Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3324 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, after almost a week in a Turkish Bath with an occasional thunderstorm, we are forecast to have some sensible low to middle 20s temperatures before we go back into Turkish Bath conditions.
For me, and I stress for me©, Dada less friendly than he has been recently – six anagrams (two partials), one lurker, and three homophones all in a symmetric 30 clues; with a generous 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 18a, 24a, 5d, 17d, and 20d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
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.
Some hints follow:
Across
7a Spiced Italian cake on tap, teen excited (9)
An anagram (excited) of ON TAP, TEEN.
10a Game where king finally trapped in mate (6)
The last letter (finally) of kinG contained (trapped) in a (female) mate.
12a Deception precedes great debate (6)
An act of deception placed before an abbreviated form of a synonym of great.
17a Feeling upper thigh area, article pulled out (5)
A single word term for upper thigh area with one of the indefinite articles removed (pulled out).
18a Ultimately sharp cut – that was a close shave! (4)
The last letter (ultimately) of sharP and a verbal synonym of cut.
19a Set out to break stuff, items washed up (6)
An anagram (out – oh dear, move one letter) of SET inserted into (to break) a verbal synonym of stuff.
24a Deposit issued, coin banked (8)
The name of a small value (Canadian or US) coin inserted into (banked) a synonym of issued.
28a Blood, surprisingly versatile (9)
An anagram (surprisingly) of VERSATILE.
Down
1d Covered in bristles, frightening (5)
A double definition – the second is an informal synonym of frightening.
3d Felt is mistaken – for felt? (6)
An anagram (mistaken) of FELT IS.
5d Favourite part shortly for engine driver? (6)
Taking careful note of the ‘?’ at the end of the clue, there could probably be another one or two more – a three letter synonym of favourite and a synonym of part (in a dramatic production) with the last latter deleted (shortly).
9d Hang on to a number of eggs (6)
A double definition – the second probably refers to eggs in a nest.
17d Something one might put in sandwiches for each basket (6)
Guess something that can be used as a sandwich filling (one might put in) and the Latin based preposition equivalent to for each.
18d Painting, one stolen by scoundrel from Dover? (8)
The Roman numeral for one contained (stolen) by a three letter scoundrel who might come from what Dover is an example of (?).
20d Hearts for example gold for lover (6)
What Hearts are in one set of 13 items in a total of 52 items (not a Scottish football club!) and heraldic gold.
25d Plant, or the sycamore basically? (4)
A somewhat stretched use of basically, at least I think so, to indicate selection of last letters of four words in the clue.
Quick Crossword Pun:
SAMEY + VINYL = SEMI-FINAL – Hmm.
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Former Shadow Jet Harris, who partnered with another former Shadow Tony Meehan, was born on this day in 1939. The duo had an instant number one in 1963, for three weeks starting on January 31st, with Diamonds written by Jerry Lordan. No decent video so just the music and a photograph:
25d. If you look carefully at the words in the clue, ‘basically’ refers to something at the ends of them 😉
Good spot – I don’t think the Beam in T’other place is as tricky as this.
Thanks Sue. Hint rewritten – a somewhat stretched use of basically for me.
Dada with his tricksy hat on today, I thought. I didn’t find it straightforward at. All but it could just be me, of course. I have always used a different spelling for 12a but I find I have been wrong all my life! My COTD is the sandwich at 17d.
Thank you, Dada for the brain stretching. Thank you, Colonel Mustard in the dining room for the hints.
Much needed rain in The Marches last night but the heatwave returns during the week.
Me too with 12a, I thought it had another letter in it.
I’m with you on 12a!
It’s déjà vu all over again! This conversation occurs almost every time when 12a appears!
You’re not wrong about 12a, I have always known it with 7 letters and just checked, both versions mean the same thing basically.
12a is an informal abbreviated form of an 11 letter word while the 7 letter word is an Americanisation which first appeared in the 1870s with the extra letter perhaps having been added for a humorous or informal effect. I suspect that Queen Victoria would not have been amused.
I thought Dada in a very tricky, nay, tough frame of mind. A dnf unaided from me as I needed a couple of hints to restart the thought process when I ground to a halt. I shall now go in search of a damp towel. 17a gets my cotd. Thanks to Dada for the mind mangling and Senf for the much needed hints.
Many thanks to Dada for a most enjoyable puzzle which was very gentle and at the same time very entertaining.
My last in was 4d, and 18d gets my vote for its excellent surface.
Initially thought this was going to be a Toughie, but on starting with the Downs it turned out to be a sheep in wolf’s clothing. The grid style did not help, not one of my favourites. All scrupulously fair, a very satisfying solve.
Honours to 24a, 2d & 18d
Many thanks to Dada & Senf
A quick plug for Beam’s Toughie today: a great puzzle, very accessible, and as Sloop says above, not as tricky as Dada’s back pager.
Strange, I breezed through this one, but found the Toughie a fair bit more, well, tough.
This was a goldilocks level crossword for me, with some lumps in a mostly smooth porridge. I must be getting on the setter’s wavelength.
I needed a nudge with 13d (podium clue) which unlocked the south. Unsure of second letter in 26a, neither options make much sense.
Didn’t really understand second letter of 21a, but the other five make it inevitable.
Others for podium;
18a sharp cut
17a feeling
Thanks all
The first two letters of 21a relate to the first two words of the clue
Look at the first two and last two letters of your solution to 26a and read the clue again
Oh, yes…thanks 🙏
Something of a wake-up call from Dada this morning, not the gentle setter we’ve encountered on recent Sundays! Two cups of coffee required to arrive at a completed grid with rosettes handed out to 17&18a along with 13&18d.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints and music – long time since I’ve heard ‘Diamonds’ although I still remember a pic of Mr Harris adorning my bedroom wall back in the day!
It was a grid with quite a few 4 and 5 letter words and Dada had rmtaken care to muse misdirection and guile with most of them, so they weren’t necessarily the easy way in. However, there were enough straightforward clues to give you a start and no irritating multi-word ones. I thought clever misdirection made10a and 3d the best of the clues a d 19a was a good Lego clue. Thaamnks to Dada for a really enjoyable guzzle and to Senf for the hints.
Nope, couldn’t finish this one, just too obscure for me, still no idea about 18d, even with the hint, no fun I’m afraid….
Got 18d now, wrong scoundrel threw me!
I found this hard but very worthwhile. Lots of ticks all over the place.
Top picks for me were 13d, 18d, 8a, 26a and 11a.
Thanks to Senf and Dada.
Excellent crossword finished while waiting for the test match to start. I was very slow to get going but the bottom went in nicely and when I returned to the top I seemed to be in sync. LOI was 1ac – never thought of it as spicy. Perhaps the raisins?
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the blog.
It’s Summer here so very hot. Every day since June 1 – very good for the Vines and Olives🍷🍷🍷🍷
My Montepulciano … 2 vines each with about 60 kilos of grapes … about 72 litres of wine:-)
Fingers crossed!
What a lot of grapes, and looks like a lovely place to sit and enjoy the outdoors. I’m envious 😊.
A smidgen trickier than Dada’s usual Sunday fare but enjoyable – thanks to him and Senf.
Top clues for we were 10a, 3d and 18d.
I found this pretty testing for a Sunday and a considerable step up in difficulty by our setter. I was stuck on 2d for ages, not helped by a misspelling in 16a; 26a was also a hold up. The puzzle was, however, worth persevering with, and I enjoyed the challenge, with 18d my favourite.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
Very slow start but finished with many penny drop moments! I was very unhappy with my answer to the Bond clue but ages after finishing a completely different and a far more apt answer popped into my head. My painter had to chop a small part of my vine back to get to a window. Unfortunately a blackbirds nest has been revealed and she is sitting on 3 eggs and has stayed there with sanding etc., going on about a foot away. She doesn’t appear to have a mate and leaves the nest to find food so I have left seed and water on the ground below the nest which she is using now. Question: when the eggs hatch I don’t suppose they can be fed seed so early and the ground is now rock hard. What food can I provide for her? Any ideas would help. I can fish worms out of my wormery but should I snip them in half to stop them slithering away? Thanks for any help.
Hi Manders, my avid birder partner has said that seed will be fine for the chicks but only small seeds or they can choke. No whole peanuts. You can put the worms out and there is no need to cut them. Live mealworms are also an idea if you can get them on the North Norfolk coast.
Thanks Madflower – I was only going to cut them in half so they didn’t ‘run away’! I don’t know why I didn’t ask you when I emailed you just now knowing your partner is a great birder.
4*/3*. Definitely tougher than our usual Sunday fare, but good fun nevertheless.
I don’t much care for 3d, which seems a bit odd to me. Also I don’t think the definition for 22d bears any relation to the answer.
My podium comprises 10a, 17a & 18d.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
With you on 3d and 22d, though I can see the latter if I squint.
If anyone can explain why the 3d definition works, I’m all ears…
Actually penny just dropped (I think). A self-referential cleverness. Hmm.
Most definitely a much less friendly Dada puzzle this week with lots of personal thesaurus use and quirkiness all over the grid. Blimey!!!
Took me until Sunday morning to complete this one, gave up on Saturday night.
3*.3* for me
Favourites 21a, 24a, 1d, 5d, 6d & 9d — with winner 21a
Smiles for 8a, 16a, 5d & 23d
Thanks to Dada for the brain mangling & Senf
Finished…eventually!
All I can really say is 18A!!
Thanks to Dada for the challenge and, of course, to Senf for confirming a few of the more quirky parsings e.g 25D.
Cheers!
Mostly straightforward with a few head scratchers thrown in. We weren’t keen on the spelling of 8a or the word if it comes to it but that’s just us. Favourite was 18d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Well, it’s contrary hat for me today as I can honestly say I found this to be one of Dada’s friendlier puzzles, despite taking me a while to get going. Needed help for 11a so had to go in search of that and still not sure how it fits. COTD to 24a. Thanks to Dada for ending the week on a positive note, and to Senf.
This one put me through the wringer which is rare for a Sunday, not helped by a nightmare grid with those pesky second letter checkers.
How the seven letter version of 12a stuck is bizarre……and then some. Sure, throw it in for a giggle but don’t take it seriously. Most odd.
Clues like 3d and 23d are great fun.
Plenty to choose from for the spoils but I’ll go with 8a, 13d and 18d.
MT to Radio and Senfingtons.
4*/4*
Difficult but got there somehow in the very end, thank you Dada and Senf – the never spoken clue is brilliant!
Tricky one I thought today and I needed help to finish, but more likely to be me as we had a late night.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints
Have to go 4* / 3.5*, two clues in particular held me up and in the end needed some help, but finally got 24a and 3d which I think I get.
Favourites 13d house, 17d basket and 6d gratified excellent surface
Thanks to setter and Senf
I definitely struggled today, and spent an age worrying over 18A (having initially thought the close shave was something you did to an apple or orange). 15D my favourite. VMT Dada and Senf
I made hard work of this, maybe because we had a rather alcoholic lunch. I fretted over 3d until I realised how simple it was, a number of the clues were very deceptive – well, that’s a stupid statement if ever there was one, as that is what clues are supposed to be! Well, you know what I mean. I don’t like 8a but that is just me – 17a last one in, I don’t think of my upper thigh as that. Very many thanks to Messrs Setter & Senf. What has happened to the Clerihews by the way?
Unlike yesterday’s Donny puzzle I breezed through this one without a crumpet scratch – well other than not really understanding the anagram at 3d.
Thanks to D&S
As tricky a Dada as I can remember! All good stuff, but took a while with SW corner particularly recalcitrant
The top half went in swiftly; the bottom half required a lot of Senf’s hints (thank you) plus leaving it overnight to finish this morning. Thank you to Dada, with my top few being 2d (“complete plank”), 13d (“leave house”), and 18d (“scoundrel from Dover”).
3*/3* …
liked 18D “Painting, one stolen by scoundrel from Dover ? (8)”