DT 30953 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30953

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 14^th June 2025

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Kolkata. A lovely, elegant Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and important feedback.

After solving the puzzle, I became interested in knowing in details about the United States special agents, the ‘untouchables’, the answer to the clue of 11d. These agents belonged to the Chicago Office of the United States Bureau of Prohibition and were also known as ‘dry agents’. The group was led by Eliot Ness, known for their incorruptibility and dedication to enforcing the law, particularly against Al Capone’s criminal empire. The agents were particularly so nicknamed because they refused large bribes offered by the members of the Chicago outfit, demonstrating their unwavering integrity. This group was not a permanent, official agency, but rather a select team of Treasury Department agents handpicked by Ness. The Untouchables aggressively targeted Al Capone’s operations, raiding breweries, speakeasies and other illegal establishments. Their work, including gathering evidence on tax evasion, ultimately helped lead to his conviction and imprisonment. The Untouchables’ story has been popularised through various media, including books, television series and movies, most notably the 1987 film ‘The Untouchables’. The group’s success in combating organised crime has influenced law enforcement strategies and techniques. It is important to note that the Untouchables were not a permanent, official agency. They were a specific team assembled by Eliot Ness for the purpose of enforcing Prohibition laws in Chicago. In our country, the term ‘untouchables’ historically refers to people who were considered outside the traditional four-fold Hindu caste system, specifically, those placed at the lowest level of the social hierarchy, now officially referred to as Dalits.

For a while, I stared at 20d/1a/18a and wondered whether the combo is an all-in-one clue or not but simultaneously also visualised it in a straight fashion of an anagrammatic wordplay leading to ‘these?’ as the definition, not otherwise: Frantic US team swoops and finds no trace of these?

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           See 20 Down

4a           Day Scottish man gets admitted to posh school in city (8)
EDMONTON: A combo of D (day) as the abbreviation for day and MON (Scottish man) as a Scots dialect word for man gets inside (admitted) to ETON (school) as referring to Eton College, widely considered one of the most prestigious and elite schools and often described as a posh school in the United Kingdom takes to the definition of the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta

9a           Eye rat on the loose in bistro, say (6)
EATERY: An anagram (on the loose) of EYE RAT takes to the definition of a casual or informal word for a place to buy and eat prepared food, an example of which is a bistro i.e. a small, relatively simple restaurant, especially one offering French or French-style food

10a        Many layers shed? (3,5)
HEN HOUSE: A cryptic definition of a HOUSE (shed) as a building, shed or structure used as a home that is meant for many HENS (layers) as the birds that lay eggs, that is ‘house for hens’, or precisely, HEN HOUSE

12a        See 23 Down

13a        Worthless singing voice we hear (4)
BASE: The definition of an adjective meaning worthless or of little or no value is reached from a homophone heard by the audience (we hear) of BASS (singing voice) as a male singing voice of the lowest range

14a        Poem soldier oddly ignored (3)
ODE: The definition of a poem intended to be sung is reached from the evenly-placed letters (oddly ignored) of [S]O[L]D[I]E[R]

15a        Nothing in Pan’s Enigma worried religious movement (11)
NEOPAGANISM: O (nothing) as the letter representing naught or nothing placed inside an anagram (worried) of PAN’S ENIGMA leads to the definition of modern religious movement that seeks to incorporate beliefs or ritual practices from traditions outside the main world religions, especially those of pre-Christian Europe and North America

18a        See 20 Down

20a        White end missing from magical rod (3)
WAN: The definition of an adjective meaning unnaturally pale or white, especially from sickness, grief, etc is arrived at from WAN[D] (magical rod) as a long slender rod used as the symbol of magic power by magicians, conjurors, fairies etc that is having its end letter (end) not present (missing)

21a        London section starts to spy on Home Office (4)
SOHO: The definition of an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London and one of its main entertainment districts is arrived at from the starting or first letters (starts) each to S[PY] O[N] H[OME] O[FFICE]

22a        Drink substantial UAE factory ships back (4,2,4)
CAFÉ AU LAIT: The definition of coffee made with milk is reached from part of or hidden inside (ships) [SUBSTAN]TIAL UAE FAC[TORY] that is returning from the other end (back) as a reversal in the across clue

24a        A scruffy old bear inspiring great affection (8)
ADORABLE: A from the clue followed by an anagram (scruffy) of OLD BEAR leads to the definition of an adjective meaning having characteristics that attract or inspire love or great affection

25a        Painter concerned with dark film genre (6)
RENOIR: The definition of the surname of the French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style whose full name was Pierre-Auguste Renoir is arrived at from a charade of RE (CONCERNED) as a commercial jargon used to indicate ‘on’, ‘about’, ‘concerned’ or ‘regarding’ and (with) NOIR (dark film genre) as the genre of film known for its dark, moody themes and visuals

26a        Hand out is with soft thick sandwiches (8)
DISPENSE: The definition of a verb meaning to hand out, provide or distribute a service or information to a number of people is obtained from a combo of IS from the clue and (with) P (soft) as an abbreviation for piano that is a musical term for an adjective meaning soft or quiet embraced or covered by (sandwiches) DENSE (thick) as thick, compact or closely-spaced

27a        Adult thought provoked a snigger (6)
AMUSED: A charade of A (adult) as the abbreviation for adult signifying the rating of motion pictures meant for only the adult viewers in some countries and MUSED (thought) as a verb in the past tense denoting thought, pondered or contemplated leads to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning found something funny, entertaining or enjoyable, an example of which is provoked a snigger, a verb in the past tense denoting the reaction caused by amusement

Down

1d           Six deliveries? Company put in too many! (9)
OVERCROWD: A charade of OVER (six deliveries) as a series of six balls bowled from one end of a cricket pitch and CROWD (company) as a jostling, uncomfortable and possibly disorderly company takes to the definition of a verb meaning to fill a room, vehicle, city etc with more people or things than is desirable

2d           Gas in Middle English with Macbeth? (7)
METHANE: The definition of a colourless, odourless, flammable gas that is the simplest of the hydrocarbons and having the formula CH₄ is reached from a charade of ME (Middle English) as the abbreviation for Middle East and (with) THANE (Macbeth) as referring to a king’s companion and a noble, as in Anglo-Saxon England, an example of which was Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman who was the Thane of Glamis and later the Thane of Cawdor and the main protagonist in William Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’

3d           Scribe torn apart by dominie at last entering SCR (9)
SCRIVENER: The definition of a noun meaning a scribe or copyist is reached from a combo of RIVEN (torn apart) as a poetic or archaic verb in the participle form meaning torn apart having alongside (by) the final or terminal letter (at last) of [DOMINI]E getting inside (entering) SCR from the clue

5d           One under pressure in the main – poor Eve despaired (4-3,5)
DEEP-SEA DIVER: The definition of a person who goes below to the deeper parts of the sea or to the bottom of a sea or ocean, especially to collect pearls i.e. literally one who operates under pressure due to water depth in the main that is the high sea or the open ocean is reached from an anagram (poor) of EVE DESPAIRED

6d           Warmer island for characters within Soay and Rhum? (4)
O‘AHU: The definition of an island that is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian islands and of the US state of Hawaii that remains warm even in winter is reached from the inner letters (characters within) of [S]OA[Y] and [R]HU[M]

7d           Fish nets close to boats I’m capsizing in upheaval at sea (7)
TSUNAMI: TUNA (fish) as a large scombridoid marine fish of the genus Thunnus takes in (nets) the end or last letter (close) to [BOAT]S and followed by turning upside down (capsizing) of I’M from the clue as a reversal in the down clue guides to the definition of a very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption

8d           Relative in French city importing MDMA (5)
NIECE: The definition of the daughter of one’s brother or sister or of one’s brother-in-law or sister-in-law is produced from NICE (French city) as the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast bringing inside (importing) E (MDMA) as the abbreviation for Ecstasy that is the common name of a drug taken for its stimulant and hallucinogenic properties, the full chemical name of which is methylene-dioxymethamphetamine or in its abbreviated form MDMA

11d        US special agents dash into bendy bus lane (12)
UNTOUCHABLES: The definition of the nickname of the early 1930s-US special agents who belonged to the Chicago Office of the United States Bureau of Prohibition and were also known as dry agents is reached from TOUCH (dash) as a small quantity of a liquid added to something else, an example of which is a dash i.e. a trace or small amount placed inside (into) an anagram (bendy) of BUS LANE

16d        Using Latin to an offensive extent? (2,7)
AD NAUSEAM: A cryptic definition of a Latin phrase meaning to a sickening, disgusting or excessive degree, literally to the point of nausea

17d        Watched fool getting tied up outside (9)
MONITORED: The definition of a verb in the past tense meaning supervised to kept close watch over something is reached from NIT (fool) as a colloquial term for a fool covered by or having on the outside (getting … outside) MOORED (tied up) as a verb in the past tense meaning tied up a boat or other vessel by cable or rope to the shore or to an anchor

19d        Chill overwhelms husband in ship or trains? (7)
SCHOOLS: COOL (chill) as to chill or become or make less hot engulfs or takes in (overwhelms) H (husband) as the genealogical abbreviation for husband and the result brought inside (in) SS (ship) as the abbreviation for steamship that guides to the definition of a verb in the present tense third person singular form denoting trains, tutors or educates

20d, 1 Across and 18 Across        For which frantic US team swoops? Finds no trace? (7,2,4,11)
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: A very broad but cryptically plausible definition of the weapons with the potential to cause large-scale death, injury or destruction to human life, infrastructure or the environment, the existence of which in Iraq was a major justification for the US-led invasion of that country in the Iraq War that began in 2003, but turned a utter fiasco as the US forces failed to find any stockpiles of the deadly weapons is arrived at from an anagram (frantic) of US TEAM SWOOPS? FINDS NO TRACE?

21d        Cook involved in fiscal drag (5)
SCALD: The definition of a verb meaning to cook or heat short of boiling is arrived at from part of or hidden inside (involved in) [FI]SCAL D[RAG]

23d and 12 Across           Such a vile man – I’m possibly a product of this? (4,10)
MALE CHAUVINISM: An anagram (possibly) of SUCH A VILE MAN IM takes to the definition of male prejudice against women or the belief that men are superior in terms of ability, intelligence etc

There were several clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 4a, 10a, 22a, 24a, 25a, 7d, 11d and the combo 20d/1a/18a; 10a being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NYDK for the entertainment and to Gazza for the encouragement. Looking forward to seeing you here again. Have a good day.