Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31082
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
A really entertaining midweek puzzle which I thoroughly enjoyed – many thanks to our setter.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and indicator words (e.g. anagram indicators) are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons.
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Across
1a Birmingham’s home sweet home? (7)
ALABAMA: the place where Birmingham (not the one full of Brummies) can be found also features as ‘sweet home’ in the title of a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1974. I’ve never heard of the song or the singer group (thanks tipcat) so thanks to Google.
5a Mister Capello, so really entertaining when retired (7)
AEROSOL: hidden (entertaining) in reverse (when retired) in the clue.
9a Britney Spears: I’m changing religious doctrine (15)
PRESBYTERIANISM: an anagram (changing) of BRITNEY SPEARS I’M.
10a Wander around the Eternal City, so to speak (4)
ROAM: this sounds like the place known as the Eternal City.
11a Establish nothing’s in the kitty (5)
FOUND: the letter that resembles zero or nothing goes inside a synonym of kitty or pool of money.
12a Piece of furniture, very fine article (4)
SOFA: string together an adverb meaning very, the pencil abbreviation for fine and one of our indefinite articles.
15a Like a boisterous youth left his dad upset? (7)
LADDISH: the abbreviation for left and an anagram (upset) of HIS DAD.
16a Mum established boundaries for Rigoletto conductor (7)
MAESTRO: assemble an affectionate term for your mum, the abbreviation for established and the outer letters (boundaries) of Rigoletto.
17a Annoyance of Greek stuck in mountain range (7)
CHAGRIN: the abbreviation for Greek is stuck inside another word for mountain range.
19a Upstart VP ran EU ragged (7)
PARVENU: an anagram (ragged) of VP RAN EU.
21a Boy bored by electronic heavy metal (4)
LEAD: a synonym of boy has the abbreviation for electronic inserted (bored by).
22a Bird bowls Beth left completely uncovered (5)
OWLET: two words from the clue with their outer letters removed (left completely uncovered).
23a Pack animal‘s run over (4)
WOLF: the reversal (over) of a verb to run (like a river).
26a Old lady, new LSU graduate that’s very sweet (10,5)
GRANULATED SUGAR: a short word for an elderly female relative followed by an anagram (new) of LSU GRADUATE.
27a Raise tax collected by European shelter (7)
ELEVATE: one of our taxes goes inside (collected by) an abbreviation for European and a synonym of shelter.
28a Most silly whim put back trial (7)
DAFTEST: reverse (put back) another word for a whim or craze and add a synonym of trial.
Down
1d Look less English, put on the Spanish clobber (7)
APPAREL: remove an abbreviation for English from a verb to look or seem and add one of the Spanish definite articles.
2d Unwind, relax with a lap dance and a game of darts here? (9,6)
ALEXANDRA PALACE: an anagram (unwind) of RELAX A LAP DANCE A makes the place where the Darts World Championship is held.
3d Swedish foursome that swings ways? (4)
ABBA: a palindrome (swings both ways).
4d Old city against leader of Orthodox Church (7)
ANTIOCH: glue together a preposition meaning against, the leading letter of Orthodox and an abbreviation of church.
5d In the morning, taking close companion for scuba, say (7)
ACRONYM: the abbreviation for ‘in the morning’ contains a word for a close companion or sidekick.
6d Timeless court case ready in Iran? (4)
RIAL: remove the physics abbreviation for time from a court case to leave the currency in Iran.
7d Snap using telephoto to capture female boob (4,2,3,6)
SLIP OF THE TONGUE: an anagram (snap) of USING TELEPHOTO containing (to capture) the abbreviation for female. Great surface!
8d Chimney pot beginning to oxidise – such a pain (7)
LUMBAGO: a Scottish word for a chimney, a verb to pot or win and the first letter of oxidise.
13d Help set up Railway Journal (5)
DIARY: reverse (set up, in a down clue) a verb to help and add the abbreviation for railway.
14d Info on literary style (5)
GENRE: another informal word for info and a preposition meaning on or concerning.
17d Colonel Gaddafi at the front wearing a certain scent (7)
COLOGNE: the abbreviation for colonel then the front letter of Gaddafi inside (wearing) a word meaning ‘a certain’.
18d Gwen turned up with temperature in A&E in gaol (7)
NEWGATE: reverse (turned up, in a down clue) GWEN and add the abbreviation for temperature inside A and E.
19d Church revenue ahead of the curve? (7)
PREBEND: a prefix meaning ahead of or ‘prior to’ and a synonym of curve. The answer is a payment made to a resident clergyman at a church or cathedral.
20d In court, going to get punished, highly motivated (2,3,2)
UP FOR IT: an adverb meaning in court followed by a phrase meaning ‘going to get punished’ as in “You’ll be *** ** when your father gets home!”.
24d About to get upset, Oscar’s forgotten horn (4)
TUBA: reverse (to get upset, in a down clue) ABOUT after you’ve left out the letter that Oscar represents in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet.
25d Starts to accept succubus is featured in your dreams (2,2)
AS IF: the starting letters of four words in the clue.
Highlights for me were 5a, 1d, 7d, 8d and 20d. Which one(s) featured in your hit parade?
The Quick Crossword pun: MASS + KAA + PONY = MASCARPONE
Got next to none on the first go through, and knew right then it was going to a stinker.
Stuck at it though and as usual the clues gradually came onto the page.
Great misdirection at both 1 and 5a, ‘Mister’ was a real gem.
Still no idea why 8d works so will have to see the hints, last one today was 5d which is also my clue of the day, great fun!
What a super puzzle, not particularly difficult but very amusing.
From the Lynyrd Skynynrd reference in 1a, the big wheels kept on turning and I had a smile on my face throughout.
The clever reverse lurker in 5a, the sartorial advice in 1d and the morning dip in 5d were also fun, but my COTD has to be the superbly clued chill-out venue in 2d.
Many thanks to our setter who must be rightly proud of this piece of art and to Gazza for the blog. You really must have heard the song in 1a before!
No, never.
Or Freebird?
Free Bird is one of the all-time greatest pieces of rock music, IMV.
I knew this was going to be fun just by looking at the empty grid. It did not disappoint. I learned a couple of new words. The anagram in 9a is, of course, excellent but it has been so overused, I think it’s time it was retired?
Lynyrd Skynyrd is a group Gazza, not a singer. sadly they have a very tragic history.
The song hinted at in the clue was the one I played for Mrs TC on the CD player of our hire car that we had just picked up after landing in Huntsville for a holiday some years ago.
Thanks tipcat.
Good morning. I thoroughly enjoyed today’s offering. The south was a read and fill, mostly, but the north took time, . 1a had me singing “oh Susanna, don’t you cry for me” and now the tune is stuck in my head; an Ohrwurm, I’m sure Senf would say! Lots to like these are my top picks. 1a, 11a, 16a, 22a, 27a, 28a, 1d, 6d and 13d. Thanks to the setter and Gazza for the review.
Absolutely the opposite for me – R&W in the top half and then ground to a halt south of the equator. Took a break and came back to it, and it still took a while but I got there int he end.
Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza – love the cartoons!
I`m glad you got there in the end! I am not happy unless I complete it in one sitting.
What an absolute belter of a crossword that has got Hudson written all over it: lots of great, terse constructions peppered with plenty of humour, some of it saucy. Twitter ye not. Nay, nay. Thrice nay.
I didn’t know the word for chimney and I had to dig deep to dredge up 19d as I knew it was in there somewhere.
My hotly-contested podium is the excellent 9a, which I haven’t seen before, 1d and 2d.
MMT to the super setter and Gazza.
2*/5*
Titter not Twitter.
Saying that, it’s actually quite good advice.
Thought you’d updated it for the younger generation, Tom.
Ooh er, missus!
It was an amusing typo.
Gotta luv Frankie Howerd (with an e) and Kenneth ‘Oo matron!’ Williams.
Saying that, Charles Hawtrey did it for me.
Joyous, joyous times.
I used to have a Frankie Says Titter Ye Not t shirt – don’t know what became of it but you can still buy ‘em now I see. Howerd became quite a hit with the undergrads I seem to recall near the end of his career.
A legend.
Up Pompeii was completely bonkers.
One of my all time favourites: Francis – yes! Ah – no! Yes! Oh, please yourselves!
😉
There is an old Scottish saying: ‘Lang may yer lum reek’ to wish someone a long life.
Thank you for that, G.
I’ve learnt three things: the meaning of lum and reek and a splendid saying.
My day is full.
I was going to say exactly the same! One of Grandad Angus’s favourite sayings when having a tipple. (Or should I say a Wee Dram?)
Actually means long may your chimney smoke – usually followed by wi’ other folks coal!
Sadly, insufficiently terse for the puzzle to print on a single page!
Grrr….
Another reason to love the Master of Brevity.
Agree, had to print on both sides…
Before I print it always tells me how many pages. On this occasion, the clue on the second page, 25d, was obvious to me, so I printed page 1, and wrote in the answer to 25d.
Like Pepsi Cola and episcopal, the Britney Spears anagram at 9 Across (without the “I’m”) is an old staple, but you can’t blame a compiler for falling back on it. You say you haven’t seen it before, but see Comment 7 and replies here! https://bigdave44.com/2018/01/25/dt-28645/ Although that was seven years ago!!
Thanks Mr Mr.
My memory ain’t bad but that’s too far back for me to recall.
It either sticks with you or doesn’t I suppose. A particular favourite was ‘Britney Spears almost screwed church member (12)’ in Private Eye. Possibly not Telegraph-friendly!!
Now that one I won’t forget!
Very funny.
Straightforward and entertaining. What’s not to like?
My podium is 5a, 5d and 19d.
Thanks to our setter and the hardworking Gazza.
Needed a little help with this one (19A new to me, for example), but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless! Favourites were 5A and 5D.
A very entertaining puzzle which looked harder on first read through than it turned out to be, you just need to get into the twisty setters brain. The reverse lurker was my favourite at 5a but I enjoyed so many more. I so wanted to put a brand of chocolate in for 1a but it didn’t fit the checkers. I did need some help with the parsing of 8d, I did not know the chimney and also 17d where I could not see the why.
Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza for the hints
I like Twisty Setter. I always think they have Sideways Minds.
An excellent crossword. I learned a new word for chimney but otherwise it fell into place reasonably easily but with plenty to amuse along the way. Like FM above my favourite was the hilltop venue at 2d (I did wonder how those less familiar with London/the UK might cope with that and the jail, but then I have a similar problem with NYT puzzles). As TC says, mister was a really good misdirection which took me a while to see. Thanks very much to the setter and to Gazza.
What a superb way to cheer up a miserable Shropshire morning. I loved 9a, even though I think it is well known among regular solvers, but it is still quite brilliant. My top spot, though, goes to 2d.
Thanks to our setter for the fun, and to Gazza.
A very enjoyable puzzle that all fell into place very nicely. My only pause was at the parsing of 17d. I wasn’t sure whether the definition was scent, or certain scent (I went for the latter incorrectly it seems).
Favourite clue was 5a [mister].
Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza.
Terrific puzzle – stick a tick next to pretty well all of ‘em. For someone who has played a lot of snooker & pool there was really no excuse for not seeing how pot = bag but that penny didn’t drop & moved on. No problems elsewhere & a swift grid fill. I’ll nominate a top 10 of 1,5&9a plus 1,2,5,7,18&20d with Ronnie Van Zant’s riposte to Neil Young in at number 1.
Thanks to the setter (surely Hudson) & to Gazza – is that strictly necessary at 3d? Reckon the risqué surface reads better without.
Good setter identification, Huntsman and Tom: Hudson has now claimed today’s puzzle.
A little more challenging than recent Wednesdays but still enjoyable – **/****
I only knew of the 1974 song ‘associated’ with 1a because of the 2002 film of the same title, which featured the song, starring Reese Witherspoon. And, my ‘lead’ on 19d was knowing the term for the beneficiary of the income.
I wonder how many younger people know that the example in 5d used to be a 5d before ‘morphing’ into a word in its own right.
Candidates for favourite – 28a, 5d, and 19d – and the winner is 19d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Gazza
Talking of ‘morphing,’ as Smylers reports, ‘whomsoever’ has morphed into Hudson so thank you to him for the entertainment.
Another straightforward and amusing puzzle, only having to seek a hint from Gazza on 6d. Like others, the chimney was a new one to me, although the answer could not have been anything else.
Favourites were 5a and 20d.
2.5*/4*
To any anagram thickies (“jumblefumblers”) such as myself, the sheer artistry of setting a clue like 9a is awesome. Even better that I unravelled it without any digital help.
What a lovely crossword this was: comfortably doable, with just the right amount of head-scratching.
Compliments to the setter.
Love jumblefumblers! 😊
Loved it but would think it at least a 2.5 * for difficulty. I did not know 19 down so that was the only hurdle Last in was the pack animal at 23 a which got my vote for favourite as I had been misdirected . Many thanks all round.
Kike others, I found this a very enjoyable guzzle. The word lum came immediately to mind as I had seen it before in crosswords. There were some stonking anagrams, my favourites being 2d and 9a i wnjoyed the geographical clues at 4d and 1a but my COTD was the superbly misdirected reverse lurker at 5a. Thanks to the compiler and to Gazza for the hints.
Never heard of “Snap” for an anagram before. The answer was clear, but the parsing not! Great puzzle though.
If a clue doesn’t make sense, the words just don’t seem to fit together, I always assume it is an anagram, or one hiding a lurker. And most of the times it is.
Thanks for the blog, dear Gazza, and thanks to those who have left a comment.
Re the song alluded to at 1A: I embarked on a lengthy pub visiting career more or less when that song was released. It was an EP, with Free Bird on the A side which lasted about 12 minutes with a seemingly endless guitar solo and since we Yorkshire folk like value for money and it was still 10p a play like the other songs, it was beaten to death on the pub juke box. I saw the band at Sheffield City Hall shortly before the plane tragedy and very good they were too. Very sad story.
Regarding the anagram fodder in 9A @Ricardito….point taken of course but surely the hope is new solvers should have the chance to see these (to us) old chestnuts? I remember the excitement I got years ago from spotting that Häagen-Dazs has a hidden agenda until I saw that Donnybrook and Tramp (at least) had already been there.
Best wishes to all and lang my yer rum leak (as McSpooner might have said).
Rob/Hudson
Thanks for popping in, Hudson, and thanks for the super puzzle.
Reading the comments, you are right about 9a, Hudson. Proven even more that I don’t have a clue what your Häagen-Dazs reference is
The clue would read something like: Häagen-Dazs has this cunning plan (6,6)
Absolutely brilliant guzzle Hudson. You are a genius and I don’t mind seeing old favourites (though not too often!). I loved Mister Capello but I’m not even going to attempt to pick out favourites, but the old lady made me laugh. Thank you 🥰
Thank you, Hudson for a very enjoyable puzzle and for popping in – it is always appreciated. More like this please. 👍
Never seen so many great clues in one puzzle! Many congratulations Hudson and thank you.
Very gentle but hugely enjoyable. Probably spent as long on the well-disguised 23a as on the rest of the puzzle!
Loved the deceit in 5a’s lurker and the smoothness of 4d; larfs and great surfaces aplenty throughout, very clever anagrams (eg 9a – what a spot, and 2d, though I had no idea darts was played there) but 7d is a candidate for COTY in my book, quite superb.
Many thanks indeed to Hudson & Gazza
Couldn’t agree more re 7d. Apologies ladies, but absolutely brilliant surface!
Just a brilliant puzzle. Can’t remember such a humourous back pager before. Superb surfaces and cunning misdirection. Impossible to over praise this.
And as a bonus the 16a who set it has given us an extra clue!
Thank you to Hudson – and of coyto Gazza for the cartoons!
I got 1a and then went down the clues , struggling to get more than just a couple so I thought I was going to struggle. Then they started to slot into place one after another. What a brilliant puzzle, and I too thought the mister at 5A was excellent. It was one of those puzzles where I seemed to be mainly parsing to reveal the definition , and that always makes a satisfying solve, especially when words like ‘prebend’ pop out. Thanks to the setter and Gazza.
Lovely work. It’s a different solution, but that “Mister” reminded me of Anax’s old clue:
Mister Bob Hope (5)
In case anyone is still interested who hasn’t got it, the solution to the above clue is SPRAY
An excellent clue.
Cracking stuff. It has all the elements for excellence, some clues being straightforward, some chewy, with wit and elegance. Can’t praise it enough. I thought the anagram at 9a pure genius and assuredly would make any podium, but there are so many great clues, I got out the pin and at random picked 5a, 5d and 18d. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza
** / ****
Superb puzzle today, greatly enjoyed it. I did know the chimney but even though I am not young, I did not know that “scuba” is an acronym! For 19a’s Church revenue, I got the answer but needed Mr G to confirm. Ticks all over the place including, 5a “Mister” – excellent!! 7d boob (ooo er, as mentioned above) and the 24d horn.
Birmingham was my original home sweet home, so I got held up on 1a trying to use too much personal detailed knowledge before the checkers released the penny.
My COTD is the 4d Old city. Two reasons: firstly, it didn’t give us “Ur” and secondly, it reminded me of the Holy Hand Grenade!
Many thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
I’ve thanked Hudson but also want to thank you, Gazza – coz I was stuck on 11a for some reason and needed help. Non guzzlers cannot know the joy of falling in to the reverse lurker or the meaning of Oscar’s forgotten. What a lot they miss!
For me a rather tricky puzzle for this Wednesday.
Several words I have never heard of (including one in one of the clues, along with some parsing I cannot fathom.
2.5*/3.5* for me
Favourites 9a, 22a, 2d, 17d & 18d — with winner 18d
Thanks to Hudson & Gazza
A little bit more challenging than yesterday and needed to refer to a couple of hints for some of those four and five letter words. I also didn’t help myself by writing in Alexander instead of Alexandra for the venue.
Some enjoyable clues stood out: 1a and the reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd; 5a; 1d; 3d, its simplicity made me smile (I know that was Steve Harley!), not wishing to appear sexist but they were two very beautiful women and even after fifty years I still cannot decide between blonde or brunette! However my COTD was 5d, completely fooled by that one.
Thank you to the setter and to Gazza for the hints.
Very entertaining Wednesday puzzle The thought of Ms Spears changing a religious doctrine really made me smile but top marks went to 12a,19d and the Quickie pun.
Thanks to Hudson and to Gazza for the review, cartoons & 3d clip – I always wanted to know how that relationship worked out!
Too many clues where I needed the hints to verify my answer, and a couple I had never heard of, i.e. the Scottish chimney, and the church revenue. Plus 15a which is an awful word and I don’t believe I’ve ever heard it said. But loved the 9a anagram which jumped right on to the page, followed by 26a. I didn’t even notice the lurker in 5a but had got it anyway by thinking is types of mister. So not as much fun as the last two days, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
Entertaining but frustrating puzzle today. New word for chimney and a DNF thanks to 19d.
1a and 5a favourites today!
Mister was brilliant.
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza. Interesting and challenging. Some very clever clues. Now know what the Iranian currency is! COTD between 5a and 5d. LOI 6d.
It’s all been said, I so enjoyed this with the mister being my favourite thank you Hudson and Gazza
What a fantastic puzzle by Hudson who is lying at my feet looking pleased with himself. Lots of smiles and some innuendo made for a fun solve. Not straightforward by any means but fun to solve if worked at. I wonder how many people in the UK worked on our Birmingham before realising. Terrific mis-direction. As my late wife, Lesley, was Scottish I knew the word for chimney and she would often say the phrase. 5d took a while because I had no idea it was an example of the answer. The brilliance of 5a gets it my award for COTD.
Thank you, Hudson (the setter not my dog 😊) for what I found to be a most enjoyable solve. Thank you, Gazza for the hints and especially The Day Before you Came. It is my favourite Abba song and it was the last they recorded together.
It’s my favourite as well.
And mine.
I don’t understand how 5A is correct as aerosol and mister are not synonyms; they refer to entirely different concepts. The rest of the clue is fine and suggested a reverse lurker but when demistyfying anything eg a car windscreen nobody uses an aerosol?!
Welcome to the blog, Frank.
I suppose that when you press the button on an aerosol it produces a fine spray or mist.
Welcome to the blog, Frank. Please keep on commenting now you have delurked. 👍
Very busy day, but I couldn’t let this pass without a brief comment – brilliant 2*/4.5*.
What is the justification for “snap” to be an anagram indicator?
Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza.
Don’t get Tom started RD 😀
He must have let that one go…
I’m okay with snap, gents, as it means break.
Blimey. Tom’s given a new AI the thumbs-up!
Your standards are slipping, TDS65!
…..very disappointing, Tom.
Great puzzle with some misdirection thrown in. I was certainly thinking of our Birmingham until getting the surrounding clues. 4d did have me checking Google. Loved the anagrams though slow to twig 7d as didn’t see the lurker at 5a. Many thanks to Hudson and Gazza for the hints and Abba video.
Really enjoyed this one. Got more than usual on the first run through. Had a few sneaky looks at the hints for a couple. Am still groaning and kicking myself over 5a’s Mister. My sticky is the top right corner – is that NE in crossword jargon?
It can be NE, Northumberland or anything else you feel like, BCO. The lower right corner is often called the Home Counties – it’s a bit of a lottery really. 😊
Yep, a brilliant puzzle, many thanks Hudson. So many good clues but I did like 9a, a great anagram that leapt off the page (well iPad actually!).
Thanks too to Gazza.
One of the most ENJOYABLE crosswords I have completed
2*/ 4* Top puzzle by Hudson, not easy to get a foothold, but started with the little ones and it all fell into place. 19a and 19d new words to me.
Favourites include 23a pack animal, darts venue at 2d and 5d scuba.
Nice to see the only ABBA song I like included !
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza
A very enjoyable puzzle. I’m just wondering if “Argus (10,5)” might work as an alternative clue for 26A, based on the paradigm of the famous “Gegs (9,4)” for Scrambled Eggs.
Held up by 5a , knew it straightaway but couldn’t see it until after I’d filled in the rest of the grid . Really good today, excellent fodder or feast more like . Last one in the pack animal.Favourites 5 and 23 . Thanks to all .
And mine.
What on earth is going on? I’ll try again.
Good evening
Pen down, finally! I was almost done ages ago, but I had to go away and leave an almost complete crozzie with just 11a and 5d left to fill in – those last two just wouldn’t come to me.
Thankfully, in the end, they did. How obvious was 11a, in retrospect, eh?
Too many choices for COTD: I am stuck between 1a, 9a (no, I haven’t encountered that anagram before), 5d, 6d, and 7d. So I’m going to suffer multiple fence-post indentations on my hint-end and I’m not choosing. So there!
Many thanks to Hudson and to Gazza.
I found this just a tad harder than the toughie but great fun, nothing I didn’t know. NE last in. I don’t often award favourite to an anagram but 2d is worthy of it, great spot. I wish I had taken a paper to the hospital yesterday for what should have been a routine scan but I didn’t. Inexplicably I was sent to a department called ED, which I’d never heard of. If I’d known it stood for Emergency Department, A & E to the rest of us I wouldn’t have gone. 6 hours I was there, as was my friend who’d taken me as I was told not to drive as a ‘precaution’, and I was seen 3 times and still waiting to see doctors and others possibly to 3 or 4 and still no scan. Eventually I lost patience and left without the results of tests I’d already had. This is in no way a criticism of the emergency department, I was just sent to the wrong place putting extra strain on that department and a waste of resources. This was not an emergency. I Eventually got home at 1:30 am, my friend Mike later than that. I’ll leave it there. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
What a lousy experience, TG, also for your friend. Hope all now well. It’s a creaking system and it does rather feel as though too many people are sent or referred to an inappropriate department either to show that “something is being done”, or to pass responsibility further along the chain.
A great puzzle from Hudson.
I don’t comment that often because I tend to do the puzzle late evening and sometimes have to finish it in the morning. By morning, probably, nobody reads it. I’ve certainly never had a comment back.
This isn’t intended as a criticism of the blog and it’s a catch 22 situation, but I find it a bit cliquey. However, you all do a great job, which I very much appreciate.
Your comments will always have at least one reader because the blogger gets an email for each comment.
I’m not sure what you mean by ‘cliquey’.
Hello, Cavedeli. I’m definitely reading your comment — but are you reading this reply‽
I’m reading it as well, cavedeli. Personally, I don’t think we are cliquey. It may seem that way because the same guys seem to comment every day and, like all groups who get to know each other, banter and in-jokes develop. However, we always welcome new commentators, especially those who are starting to try cryptics. The whole ethos of Big Dave is to help newcomers and we always welcome questions on how cryptic puzzles work. 😊
Busy week, so hadn’t managed any crosswords till today, and I selected this one from the backlog because of its difficulty rating. Thank you to Gazza for explaining the Scottish chimney and the church revenue. I can’t see myself needing to use either, but sometimes I’ve been surprised by how vocabulary I’ve learnt from crosswords crops up elsewhere.
And thank you of course to Hudson. My favourite clue was 5a with Mister Capello.
3*/3* …
liked 19A “Upstart VP ran EU ragged (7)”
and the cartoon to the hint thereto.