Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31135
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
The usual fairly gentle Tuesday offering to ease us into the demands of sterner tests as the week progresses. I thought the puzzle (by Anthony Plumb I assume) maybe a tad trickier than yesterday but I doubt that it will detain experienced solvers for too long. I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet but I see Hudson is over in t’other place so that’s as good as guaranteed to be a cracker & I’m sure both Rob & Whybird would welcome comment.
As usual there are an assortment of musical clips to enjoy or ignore. Apologies that the title of a couple of ‘em give the game away but couldn’t resist including ‘em again.
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 Lifting Jersey? (8)
RUSTLING: a cryptic definition or all-in-one to start with. Nowt to do with taking your pullover off.
5a Goat’s black mouth (6)
BUTTER: the single letter for Black + a synonym for mouth/speak.
9a Announced what successful cricketing side did? (8)
DECLARED: what the batting side, having knocked up a high score, may have done for tactical reasons.
10a Looks down on singular growths on foot (6)
SCORNS: Singular + hardened areas of skin on the foot.
12a Charlie and Dean playing with Lego set (9)
CONGEALED: Charlie (NATO phonetic alphabet) followed by an anagram (playing) of DEAN LEGO.
13a I perhaps promise meals on a regular basis (5)
VOWEL: perhaps indicates definition by example. A synonym for promise + the alternate (on a regular basis) of [m]E[a]L[s].
14a The chap’s snake’s first disapproving sound (4)
HISS: a possessive adjective for this chap’s + the initial letter (first) of Snake.
16a Weird throttle learner driver scratched (7)
STRANGE: take out (scratched) the single letter for Learner from a synonym for throttle.
19a Is not in favour of work attitudes one assumes (7)
OPPOSES: the usual two letter abbreviation for work/OPeration followed by a attitudes/postures one assumes.
21a Daughter embraced by gracious person (4)
BODY: the genealogical single letter for Daughter is inserted into (embraced by) a synonym of gracious in the context of a mild expression of surprise – perhaps easier to think of when preceded by goodness & oh.
24a Two police officers both leaving papa a drink (5)
COCOA: remove Papa (NATO alphabet) from the end of a slang term for a police officer x 2 then append A from the clue.
25a Sailor endlessly eats fish paste (9)
MARGARINE: insert (eats) a long-snouted ray-finned predatory freshwater fish with sharp gnashers into a truncated(endlessly) synonym for a sailor such as the old ‘un Coleridge wrote about.
27a Remove mug after iron is knocked over (6)
EFFACE: reverse (knocked over) the two letter chemical element symbol for iron then append a synonym for mug (slang context).
28a Holiday from third of November, shivering in a coat (8)
VACATION: [No]V[ember] (from third of) + an anagram (shivering) of IN A COAT.
29a Forgive old American breaking into church (6)
EXCUSE: the usual prefix for old/former followed by the two letter abbreviation for the protestant church with another two letter abbreviation for American inserted (breaking into).
30a Grabbed bust and chest (8)
SNATCHED: an anagram (bust) of AND CHEST.
Down
1d Contract concerning Italian leader (6)
REDUCE: the usual preposition for concerning/in respect of + the Latin term for leader adopted by Jean Brodie’s favourite Italian.
2d Project holding company back (6)
SECOND: insert (holding) the abbreviation for CO[mpany] into a synonym for project/transmit.
3d Hire lake with no trouble (5)
LEASE: the geographic single letter for Lake + a nounal synonym for without difficulty.
4d Bugs mostly undesired (7)
NEEDLES: remove the final letter (mostly) from a synonym of undesired/unnecessary.
6d Found out crude oven worked (9)
UNCOVERED: an anagram (worked) of CRUDE OVEN.
7d Hurling insult, finally, with husband arguing (8)
THROWING: insul[T] (finally) + H[usband] followed by a synonym for arguing.
8d Decided socialist’s enthralled most of you?
RESOLVED: the usual term for a socialist goes around (enthralled) a truncation (most of) what you are/or hopefully in the process of doing.
11d Not even small chances (4)
ODDS: the antonym (not) of even + S[mall].
15d Cites trendy points of view (9)
INSTANCES: trendy/fashionable + points of views/attitudes.
17d Actual prisoner on Greek island (8)
CONCRETE: the usual abbreviated term for a prisoner + the largest of the Greek islands.
18d Particular spice ground by female in charge (8)
SPECIFIC: an anagram (ground) of SPICE followed by F[emale] then the two letter abbreviation for in charge.
20d Identical twins, a medic assumes (4)
SAME: hidden (assumes).
21a Steal rod and net (7)
BARGAIN: link a broad synonym for rod in the context of a length of solid material with one for net in the context of earn/profit from.
22d Wind up European heartlessly (6)
FINISH: remove the central letter (heartlessly) from the nationality of someone from a north European country.
23d Writer with note editor enclosed (6)
PENNED: a writer/implement + the single letter for N[ote] + the usual abbreviation for editor.
26d Cut off a slice (5)
APART: A from the clue + a synonym for slice/piece.
No real favourite clue for me today though I did think both 1a & 1d kicked things off nicely Please tell us which clues ticked your boxes.
Today’s Quick Crossword pun: LIE + FAN + SOLE = LIFE AND SOUL
This morning’s listening while preparing the blog has been some instrumental guitar from Jeremy Spencer, who was in the original line-up of Fleetwood Mac. He lasted longer than Peter Green but abruptly left the band to join the Children of God. Anyway he still plays great slide guitar.
Good morning. I found this reasonably straight forward but the SW corner took a few moments longer than the other three quadrants. Nevertheless there are some excellent clues such as livestock theft at 1a, 14a, 17d and the good deal at 21d which was my LOI. I am hopeless at guessing the setter, but I will go for Jay Tea? Thank you for the review and the hints which were not needed and the setter for the entertainment.
Thought 21a was stretching it a bit….
So did I initially but reckon the gracious synonym context fair once I’d twigged it.
I still found it a bit 1950s Americany, certainly nowt I’d ever say.
lots of telegraph crosswords are a bit 50s
Very stretched…
Another straightforward and quality offering from our regular Tuesday setter. 1a set the tone early on and remained my favourite clue throughout the solve. Great fun as as always.
Many thanks to AP and The Hintsman.
I was pleased to find there to be a bit more meat to chew on for a Tuesday backpager than we are normally served up.
No obscure definitions or answers, just skillful use of the sparsity of words in each clue.
Honours awarded for the context of gracious in 21a, the assault described in 30a and the Mussolini reference in 1d.
That went down a treat, my thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
Think I was having a bad day but I found this more of **/***. There was a few lightbulb moments when I finally got 1ac and 2ac for example. Getting 17d straightaway helped quite a lot.
Like Conor, I had difficulty for a short while with one corner, the NW in my case. Otherwise, it was a straightforward but enjoyable guzzle. My COTD was the crafty cryptic clue at 1a but I also liked the geographical lego clue at 17d and the missing letter clue at4d. Thanks to the compiler and to Huntsman for the hints
This was a ‘RayT Lite’ D Lite from Il professore that was a joy to solve.
Kicking things off with an ‘Oi oi, saveloy!’ most certainly works for me and other juveniles who used to sit at the back of the coach.
The synonym for gracious is superb though it took a while to get and clues like 13a are always good fun.
I smile when people mix up 15d and incidents by adding a syllable to the latter.
My pody picks are 12a, 28a and 21d which was clever.
MMT to the aforementioned and Hoots!
2*/5*
1a was my favourite with 21a a close second. A fun exercise and I thought Huntsman bang on with his rating. I enjoyed 5a which is an old favourite. Not sure who the setter is and for some reason the blog only reached Tavistock at 1130 so hence the late post. Thanks Huntsman and the setter.
A fairly straightforward meander with no real direction going from checker to checker, if that makes sense?
Like many others I needed Huntsman’s explanation for the gracious person at 21a. LOI was 1a which is also my COTD.
Thanks to Huntsman and AP l
2*/4*
As predicted Hudson’s Toughie is a cracker & by no means tough. Well worth having a stab at even if you never venture there.
It’s a 2026 goal to do more of these DT crosswords including the toughies, I look forward to giving it a bash after work!
I found this trickier than the usual Tuesday fare but it was very enjoyable. I ended up completing it in quadrants going clockwise from the NE. LOI was the great 1a.
Top picks for me were 1a, 5a, 12a, 8d and 23d.
Thanks to Huntsman and the setter.
I also completed in quadrants going clockwise but from the SW! Very enjoyable so thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
I had a couple of grumbles today where 21 and 25a were concerned but we can’t like all of the clues all of the time! My favourite was 22d which really made me smile, although I rather think that we’ve seen something similar in the past.
Thanks to Mr Plumb and to Huntsman for the review.
Surely a dose of Dinah was to your taste at 21a?
Any news of Kath btw?
Yes I tried to email Kath but it bounced back
1*/4*. The usual polished offering from presumably our regular Tuesday setter was great fun.
Many ticks but no particular favourite.
Many thanks to AP (?) and to Hintsman.
After yesterday’s breeze (for me) and a very quick Quick Crossword, fell to earth with a failure to get started in the top left corner. Most of the rest of the grid was more straightforward but even after a second go-through I had to resort to the hints for 1a – excellent clue.
I felt it was more of a 2 * for difficulty but perhaps that is reflective of one’s state of mind on the day. Liked 14 across because the snake served more than one purpose and 8 down was a clever reflection on us.
John made butter this morning from cream that was past its sell by date. Fantastic.
Always like Mr. Plumb and thanks to Huntsman
Excellent puzzle which was slightly easier than average from me but still a proper challenge. LOI was 21a which I couldn’t parse but a great clue. 1a required all the checkers but was very good. 5a was a favourite as the crossword synonym for goats crops up a lot in clues but rarely in the answer. 25a could have been fish spread rather than paste without losing much and being less of a stretched synonym perhaps? Overall brilliant entertainment. Thank you setter and blogger.
Never in a million years would I call that butter substitute a paste, other than that I got along ok with this crossword. Thanks setter, and Huntsman for the hints. I particularly enjoyed The Who track.
An entertaining puzzle – thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
I’ve plumped for 1a, 19a and 21d for my podium.
The Plumbing was straightforward today but still good fun.
1a wasn’t first in but leapt to the top of the podium when the penny dropped.
Thanks to AP and Andy for his ever different playlist to which i will add;
** / ****
Like others, completed in quadrants but I think that’s a function of the grid where there are few inter-quadrant intersections. 1a and 2d held out the longest and without those, this would have been well within 1* difficulty. My COTD went to the mug removal at 27a.
Thanks to AP and Huntsman
A tad trickier from AP today than of late, or maybe that’s just me being like the weather here, wet and miserable. The SE held me up and I kicked myself when the hold ups became clear. I liked Charlie and Dean in 12a, but like others, 1a gets cotd. Class. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
A very enjoyable solve. NE and SW flew in, SE took some time to get going then fell into place, and then I was left with NW, which took a bit longer still. LOI was 1D, learned a couple of new terms such as the Italian leader in that clue and the fish in 25A. ‘Pody clues’ – nicked that term from Tom! – are 10A (made me LOL for some reason), 1A and 8D from at least a dozen contenders.
Thanks to the Setter and Huntsman. Our COTD 1a. LOI 27a. Not on form still and made hard going on what should have been an easier solve.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.
My only question mark went beside 25a, where I wondered whether the last letter (endlessly) was really necessary to qualify as a sailor.
I’m sure someone will put me in my place…
Me too.
My only assumption (from Google) is that the word without its last letter does not necessarily imply naval.
I think the setter had it in mind to remove the letter r from the synonym, as there is no indication he was thinking of an American sailor.
We have ‘em too though – and ours are Royal 🤔
You’re quite right of course, H.
I was rather clumsily trying to make the point that the intention was to abbreviate the word which comes next after the Rime of the Ancient.
This was certainly a puzzle of varying levels of difficulty for me! Started off well, and completed top half in ** time. Stopped to do a few tasks around the house and came back to it to be hit by a brick wall! SW corner bumped me up to ***time and then I encountered the SE corner and came to a grinding halt. 21a seemed so easy but just couldn’t see it. Anyway, thanks to Huntsman I now realise what I was doing wrong. So technically a DNF for me today. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it – we all need an occasional challenge to keep us on our toes! Loved the misdirection in 1a and other favourites included 27a and 22d. Many thanks to both Huntsman and AP for exercising “the little grey cells”!
Late on parade today because of having to take Bones into the garage for a service and MOT.
Another great puzzle from the professor and an enjoyable solve. At 25a, I tried to put in “mascarpone” – I had the fish but not the endless sailor but then I could not get the cheese out of my mind. I loved 8d and its reference to we who tackle cryptic puzzles but I completely forgot the “steal” at 21d. Like others, my COTD is the brilliant, to my mind, Jersey at 1a.
Thank you, P in the L for another entertaining puzzle. Thank you, Hintman for the hunts.
In case you have forgotten him, here is Bones in his personal parking space at the doctor’s surgery. 😊
He’s absolutely adorable! Even smaller than Lady Margaret! I’ve never had to pay tax on her but this morning got a letter to say I have to pay now! 🥵
I have just taxed Bones and paid nothing. What car is Lady Margaret?
Hey SC. What a cute little car !
A range of 46 miles, top speed 28MPH, costs £2 a week to run and can park anywhere. Ideal for tootling around the village. 😊👍
Like everyone else 1a was top of my pops and like some, I came to a grinding halt in the Deep South. I was busy looking for a coffer so I needed the Hintsman – thank you for sorting me out. I also enjoyed yesterday’s guzzle but did not get around to putting in my two penn’orth. So double Thankyou to Setters and Hinters to cover both days. We are waiting for the District Nurse who came at 6.45 am and promised to be back at 2pm. Not complaining just saying – they are busy girls and it is a good excuse not to start on anything. Pouring with rain but slightly warmer!
An enjoyable solve although I had trouble with the north west corner with 1a being last in. It was an excellent clue but I was on a completely different path.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.
This was fairly gentle , maybe slightly more chewy than Tuesdays of late ? The NW went in last , with the excellent 1a being my last clue in ! I did wonder about the parsing of 25a , and of course having read the hint re the sailor that’s all clear. Enjoyable whilst it lasted. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
Got there in the end but needed the hints to complete a couple in the SE corner, the European and the person. Other than that a quite straightforward. COTD for me was 1a, the solving not helped when for my first attempt I put ‘pullover.’
Thank you to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.
A Typically Tuesdayish puzzle today. Like Monday, this puzzle was pretty straightforward with smiles along the way and clever clueing to enjoy.
1.5*/4* for me
Favourite candidates include 5a, 12a, 14a, 28a, 7d & 17d — with winner 12a.
Thanks to AP & Huntsman
(had issues this morning connecting to the site to post … really frustrating!)
I got off to a good start completing the NE and SE quite quickly but slowed right down in the other 2 corners. Kept thinking of mariner for 25a but it didn’t cross my mind that margarine was a paste. 1a had me deliberating on and off between the daily chores. I certainly wasn’t thinking of rustling cattle! Jersey potatoes came into my thoughts and I couldn’t get rootling out of my mind! Well I got there in the end but only by checking the hints. So thank you to the setter for an enjoyable puzzle and to Huntsman for the hints.
Once again the week continues in gently enjoyable vein. Plainsailing with just the NW requiring a bit of extra thought including for 1a where I in fact drew a blank. IMHO more rather silly ai’s. Wednesday may well produce a rude awakening. Anyway thank you AP and Hintsman for today.
I thought this excellent puzzle deserved a second * for difficulty. Best laugh from 1A though it took me a while. VMT to AP & Huntsman.
I found this a lot harder than the Toughie for reasons I can’t quite grasp looking back. 2d and then 1a held out for a very long time, but when 1a finally went “clunk”, it made me smile and earned its place on top of the podium.
Thanks to our setter for the puzzle and Huntsman for the blog
I put in Pullover for 1a (Lifting Jersey) so that destroyed my north west section.
I kept trying to justify pullover as well !
For once I’m in concert with many other contributors. NE/SE/SW and finally NW. LOI 1a and COTD. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
1.5* / 4.5* Terrific Tuesday treat, every clue was spot on. The only real hold up was trying to justify pullover for 1a !
Top three today are the steal at 21d, grabbed at 30a and the small but perfectly formed 21a
Many thanks to the setter and Huntsman
A mixed bag for me, and definitely more of a ** than a *. Huntsman was a bit generous in assuming “experienced solvers” would have no problems with this. I’ve been doing these since daughter number 1 was born in 1969 but it doesn’t mean I’m a whizz at solving. Got much better since I discovered this site almost 15 years ago, thank you. Half of this today was from the clues, and most of the rest from checkers. Don’t think 25a is a paste? A spread, yes. And I’m also someone who was befuddled by 21a. Thanks to setter (was it really AP today?), and to Huntsman.
Nobody knows you when you’re down and out, one of my favourites though I prefer the Bessie Smith version. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y3PBO7NrCv8
I probably do too. There are so many fine covers out there – I picked the SDG one because I find it incredible to think that Winwood was only 17 when he recorded it.
Late to comment
Slightly trickier than most Tuesday I thought with 1a COTD
2*/4*
21a LOI as I struggled with the synonym for gracious
Thanks to PP and Hintsman
2*/3* …
liked 28A “Holiday from third of November, shivering in a coat (8)”