DT Vintage 24

Daily Telegraph Vintage No 24
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***  Enjoyment ***

Congratulations to Steve Cowling on his first blog yesterday.  Welcome to the Vintage blogging team, Steve!  It took me a while to get going with this puzzle, but once I was on the setter’s wavelength, the answers started to come steadily.  Many thanks to the setter, Richard Browne.

Across

1a Reliable express (5)

SOUND: A double definition.  A word meaning ‘reliable’ is also a verb meaning to express or state an opinion.

4a Docked, like a noted runner at Camptown (3-6)

BOB-TAILED: A description of an animal with a tail that has been cut or is naturally short.  The word appears in the lyrics of the song “Camptown Races”: ‘I bet my money on a ***-******** nag”.

9a History book (7)

ACCOUNT: A double definition: a narrative of an event or events, and a summary of a company’s finances.

11a Deficiency said to increase cardiac weakness (7)

ABSENCE: A cryptic definition.  A word for a lack of something is proverbially said to make someone more affectionate.

12a Attach trouble to name (4)

NAIL: ‘N’ from ‘name’ is followed by a verb meaning ‘trouble’ to give a word that can mean to fix something, to a wall, for example.

13a What a blunder, boss is a bit short! (5)

GAFFE: A slang word for a boss, especially the manager of a football team, loses its last letter to give a word meaning a blunder or faux pas.

14a Waterproof one has flippers (4)

SEAL: A double definition.  A word meaning to make something watertight is also a marine mammal.

17a Protests by prisoners as starvation hits? (6,7)

HUNGER STRIKES: A synonym for ‘starvation hits’ describes prisoners’ protests such as those that took place during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

19a Ongoing problems in corrupt assembly (7,6)

VICIOUS CIRCLE: A word for ‘mean’ or ‘nasty’ is followed by a reference to a group of people sharing an activity.

21a Score no points in national wrestling (4)

SUMO: A word meaning ‘total’ (score) followed by ‘O’ (zero) gives a Japanese wrestling style.

22a Power of second eleven (5)

STEAM: ‘S’ (second) followed by a group of players such as a cricket XI gives you a source of power.

23a All black bird? (4)

KIWI: A cryptic definition.  A nickname for an inhabitant of the country whose national rugby union team is the All Blacks is also the country’s national bird.  Our Antipodean blogging pair will have no problems with this clue!

26a Rousing stuff, reducing tempo in Beethoven symphony (7)

EROTICA: Insert the initial letter (reducing) of ‘tempo’ into the title of Beethoven’s third symphony to produce some saucy material.

27a Charm of French antiques? (7)

ENCHANT: A lurker hidden in ‘French antiques’.

28a Go effortlessly by bicycle to coast (9)

FREEWHEEL: A double definition, if you read the second part as ‘to coast by bicycle’.

29a Sentimental film, insignificant and extremely patchy (5)

WEEPY: A (mainly Scots or Irish) word for ‘small’ is followed by the first and last letters (extremely) of ‘patchy’.

Down

1d By no fluke does one slow the boat down (3,6)

SEA ANCHOR: A cryptic definition of a device towed from a vessel at sea to slow it down.  ‘By no fluke’ is a punning reference to the absence of the appendages usually found on a conventional ******.

2d Affected charm of party with no leader … (7)

UNCTION: A social event with its first letter removed (with no leader) leads to a word that can mean ‘insincere flattery’.

3d … grim party game’s back (4)

DOUR: The two-character word for a party is followed by the initial letters of ‘rugby union’ (game), reversed (back).

5d UFO’s traceable, perhaps, by indications of wind force … (8,5)

BEAUFORT SCALE: An anagram of ‘UFO’s traceable’.

6d … as well as in alluvial soil (4)

ALSO: A lurker hidden in ‘alluvial soil’.

7d Surgeons’ dance? (7)

LANCERS: The name of a type of square dance or quadrille also describes those who cut into tissue with a sharp tool, so could be a cryptic definition of ‘surgeons’.

8d Live and prosper without oxygen? (5)

DWELL: A two-word expression (2, 4) that means ‘prosper’, with ‘O’ removed (without oxygen), leads to a verb meaning ‘live’ that coincidentally appeared in yesterday’s vintage crossword.

10d Act of partners to open cheap eating place (9,4)

TRANSPORT CAFE: A roadside ‘greasy spoon’.  An anagram of ‘act of partners’.

15d Fish–pole (5)

PERCH: A double definition: a freshwater fish, and a unit of length measuring 1/320 of a mile or five and a half yards.

16d Hank showing geese in flight (5)

SKEIN: A double definition.  ‘Hank’ here is used in the sense of a coil of yarn.

18d Mercy! This mixture stinks in school (9)

CHEMISTRY: An anagram (mixture) of ‘mercy this’ gives a science subject known popularly at school as ‘stinks’.

19d Run away like Virginia elk? (7)

VAMOOSE: The two-letter abbreviation of the US state of Virginia followed by a synonym of ‘elk’.  From the Spanish word meaning ‘we go’ or ‘let’s go’.

20d Smart one in Scotland shows hand without trumps (7)

CHICANE:  A word borrowed from French meaning ‘smartly dressed’ is followed by the Scots word for ‘one’.  Although I’m an occasional bridge player I’d never heard of this definition: the more common meaning of the answer is an S-shaped bend, for example on a racing circuit.

21d Henry, breaking safe, makes a bundle (5)

SHEAF: The symbol for the SI unit of inductance is inserted into an anagram (breaking) of ‘safe’.

24d Angle of sight (4)

VIEW: A double definition.  ‘Angle’ here refers to an opinion or way of looking at something.

25d Barge has dirty look mainly (4)

SCOW: A word meaning an angry look or frown, without its last letter (mainly), becomes a flat-bottomed boat.

Lots of ticks for me in this one.  My favourites were 28a and 1d.  What did you think of this puzzle? Let us know in the comments below.