Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31123
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
Even by Tuesday standards I’d rate today’s puzzle on the gentle side so I doubt it will detain many for long. Much like yesterday it was all over a bit too quickly but was nevertheless a pleasant & enjoyable solve. The only real head scratch was twigging the synonym for the 3rd word in the Quickie pun. I’ve not looked at it yet but I see that Chalicea is today’s setter over in t’other place so if she’s true to form that will be an entertaining & accessible puzzle.
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 Show cook a cheaper pan husband scratched (10)
APPEARANCE: an anagram (cooked) of A C[h]EAPER PAN (Husband scratched/omitted).
6a Artist’s oddly good year (4)
GOYA: the alternate letters (oddly) in the last two words.
10a Group of singers from South American city returning after church (5)
CHOIR: CHurch followed by (after) a reversal (returning) of a city in Brazil.
11a Naughty romp in hospital department? Outstanding! (9)
PROMINENT: an anagram (naughty) of ROMP IN + our usual hospital department.
12a Average novel read to me (8)
MODERATE: an anagram (novel) of READ TO ME.
13a Pick up king penguin’s tail (5)
LEARN: Shakespeare’s tragic king + penguiN (tail/last letter).
15a Starts ignoring large birds (7)
FINCHES: a synonym for starts/recoils less (ignoring) Large.
17a Loving son’s proposals (7)
TENDERS: a synonym for loving/gentle + Son.
19a Ironed in a hurry (7)
PRESSED: double definition.
21a Some respect recent Bond film (7)
SPECTRE: hidden (some).
22a Stealing the pink rag (5)
THEFT: THE from the clue + the abbreviation for the pink paper.
24a Request certain beer and skittles (8)
PLEASURE: link a synonym for request/entreaty with one for certain/guaranteed.
27a One minute before sick person’s irritated (9)
IMPATIENT: the Roman numeral letter for one + Minute precede (before) the term for a poorly person.
28a Let adult suffer initially in the grip of martial artist (5)
LEASE: insert (in the grip of) the 1st letters of Adult & Suffer (initially) into the surname of an actor & filmmaker martial artist.
29a Doctor squeezing university student’s neck (4)
GULP: place the abbreviation for a doctor qualified in General medical Practice around (squeezing) University & single letter for student/Learner. My money would be on Ange in a challenge with Keir.
30a Exhibits images of free unwrapped gifts (10)
REPRESENTS: [f]RE[e] (unwrapped) + a synonym for gifts.
Down
1d Something soldiers might do without maiden knowing (4)
ARCH: remove (without) the cricket abbreviation for Maiden from the what soldiers are required to do.
2d In favour of northern big cat, say (9)
PRONOUNCE: the usual preposition for in favour of + Northern then think of a big cat.
3d American and politician almost see eye-to-eye (5)
AGREE: American + a truncation (almost) of a politician on the left of the political spectrum. I doubt these two would.
4d Urgently asks a friend about exercises before first of stretches (7)
APPEALS: A from the clue + friend/mate synonym go around (about) the school lesson abbreviation for exercises then append Stretches (first of).
5d Nearest wardrobe contains Susan’s top (7)
CLOSEST: insert (contains) the 1st letter (top) of Susan into another name for a wardrobe.
7d Oscar thumping Greek character (5)
OMEGA: Oscar (NATO alphabet) + a synonym for thumping/colossal.
8d Bewildered a dishonest criminal (10)
ASTONISHED: an anagram (criminal) of A DISHONEST.
9d Fury from Victor once lie’s broadcast (8)
VIOLENCE: Victor (NATO alphabet) followed by an anagram (broadcast) of ONCE LIE.
14d Bad golf shot in front of gallery is discouraging (3-7)
OFF-PUTTING: bad/rotten synonym + a key stroke in golf + IN from the clue + Gallery (front of). Ernie Els took 6 of ‘em from inside 2 feet on the 1st hole at The Masters & poor old Doug Sanders threw an Open away on the final green at St Andrews.
16d The chap is upset with art gallery’s delay (8)
HESITATE: a masculine 3rd person pronoun for the chap + a reversal (upset/down clue) of IS in the wordplay + the name of a family of galleries of which there are 4 in the UK.
18d Record temperature with a hot nurse (9)
ENTERTAIN: a synonym for record/chronicle + Temperature + A from the clue + hot/fashionable. Not surprising with all that carrying on at 11a.
20d Rub out, holding page lower (7)
DEPLETE: insert (holding) Page into rub out/erase.
21d After end of contests we rate high jumper (7)
SWEATER: the last letter (end) of contestS + an anagram (high) of WE RATE.
23d Old piano next to the Spanish bar (5)
EXPEL: the usual prefix for old/former + Piano (musical abbreviation) + the in Spanish.
25d Tennis player’s useless, missing both sides (5)
SELES: hidden in the word between definition & indicator if you follow the instruction. She won 9 majors so she certainly wasn’t.
26d Takes the skin off headless fish (4)
EELS: remove the 1st letter (headless) from a verb meaning takes the skin off.
No real favourite today but 11a & 18d did evoke memories of Carry On Nurse & Doctor. Please tell us which clues ticked your boxes.
Today’s Quick Crossword pun: DUE + KIT + TOUT = DUKE IT OUT
This morning’s listening while preparing the blog has been a playlist of some Melody Gardot songs. Here’s a track from it
Good morning. The first half dozen across clues went in in no time. The west side was filled first, both across and down with only a few on eastern side requiring any thought. My podium is 10a, 27a and 25d. 1d, 5d, 20d and 23d are also worthy contenders, but 25d is my CoTD. Many thanks to the setter and Huntsman for the hints
Another gentle day. You think you can do these, then Friday comes.
Nearly as quick as the Quickie. No real favourites, but I’ll go with 14d simply because, if reversed, it explains my high golf scores.
1*/3*
A fun puzzle, perhaps on the easy side for most but gave me a bit of a brain mangling. Lots of penny drop moments. No assistance required. My top picks were the useless tennis player and the dishonest criminal. Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman. I always enjoy your music knowledge
Very Typically Tuesdayish, combined with a very friendly Floughie Toughie from Chalicea – 1.5*/4*
Candidates for favourite – 19a, 22a, 24a, and 2d – and the winner is 22a, although I am not sure that the pink paper would appreciate being referred to as a ‘rag.’
Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.
22a was my favourite as it made me laugh!
Thanks Senf and Huntsman for your kind Chalicea comments and for all you do. All the bestfor 2026.
Thank you, Chalicea. Following Huntsman’s recommendation I made a rare foray into Toughieland, and really enjoyed your puzzle.
And I’m off to print it up now 😊.
Having a holiday easy ride which means I have the time to clean out the cupboard under the stairs. Favourite today was 22 across and it was one that had me guessing before the “Eureka “moment.
Many thanks to Huntsman and our setter for an enjoyable puzzle.
Simple enough, although I spent far too long thinking of fish in the singular for 26d. 22a was my favourite, with the slight reservation expressed by Senf above. Otherwise, I too was reminded of Carry On films, although even John Prescott might have considered 1d a bit off colour. Mind you, I never saw him drink a pint that quickly. Thanks very much to the setter and to Huntsman
Light and enjoyable with the bottom half taking slightly longer than the top.
Thank you setter and Huntsman.
1*/4*. Light and fun. TT
Many thanks to AP and to Hintsman.
Another gentle yet enjoyable crossword from our regular Tuesday setter. All nicely clued with no obscurities to slow up the solving process. 27a came out on top of my potential favourites.
Many thanks to AP and The Hintsman.
Late on parade yet again because of having to have a heart monitor fitted. I won’t be around tomorrow, either because it’s being removed.
Another great production from the professor – fairly straightforward and enjoyable. Like Chris M, I spent time thinking over long about a beheaded fish at 26d. Nice misdirection. My COTD is the bad golf shot in 14d.
Thank you, AP for the fun. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.
I see Chalicea is on Toughie duty today so I’ll head over there now.
I hope they sort you out!
Thanks, DG but, hopefully it is just a “making sure” test. I was given the all clear regarding aortic stenosis a month or so back,
Good to know.
A very happy, enjoyable solve. I’m not sure beer and skittles is my kind of 24a though; I prefer a good book and a glass of something medicinal. Thanks AP and Huntsman.
My thoughts exactly.
An enjoyable gentle puzzle. Like Carrot06 above, beer and skittles don’t mean the answer to me.
My top picks were 22a, 11a and 28a.
Hadn’t heard of the Quickie Pun phrase before.
Thanks to Huntsman and Mr Plumb.
I think there’s an idiom life isn’t all beer & skittles.
Thank you, I doubt it’s one I’ll ever use!
I haven’t heard of the Quickie pun phrase either.
The etymology of dukes for fists is quite interesting. I hadn’t realised until now that it comes from 19th century Cockney rhyming slang – Dukes of Yorks (later shortened) rhyming with forks which was slang for fingers/hands.
Quickie pun had us flummoxed.
I wasn’t at all convinced that this was compiled by Mr Plumb but others have seemed certain so I bow to their superior intellect. My ticks went to 11,15&22a plus 14d. Add me to the list of those who’ve never heard of the phrase in the Quickie pun.
Thanks to our setter and to Huntsman for the review.
** / ****
A couple moved this to 2* difficulty for me © etc. I thought 24a should have a question mark at the end but then I saw Huntsman’s reply to #13 above. I liked the naughty romp, the hot nurse and the pink rag but COTD went to 5d for the super smooth surface.
Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
1.5* / 3.5* Light and enjoyable with plenty of wit, only hold up was parsing the second part of 22a.
Favourites today include the tennis player at 25d, the outstanding 11a and the p p pick up a p p penguin at 13a
Thanks to Huntsman and setter
I meant to attach this clip then completely forgot to
👍 ear worm !
All over far too quickly but very enjoyable while it lasted. Have seen variations of 22a before on the back pages of I’m not mistaken – still a cracker tho. The surfaces of this were my absolute stand outs – well worth going back and admiring once completed.
Thank you setter & hintsman!
Apologies – I of course meant to type ‘Huntsman’ -(although I suppose Hintsman is still valid!)
18d was not the first synonym to spring to mind but the parsing was so compelling I had to, reluctantly, write it in. I suppose it’s definition no. 34 in the BRB but I can’t be bothered to check. Apart from that I really enjoyed this little number. I quite liked 22a as a clue, I used to buy the pink paper when I, and some of my workmates, used to ‘do a bit’ on the stock market. I won a runners up prize on the FT crossword, I don’t bother now, entering crosswords or playing the stock market. There are two ways of dealing with shares, keep your finger on the pulse or buy and forget. I’m in the latter mode these days. As for entering prize puzzle draws it seems like an exercise in futility to me these days. Any road up I’ve rambled on long enough. Favourite was 11a. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
A gentle and enjoyable solve over too quickly. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman
An enjoyable romp. I’ll go along with others and nominate 22a as cotd. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
No problems until we hit the south east. Peel is so simple but all I could think of was graze or flays and I do not know the martial artist do I needed the Hintsman for the last two. Otherwise it was all as it said on the bottle. Many thanks to The Setter for taking my mind of other things for a while!
Hi DG. I hope you and The G are well.
I’m surprised you’ve never heard of Bruce Lee. ‘Enter the Dragon’ all that.
For this Tuedsay puzzle it was on par with Monday’s difficulty wise for the most part. Bottom area was last in as it took longer than the top. Of course it didn’t help I put the answer to 23d into 25d and then nothing fit until I fixed that.
Overall 1.5*/3.5*
Favourites 10a, 13a, 27a, 14d, 16d & 21a — top two being 27a & 16d, with smiles for 19a 22a & 14d
Thanks to AP & Huntsman
It doesn’t get much better than this for an early-weeker (that is one clumsy term) with the prof in excellent form.
I had no ideas that 1d has so many meanings: chief/prime is a given and expert makes sense, eg **** criminal but mischievous and knowing/superior are new ones.
The prof clearly hadn’t used his annual quota of topping and tailing and words representing s. So, he thought he’d fill his boots today.
Ironically, the lurker in the spy-themed 21a wasn’t that well-hidden.
I love the term rag for a newspaper, especially a broadsheet and ‘beer and skittles’ is a superb expression that tends to be used in the negative, i.e life isn’t all beer and skittles.
It’s all happening at the base of the podium but I’ll go with the Carry On clues. 11a (romp is a top word) and 18d along with the splendid 14d.
MT to the aforementioned and Hoots!
2*/5*
P.S It’s not often that Monday’s is easier than Tuesday’s. This means that I have a sniff at a ‘1 to 5 star’ week in that order which will be a first. I’m so excited!
Loser
Very enjoyable and entertaining and doing wonders for helping me un addle my brain. I liked 14d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.
Thanks to the Setter and Huntsman. As usual late on parade! Dark outside and comfort of a log fire 🔥 inside. We honestly haven’t been hitting the booze over the festive season but our brains are not functioning as they should be! Have made a meal the last few days puzzles! COTD 14d
Friendly and fun, with some great laughs on the naughty romp, the pink rag, and Susan’s top.
VMT to Setter and Huntsman (also to Huntsman for the recommend for Chalicia’s excellent Toughie).
Another straightforward solve, perhaps slightly more difficult than yesterday. A respectable time for me but again not as fast as yesterday. Some enjoyable clues but my favourites today were 24a and 2d.
As ever, thank you to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.
I am getting to really enjoying solving over lunch instead of breakfast, and today was another enjoyable exercise. The answers were sometimes not what I would have matched up with the definitions, so I am not sure if this is Mr Plumb or not. But thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
I don’t know what happened to my post. It was was a long and rambling affair and I can’t be bothered to repeat it you’ll be pleased to know.
A bit chewier than normal in some parts, but nothing too alarming, apart from some head-scratching. For a scouser, it was a bit of a challenge trying to fit Echo footie paper into the answer to 22a. It was a long time before I twigged that the national pink rag was something very different! 15a gets my prize today – good surface, good subject matter and a lovely illustration!
Thanks to our Setter and to Huntsman
Tuesday is usually my favourite cruciverbal day but I agree with BL that this didn’t have the feel of an AP product so for me was not much fun with some iffy synonyms and yet more cranky anagram indicators. SW came last not helped by my being unfamiliar with the “martial artist”. Thank you AP and Hintsman.
2*/3* …
liked 1D “Something soldiers might do without maiden knowing (4)”