Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31088
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A very good Wednesday morning from Winnipeg where ice is beginning to form on the rivers that run through the city. No c*ck-ups from me, all the hints are there, or the DT, the puzzle ‘appeared’ on time, today.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), a very enjoyable puzzle with a number of examples of clever misdirection. With sharing Wednesdays with Gazza I am losing track of the Wednesday setters so I just hope that today’s setter pops in to claim ownership.
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 8a, 19a, 3d, and 6d.
In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the Click here! buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Accessories that secure rider’s bags? (7,5)
BICYCLE CLIPS: The accessories that secure ‘bags’ worn by a two wheel rider.
8a Echo accompanying Rotten and Vicious? Stop playing because of it (7)
OFFSIDE: The letter represented by Echo in the phonetic alphabet placed after (accompanying) a synonym of rotten (as in going bad and with a misleading capital letter) and the first name of a former member of a punk rock group.
9a Surrounded by religious leaders at first, talks and talks (7)
RABBITS: The first letter of Talks contained (surrounded) by some religious leaders.
11a Follower of song by Queen (7)
TRACKER: A song, which may be one of several, on an album placed before (by) the regnal cypher of our dear departed queen.
12a Which women may change after the match? (7)
SURNAME: A part of her identity that a woman may change after the (matrimonial) match.
13a At last, Cassandra Trotter is up (5)
AFOOT: The last letter of CassandrA and a synonym of trotter (of which some animals have four and another misleading capital letter).
14a Spreadsheet program given capital (9)
EXCELLENT: The name of a well known spreadsheet program and a synonym of given (on a temporary basis).
16a Football team regularly seeks a break (9)
ELEVENSES: A football team based on the number of players on the pitch and alternate letters (regularly) of seeks – I’ll let you decide whether you need odds or evens.
19a Injure back before international in Florida city (5)
MIAMI: The reversal (back) of a synonym of injure and the single for international.
21a Temporary component of teleprinter imported (7)
INTERIM: A lurker (component of) found in the last two words of the clue.
23a Fat lip after tripping in front of large hazard (7)
PITFALL: An anagram (after tripping) of FAT LIP placed before (in front of) the single letter for Large.
24a Newspaper cover showing part of cruise ship (3,4)
SUN DECK: One of the UK’s ‘red top’ newspapers and a synonym of cover (with decorations?).
25a State I must appear before final bit from Jonathan Ross? (7)
INDIANA: Zero knowledge of Jonathan Ross required – I from the clue placed before (must appear before) the last letter of (final bit from) of JonathaN and the first name of a supreme singer with the last name of Ross.
26a Naval officer‘s team drained of energy as Starmer rambles (6-2-4)
MASTER-AT-ARMS: an anagram (rambles) of TeAM without the E (drained of energy) and AS STARMER.
Down
1d Bovine expert by a sawn-off log (7)
BUFFALO: A synonym of expert followed by A from the clue and LOg with the last letter deleted (sawn-off).
2d Six-footer slips in this sport (7)
CRICKET: A double definition – the illustration supports the second.
3d Gloomy, say “hip hip hooray!” only twice? (9)
CHEERLESS: Normally, ‘hip hip hooray’ is given in sets of three; so, if there are only two the set is . . .
4d Gems that page has dropped off for nobles (5)
EARLS: Gems that come from a mollusc with the single letter for Page deleted (dropped off).
5d Handsome politician? (7)
LIBERAL: A double definition – the illustration might help.
6d Leading cleric and soldier (Mike, not Victor) (7)
PRIMATE: The rank of the most junior soldier with the letter represented by Victor in the phonetic alphabet replaced by the letter represented by Mike in the phonetic alphabet.
7d I elect a criminal to break into high street shop for neckwear (8,4)
BOOTLACE TIES: An anagram (criminal) of I ELECT A inserted into (to break into) a high street shop established in Nottingham in 1849.
10d Bloomer from fool, perhaps – Shakespeare? (5,7)
SWEET WILLIAM: What fool is an example of (perhaps) as an edible item and Shakespeare’s first name.
15d This out of order, I can’t shop? (9)
CASHPOINT: An anagram (out of order) of I CAN’T SHOP.
17d Country where son is in public school, flipping marvellous! (7)
ESTONIA: The single letter for Son inserted into (is in) a public school just across a river from a castle and the reversal (flipping) of the letter and number combination that can indicate that something is marvellous.
18d Serious attention given to refuge (7)
EARNEST: An organ of the body used as a synonym for attention given and a type of refuge (for feathered friends?).
19d One can expect to be charged after entering arena (7)
MATADOR: A person who can expect to be charged at by a ‘cousin’ of 1d.
20d Ace surreal art – save mainly as internet forum icons (7)
AVATARS: The single letter for Ace and an anagram (surreal) of ART and SAVe with the last letter deleted (mainly).
22d Tips from male actor knowing ER producer (5)
MAKER: The first letter (tips) from three words in the clue followed by ER from the clue.
Quick Crossword Pun:
TIPSY + DIVERSE = DEEP SEA DIVERS – but I’m not convinced
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1a’s a cracker, 12a’s fun and 3d’s clever. 23a reads well too. The Quickie pun was perhaps a little naughty, but it tickled me! Best thanks to setter and Senf.
,Good morning. This was good fun but I only got a foothold in the Southern Hemisphere. With the south completed, the NE was next to fall followed by ,the NW. Upon solving I was kicking myself for not having seen the solutions earlier. 1,9,11,12,19 across and 6 and 15 down caught my attention but there were plenty of others worthy of note. Thanks to setter and Herr Senf for the X word and review
Many thanks, Senf,
Re the photo at 5D, did you mean to illustrate the first part of the definition or the second?
Your choice!
Another user friendly puzzle, although the high street shop took a while to come to mind, so for that reason I’ll nominate it as my COTD. 1a and 8a are also rattling good clues.
***/****
That was my LOI. Definitely worthy of a mention
2*/4*. All good stuff apart from the dreadful Quickie pun.
1a made a great start and I had plenty more ticks along the way.
Many thanks to the setter and to Senf.
An enjoyable crossword for me despite needing help with 7d and 8a…..brain fog because of the cold is my story…..
Favourite was 1a with 13a a close second.
Thanks to the setter and to Senf
PS. For those who haven’t noticed, Chris Lancaster popped in very late yesterday to claim authorship of Saturday’s excellent Prize Puzzle. It’s great to see another puzzle from him.
If you are reading this, Chris, many thanks for providing such fun entertainment.
We have reason to be doubly grateful. He not only claimed authorship for last Saturday’s puzzle but also for the one on the previous Saturday.
Top notch & great fun throughout. The 4 peripherals were all good but Johnny & Sid just edge out Diana for my pick of the clues with 12&16a vying for the last podium spot.
Many thanks to the setter (Hudson presumably) & to Senf – great setter spot btw for the SPP, having only just seen our esteemed ed claimed both puzzles.
What a cracker! I had to work at it, mind you, with my LOI being 7d.
If Hudson isn’t careful, he will topple my all-time favourite setter, Jay. His crosswords are that good.
1a kicked things off very nicely and I liked ‘sawn-off’ in 1d. I haven’t heard of 10d but, with so many checkers, it was easy enough to get. The anagram in 15d took forever and I should know better because, if I’m struggling, I need to think ‘compound word’ earlier.
My podium is 8a (brilliant!), 13a (nicely done) and 26a (v humorous)
MT to the aforementioned and the Manitoban mountie.
3*/5*
P.S I love word and letter play but I can’t give the nod to the pun as d and t are too far away from each other in sound to make it work.
I see Rob has set the Toughie so unless he’s on double duty again…..
You’ll have to give it a go
The Hud loves a double bubble!
not me guv, honest
best wishes Rob/Hudson
Aha! We have another excellent setter in the midst.
Hmm……who can it be?
Whoever it is, I applaud you.
You should-it’s a cracker & not overly difficult
10d is a ‘frequent flower’ in puzzles!
I was thinking that it might be the work of Hudson until I got to the pun which sent me in a different direction towards the community of Risca. I wonder if he will confirm my suspicion.
I’m amazed I’ve never come across 10d in a crossword.
ST3272
DT30589
DT30385
plus others.
Thanking you.
My memory’s going.
It is always in my garden as my father and grandson are both W’s
Day Zee! An apostrophe in a plural? This cannot be.
You, of all people.
Drop and give me 20….splits.
For some reason it took me into ** time to crack 16a which once solved as ever appeared glaringly obvious. Otherwise no headaches and all good Wednesday fun. On balance for the challenge the same clue was my COTD. I didn’t quite understand 25a so thanks Senf. Thanks to our setter.
Very entertaining – many thanks to our setter and Senf.
I particularly liked 1a, 8a, 11a, 25a and 3d.
As mentioned above Hudson has provided a very enjoyable Toughie today.
For me, and I stress for me (© Senf), this was an absolute cracker of a guzzle. 8a is my glue of the week.
I saw the Sex Pistols at Brunel University on 16th December 1977. I deliberately wrote ‘saw’, as we couldn’t hear a thing other than an ear splitting whine of feedback. To get in (tickets were £1.75 each – I still have them) we had to weave our way through a barricade of tables and chairs that were blocking the entrance (Health and Safety were not considered important in the 1970s). The band came on stage very late and the crowd were angry and restless. John Lydon, wearing a pith helmet, kept shouting but nobody could hear him. It was mayhem. I was very young.
Thanks to the setter and me ol’ pal The Man From Manitoba
Anyone else have ‘aloft’ for 13a, and then spend ages wondering how it worked? Oh well, once something’s in the old swede, it’s very hard to shift it…..
Thanks to the Setter and Senf for the hints. Got off at a fast pace but crawled towards the end as 11a we put in a wrong answer and had to back track (pardon the pun). COTD between 1a, 3d and 19d. LOI 20d.
6d. Surely the defrinition is LEADING CLERIC and the answer is not the one given in the hints?
OK – one minor c*ck-up, now corrected, or did I do it deliberately to see if anyone ever reads my great literary efforts?
Apart from that, what did you think of the puzzle?
A really good crossword with lots of clever misdirection. I agree with others who’ve said that 8a is great (I only saw them on the – yawn – 1996 reunion tour although I’ve seen the component parts, other than Sid, many times, most recently Paul Cook with Edwyn Collins at the RFH a few weeks back). The accessories at 1a and the bloomer at 10d complete my podium. Thanks very much to the setter and to Senf.
Yes I’m inclined to agree with Vince , m rather than v . for 6d .A challenge today but finished in reasonable time .I enjoyed 1and 8 . Didn’t know the term in 20d ,IT not my bash . Last one in 7d although I had the second half of the clue very early on . Thanks to all
7d …. never heard of the shop – is it still around? Also never heard of this definition for ‘bags’ used in 1a.unless it refers to the Oxford version. Struggling today but I am cold and have no heating due to building work so the brain is iced up
2,000 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland and international operations in Germany, Mexico, Thailand, the Middle East, and Indonesia
I can only echo previous comments regarding excellent misdirections, this was an amusing puzzle with some lovely surfaces.
The punks in 8a and Jonathan Ross in 25a made my podium, but the thievery going on in the chemist’s at 7d stole the show for me.
Great stuff, thanks to our setter and Senf.
Don’t care what the dictionaries say, in my book you either lend something or you give it. Also, in this day and age, people tend to use debit/credit cards so I doubt that a15d malfunction would prevent them from shopping. Those apart, there was a lot to enjoy in this puzzle – if you leave out Sid and Johnny, who you couldn’t pay me enough to go and see!
Top entries here were 1a and 3d.
Thanks to our setter and to Senf for the review – well done for marrying up the compilations from the setter of recent palindromes, so nice to see Mr Ed flexing his back-page muscles again.
Hi Jane
I take your point about 14a. Saying that, to quote the bard in 10d, does ‘lend/give me your ear’ work?
My guess is the setter has put a question mark at the end of 15d to acknowledge that it’s rarely used these days.
I may be wrong on both counts.
I have no idea as to who set this gem, but a big tip of the hat to whomever. A joy from beginning to end. Tough to pick a cotd from all those ticked on my page, so a joint cotd in 1d and 7d. Thanks to compiler and Senf.
I found this Wednesday puzzle one of two halves with the top relatively easy and the bottom somewhat trickier.
Overall 3*/3* for me
Favourites 1a, 16a, 19a, 1d, 3d & 15d — with winner 15d
Thanks to setter & Senf
Excellent guzzle – I am amazed that I finished it being somewhat, dare I say it, hungover after dinner in Queens last night with grandson and wife followed by talking and drinking until quite late. Can’t take it as well as I used to! Many thanks to the Setter with a Sense of Hunour and the man in the red scarf. By jiminy you need it here today- it is perishing cold.
Couldn’t quite finish without help (3 left) but very enjoyable nonetheless – 8 and 25 across particularly appealed.
Very late on parade to day as we were visiting my elderly mother. This was a little gem – not difficult but great fun to complete – with 1 and 8a my co-favourites.
Many thanks to our setter and Senf.