DT 31000 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
View closed comments 

DT 31000

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31000

Hints and tips by Mr K

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. 

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. In some hints hyperlinks provide additional explanation or background. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

1a    Gervais v Wilde in mental combat? (6,2,4)
BATTLE OF WITS:  How one might describe a face-off between Oscar Wilde and  comedian Ricky Gervais

8a    Eat this when stoned: halve once and top with odd trimmings (7)
AVOCADO:  Even letters (with odd trimmings) of HALVE ONCE AND TOP

9a    Article probes running - become active (2,3,2)
ON THE GO:  A grammatical article is inserted between (probes) synonyms of running and become 

11a   Start of tariffs in Korea crushed Eastern growth (3,4)
OAK TREE:  The first letter (start of) of TARRIFFS is inserted in an anagram (crushed) of KOREA, and that’s all followed by the single letter for eastern

12a   Investigated macho guy that is meeting daughter (7)
STUDIED:  Link together a macho guy, the Latin abbreviation for “that is” and the single letter for daughter 

13a   Flipping  florid (5)
RUDDY:  A straightforward double definition 

14a   Critical of BBC, I get art show rejected (9)
STRATEGIC:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (of …. rejected) BBC I GET ART SHOW

16a   Stars put out by censors? (9)
ASTERISKS:  A cryptic definition of the star character sometimes used to censor or redact text 

19a   Staff try tropical food (5)
MANGO:  Synonyms of staff and try 

21a   Shakespearean king's visiting Italy twice over from another Med country (7)
ISRAELI:  Shakespear’s tragic king with his ‘S from the clue sandwiched by two copies of the IVR code for Italy (visiting … twice), all reversed (over) 

23a   Some cartwheeling fool at ice rink show (7)
RECITAL:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (some cartwheeling …) FOOL AT ICE RINK 

24a   Most dignified resting place required by saint (7)
GRAVEST:  A final resting place with the abbreviation for saint 

25a   Original, 20, friend in Paris producing Japanese art (7)
ORIGAMI:  Apply the answer to 20d to ORIGINAL, and follow the result by the French word for friend 

26a   Prepare tediously for amateur production (2-2-8)
DO-IT-YOURSELF:  An anagram (prepare …) of TEDIOUSLY FOR 

 

Down

1d    Stopped up and watched, seeing Belgium oust Conservative (7)
BLOCKED:  In an information synonym of watched or noticed, the IVR code for Belgium replaces (ousts) the single letter for Conservative 

2d    Server and host finally tuck into flatfish (3,4)
TEA TRAY:  Join together the last letter (finally) of HOST, a word for “tuck into”, and a flat fish 

3d    Pride participants invented stories about one's son (9)
LIONESSES:  Some invented or untrue stories containing (about) ONE’S from the clue, followed by the single letter for son 

4d    They play on Beethoven's overture, each section taking bows (5)
OBOES:  Initial letters (taking bows, as in the front of a ship) of ON BEETHOVEN’S OVERTURE EACH SECTION

5d    Women's clubs maybe welcoming French and rubber gear (7)
WETSUIT:  The single letter for women’s and what clubs defines by example (maybe) are sandwiching (welcoming) AND in French

6d    Picked up oolong perhaps old Chinese packed (7)
TEEMING:  A homophone (picked up) of what oolong defines by example (perhaps) with an old Chinese dynasty 

7d    Party focusing on economy, reducing employment (6-6)
LABOUR-SAVING:  The political party currently in power with a verb that could mean focussing on economy 

10d   Earlier train time's lost million for profitable network? (3,6,3)
OLD SCHOOL TIE:  Glue together earlier or former, train or educate, and TIME from the clue minus the single letter for millions (… lost million)

15d   River rose, unexpectedly creating this? (9)
RESERVOIR:  An anagram (unexpectedly) of RIVER ROSE. The definition refers back to the rest of the clue

17d   Twister split, with bother to follow (7)
TORNADO:  Split or ripped followed by bother or trouble

18d   Again choose roll laced with a dash - rum etc (2-5)
RE-ELECT:  A synonym of roll bisected by a hyphen (laced with a dash) is followed by an anagram (rum) of ETC 

19d   Robot possibly in a state, getting cold then hot internally (7)
MACHINE:  In a state in the North East USA insert the single letters (getting … then … internally) for cold and hot 

20d   Pint?  Definitely! (3,4)
NOT HALF:  An informal expression meaning definitely could also indicate an amount of beer that may be a pint 

22d   Paint pa's dropped or spilled, opening (5)
INTRO:  PAINT minus PA (PA’s dropped) with an anagram (spilled) of OR 

 

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

The Quick Crossword pun:  GRISLY + BARES = GRIZZLY BEARS

66 comments on “DT 31000”

  1. A tough one and I solved quite a number from the checkers and guesswork rather than the clue. An example of this is 1a because I could not see where Gervais and Wilde came into it. Still, it is Friday. However, it had its moments and I thought the reverse lurker at 23a was well hidden. Given the current state of affairs, I thought 7d somewhat ironic. My favourite and COTD is the rubber gear at 5d.

    Thank you, setter for a puzzle befitting of a Friday. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints.

    Not sure I like the new layout of the website.

  2. Phew! Definitely a *** for me. Found it tricky to get on the setter’s wavelength and fascinated to find out who it is. A great challenge with 3 down being my favourite although I’m not sure why ! Thank you Mr K and the author for a two rather large coffee problem.

  3. Quite chewy, but it’s Friday, and if the setter is a member of The Friday Triumvirate it is most likely to be Zandio – ***/****

    Candidates for favourite – 19a, 17d, and 20d – and the winner is 20d.

    Thanks to Zandio, or whomsoever if it is not he, and thanks to Mr K.

    A 25a kitty:

  4. Like Steve, i employed guesswork and the checkers to help me finish this crossword. I liked the 11a,ceyptic definition, although Ricky Gervais and Os car Wilde mwke strnge bedfellows as wits. The anagram at 15d was good, although this is a sore point for the Vale of White Horse which is having a rainfall-fed 15d inflicted upon it despite recording one of the lowest annual rainfall totals in the UK . I also liked the reverse lurker at 23a. Thanks to the compiler and to Mr K for the hints

  5. Another good puzzle for a Friday, I would also give it 3 16a in difficulty. I actually could not parse that clue, only got it from the definition and checkers. My LOI was 6d, I keep forgetting what “picked up” often means in crosswordland. 1a is my COTD. Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

  6. I had to work for this one which made it a very satisfying solve.

    I liked ‘taking bows’ as an acrostic indicator and ‘laced with a dash’ was novel…..and fun.

    My podium is 14a (excellent rekrul), 26a (great anagram) and the splendid 20d.

    MT to Zandio (?) and Mr K

    4*/4*

  7. Chewy; describes today for me in line with Senf. It’s a funny old world where I sailed through Wednesday which some found challenging, gave up half way through yesterday but didn’t post about it and stuck with it today to a finish, because every time I cracked a clue I was convinced the unsolved ones would reveal themselves, which wasn’t the case yesterday.
    If I’m allowed two COTD’s they are 26A and 20D, both raised a smirk.
    Thanks for the hints and to the setter.

  8. This has taken too long away from the garden weeds! Despite 25 years in the tropics 6d eluded me.
    My favourite clue was3d. With 10d a very close second. Thank you Mr K and the setter for a hard and enjoyable whole morning’s work.

  9. An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to our setter (I notice there’s no X in the grid) and Mr K.
    I’m rather surprised at the choice of Gervais in 1a – there must be lots of better examples!
    The clues I liked best were 4d, 5d, 10d and (my favourite) 20d.

    1. But, unless my eyes are deceiving me, which is quite possible, there is a total of 5 (including X) ‘missing’ letters.

  10. Great fun with plenty of smiles. Completed clockwise and reasonably swiftly from 1a, the first grin. Nice variety of clue types and admirable restraint on the use of anagrams (Mr K – I took “spilled” in 22a to indicate an over-turning, or reversal, of ‘or’), with good lurkers and acrostics.

    Honours to 8a, 16a, 5d (brilliant fnarr fnarr surface) & runner-up 14a

    Many thanks to the setter (Z could be a good call) and to Mr K

  11. Nicely challenging for a Friday with some very fair and well-constructed clues. I cannot get a fag paper between 5 and 20d so they are my co-favourites this afternoon. Highly enjoyable.

    My thanks to our setter and Mr K.

  12. I found this hard in the north but the south almost read and write.Spent forever on 6d ,das,das, missed picked up ! Then I spelt the fruit wrong in 8a making 1d impossible . Thanks to all for a three star crossword.favourite 10d.

  13. Challenging and chewy in parts which led to a dnf unaided from me today as I ground to a halt in the SW and resorted to a hint or two to restart the grey matter. That said there was much to like including 16a which was one I needed help on as I was fixated by a different meaning of Stars and couldn’t make my answer work. Cotd for the amusement factor is 20d. Thanks to compiler and Mr K for the hints.

  14. Well. In addition to ticks beside the clues I like, I’m in the habit of putting question marks beside the ones I can’t quite parse. And today there were a lot of question marks. Chapeau to Mr K. All is now klear and I can finally appreciate the cunning of ‘with odd trimmings’ and ‘taking bows’. 20d for my COTD.

  15. Mr K must be busy, sans cat pictures today. It’s been a week of excellent grids. I got 8a fairly early but I’m not sure what ‘when stoned’ brings to the clue. My COTD candidates, 1a and 10 and 20d. Thanks to the setter and Mr K for the review. ????

    1. Ff, in 8a I guess it’s just a bit of whimsical misdirection in the definition – you eat them after they’re stoned, not when you’re high or drunk. But maybe we’ve missed someting subtle? How people eat those things, and olives, is beyond me – horrible tasting!

      1. Many thanks for the reply Jose. The ‘avo’ grows in abundance where I’m from (SE corner of Queensland). I was wondering whether the ‘stoned’ was a reference to the pip/stone to point us in the right direction re the type of fruit. Breakfast time here. Avo on toast with a slash of tabasco and salt and pepper it is ????????

  16. A top-notch Friday offering! Great clues, a pretty tough challenge and an enjoyable/satisfying tussle. My guess is Z. In 1a, G v W is a strange coupling but I think I can (just about) see where the setter is coming from. I have ticked a fair few and it’s hard to isolate a favourite but if pushed I’d nominate 10d. 4*/4*.

  17. A milestone puzzle for the DT – Nr 31,000.
    An enjoyable solve, even if some of the surface reads were a bit strange.
    Plenty to like though, including the macho guy at 12a, the BBC critic at 14a, the neat anagram at 26a, the instruments at 4d, the profitable network at 10d and, of course, the beer at 20d. I had no idea beer also came in half pint measures!!
    Unusual to see two reverse lurkers in one puzzle, but they were both top drawer.
    Thank you setter and Mr K.

  18. Thanks to the Setter and Mr K for the hints (which we didn’t need). Took a while but got there in end. Worthy Friday puzzle. Gary and Val

  19. Fun, imaginative cluing, without too many anagrams — my kind of crossword! Unlike Francis’s top/bottom split above, I found the right going in straight away and had to work for the left. Thank you to the setter for the entertainment, and Mr K for explaining “laced with a dash” in 18d — which is brilliant, and I can only apologise to the setter for not seeing it myself.

    Lots of potential favourites, including 25a using 20d as an instruction, the train time in 10d, and the 5d rubber gear, but I’m going with 3d, simply because we saw one at Yorkshire Wildlife Park (near Doncaster) last weekend with some cubs. So for once I’m able to contribute a feline photo:

  20. An enjoyable puzzle today with lots of smiles.

    Top picks for me were 20d, 25a, 11a, 5d and 2d.
    Thanks to Mr K and the setter.

  21. Once I got this Friday puzzle up and running it went in pretty smoothly, but it took a little time. More or less went in top to bottom.
    Easier than a lot of Friday puzzles, when all is said and done.

    2.5*/3.5*

    Favourites 12a, 14, 16a, 4d & 20d — with winner by a country mile 20d

    Thanks to setter & Mr K.

  22. A decent Friday workout requiring a good deal of thought.
    Honours to the spaced out munch in 8a, the pride participants in 3d and the rubber gear in 5d.
    Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

  23. Not sure if anyone else is getting this. When I click on my link to Big Dave, the recent posts/recent comments column is on the right-hand side of the page. When I click on a comment they move to the bottom of the page, which is rather awkward.

    1. They’re currently at the bottom of the page for me as well, Steve. I think it’s supposed to be based on the window width (so they’re at the side in wide windows and under in narrow ones), but it seems that something’s gone wonky.

        1. It is happening to me too. The home page is fine but the individual blogs are definitely ‘wonky’

    2. Anybody notice when this change to the layout happened? I’m not aware of anything happening under the hood recently, but debugging is easier if I know when an automatic update might have affected something.

        1. Layout is back to normal now. The issue was an unexpected side-effect of changes I made in an attempt to get emoticons working in comments again. I’ve put everything back as it was.

  25. Hugely enjoyable and very satisfying.
    I started this by feeling well out of my depth, but seemed to get increasingly on the setter’s wavelength after putting in two of the obvious answers.
    Like Smylers, I appreciated the sparing use of anagrams because that’s what usually holds me up.
    I often struggle on Fridays – but not with this one!

  26. I must have been on wavelength today after a bad week, particularly on the toughies, so this has restored some of my self confidence. I had to do a little reverse engineering on the parsing but hey ho. Favourite was 17d once I’d parsed the dash, a number of others ran it close. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

  27. Well that was a bit of a grind, though the clevernesses sprinkled throughout meant it remained enjoyable. Got there eventually, though struggled with parsing a couple.

    I may be having a senior moment, but I just can’t see how ‘become’ is synonymous with ‘go’ in 9a. Any examples of how that works would be gratefully received.
    ****/***

  28. Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, analyse and discuss. Always appreciated.
    Congratulations to all involved in the Centenary Celebrations. What a lovely Telegraph Crossword from Chris Lancaster on the 100th anniversary.
    Have a good weekend.

    1. Only just looking at the guzzle as I cut my thumb today(on blood thinners do famn thing keeps starting up again) so with hand raised in air I am struggling but had to pop in to say what a cracker! Very clever clueing worthy of the number at the top. Well done. It’s just so clever. I’ve not looked at hints yet, but I may well be up all night with this thumb!

      1. Late post from me hope your thumb has healed I have the same problem with those thinners! But they prevent worse things hopefully!

  29. Well I guessed it was a Zandio – my favourite compiler. This was a delight from start to finish , nicely chewy with a sense of achievement on completion . My favourite was the server at 2d , and I smiled when I twigged my last one in the stars at 16a , that I had stared at for several minutes ! Thanks so much Zandio and Mr K.

  30. Finished, but not without several hints, and more than my allowed portion. Some problems of my own making when I failed to pursue an alternative meaning of the definition, a mistake I often make. But a tad friendlier than most Fridays, which is a plus. Thanks to setter and Mr K.

  31. An enjoyable puzzle … thank you to all. But, ref. 9a, although the answer seems fairly straightforward, I haven’t yet worked out how “go” is a synonym of “become”. Would be grateful for any help ….

  32. Tricky in places but as you would expect on a Friday. I needed help with the parsing of 10d and 18d but otherwise it went well. Some really great clues but no stand out favourite.

    Many thanks to Zandio and to Mr K for the hints

  33. Good afternoon

    Every time I read about website issues on here, I give thanks for the dead tree version of the crozzie, and for the Lucky Green Pen, which I needed today, by crikey!

    A proper braincell workout this afty, courtesy of the legendary Mind of Zandio. I thought at one time I was beaten, especially in the NW and SW quadrants. I was hesitant to enter my solutions at 8a and 1d; having read Mr K’s explanations, I’m a lot clearer now. Similarly 18d.

    Plenty of excellent clues, as you’d expect from the MoZ. COTD is a tie: 16a and 23a.

    Many thanks to Zandio and to Mr K.

  34. Unlike yesterday’s pedestrian solve tuned into this one’s wavelength from the off & completed in a (very rare for a Friday)Tuesday time canter. Probably because I can’t really take to RG I too thought him a bizarre choice at 1a but still quite liked the clue. 10d the clear fav with ticks against 11&23a plus 3,5&20d.
    Thanks to Zandio & to Mr K

  35. Top quality from Zandio. Linking of 20D & 25A superb. 15D and 26A such perfect anagrams. But I’ll go for 10D as COTD. Just brilliant all round … and many thanks to Mr K also.

  36. Found this very chewy, in fact I tend to take a while to get on Zandio’s wavelength. Like others thought the ‘laced with a dash’ was brilliant – new device for me! Ticked the earlier train at 10d and rising river at 15d as favourites and the rubber gear at 5d raised a smile too. Overall greatly enjoyed it after finishing work and giving it proper attention. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K

  37. Hi..very enjoyable puzzle for me.
    Still not sure what 20D has to do with 25A…Am I being thick…ORIG obviously but dont get it…cheers..Doug.

  38. I found this fairly straightforward for a Friday.
    I liked the use of bows in 4a and the 20d and 25a combination.
    Raised an eyebrow at the choice of the first wit in 1a but is that a little mean spirited?
    Thanks to setter and Mr K
    2*/4*

  39. Simply couldn’t get any kind of foothold on this however with MrK’s help do admit there are several clever if obtuse clues but it was another incomplete Friday workout for me on my birthday! Thank you Zandio and MrK.

  40. Another enjoyable puzzle which challenged the brain cells. Got there in the end with the bottom LH quarter last to go in. Many thanks for the challenge and for the hints, which were useful for checking the parsing.

  41. An excellent but hard puzzle which I finished eventually but with lots of question marks on unparsed answers. So, thanks Mr K for the explanations and to the setter for the workout!

  42. Late addition just wanted to say thank you Zandio and Mr K – 20d is a really good clue

  43. Another very entertaining crossword from Zandio. I was on the right wavelength and thoroughly enjoyed it. **/****
    The 20d / 25a pair are top of my podium, followed closely by 1a. Also among my many likes are 8a, 3d, 4d and 5d.
    Many thanks to Zandio, and have a good weekend to you too.
    Many thanks to Mr K for the review.

Comments are closed.