Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31098
Hints and tips by Smylers
Hello from Ilkley, where we were delighted to discover the place we’d booked for a meal to celebrate the children’s performances in The Nutcracker has been crowned crowned the best restaurant in England.
Hints and explanations for today’s Telegraph Crossword are below. Everything on this site is provided free of charge by enthusiasts of cryptic crosswords who wish to share this pastime with others, and we don’t expect anything in return. But if you do wish to express your appreciation for Big Dave’s Crossword Blog, maybe you could make a donation to the MND Association, as part of the newspaper’s Christmas charity appeal for this year?
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The 
Ooops, it seems what I’ve got is actually a vent-ad calendar. blobs are there if you want to check an answer — but you can click on that one to open the first window in my Advent calendar.
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Across
1a Fulfilled expert (12)
ACCOMPLISHED: An obvious double definition to start with. Obvious that it is a double definition, I mean; I left it until I had some crossing letters to actually solve it and discover that the second definition is an adjective.
9a After time line is crossed by more peculiar child (7)
TODDLER: After the letter used in physics to indicate time, put a word meaning ‘more peculiar’ crossing one of the abbreviations for ‘line’.
10a Two articles about permit for sportswoman (7)
ATHLETE: We need two grammatical articles, which are combined and then placed about another verb meaning ‘permit’.
11a Narrates regularly showing skills (4)
ARTS: Take letters from ‘Narrates’ at regular intervals. If that doesn’t spell a word, then try switching whether the first letter is one you take or one you skip.
12a Silicon Valley disposing of a creep (5)
SIDLE: The first thing we need to do in this fantastic clue is completely ignore that Silicon Valley exists; we instead need each of the words separately. Start with the chemical symbol for silicon; end with another word for ‘valley’ but disposing of its letter A.
13a Heads of logistics irrationally make order for large car (4)
LIMO: Spell out the answer with the head letters of words in the clue.
16a Infuriated as English garden is destroyed (7)
ENRAGED: After the abbreviation for ‘English’, destroy the word ‘garden’ so its letters are in a different order.
17a Gutters uneven in middle of streetscapes (7)
TROUGHS: Get the middle letters of ‘streetscapes’ and into them place a word meaning ‘uneven’.
Pic credit: © Tom Parnell, CC BY-SA 2.0
18a Popular number by South European is profound (7)
INTENSE: Start with the usual word for ‘popular’; end with separate abbreviations for ‘South’ and ‘European’. Between those insert a number. Obviously there are literally an infinite number of numbers to choose from, but the number of blank squares remaining should really narrow down the options.
21a Drive group into promenade first (7)
PREMIER: The promenade here is one with amusements on it projecting into the sea. ‘Drive group’ is delightfully misleading, referring to the group who had a hit with a song called Drive in 1992. It’s a good song, from a very-big-selling album, but if you don’t know it, just think of a famous band whose name has few enough letters to plausibly fit. Or jump from the promenade to the answer and reverse-engineer the band.
Video of the song:
23a Rewrite mean last word (4)
AMEN: Rewrite ‘mean’ by arranging its letters differently.
24a Charm of exchange involving papa (5)
SPELL: Think of a verb meaning to exchange something for money; into it insert the letter represented by ‘papa’ in the Nato phonetic alphabet.
25a Ejected Tiff (4)
SPAT: As a past-tense verb, the answer can mean ‘ejected’; as a noun, it’s a tiff.
28a Remarkably valiant European (7)
LATVIAN: Place the letters of ‘valiant’ in a remarkable order.
29a Victor left tin between two holes in Krakatoa perhaps (7)
VOLCANO: Start with the letter represented by ‘Victor’ in the Nato phonetic alphabet. Then we need the abbreviation for ‘left’ and another word for a ‘tin’; those are combined and placed between two instances of the letter that looks most like a hole.
30a Contrition of small supernatural being meeting Agent Fish (4-8)
SELF-REPROACH: Enter in order: the clothing abbreviation for ‘small’; a type of supernatural being — one who might be particularly busy at this time of year; the usual agent or salesman; and a fish.
Down
1d Examiner of car on hill (7)
AUDITOR: Follow a brand of car with one of the many words in English for ‘hill’.
2d Caught everyone in ring (4)
CALL: This is the cricket abbreviation for ‘caught’ and another word for ‘everyone’. The answer is a verb.
3d Hitched sheep up right before initially inserting electronic device (7)
MARRIED: One of the usual sheep goes up the grid, followed by the abbrevoation for ‘right’, and then the initial letters of the final few words in the clue.
Pic credit: © Tom Murphy VII, CC BY-SA 3.0
4d Field force to meet large alien flier (7)
LEAFLET: Enter in order: another word for ‘field’; the letter used in physics for force; the clothing abbreviation for ‘large’; and the usual alien.
Pic credit: Katherine Ab
5d Very hot old London area (4)
SOHO: More Lego — we need a word meaning ‘very’; the letter that indicates which tap is the hot one; and the abbreviation for ‘old’.
6d Balancing time (7)
EVENING: The first definition is a verb meaning to balance things out, and the second is a time of day.
7d Tact is largely deployed in considered fashion (13)
STRATEGICALLY: Deploy the letters of the first few words to spell out the answer.
8d Show evil spirit right inside depot (13)
DEMONSTRATION: This answer starts with an evil spirit. The rest of it is a meaning of ‘depot’ that Chambers 21st Century Dictionary labels as ‘N Amer’ inside which we need to place the abbreviation for ‘right’.
14d Torment in the past extremely nasty (5)
AGONY: To a word meaning ‘in the past’, append the extreme letters of ‘nasty’.
15d Group of witches caught by stove (5)
COVEN: The cricket abbreviation for ‘caught’ makes a second appearance, this time followed by a word that overlaps in meaning with ‘stove’.
19d Partly seethe at revolting drama (7)
THEATRE: Find the answer lurking in a consecutive part of the rest of the clue.
20d Former lover criticizes eastern area (7)
EXPANSE: Enter in order: the usual term for a former partner; a word meaning ‘criticizes’, in the sense of giving a terrible review to something; and the abbreviation for ‘eastern’.
21d Lap up state song and dance (7)
PALAVER: Place ‘lap’ up the grid, followed by another verb meaning ‘state’.
22d Disparage the setter’s fruit (7)
IMPEACH: Convert ‘the setter’s’ to how the setter would say that about themselves; the apostrophe could indicate either possession or a missing letter, so try out both versions. End with a fruit.
26d Bit of stuff I made up to annoy (4)
MIFF: Take a bit of the subsequent words in the clue, and place it up the grid.
Pic credit: © Smylers
27d Request bottom of spring to be relocated to top (4)
PLEA: Find a verb which means ‘spring’ and move its bottom letter to the top.
Pic credit: © Smylers
Quickie Pun
In today’s Quick Crossword the first 2 clues are italicized, meaning their answers can be spoken aloud to sound like another word or phrase. If you haven’t heard of today’s (and I suspect that quite a few people won’t have done), you can check it here:
HARRIS + TILES = HARRY STYLES — a singer formerly of pop group One Direction (formed on TV contest The X Factor), now solo and whose hits include As I Was, number 1 in the charts for 10 weeks in 2022:
Recent Reading
How to Solve Your Own Murder is not a self-help book but a novel: Great-Aunt Frances was so paranoid about being murdered that she spent her life gathering information on everybody who might want to kill her. Annie finds Frances’s diary from the 1960s and … well, I don’t want to say anything more about the plot, because it’s a mystery story and Kristen Perrin tells it much better than I would. If possible, you should read this book while avoiding its blurb on the back, and even one of the quotes on its front.
But obviously there’s a murder in there somewhere, and somebody who worked it out before it happened. This is Kristen Perrin’s debut novel. Refreshingly, she isn’t a comedian, TV star, or famous for anything else first (which seems now to be the major criterion for a new author getting a murder mystery published), but somebody who can write. The plot is sound. The characters are plausible and I found myself caring about Annie, who narrates. The prose is clear and unobtrusive. I kept wanting to know what happened next, and the ending didn’t disappoint.
If you’re looking for books for Christmas (or to buy others), this is the best crime fiction book I’ve read since I started these reviews earlier this year. My favourite non-crime novel is The Artist by Lucy Steeds, reviewed in September; and the non-fiction book I’d recommed for word-lovers is The Prodigal Tongue by Lynne Murphy, reviewed in October — in which you can learn why Chris Lancaster was wrong last week to refer to the ‘-ize’ ending as not being British!
Another great Monday puzzle to get the week off to a good start. Fairly straightforward and it should attract those who are just beginning their cruciverbalist journey. There were a few curveballs such as 24a, which held me up for ages for some reason and in 21a I kept going after the wrong drive. The peculiar child at 9a raised a smile as did the past torment at 14d. My COTD is the small supernatural being at 30a.
Thank you, setter for a fun puzzle on a dreary wet day here in The Marches. Thank you, Smylers for the hints. I have donated and I urge others to do so because Chris has given us all a lot of enjoyment.
I also struggled with 24a, which was my last-on-in. Odd, looking at it now, as there are several others which should have been more difficult.
Me too with 24a.
And me.
Almost a ** time but just made * although 12a and 4d my last ones in gave pause for thought. The surrounding anagrams were helpful as were the lurkers. All in all very enjoyable. Thank you Smylers and our illustrious setter.
Good morning. This was a read and full from the onset. The SE took a few moments longer than I hoped as I thought a new record was possible. 12a was LOI. No stand out clues for me today, but enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to Smylers and Setter for their efforts.
A very pleasant start to the week with X Type (?) in fine, gentle form.
Re 21a, a song that didn’t make the UK top 10 that I haven’t heard of is incredibly niche. I saw it as ‘drive in’ being an AI but it looks like I’m wrong.
16a is one of those rare Scrabble words that has six anagrams with one of them being an extremely recent addition which will make a few of you roll your eyes. Anyone fancy giving me the six?
My podium is 12a (excellent clue), 14d and 21d.
MT to the setter and Smylers.
1*/4*
The album featuring the 21a song was massive, spending almost a year in the top 10, and being the second-best-selling album of 1993 (despite being released in 1992), after Bat out of Hell II. The song is the opening track on the album, so everybody who’s played the album should have heard it, and its position in the singles charts doesn’t reflect its popularity.
I interpreted ‘drive’ in the sense of ‘drive in a nail’, making it a perfectly good insertion indicator. While knowing the song might raise an extra smile, it’s not necessary knowledge to solve the clue.
[agree with Smylers that the album was absolutely mahoosive at the time]
Maybe that was the setter’s intent, and the song title is just a co-incidence? That means the band is just clued as ‘band’, though — which is vague, but maybe the number of letter is sufficient to help with that (as with the frequently seen ‘film’, though that’s clued differently today).
Or maybe the setters think on a deeper level than us poor mortals!
Surely “into” is the AI.
I reckon the setter has used ‘Drive’ to make the surface a tad smoother.
Hopefully, we’ll find out.
What do you mean by AI? Just when I’ve grasped the fact that some commenters are now using AI to mean anagram indicator you now seem to be using it to mean something different.
Sorry, I meant II – insertion indicator.
Not sure that “II” will catch on!
Please remember BD’s rule that clues should be explained in plain English (not invented abbreviations).
Apologies, G. I used AI when I meant an insertion indicator.
AI has been accepted as an abbreviation for an anagram indicator for the last couple of months. So, I’m guessing that is okay with you?
No it’s not. AI stands for Artifical Intelligence or Artificial Insemination. It took me some time to work out what you were on about when using AI. Please remember that there are lots of readers on this site who are new to cryptics – try not to confuse them with invented abbreviations.
No problem,
Though other things are bound to turn up in the future as things evolve, e.g guzzle, Floughie Lady, rekrul, The List.
But, I understand why this one isn’t being accepted.
Guzzle, Floughie Lady, rekrul and The List are explained in FAQ.
But it’s much better if a newcomer to the site can understand what’s written without having to look up invented words somewhere else.
Sorry, my choice of words probably wasn’t the best.
What I should have said was the above recent terms have gone down well, with many solvers often using them. It’s fun.
There are going to be others in the future which is no bad thing. I don’t think newcomers will mind. This is what FAQS are for. They will feel part of a club using new terms in their posts; it’s like a code. We are all into words and terms, after all.
It doesn’t work for me. AI stands for Artificial Intelligence in the ‘real’ world, using it to represent anything else will only cause confusion, particularly amongst those who may be newer contributors to the blog.
Agreed
Hi S
My money’s on the setter using it as an AI.
Hopefully, we’ll get to find out…
It was also the song used in Live Aid that brought it nationwide fame. So I wouldn’t call it niche
That was Drive by The Cars, different song, sorry for being pedantic
I completely missed that Drive was also a song by REM – I wondered why it had such a long thread of comments. I was thinking it didn’t make sense because Drive was a song by the cars not REM. How wrong I was. Thanks for helping me see sense
Tom, 16a. I can only find five anagrams of the answer, including (I assume) the recent one which might descriibe people from Middlesex. Is there an even more recent one?
Middlesex is genius, J!
It is six not seven. I am so sorry. I hope you didn’t spend too long trying to convince yourself that deanger means to relax.
A gentle yet rewarding way to cheer up a damp and breezy Shropshire morning. All was very fairly clued, and I cannot think of any obscurities to slow up the process. I particularly enjoyed the neat surface of 7d.
Thanks as always to our Monday setter and Smylers.
Very gentle and ideal for a Monday – thanks to our setter and Smylers.
I didn’t appreciate the cleverness of 21a until reading Smyler’s hint – having never heard of the song I just took ‘drive … into’ to be an insertion indicator.
The clues I liked best were 12a and 4d.
27 down cannot be leap!! But don’t know the answer
Hi, Ray. Welcome to the blog and thank you for commenting.
Well spotted on 27d — I hid the wrong word under the ‘click here’ blob. ‘leap’ is the spring that needs its bottom letter moving to the top to get the answer. Apologies for the mistake.
Struggling to equate ‘disparage’ with ‘impeach’………..
Hi, Bill. That’s a good point: I think by that point through hinting I was just glad to get the crossword finished and didn’t stop to question the meaning. Crossword setters and editors tend to be good at synonyms, so the first thing I do in a situation like this is look up both words in a dictionary.
Chambers has a definition of 22d which includes “to cast doubt upon (eg a person’s honesty).” Does that work for you?
Smylers, in my copy of Chambers (Revised 13th Edition) and in the Chambers app, the first definition for “impeach” is “disparage”.
Even better!
Thank you both.
Always a joy to start the week with a smooth ride and today provided that. I concur with Smyler’s star grading. NW was a r&w and then most of the rest came readily on board with a couple of hitches e.g. 21a was a bung-in as I could not parse drive; 12a; and 27d (d’oh!). 7d had to be but IMHO it doesn’t really parse. AnywayTVM setter and Smyler.
Sorry I should have thanked Smylers. Perhaps I may use this medium to refer to the Quickie pun which I had read as “hairstyles” since I don’t know Harry Styles!
Apologies for my need for moderation yet again.
0.5*/4*. Light and fun from start to finish.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
A very enjoyable start to a rather dreary day. A couple of hold ups with 12a being last in and a couple needing extra thought to parse eg 21a but I got there in the end. No single favourite today.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Very straightforward apart from 12a, which took me far too long. As Smylers mentions in his hints, Silicon Valley is a very good example of why we should always read each word of a clue individually. The setter, of course, wants us to read these two together. Good clue.
Thank you setter and Smylers.
I’m glad I was not alone in taking an age on 12a. I eventually got the correct answer from the definition but couldn’t parse it so was glad of the hint. One or two headscratchers added to the enjoyment. I’ll pick 30a as my cotd. Thanks to compiler and Smylers
A nice start to the retirement week, as opposed to the working week. No issues, although 30a took a few moments to parse so for that reason is my cotd.
For 21a I also interpreted Drive as an insert indicator and not one of well known songs of that band; or lesser known in my case.
1*/3*
Mainly straightforward with just a couple needing a pause for thought – 21&24a. The peculiar child raised a smile but my absolute favourite was 12a.
Thanks to our setter, X-Type? and to Smylers for the review.
Great puzzle to cheer me up on this grey and rainy Monday! Just went into ** time, but didn’t need to use Mr Google or Chambers. Only problem was 22d, because although I solved it I couldn’t equate ‘disparage’ with ‘impeach’. However thanks to Smylers for the explanation – saved me looking it up! Favourite clues included 9a, 29a, 30a and 26d (great word!). Many thanks to both Smylers and the setter.
Typical Monday puzzle with no real holdups today. 21a LOI as I couldn’t recall the group. 4d favourite today.
0.5*/4*
Thanks to Smylers and ?X Type
A super puzzle that took me a while to get up to ramming speed! If I was being hyper critical I would have liked a sprinkling more humour – but that’s probably just me being a Monday grump!!
Thanks to the setter and of course Senf. Thank you for the book recommendation. You are so right about the plethora of ‘famous*’ crime fiction writers. It seems to be a prerequisite to be published. Glad one slipped through!!
* famous with a small ‘f’!
* / ***
Very enjoyable and a nice intro for the week. Only hold up as for others was 24a but it came in the end. I’ll join those who think ‘drive’ in 21a is just an insertion indicator.
Thanks to smylers and the setter.
A pretty straightforward guzzle, just right for a Monday. I liked. I liked the 1a double meaning clue, the small supernatural being clue at 30a and the long anagram at 7d. Thanks to the compiler and to Smylers for the hi ts
Waltzed through this one except for a case of brain fog twigging the blindingly obvious four letter synonym for exchange at 24a. Can’t say I was familiar with Agent Fish from either the video game or SpongeBob but liked the clue & the wordplay was clear. I’m sure Drive in 21a isn’t coincidental. I don’t often listen to them but the clue prompted a listen to the album all of the way through & it really is an exceptionally strong piece of work. I thought 7d a nice fodder spot & a good surface so will pick that one as my favourite.
Thanks to the setter for an enjoyable puzzle & to Smylers for his usual thorough hints.
Another gentle start to the crossword puzzle week. As per usual a couple of head scratchers, but overall pretty straightforward for me.
1.5*/3.5*
Favourites 9a, 13a, 1d, 6d, 8d & 20d — with winner 1d
Thanks to setter & Smylers
A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, thanks to the setter. Completed it without help, but did need Smyler’s clues to parse a couple – thanks for your hints Smyler, along with your book recommendation, always on the look out for new authors.
And thanks too for the info about donations, will certainly donate to such a worthy cause.
Thanks to the Setter and Smylers for the hints. COTD 5d. LOI 4d. As usual we are late tackling the puzzle. Typical Monday puzzle and a great start to the week.
Perfect Monday fare with the creep clue as last one in, thank you compiler and Smylers
A perfectly lovely puzzle, except for the creep as mentioned by others. A joy to be able to finish this today, as opposed to later in the week when I wonder if I have wasted my ink and paper. Thank you to setter (X-type?) and to Smylers. Also very wet here this morning, which is a complete surprise as forecast didn’t include any rain at all. Not unusual as the forecasts are no longer reliable, as opposed to the early 1980s – when they would advise rain at 3pm for 20 minutes and be 100% right.
A nice gentle and enjoyable puzzle for a wet Monday. I too was last with the creep clue, and I did cheat and ask ChatGPT for a synonym of valley with 4 letters – it just came up with just one , the right one ! Thanks to setter and Smylers.
As usual I thought this was tricky when I started and I wrestled with a fair few clues but eventually I did finish completely unaided. COTD 27d for the neat construction. Thanks to setter and Smylers. */***
I thought this was a lovely crossword for my little brain. A lot went straight in but quite a few were only obvious when there were a few letters there. My last one in was 21a which was also my favourite.We will have to try your Ilkley restaurant. We usually go for a day trip there and make a beeline for Betty’s. Perhaps we should have a change.
A great start to the week with this friendly guzzle. Hard to choose a favourite as there were so many. If I really had to it would be 17a as ours are having a terrible time coping with the torrential rain that’s been going on all day.
Thank you to both setter and Smylers.
Perfectly pitched for a Monday with enough straightforward clues to give a start and a few more tricky ones to make us think and keep us on our toes. I did spend some time trying to make ‘vle’ work at the end of 12a but I couldn’t so I had to rethink. Favourite was 30a, there were other contenders, thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Whilst not difficult I thought that was a little bit tricky in parts with some amusing misdirection. That said completed without reference to Smylers’ hints, which I will now peruse.
Favourite clues today were the reference to Silicon Valley at 12a, the flier at 4d and the song and dance at 21d.
Thank you to the setter and to Smylers for the hints. Also, congratulations to Smylers’ children in their production of The Nutcracker. I am sure they did you proud.
1* / 3* A nice gentle start to the week without any hold ups. Favourites include contrition at 30a, creepy 12a and 21a first, which I’m sure Drive is deliberate in the clueing
Thanks to Setter and Smylers
Solved this as a wind down after a nightmare getting out of the car park after a concert. It didn’t take long but I was relaxed enough to sleep afterwards. I did like the creep.
24d and 30a amused me too for reasons that I can’t explain.
Thanks to Setter and Smylers.
2*/3* ….
liked 5D “Very hot old London area (4)”
Thanks for providing the answers and especially giving explanations. As usual I had one (12a) where I had the answer jotted down but couldn’t bring myself to write it into the boxes because I didn’t know why my guess was correct. By the way someone told me that Monday puzzles are the easiest but I found this one tricky. The Quick Crossword was no push over either.
You’ve changed your alias from ‘Paul’ so this needed moderation. Both will work from now on.
Hello. Thank you for commenting.
In general crosswords aim to get harder across the weekdays, but in practice it’s all very subjective, different people can find different crosswords easier or harder, and two puzzles by the same setter may not be of the same difficulty. Many recent commenters say they often find Tuesday puzzles the most straightforward (but I often struggle with them!). So don’t worry about it too much!