Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30904
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I don’t know who set today’s puzzle, but they did an excellent job! (well, except for mangling Ohm’s Law).
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 Put back excavated material (5)
DENIM: The reversal (put back) of a synonym of excavated
4a Sensible meeting hosted by idiot in charge (9)
PRAGMATIC: The abbreviation for a meeting that happens once a year is inserted in (hosted by) another word for idiot, and that’s all followed by the abbreviation for “in charge”
9a Check coach nursed by others (9)
RESTRAINT: A synonym of coach inserted in (nursed by) a synonym of others
10a Abandons ships (5)
JUNKS: A double definition. The ships are oriental
11a Crazy Spooner's far more spaced out (7)
HAYWIRE: Apply the Spooner treatment to a (3, 6) phrase that could mean far more spaced out/under the influence of drugs
12a Designer card headed by short stanza (7)
VERSACE: The playing card that’s a one is preceded by (headed by) all but the last letter (short) of a synonym of stanza
13a Rear of cutter naked barbarians plunder (6)
RAVAGE: The last letter of (rear of) CUTTER with a synonym of barbarians with their outer letters deleted (naked)
15a See April about fruit tree (8)
ESPALIER: An anagram (about) of SEE APRIL
18a Praise of Brussels record is European (8)
EULOGISE: Link together the abbreviation for the entity often referred to as Brussels, a record or list, IS from the clue, and the single letter for European
20a Current = energy/resistance (6)
STREAM: An informal synonym of energy containing (/ = divided by) the physics symbol for resistance
23a Finish gold edges of statue's back (7)
ENDORSE: Join together finish or complete, the heraldic abbreviation for gold, and the outer letters of (edges of) STATUE
24a Very stupid person following US prison poll (7)
CANVASS: The single letter for very and another word for a stupid person both come after a US slang term for prison
26a Fifty on front of ship move stealthily (5)
PROWL: The Roman fifty comes after (on, in an across clue) the bit at the front of a ship
27a Spread stuff around fish inside of diner (9)
MARGARINE: Cement together the reversal (around) of stuff or compress, a usual fish, and the inside letters of DINER
28a Desk D rebuilt with lead bolt (9)
SKEDADDLE: An anagram (rebuilt) of DESK D LEAD
29a Tight berth bishop exchanged with doctor (5)
DRUNK: In a synonym of berth, the chess abbreviation for bishop is replaced by (exchanged with) an abbreviation for doctor
Down
1d Unknown quantity of diamonds on boat reportedly rough (4,5)
DARK HORSE: Put together the playing card abbreviation for diamonds, a biblical boat, and a homophone (reportedly) of rough
2d Inquisitive mobster periodically visits city (5)
NOSEY: Alternate letters (periodically) of MOBSTER inserted in (visits) the abbreviation for a big US city
3d Damage ruler in teacher's pile? (7)
MARKING: A synonym of damage with a male ruler
4d Steep quarry full of silicate essentially (6)
PRICEY: Quarry that’s a predator’s target containing (full of) the central letters (essentially) of SILICATE
5d Protester who might be stuck on the M25? (8)
ACTIVIST: A cryptic definition, referring to M25 protesters equipped with adhesives
6d Island killer tailing pack northwards (7)
MAJORCA: A black and white marine killer comes after (tailing) the reversal (northwards) of pack or compress
7d Provisional shelter hoisted by nameless local (9)
TENTATIVE: A camper’s shelter is followed by another word for a local, with the single letter for name deleted (nameless)
8d Project beginning to enthuse Hindu class (5)
CASTE: Project or throw with the beginning letter to ENTHUSE
14d Criminal loved capital racing venue (9)
VELODROME: An anagram (criminal) of LOVED is followed by a European capital
16d Cut hollow pines below strange wood (4,5)
RUMP STEAK: The outer letters (hollow) of PINES are placed below strange or odd, and that’s all followed by a wood used for outdoor furniture
17d Respected guide meets Edward part-way in ascent (8)
ESTEEMED: The answer is hidden in the reversal of (part-way in ascent) GUIDE MEETS EDWARD
19d Turn 20 with American troop member (7)
GORILLA: Concatenate a turn or attempt, another word for the answer to 20a, and the single letter for American
21d Vessel in reservoir at top of main highway? (7)
TANKARD: A synonym of reservoir comes before (at top of, in a down clue) an abbreviation for a (1,4) phrase describing a main highway
22d Wanting Charlie to stop alarm (6)
SCARCE: The letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphabet by Charlie is inserted in (to stop) alarm or frighten
23d Old experts not having run public displays (5)
EXPOS: Old or former with an informal contraction for some experts, with the cricket abbreviation for run deleted (not having run)
25d Object that's cast in gold I'm splitting (5)
ADIEU: An object that’s cast in some forms of gambling is inserted in the chemical symbol for gold
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: BAY + QUILT + ART = BAKEWELL TART
Slow progress today but gradually nibbled away until completion. Tricky but fairly clued.
Favourite for me – the teacher’s pile at 3d.
Thanks to the setter and Mr K.
Two clues caused me parsing problems, although I had the right answers: 27a and 19d. Only thanks to Mr K’s hint did things become clear. Other than that a very nice Easter puzzle.
Cracking puzzle, a real belter. First glance at 1a/1d suggested it might be a chin-scratcher, but 2d leapt from the page and from there it was swift AC progress and no pauses, finishing with 4d. Great surfaces, imaginative clueing, an amusing and straightforward appearance for The Rev, and the little GK was very accessible.
COTD 20a (though solving 19d first meant it rather leapt from the page), 13a (for the surface) & 21d
Great stuff, thank you Setter. Thanks also to MrK.
No need for comment as the Reverend turned up early. Who will rid me of this turbulent priest or the setters who still think he is a suitable case for treatment?
And the Spoonerisn couldn’t be what is given by Mr K as as it doesn’t work.
Does for me
No way does it work. It can only work when mountain climbing for instance is involved.
Very nearly posted the same😀
Isn’t it a spoonerism of way higher which works with the clue for me?
As with many spoonerisms, in crosswords, the second word is a homophone of higher.
“Higher” as in “high on drugs”.
It works for me – but only if you say it out loud…
C, 11a. I know it’s rather late but when it comes to Spoonerisms I just have to comment. It’s a straightforward and valid spoonerism because:
Far (WAY) more spaced out (HIGHER) = WAY HGHER. Spoonerises to HAYWIRE.
*Far=WAY as in far/way too expensive, for example.
And me, can’t see a problem with it.
Ça marche pour moi aussi.
Spoonerisms are best ignored … especially if I want to keep my BP in order 🥴
Mr K my iPad has stopped displaying your wonderful pics can anyone help?
Sometimes MrK is too busy with his day job to add pictures which is why none of us can see them
What did you think of the crossword?
I’m miss them too…
Three stars for tough? righto Mr K, that was a 5* if ever I saw one.
Nearly gave up before I’d even started it seemed so daunting.
Took ages to get the Ohms law type one, kept trying to squeeze ‘theorem’ into six spaces, but saw the light in the end.
Last one in was 7d, can’t see why though, it seemed obvious when I’d got it.
Great puzzle once it was over, and a very fitting challenge for a bank holiday, well done Mr Setter, take a bow!
Well I don’t wish to reignite the debate about Back-Pager vs Toughie of a few Fridays ago – but this was too hard for me. I did manage to finish, but only with *a lot of* electronic assistance.
However, having cheated a bit on the solve, I was able to parse the solution that I had obtained, and can honestly say that I really appreciated the cleverness of the clue. I will treat this as a learning experience and hope that one day I will be able to solve these puzzles unaided. I do think it was a bit on the “tough” side however.
That said, I enjoyed getting there in the end, so grateful thanks to Mr K and the setter.
A steady solve and what a lovely puzzle it turned out to be. I looked at the grid for 19d with the checkers in place and the answer immediately sprang to mind. Parsing it took a lot longer though as I didn’t believe it would be that word.
28a is such a lovely word.
Top picks for me were 29a, 28a, 20a, 4a, 16d and 1d.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
Crikey we really have been spoilt rotten this week with a 3rd cracker on the bounce following great guzzles from Hudson & Silvanus. Enjoyed this one so much I may even pick it as my fav. An anticlockwise solve round the grid with all the crumpet scratching in the NE extending the solve into ***time. Ticks all over the shop too numerous to list but if pressed 4&11a + 5d secure podium spots with narrow misses for 1&6d + 29a
Thanks to the setter & to Mr K
Ps made the fatal error of applying the update to the puzzles app – not bothered about seemingly losing the completion history stats but I’m going to miss the lady waving the flag & my initial reaction is that the print seems smaller.
An excellent finish to the week that took a bit of teasing out.
I didn’t realise that Brussels was another way of saying this continental set-up though I knew it was based there.
My podium is 1a, 2d and 4a (didn’t know that the splendid term for idiot had only one t)
Many thanks to Mr K and setter.
3*/4*
Hi, Tom. I think ‘Brussels’ gets used as metonymy by newspapers, like in this standfirst from a recent Sunday Telegraph. It isn’t the city itself which is being blamed/trying to impose new rules/making a deal (as applicable), but some institution of the EU.
Thanks S.
Since writing the comment, I now realise I have heard it mentioned occasionally.
I just hadn’t thought about it.
Whilst solving I was thinking this was a little tricky for a Saturday puzzle. It wasn’t until I’d finished and looked to read the hints from CS, that I realised I had jumped a day. Easter weekends always confuse me!
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.
Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.
A very slow start for me but, like others, I kept plugging away until, to my great surprise, I realised I’d finished. There were a number of clues, I couldn’t parse at all and some parsed retrospectively because of the complex nature of the wordplay. For the second day running, I loved the Spoonerism at 11a, together . A sswith the Lego clue at 16d and the anagram at 15a(such a mellifluous word). Thanks to Mr K for the hints and to the compiler. A satisfying solve, if a bit of a slog for me.
What a clever piece of compiling – not an easy solve by any means but very satisfying to complete, I do hope our setter pops in to claim ownership. Impossible to play favourites as I’d have to list almost every clue, including the Quickie pun.
Many thanks to our setter and to Mr K for the review. Hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend.
With some of the ‘obscure’ letters showing up early in my solve, I thought we might be ending up with an X-less pangram until 23d gave up its secret. A very enjoyable solve and I half suspect that it may not be the work of any of the Friday triumvirate – ***/****
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 4a, 1d, 2d, and 4d – and the winner is 4a.
Thanks to whomsoever and Mr K.
A 2d kitty:
Possibly a peeping tom?
😂
Thanks Senf 😊
This was wonderfully fresh and beautifully compiled, with a plethora of superb clues and tidy surfaces. Like Jane, I shall duck out of nominating a favourite as the whole grid was an absolute delight to fill.
My thanks to our setter, (drop in and take a bow) and to Mr K.
Tough for me, but I got there in the end….which was very satisfying.
Thanks to the setter and Mr K.
Got our covid boosters yesterday so feeling a bit fragile ( and sore) today.
It’s a very Good Friday … Brendan (aka Virgilius) is today’s Guardian cryptic setter.
3*/5*. I thought this was excellent – nicely challenging and very cleverly clued. However, it was a puzzle in more ways than one as I can think of good reasons why it was not the work of any of our three regular Friday back-page compilers.
Many thanks to Mr K and to our mystery setter. Please do pop in and reveal yourself.
I found that tough.
And when I’d had enough
Of trying to sleep
I thought I’d creep
To the kitchen for tea
At 5.30.
Then however I tried
I thought my brain cells had died.
That’s ok, they’ve gone to join my brain cells which took one look and said – to quote who know who – “fergitaboutit”.
A top class puzzle – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
I could have picked lots of clues for my podium but I’ll go with 4a, 11a and 3d.
Very unrewarding and a bit of a stretch.for example: 11a A spoonerism on top of a homophone of an expression that I never heard before???. Come on!
Have to agree to differ with those who rated it so highly. ****/*.
Very tough and a dnf for me as I needed Mr K to kick start me when I ground to a halt with only half the grid solved and decidedly lacking in inspiration. Consequently whilst I admire the skill in construction of the puzzle, it’s not one from which I derived much pleasure. Thanks to compiler for the brain mangling and Mr K for the much needed hints.
I must say this Friday puzzle was much more approachable than the Thursday offering. For a Friday, I felt this made up for yesterdays back pager ‘toughie’
A few tricky ones here, but not unfathomable.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites 1a, 10a, 26a, 28a, 7d & 14d — with winner 1a
I liked 28a as a word (smile) as well as 26a & 2d
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
Tough but I go there in the end and I am so glad I did not give up. The clues were slick and clever, I did need to check a couple of parsings. I love the word at 28a and yet again managed the spooner!
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.
I loved it! A fabulous puzzle to finish off a good week. I hope the setter drops in to take the applause.
1a and 1d were a great way to start and the west side went in much more smoothly than the east.
Another day, another fabulous Spoonerism at 11a, great creativity at 20a, but my CoD has to go to 4a – I’m sure we have all been to meetings like that!
Thank you clever setter and Mr K.
Harder than yesterday so definitely a 4 star or more. For 10 across I put in sails so the top right hand corner was my undoing. Solving the rest was enough for me and since the Covid jab 4 days ago both the Schofields have been exceedingly tired. No excuse but having started sleepily am now exhausted. Such a clever puzzle and congrats to all those who finished it and could also parse all the answers. I am most grateful to Mr.K
Well I think it’s time I threw in the towel as most above seem to have loved this, and I was sure I had printed the Toughie by mistake. Perhaps this is a Roughie? With a grand total of 3 answers at first pass (including 28a which gets COTD), and noting 11a, 20a and 19d I’m off to do the laundry instead. Thanks Mr K. I appreciate all your hints, and I understand your time constraints, but do really miss the kitty pictures 😢
Here’s a couple from Busy Lizzie’s Cattery
Way beyond me today. I didn’t solve a single clue.
I’m off to find a cure for cancer as that will be a doddle in comparison.
Thanks to all.
Many thanks Mr K for the blog and thanks to everybody who has commented. Spoonerisms are always a risk (I had thought this one might have been a chestnut, I had to check with a couple of people). Me on Toughie duty next Friday, so see you then I hope. Have a great weekend.
Thanks Karla, I enjoyed it, it was a good way to warm up for the Elgar.
Like Shabbo I liked the Spoonerism but not quite as much as 4d.
Will you be doing the Tapsters next Thursday?
Thanks John. Yes, I’ll be there. Looking forward to catching up.
Many thanks for a superb puzzle, Karla. I’m probably not up to the challenge of one of your Toughies but thoroughly enjoyed this Friday back-pager.
Thank you for a great puzzle Karla. Will try to remember to look out for a Nina next Friday!
Like Hudson you’re more than welcome to pop into this slot any time if this one is anything like what we can expect. Many thanks again & for popping in.
Thanks for dropping in to comment, and thanks for a fine puzzle to solve and to hint.
Since I’ve been back I’m sure I’m spotting a pattern of sets of people that say a given puzzle is easier bs more difficult. When I retire I’ll maybe start to compile the stats. For me © etc. this was super hard whereas yesterday was very benign. Mr. Spooner was a DNF for me. None of that takes away all of the enjoyment though. I liked 29a and loved 17d and spent ages trying to parse it and felt I got close and only then spotted it was a lurker. That caused a giggle at my own expense. No one else has mentioned it so I must be wrong but espalier is not a fruit tree so that clue doesn’t work for me as written. Is 5d cryptic? For 25d I can’t “adieu” and I can’t be “adieuing” so that clue doesn’t work for me either. Despite that I appreciated the challenge and thanks to the setter and thanks to Mr K for the parsing on several answers.
I’m afraid I must come to the defence of the setter on a couple of points. The second definition in Chambers online for espalier is a shrub or fruit tree trained to grow flat, eg against a wall. As for the farewell greeting, on departing some say “Goodbye”, some say “Adieu”, and others say “I’m splitting”. So all these expressions are equivalent in my books.
There are some excellent espaliered fruit trees at Beningborough Hall ( a nearby NT property I visit often)
I think Mrs TFC has been slipping me happy pills as I’ve enjoyed every single puzzle this week. Today’s was ****/**** for me but I eventually got there and even managed to parse them all without help. I don’t mind seeing The Rev in a puzzle because for me it’s preferable to homophones, which I always struggle with.
Thanks to Mr K and Karla. Have a good weekend all.
Excellent puzzle – great workout for Bank Holiday. My favourite – 19D. VMT Setter & Mr K
3.5* / 4.5* Tremendous Friday challenge, loads of excellent original clues and deception.
Favourites 1d, 16d and 28a (great word),
Thanks to setter and Mr K
Ps also liked the quickie pun
So I ve been busy today so just sat down to carry on plugging away at this one. Finding it quite tough but heartened to see that others got there in the end. Onwards and upwards. Early thanks to setter and Mr K. No doubt I ll be checking hints for parsings at least later !
Out of my depth on this one…no idea how your brain works solving this one…only 3 stars….!!
Busy day, and got round to this one late doors (well, if it’s OK to say early doors…), so I haven’t had time to read all the comments, just flicked through.
The Spoonerism is absolutely fine with me.
I thought this one a top notch Friday backpager.
Plenty of ticks and have narrowed my podium down to 15a, 29a and 25d.
Thanks to Mr K and the very skillful compiler.
Began to doubt my sanity with this puzzle. Nothing appealed to me about this compiler’s machinations and mangling in his desire to confound rather than entertain.
I am somewhat appalled that no one has picked up the horrible misspelling of the island in 6d. A real No-No! The inhabitants would be nightly displeased!
Left hand side seemed rather easier than the right.
Welcome to the blog
Not a misspelling as such; just an alternative spelling. And while it’s no longer the preferred spelling by many, 6d appears to still be Telegraph house style. But even if it weren’t, alternative and older spellings are perfectly valid in crosswords.
Incidentally, I see that The Majorca Daily Bulletin uses the spelling ‘Mallorca’, despite its own name! (No link, to comply with this site’s rules of max one link per comment, but easy enough to find.)
Thank you so much, Karla. I agree with pretty much all the comments above, including all the positive ones and people’s long lists of favourites, and also that it was hard. Like Arthur Dent I used a lot of electronic assistance to finish it — but it was so much fun I didn’t mind that at all; puzzles like this inspire me to become a better solver (and to know more about fruit trees).
I tried so hard but the NW clues held out, thank you compiler for such a tough work out and MrK I really needed those explanations!
Felt more like 4 stars?
Loved 20a and still don’t quite get 5d which was the last to drop.
Very enjoyable for a pedant like me.
3*/4* …
liked 11A “Crazy Spooner’s far more spaced out (7)”