DT 31037 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31037

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 20^th September 2025

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

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

Noah, the answer to the clue of 19a, took me down memory lane. I reminisced having watched the movie The Bible: In the Beginning during my teens at Globe cinema hall in the-then Calcutta. The movie basically told the stories of Adam, Noah and Abraham. I was surprised to see it suddenly coming to an end with Abraham and his son, Isaac rejoicing on a hilltop after the sacrificial event of a ram in place of Isaac. I had expected the movie to also show the stories of Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus. But I did like the movie and remembered particularly the role of Noah that was performed by none other than the director himself whose name was John Hudson. After solving the puzzle, I searched the net to know more about Noah, who was the last of the Antediluvian patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. The Genesis flood narrative is among the best-known stories of the Bible.  In this account, God regrets making mankind because they filled the world with evil. Noah then labours faithfully to build the Ark at God’s command, ultimately saving not only his own family, but mankind itself and all land animals, from extinction during the Flood. Afterwards, God makes a covenant with Noah and promises never again to destroy the earth with a flood. Noah is also portrayed as a ‘tiller of the soil’ who is the first to cultivate the vine. After the flood, God commands Noah and his sons to be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth. I further learnt that the story of Noah in the Pentateuch is similar to the flood narrative in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, composed around 1800 BC, where a hero builds an ark to survive a divinely sent flood. Scholars suggest that the biblical account was influenced by earlier Mesopotamian traditions, with notable parallels in plot elements and structure. Comparisons are also drawn between Noah and the Greek hero Deucalion, who, like Noah, is warned of a flood, builds an ark and sends a bird to check on the flood’s aftermath.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a           Bad tweet bothers chap leaving Conservative authority (3,6,4,2)
THE POWERS THAT BE: An anagram (bad) of TWEET BOTHERS [C]HAP without (leaving) C (Conservative) as the abbreviation for Conservative leads to the definition of a phrase denoting the authorities or those in control over others

9a           Rook: different meat in northern town (9)
ROTHERHAM: A charade of R (rook) as the abbreviation for rook in chess notation, OTHER (different) as an adjective denoting different, distinct or separate and HAM (meat) as salted or smoked meat from the upper part of a pig’s leg takes to the definition of a market town of South Yorkshire in north-central England

10a        Chat referring to African country (5)
GABON: A charade of GAB (chat) as to chat or talk idly or rapidly and ON (referring to) as a preposition denoting concerning or referring to guides to the definition of a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa

11a        Number one story recalled euphoria (7)
ELATION: A charade of NO (number) as the abbreviation for number, I (one) as the Roman numeral for one and TALE (story) as a narrative or story and all coming from the other end (recalled) as reversals in the across clue leads to the definition of a noun meaning great happiness and exhilaration or pathological euphoria

12a        Fools backing postgraduate in disgrace (6)
STIGMA: GITS (fools) as the plural of a slang term for a person used contemptuously or denoting a fool as seen coming back (backing) as a reversal in the across clue followed by MA (postgraduate) as the abbreviation for Master of Arts that is a postgraduate degree a student is awarded after passing guides to the definition of a distinguishing mark of social disgrace associated with a particular person

15a        Railway Children amuse themselves with school group (5,3)
TRAIN SET: The definition of a set of trains, track and other items making up a model railway for children with which they amuse themselves is reached from a charade of TRAIN (school) as a verb meaning to instruct, teach, coach or school a person a particular skill or type of behaviour through practice and instruction over a period of time and SET (group) as a group or collection of things that belong together or resemble one another or are usually found together

16a        Down and dirty (4)
BLUE: Double informal, adjectival definition; the second denoting indecent, obscene, filthy or dirty, especially of a film, joke or story that takes to the first meaning melancholy, sad, depressed or down, particularly when describing a person or their mood

19a        Northern origins in Open All Hours for Arkwright? (4)
NOAH: N (northern) as the abbreviation for northern followed by the original or starting letters (origins) in O[PEN] A[LL] H[OURS] guides to the definition of the last of the Antediluvian patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions who built the Ark at God’s command, saving mankind and all land animals from extinction during the Great Flood and hence called an Arkwright i.e. a maker of an ark

20a        Son and peers devised reply (8)
RESPONSE: An anagram (devised) of a combo of SON and PEERS takes to the definition of a noun meaning a reply or a verbal or written answer

23a        More work in uncut opiate (6)
UTOPIA: The definition of [a perfect society in which people work well with each other and are happy – now corrected to:] a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More, written in Latin and published in 1516, is part of or hiding inside (in) [UNC]UT OPIA[TE]

24a        Wailing wraith, that woman in torment (7)
BANSHEE: The definition of a female spirit who wails and shrieks before a death in the family to which she is attached is reached from SHE (that woman) as a pronoun of the third person singular form used to refer to a woman placed inside (in) BANE (torment) as something that causes torment, distress or ruin

26a        Floor in a labyrinth (5)
AMAZE: The definition of a verb meaning to overwhelm with astonishment or wonder, an example of which is to floor i.e. to astonish, overwhelm someone is obtained from A from the clue followed by MAZE (labyrinth) as a labyrinth or a complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one’s way

28a        Irregular mostly involved with Left? (9)
GUERRILLA: The definition of a member of an irregular force engaging in warfare or in the harassment of an army etc, usually operating in small bands and presumed to be mostly left-winged is arrived at from an anagram (involved) of most of the letters (mostly) of IRREGULA[R] and (with) L (Left) as the abbreviation for left in this all-in-one clue

29a        Toast of lord made silly by rice wine? (3,3,5,4)
FOR OLD TIMES SAKE: The definition of a phrase commonly used when making a sentimental toast is arrived at from an anagram (made silly) of OF LORD followed by TIMES (by) as denoting ‘by’ when referring to the number of times as that specified by the second number as in multiplication and SAKE (rice wine) as Japanese alcoholic drink made from fermented rice, traditionally drunk warm in small porcelain cups

Down

1d           Resin from tree put in ground with nitrogen (10)
TURPENTINE: The definition of a viscous resin, originally that of the terebinth tree, now generally of conifers is reached from an anagram (ground) of a combination of TREE PUT IN and (with) N (Nitrogen) as the chemical symbol for Nitrogen

2d           Prodigal, more disheartened tramp (11)
EXTRAVAGANT: The definition of an adjective meaning spendthrift, prodigal or lacking restraint in spending money or using resources is obtained from EXTRA (more) as additional, more or supplementary and VAG[R]ANT (tramp) as denoting a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by asking for money or food, an example of which is a tramp i.e. a homeless person who travels from place to place on foot devoid of the middle or innermost letter R (disheartened)

3d           Submissive old criminal holding spotted cube (8)
OBEDIENT: The definition of an adjective denoting submissive to another’s authority is fetched from O (old) as the abbreviation for old followed by BENT (criminal) as a slang term for an adjective denoting morally crooked or criminal having inside (holding) DIE (spotted cube) as a small cube used in games of chance, with each face marked by a specific number of spots in the form of dots, typically ranging from one to six

4d           Better prospect initially missed in conclusion (8)
ENHANCED: The definition of an adjective meaning ‘better than before’ is got from [C]HANCE (prospect) as the possibility or prospect of something happening with the initial or first letter i.e. C (initially) not taken into consideration (missed) and placed inside (in) END (conclusion) as the conclusion or final part of something

5d           Pacific state importing South Indian pastry (6)
SAMOSA: SAMOA (Pacific state) as an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean bringing inside (importing) S (South) as the abbreviation for South guides to the definition of an Indian small, fried pastry turnover stuffed with spiced vegetables or meat

6d           Skinful had on Burns Night? (6)
HAGGIS: The definition of a dish made by stuffing a mixture of offal, oats, spices etc into a sheep’s stomach-bag (skinful) as the stomach being a skin and eaten (had) on Burns Night i.e. a Scottish celebration on January 25^th in honour of the poet Robert Burns in this all-in-one clue

7d           Slow boat nevertheless capsized (3)
TUB: The definition of an old, clumsy or slow boat is got from BUT (nevertheless) as a conjunction denoting nevertheless, nonetheless or even so going in an upward direction since overturned (capsized) as a reversal in the down clue

8d           Energy worker climbing fiery mountain (4)
ETNA: E (energy) as the symbol for energy as a quantitative property in physics followed by ANT (worker) as a social insect working together in groups rising or going in an upward direction (climbing) takes to the definition of the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano in Sicily, Italy

13d        Black dog barking in hall came to catch ball (11)
MELANCHOLIA: The definition of a colloquial term for severe depression characterised especially by profound sadness and despair, an example of which is black dog i.e. a metaphorical representation of melancholy or depression is arrived at from an anagram (barking) of IN HALL CAME that has to take inside (catch) O (ball) as the shape of a ball that symbolically refers to something round

14d        Two poor grades produce decline (10)
DEGENERATE: A combo of D and E (two poor grades) as referring to two poor or low grades in an A to E grading scale where A denotes ‘excellent’ followed by GENERATE (produce) as a verb meaning to produce or create guides to the definition of a verb meaning to decline or deteriorate physically or mentally

17d        Marine ray devouring river fish (3,5)
SEA BREAM: SEA (marine) as an adjective denoting marine followed by BEAM (ray) as a ray or shaft of light eating or taking inside (devouring) R (river) as the abbreviation for River, used especially for maps in an atlas or a geography book takes to the definition of any fish of the Sparidae family, especially Pagellus centrodontus of European seas

18d        On the warpath in uniform, spike the guns? (2,2,4)
UP IN ARMS: The definition of an idiom meaning angry, ready to protest or on the warpath is obtained from a charade of U (uniform) as the letter represented by Uniform in the NATO phonetic alphabet, PIN (spike) as to pierce, impale or spike something and ARMS (the guns) as collectively the weapons of offence and defence, an example of which is the guns, i.e. tubular weapons from which projectiles are discharged, usually by explosion

21d        How’s that for charm? (6)
APPEAL: Double definition; the second denoting charm or attractiveness that takes to the first referring to an appeal for a dismissal, usually an LBW or catch, in a match of cricket made by a fielder to the umpire through a cry or shout of a classic phrase “How’s that?”, often shortened to “Howzat?”

22d        Bar one, wise men understood larval form (6)
MAGGOT: MAG[I] (wise men) as referring to the three wise men from the East who visited Jesus shortly after his birth to honour him except or without the use of (bar) the letter I (one) as the Roman numeral for one followed by GOT (understood) as understood or grasped leads to the definition of the larval stage of an insect, usually a fly

25d        Bit of leg that’s a little lower? (4)
CALF: Double nounal definition, the second referring to a young cow or in other words, a little young lower i.e. an animal that lows that takes to the first denoting the lower back part of the leg, between the knee and ankle

27d        Excellent reason to start with melody (3)
AIR: AI (excellent) as first-rate, first class or excellent followed by the starting or first letter (to start) with R[EASON] takes to the definition of a noun denoting tune or melody

There were several clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 9a, 15a, 19a, 23a, 24a, 29a, 2d, 6d, 13d, 21d and 25d; 19a 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.