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DT 30988

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30988

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. It felt like there were a lot of charades in today’s enjoyable puzzle by the setter who uses every letter but X. 

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. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Sailor handles returning nets back in marina (6)
SEAMAN:  The reversal (returning) of what handles can be informally contains (nets) the last letter of (back in) MARINA

4a    Plant seen in inverted photo of Worcester (8)
CROWFOOT:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (seen in inverted) PHOTO OF WORCESTER 

9a    Save about third of cost with sports equipment (6)
RESCUE:  Link together about or concerning, the third letter of COST, and an item of sports equipment used to hit balls on tables

10a   Very dark aircraft returned over Lima (3-5)
JET-BLACK:  A fast aircraft is followed by a synonym of returned containing (over) the letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphabet by Lima 

11a   Sea creature briefly circles before bird (8)
COCKEREL:  All but the last letter (briefly) of a shellfish contains (circles) a poetic word for before 

13a   Catch stray hens surrounding me (6)
ENMESH:  An anagram (stray) of HENS containing (surrounding) ME from the clue 

15a   Prepared to do as asked over a security broadcast (2,4,7)
AT YOUR SERVICE:  An anagram (broadcast) of OVER A SECURITY 

18a   Lad entering fortress base with weapon fulfils promise (5,4,4)
KEEPS ONES WORD:  Join together another word for fortress, what a lad is to his parents, the single letter for the base of the natural logarithms, and a pointy weapon 

22a   Prepare case once more from record held in storage facility (6)
REPACK:  A record between a single and an album inserted in (held in) a fixture for storing things 

24a   New spec made for roadside device (5,3)
SPEED CAM:  An anagram (new) of SPEC MADE 

26a   Risk annexing area of supreme leader (8)
IMPERIAL:  Risk or place in danger containing (annexing) the single letter for area

27a   Codeword military group is to recall before another (6)
SIERRA:  The fusion of a usual abbreviated military group and IS from the clue is reversed (… to recall) and followed by another usual abbreviated military group

28a   Troubled being rushed to cover fool (8)
HARASSED:  A synonym of rushed containing (to cover) another word for fool

29a   That woman joining Cambridge university is reclusive type (6)
HERMIT:  A pronoun for “that woman” with the abbreviated name of a university located in Cambridge, MA

 

Down

1d    Trim  timber (6)
SPRUCE:  A straightforward double definition 

2d    Colleague from Italy residing in windy seacoast (9)
ASSOCIATE:  The IVR code for Italy inserted in (residing in) an anagram (windy) of SEACOAST 

3d    Advanced and passed through cathedral city keenly (7)
ACUTELY:  Glue together the single letter for advanced, passed through or sliced, and a usual cathedral city 

5d    Grass requested to abandon mission (4)
REED:  REQUESTED minus (to abandon) a synonym of mission 

6d    Reject participating in don's on-line tutorial (7)
WEBINAR:  Reject or discard inserted in (participating in) don or put on 

7d    Lecture heartless ogre protecting traitor (5)
ORATE:  OGRE minus its central letters (heartless) is containing (protecting) another word for traitor 

8d    Be careful and remove what upset editor (4,4)
TAKE HEED:  Cement together a synonym of remove, the reversal (upset, in a down clue) of an interjection meaning “what”, and the abbreviation for editor

12d   Horse beginning to eat fruit, ignoring cherries initially (6)
EQUINE:  The first letter (beginning to) of EAT with a pear-shaped acidic fruit minus (ignoring) the first letter (initially) of CHERRIES 

14d   Consumes American energy drink (4,2)
USES UP:  Concatenate an abbreviation for American, the physics symbol for energy, and a synonym of drink 

16d   Improper behaviour in last month nothing strange (9)
INDECORUM:  Put together IN from the clue, an abbreviation for the last month of the year, the letter representing nothing, and strange or peculiar 

17d   Brawl risks him getting damaged (8)
SKIRMISH:  An anagram (getting damaged) of RISKS HIM 

19d   Gets hold of extremely scarce remedies (7)
SECURES:  The outer letters (extremely) of SCARCE with another word for remedies 

20d   Former issue reunion at regular points brought up (3-4)
ONE-TIME:  Issue or send out with alternate letters (at regular points) of REUNION, all reversed (brought up, in a down clue) 

21d   Mark in text reflected some spiritual musings (6)
UMLAUT:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (reflected some …) SPIRITUAL MUSINGS 

23d   Before international, pressure for each player (5)
PIPER:  Putting the bits in order, fuse together the physics symbol for pressure, the single letter for international, and a word meaning “for each” 

25d   Long look from half of antelopes (4)
GAZE:  The first half of some small graceful antelopes 

 

Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?

The Quick Crossword pun:  BILL + LEAP + HYPER = BILLIE PIPER

55 comments on “DT 30988”

  1. For me, etc, an enjoyable chewy brain mangler from the man with the 25 letter alphabet – ****/****

    Candidates for favourite – 10a, 26a, 9d, and 25d – and the winner is 25d.

    Thanks to pro_imal and Mr K and here’s a 26a looking kitty.

    1. Addendum – I forgot to ‘say’ that the ‘equipment’ in 9a is used in a number of games, not in any sport!

      1. Ha, I do take your point but ******* is “classified as a ‘precision sport’ by the International Olympic Committee”!

  2. Excellent. 1a’s nicely done and 3d’s “passed through” is lovely. I doubt one will see a better anagram than 15a. Best thanks to setter and Mr K.

  3. An excellent puzzle.
    The top left was where I finished up.
    Ticks to 11a, 15a, 5d, and favourite 18a (loved fortress base).
    Many thanks to proXimal and to MrK

  4. It’s a small point, but in 1a the phrase “back in” refers to the last letter of MARINA, not the first.

  5. 3*/5*. I’ve lost the completed puzzle which I cut out from the paper and has now mysteriously disappeared. What I can remember is that I enjoyed it a lot, the NW corner was the hardest part, and it was an X-less pangram.

    Many thanks to proXimal and to Mr K.

  7. I fairly flew through this but got royally stuck with the 1a/1d comby that took me into the next time zone.

    I’ve never heard of 4a and I think the abbreviated term in 24a may not get everyone’s approval though I’m okay with it…….ish.

    I’d’ve used a synonym of ‘risk’ in 26a to avoid the clash with 17d.

    My pody picks are 15a, 18a and 8d.

    MT to Proximal and Mr K.

    3*/4*

  8. A decent standard Friday backpager with lots of very pleasing surfaces.
    The rekrul in 4a was worth the admission money on its own.
    I’ve also got ticks against 1, 22 and 26 across, as well as 6 and 20 down.
    Large thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  9. Some poorly cows have caused a delay and diversion to the start of the TDF today, allowing me time to try to get to grips with this fine GroXimal Guzzle.
    Thanks to the other SJB and to MrK

  10. A top-drawer puzzle – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    I’ve never seen the 24a yellow equipment abbreviated in this way.
    I particularly liked 9a, 18a, 22a, 3d and 21d.

  11. Another tricky Friday puzzle for me this week, with lots of parsing I can’t figure out.

    3*/2.5*

    Favourites 18a, 24a, 29a, 1d, 16d & 25d — with winner 18a
    A couple of good lego clues in the mix too, that I did like.

    Thanks to proXimal & Mr K

  12. Typical tricky friday offering, with 1d and 11a stubbornly holding out until the end.
    3*/5*
    All very entertaining with 5d as favourite for the PDM.
    Thanks to Proximal and Mr K

  13. It seems I was not alone in taking longer to solve a couple in the NW than the rest of the puzzle combined. Finally got there unaided and felt like I had received a thorough brain workout. Some super clues with great surfaces. I confess I missed the pangram (well nigh on) as I rarely if ever look for one!

    Many thanks to the setter for a first class production, and thanks also to Mr K who’s hints I always enjoy and shall now read

  14. Lurked and learned from many of you for a while
    Some clues went straight in but quite a tussle in the top left corner
    Persistence and coffee paid off
    18a was my favourite

    Thanks to the setter and Mr K

    1. You’ve commented before (in 2015 when you were just ‘Ruth’). Both aliases will work from now on.

  15. It was hard to get a start and, bizarrely, when I did, it was with 2 words I’d never heard of, at 4a and 16d followed by one I’d never use at 6d. The NW was by far the hardest part to crack. I did, however, enjoy the double meaning clue at 1d, the reverse lurker at 21d and the crafty missing letter Lego clue at 12d. It was a bit of a slog but I got a fgreat deal of satisfaction out of finishing the guzzle. Thanks to the compiler and to Mr K for the hints, which I shall now read to elucidate some of the tricky parsings.

  16. Two days of needing the hints is unusual for me. Yesterday I only needed them to parse my guesses but today 3D beat me completely I think it reasonable to claim that as my adopted country appears to have commenced a war with one of it’s neighbours I am justified in being distracted. I bunged in, eagerly, for 3D which seemed reasonable as it had the cathedral city and the sense of the solution but it proved to be an incorrect bung. The NW was obviously a problem afterwards. I also misspelt 17D using an E as the final vowel in line with the proper pronunciation, by us Yorkshire folks but it appears that the southerners have the keys to the BRB so that made 26A a challenge.
    My son and daughter both hold dual nationality so I’m praying for sense to reign and no military call up to be invoked.
    Thanks to Proximal and Mr K.

    2. I’ve just read about it, ATinB. I do hope you and your family remain safe.

      1. SC thanks for that. We’re nowhere near the border so i think we are safe. It’s tragic that people have been killed and maimed already but the local commentators are predicting a short tme before it’s over.

      1. Wishing you peace and safety. There seems to be a worldwide proliferation of wars at present.

    4. I solved the puzzle early doors & parsed that one no problem. First chance to comment so thought I’d read back through the puzzle & that one took me an age to parse. Mindset/memory – who knows.
      Take care & hope all resolves itself on the political front.

      1. Just realised that first bit was meant as reply to Alfiepops in case you’re thinking what’s he on about.

        1. Thanks to all for the kind thoughts. It’s 5.00 a.m. here and I’m getting ready for my session at the exercise park. We start early due to the intense heat after about 10.00 a.m. I’m wishing for a day free of snakes and with a peace declaration. I spotted a snake at the exercise park slithering into the undergrowth yesterday which, when I warned other joggers of its presence, caused a considerable detour to a lot of peoples normal routes. As a result of the snake visit to our shower room earlier this week I was surprised to find that brimstone is a real thing and can be bought locally, as my wife has sprinkled it in powdered form all down the corridors. In my innocence I thought it only existed in Harry Potter and Merlin stories.
          Best wishes to all.

  17. The NW hardest for me too got there in the end though. Needed the hint to parse 12a. Some cracking clues with a high enjoyment factor. Favourite was 18a. Thanks to ProXimal and Mr. K.

  18. 3* / 4* A proper Friday challenge with plenty of excellent clues. Favourites include 11a bird great misdirection, the cuddy at 12d and a cracking lurker 21d

    Thanks to Proximal and Mr K

  19. This felt fairly typical for a Friday. The timer says I took about 5 times as long as usual to solve it, but I think that’s because the window was open while doing other things. (The web-browser window with the crossword in it, I mean; the actual window was also open because it’s nice out today, but I’m really hoping that doesn’t affect the crossword timer.)

    Thank you to Mr K, where a couple of bits of underlining helped me out, particularly with 9a where I was trying to find a definition at the wrong end of the clue, wondering whether the sports equipment could be discus (I didn’t yet have 1d; it fitted the rest of the crossing letters).

    My favourite was “Prepare case once more” in 22a. Thank you, proXimal.

  20. Well I found that very hard going today and my brain feels well and truly mangled. Got there in the end but needed Mr K’s help parsing 8d. The NW held out longest for me too.

    My top picks were 12d, 6d and 18a.

    Thanks to Mr K and ProXimal.

  22. A dnf unaided from me today. I was cock-a-hoop in getting 1a/1d straight off the bat, but it all went downhill after that and with six to go, resorted to the hints. Just too good for me today. 18a is my cotd. Thanks to ProXimal and Mr K.

  23. Like SL8 (Slate?) and one or two others 1a and 11a were my last to fall – I thought of cockles but missed the old before. I particularly liked the way we abandoned the mission at 5d and 15a &16d got daisies. One of my birthday presents in June was tickets for The Tempest at Kings tonight but sadly G says he cannot do the walking so I have had to give them away ???? so disappointed. It was a nice thought! Anyway, we’ve just had a happy hour guzzling so many thanks to Proximal and Mr Kay.

  24. Very satisfying and very enjoyable today. Saw the oncoming X-less pangram early on and nice to see it turned out that way. Like others, the NW had me floored for quite a while. Suffered from an inability to spot a lurker and synonym brain fog! 1a was one of the last in and got a big tick for the intricacy of the wordplay. Not a fan of the contraction of the second word in 24a but more big ticks to the keen 3d and 16d improper behaviour. The only one that remains a mystery for me is in 5d, I can’t think of the removed synonym of mission. The answer was the usual noun for grass though and went straight in.

    Many thanks to proXimal & Mr K

    1. For 5d, remove your answer from the outside of ‘requested’. What’s left is the mission you could’ve removed to do it t’other way round.

      1. Superb! Thanks Smylers, on today’s form, I’d never have spotted that! Couldn’t think of the synonym and didn’t even think it might be printed in front of me!!!! Thanks again!

  25. Another hospital appointment today so I’m blaming my slowness at solving on the amount of blood the vampires took from me!
    A proper Friday level back-pager resulting in much scribbling on my paper but so satisfying when the finish line was crossed.
    Top clues for me were15&18a plus 8d with smiles for 16&25d.

    Thanks to proXimal and to Mr K for the review.

    1. I hope all the blood-letting is worthwhile and they get
      some answers for you! I am like you and couldn’t do the
      guzzles without some sort of scribbling paper handy. I like
      it best when there is a nice big advertisement next door to
      the guzzle with lots of plain white space!

  26. Very enjoyable with the north west holding out till the end. I needed the hints to explain 5d but otherwise I got there. I had 18a as my favourite and completely missed the lurker in 21d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints

  27. Good afternoon

    Having not gone anywhere near yesterday’s crozzie (a busy day; I have a two-hour show on community radio on a Thursday afternoon, and then yesterday evening I had a gig to go to: the excellent Hillbilly Vegas in Reading) I was especially keen to get today’s done.

    A shaky start trying to find a way in; then filling in solutions at pace, and then: oh crikey, the NW quadrant! I didn’t help myself by being convinced that 3d was EAGERLY; I had 1a but couldn’t parse it; and I had 9a as another word for “save” wrapped around a C.

    Thanks to the Hintingtons, I got 1a and 9a, and was able to finish with 1d my last to fall.

    COTD is 16d. Excellent challenge: thank you proximal and thank you Mr K.

  28. Thanks to the Setter and Mr K. We struggled with this puzzle and eventually resorted to the hints. Not our day! Gary and Val

  30. Trickiest/longest back-page solve of the week with completion taking me well into **time & a few of the whys reverse engineered. Only twigged it as a ProXimal production at 25d. As ever very enjoyable with some cracking clues – podium places for the two excellent reverse lurkers & agree with ALP that 15a was a terrific anagram so that’ll do for top spot.
    Thanks to proXimal & to Mr K

  31. I didn’t enjoy this much I’m afraid.

    A dnf due to several in the NW corner that were well beyond my abilities.

    There were several other clues which took me a ridiculous amount of time to solve.

    Thanks to all.

    1. I only got around to this crossword today. A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle for which thanks to proXimal and thanks to Mr K for the blog. 24a is the only clue I have issue with as I’ve never heard anyone I know use the term other than its full version. That said, nothing grinds my gears more than hearing people use that horrible phrase ‘spag bol’. What’s that when you’re writing home, an Italian dish for 4 year olds?

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