Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31150
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.
In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a I'm sorry fine soldiers could get severe reprimand (4,3)
WHAT FOR: “I’m sorry” or “come again?” with the single letter for fine and some usual abbreviated soldiers
5a Trawl around gents, perhaps on reflection it's unwise (7)
FOOLISH: Another word for trawl with a net containing (around) the reversal (on reflection) of what “Gents” defines by example (perhaps)
9a Tops Mike repeatedly included in outfits (7)
SUMMITS: Two copies (repeatedly) of the letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphebt by Mike are inserted in (included in) some fairly formal outfits
10a Blackburn, for one, without wingers manage attack (7)
OVERRUN: What Blackburn football team define by example (for one) minus its outer letters (without wingers) is followed by manage or operate
11a Daniel ran badly, which increases the heart rate (9)
ADRENALIN: An anagram (badly) of DANIEL RAN
12a Exhaust pipe's initially carried by post (5)
SPEND: The first letter (…’s initially) of PIPE inserted in (carried by) post or mail
13a Belgium's out of ale, that is frightening (5)
EERIE: Another word for ale minus the IVR code for Belgium, all followed by the Latin abbreviation for “that is”
15a Tolerant of one wearing medal after each case of superiority (4-5)
EASY-GOING: The Roman one inserted in (wearing) an informal word for medal comes after both the abbreviation for each and the outer letters of (case of) SUPERIORITY
17a Eleventh-hour note by daughter beset by sharp side pain (4-5)
LAST-DITCH: A note on the so-fa scale is followed by the single letter for daughter inserted in (beset by) a sharp side pain
19a Banned cheers, I don't like that (5)
TABOO: Cheers or thanks with an exclamation of disapproval
22a Judge city in Germany (5)
TRIER: A city on the river Mosel could also be a judge in a court of law
23a Cupboard love accepted by sad bride in a mess (9)
SIDEBOARD: The letter representing a lover score in tennis inserted in (accepted by) an anagram (in a mess) of SAD BRIDE
25a Entourage regret taking European money (7)
RETINUE: A verb synonym of regret containing (taking) both the single letter for European and an informal word for money
26a Flyer in open grassy area left abandoned (7)
LEAFLET: An open grassy area or meadow with an anagram (abandoned) of LEFT
27a Clement Attlee's term embraced by old red back in parliament (7)
LENIENT: The final letter (..’s term) of ATLEE inserted in (embraced by) Vladimir the Russian politician (old red) is followed by the last letter of (back in) PARLIAMENT
28a Slight slur making American butt of joke (7)
SLENDER: In another word for a spoken slur the single letter for American is replaced by (making American …) the last letter of (butt of) JOKE
Down
1d Wife with a leg that's showing degeneration (7)
WASTAGE: Link together the single letter for wife, A from the clue, and another word for leg (of a competition, perhaps)
2d Model married fan (7)
ADMIRER: An anagram (model) of MARRIED
3d Fake news primarily follows Spain plugging fruit (5)
FEIGN: The first letter (primarily) of NEWS follows the IVR code for Spain inserted in (plugging) a fruit that’s eaten fresh or dried
4d Hardy novel in Leicester church banned (9)
RESILIENT: An anagram (novel) of IN LEICESTER minus the abbreviation for the Church of England (church banned)
5d Refs regularly put up with individual's dirty look (5)
FROWN: The reversal (put up) of alternate letters (regularly) of REFS is followed by another word for “individual’s”
6d Exhale deeply in public showing boob (9)
OVERSIGHT: A word meaning “exhale deeply” inserted in public or not hidden
7d National statesman of old, but no leading character (7)
ISRAELI: A British conservative statesman minus his first letter (but no leading character)
8d Guilty-looking, hover over man's best friend (7)
HANGDOG: Another word for hover is followed by the creature known as “man’s best friend”
14d Runner's strength running nude dash around North (9)
ENDURANCE: An anagram (running) of NUDE with a synonym of dash containing (around) the single letter for north
16d Diaries and school uniform in Leeds damaged (9)
SCHEDULES: An abbreviation for school is followed by single letter for uniform inserted in an anagram (damaged) of LEEDS
17d Not yet advanced student's kind of thinking (7)
LATERAL: A word meaning “not yet” with the single letter for advanced and the letter indicating a student or learner driver
18d Fond of warm clothing getting recycled (7)
SMITTEN: Some warm clothing for hands with the letters cycles one place to the right (getting recycled)
20d Scrapped plot to pinch green lobbyist's crown (7)
BRAWLED: A garden plot containing (to pinch) both green or unripe and the first letter of (…’s crown) LOBBYIST
21d Veteran undersold sterling pounds (7)
OLDSTER: UNDERSOLD STERLING hides (pounds) the answer
23d Broadcast picked up in Cologne, say (5)
SCENT: A homophone (picked up) of broadcast or distributed
24d Cleared out bar propped up by one or two (5)
BRACE: The outer letters (cleared out) of BAR is followed by (propped up by, in a down clue) a playing card with one pip
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: TOIL + LETS + EAT = TOILET SEAT
Good morning. I thought this was going to be tough as I only got 8 on the first pass, three from the across clues and 5 from the downs. The East went in first, followed by the SE corner and finally the NE.
Every clue caught my attention. As such, there will be no podium or COTD. The anagram at 11, the desperate pain at 17a, forbidden pleasures at 19a, 26a, 1d, 3d, 5d, 7d, 8d, 14d and 17d. I enjoyed every moment of this and was surprised at how quickly the grid seemed to fill up especially after a slowish start. Many thanks to the setter for the puzzle and the reviewer for the hints which were not needed
I found this hard but immensely enjoyable. Lots of ticks on my page. I needed Mr K’s help to parse 27a and had to check that the German city exists.
Top picks for me were 2d, 18d, 17d, 17a, 1a and 5a.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I hope all who are attending the Birthday Bash tomorrow have a lovely time.
Tricky Friday and I agree with Mr K’s assessment. A bit of a struggle but pleased to finish and I did enjoy it in retrospect! Thank you Mr K and our illustrious setter.
Apart from a brief pause to check the alternative spelling of 11a, no significant hold-ups.
Many thanks to the setter, and to Mr K.
I’m in the tricky but rewarding camp. Many excellent clues including the misdirection in 4d and Belgium being out of ale. Whilst many contenders battle it out, 22a gets the nod for cotd. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.
Tricky for me but very enjoyable. I needed the hints to parse 27a. I enjoyed too many clues to pick one, I am just pleased to have completed a Friday puzzle that initially seemed impossible to break into.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.
One or two answers required revisiting after completion to tease out parsing subtleties, though all were squared eventually.
I particularly liked Clement Atlee and the old red in 27a, 28a’s butt of joke transposition and the Yorkshire school vandalism in 16d.
My thanks to our setter and Mr K.
I found this to be 15a for a Friday, only held up by the parsing of 28a, thanks Mr K. LOI was 4d which followed 1a.
Ticks for 22a, the aforementioned 4d and 27a, but COTD goes to the eleventh hour 17a.
Thanks to the setter and Mr K.
**/****
Well for a Friday this was for me a tricky puzzle and took some time to get a hold on it. Filled bottom to top more-or-less.
Some clues had difficult parsing and some I could not suss out at all.
3*/3* for me
Favourites include 11a, 12a, 13a, 22a, 7d & 23d — with winner 7d and 12a the runner-up
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
Just arrived in the Great Wen, neither this nor Karla’s excellent toughie lasted through the train journey, but they were equally fun. I agree with Croye Dave, they were pretty much all podium worthy so I will leave it at that. I hope to see some of you tomorrow and if not consider joining the teams link;
https://teams.live.com/meet/9364709408706?p=jxqSsCNaPbQ87Pvvo3
It should be open from about noon til 4pm GMT, but bear in mind it can be a bit noisy in the Bridge House.
Thanks for the link, John. I’ll try to remember to connect at some point tomorrow and experience the pub hubbub.
An enjoyable and not too tricky puzzle – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
For my podium I plumped for 17a, 19a and 28a.
If you’re someone who usually avoids the Friday Toughies because you think that they’re too difficult then today would be an ideal day to have a go. Karla has given us an enjoyable puzzle that’s fairly straightforward.
I’m on the bus on the way to London so having to do the puzzle in fits and starts. I’ve got about a quarter left to do but thoroughly enjoying it.
Thank you, setter for the challenge, which I hope to complete before arriving in The Smoke. Thank you, Mr K for the hints.
A surprisingly quick start for a Friday, with the top two across answers going straight in … then slowing down and finishing in a middling sort-of time. Thank you to the setter (Zandio?). Lots of good clues, with 19a making me laugh the most.
I didn’t know the German city (another 5-letter German city occurs so frequently in crosswords that I did spend a little time wondering if there was a Judge Essen I hadn’t heard of!) and needed Mr K to explain 28a — thank you.
Jane, we’re missing you. Bash attendees: have fun!