of the long 4 outside answers. Thanks to setter and Smylers. Fingers crossed we have a treat in store for tomorrow.
I’m with Mustafa G
I did this one with nary a worry and expected usual Monday commentary but there you are!
Horses for wavelengths
Very late in today having spent all my time being instructed in the workings of my underfloor heating system by a ‘heating wizard’ whom I had to pay to travel across from Leicester. Very knowledgeable guy and hopefully my heating is finally working correctly having been ‘away with the fairies’ for the best part of 12 months. Anyway, I digress – on to the puzzle –
First read through convinced me that this wasn’t what I’d expect to get on a Monday and it would seem that others have felt the same way. A cleverly constructed puzzle but one that perhaps didn’t score very highly for the enjoyment factor. Top three for me were 26a plus 4&8d.
Thanks to our setter and to Smylers for the review.
Slow to start but picked up pace – 25a is a great clue, thank you compiler and Smylers your illustrations are fabulous!
Yes not as straightforward as usual for a Monday. Strangely Smylers say he struggled with 9a however that was my first in and I expected the rest to be just as solvable. The answer given for 16d is missing a letter.
Thanks, Cooperman. There isn’t a 16d, but I have checked and seen that it’s 15d’s hidden answer that’s missing a letter — which is somewhat balanced out by 17d’s hidden answer having an extra letter. I shall get them both tweaked shortly.
Whatever happened to ´Gentle Mondays’! Surely we should be eased into the new week? Thank you for your help Smylers. Was much needed.
A tough start to the week as has become the norm.
3*/4*
I find that the word play can be difficult to interpret, GK a little obscure and some fairly complicated reversals/deletions. But it’s always a satisfying solve and great fun.
1a fav today.
Thanks to setter and Smylers
I thought it was just me still suffering from the tail end of the lurgy that laid me low yesterday, but like work today, I struggled through with help from Smylers excellent hints. Maybe the fact that we don’t get a toughie on a Monday allows backpagers to up the difficulty a bit.
N/M all is fair in the eternal battle between setters and solvers
Not the easiest of Monday crossword fare. The eastern half of the grid was completed fairly quickly but the western half a tad more difficult. I recognised 7d as an anagram but being one of the less obvious appointments I sneaked a look at his biographical details. Other than that I think I managed to complete the rest of the grid without reference to either the hints or any other materials, although very slow on 26a. Thank you to the setter and Smylers for the hints.
Thanks for the comments so far, everybody. Personally I love clues like 16a when they feature cultural knowledge that I’ve encountered — and as such I’m more than happy to accept that means that there will also be that sort of clue where the references are unknown to me; I think that’s a price worth paying.
And as a solver I don’t mind crosswords on Mondays not being easier than on other days of the week. (Though as a hinter, that might be a different matter!) I like crosswords; some I’m going to find easier or harder than others, and I’m fine with that not corresponding to a particular day of the week. I do think it’s important that there are crosswords which are accessible to new solvers, but it doesn’t follow that those which experienced solvers complete the fastest are the most beginner-friendly.
I agree with those who’ve suggested this was an X-Type production; writing the hints this week felt similar to last week, in a way that’s hard to put into words.
Commiserations to commenters who’ve suffered either coronavirus or something else unpleasant recently, and a swift recovery to those still afflicted.
Nobody’s yet complained about the link to my real-life name, nor the ‘alternative’ video for the quickie pun — maybe you’re all too polite?
Cheap Hotel (at 19a) were a band I saw on the same bill as Amy Macdonald at a small venue in 2007 (neither of them were headlining). I was impressed with them, especially considering I hadn’t known of their existence till they appeared on stage. Their name made them particularly hard to search the web for — there are so many sites trying to get you to book supposedly cheap hotels — but it looks like New York might have been both their debut and only single, so presumably they weren’t arund for long.
No complaints from me about A bit of “Hooky” and as you said he is only a consonant away from the right Peter.
You are teasing us with your IRL name but no problem. If Light wants to remain anonymous in his toughies I won’t push it, and I respect your discretion on posting snippets about your family.
Monday continues to be the new Friday. A lot of guess the the answer then reverse engineer or in several cases fail to reverse engineer. 12a was a bung in a I couldn’t justify the word business as was 14a as I’d never heard of it used to mean that, needed the hint to parse 18a and 18d. I did think about giving up at one point but persevered. I’ve done easier toughies. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Well this seemed trickier as mentioned by others, but seeing my time it wasn’t so bad 2.5* / 3.5*.
Some good clues, I liked all the big ones, but not convinced by 18d
Thanks to setter and Smylers
Oof! Not the usual Monday puzzle. Thanks to Smylers and the setter- this was **** difficulty for me. Some fun clues with good brain stretch but some were tricky and I definitely needed the hints! Tomorrow is another day!
Not one for me. Managed half then fell asleep. Don’t get 14a. I know it’s an anagram but what’s it got to do with DVDs? Thanks to Smylers.
Having just finished now, at after 3 a.m., I have the same question (re 14a).
Thanks to Smylers for the comprehensive, and very necessary, explanations.
Hi, both. It isn’t specific to DVDs; that’s just an example of where they may be found. The term is used for a treat that has been hidden in some way by the creators and that most people wouldn’t spot without looking for it. I’ve encountered it more with computer software; for example, in the 1990s in Microsoft Excel there was an unlikely code that if you typed into a cell (then did a couple of other things), a flight simulator appeared!
For a modern (and simpler) example, search Google for “askew” and look at the results page. Or search it for “Paddington”, look what appears at the bottom, then click that to see what happens. Some DVDs have hidden bonuses when you press unlikely keys at particular menus; for example, here’s a list of them in The Incredibles 2.
I presume the term is by analogy with real-world 14a hunts, where somebody just walking past wouldn’t notice the hidden chocolate; you have to actively seek it out.
Agree with the comments of Flyboy and Taylor Gibson (and a fair few other commentators). Enjoyed the eastern half but could not solve (or needed big help for) seven of the western half. Thanks to the setter and Smylers. ***/***
3*/3* …
enjoyed the “Grease” track in the hints to 14A
Thank you — it got played at every student disco I went to in the 90s, but I’m not sure I’ve heard it sense.
😊