Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31060
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to a tricky Friday puzzle.
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 They may report poet's row about getting ejected by motorway (10)
WORDSMITHS: An English poet with his ‘S from the clue has the reversal (about) of ROW replaced by (getting ejected by) the single letter abbreviation for the primary motorway
6a Heavy metal star (4)
LEAD: A double definition. The star in a play or film
9a Sacred stringed instrument cuts in, piped endlessly (10)
INVIOLABLE: Link together IN from the clue, a stringed instrument played with a bow, and all but the last letter (endlessly) of a synonym of piped
10a Great recipe with first two ingredients skipped over (4)
EPIC: RECIPE with the first two letters deleted (with first two ingredients skipped) and then reversed (over)
12a With a gloomy tone, 'Cycle Korea' ad regularly repelled (6)
DARKLY: Alternate letters (regularly) of CYCLE KOREA AD reversed (repelled)
13a Misty Italian river - savour swimming across it (8)
VAPOROUS: A usual Italian river inserted in (… across it) an anagram (swimming) of SAVOUR
15a Single recording - object that feeds its owner's obsession (3-5,4)
ONE-TRACK MIND: Fuse synonyms of single, recording, and object
18a Drunk shot bullet to get ride (5-2-5)
MERRY-GO-ROUND: Join synonyms of drunk, shot, and bullet
21a Equestrian accoutrements: whip and rotating spur (8)
STIRRUPS: Whip or mix with the reversal (rotating) of SPUR
22a Concoct a version showing musical range (6)
OCTAVE: CONCOCT A VERSION is hiding (showing) the answer
24a The people here known to fall out with the neighbours at number 4? (4)
IRAQ: I’m not sure about the parsing of this clue. The answer is a country which has fought with its neighbour 4d and which has the same first three characters as 4d, differing only at character number 4
25a Alliance nurtured with Spain helping (10)
FEDERATION: Link together nurtured or gave food to, the IVR code for Spain, and a helping or portion
26a Eastern guy heading west in style (4)
NAME: The single letter for eastern and another word for guy, all reversed (heading west, in an across clue)
27a Determined what may be carried by shippers is ten tons (10)
PERSISTENT: The answer is hidden in (what may be carried by) SHIPPERS IS TEN TONS
Down
1d Dam gathering queer fish (6)
WEIRDO: A dam or river barrier with a usual gathering or party
2d Football team from Tyne Tees perhaps involved in one-nil exchange (6)
ROVERS: In what Tyne and Tees define by example (perhaps) swap the Roman one for the letter representing nil (involved in 1-0 exchange)
3d Country mile? Not that far to find police HQ (8,4)
SCOTLAND YARD: A country north of the border with a unit of length that’s considerably less than a mile
4d State of this person on broadcast! (4)
IRAN: A pronoun for “this person” from the setter’s perspective followed by a past tense verb synonym of broadcast
5d Outcry in northern city: Abba half-heartedly supported by ladies? (10)
HULLABALOO: Assemble a northern English city, ABBA minus one of its central letters (half-heartedly), and an informal word for what “Ladies” defines by example (?)
7d Joy beat up a hero and I must intervene (8)
EUPHORIA: An anagram (beat) of UP A HERO with I from the clue inserted (I must intervene)
8d Crop maybe left by the wharf (8)
DOCKSIDE: Crop or clip with what left can define by example (maybe)
11d Line up royal Charlie to meet girl of low birth? (7-5)
WORKING-CLASS: Concatenate the reversal (up, in a down clue) of another word for line, a high-ranking male royal, the letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphabet by Charlie, and another word for girl
14d Feel mixed metaphors will go over editor's head (10)
ATMOSPHERE: An anagram (mixed) of METAPHORS followed by the first letter (…’s head) of EDITOR
16d Issue involving European embassy (8)
EMISSION: The single letter for European with another word for embassy
17d Adaptable airman joins Royal Marines, having close connection (3,2,3)
ARM IN ARM: An anagram (adaptable) of AIRMAN with the abbreviation for Royal Marines
19d Parody met with indignation (6)
SATIRE: Synonyms of met (e.g. a committee) and indignation
20d Pressure and strain lifted, eating a bit of food (6)
PEANUT: The physics symbol for pressure and the reversal (lifted, in a down clue) are containing (eating) A from the clue
23d Piers announced opening items (4)
KEYS: A homophone of another word for piers. The definition is cryptic
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: KURD + SAND + WEIGH = CURDS AND WHEY
Good morning. This was a fabulous X Word with some amazing clues. 9a, 12a,15a,18a,22a, 16d, 19d and 4d/24a; each of these could be COTD, for me! I got most of it done, sharpish but there were 5 which took me as long to get as the rest which I had already filled. Very pleased with this today. Thank you to the setter, superb job and thank you for the review
I found this guzzleas chewy as paddywhack and only got a handful of clues on the first pass. Howevwer, as the checkers built up, persistence won out My COTD was a with its clever substitution of letters, it rook me a while to find the right poet. I also enjoyed tthe two lurkers at 10a and 22a and thenlinked geographical clues at 4d and 22a. Thanks to Mr K for the hints and to the compiler forxa very well thought out crossword, challenging but enjoyable
A bit of a brain mangle for me but just right for a Friday.
Needed Mr K’s help parsing 24a but I see he thought the same as me.
Lots of PDM and smiles.
Top picks for me were 2d, 1d, 5d, 1a and 15a.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I was relieved to see that Mr K thought this as tricky as I found it! Quite a struggle. I needed his hints for 2&19d so thanks for explaining those. My favourite was 11d followed by 25a and 8d. Thanks to the setter for the challenge. I am off to my Club for a recuperating drink!
I came here looking for an explanation to 24a, which I couldn’t figure out. Anyone?!
Hi John. I thought I had pressed reply in answer to your question…
If you got 4d, then 24 is its neighbour. They were at loggerheads in the 1980s!
Hi Conor,
Thank you. Yes, i was aware of the war. Still seems a strange clue to me!
Really? I liked it very much. Along with 1a, 4d was one of my last fills.
I still don’t get 1a 🙄
The hint isn’t quite complete, and it’s just a very hard clue!
Start with the poet who wrote about daffodils, take out the *second* instance of WOR (which is ROW backwards – “row about”), and replace it with M1 (not just M). When you’ve done all that you get the answer, defined by the first three words of the clue. Fiendish.
Ahh – got it – that was tough – my last one in – thank you for the help – much appreciated – and thanks to the setter and Mr K – that “row” really through me !
A. You’re explanation seems incomplete also – the S from the clue isn’t accounted for.
Your, I mean!
My brain hurts. ****/****
Liked 2d best of all, but sadly fell two short with the crossing clues of 25a and 14d beating me. Should really have got the latter as I parsed it perfectly well. Grrr.
“Near neighbours ” perhaps and the 4 across clue works better I think .? PQRN for last letter change .?
Last one in 23d ( didn’t finish as a result of this) Rest very straightforward for a Friday.1 COTD 1,2,5, 25 plus others.Thanks to all .
Hi FW
I’m not too bad with abbreviations but what’s PQRN?
A snorter of a clue at 1a set the tone for this tricky puzzle, but all fell into place reasonably quickly after that.
No idea on the setter. Hopefully he/she (I still can’t use the plural “they” as a gender neutral option) will pop in later to take ownership.
Most of us predicted a tricky finish to the week after the very straightforward puzzles in Monday and Tuesday and we were not wrong!
Having said all of that, I really enjoyed the puzzle and 3d is my CoD by a country mile.
Thank you setter and Mr K.
The grid fill stretched into ** time but there were a few (1&9a & 11d) that needed revisiting to nail down the parsing. Enjoyed the wordplay though did think one or two of the surfaces such as the opener maybe weren’t as smooth as the last couple of days. Pick of the clues for me – 25a + 2&11d.
Thanks to the setter for a good Friday challenge & to Mr K
Good fun and not quite as hard as I feared after seeing the rating and some early comments — but I did use a couple of Mr K’s hints to get my final two crossing answers in the bottom-right and ensure I was finished within my lunch break.
My favourite clue was the 2d football team; I also really liked the 1a poet, 10a recipe, and 3d country mile.Thank you to the setter for the entertainment.
Beaten two days running, four left in the top left corner, hats off to all that finished it, too tricky for me today.
Tough but fair with perhaps slightly more complex clues than my mildly hungover brain was prepared for, although it was the relatively straightforward SE that held out for the longest. Much to enjoy with 1a, 15a and 2d among my favourites. Thanks very much to the setter and to Mr K.
For such an excellent puzzle I’m happy to admit a dnf unaided as I needed the hints for 1a and 23d which unlocked 25 and 27a my last two in. Somewhat ashamed about 23d, but there you go. Tough to pick a favourite being a toss up between 1a and 11d, but 1a gets the nod, just brilliant. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.
Scored well for technical merit but didn’t make the grade for artistic impression, at least in my eyes. Clues that I most enjoyed were 13&25a plus 14d.
Thanks to our setter – Zandio would be my guess, and also to Mr K for the review.
I thought this puzzle was on the relatively easier side compared to most Friday offerings … but YMMV.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites include 15a, 21a, 2d, 5d & 11d — with winner 5d for its lego construction and I just like the word.
Smiles for 6a, 24a, 1d & 4d
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
Hi PCBC. I hope you’re in fine fettle.
I’ve seen YMMV before but have no clue what it’s short for.
Can you or someone else put me out of my misery?
‘Your mileage may vary’. From car adverts, where manufacturers report how many miles to the galleon their car did in their testing but they aren’t promising that that’s what you’ll actually get if you buy their car.
PS: You asked about “difficult difficult lemon difficult” last week when somebody used it and I don’t think I saw a response. It’s from political sitcom The Thick of It.
Francis Drake got a lot of miles to the galleon (sorry couldn’t resist)
Love it, Impy!
Your mileage may vary according to Mr G.
Thank you, gents. A new expression for me which I very much like.
S, someone had mentioned The Thick of It but thank you, anyway. It’s appreciated.
A quote from the thick of it that doesn’t contain a swear word. The best quotes from that superb programme would be mostly ‘unprintable’ here!!!!!
I’ve never seen it.
I am hanging my head…
‘Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult’ was from the feature film version of The Thick of It, called In The Loop. Used by Tom Hollander’s character.
A proper Friday-level puzzle which I enjoyed. Thanks to our setter and Mr K.
Highlights for me were 25a, 2d, 3d and 11d.
We were almost ad idem on the best clues!
A very good puzzle, quite tricky but not as hard as some other Friday’s. Great clues and an enjoyable solve. My guess is Z but last time I said that I was wrong. Quite a few ticks and my favourite: 1a, a Toughie calibre clue that caused me the most cogitation. 3.5*/4*.
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, analyse and discuss.
I hope you might take a look at this weekend’s Sunday Toughie. I was in Yorkshire last month visiting Chris Lancaster, the Telegaph Puzzles Editor, and I had a newly-filled grid which I asked him to print out for me so I could write clues on the train journey home. Chris kindly did, and then immediately started suggesting ideas for clues. The upshot is, there are several clues in the Sunday Toughie that originated with Mr Lancaster. I’m pretty sure one of them will be the favourite clue of the day — an absolute corker (which I can say because it wasn’t my idea). Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks again for the feedback today. Have a great weekend.
Thanks for letting us know; looking forward to it.
Wow!
A treat – but shall I be up to it?
Thanks for the heads up though.
That’s lovely — glad that you were able to catch up, and that Chris Lancaster can’t resist thinking up clues even though he isn’t setting any more!
Ta for the tip Z
Looks like I may be having a busy night Sat/Sunday, but I am looking forward to it.
Very tricky!! Needed the hints for 1a/1d and three biffs at 8d before getting the correct final four letters. In turn that meant I ruled out the partial anagram for 13a for quite a while. 4 on the podium today: the drunk ride at 18a, the 1d queer fish (held up on that one by wanting to insert ‘odd’), the 5d outcry (great word) and 11d’s non-royals. Many thanks to Zandio and to Mr K for the hints.
Me too with the odd thing.
A splendid finish to the week that put me through the wringer with my LOI being 23d. The first two things I saw were Piers and that it was a four letter word…..
I’ll be very impressed with anyone who got the parsing of 1a before the answer as it is truly bonkers: bin the reverse of row? Goodness me. I appreciate its cleverness but way beyond little ol’me.
5d (superb word) is a classic example of what I’m looking for as I first got the ABBA bit followed by the synonym for ladies and….boom! The city.
It took me a while to realize that 18a wasn’t an anagram of ‘shot bullet to’.
‘One-nil exchange’ and ‘Mile? Not that far’ had to be the envelope-pusher, Zandio, as they are brilliant.
The 24a/4d comby was also good fun.
My pody picks are 13a (excellent construction), 18a and 11d (funny)
MT to Mr and Mr K.
4*/4*
This one was above my abilities but still an enjoyable exercise and it is Friday. I got stuck in the top left and needed hints to finish. All the clues were fair but were too tough for my brain today, partly due to time pressure and also various distractions. I had 5 d as my favourite.
Many thanks to Zandio and to Mr K for the hints.
A rare occurrence, today’s crossword was like having all one’s teeth slowly pulled out yet at the same time deriving great pleasure from the experience. Worrying.
A mixed bag that would fit nicely into the Toughie slot, but oh no, there is already one of those today so I guess I’m out of luck. However did manage a few more unaided answers than some Fridays so not totally useless. Found 11a a bit snobbish IMHO. But smiling at 15a which was my COTD. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K, but would have needed too many hints for any satisfaction.
Felt more like a toughie to me.
Hi Michael.
It is indeed a toughie which is the Friday slot.
The fact that a daily Toughie subsequently appeared doesn’t mean that that new section of the paper nabs all the Friday toughies.
Why should it?
I enjoy my weekly battering.
4*/4*. This was nicely challenging and good fun. A few unconvincing surfaces, stopped this being a 5* finish to the week for me.
1a was my last to parse – devious and very clever.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.
A real challenge today and whilst I got the answer to the tyne tees clue the reasoning escaped me until MrK explained – thank you Zandio and whilst the toughies are usually too difficult I’ll look at the Sunday one given Chris Lancaster’s involvement
Took me nearly the whole of our journey home from Aldeburgh to complete this guzzle. Quite sticky in places but enjoyable. Thanks to all.
Bordering on toughie territory for me but I got there in the end. Needed the hint to parse 1a. Enjoyable though. Favourite was 5d. Thanks to Zandio and Mr. K.
I really am becoming disenchanted with DT crosswords which are developing into mere anagramfests in various guises. Apart from that today’s enigma was IMHO a collection of far-fetched clues/synonyms which were mostly solved thanks to Chambers’ vocabulary. Look forward hopefully to more genial challenges at beginning of next week. Sorry Zandio but thanks anyway for your efforts on our behalf and TVM MrK who it is reassuring to know found this “tricky”!
Good afternoon
After failing to get anywhere near yesterday’s crozzie (too bloomin busy!), it was a delight to be able to get stuck into today’s. No work today, so plenty of time available, which I needed.
It comes as no surprise to see that today’s clues were the fiendish work of the Mind of Zandio. I particularly enjoyed 5d, which is my COTD.
Some help was needed with the parsing; for example, I had the answers to 1a and 9a written in the margin long before I had the courage to write them in their squares.
An excellent challenge. Many thanks to the MoZ and to Mr K.
Wonderful Friday workout from Zandio. Lots of great clues to choose from, but none funnier than 5D for my COTD. VMT also to Mr K.
4* / 3.5* A proper Friday challenge, needed help with parsing 3 or 4 but got there in the end.
Favourites include 5d outcry (great word) and the football team at 2d
Thanks to Zandio and Mr K
Delighted to solve a Friday 4 star xwd, suspect its a rare event for me.
Some good misdirection, 4d, was looking for homophone. 1d, was looking for a real fish.
COTD, 2d, runner up 5d.
Thanks to setter