DT 30989 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30989

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 26^th July 2025

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

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

Arrow, the answer to the clue of 24a, refers to the phrase ‘arrow in the eye’ for Harold i.e. that refers to the legendary death of King Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. According to the legend, he was struck in the eye by an arrow, leading to his death and the defeat of the English forces by William the Conqueror. The Bayeux Tapestry, a contemporary depiction of the battle, also portrays a figure with an arrow in his eye, which is widely interpreted as Harold. While the Bayeux Tapestry does show a figure with an arrow in the eye, there is some debate about whether this is actually Harold and whether the arrow was originally depicted in that manner. This famous embroidered cloth, which depicts the events of the Battle of Hastings, includes an image of a figure with an arrow in his head, under the inscription ‘Harold Rex’ denoting King Harold. Some historians believe the arrow was added during later repairs or restorations to the tapestry, while others suggest the arrow wound was a result of a different injury. Regardless of the exact details, the image of Harold with an arrow in his eye has become a powerful and enduring symbol of the battle and his demise.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Big wheels of finest metal (3,5)
TOP BRASS: The definition of an informal term referring to the most important and high-ranking officials or leaders, as in politics, industry etc or within an organisation, an example of which is ‘big wheels’ i.e. persons of importance or self-importance or those in an organisation or society having important and powerful positions in it is reached from a charade of TOP (finest) as denoting greatest, upmost, foremost, best or finest and BRASS (metal) as a bright yellow metal made from copper and zinc

5a           Country staff employed for a spell in R&A (6)
RWANDA: The definition of a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge is arrived at from WAND (staff employed for a spell) as a slender rod or staff thought to have magic properties, used in casting spells by a fairy or performing conjuring tricks by a magician placed between (in) R and A (R&A) as in the form of R&A in the clue; ampersand being the symbol meaning ‘and’

9a           North American daughter, one in Biblical land (8)
CANADIAN: The definition of a native or inhabitant of Canada that is in North America and hence a North American is obtained from a combo of D (daughter) as the genealogical abbreviation for daughter and I (one) as the Roman numeral for one taken inside (in) CANAAN (Biblical land) as the most frequently ethnic term in the Bible and appearing as a geography associated with the ‘Promised Land’

10a and 2 Down               Dramatist rather oddly grabs antique brooch (6,6)
HAROLD PINTER: The definition of a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor who also won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 is fetched from an anagram (oddly) of RATHER holding inside (grabs) a combo of OLD (antique) as antique or archaic and PIN (brooch) as an ornamental brooch, especially a narrow one

12a        Prepare to catch Spooner’s reason for delayed arrival at work? (3,2,4)
LIE IN WAIT: The definition denoting to remain hidden, ready to ambush or capture someone or something is reached from WHY IN LATE?, being the question asking for (reason for delayed arrival at work?) is subject to an utterance involving spoonerism (Spooner’s) as to utter a verbal error in which a speaker transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect

13a        Dunce! I had nothing invested in it (5)
IDIOT: The definition of a dunce or stupid person is fetched from I’D (I had) as a contracted form of ‘I had’ followed by O (nothing) as the letter representing naught or nothing put into (invested in) IT from the clue

14a        First victim: president after James B? (4)
ABEL: The definition of the first victim on earth who was killed by his brother Cain as mentioned in the Bible is arrived at from a combo of ABE (Abraham) and L (Lincoln); Abraham Lincoln, commonly referred to as ‘Abe Lincoln’ or ‘Honest Abe’, being the president of the United States after James Buchanan and represented here as Abe as the call name and L as the surname on the lines of James and B respectively

16a        One more circle inside flower part (7)
ANOTHER: The definition of an additional person or thing of the same type as one already mentioned or known about is arrived at from O (circle) as denoting a circle with respect to its shape placed inside (inside) ANTHER (flower part) as the terminal part of a stamen in a flower that produces and contains pollen

19a        Book, woeful novel, work in Old English (7)
BEOWULF: B (book) as the abbreviation for book followed by an anagram (novel) of WOEFUL takes to the definition of a work in Old English poem, an epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines

21a        Meat and bone to pick (4)
BEEF: Double nounal definition; the second referring to a complaint or an argument or quarrel that takes to the first denoting the flesh of a cow, bull or ox, used as food

24a        Posh school fails to open – one in the eye for 10? (5)
ARROW: [H]ARROW (posh school) as the prestigious public school in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England devoid of its opening or first letter (fails to open) that takes to the definition of the pointed weapon consisting of a thin, straight stick with a sharp point and designed to be shot from a bow that struck the legendary King Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, leading to his death and the defeat of the English forces by William the Conqueror; the Bayeux Tapestry being the only and near contemporary source that portrays a figure with an arrow in his eye, which is widely interpreted as the figure of Harold and 10? referring to 10a as Harold?

25a        Arrived unexpectedly going among Scots to drink (5,4)
TABLE WINE: BLEW IN (arrived unexpectedly) as a phrasal verb in the past tense denoting arrived suddenly or unexpectedly getting inside (going among) TAE (Scots to) as the Scottish variant of ‘to’ takes to the definition of an unfortified wine that is usually served with food

27a        Cardinal a reformed character? (6)
NEWMAN: Double nounal definition; the second denoting a reformed character or someone who has changed their ways or turned over a new leaf that leads to the first referring to Cardinal  Newman, an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer and poet whose real name was John Henry Newman, who was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal

28a        Come together – see lambs frolicking (8)
ASSEMBLE: The definition of a verb meaning to come or gather together in one place for a common purpose is arrived at from an anagram (frolicking) of SEE LAMBS

29a        Shirker in Kansas City – right! (6)
DODGER: The definition of a person who evades or shirks is reached from DODGE (Kansas City) as a city in Kansas and R (right) as the abbreviation for right

30a        Stops one working in facts and figures (8)
STATIONS: The definition of the plural of stop or a stopping place on a railway line where trains regularly stop so that passengers can get on or off is arrived at from a combo of I (one) as the Roman numeral for one and ON (working) as working or operating is placed inside (in) STATS (facts and figures) as facts which are obtained from analysing information expressed in numbers of figures

Down

1d           Take care of deer and lion, say, from the south (6)
TACKLE: The definition of a verb meaning to take care or hold of someone is reached from a combo of ELK (deer) as a deer of Northern Europe and Asia, identical or closely related to the moose of North America and CAT (lion, say) as a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout and retractable claws, an example of which is a lion i.e. a large wild animal of the cat family with yellowish-brown fur that lives in Africa and southern Asia in an upward direction (from the south) as reversals in the down clue

2d           See 10 Across

3d           Radioactive gas unsettled NORAD (5)
RADON: The definition of a rare radioactive gas belonging to the noble gas series and has no colour, smell or taste is reached when NORAD from the clue is subject to an anagram (unsettled)

4d           Defence against main onslaught? (3,4)
SEA WALL: A cryptic definition of a form of coastal defence or structure that protect coastlines from erosion and flooding caused by ‘main’ or sea waves, tides and storm surges or stops an onslaught

6d           Several overcome by river current like bore? (9)
WEARISOME: SOME (several) as an adverb meaning to some extent, quite a lot or several coming under (overcome by) in this down clue a combo of WEAR (river) as a river in Northern England that rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland and I (current) as the symbol for electrical current as in physics takes to the definition of an adjective meaning like bore or causing a person to be tired and bored

7d           Old tools from Holstein reused (8)
NEOLITHS: The definition of the plural form of a stone tool from the Neolithic or New Stone Age is obtained from an anagram (reused) of HOLSTEIN

8d           Is a Tudor playing checkers? (8)
AUDITORS: An anagram (playing) of IS A TUDOR takes to the definition of the plural of a qualified accountant who officially checks the figures and financial records of a company or a business or other organisation

11d        Estonian regularly eschewed hot spot (4)
ETNA: The oddly-placed letters or avoiding the evenly-placed ones (regularly eschewed) of E[S]T[O]N[I]A[N] brings out the definition of a large, active volcano in Sicily, Italy that is a hot spot in geological terms i.e. a location of volcanic activity or a type of gas burner used in laboratories, similar to a Bunsen burner that is a hot spot in figurative sense

15d        Tory wife, fit, big swimmer (4,5)
BLUE WHALE: A charade of BLUE (Tory) as a slang for a member of the Conservative Party i.e. Tory, due to the party’s traditional colour, W (wife) as the genealogical abbreviation for wife and HALE (fit) as describing fit and healthy takes to the definition of a very large sea mammal, and hence a big swimmer, that breathes air through a hole at the top of its head, with a long grey-blue body that is lighter underneath and the largest animal ever known to have existed on earth

17d        Got drunk into a bed (8)
OBTAINED: The definition of a verb in the past tense denoting got, acquired or secured something is reached from an anagram (drunk) of INTO A BED

18d        Secured loan bank brought in without interest? (8)
BORROWED: The definition of a secured loan that is taken against collateral is arrived at from ROW (bank) as a line of seats in a theatre, an example of which is a bank i.e. a set of similar things, especially electrical or electronic devices, grouped together in rows taken inside (brought in) BORED (without interest) as denoting tired and impatient because one has lost interest in something

20d        Obese English lot (4)
FATE: A charade of FAT (obese) as obese, corpulent or having a large amount of excess flesh and E (English) as the abbreviation for English guides to the definition of lot i.e. a person’s luck, situation or destiny in life

21d        Act as minder for small charge? (4-3)
BABY-SIT: A cryptic definition of someone who is to take care or act as a minder for a small charge denoting a young child

22d        Tolkien character touring a Spanish city (6)
BILBAO: BILBO (Tolkien character) as referring to Bilbo Baggins, title character of ‘The Hobbit’ by the English writer and philologist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien going around (touring) A from the clue takes to the definition of an industrial port city surrounded by green mountains in northern Spain

23d        Singular odds for a kind of rugby (6)
SEVENS: Double definition; the second being the name of a form of Rugby football played by seven players on each side instead of fifteen, also known as seven-a-side that guides to the first denoting the fourth singular odds from the possible composition of the plural of odd numbers with single digits i.e. ones, threes, fives , sevens and nines

26d        European clubs in black turn out (5)
EJECT: E (European) as the abbreviation for European as EU in European Union followed by C (clubs) as the abbreviation for clubs that represent the playing cards placed inside (in) JET (black) as a glossy black colour takes to the definition of a verb meaning to throw, force or turn out someone, as from a place or position

There were several clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 5a, 10a/2d, 14a, 25a, 30a, 1d, 15d, 18d and 21d; 25a 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 assistance. Looking forward to seeing you here again. Have a nice day.