Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31092
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where a dusting of snow overnight has created a wintery landscape. Christmas preparations are officially underway with the city’s Christmas tree having been lit on Friday and several Santa Claus parades occurring over the weekend. Many retailers, however, were putting out their Christmas displays before the Halloween goods were even off the shelves.
Today’s offering (presumably from X-Type) provides a very gentle introduction to the week’s roster of puzzles so it shouldn’t hold you up too long from getting on with your own Christmas preparations.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Across
1a Musical‘s enraging tune you altered (5,3,4,3)
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN — an anagram (altered) of the three words preceding the indicator
9a Finally you went, entering pits for short periods (7)
MINUTES — the final letters of YOU and WENT inserted in (entering) pits constructed to extract materials from the earth
10a One who’s pragmatic about a catalogue (7)
REALIST — link together about or concerning, the A from the clue, and a catalogue or itemized record (such as the one maintained by Terence)
11a Either way it’s unacceptable (3,2)
NOT ON — the wordplay tells us the answer is a palindrome
12a Soldier must reek badly, having been injected with drug (9)
MUSKETEER — form an anagram (badly) of MUST REEK after inserting (having been injected with) Crosswordland’s most prevalent single letter recreational drug
14a Delight and disgust when touring Ecuador’s capital (6)
APPEAL — disgust or cause aversion going around (when touring) the initial letter (capital) of ECUADOR
16a Upset close pal and break down (8)
COLLAPSE — an anagram (upset) of CLOSE PAL
18a Good-looking husband one’s mad to change (8)
HANDSOME — the genealogical abbreviation for husband followed by an anagram (to change) of ONES MAD
19a British bad guy’s accent (6)
BROGUE — the single letter for British and a bad guy or cad
21a Continuing exercise, chap comes in ripped (9)
PERMANENT — start with an abbreviated school exercise class, then append a chap or fellow that has been inserted in (comes in) ripped or torn
25a Eagerly accept the French doggy (3,2)
LAP UP — a French definite article and a young dog
27a Mishandles rages, suppressing extremists from Bristol (7)
FUMBLES — rages or seethes containing (suppressing) the outer letters of (extremists from) BRISTOL
28a Get better free, unlimited insurance (7)
RECOVER — the interior letters (unlimited) of FREE precede another name for insurance against loss or damage
29a Ron lost chessmen, playing legend from Scotland (4,4,7)
LOCH NESS MONSTER — an anagram (playing) of the first three words of the clue
Down
1d Country‘s opera song enthralling people (7)
ARMENIA — an opera song containing (enthralling) male people
2d Nine musicians? No, flipping ten (5)
NONET — NO from the clue and a reversal (flipping) of TEN
3d Public schoolboys welcoming southern Europeans (9)
ESTONIANS — students or alumni from a public school attended by 17d containing (welcoming) the single letter for southern
4d Racecourse records only matter initially (5)
EPSOM — phonograph records containing several tracks followed by the initial letters of ONLY and MATTER
5d Longs to skip English tales (5)
YARNS — remove (to skip) the single letter for English from longs or pines
6d Employment in America for one returning (5)
USAGE — the abbreviation in full for the country commonly known as America followed by a reversal (returning) of the Latin abbreviation meaning ‘for one’ or ‘for instance’
7d Sanguine, a pigeon traps rodent (6,3)
GUINEA PIG — a lurker concealed in (traps) the first three words of the clue
8d Fan runs into Tiger Woods’s supporter Hazel? (3-4)
NUT-TREE — a fan or enthusiast precedes all of the cricket symbol for runs inserted in (into) a supporter that would be used by Tiger Woods on multiple occasions during the course of a round (or the rounds of a course)
13d Grubby family member aunt regularly ignored (7)
UNCLEAN — a family member accompanied by AUNT from which a regular sequence of letters is removed (regularly ignored)
15d Wide-ranging fear about old sheep (9)
PANORAMIC — overwhelming fear or anxiety containing (about) the single letter for old and a male sheep
17d Call round after work to find missing peer (4,5)
LORD LUCAN — an anagram (after work) of the first two words of the clue; click here to learn about the gruesome circumstances leading to his disappearance
18d Promising help, UFO goes off (7)
HOPEFUL — an anagram (goes off) of HELP UFO
20d Ruler and politician admitted to base, heartless error (7)
EMPEROR — an abbreviated elected politician bookended by (admitted to) the maths base of natural logarithms and ERROR without its central letter (heartless)
22d Exhausted, Tallinn’s out of bounds (3,2)
ALL IN — remove (out of) the outer letters (bounds) from TALLINN and split what remains according to the numeration
23d Gently moves tea sets with no time at all (5)
EASES — remove both instances of the physics symbol for time (with no time at all) from TEA SETS
24d Tense hour with strange drone (5)
THRUM — join together the grammatical abbreviation for tense, the single letter for hour, and strange or odd
26d Central point brought up to guest of honour (5)
PIVOT — a reversal (brought up in a down clue) of TO from the clue and an abbreviated guest of honour or individual of great significance
For no particular reason, I’ll go with the very smooth anagram at 1a as my favourite clue.
Quickie pun:: TAILORS + WHIFFED = TAYLOR SWIFT
On This Day …
… in 1991, Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45, following complications from the AIDS virus. Born Farrokh Bulsara, Mercury co-founded Queen in 1970, alongside Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon. His star power was clear from the band’s earliest days – from the complexity of his songwriting and the dexterity of his vocals to his flamboyant stage presence. With Queen, Mercury penned such enduring hits as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Somebody to Love.” While he recorded with his bandmates until the end of his life, Mercury also pursued a solo career in the 80s, resulting in the Top Ten UK album, Mr. Bad Guy. Following his death, the remaining members of Queen organized a star-studded tribute concert in London, which raised awareness for AIDS, as well as funds to fight the deadly virus.
Here is Queen performing at Live Aid in front of 72,000 people in Wembley Stadium, London on the 13th July, 1985.
A delightful start to the guzzling week with smiles along with some head scratching. Only the DT could find the missing lord and Scottish legend when all others have failed. I solved 7d without realising it was a lurker and I thought Tallin being out of bounds was neat. My COTD is 27a with its extremists from Bristol.
I have never heard any music by the lady who is the Quickie pun
Thank you, setter for a most enjoyable puzzle. Thank you, Falcon for the hints.
I don’t think I’ve knowingly heard anything by her either Steve. I know inadvertent repeats of a quick pun are inevitable but she probably holds the record. She appeared a few weeks ago via Silvanus I think and she had already been the pun on at least one other occasion before. Mistinguett is more my era 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistinguett . Could some quick compiler pun her please? Good fun puzzle anyway, the anagram at 1 Across was my favourite.
Steve, It isn’t true that you haven’t heard any music by the quickie pun! I included one of her songs a year ago and you commented: “If that is an example of [quickie pun] I’m pleased I don’t know any others.”
I remember this because you also said you’d never heard any of her music on November 17th last year. By complete co-incidence the following day, when it was my turn to blog, the answer to 16d happened to be a word that was also the title of one of her hits, so I included the video.
Maybe it should become an annual tradition: every November you claim never to have heard any of her songs?
Ok, Smylers I may have inadvertently heard some of her songs but that does not mean I knew they were by Quickie pun. 😊
Do you have an Excel spreadsheet of all comments? 😆
The gentlest of gentle starts to the week that still managed to raise a few smiles along the way. The long ‘uns went in straight away which gave a strong foothold, but my favourite was 17d. Great fun.
My thanks, presumably to X-Type and Falcon.
A superb start to the week that will please all-comers. There were plenty of concise constructions with a stack of excellent surfaces; almost every one is a winner. Therefore, everyone is a winner.
I love SC’s comment about the two elusive characters and I like the connection between 3d and 22d. Tres neat.
A tall order to pick a pody but I’ll go with 7d (excellent lurker), 13d and 17d.
MT to X-Type and Falcs.
1*/5*
That was all over in the blink of an eye, but I’ll still give it 3* for enjoyment. The two long answers went straight in based on the enumeration.
27a was my favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon.
Good morning. This was super gentle, even for a Monday. Finished it before the first cup of tea was finished and it wasn`t far off being a record! Lots to like and these are my favourites 11, 12, 14, 19, 25 and 27 across, 1, 5, 8, 15 and 27 down. Still smarting over Saturday`s DNF and on the first pass, it was a DNS. Thanks to Falcon and setter.
Very straightforward, but enjoyable.
I liked the good looking husband at 18a, the grubby family member at 13a and the missing peer at 17d.
Thank you setter and Falcon.
My brothers name is Ian and when my girls were small they called him Unclean. They thought it was very funny and he encouraged them.
About the easiest DT cryptic puzzle I have done online. Mondays are always the easiest of the week, but after solving the first five or six across clues straight off, I was amazed at how swiftly I got this one done.
You’ve shortened your alias so this required moderation. Both versions will work from now on.
Grand fun. Many smiles along the way. Liked 1d and the lurker in 7d along with Nessie and the missing lord in 17d. However cotd goes to 27a. Thanks to X-type (?) and Falcon.
How nice to kick off the cruciverbal week with an eminently doable exercise containing only clues with sensible surfaces for once. Fav “for one” was 6d. Thank you, thank you setter (I’m hopeless at identifying) and Falcon.
After three horrendous cruciverbal days it’s nice not to have to bang my head against the wall before breakfast, and not to have to resort to synonym dictionaries. Thank you setter and Falcon for the amusing (as always) comments.
A very enjoyable not too demanding start to the (non-)work week as I begin to get ready to be ‘on location’ at the end of the week and into the start of next week – 1.5*/3.5*
There is a pub in Staines that was named after the coat of arms of the family of 17d but after all the scandal it has gone through a couple of name changes and is now called ‘The Retreat.’
Candidates for favourite – 11a, 27a, 15d, and 24d – and the winner is 24d, what a delightful word.
Thanks to X-Type and Falcon.
That pub in Staines that was named after the coat of arms of the family of 17d – when I was a lad it was a useful meeting place for me and several of my pals as it was pretty much equal distances between each of our homes, and was walkable, or a short bus ride. So I remember it well from the 1970s.
I have been in since it was refurbished and I didn’t really like it.
Only ever used to go past it on the 117 bus!
Nice and easy does it – just the ticket for a Monday.
Top marks going to the French doggy and the bungler.
Thanks to our setter, X-Type sounds good to me, and to Falcon in his increasingly wintry wonderland for the review.
Very gentle and enjoyable start to the week which would be ideal for someone having a go at cryptic crosswords for the first time.
For my podium I selected 25a, 27a and 8d.
Thanks to our setter and Falcon.
As said by Alastair , I agree it’s nice to have an easy start to the week as the last few have been real head scratchers. I too liked SC comments about the two elusive references. Thanks to setter and Falcon
A nice gentle way to start the puzzling week after the head scratching of the last few days. Nothing too devious but some clever and amusing clues. My favourite is 24a
The Quickie pun raised a glimmer.
1*/3*
Just what was needed to reset the brain and have a fresh start after struggling with some recently. Great fun from start to finish, I did not have one stand out favourite but though the anagrams particularly good.
Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon for the hints.
I can only echo the above comments. A very gentle but also enjoyable puzzle. Loads of great clues as others have noted. The 7d lurker was spectacular. A new PB for me in half my cut off time. Thank you setter and blogger.
A jolly romp from start to (speedy) end. Some lovely surfaces that conjured up some humourous images. As others have mentioned a little welcome relief after the weekends brain pummeling.
So many to like but if I had to pick a favourite I would plump for 25a – as it made me chuckle.
Thank you setter and to Falcon
Great start to the week. LoI was 14 Across – can’t think why it took so long for the denarius to descend. 15 Down my favourite.
* / ***
A very gentle start to the week but no less enjoyable for that. I marked 5 clues that were not read and write, the rest fell just by moving from one checker to the next clue. Two particular clues got a tick: the old sheep getting involved at 15d and the missing/elusive peer at 17d. They be closely followed by Bristol’s extremists within the rage of 27a.
Missed out on yesterday’s puzzle so will go back to that later.
Many thanks to Falcon and presumably X-Type (because most people above say so ☺ )
A gentle romp through today’s puzzle and not too taxing on the brain. That said, a stupid spelling mistake re Tiger Woods’ friend but I am putting that down to technology, had I been writing in pencil or ink it would not have occurred. Surprised to see the missing peer as a clue, all we needed were a couple of other clues concerning Elvis and Shergar! Nearly made an error at 27a in looking to use an anagram of rages, which I initially used but then 18d would not have worked so was able to identify the mistake.
I will give 24d as my COTD, although straightforward it was a new word for me.
As always, thank you to the setter and to Falcon for the hints.
Another nice start to the non-work week with this puzzle that nicely put the last three puzzles behind me.
Filled more or less top to bottom.
1.5*/4* for me
Favourites 11a, 19a, 29a, 4d, 7d & 15d — with co-winners 19a & 15d … but really all were good clues, with a couple that made me smile.
Thanks to X-Type & Falcon
Good fun today – plenty of smiles.
Solution to 19a? As Victor Meldrew would have said “ …….!”
This was great fun but over far too quickly. Can I moan about puzzles being too easy?
0*/4*
I liked 18a, 25a and 15d today
Thanks to X type and Falcon
Fun for the very short time it lasted. Like RD top & bottom went straight in from the enumeration & no call for a head scratch with the glues between ‘em. Another vote for 17d as fav. Over in the Quick puzzle I did think there was a valid alternative answer at 18d as trance (which popped up last week I seem to recall) hit the scene in the mid 90s.
Thanks to the setter (X-Type presumably) & to Falcon.
Ps is anyone else finding the recently (I think) introduced messaging displayed when switching between puzzles on the DT app extremely irritating? I frankly couldn’t care less that Tom Marvolo Riddle is an anagram of Lord Voldemort & don’t really want to be continually reminded of the fact.
Fun from start to finish, and especially enjoyable after the last three days which were very disheartening. I even got the musical, something of which I am really not fond. Thanks to setter and Falcon.
Thanks to the Setter and Falcon (for hints not needed). We romped through this gentlest of gentle puzzles. Things shall no doubt get much tougher as the week progresses. COTD 25a. LOI 6d. Just a hint of red as the sun slips over the horizon.
If it is X-Type then it is a very gentle puzzle. Happy with that as it was also a very engaging puzzle. Loved that rodent.Our family had 21 of them at one time and there was a club at school for them. During double maths I would sit at the back of the class with a baby of this rodent up my jumper.Looking forward to tomorrow’s offering. We are so fortunate to have such entertainment.
A new PB for me! Nice after many struggles last week.
Thanks to X-type and Falcon
“Call round after work” – absolutely hilarious – has to be 17D for me. VMT Setter & Falcon.
I agree with Falcon that today’s puzzle is a gentle introduction to the week. Lots to like and such a confidence booster for the puzzles to come through the week ahead. Many thanks to X-Type and Falcon.
A welcome return to normality after the last 3 days and more enjoyable, I’m hoping this ushers in a week of more approachable puzzles. Favourite was 27a. Thanks to the setter and Falcon.
Probay a personal best invterms of time taken, but rhis was an enjoyable guzzle nevertheless. I loved 1a, the first film I saw at the cinema and the legend from Scotland
at 29a. The Europeans at 3d are third on my podium and the missing lwtter clue at 18a, rhe fourth. Thanks to the compiler and to Falcon the hints.
1* / 3.5* A nice leisurely start to the week, just shows it doesn’t have to be overly tricky to be enjoyable.
I’ll go for 24d drone as my favourite clue because the solution is a nice word.
Thanks to setter and Falcon
After Falcon and others above had said how quick they found this, I was concerned to have so few answers on the first pass — there seemed to be a lot of anagrams, and I usually have to leave those till I have some crossing letters — but then the rest quickly fell into place and I agree with everybody else.
(I was wondering if this was my fastest ever, so checked on the Puzzles Website where there’s a “Best time” for each puzzle type. Unfortunately for cryptic crosswords it claims I once completed one in 1 minute and 45 seconds, which clearly isn’t true, so I still don’t know. Maybe there was an occasion where I solved on paper then later typed the answers into the site — but I still would’ve expected just the typing to take longer than that?)
My favourite was 23d, for looking like an anagram then actually not being one. Thank you to X-Type and Falcon.
Sorry but that was too easy to be enjoyable. Didn’t even finish my 10pm dram! Thanks to Falcon for his comments.
I did this at lunchtime and was about to comment when grorgecaskedcmecto tin hobbit the garage to collect his car and by the time we got back something else took over. I agree that it was a typical Monday but that’s fine by me to start them eeek and there were some nice clues many thanks to the setter and Fslcon
Hi DG,
Your comment went into moderation because the string “Email” was appended to the email address. I’ve removed it. Looks like you were sending this while riding in a car that was hitting every pothole in the road!
Tin Hobbit, great band. Did some fine prog rock albums in the ’70s, but the experimental “Grorgecaskedcmecto” was a step too far for me.
1*/3* …
liked 15D “Wide-ranging fear about old sheep (9)”