Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31170
Hints and tips by Smylers
Hello from Ilkley, part of the City of Bradford, last year’s UK City of Culture. That involved hosting the Turner Prize, the exhibition for which we finally got round to visiting this weekend. Here are some pictues of works by Mohammed Sami, winner Nnena Kalu, and two of Zadie Xa’s golden-floored room (in which we had to remove our shoes):
But we’re all here for today’s Telegraph cryptic crossword. Hints and explanations are below. Comments are welcome below, especially if you haven’t ever done so before — we’re a friendly bunch. Please leave your thoughts on today’s crossword, whether I’ve been too picky on the setter, modern art, or your life in general.
Across
1a Dude must not upset Nobel Peace Prize winner (7,4)
DESMOND TUTU: Upset (in the sense of tip over, not make sad) the preceding words, so that their letters spell out the answer.
7a Single man about to get married is boring in front of an audience (2-5)
ON-STAGE: A man about to get married (perhaps on a night out with male friends) bores, in the sense of going inside, a word for ‘single’.
8a In a way, this is army doctor ignoring limitations, knocking back drink (7)
OCTOPUS: This is a fantastic definition! (And I’m not going to spoil by explaining it any further than indicated by the underlining.) Ignore the letters at the limitations of ‘doctor’, and append a verb meaning ‘drink’ which has been knocked back to face the other way.
10a Try to get hold of sparkling wine, most delicious! (8)
TASTIEST: Here we need to make a verb meaning ‘try’ hold a usual wine.
11a A little chimp alarmed antelope (6)
IMPALA: Take a little bit of the subsequent words to find the lurking antelope.
13a Go pale following day in A&E (4)
FADE: Here ‘following’ isn’t telling us how to arrange components of the answer, but a word that is abbreviated to a single letter (when referring to following pages). ‘Day’ also gets abbreviated, and is inserted in the two letters given in the clue.
14a Wager party accepts request for court activity (10)
BASKETBALL: The definition here is an activity which takes place in a particular type of court. Make it by concatenating a wager and a (posh) party, then making that accept inside it a verb meaning ‘request’.
16a Rouse OAP – he rebuilt La Scala, for one (5,5)
OPERA HOUSE: Rebuild the first few words of the clue so their letters spell something else.
18a Knowing Mike isn’t involved in protest (4)
ARCH: We need to remove the letter represented by Mike in the Nato alphabet from a protest. Which means that first we need to thing of a 5-letter activity which can be a protest and contains that letter.
21a No good drink for head (6)
NOGGIN: Enter in turn: the ‘no’ from the clue; a teacher’s abbreviation for ‘good’; and a particular alcoholic drink.
22a I managed to grab somewhat masculine Dubliner (8)
IRISHMAN: Start with the ‘I’ from the clue. Then we need a word for ‘managed’ (an event, or a pub, say) into which we insert a term meaning ‘somewhat’ (often as a suffix) and the abbreviation for ‘masculine’. The answer is something that a Dubliner may be an example of — but not all of the answers are Dubliners, so I feel there ought to be a definition-by-example indicator somewhere, but I can’t see one. Also, not all Dubliners are the answer, because there are also other sorts of Dubliners. Although all of The Dubliners are/were the the answer:
24a Distinctive southern plaice swimming (7)
SPECIAL: Start with the letter that indicates ‘southern’, then make the letters of ‘plaice’ swim around until they spell out the answer.
Pic credit: © Joachim S. Müller, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
25a Choose a former partner to return tool (7)
PICKAXE: Enter in order: a synonym for ‘choose’; the A from the clue; and the usual former parter, made to return by writing them backwards.
26a Ref took bets about event in Munich (11)
OKTOBERFEST: The answer isn’t a single historical event that once happened in Munich, but an event held annually in that city. Form it by moving about the letters of the first few words.
Down
1d Neglected detectives taken advantage of (7)
DISUSED: We make this from the plural of a usual detective and a word that can mean ‘taken advantage of’.
2d Figure in charge still (6)
STATIC: The figure here is a single piece of numerical data, colloquially shortened. Follow it with the abbreviation that dictionaries say stands for ‘in charge of’, even though there isn’t actually an ‘of’ in the clue.
3d Eclipse Hades, or vow to be converted (10)
OVERSHADOW: Convert some words from the clue, re-using their letters in a different order.
4d Entrance heartless doctor (4)
DOOR: Think of another word for ‘doctor’ — there’s quite a few to choose from. Then realize that the clue is easier than that, because we actually want the word ‘doctor’ itself. It contains an even number of letters, so its heart is the middle 2 of those; simply remove them to get the answer.
5d Most extreme chapter leaves cult on island with couple (8)
ULTIMATE: There are two different abbreviations for ‘chapter’, but since we need to remove one of them from the word ‘cult’, it’s obvious we need to use the shorter one. Place what’s left on top of an abbreviation used on maps for ‘Island’ (imagining that the clue contained a capital letter that isn’t actually there). End with a word that can mean ‘couple’ as a verb.
6d Swedish city unfortunately starts to prevent protest, upsetting revolutionary (7)
UPPSALA: Form the name of the 4th-largest city in Sweden from an exclamation which can mean ‘unfortunately’ and the starting letters in ‘prevent protest, upsetting’, all revolved to go up the grid.
Pic credit: Oscar Ekholm Grahn
7d Not to be visited, like an exhausted kangaroo? (3,2,6)
OUT OF BOUNDS: This is a jokey definition.
Pic credit: © John Ward, CC BY-SA 2.0
9d Horrible hag can smell coins (5,6)
SMALL CHANGE: If you were trying to write ‘hag can smell’ correctly, then the answer would be a horrible way of spelling that (though isn’t itself horrible).
12d Broadcaster’s escapade traps king in the Gherkin? (10)
SKYSCRAPER: Start with the name of a TV broadcaster, followed by its possessive S from the clue. The rest is another word for an escapade, which has trapped the single Latin letter used generically to refer to a king.
Pic credit: SuckerPunch Gourmet
15d Dad caught by one clenched hand – he won’t fight (8)
PACIFIST: Insert in order: an alternative familiar name for ‘Dad’; the cricket abbreviation for ‘caught’; the letter which represents ‘one’ in Roman numerals; and what a clenched hand is.
17d Energy company supporting composer, dropping American artist (2,5)
EL GRECO: This artist is definitely not American. At the bottom goes the letter used in physics to denote energy and the abbreviation for ‘company’. Those support a well-known classic composer from whom an abbreviation for ‘American’ needs to be dropped.
19d Surviving trace of rock band relative ultimately lost (7)
REMNANT: Enter in order: the name of an American rock band; a familiar name sometimes used for a particuar relative; and the ultimate letter of ‘lost’.
20d Tipsy cheerleader is concealing spirit (6)
PSYCHE: The answer is concealed by the first 2 words of the clue, hiding in consecutive letters.
23d Regularly call up bishop’s team (4)
CLUB: Take regularly alternating letters from ‘call up’, and end with the letter used to indicate a bishop in chess.
Quickie Pun
In today’s Quick Crossword, the first 2 clues are italicized, indicating we can say their answers out loud to make another word, name, or phrase:
BOLEYN + GALLEY = BOWLING ALLEY
Recent Reading
Since this was the bestselling book of last year, most people will already be aware of it and there isn’t much additional I can tell you about it. Initially I was sceptical of novels written by a TV presenter, and tried to avoid the first book in the Thursday Murder Club series, until we were given it for Christmas — at which point I was pleasantly surprised by Richard Osman’s writing style, plotting, and, most of all, the characters. (My scepticism has, however, turned out to be entirely warranted for many other books by already-famous authors. Publishers: please stop choosing novelists for being on TV over being able to write!)
Before reading The Impossible, I re-read the rest of the series in order; it’s two years since the previous book in the series, and longer since I read the others. They were worth reading again; even though I could remember several elements of the plot, there were many fun details it was enjoyable to be reminded of, and aspects which read differently now knowing the cast of characters better — and also to appreciate how much better the book is than the recent film.
This one is as you’d expect, more of the same. If you like that kind of thing, you’ve probably already read it. Much of what happens is preposterous if you stop to think about it too much, but it’s humorous and easy to read, so it’s best not to do that and just go with it. I liked that the year off (during which Richard Osman wrote the first book in a different series) also happened to the characters; being retirees who solve the odd crime for fun, it makes sense time would go by without encountering a murder. And I liked that Ron mentions his favourite James Bond actor is Pierce Brosnan — something which could be awkward for any future film adaptation of this book, where Pierce Brosnan would still have to exist as himself while simultaneously being the actor who plays Ron.
Finally, in case you haven’t seen them, there’s a collection of Thursday-Murder-Club Themed Telegraph puzzles, which fans of the books may enjoy, including 4 cryptic crosswords.
I didn’t get many on the first pass so I thought it was going to be tough. However, it gradually came together and there were some great clues. The army doctor at 8a and the heartless one at 4d raised smiles when the pennies dropped. I spent far too long pondering a tennis court at 14a and the tipsy cheerleader defeated me until I remembered “If all else fails”. My COTD is the exhausted kangaroo at 7d.
Thank you, setter for getting the week off to a good start. Thank you, Smylers for the hints.
Good morning. This was good fun as Monday`s normally are with no hold ups. For starters, I liked the three anagrams on the perimeter which allowed for a rapid fill. However, my main likes are 7 and 14 across 12d , 15d and 23d, with 23d being my LOI. However 6d is my COTD by a long shot. Many thanks to the setter and blogger
A gentle start to the week, everything readily gettable with smooth surfaces and no pit-falls. Pody places for the Army doctor (8a) and the tool at 25a, with a great big smile for the exhausted kangaroo at 7d.
My thanks to the setter and Smylers
1*/3*
Great fun for the start of the week. Smiles for 1a, 26a and especially 8a which is genius. Cotd is the lol exhausted kangaroo at 7d. Thanks to compiler and Smylers.
Great puzzle at the easier end. Favourite was 8a which i got from the checkers and wordplay. Only understood the (brilliant) definition with the hint. Thank you setter and Smylers.
Still smiling about army doctor…
Enjoyable and a swift start to the working week. Honours to 6d and COTD 8a which provoked a LOL moment when the penny finally dropped, long after the answer had been entered.
Many thanks to the Setter and Smylers
Well done on spotting the army doc definition, I failed and even investigoogling obscure Japanese fashion brands didn’t make sense until “army” dropped like a stone.
Thanks to Setter and Smylers
A splendid start to the week with my LOI being 19d, a tricky one. If solvers hadn’t heard of this rock band in the last year or so they certainly have now!
I love the rhyming slang for degrees: A Damien Hirst is a First, an Attila the Hun is a 2 1, the first word of 1a is the surname as numbers and a Douglas Hurd is a 3rd. Great fun.
My pody picks are 1a, 8a (of course) and 26a.
MTT the setter and S.
1*/4*
Great start to the week, a lovely blend of humour and the odd head scratcher. I can only agree with the comments so far today.What a great feeling when the penny dropped for 8a and the beaming smile brought about by 7d. Thanks to all involved, today’s offering has even cheered up the weather gods down here in Surrey.
Great puzzle! Like others I a) found 8a very amusing and b) spent an age trying to shoehorn a tennis shot into 14a. Thanks very much to the setter and to Smylers for a typically comprehensive review.
A most enjoyable start to the (non-)work week, is it Weatherman’s turn? 1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 21a, 22a, 5d, and 7d – and the winner is the exhausted kangaroo in 7d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Smylers.
I agree with Smylers on Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series I do hope that the, presently, stand alone other book turns into a series; it was definitely written that way. Yes, they can be considered preposterous so I suggest that the answer is don’t stop and think about it. Their preposterousness may be the reason why ‘translation’ to the ‘silver screen’ does not appear to have gone particularly well. The same could be said of the ‘other’ Murder Club series of which the fifth book will soon be published.
The acknowledgements for the latest book say: “I’ve just started the new We Solve Murders adventure, and then there will be more Thursday Murder Club after that. It’s a lot of murder, I know, but it’s a lot of love and laughs too.”
A great puzzle to start the week with lots of smiles. LOI was 7a although I completed the rest of the LHS before the RHS.
Top picks for me were 8a, 12d, 7d and 18d.
What a colourful exhibition Smylers and I also enjoyed the Richard Osman books. I’m now working my way through the Janice Hallett books after you recommended one if hers.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
An excellent Monday puzzle – thanks to our setter and Smylers,
My medals were pinned on 7a, 8a and 7d with the gold going to everyone’s favourite 8a.
8a was brilliant and my favourite by a distance this morning. The grid did not take long to fill but I enjoyed it nonetheless as there was some real quality on offer throughout.
Many thanks to our Monday setter and Smylers.
Nice’n’easy introduction to the week with Winnie the Pooh’s pal my favourite.
This was very enjoyable but over far too quickly. In fact I think this was probably my personal best solving time, but I don’t really keep accurate records (or, indeed, any records at all!).
So many thanks to the setter, and to Smylers for the hints which I will now peruse for the videos and music.
An amusing Monday guzzle with several laughs along the way, the army doctor and tired kangaroo. The weekend was very busy but I managed to do Saturday & Dunday backplates and almost finished the Toughie. I just did not have time to comment. How funny that I feel the need to justify an absence! I too approached the Osmond books with caution but they are a light read – though I do agree with Senf about the assumption that any famous person can write a book. My thanks to the Setter and to Smylers, who might be celebrating the end of half term !
It’s one of these uneven ends of half-term holidays: one child went back this morning while t’other’s school has a Baker Day and is still around the house.
Haven’t heard that term since my dear Mum used to go on about what a waste of time they generally were at the school she taught in. Are they really still referred to as Baker Days?
Their official name keeps changing, or varies between academy groups. At some point I gave up trying to keep up and decided to switch back to their original name — and it handily fits with my suggestion that a child who has a day off school should use it to do some baking!
A bit of a breeze today
Turning the clock back to 1979 for Bram Tchaikovsky’s (formerly of the Motors) cracking first album 🎸
Wow not thought about Bram and the Motors for too long…..
AIRPORT…
It was a relief to complete today’s without too much trouble. I ve been away with friends for the weekend , not got much sleep and have struggled with the prize puzzles at the weekend. Great puzzle today , but had to ask my friends to explain the definition of 8a , so clearly brain is still a tad woolly. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
An excellent puzzle to kick off the new week which I thought a distinct notch up in difficulty compared to the usual Monday norm. Ticks aplenty but if pressed for a podium 8a just edges 7d for top spot & 7&22a can fight it out between themselves for the bronze medal.
Thanks to the setter (Weatherman seems a fair punt) & to Smylers for his usual comprehensive review + one of my fav REM tunes.
Well, for the start of the non-work week, this puzzle did the trick quite nicely for me. A few head scratchers and a couple of parsings I could not work out, but the answers fit.
1.5*/4* for me
Favourites 1a, 21a, 25a, 3d, 7d & 19d — with winner 19d
Smiles for 21a, 4d & 7d
Thanks to setter and Smylers
* / ****
Loved this and the solve was pretty trouble free and swift. However, my 8a penny is still at 30,000ft. I got the answer from the wordplay but the definition continues to elude me. It’ll probably come later when, like a problem in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I sidle up to it sideways and pounce when it’s not looking ☺!
Biggest ticks went to the 25a former partner’s tool, the 26a Munich shin dig and the superb exhausted kangaroo in 7d, which was my COTD given I don’t know yet why 8a was so good!!
Many thanks to the Setter and Smylers
Hi A-Pop.
I think you can be put out of your misery as it’s not a prize jobbie….an 8a has lots of arms. So, it’s very ‘arm’y.
Thanks TDS! Then I think it’d have worked better without “In a way,”. But then at least it let me put in a shout out to the HHGG “Somebody Else’s Problem Field” theory ☺
Good shout.
‘In a way’ is playing the same role as ‘perhaps’ or a question mark as it’s not strictly an army (noun/adjective).
If it was a toughie, ‘in a way’ wouldn’t be there. It’s a Monday puzzle. So, it needs to be made a tad easier.
A lovely little puzzle with my favourite (and everyone else’s) being 8a. It reminded me a bit of this bit of graffiti…
Love it!
Excellent
Fabulous! 🤣
😁
Not so keen as everyone else on this puzzle nor on the Richard Osman. I read the first one and if the second had the same quality in the plot it might have persuaded me to read others. The plotting was by numbers and the writing by 5c in an old secondary modern on a Friday afternoon. Just the thing for the audience fed on the pap of the latest media offerings. Obviously knows who he is writing for and good luck with the money he is making.
7d and 8a my choice for joint winners among a plethora of non picks.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter together with apologies for the negative comments.
I think it’s fair to suggest that Richard Osman writes books for the kind of people who like that sort of book, of which there seem to be many. They are light and easy to read (I’ve read all 5 of them since Christmas, while interspersing them with other books), but I don’t think anybody should presume that people who read those books read only books like that and never anything less preposterous or more substantial. The strength of the plots vary across the series, but most of them have at least one twist or crucial deduction that I didn’t see coming and thought was clever.
2*/4*. This was light and good fun with 7a my favourite joined on the podium by 8a & 7d.
Many thanks to the setter (Weatherman?) and to Smylers.
Smooth clues and great fun; like others the army doc gets my vote. Enjoyed the music Smylers!
Not quite the walk in the park enjoyed by other bloggers but definitely solvable without too much aggro, true to Monday form. 7a was an unparsed bung-in. Fav 7d. 19d never occurs to me for relative. Thank you setter and Smylers.
I was pleased to get back on track with this one, it was very enjoyable even though I did not immediately see many the first time through. Like others I had 8a as my favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Unfortunately, I thought 14a was “racketball” without fully understanding the parsing. I now know why the parsing didn’t work: it is the wrong answer. Apart from that I solved all the others without assistance, some of which I think are more difficult than 14a. COTD 8a for its parsing – which I did actually work out all by myself. **/*** Thanks to setter and Smylers.
‘twas my first thought at 14a too but couldn’t parse it so you weren’t alone. Fortunately the correct answer occurred & the parse followed.
Pleased I’m not alone.
It was my first thought too. 😊
Very happy to find this very doable puzzle, following on from Sunday’s treat. Very much on wavelength today, even though I a rushing before to head off to our HOA monthly bird meeting. Thanks to setter and Smylers.
Getting the four outside long clues was a good start and 7d brought a smile 😊. Lots to like especially a fairly early finish! Wasn’t sure about 23d as I always think of ‘regularly’ being every 2nd/4th/6th letter . . .LOI 16d. Many thanks to the setter and Smylers.
“Regularly” just means ‘at regular intervals’; it doesn’t indicate which letter to start on (unlike, say, “oddly missing” or similar), so there’s always two options to check. Theoretically taking every 3rd letter, or every 7th letter, would also be regular, but I haven’t seen that and I suspect editors wouldn’t allow it on the grounds of fairness, unless it was very clear (a 12-letter word being used regularly for an entire 4-letter answer, perhaps?).
Nice straightforward Monday puzzle, very agreeable 😃 **/**** Favourites 7a & 14a 👍 Thanks to Smylers and to the Compiler
Lovely Monday crossword. 7D and 12D my favourites. VMT Setter & Smylers.
Mainly straightforward but with enough head scratchers to keep me on my toes. Numerous contenders for favourite which always elevates the enjoyment factor but I’ll go with the exhausted kangaroo. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
2* / 3.5* A good start to the week with a few that needed prising out.
Beast clues of the day include the much discussed 8a (is it coincidence that it’s 8 across?), the knackered roo at 7d and the artist at 17d
Thanks to Smylers and compiler
Last one in on the 1918 out of Paddington was 8 across. Even then the penny didn’t completely drop until I checked the hints
Welcome, Phil.
With you mentioning Paddington and Richard Lingard mentioning Winnie the Pooh earlier, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s Sneak a Bear into the Comments Day and nobody told me?
Welcome, Phil. Is your chimney as sooty as mine? 😊
Yeah, I know, that was rather weak.
Better get a chimney Sweep in then
If you do, I’ll Soo you! 😊
Very enjoyable with the south falling first.
8a was memorable for the PDM, although I find the clue a little clunky.
7a favourite. 6d new and had to be checked.
Thanks to Smylers and Setter
2*/4.5*
A gentle stroll today, ▩▩▩▩▩▩ tops, got octopus but didnt see the clever parse until i read the hints. Does Smylers know that Boo Radley is a character in To Kill a Mockingbird and was played by Robert Duvall, in the movie. who died last week. Thank you Smylers and setter.
Interesting, didn’t know Robert Duvall was in TKAM, keen to see the film again, and great song too from an unlikely No 1 album 🎵
One of the neat about Wake Up!, the album, is that the first lyrics on both sides are “Wake up” — the album version of Wake Up Boo on side 1 has an introduction, not on the single, of repeated chanting of that phrase; and side 2 starts with Martin, Doom! It’s Seven O’Clock, with a fanfare alarm and somebody yelling “Wake up!”.
And in the video for the song It’s Lulu, the book used to illustrate the lyrics “The books that she reads aren’t the ones from the school” is To Kill a Mockingbird.
Boo Radley also featured in a Jeopardy question which got attention last week, because one of the contestants did something unusual in the hope the other two would knock each other out.
You know your stuff Smylers! I shall put this album on my queue for the working week.
Hi, Stuart. I’ve redacted your solving time, because of the Big Dave’s Etiquette Guide — see point 6.
Well done for spotting the Robert Duvall tribute, tenuously justified by “Rouse” in the clue!
Figuring out the connection to Wake Up Boo was like having a bonus clue to solve 🙂
A nice Monday lunch solve. Pody picks are 9D’s LOL surface, 7D’s tired roo and the rightly-popular 8A’s army sort.
Lovely to see two of my favourite live acts featured – REM is my favourite gig ever, and Ben Folds is up there too.
Thanks to setter and to Smylers ⭐️
3*/4_* …
liked 8A “In a way, this is army doctor ignoring limitations , knocking back drink (7)”