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DT 30953 (Hints)

by crypticsue  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30953 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)

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I found this a tricky Saturday Prize Puzzle, although I am not sure whether that was because of the multi-light clues.  Once again, I would suggest you ignore them and work on the other clues, several of which are anagrams and then return to the long ones.

This is a very rare sighting of a weekend when I only have to prepare (this) one blog post and so I hope I don’t have to do too much monitoring of comments and can get on with something completely different, the first thing on the list being standing at the bottom of the ladder while Mr CS puts a cowl on the chimney to prevent the crows filling it up with branches again!

Please ask for help if you are stuck on clues I haven’t hinted, but before doing so, please read the comments that appear before yours, so that you are not duplicating questions,  and make sure you obey both THE INSTRUCTIONS IN RED at the end 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.

Across

4a           Day Scottish man gets admitted to posh school in city (8)
The abbreviation for Day and the Scottish word for man ‘admitted’ to a ‘posh’ school

10a         Many layers shed? (3,5)
A lovely cryptic description of a home for many layers

13a         Worthless singing voice we hear (4)
A homophone (we hear) of a singing voice

20a         White end missing from magical rod (3)
Simply remove the ‘end’ from a magic rod

25a         Painter concerned with dark film genre (6)
The usual concerned with/on the subject of with a dark film genre

26a         Hand out is with soft thick sandwiches (8)
IS (from the clue) and the musical abbreviation for soft ‘sandwiched’ inside a synonym for thick

27a         Adult thought provoked a snigger (6)
The abbreviation for Adult and thought deeply

Down

1d           Six deliveries? Company put in too many! (9)
Six cricket deliveries and several things or  people pressed closely together (company)

3d           Scribe torn apart by dominie at last entering SCR (9)
A poetic or archaic way of saying torn apart and the last letter of dominiE ‘entering’ SCR (from the clue)

7d           Fish nets close to boats I’m capsizing in upheaval at sea (7)
A type of fish ‘nets’ the last letter (close to) of boatS followed by a reversal (capsizing) of IM (from the clue)

11d         US special agents dash into bendy bus lane (12)
The special agents who worked to stop Al Capone’s activities.  A dash or small quantity inserted into an anagram (bendy) of BUS LANE

16d         Using Latin to an offensive extent? (2,7)
The Latin expression meaning to the point of producing disgust

19d         Chill overwhelms husband in ship or trains? (7)
Insert (overwhelms) the abbreviation for Husband into a verb meaning to chill and then insert the result into an abbreviated ship

23d/12a   Such a vile man – I’m possibly a product of this? (4,10)
An anagram (possibly) of SUCH A VILE MAN IM

As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment. If in doubt, leave it out

Please read these instructions carefully – they are not subject to debate or discussion. Offending comments may be redacted or, in extreme cases, deleted. In all cases the administrator’s decision is final.

If you don’t understand, or don’t wish to comply with, the conventions for commenting on weekend prize puzzles then please don’t leave a comment.

The Quick Crossword pun:  THYME + BOMBE = TIME BOMB

 

62 comments on “DT 30953 (Hints)”

  1. Don’t know what others thought, but I found this really tough with some really cryptic clues (yes, I suppose that’s the point) especially the very long one, which only really made sense after you’d got the answer.

    Wouldn’t know a follower of 15a if I met one in the street, and had to look up my answer to 6a as well.

    Last one in for me was 13a, again, always the short ones!

    My two of the day were the dauber at 25a, and the lovely seldom used word at 3d.

    Many thanks to who ever set it today, got there in the end.

  2. I don’t mind linked clues; I wait until checkers come along and look at them again. However, for some strange reason, I am thrown off course when the very first clue tells me to look elsewhere. I also found the initials off-putting but I can’t say why. Other than these, it was an enjoyable solve. I have never heard of 6d but the clue gave precise instructions. My COTD is 10a with its many layers.

    Thank you, NYDK for the challenge or to whomsoever if it is not you. However, all the hallmarks are present so I’m betting it is you. Thank you, CS for the hints.

  3. I found this very entertaining but it did need a lot of paper and scribbling to work out some of them. 10a my favourite!

    Many thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints.

  4. Ignored the wandering clues until the very end at which point the answers were evident and the clues near irrelevant, which seems to make a nonsense of the effort that goes into crafting them, no matter how witty (20d etc) they may be. I’m never quite sure what “same-sidey” means as an observation on a clue, but 3d felt that way to me.

    Otherwise a generally straightforward and very fair puzzle, a welcome challenge on a grey & wet morning. Some cracking surfaces and plenty of smiles from first to almost the last. Honours to the remarkable 22a, 6d, and 27a cos it made I larf.

    Many thanks to Donny & CS.

  5. I thought that this was an elegant Saturday puzzle, requiring a bit more thought in places. The linked clues made perfect sense once solved via enough checkers in place. My loi was 13a a real doh moment when it dawned on me. My podium comprises the Scottish play in 2d, the drink in 22a and the painter in 25a in top spot. Thanks to NYDK and CS.

  6. Well this was super.

    Some almost unbelievably good anagrams in this SPP. 20 1 18 is astonishing, with 23 12 not far behind it. Elsewhere, I really liked 10A for its wit, and 24A for taking me back to my childhood (which did contain a scruffy old bear — anyone else?).

    I was taken somewhat beyond my usual SPP time, so I’m guessing this was at the harder end of NYDK’s range, but bravo.

    Thanks NYDK and CS.

      1. What a deprived childhood you had Steve! My younger daughter still has mine – he’s in a terrible state and I did offer to take him to the ‘dolls hospital’ to get him repaired but she insists that he wouldn’t then be the dear old thing she remembers.

        1. It is what made me the man I am today, Jane – bitter and twisted!! 🤣

          1. Oh dear – I think we should have a blog whip-round and buy you one to repair the damage done.

    2. I agree. This was funny and clever! I’m not really a commenter here, but this one deserves a special mention.

      1. So was mine & so called (he didn’t have leather paws though) & he went with me to boarding school. Still got him.

    5. Mine was a beautiful baby doll called June sent to me from America just before the war, with a ‘real skin’ finish- lost during an air raid. I hated Hitler.

    6. My 78 year old ‘Eyefluff’ still sits on the back of my living-room sofa, between two much younger furry chums courtesy of Interflora! ( My bro in N.Y. still has his ‘Baby Eyefluff’ too!)

    7. You’re all making me feel deprived and starved of love!! My rubber elephant didn’t even have a name. 😳

      1. I had Mr Waggley Tail, a dog on wheels, he’s in my garage and rather moth eaten these days. Also a panda I made at Junior school called Acrobatic Pandy, still have him but he’s armless these days!

  7. This was a very enjoyable solve with the Rood Bonk in fine form with my LOI being 11d.

    The anagrams in 20d and 23d were truly outstanding as was the rekrul in 22a.

    My podium is 10a and the aforementioned anagrams.

    MT to NYPD Blue and she of the crypt.

    2*/4*

  8. I quite liked this today, even the multi-word clues fell easily to the CS method of ignoring them until checkers helped. I wasn’t fond of 3d though, to just be given a random string of letters to insert the wordplay grated a bit. I suppose SCR is a TLA for something relevant, but I was suffering from writers cramp 😉 by then.
    Thanks to NYDK and Cryptic Sue
    Coffee and lemon cake in Malton, with Mama Bee

    1. SCR – Senior Common Room when I was at College decades ago. JCR for the undergraduates and MCR for post-grads.

      1. I suppose a likely candidate for plenty of scribing, although I expect more boozing these days.
        Mama Bee on the beach (North Bay – Scarbados)

  9. Much to like in today’s offering especially 10a and 2d. However, being a Scottish man I’ve never been addressed as in 4a. I suspect this an adaption from “Brig o’ Doon” or some other pseudo Scottish production!
    Re 20d, 1a, 17a …this was a bung in for me .. still trying to figure out if it’s an “all in one” or an anagram, if the latter I’ll need to go back to the drawing board to work out the fodder.

    1. Hoots.. dont you know about the moose loose aboot the hoose. Probably not a Scottish production but willing to stand and be corrected.

  10. Good SPP fun from NYDK with the ‘multis’ giving up their secrets quite easily although, for me, a composer with a difficult to spell and pronounce name would be preferable to 20d/1a/18a – 2.5*/4*

    Candidates for favourite – 4a, 10a, 25a, 7d, and 16d – and the winner is (has to be) 4a.

    Thanks to NYDK and CS.

  11. Our setter’s multi-word entries don’t usually bother me unduly but I wasn’t overly keen on the ones he employed today. Not to worry, there was humour to be found elsewhere in the puzzle. My top three were the many layers, the scruffy old bear and the painter.

    Thanks to NYDK and to CS for the hints – hope you did a good job of anchoring that ladder!

  12. Worked through this one with marginal e-help;10a my COTD. Am I alone on being stumped with 26d in the Quickie? L?F?Y

    1. Do you actually mean 28d – Tall? If that is the case, the second letter is a vowel, guess one out of five (ignoring Y), and the fourth is a consonant.

  13. Like the best of puzzles – starts out as impenetrable and gradually it reveals itself – very satisfying.
    Don’t forget Bloomsday is on Monday. A Ulsysses exercise indeed!

    1. Couldnt agree more. I think we have seen it before but still counts as clue of the century. And of course it took me ages to get it !!!!!!

  15. Sorry to be an old grouch but I really don’t think there’s a place in the crossword for the 20,1, 18 clues at the moment. It seems highly inappropriate with the world situation as it is.

    1. I agree with you, Moonraker, but we seem to be in a minority today. I’m actually surprised that it got past the DT editors.

  16. Working around the multi word clues made this a rather stuttering solve, although they all fell in place one I had a few checkers.
    3d seemed a rather clumsy clue to me, though 22a, 26a and 7d had ticks against them.
    Thanks to the setter and CS.

  17. The 2od/1a/18a combo was my favourite for its superb surface read. I liked pretty much everything about this puzzle, with special mentions too, to 15 and 25a. Great fun.

    My thanks to Donny or whomsoever compiled this little gem, and to Sue.

  18. Great fun, done on my own as George is manning the U3A stand at the village fete 12-1.30 silly man. Thoroughly enjoyed it although I am so pleased I do not know anyone who uses 9a, but then I am an old fuddyduddy. Loved 10a. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & CeeSue.

  19. Nice to see a couple of multiword clues this week, so thank you NYDK for that!! Took me a while suss out the first one, but all came to light with cross check letters. Overall a fun puzzle with lots of smiles throughout.

    2.5*/4.5* for me

    Favourites the two multi word clues and 4a, 10a, 21a, 1d & 8d — with winner 10a
    Had a good chuckle at 10a, 21a, 4d as well as several others too.

    Thanks to NYDK & CS

  20. Lots of lovely stuff here, too many to pick out a fave, so very many thanks to NYDK, and to CS for helping with some of the parsing.
    But my word, the illustration for 7d gave me the willies! I keep thinking I’m safe in my top floor apartment miles from the coast…

  21. Took a lot more teasing out than most Saturday cryptic puzzles. Favourite was 10 across.
    I was convinced that 23 down/ 12 across was to do with an ancestor who lived in a cave.
    According to the Schofield house rules I can submit but if I win the mythical it will be in John’s name and he was no help at all. Ought to alter the telegraph onto my name but too lazy to be bothered and the irony if John won would be amusing..

  22. Well I’m afraid I’m in a minority of one here – but I hated this. Firstly I loathe linked clues! I think it is most unfair that, because you can’t work out some convoluted anagram or obtuse cryptic definition, you are deprived of not just one, but two or in this case three sets of answers that would help you with the rest of the puzzle. I think they should be banned. Then – having bunged in an answer, I had to wonder, as Moonraker pointed out above, how this clue was allowed. I think it was beyond tasteless in today’s climate.
    There were some very clever clues which tempered my disgust, but overall I did not enjoy this.
    Sorry for the rant – not my usual style – but I am forced to do some decorating today – something I hate (even more than linked lights) so I am probably just grumpy because of that.
    I nevertheless offer thanks to the setter and, of course to CS.

    1. I’ll make it a minority of two Arthur! Not one of my favourite ever crosswords and I’m afraid ‘that clue’ spoilt the whole thing for me, so much so, that I ripped the crossword up and threw it in the bin. And I haven’t even been near a paintbrush!
      Thanks anyway to NYDK and Cryptic Sue.

  23. Difficult but doable. 6d was easily obtainable but had to check it was actually an island, Hawiian as it turns out. LOI was 11d. About right for a Saturday. We’ll go with 10a as favourite. Thanks to NYD and CS.

  24. I found that mostly straightforward, then ground to a halt right at the end with the linked ones and a pretty fiddly anagram. 10a the pick of the bunch, 24a and 7d make up my podium places.

    Thanks to CS and NYDK.

  25. I thought NYDK exceeded his usual high standards with 20d etc. Generally as enjoyable as ever.

  26. No fun for me today mainly because I have to admit to a complete lack of patience with multi-word toing and froing so threw in the towel early on and looked at hints. Thank you nevertheless setter and CS.

  27. Thank you CS for explaining 3d and of course NYDK for those last two down clues, great challenge today … 10a as favourite

  28. Hello. Thanks to Sue, and to all who commented.

    Can’t really talk much about the subject matter of 20 1 18 as I’d end up on THAT step, but I kind of see what you mean. There is the thought that climate action is the most important thing for us to be getting on with, as items such as 20 1 18s will have little meaning if we don’t attend to it, but there we are. Please allow me to leave you with this astute analysis:

  29. When I read through this at first it deemed impenetrable and on second pass seemed mostly impenetrable. Null Points.

    Thank you to CS and NYDK

  30. I thought 20D etc was a work of genius in a high quality puzzle. Many thanks NYDK and CS

  31. 3* / 4* A good challenge that got me through a delayed flight from Salzburg! And I always enjoy the big linked clues.
    Favourite the popular 10a
    Thanks to Sue and NYDK

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