Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31143
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
All the letters of the alphabet except X appear in today’s grid which may point to the identity of our setter. Thanks to him for an enjoyable and not too tricky puzzle.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and indicator words (e.g. anagram indicators) are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons.
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Across
1a Arousing crazed fan, be shameless (6-5)
BRAZEN-FACED: an anagram (arousing) of CRAZED FAN BE.
7a Starter of cheese, honey and spice (5)
CLOVE: stick together the starting letter of cheese and a term of endearment such as honey.
8a Pale dune vacated by group that’s nomadic (9)
WANDERING: assemble an adjective meaning pale or ashen, the outer letters (vacated) of DunE and a synonym of group or gang.
10a Noted player Oscar I introduced to organ (7)
OLIVIER: start with the letter that Oscar represents in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet then insert I into a bodily organ.
11a Personnel from Universal welcomed by entire cast (7)
RETINUE: the abbreviation for Universal (indicating that a film is suitable for all ages) is contained in an anagram (cast) of ENTIRE.
12a Somewhat critically assess reflective written composition (5)
ESSAY: hidden (somewhat) in reverse (reflective) in the clue.
13a Imprisoned Juliet and old boy for crime involving corrupt worker (6,3)
INSIDE JOB: an informal adverb meaning imprisoned is followed by the letter that Juliet (more correctly Juliett) represents in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet and the abbreviation for ‘old boy’.
16a Underground worker good with aged subordinate, we’re told (9)
GOLDMINER: the abbreviation for good and an adjective meaning aged are followed by a homophone (we’re told) of an adjective meaning subordinate or lower.
18a Boozer on the doorstep‘s drunk alcohol away from house (5)
LOCAL: an anagram (drunk) of ALCOHOL after we’ve removed the abbreviation for house from it.
19a Man sold nuts and seeds (7)
ALMONDS: an anagram (nuts) of MAN SOLD.
22a Section of Elvis quiff you oiled (7)
SQUIFFY: hidden (section of) in the clue.
23a Cloth garment with mark on front beginning to fade (9)
HEADSCARF: a mark or disfigurement follows (on, in an across clue) a synonym of front (of a queue, say). Finish with the first letter of fade.
24a One crabby lead in Rambo collected by film runner (5)
GRUMP: the leading letter of Rambo is contained (collected by) in the surname of a fast runner in a film starring Tom Hanks in the title role.
25a Engineer James goes round turning on nearby facilities (5,6)
WATER CLOSET: the surname of Scottish engineer and inventor James **** contains the reversal (turning) of a preposition meaning ‘on’ and a synonym of nearby.
Down
1d Fuel alternative beside oil (9)
BIODIESEL: an anagram (alternative) of BESIDE OIL.
2d Pleasantness of chaps absorbed by basic toys regularly seen (7)
AMENITY: another word for chaps is absorbed by regular letters from ‘basic toys’.
3d Conflict between journalist and princess briefly in earlier era (9)
EDWARDIAN: an armed conflict goes between our usual abbreviated senior journalist and the name of the “people’s princess” without its last letter (briefly).
4d Nicer penalty, striker’s last (5)
FINER: a monetary penalty and the last letter of striker.
5d He acted badly and broke rules (7)
CHEATED: an anagram (badly) of HE ACTED.
6d Discussed Scandinavian’s stoop (5)
DEIGN: a homophone (discussed) of a Scandinavian. Stoop here is a verb.
7d Plan steps of tedious task on ordinary diagram (11)
CHOREOGRAPH: start with a tedious and unloved task and follow that (on, in a down clue) with the abbreviation for ordinary and a type of diagram.
9d Advances sure to follow Scottish inventor’s flops (4,5,2)
GOES BELLY UP: a verb meaning advances or proceeds and an informal (mainly North American) word meaning ‘sure’ or ‘yes’ with the latter following the surname of our second Scottish inventor today.
14d Fraught son flusters around (9)
STRESSFUL: the genealogical abbreviation for son and an anagram (around) of FLUSTERS.
15d Sailor apt to consume endless rum and vegan fare (4-5)
JACK-FRUIT: a word for a sailor is followed by a synonym of apt or suitable containing all but the last letter (endless) of ‘rum’. Not a foodstuff that I’m familiar with but the wordplay is clear.
17d Maiden in Germany with determined attitude (7)
MINDSET: string together the cricket abbreviation for maiden, IN from the clue, the IVR code for Germany and an adjective meaning determined or resolute.
18d Outsiders from Nanjing invested in new Seoul airport areas (7)
LOUNGES: the outer letters of Nanjing are contained (invested) in an anagram (new) of SEOUL.
20d Beastly sound from rotating object that’s painful (5)
MIAOW: reverse (rotating) a synonym of an object or goal and append an exclamation meaning “that’s painful”.
21d One in flight originally accommodated within jail (5)
STAIR: the first (original) letter of accommodated goes inside a slang word for jail.
The clues which appealed most to me were 7d, 9d and 21d. Which one(s) did the job for you?
The Quick Crossword pun: POE + GHOST + HIC = POGO STICK
I found this a bit tricky and I didn’t help myself by entering a couple of wrong answers. 9d was a puzzler and I didn’t understand it for a while until I realised that “advances” was not the whole of the first word. I had a similar problem with 25a where it took time to realise what “turning on” meant. Also, for some inexplicable reason I could not get “Oscar” out of my mind for 24a even though I knew it to be wrong. Still, it was a good challenge and I liked the underground worker at 16a and the journalist fighting the brief princess at 3d. My COTD is Juliet and the old boy at 13a.
Thank you, setter for the puzzle. Thank you, Gazza for the hints.
Another damp, grey day in The Marches but I have marking to do so it’s a good day to get on with it.
I think you got Oscar implanted by having an ‘O’, ‘C’ and ‘R’ as first characters of the words around “lead”. I struggled hugely with that clue but I had checkers preventing me going down the Oscar route!
You’re right, AP – sometimes the brain sees what it wants to see.
Pleasant puzzle which was over all too quickly and must rate as a PB. Nice surfaces throughout with ticks for 1a, 13a, 23a, 25a, 1d and 9d with COTD being the Scandinavian at 6d.
My thanks to the setter and Gazza for the unused hints.
1*/4*
Very pleasant, very straightforward for a Thursday .5d last one in . Lots of choice for the podium 13,15 and 6d in no particular order . Thanks to all .
Fastest solve of the week for me but extremely enjoyable while it lasted. Superb surfaces throughout. As for 1d – what a fantastic clue! So it gets top billing amongst many other crackers.
Thanks to the setter and to Gazza who’s review I shall now enjoy
A dnf for me missing some obvious signposts in the clues. Not a stunning crossword and any pennies dropping landed on the angora rug without a sound.
Thanks to the setter and Gazza
2*/5*. An x-less pangram likely means this is a very welcome return to back-page duty for proXimal and very enjoyable it was too.
With ticks aplenty, 6d gets my vote as favourite.
Many thanks to proXimal and to Gazza.
Nothing overly complicated, this was very enjoyable while it lasted.
9d is my COTD: a well constructed clue and an amusing saying. I also liked the chosen synonym for ‘sure’.
My thanks to our setter and Gazza.
Pretty gentle for a Thursday so a reasonably brisk & problem free solve. I didn’t notice that it was an X-less pangram & did wonder if it might be the work of our old Thursday reviewer but probably not. Anyway all very enjoyable with plenty of ticks – 8,23&25a + 3,7&9d the ones that stood out for me.
Thanks to proXimal (presumably) & to Gazza.
A neatly constructed set ofcclues and a fairly tricky grid made this an absorbing solve. I liked the historical lego clue at 3d, the 6d homophone, the lurker at 22a and the cryptic anagram at 21d. Thanks to the compiler and to Gazza for the hints
Another enjoyable crossy hits the back of the proverbial with Big X in fine form.
People mispronounce 19a soooooooooooooo often that it drives me nuts!
Film runner is absolutely superb. I was trying to put r inside ‘grip’ but then it hit me. It’s nice to see 18d being used in its correct place, i.e not a house. We all know it’s sitting room though I’ll allow living room.
15d has been duly noted and 22a is such a great word.
My podium is 11a, 3d which is brilliant and 21d.
MTTTA and Gazza.
3*/5* (I can’t stop giving full marks at the moment. What fun!)
I had ‘grip’ in mind as well. Speaking of 19a do you mean sounding the ‘l’? I do agree with you but I am finding so many modern phrases grate and make me want to spit – like ‘Wrap up warm’ which makes my toes curl. Am I getting old and grumpy?
No. Of course you aren’t. You’ve always been like this as have I.
Yes, people often pronounce it all***** and sometimes al***** not saying the r that isn’t there but gets pronounced.
Gotta luv the English language!
I’ve never pronounced the L but notice increasingly people do – not that it bothers me in the slightest. Never quite sure which is considered correct. What does bug me is people & it seems to me to the most of ‘em who say them rather than those.
Yep, another shocker.
Pronouncing it with an r is definitely the correct way, sorry, collect way. The L got introduced by error.
In these parts I often hear “Somfink” and quite a lot of the essays I mark contain things like “There will be less failures if this is done”. “Fewer”, mate, “Fewer”. 😊
I seem to recall having this discussion before.
We did. It’s a classic.
I tell people this one…
FewER is when it can be counted (a numbER) and leSS is when it can’t (a maSS).
Fewer bubbles is less champagne.
Bubbles take up space so fewer mean more champagne! 🤣🤣🤣
Like it, Cowlers, Like it.
Of course if Matt Damon says it then it’s fine
I love that film.
It’s been a while since we have ‘seen’ pro_imal or proXXXXimal on the back page but here he is a day earlier than usual. Very welcome whatever day he appears on – 3*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 7a, 25a, 6d, and 21d – and the winner is 7a.
Thanks to pro_imal and Gazza.
Good morning. This was very enjoyable from start to finish. First pass was very generous and then it was a case of filling in the blanks. Absolutely impossible to pick a podium as there are too many to like. But 7,10, 13, 16 across 2, 4,6, 7 and 8 are all worthy contenders. Many thanks for the hints and the review, and many thanks to the setter for the puzzle
Good evening. For me the quality of the puzzles in 2026, so far, has been a considerable step up from the previous year. Although I have not necessarily found them more challenging, the amount of general knowledge required has been less and the humour in the clues has increased. I thought today’s puzzle was a cracker and I award COTD to 1D which despite being an anagram, not my favourite form, has a surface that missdirects in a very amusing way.
Thanks for the hints and to the setter.
Hi ATIB. I hope all’s well over there.
I can’t quite give top marks to 1d as it’s grammatically incorrect, i.e it should be ‘besides’ not ‘beside’.
True but if the alternative fuel is sat next to the oil then the grammer works ☺!
I take it you mean ‘is sitting’, A-Pop? (couldn’t resist)
Yes, that what I mean t. ☺
Are we in for a killer tomorrow I wonder? This has been a fine and gentle puzzling week for an old 24a like me. Thanks to Gazza and proXimal.
Always nice to see the X-man even when he is making an appearance on the wrong day of the week! A few teasers in this one but nothing that couldn’t be sorted out with a bit of thought. Rosettes being awarded to 7,13&22a plus 3&17d.
Thanks to proXimal and to Gazza for the review and cartoons – the one for 5d really made me smile.
OMG – it just came to me that since I stopped doing the Monday blog I’ve become a lurker! I visit the site most days but haven’t left a comment for yonks. I’ll try to do better in future.
As to this puzzle it was very enjoyable but, as we only missed three of the acrosses and then got all the downs, I’ll have to give it */****.
Many thanks to proXimal and Gazza.
¡Hola señor!
Nice to hear from you; hope you’re both well. It’s been a fairly naff winter so far in our neck of the woods. Hope yours has been better.
Many thanks to proXimal for today’s excellent puzzle, and to Gazza.
Hola Jezza
Yep, fairly naff here too but this week has been very pleasant so far. Feels a bit like Spring has sprung but it’s surely too early for that!
We’re both fine and hope you guys are as well.
** / ****
Another hugely enjoyable puzzle, it’s been a great week. An X-less pangram into the bargain, which can only mean one setter. This one fell in 1* time but I give it an extra * for difficulty due to the trouble I had with 9d and 24a. Need the hints to parse those two.
Had not heard of the vegan food and I think it’s only via a cryptic crossword that I could ever hope to remember how to spell 20d.
Likes went to the building blocks of the nomadic 8a, the surface read and disguise of the 11a Personnel and my COTD, the surface read (again) and construction of 7d.
Many thanks to proXimal and Gazza
I certainly found this much tougher than the majority of commentators today. Indeed at times I felt like chucking in the towel. I’m glad I persevered, though, as in the end I got a great deal of satisfaction from getting over the line to completion. Tough to pick a cotd, but I’ll plump for 13a. Thanks to ProXimal and Gazza.
Thanks to the Setter and Gazza for the hints. COTD 25a. LOI 6d. For a Thursday it was straightforward apart from “impatience” which drove us to using a couple of hints. Devon is very grey and dreary!
Hooray – I finished a Thursday puzzle with no outside help. My award for cleverest clue goes to the fuel alternative at 1 Down – brilliant.
Congratulations, Tricky
It sure is a great feeling.
Congratulations, RL. 👍😊
I liked the reference to the magnificent 10a and the clever 1d but 7d is my favourite. I love the term squiffy, it treads that very fine line between merry and drunk. I struggled with 23a being a garment but I suppose it actually is, and wanted 20d to be moo- something and I should have spotted the X-less pangram but didn’t. The village has been in turmoil this morning. I had a phone call from an old lady 😀 who informed me that a very dear old friend who recently moved north to be near her family had died. Not possible I said. I would have heard. After some discussion she agreed that she had an old school friend with the same name and it could have been her. Unfortunately she had told others and the phone has been red hot. Real Vicar of Dibley stuff, the guzzle was an island of sanity. Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza for explaining 24a as I had grip firmly in mind.
This non RayT puzzle this week, that I usually find harder, was actually a nice surprise as lots of it came without much problem.
There were the usual stumbling blocks, but cross check letters helped. In the end the grid completed more or less west to east with the last in being the long down clue. Took a moment or two to figure out parsing when the tea tray dropped!
2.5*/3.5* for me
Favourites include 8a, 13, 23a, 9d, 18d & 20d — with winner 9d
Thanks to proXimal & Gazza
What a great puzzle, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Top picks for me were 24a, 25a, 7d and 18a.
Thanks to Gazza and the setter.
This one was slow, but fairly steady once I got going. I needed help with parsing 9D. Thanks both.
An unexpected treat for a Thursday, so many enjoyable clues and some lovely anagrams.
I thought 7d very neat and it was my favourite.
Many thanks to ProXimal and to Gazza for the hints
This was a really nice steady solve for me that I found very enjoyable. I missed the fact it was x less, in fact my pangram radar wasn’t in tune at all. Thanks to presumably ProXimal and Gazza.
Hello all. Promised myself if I EVER completed a Thursday puzzle without help I would ‘dis-lurk’ and join in. Today’s the day, congratulated myself with a huge pat on the back, read the blog and discovered not the usual setter. Hey ho, at least I’ve finally come out!
Welcome to the blog eastcoastpaul and well done!
Now that you’ve de-lurked I hope that you’ll become a regular commenter.
Welcome from me, as well, ECP and congratulations. Please do keep commenting from now on. It will be good to hear from you. 😊
Welcome from me, too, Paul, and congratulations.
Your alias reminds me of the classic quiz question which I’m sure you know: What is the most easterly town in The UK?
Hence the alias.
Splendid
I love the East coast, having had weekends at Deal, Sandwich (I’m a golfer), Whitstable, Frinton, Aldeburgh, Southwold, Holt, Cromer, Wells-hokey cokey, Hunstanton and plenty more farther north (not further).
Welcome and keep contributing
Thanks to Gazza for the review and to commenters for comments.
Thanks for popping in, proXimal, and thanks for the enjoyable puzzle.
Thank you, proXimal for a very entertaining and, for me, tricky puzzle. It was fun to tackle.
Excellent puzzle, thoroughly enjoyable
Home from Knitter Natter and lunch but I did complete today’s offering beforehand. So enjoyable. Top of the favourite list was 3 down followed by 7 down. Now thinking about it 25 across was marvellous.
Thanks to ProXimal for the fun and Gazza for explaining two of my bung -ins.
This felt like a really good book – disappointing to have finished it so quickly. I really liked 13a, 25a (I clearly remember learning about the engineer in O Level Physics many years ago. Glad it was of some use!) and 7d.
Trickiest challenge so far this week, imho. I misspelt the beastly sound at 20d so cannot claim a wholly unaided completion, I put an ‘e’ instead of an ‘i.’ That said, I have found a reference which stated that the ‘e’ was a valid variation of said word. Unfortunately, am visiting my elderly father in Manchester so do not have my Chambers with me.
Favourite clues today were 7a, nearly came a cropper there with ‘chive,’ but corrected myself; 13a; the historical reference to H H Asquith at 22a and finally 15d.
Thank you to the setter and to Gazza for the hints.
I think that ‘meaow’ is used in some places (though not in Chambers or Collins) but it doesn’t fit the wordplay.
Agreed. Am more disappointed with myself for not properly breaking down the word play and trying to wing it. Sometimes it works but not today.
However, tomorrow is another day and expecting a bit of a stinker.
You and me both with “chive”, FB and I’ve just checked my grid and I see I put an “e” instead of an “I”. As Gazza says, it doesn’t fit the clue and I should have paid more attention.
I think it was thinking of hive after the ‘c’ and the association with bees and honey which nearly did for me.
It’s a Thursday and I have completed the puzzle with barely any delay. My goodness that doesn’t happen very often. A good variety of clues but will just note 7d and 25a. Many thanks to Proximal and for popping in to say hello. Thanks also to Gazza for the hints which I didn’t need today but please come back next week!
Senf will be blogging next Thursday but I’ll be back in two weeks time.
Slightly more tricky for me than some but not much. Always a pleasure never a chore with this setter. Didn’t have a problem with 20d as I followed the instructions. Numerous contenders for favourite but I’ll go with 13a. Thanks to ProXimal and Gazza.
2* / 4* Continuing the gentle week for me so far, an amusing and clever puzzle.
Favourites include 20d beastly noise, 10a player and last one in 7d which led me a merry dance !
Thanks to Proximal and Gazza
For a while I was trying to gofer in 24 across when I only had the g.
Thanks to Proximal and Gazza
Nearly gave up but I am a night owl so had another go and all’s well that ends well and I can now go to my pit. When will the competition for most outlandish ai end? Fav was the cryptic 7d. Thank you proXimal and Gazza.
3*/3* …
liked 22A “Section of Elvis quiff you oiled (7)”