Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30898
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to, for me, a DNF 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. 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 Is scared to play titular Shakespearean character (8)
CRESSIDA: An anagram (to play) of IS SCARED
5a Sorry continent gets 50 per cent reduced funding (6)
AFRAID: A big continent minus its last half (gets 50% reduced) with funding or assistance
10a Despotic ruler is evil, their banter staggering (4,3,8)
IVAN THE TERRIBLE: An anagram (staggering) of EVIL THEIR BANTER
11a Work for almost zero payment ultimately (7)
PRODUCT: Link together for or “in favour of”, all but the last letter (almost) of a zero score in cricket, and the last letter (ultimately) of PAYMENT
12a Sheep, perhaps those looking to cross river (7)
GRAZERS: People who might be looking steadily and intently, containing (to cross) the single letter for river
13a Gross type of celebrity, one believing destiny's inevitable (8)
FATALIST: Gross or overweight with the top tier type of celebrity
15a Great PM at one time (5)
MAJOR: The surname of a fairly recent Conservative Prime Minister can mean great
18a Notice record temperature, becoming expert (5)
ADEPT: Cement together a short word for a notice that might be selling something, a record between a single and an LP, and the physics symbol for temperature
20a Band on the radio yearn to introduce swing (4,4)
LONG WAVE: Yearn or ache with a synonym of swing
23a Mad panic gripping old reservists and army officer (7)
CAPTAIN: An anagram (mad) of PANIC containing a now outdated abbreviation for a reserve soldiering force
25a Swimmer from country husband visits each year (7)
PIRANHA: The combination of a Middle Eastern country and the single letter for husband is inserted in (visits) an abbreviation meaning each year
26a Shy person using psychiatrist, not half making bloomer (9,6)
SHRINKING VIOLET: Concatenate an informal word for psychiatrist, one half (not half) of MAKING, and a type of flower
27a Author for instance with hesitant remarks (6)
SAYERS: A synonym of “for instance” with some exclamations expressing hesitation
28a Anti-corrosive coating left off submarine (8)
UNDERSEA: An anti-corrosive coating you might apply to the bottom of your car, minus the single letter for left (left off)
Down
1d Texture, say, of cooked duck and game King overlooks (6)
CRISPY: A (1,3) children’s game is preceded by the Latin abbreviation for King Charles
2d Fancy beer revolutionary British soldiers gulped down (9)
ELABORATE: Put together the reversal (revolutionary) of a type of beer, the single letter for British, some usual abbreviated soldiers, and “gulped down” or consumed
3d Mandarin in a loose jacket, easily removed? (7)
SATSUMA: Not immediately seeing how to parse this one, and I need to go to bed. So, over to the commentariat …
4d Remained with German newspaper that is to disappear (5)
DWELT: One of the serious German newspapers (not Die Zeit) with the Latin abbreviation for “that is” deleted (to disappear)
6d Company receiving attention? Maybe it's automatic (7)
FIREARM: Another word for a company containing (receiving) another word for attention
7d Walk better without frame (5)
AMBLE: A person who places bets minus their outer letters (without frame)
8d Doctors keeping smaller, but not large, kitchen furniture (8)
DRESSERS: The plural of an abbreviation for doctor is containing (keeping) a synonym of smaller minus the single letter for large (not large).
9d Number will stop female getting raise (8)
HEIGHTEN: A number less than ten is inserted in (will stop) a female chicken
14d State of flooring inside villa is so regularly ignored (8)
ILLINOIS: An informal contraction of a type of floor covering is inserted in (inside) alternate letters (regularly ignored) of VILLA IS SO
16d Young animals Julie, not quite seven, trained (9)
JUVENILES: An anagram (trained) of all but the last letter (not quite) of JULIE and SEVEN
17d Skinful essentially before Oscars I suspect causes drowsiness (8)
NARCOSIS: The centre letter (essentially) of SKINFUL comes before an anagram (suspect) of OSCARS I
19d Shoe one racehorse needs? (7)
TRAINER: This type of casual shoe is also something that a racehorse needs to deliver on their potential
21d Military wife right to wear uniform (7)
WARLIKE: The single letter for wife is followed by the single letter for right inserted in (to wear) uniform or “the same”
22d Repeated phrase informant rashly employs (6)
MANTRA: The answer is hidden in (… employs) INFORMANT RASHLY
24d Why it's said informal speaker returns for celebration (5)
PARTY: The letter that sounds (it’s said) like “why” is followed by an informal word for speaker or mouth, and that’s all reversed (… returns)
25d Irreligious old man Harry upset (5)
PAGAN: An informal word for your old man or father with the reversal (upset, in a down clue) of harry or pester
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: CAW + TAN + BOLD = CAUGHT AND BOWLED
I found this one vaguely annoying rather than entertaining, but no idea why, perhaps it’s just me.
Got the two long ones early so that seemed to help, does sorry mean afraid, probably, but I’ve never thought of it that way, maybe as in ‘we’ve run out of milk I’m afraid’
Glad to finish it through, hope others liked it, just not one for me today.
A 3d (mandarin orange) is what is known as an easy-peeler as it is easy to remove it’s ‘coat’
Thanks, Sue. “Easy-peelers” are not a thing over here.
3*/4.5*. What a beautiful finish to the crosswording week! I found it nicely challenging and super-smooth.
I can only make sense out of the surface for 9d if the “raise” is American, and is “one” really needed in 19d?
My very crowded podium selection is 11a, 12a, 20a, 28a, 4d, 6d & 25d but many more also came under consideration.
Many thanks to Silvanus for surely he must be the author of this splendid compilation. Thanks too to Mr K.
In answer to Mr K’s request re 3d. The answer is a fruit which is an easy-peeler.
Thank you, RD.
Without “one” in 19d, it wouldn’t be a Double Definition, as “racehorse needs” would not be an adequate (or satisfactory) clue for the second definition.
I’ve responded to your point about “raise” below.
Many thanks, Silvanus. Yes, that makes sense about “one” in 19d.
I agree with tipcat, it was annoying. I got a bit stuck because is wrote in narcotic for 17d. All in all not very enjoyable
As a tip, you will never see just “causes drowsiness” in a Telegraph puzzle to clue “narcotic”, say, without a subject before the verb. It would need to say “it causes drowsiness” or “that causes drowsiness”, for example. I hope that may save you some time and reduce your annoyance for future puzzles!
Totally agree. The correct part of speech is essential in parsing a crossword solution.
A perfectly smooth end to the crosswording week, it must be the work of Silvanus – 3*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 27a, 28a, 2d, 3d, 4d, and 22d – and the winner is 27a.
Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever in the very unlikely event that it is not he, and thanks to Mr K.
An illustration for 3d:
This was a bit of a slog although I finished. 3d is problematic as the mandarin is sold in some supermarkets as an easy peeler and the fruit in the answer is not necessarily easier to peel than a mandarin. In response to RD I took the ”one” in the clue to indicate that the answer did not have a final ”s” as the word would normally have. Having read the hints I realise that I parsed 11a incorrectly but arrived at the correct solution.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I fou d it difficult to get a start with this difficult guzzle but, once I got the long across clues, things speeded up .As is usual for me with this compiler, I found the clues hsrd to fathom. However, once some checkers went in, I could fill in quite a few clues using the definition and educated guesswork. Most of the parsing was done retrospectively. I liked the anagram, the 18a missing letter clue, the 13a Lego clue andthe 26a cryptic definition. Thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K for the hints, which I shall read now as there are still some clues I can’t parse , although I’ve finished thecrossword.
I found todays crossword less difficult than yesterdays’, and much more enjoyable. My podium consists of 20a, 4d and the clear winner 13a. Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
In a polar opposite of yesterday it was the north that I struggled with today, while the south went in with relative ease. The long ones, both old chestnuts, helped considerably though the whole thing was solver in a very haphazard fashion. Favourite, once I’d unravelled it, was 1d which made me smile. Podium places for 27a and 2d. Thanks to our setter and Mr K.
A top class Friday puzzle – many thanks to our setter and Mr K.
I have masses of ticks on my printout including 5a, 25a, 26a, 4d, 7d and 25d.
A great finish to the week which I didn’t find too taxing other than the North West. Mr Smooth is in fine form with not a weak surface to be seen.
I’m not sure what RD means about raise being American? I must be missing something.
My podium is 1a, 10a and 23a.
Many thanks to Mr S and Mr K
3*/5*
In 9d, the use of raise to mean ‘pay rise’ is an Americanism. RD’s gripe(?) was about the surface read, not the definition.
‘Raise’ American? Maybe it was yonks ago but it’s been used on these shores for decades.
I suppose it’s down to the old classic….Where solvers draw the line for when an American indicator is required.
RD is certainly in the camp of needing it to be used a lot. I’m very much in the other camp.
I don’t believe you need an indicator *at all* if it’s just part of the surface read, and the surface does not form part of either the definition or word-play.
Hi Karona
Did you think ‘utes’ needed one yesterday?
I very much do as it’s not used in this country. So, 9 out of 10 solvers wouldn’t have heard of it which I don’t think is right. At least saying ‘in Australia’ gives you a glimmer of hope.
Agree, we set sail in 1982 and we talked about getting a pay “raise” all the time, mostly in hope 😊. Especially after the big pay “freeze” era. But we did benefit by getting a company car instead.
I’m with you Tom on wondering why 9d might be considered to be American.
Thank you!
I tend to agree with RD – despite the BRB adding “esp. N. American” for raise as a noun, I think (and hope) most Brits would still use “rise” instead for a salary increase, despite it coming under threat from its transatlantic alternative. “Raise” strikes me as being very American, but it didn’t stop me using it! I wonder what Canadians use? Senf?
Knowing your interest in all things etymological, I’ve noticed in recent years two other Americanisms that have gained huge traction over this side of the Pond. Firstly, “deck” (which the BRB still says is US usage) for a pack of cards. I think I first heard Paul Daniels using “deck” in the 1980s, but I don’t think Bruce Forsyth ever used anything but “pack” in Play Your Cards Right! These days, whether to look cool or for some other reason, one will invariably hear a British magician using “deck” rather than “pack”. Secondly, “named for” seems to be supplanting “named after” in another creeping Americanism. As in “my daughter is called Diana, named for the late princess”. What is wrong with “named after”? Nothing, as far as I can see. I suppose it’s all part of the evolution of language, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it!
Hi S
‘Named for’ is a huge no-no for me as ‘for’ means ‘on behalf of’. I can’t see that one winning the day.
Our Brucie used ‘pack’ to make a rhyme……”I’m the leader of the pack which makes me such a lucky Jack”
What with ‘Cave in/Cave’ from a few days ago, the BRB does need to get its act together, it really does. I’m beginning to lose respect for it. ‘Deck’ has been around forever. If it’s not too careful, the first B will stand for ‘bygone’.
Thanks for a great puzzle. It must be such fun finding an anagram like 10a.
Keep ’em coming!
Unfortunately, I hear “named for” being used with great regularity, so that particular genie might be out of the bottle.
I never heard “deck” used when playing card games as a youngster. It was always “pack”, 100% certain of that. I think “deck” began to gain traction from hearing it used on British TV shows featuring US acts like Penn and Teller and their predecessors. As I said, I think I first heard Paul Daniels saying it, I’d be surprised if David Nixon and magicians from a generation earlier ever used it.
Yep, it sounds like it crept in in the 80s and, to me, that is long enough. That’s where RD and I differ.
Interesting stuff.
Gutting about ‘named for’.
Sadly – it is very likely that we follow the lead of our Southern neighbours when discussing increases in pay.
But, we still have colours, harbours, and neighbours; however, the missing ‘U’ version does appear quite often and perhaps increasingly.
There is no doubt that Americanisms have wormed their way into our every day language. My granddaughter puts a diaper on her dolls! The raise/rise named for etc. plus making nouns into verbs where good verbs already exist is sad. But probably sad for us oldies more that the youngsters using said words and phrases.
In any case I’m thankful to the setters for providing my enjoyment daily and if they sometimes use such expressions it’s ok by me.
Great puzzle today. 3*/4* and 1d gets my gong. Thanks to all. 😁
Silvanus, I’m a bit off the pace but….
i thought it was a great puzzle, thank you.
I’m a bit of a watcher of language changes, particularly americanisms it seems.
A couple i’ve noticed:
People (especially sportspeople?) are nowadays “excited for the challenge” rather than by the challenge. no thank you
and over a longer term, people, when asked what they would like, say at a cafe have started to “get” a coffee/sandwich rather than have one. also no thank you
Regards
Thank you. Yes, I’ve also noticed those examples you’ve mentioned.
I just want you to know that I read all the contributions, however late they might be!
This was above my abilities today and I needed some hints to finish eg 5a and a couple to understand the parsing eg 3d. I was pleased that I nearly completed it and the hints as ever were helpful and educational.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints
My online thesaurus did overtime today, but perseverance led to a completed grid albeit with some non parsings which I’ll now check. My podium comprises 26a, 28a and 1a in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.
A delightful puzzle to round off the non-working week with plenty of clues attracting ticks. Despite serious culling, I still have an over-laden podium housing 13&26a plus 1,7&14d.
Many thanks to Mr Smooth, Silvanus, and to Mr K for the review.
Quite a jump up in difficulty this morning, with this testing little gem taking me into Toughie time to finish. In review, everything was very fairly clued, so any extra time was entirely due to me not thinking straight, or at least not looking in the right direction. As for a favourite, there are too many to choose from, but my trusty pin selected the clever 28a.
My thanks to Silvanus, apologies to the actual setter if it is not he, and to Mr K.
What a wonderful puzzle for a sunny day. I approached it on a haphazard fashion when the first few were beyond me but then it all fell into place.
Top picks for me were 1d, 11a, 13a, 3d, 9d, 25d and 20a.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
Not the easiest puzzle of the week, that’s for certain, but maybe a tad easier than most Fridays. Lots of parsing I could not reverse engineer even with the answer.
2.5*/3*
Favourites 15a, 18a, 25a, 27a & 19d — with winners 27a & 19d
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
Many thanks to Mr K and to everyone solving and commenting. If someone had asked me which clue might have the blogger struggling, 3d would have been near the bottom of my list! I’ve tried to answer those points raised by individual solvers, but if anyone has any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them.
Have a very good weekend and see you all again soon.
Thank you for your most substantial contribution today, Silvanus, both as setter of an excellent Friday puzzle and also responding to comments. I hope other setters take note. It makes for twice the entertainment.
Thanks for both a fine puzzle and for investing the time to provide detailed explanations. Re 3d, I forgot the association of the answer with ease of peeling.
Great stuff. Perfectly pitched for a Friday and so much to admire.
I struggled a bit with the parsing of 14d and failed to spot the children’s game at 1d.
I loved the informal speaker at 24d.
Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.
Thanks Silvanus for a really Good Friday challenge – the radio band threw me because I immediately assumed some kind of homophone, great clue though. Thanks also to Mr K
I found this a real struggle (in a good way), certainly the hardest of the week. The difficulty increased my enjoyment and the size of some of the PDM’s was impressive. I don’t normally do a read through but in this case I did and I only got 4 across clues and 4 downs. The breakthrough came with 26a. That lead to the south falling and I worked my way north from there. 3d and 7d were last in. The interesting thing was that quite a few once answered led me to question why I found them difficult. Often it’s the ‘accessibility’ of synonyms. In this case, I still felt after answering that clues such as 5a, 11a, 23a, 25a, 1d, 3d, 8d and 21d are what made this the hardest puzzle of the week (for me © etc.).
That’s not a complaint though, I loved the solve and 13a and 1d were laugh out loud moments!
Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.
Does 15a need ‘at one time’ to be a double definition?
A fair point.
Maybe it can be replaced with 10 exclamation marks and 10 question marks.
I almost didn’t try this when I read that Mr K DNF.
But was very pleasantly surprised when I did give it a go…..only needed hints for 3 so I consider that good for me (and only for me, pace Senf and Terence)
Thanks to the setter and to Mr K
3* / 4* Excellent end to the week, plenty of clever clueing and a few I got stuck on for a while, which is as it should be.
Favourites 28a, 4d and 1d
Thanks to MrK and Silvanus
I found this pretty straightforward, just lucky to get on wavelength I suppose. I thought we may be in for a pangram but it was not to be. I really enjoyed this. Favourite was 2d. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr. K.
Well if it’s DNF for Mr K what hope is there for us lesser mortals? At ****, more rough than smooth today, and after solving several clues, it was checkers and guesses the rest of the way. Mostly right guesses, but not much satisfaction when you have to look at several hints to find out why. 26a wins COTD, closely followed by 13a, so some were within my bandwidth. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.
Good afternoon
It’s been a dry week for me, crozzie-wise. I’ve not gone near one all week, which is highly unusual for me, so I had very low hopes for today; my braincell has had no exercise since Sunday!
So I approached today’s grid with great apprehension, and having eventually found a way in, I struggled to get a toe-hold in the bottom half before finally attempting the top half. Some tussles in the NE quadrant meant that my Lucky Green Pen (which I needed, by crikey!) has only just been put away.
COTD is 4d – loved that!
It comes as no surprise to learn that the fabled Brain Of Silvanus has been at work today, so thank you Silvanus for the challenge.
Thank you to Mr K for the hints and explanations; 1, 14, and 24d proved a little tricky to parse.
Assuming I’ve got it all right, it was a near pangram, no Q nor X. Is there something significant about this? Liked the solve, although I didn’t find it as tough as some. On to the Toughies. Thanks
Way beyond me today, just as I feared after the last two days.
Solved 9 clues before grinding to a halt. I’m sure many people are pleased to have two toughies in one day, but I can’t say I am.
Thanks to all.
Pagans will not be happy with 25d. In the UK, and possibly elsewhere, Paganism is recognised as a religion.
Could I suggest that any offended pagans complain to both Chambers and Collins who both include “irreligious” as one of the definitions of 25 Down.
Looking at the blurb below, G, I think all is well.
So, I don’t think any pagans will take offence…
Diverse Traditions:
Paganism isn’t a single religion, but rather a collection of traditions and practices that share a common thread of reverence for nature and the divine within the natural world.
Nature as Sacred:
Many Pagans see nature as sacred and believe that the natural cycles of birth, growth, and death hold profound spiritual meaning.
Polytheistic or Pantheistic:
Many Pagans recognize multiple deities or believe in a divine force that permeates the universe.
Reverence for the Earth:
Paganism often emphasizes a deep connection to the Earth and its inhabitants, with many traditions incorporating rituals and practices that honor the seasons, animals, and plants.
Let’s do a Gazza or CS (and I love ‘em for it)….what did you think of the crossword?
Solved early doors but forgot to post a comment until now. It’s all been said – ticks aplenty & the usual consistent top quality entertainment we’ve come to expect as a given from Smooth Production Ltd.
Thanks to Silvanus & to Mr K
Got to this one late in the day and had fun reading the comments after solving. There are some very interesting and amusing interjections.
I thought it an excellent puzzle, grammatically correct and fairly clued.
No nit-picking from me.
Thanks to Silvanus for popping in, (I agree with all your responses) and to Mr K.
I started this earlier and almost forgot to complete ,as the sun dog walking and a pub visit distracted, so only just completed. A nice and chewy Friday puzzle from Silvanus with some wonderful clues. I got the 2 long clues straight away so that helped a lot. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K
Phew, just finished it, with considerable electronic and some blog help.
Really nice to see Silvanus getting so involved, and thanks MrK for blogging such a tough one.
Got the north (apart from the infamous 9d), but only the long one and 3 or 4 in the south so a bit too difficult for me – although I did miss some easy ones. Enjoyed the comments and Silvanus’ involvement. Thanks to him and Mr K. *****/**
3*/2* …
liked. 7D “Walk better without frame (5)”