DT 31157 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31157

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 7^th February 2026

BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****

Greetings from Kolkata. A full-of-fun and excellent lovely Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and subsequently writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and valuable feedback.

En, part of the wordplay in the clue at 21a, is indeed a preposition in French meaning ‘in’, but unlike the word ‘dans’ that is used more generally for ‘in’, ‘en’ has specific usages. ‘En’ is used with feminine countries or regions, such as ‘en France’ meaning ‘in France’, ‘en Italie’ is ‘in Italy’ and ‘en Europe’ is ‘in Europe’. There is, however, the provision of using ‘en’ also with masculine countries, but only with those countries having vowel as the starting letter of the word, for example, ‘en Iran’ meaning ‘in Iran’, ‘en Israël’ is ‘en Israel’ etc. ‘En’ can be used with months, years and seasons, such as ‘en 2026’ meaning ‘in 2026’, ‘en avril’ representing ‘in April’ and ‘en été’ denoting ‘in summer’. ‘En’ can also mean ‘within’ when denoting ‘time taken’, for instance, ‘Il a fini en deux heures’, that is, ‘He finished in two hours’. Additionally, ‘en’ can indicate means or material and can mean ‘by’ or ‘in’, say, ‘en voiture’ meaning ‘by car’, ‘en bois’ denoting ‘made of wood’ and ‘parler en francais’ is ‘to speak in French’. For most masculine countries, ‘au’ is used, for example, ‘au Canada’ is ‘in Canada’ and ‘au Japon’ is ‘in Japan’ and for cities, the preposition ‘à’ is usually used, like ‘à Paris’ meaning ‘in Paris’ and ‘à Londres’ denoting ‘in London’.

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Across

1a           Liberal to stop Trumpist mum backing union? (7)
AMALGAM: L (Liberal) as the abbreviation for Liberal, a member of the Liberal Party to intervene or get inside (stop) a combo of MAGA (Trumpist) as the abbreviation of ‘Make America Great Again’, the political movement initiated by Trump, President of the United States and MA (mum) as denoting mother and serving as a childish contraction for mamma coming from the other end (backing) as reversals in the across clue leads to the definition of a noun denoting a mixture, blend, fusion or union

5a           Old style redcoat dancing (3,4)
ART DECO: The definition of a style of decoration that was especially popular in the 1920s and 1930s and that uses simple shapes and lines and strong colours is reached when REDCOAT from the clue is subject to an anagram (dancing)

9a           Dog returned in big rocket (5)
CORGI: The definition of a breed of dog, having a foxlike head and short legs is part of or hidden inside (in) [B]IG ROC[KET] that has come from the other side (returned) as a reversal in the across clue

10a        Ring leader no Royalist (9)
ROUNDHEAD: A charade of ROUND (ring) as denoting a round thing or part, such as a ring or a circle and HEAD (leader) as a chief or leader takes to the definition of a member or supporter of the Parliamentary party in the English Civil War who is obviously not a royalist i.e. a supporter of the King against the Parliament in the English Civil War

11a        Sappers calm crossing island in spring (10)
RESILIENCE: RE (Sappers) as the abbreviation for Royal Engineers, the plural of a member of the Corps of Royal Engineers or military combat engineers in the British Army, providing technical and engineering support to the Army and commonly known as Sappers followed by SILENCE (calm) as lull, stillness or calm placed about (crossing) I (island) as the abbreviation for island guides to the definition of spring or elasticity or the ability of a substance or object to bounce back

12a        Female the Italian married in Cinema Paradiso say (4)
FILM: A charade of F (female) as the genealogical abbreviation for female, IL (the Italian) as the definite article ‘the’ used in front of a masculine singular noun in the Italian language and M (married) as the genealogical abbreviation for ‘married’ guides to the definition of a work of visual art, also known as a movie or motion picture, that uses a sequence of images and sound to communicate stories, ideas or emotions and acts as a medium for entertainment, typically shown in cinemas or on television, an example of which is the Italian movie ‘Cinema Paradiso’ that was released in 1988

14a        Lamp temperature normal at sea in ship’s rear (5,7)
STORM LANTERN: The definition of a hurricane lamp or hurricane lantern having a shield of glass and perforated metal surrounding its flame to protect it from wind and weather is arrived at from a combo of T (temperature) as the symbol for temperature as in physics and an anagram (at sea) of NORMAL placed inside STERN (ship’s rear) as the rearmost part of a ship or a boat

18a        You bit a child? (6,6)
SECOND PERSON: The definition of the person being spoken or written to or the one who is being addressed by a speaker or writer as ‘you’ is reached from a charade of SECOND (bit) as an informal term for a very short time, for example, a bit is a short time or distance, PER (a) as a preposition denoting ‘a’ or ‘an’, for example, ‘Membership costs £100 per year’ to mean ‘Membership costs £100 a year’

21a        Generally accessible work in French (4)
OPEN: The definition of an adjective denoting generally accessible or available or unrestricted as to participants is obtained from a charade of OP (work) as the abbreviation for opus that refers to work, especially a musical composition in which one is numbered in order of publication and EN (in French) as a preposition meaning ‘in’ in the French language; though its use is specific unlike the general term ‘dans’

22a        Loathed having to admit thirst outside pub – like non-drinker? (10)
HYPHENATED: HATED (loathed) needs to take inside (having to admit) YEN (thirst) as a thirst or an intent desire, longing or urge for something having around (outside) PH (pub) as a shorthand for ‘public house’ seen on old signs, maps of listings especially in the United Kingdom and is regarded as a more traditional or formal term for a pub that guides to the definition of an adjective describing a word ‘having a hyphen’ i.e. symbolically ‘-’ placed outside pub in the clue or inserted in a word, for example, describing ex-president, well-known, daddy-long-legs etc or like non-drinker as the clue provides

25a        Moon’s out: fast getting drowsy (9)
SOMNOLENT: An anagram (out) of MOON’S followed by LENT (fast) as a period of fasting and penitence observed by many Christians leading up to Easter or, figuratively any period of fasting that takes to the definition of an adjective meaning drowsy, sleepy or soporific

26a        Unexpected plot event in Oliver! (5)
TWIST: Double definition; the second referring to the surname of Oliver in the classic novel ‘Oliver Twist’ written by the famous English author Charles Dickens that leads to the first denoting an unexpected plot event or a change of direction, for example, a twist in the tale

27a        Hardly active, Mike enters rave after party (7)
DORMANT: The definition of an adjective meaning asleep, not awake or temporarily inactive is reached from M (Mike) as the letter represented by Mike in the NATO phonetic alphabet getting inside (enters) RANT (rave) as to rave or speak or shout at length in an angry, impassioned way placed after or preceded by (after) DO (party) as an informal term for a party or other social event

28a        Quiet tenant who makes others happy (7)
PLEASER: A charade of P (quiet) as the musical abbreviation for piano meaning soft or quiet and LEASER (tenant) as a lessee or one who holds a lease i.e. a tenant takes to the definition of a person who tries to please or amuse others or who makes others happy

Down

1d           Harmony from A string keeping constant (6)
ACCORD: The definition of a noun meaning harmony, concord or agreement of people’s opinions or actions or characters is reached from a combo of A from the clue and CORD (string) as a string or thin rope made of several strands braided, twisted or woven together having inside (keeping) C (constant) as the abbreviation for constant used in mathematics

2d           Fully informed about rigged Oscars (6)
ACROSS: The definition of a preposition meaning dealing with or fully informed about something is got from an anagram (rigged) of OSCARS

3d           Cunning traps great many in place of execution … (10)
GUILLOTINE: GUILE (cunning) as skilful deceit or treacherous cunning bringing in (traps) a combo of LOT (great many) as a great many or a great deal and IN from the clue takes to the definition of the instrument of execution by descent of a heavy oblique blade placed between two vertical poles or, more specifically, used to carry out a death sentence by beheading and stretched to mean place of execution due to the setting where the execution occurs

4d and 13 Down               … royal at one time near it, disastrously (5,10)
MARIE ANTOINETTE: The definition of the queen of France from 1774 until the fall of the monarchy in 1792, vividly described as ill-fated to be near 3d at one time, that in fact was the very next year for her subsequent execution during the French Revolution is arrived at from an anagram (disastrously) of AT ONE TIME NEAR IT in this all-in-one clue

5d           R u a Vulcan, potentially benevolent? (9)
AVUNCULAR: R U A VULCAN from the clue subject to an anagram (potentially) leads to the definition literally meaning ‘like an uncle’, from ‘avunculus’, the Latin word for maternal uncle or mother’s brother, but in English it has come to mean friendly in an uncle-like way, benign, kind, good-natured or benevolent

6d           Uproar among mastodons (2-2)
TO-DO: The definition of an informal noun meaning uproar, commotion or an interruption of regular procedure or of public peace is part of or hidden inside (among) [MAS]TODO[NS]

7d           Survey ship looks more defined with this (8)
EYELINER: A charade of EYE (survey) as to survey, guard, observe or watch and LINER (ship) as a large commercial shop, especially one that carries passengers on a regular schedule guides to the definition of a kind of cosmetic used for outlining or emphasising the shape of the eyes, which improves one’s appearance i.e. makes one’s looks more defined

8d           Daughter called number up whenever required (2,6)
ON DEMAND: A charade of D (daughter) as the genealogical abbreviation for daughter, NAMED (called) as called, addressed or greeted with a prescribed title or name and NO (number) as the abbreviation for number all sequentially in an upward direction (up) as reversals in the down clue guides to the definition of an idiom meaning when needed or asked for or whenever required

13d        See 4 Down

15d        May criminal entering confess what’s demanded of debtor (9)
REPAYMENT: An anagram (criminal) of MAY getting inside (entering) REPENT (confess) as to feel remorse or regret or show penitence for what one has done or for one’s past conduct, an example of which is to confess i.e. to make an acknowledgement or admission of one’s misdeeds, crimes etc leads to the definition of the act of returning money that has been advanced as a loan by a person to the debtor

16d        Psychic powers, not a thing exploited, embraced (8)
ESPOUSED: A charade of ESP (psychic powers) as an abbreviation for extrasensory perception or apparent or psychic powers or abilities to perceive things that are not present to the senses, O (nothing) as the letter representing naught, nothing or not a thing and USED (exploited) as exploited or taken advantage of someone takes to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning embraced, adopted or taken up the cause of someone

17d        First to sample powdered milk! (8)
SCREAMER: The first or initial letter (first) of S[AMPLE] followed by CREAMER (powdered milk) as a substitute for milk, in powder form, for use in coffee etc takes to the definition of an exclamation mark as a slang term in printing slang

19d        Voyage aboard steamer takes off (6)
STRIPS: TRIP (voyage) as any tour, journey or voyage getting inside (aboard) SS (steamer) as the abbreviation for steamship leads to the definition of a verb in the third person singular present tense meaning removes or takes off clothing or covering

20d        News boss, terribly tired, receives oxygen (6)
EDITOR: The definition of the news boss who is in overall charge of editing and who determines the final content of a text of a newspaper or magazine is reached from an anagram (terribly) of TIRED taking inside (receives) O (oxygen) as the chemical symbol for oxygen

23d        What’s seen in White House, agitated? (3,2)
HET UP: Part of or hidden inside (what’s seen in) [WHI]TE H[OUSE] shows HET in an upward direction i.e. HET is going up, or precisely, HET UP, that takes to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning heated up, irate, angry or agitated; HET being the past participle form for heated in the United Kingdom and North American dialect

24d        Seat that’s long yet short (4)
SOFA: The definition of a long upholstered seat typically with a back and arms is reached from an adjectival phrase SO FA[R] (that’s long) as describing a long distance so covered that is in this clue but however devoid of its terminal letter (yet short)

Several clues that I liked in this puzzle were 1a, 10a, 18a, 22a, 24a, 25a, 3d+4d/13d, 7d, 17d and 23d; 22a being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NYDK for the entertainment. Looking forward to seeing you here again. Have a nice day.