Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3341 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where the term ‘wintry precipitation’ is beginning to be used in weather forecasts.
For me, and I stress for me,© to borrow the last word of 13d, Dada somewhat quirky. One long ‘un, seven anagrams (one partial), 1 lurker, and no homophones in a slightly asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 13a, 13d, 15d, and 26d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Some hints follow:
Across
9a Radical soul traditionalist has masked (5)
The lurker (has masked) found in two words in the clue.
10a Frenchman’s certainly with Welsh girl in US city state (9)
All of a three letter word used by a Frenchman to express certainty and (with) guess a Welsh girl inserted into (in) a two letter abbreviated form of a US city.
11a Stuff hit transmission (7)
A synonym of stuff (as in equipment?) and a synonym of hit (that might be related to 5d).
16a Temporarily refitting home, be versatile (3,3,4,5)
An anagram (versatile) of REFITTING HOME, BE – before there are any cries of anguish, the anagram indicator is in the list, of approximately 1,400, in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary.
19a Hint with proof flawed – lower mark could it be? (9)
An anagram (flawed) of HINT and (with) PROOF – so is this one.
27a Cute rival unfortunately bringing in a bomb? (9)
An anagram (unfortunately) of CUTE RIVAL.
28a Powder and explosive originally recalled in striking effect (5)
The reversal (recalled) of all of a powder (often applied to the skin?) and the first letter (originally) of Explosive.
Down
1d Plug for hush money (4)
A double definition – the first might relate to creating a ‘blockage.’
3d Singing style requested here? (6-4)
A type of music, in close chromatic harmony, which might have been heard where a man went for grooming (requested here).
5d Fighting dog is seen in picture, without lead (8)
A small short-haired dog, and IS from the clue inserted into (seen in) a synonym of (moving?) picture with the first letter deleted (without lead).
7d Bad smell I observed consuming everything with old cheese (8)
A slang synonym of bad smell and I from the clue containing (observed consuming) a three letter synonym of everything and (with) the single letter for Old (for a cheese from Cyprus).
15d Sweet talker silenced by this? (10)
What may silence a talker (for a while)?
17d Structure fixed to car, chamber unclosed, extract gas, say (4,4)
A chamber (in a house?) with the last letter deleted (unclosed) and the abbreviated form of a (heavily criticised process) for extracting gas, say.
22d Sheep dog? (6)
A double definition – the first might relate to a lackey.
26d I disapprove of that posh skirt (4)
A three letter term that suggests disapproval and the single letter for posh.
Quick Crossword Pun:
MILLET + HAIRY + CROSS = MILITARY CROSS
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Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter, k. d. lang, choosing to use a lower-case name, inspired by the poet E. E. Cummings, was born on this day in 1961. Surprisingly, she had, between 1983 and 2011, only one number 1 in Canada, in 1988. Her best performing single worldwide, which reached number 15 in the UK, is ‘Constant Craving’ from 1992:
I found Dada definitely on his quirky side today yet still enjoyable. I don’t understand what 22d has to do with sheep but, as usual, I am probably missing the obvious. For some reason it took me a while to recall the cheese at 7d and I put the wrong Christmas favourite at 20d. My COTD is the structure fixed to the car at 7d.
Thank you, Dada for a fun solve. Thank you, Colonel for the hints.
COTD = 17d not 7d!
Follow like a ………
22d
Ah! Penny dropped. Thanks, Imposter. 👍
I’ll probably get redacted now !
Thanks to the Setter and Shabbo. Got there in the end with just a couple of hints. COTD 15d or 17d. LOI 26d. Nearly lunchtime!
I bet your first thought for 20d was the same as mine…
A really enjoyable puzzle.
Thank you for the puzzle and the hints.
This is a great site
A little more testing than usual, possibly, but a satisfying solve and a good excuse for delaying the Sunday chores.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf
3*/2.5*. I found this reasonably enjoyable although relatively tough for a Sunday PP. My main reservation was with some of the surface readings.
13d was my favourite.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf,
What a great puzzle with ticks and smiles all over the place. It still had some chewy moments though.
Top picks for me were 19a, 11a, 15d, 3d and 17d.
Thanks to Senf and Dada.
An interesting crossword with Tyne & Wear being the last quadrant to fall.
3d isn’t usually hyphenated but I assume Chumpers will have it as an option and I’ve never heard of the term ‘US city state’ though it must exist.
Is ‘embarrassed’ an AI in 8d? Surely not.
‘Unclosed’ is a truly awful word and should be confined to Room 101.
Dada could have used another technique for 19a that I’m a fan of though many aren’t.
My podium is 25a, 15d and 18d.
MT to the aforementioned and Senf.
3*/2*
Have you read the (helpful) hint for 10a which shows that ‘state’ is the definition and ‘US city’ is part of the word play?
Your surmising on 3d is correct.
And, like it or not, ’embarrassed’ is one of the approximately 1,400 in the list in Chambers Crossword Dictionary.
Hi S
In 10a, I’m talking about the term for the surface read.
Re ‘embarrassed’, I’m not questioning its validity but that someone has okayed it. I’d love to know who is on the AI committee as the above seems bonkers…..doesn’t it?
It would be hilarious if some of them work for Chumpers.
And why am I not surprised that the above has 3d as the hyphenated option.
It really is a dreadful reference book that should be chucked on the fire this Wednesday meaning it’ll be more red and therefore less read.
TDS. Synonyms of embarrassed include upset, unsettled and thrown so it does cut the mustard OK. Don’t forget, there are probably many AIs that haven’t been discovered or used yet and surely if they work they are valid whether they appear on a list or not. I don’t mean embarrassed – I know that’s an established AI.
Hi J
The AI list will grow which I’m cool with as things, quite rightly, evolve.
But, I simply can’t have ’embarrassed’.
I’ve just looked up the list of synonyms for ‘upset’ (60 answers), ‘unsettled’ (60) and ‘thrown’ (12) and ’embarrassed’ doesn’t appear in any of them:
If you said to a rookie solver that sometimes an AI will be a rarely-used synonym of a straightforward one they would ask why. If there are hardly any options then fair enough. But, as mentioned above, there are stacks.
The solver has to go back to the drawing board.
Try the ‘other way round’ and look for synonyms of embarrassed; start with Collins perhaps and then ‘move on’ to the Thesaurus companion of The Crimson Tome.
Hi S
Using a rarely-used synonym of an AI is a nonsense; it really is. Just use the AI. I don’t care if it’s accepted practice.
Are setters doing it to be clever or to make the surface work?
My money is on the latter.
Tom. The second definition for embarrass in the SOED is: Perplex; throw into doubt or difficulty. And for perplex you could directly substitute “confuse” (just to make it even more convincing). So surely OK for an AI?
Sorry J. I’m not buying it.
Embarrass is nowhere near a stand-alone AI. Manders called it dubious.
To say that it’s a synonym for some nailed-on AIs is one step too far.
A setter has hundreds of perfectly good AIs to choose from. They shouldn’t have to resort to using words like embarrass.
From everything you have written today, it seems that you believe that there should be a Crossword Utopia but, sad to say, that concept is probably as fictional as the one described by Sir Thomas More in his book in 1516.
But at 12.18pm you said “I’m not questioning its validity”! I guess you meant you weren’t questioning others validation by putting it on some list?
Ah well, never mind – but it’s good to have some robust, friendly debate! Lacking somewhat on here these days, alas.
You have dared to accuse setters of possibly wanting to be seen as clever by using outlandish AIs which indeed has been my thought which I dared not express!
Love it, AV!
A great way to finish today’s proceedings.
🙂
Apologies, the setter not the solver.
Re your posts gents, there’s no doubt it’s a valid AI as it’s on a list.
I’m saying that it shouldn’t be on the list.
Many AIs have been questioned over the last few months. Even one of the setters said that it’s getting out of control.
So me simply objecting to this one isn’t striving for a Utopian crossword.
Tom, re 10a, as far as I am aware the term you refer to is not used in the US — I belief it harkens back to ancient Rome or medieval Europe. However, given that their current leader fancies himself an emperor, perhaps there is some significance to it.
Like it.
I know the term ‘city-state’ like Monaco but not ‘US city state’.
Onwards!
Tom. As I’ve said many times before, clue surfaces are mere contivances to convey the cryptic word-play and they don’t have to be factual. These things are word puzzles not pieces of precise literature. In a cryptic clue the (surface) term “US city state” doesn’t have to exist in reality.
So, stick that up yer jumper! – as my mother used to say to emphasise her point.
Making up terms to fit a clue isn’t right…is it?
I don’t recall setters doing that but I’ll make a note to see if they do.
Some setters certainly wouldn’t, others would. The late, great Petitjean would have. In the surface read it is a somewhat contrived term but also part word-play/part definition.
Thanks J.
I’ll look out for these made-up terms, though I don’t recall seeing any, unless I’m misunderstanding you, and I’m not convinced I’ll see any in the future.
But, look out, I will.
Definitely quirky and with a few rather odd surfaces thrown in for good measure! Top clues for me were 25a & 15d.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints – I’m afraid Ms Lang’s hit rather passed me by, I know her name but nothing about her individual songs.
Fabulous offering today.I really enjoyed this, for me , best of the week if not longer . The Frenchman takes my top spot .Pity it didn’t last a little longer .Thanks to all .
Pitched at just about the right level for a prize puzzle.
My top three are the cleverly constructed 10a, 5d and 7d.
Thanks to Dada and Senf.
1.5* / 4* Another very enjoyable Sunday challenge, only real hold up was the cheese and the parsing thereof. Lots of top clues to choose from including fighting dog at 5d, quirky 13d and the lower mark at 19a
Many thanks to the setter and Senf
Like the best guzzles first appearances confound and pennies drop gradually. An ideal accompaniment to the Sunday Morning Builders Breakfast in our local.
22d was a bung-in but I am still mystified.
Hi CC
I too biffed 22d.
It’s a synonym [redacted –it’s a prize puzzle]as The Big S says, a lackey.
Enjoyable and not too quirky – thanks to Dada and Senf.
I took the (first) definition of 3d to be just the first word of the clue.
Ticks from me for 25a, 3d and 17d.
I really enjoyed it, for once the quirkiness aligned with my brain and although I started slowly it all came right in the end. I had many potential favourites but will put 17d at the top.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.
This was good fun with just the right amount of lateral thinking needed to keep it interesting. As I often find with this setter, the last half a dozen clues took the same amount of time as the rest of the grid. No complaints, though, all fairly clued, just a couple of odd surfaces. My favourite was 3d.
My thanks to Dada and Senf.
Is the second part of 3d a homophone? If so it doesn’t quite work for me – although without it it doesn’t feel at all cryptic! I.also struggled a bit with the Anagram indicator in 8d but I think it’s fair and I’m all for pushing them as it opens up lots more surfaces than just repeatedly using the old chestnuts (‘pants’ being a recent favourite!).
A really enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Dada and Senf for the hints
I struggled to parse 3d but took the second part of the clue as referring to a 7,3 reading of the letters in the answer which would indicate a social event ie somewhere, where the singing style (6,4) might be requested. I might be talking nonsense of course
I think you’re spot on there – thank you! I was thinking is it meant to sound like chop?! You have put me right and I appreciate you for helping
Quirky yes, and I see Dada has unearthed his own personal Thesaurus from the bottom of a drawer with his Winter woollies. It was a bit more challenging than the sverage SPP but quite enjoyable. I liked the cryptic definition at 15d, the Lego cheese at 7d and the cunning geographical clue at 10a, which was my COTD. Thanks to Dada for a good challenge and to Senf for the hints
This Sunday puzzle from Dada seemed a little different from his usual offerings. Just didn’t feel like a normal Dada. It certainly was quirky in the grid too.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites 11a, 15a, 13d, 15d & 20d — with winner 11a
Thanks to Dada & Senf
**** / ***
Had to give up on ‘building out’ from the NW and revert to a read through, which only yielded 6 answers. The saviour was 13d, which gave a lot of lead-ins to the W. After that, all was slowly revealed. The 10a Frenchman’s certainly and the 15d sweet talker emerged as favourites.
Enjoyable end to the week! Now to return to trying to receive blog emails so this post is under my priginal email address but via a different browser.
Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Well. I must be getting old. I just cannot see the answer to 8d. As a last resort I consulted my crossword/anagram gizmo which gives me only one word which I cannot equate to the clue. Apart from that it was a first class guzzle with 19a my favourite although 27a was close behind. I cannot remember when I have been stumped like this before. Oh well, many thanks to the toocleverforme Setter and to my man in the red scarf. No pen today, Steve unless I get lucky with the toughie which is half completed.
Embarrassed appears to be an anagram indicator DG – rather tenuous
Sorry Manders, the thanks should be in here not below.
I found this to be on my level and hence, very enjoyable. Thanks to Senf for the explanation of 10a which I got using the checkers and the only Welsh girl I could think of.
My favourite is 14a
Hopefully I am not on the naughty step this week!
3*/4*
Thanks, Manders – that is what I thought. I’ve even got out the Scrabble set and am playing with the tiles! Oh my goodness, I have just got it. I cannot believe I was so thick. I was trying to be too clever. Doh! 🤭🥵. Don’t give up hope Steve, the pen may yet appear.
Quirky in places definitely, but in true Dada fashion, with some clues needing a bit more work. Checkers really helped me past the finishing post. The 7d item was new to me, don’t think I’ve ever seen it over here. COTD to 16a, narrowly beating 15d which almost won for being nostalgic. How I remember queuing up at the sweet shop to buy those when I was about 7. Surprised at the quibbling about 8d, had no problems with that one. Thanks to Dada and the indefatigable Senf.
Enjoyable crossie today with no particular hold ups so thanks to all.
This was a stiff mental challenge not helped by a fuzzy brain from a late night (only partially offset by the clocks falling back) watching the final game of the World Series. Sadly, there was to be no fairy tale ending as the Cinderella Blue Jays went down to defeat to their strongly favoured opponent from the city in 10a. My last two were the cheese I’d never heard of (but managed to work out from the wordplay) and the sweet that I guessed correctly from the checkers (it goes by a different name in North America). Contenders for favourite include 14a, 19a and 3d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Three stubborn clues forced me to seek help, tricky but fair. Thank you Dada and Senf
Tricky in places, but fun. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
We thought this was going to be harder than it actually turned out and more enjoyable. Favourite was 10a. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Great Sunday puzzle. I’ll vote for 14A. VMT Dada & Senf.
Your 15d looks like it has been rolling round a schoolboy’s pocket for a while.
Is style allowed to be part of definition and wordplay in 3d?
Not the quirkiest Dada we have seen , even though quirky appears in 13d.
I wonder if Dada got the degree in 24d or 26d?
Thanks to Dada and Senf
My view is that 3d is a double definition – Singing / style requested here?
That works for me
A pedestrian grid fill. Like Tom ‘twas the NE responsible for the crumpet scratching. 8d was last in & it took an embarrassingly long time to twig embarrassed was an indicator but unlike Tom no problem with it as one.I too had 3d as a double. Reckon Dada on good form with this one – ✅s against 10&19a + 3,5,8&17d.
Thanks to D&S
This was a dour challenge for me with numerous IMHO meaningless surface reads. West fell to first and NE was a sticky patch due in part to 8d not occurring to me. 15d raised a smile. Did not parse 22d. Here’s hopefully to some Monday and Tuesday fun. Thank you Dada for the workout and Senf for hinting.