Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31111
Hints and tips by Huntsman
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
Well it’s another miserable 2d start to the day here in Harpenden but the forecast says the wet stuff might clear away around 2pm so there is at least a prospect of an hour & half walk before darkness descends.
For those bemoaning the trickier Monday puzzles there’s always a Typically Tuesdayish Anthony Plumb (I assume) production to rely on. Enjoyable as ever and pretty straightforward so I wouldn’t anticipate that it will cause many problems. For those looking for a stiffer challenge I’m sure Whybird would be delighted to hear your thoughts on the Zenas Toughie, which is also very accessible & well worth having a stab at.
As ever there are an assortment of You Tube tunes, sketches & a film clip to view if inclined.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
Across
1a Make a list of most of red meat her husband chucked out (8)
REGISTER: a fairly straightforward answer but a trickier parse – RE[d] (most of) + a synonym for meat as in substance/nitty-gritty/marrow + [h]ER (Husband chucked out).
5a Hare – small type (6)
SPRINT: S[mall] + type/font. ALP would expect a clip a from Withnail.
9a Things that are manufactured for pipes (8)
PRODUCTS: the usual preposition signifying for/in favour of + a synonym for pipes/tubes.
10a Delete concerning film? Not I (6)
REMOVE: a preposition for concerning/regarding + another word for a film without (not) the letter I.
12a Snappy doctor aimed and hit me leaving hospital (9)
IMMEDIATE: an anagram (doctor) of AIMED [h]IT ME (less/leaving Hospital).
13a Precise law that’s been revoked? (5)
EXACT: split the wordplay 2,3 for what the piece of legislation would be once revoked.
14a Sailor posed, circling lake (4)
SALT: a synonym for posed goes round (circling) Lake.
16a The woman’s following portly clergyman (7)
FATHERS: a synonym for portly/rotund + (following) a feminine pronoun for the woman with the ‘s.
19a Gloat from US president outside current hotel (7)
TRIUMPH: the surname of the incumbent goes round (outside of) the physics symbol/letter for electric current then append the single letter for Hotel.
21a Blokes act on the radio (4)
GUYS: a homophone (on the radio) of a synonym for act/pretence.
24a Gordon Bennett welcomes English judges (5)
RATES: insert (welcomes) English into an alternative to Gordon Bennett /mild expression of anger/disappointment.
25a Complicated tale almost bores a drunk (9)
ELABORATE: an anagram (drunk) of TALE BORE[s] A (almost).
27a Sally’s after a fine chicken (6)
AFRAID: a synonym for sally/incursion follows (after) A from the clue + the single letter for Fine.
28a Constant interrupting awfully rude to a teacher (8)
EDUCATOR: insert (interrupting) the single letter for Constant into an anagram (awfully) of RUDE TO A.
29a Saw grass around a yard (6)
SAYING: grass/spill the beans containing (around) A in the clue & Yard.
30a Obama’s absorbing Republican jeers (8)
BARRACKS: insert (absorbing) Republican into the forename of Michelle’s hubby + the possessive S.
Down
1d Withdraw religious education by couple (6)
REPAIR: the abbreviation for Religious Education + a couple/twosome.
2d Dismal logo redesigned by George (6)
GLOOMY: an anagram (redesigned) of LOGO + an alternative to by George in the sense of an exclamation of surprise.
3d Healthy dog given new lead (5)
SOUND: replace the 1st letter (given new lead) in a type of hunting dog.
4d Take out additional clubs before heading for Turnberry (7)
EXTRACT: additional/supplementary + the card suit abbreviation for Clubs + the 1st letter (heading for) of Turnberry. Don’t know about additional sticks but nowadays you’ll need a second mortgage to stay & play there.
6d Soon begrudge going into work (9)
PRESENTLY: insert (going into) a synonym for begrudge/take exception to into another word for work/operate.
7d Eat solid bananas by oneself (8)
ISOLATED: an anagram (bananas) of EAT SOLID.
8d Address is on top of European paper (8)
TREATISE: address/deal with + (on top/down clue) IS from the clue + European.
11d Muscle complaint (4)
BEEF: double definition.
15d Acknowledgement from Democrat after a special assignment (9)
ADMISSION: A from the clue + (after) Democrat followed by special assignment/undertaking.
17d Celebrity was securing lead in road movie (4,4)
STAR WARS: a synonym for a celebrity then insert (securing) the 1st letter (lead in) of Road into WAS in the wordplay. Never seen it or the countless ones that followed in the wildly successful franchise.
18d After beer, regularly play in a disgruntled manner (8)
BITTERLY: beer/ale (a proper pint of) + (after) the alternate even letters of [p]L[a]Y.
20d His Excellency grabs old spades – these are useful in the garden (4)
HOES: insert Old between the two letter abbreviation for His Excellency then append the card suit abbreviation. Cue Barker & Corbett for the umpteenth time.
21d Distinguished, crazy, short relative (7)
GRANDMA: distinguished/magnificent + a truncated (short) synonym for crazy/insane.
22d Sign of nerves after Tom perhaps overturned strategy (6)
TACTIC: reverse (overturned/down clue) Tom as in the term an unneutered adult male then append (after) an involuntary muscle movement that could be an indication of nerves.
23d Try on shirt, finally, and second suit (6)
HEARTS: a synonym for try (legal proceeedings) + [shir]T (finally/last letter) + the single letter for Second.
26d Some cameo? Scarcely what Hollywood actor wants? (5)
OSCAR: hidden (some).
Podium spots awarded to 4,17&18d. Please tell us which clues ticked your boxes.
Today’s Quick Crossword pun: TIN + DAB + HOCKS = TINDER BOX
This morning’s listening whilst preparing the blog has been music from my Richard Hawley playlist. Here’s the title track from one of his albums.
This was a puzzle of two sides, East and West. The East was reasonably easy going, but the West was more demanding and as such I spent more time than I like on my puzzle! Nevertheless, I got there in the end but I still need to parse a couple. I have never been able to identify the compilers but since I started commenting on this blog and learning lots from the blog in its entirety, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that this could be a Ray Tea production? As for the puzzle itself, there are ticks a plenty; 5, 9, 12, 13, 16 and 30 across, 1, 8, 15 and 18 down. It’s a toss up between 5a and 9a for CoTD and LOI was 23d, which is also worthy of a tick! Thanks to the setter and Huntsman for the hints. Will read the hints shortly!
I think the clue for 1a alone rules out Ray T as it has colossal (for him) twelve words in it! I think he’s squeaked in under five words per clue in the past (as an average).
Thank you for that. I confused the setters.
Thank you Huntsman for the hints….I copied and pasted this from notes I made earlier this morning. Hints will be read shortly. And please feel free to amend my comment
Pretty sure it’s an Anthony Plumb production Conor. Ray T only ever clues the Quickie with single words so that is an indication when it’s one of his (Thursday is his day) but there are similarities between the two of them in their concise style of clueing.
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. Could you kindly redact me comment please and spare me more embarrassment?!
Don’t know how to do that but worry not – nowt to be embarrassed about
NIce puzzle but I found it fairly tricky and it took me ages to get started. At least ** for me. Particularly like 19a and 8d. Also 6d purely because it was the ‘anti-US English’ as the answer doesn’t mean ‘soon’ across the pond. Thank you setter and Huntsman
This comment piqued my interest. In my experience, presently more commonly means “now” rather than “soon” but both usages do exist here in Canada. However as we do employ both British and US usages here (sometimes, such as with autumn and fall, the words can be used so interchangeably that they could almost appear in the same sentence), I thought this might be the case here. So I did a little digging. The Collins website shows entries from three dictionaries – one British (Collins English Dictionary) and two US (HarperCollins and Penquin Random House). The entries for ‘presently’ are virtually identical in all three dictionaries.
A usage note with the Penquin Random House entry states “The two apparently contradictory meanings of presently, “in a little while, soon” and “at the present time, now,” are both old in the language. In the latter meaning presently dates back to the 15th century. It is currently in standard use in all varieties of speech and writing in both Great Britain and the United States. The sense “soon” arose gradually during the 16th century. Strangely, it is the older sense “now” that is sometimes objected to by usage guides. The two senses are rarely if ever confused in actual practice. presently meaning “now” is most often used with the present tense (The professor is presently on sabbatical leave) and presently meaning “soon” often with the future tense (The supervisor will be back presently). The semantic development of presently parallels that of anon, which first had the meaning, now archaic, of “at once, immediately,” but later came to mean “soon.”
What an outstanding post!
Similarly, “just now” means, to me anyway, a short time ago (in the past), whereas a young Scottish lady, who used to work for me, used it to mean soon, e.g.”I’ll be leaving just now”.
Having been away for over a month I thought I would struggle to get my brain back in gear but this puzzle proved otherwise. I enjoyed it with my top picks being 2d, 1a, 29a and 27a. LOI was 10a.
Thanks to Huntsman for being there if I needed him and for Mr Plumb for setting the crossword.
I’m going to attempt to tackle all the cryptic puzzles I missed but it will take some time, especially as I’m going to be away for the rest of this week. I’ll work my way through the blogs for each of them too to see what mischief you lot got up to in my absence.
Took a while to get going but from 13a it fell rapidly into place. A little hold up with 20d as I punt the HE around OS to get hose which made the anagram at 25a very difficult. 17d favourite as I was a fan of the original trilogy a very long time ago!
Thanks to PP and Hintsman.
I did the same but rereading the clue it says these not this. But it took me thirty minutes of my valuable time to see it…
I also had hose until 25a became a headache…
As Huntsman writes above a Typically Tuesdayish offering from Anthony Plumb to compensate for yesterday’s trickier challenge – 1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 9a, 29a, 1d, 4d, 23d, and the Pun – and the winner is 29a.
Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.
This was as cheerful and sunny as the weather here in Shropshire this morning, a real Tuesday delight. Our setter is as consistent as ever, and sets a pretty high bar for himself week in, week out. Picking a favourite was tough, but I went for 17d for the excellent surface.
My thanks and admiration to AP and of course to The Hintsman.
Tuesday Toughie Blogger just dropping in with another plug for today’s inside page offering from Zenas. It’s good fun and, whilst no Floughie, is pretty accessible and has some good, but relatively mild, examples of the kind of twisted thinking our Toughie setters enjoy (as well as their cleverness).
I’ll be back… as I believe had been said before.
You’re paying me good money to drum up interest (see intro) 😃 Why bark yourself when you’ve a mutt to do for you.
My bad!! I’d pressed the “straight to Comments” button to minimise the risk of seeing any spoilers. Thanks – and Woof!!
1*/3.5*. Light and fun as usual for a Tuesday, but, oh dear, how many more times! The answer to 22d is not synonymous with strategy.
Plenty of ticks with 13a my favourite.
Many thanks to AP (?) and to Hintsman.
Well RD you piqued my interest re the word strategy. I asked ChatGPT if they were synonyms and after a bit of blurb it concluded “Strictly speaking: no, Loosely / informally: often treated as yes”. So guess you are right then.
Gentle and enjoyable.
My last in was 10a ( I could not parse revoke, so I did not write it in. It took a little while before I realised the obvious answer).
Ticks to 9a, 11d, 17d, and my favourite, 21d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.
Smiles as usual from our Tuesday setter with the Two Ronnies and Mr Atkinson adding to the fun. I’ve earmarked 6,18,& 22d for the podium although several others are equally worthy.
Thanks to Mr Plumb and to Huntsman for the review.
** / ***
Should have been less than 1* time but just couldn’t get the crossing 18d and 24a for ages. For the former, I got another type of beer for the first 6 letters that absolutely wouldn’t fit Huntsman’s hint! Once that was reimagined (how modern am I?), those final two fell. COTD went to 23d’s Try on.
Thanks to the Professor and Huntsman
John brings me a cup of tea in bed and I start the crossword . What heaven. Very light today but most enjoyable. Christmas means we are often pressed for time so a puzzle like this works at every level. Two American presidential references were fun but favourite clue in the grid was 22 d. How often have I been really grateful to the Professor and Huntsman doing good work as usual. Have to agree with 1* for difficulty.
An enjoyable and gentle solve. I wonder if anyone else tried to make a word including ‘meat’ in 1a and ‘pipes’ in 9a – momentarily nicely misdirected both times. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
1.5* / 3.5* Similar to yesterday’s in difficulty and enjoyment. Plenty of humour and clever misdirection, favourites include my last one in relative at 21d, make a list at 1a and the gloating president at 19a
Thanks to Huntsman and setter
We know what to expect on Tuesdays and our setter has come up trumps once again – thanks to him and Huntsman.
Among my ticked clues were 29a, 4d, 6d and 23d.
I found this decidedly tricky. Given the majority of previous comments it’s obviously me having another off day with an AP production. Not an unusual occurrence. No cotd today, but the chubby clergymen in 16a did raise a wry smile. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
This was a joy to solve with the prof at the top of his game.
I’d be interested to get RD’s take on the word ‘movie’ in 10a (I loved Bing and Bob in the Road Movies). It’s an Americanism that needs no indication but has never crossed my lips. Interestingly, Eric and Ernie didn’t like the word (they corrected an interviewer).
I’ve ticked almost every clue but I’ll go with these for the podium: 30a, 26d (neat) and 20d. Anything that involves the best sketch of all time gets a huge nod from me. Corbett’s finest moment though The Chair was genius.
MT to the aforementioned and Hoots!
1*/5*
A regular sort of Tuesday puzzle today but for me there was a bit of head scratching and pauses for thought on a couple of the parsings throughout the grid.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites 5a, 10a, 12a, 3d, 18d & 22d — with winner 18d
Thanks to AP & Huntsman
Thoroughly enjoyed that! Thanks to the setter, and to Huntsman for the hints which, for once, I didn’t need. Love the Roman Atkinson clip which I’d never seen before, and I never tire of four candles.
Most enjoyable.
Slightly held up at 20d by ignoring the clearly plural element of the clue and biffing HOSE. I have given myself a good talking to.
2d and 4d were my favourites.
Thank you setter and Huntsman. Enjoy your walk.
I found this harder than often to get started on but once I got going it all fell into place. I had 17d as a favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.
Nice one for a Tuesday. COTD 19a – on the day the Beeb is being sued for billions I hope this not a forecast of the outcome.
Nice and straightforward but glad I’m not the only person who put an incorrect homonym in 20 down before realising my mistake!
Thanks to the Setter and Huntsman. Had visitors and only just returned to the puzzle. Resorted to a few hints to finish.
A fun solve, although for inexplicable reasons given today’s Toughie, 18d held out far longer than anything else in either of today’s puzzles… 5a and 9a were my favourites, although Huntsman’s illustrations add huge value to 1a and 20d. Not that the Present Lady W will thank him for 20d…
Many thanks to our setter and to Huntsman
A nice easy romp for a Tuesday with plenty of entertainment. Having worked for US companies for 20 odd years I tend not to get phased by unindicated Americanisms and whilst I agree that some parsing can be a bit of a stretch, surely being too pedantic constrains the solving process.
Podium places for me were 27a, 9a and 8d, but COTD is the snappy doctor at 12a.
Thanks to the setter and Huntsman for his spin on the answers.
1*/3*
I thought meat in 1a and gloat in 19a were a bit of a stretch but I’m nit picking. This was bang on, yet again, for a Tuesday. Always a pleasure never a chore. Surprisingly no outstanding favourite but if pressed I’d go with 6d. Thanks to AP and Huntsman. I’ll go back and watch the clips now.
Would someone be so kind as to explain the synonym for meat in 1a? I am familiar with the word but cant seem to apply it here. Just can’t get my head round it!
In my Chambers Thesaurus app, the third definition for meat is substance, core, etc and finally gist (hope it’s ok to write that now, it’s late in the day). Took me a while to work it out, as TG said, a bit of a stretch maybe.
It was quite a coincidence really that meat cropped up again today after yesterday where it was the required synonym for marrow & provoked comment.
I guess a context might read along the lines of the heated debate got right down to the meat/marrow/nub of the issue
I foolishly took someone’s word about the Toughie and found as usual it was not above my paygrade but rather on a much lower scale for the numpties. And today’s cryptic was never a * but at least ** higher with stretched synonyms which even when they are in Chambers are not in even in the active vocabulary of those of us who have a reasonable active vocabulary and would never be used in the sense of the words in the clues.
I made hard work of this for some reason. Harder for me than a * for sure. Nevertheless an enjoyable solve.
Thanks to all.
I didn’t have much time today because of driving a lady to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham. I solved the puzzle in the car park but the drive home has left me with a painful toe, which is only just beginning to subside. It’s my own fault. I should ensure I am wearing comfortable shoes before setting off on a lengthy journey.
Excellent fare from the professor as ever but I’ve left the paper in the car so cannot recall my COTD or other comments I wrote in the margins. All I know is that I found it a very enjoyable tussle.
Thank you, AP for the fun, which, as I said, was solved in the car park of the QE in Brum. This makes me wonder about the strangest place a DT cryptic has been solved. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.
2*/4* …
liked 21D “Distinguished, crazy, short relative (7)”