Daily Telegraph
No 31174
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
I’m standing in for Mr K so I’m afraid there will be no cats. I remain traumatised by them after watching Doctor Who getting chased through London’s sewers by giant rats back in 1977. Our old tom was equally terrified and promptly pounced on my head before coughing up hot milk all over me. Happily, there are no such horrors today, simply smart but fair wordplay and fizzy surfaces. Just no cats! All yours.
Across
1a Poles at front of long grass (6)
SNITCH: (geographic) poles + long/yearn.
4a Cut off toe lad’s fractured on island (8)
ISOLATED: TOELADS, fractured, on/after abbreviated “island”.
10a Equip relative with part in play Palaver (9)
RIGMAROLE: equip/fit out + two-letter “relative” + “part in play”.
11a Old king with large brain? (5)
OFFAL: “old king” (Anglo-Saxon) + abbreviated “large”.
12a Further modify study American priest vacated (7)
READAPT: study/scan + abbreviated “American” + P[ries]T.
13a Tense leader ignoring papers (7)
PRESENT: “leader” (US, etc), ignoring/minus two-letter “papers” (passport, say).
14a Clean overturned benches around base (5)
SWEEP: (church) “benches” overturned/reversed, around/containing (mathematical) “base”.
15a Oddball reconstructed Roman lab (8)
ABNORMAL: ROMANLAB, reconstructed.
18a Agreements between ten testy nurses (8)
ENTENTES: lurker, nursed/hidden by the second, third and fourth words.
20a Two chapters by artist on area in city (5)
ACCRA: two abbreviated “chapters” + the usual two-letter “artist” on/after abbreviated “area”.
23a Half rushed back for teaching session (7)
SEMINAR: “half” (prefix) + rushed/race, back/reversed.
25a Seat extravagant lady after whiskey’s spilt (7)
OTTOMAN: extravagant/excessive + lady/female, without its abbreviated “whiskey” (spilt).
26a Free beer regularly for one in Derby? (5)
RIDER: Free/deliver + [b]E[e]R.
27a Fuel from isle Oscar lied about (6,3)
DIESEL OIL: ISLE+O+LIED, about.
28a Swimmer Kelvin welcomed by club on loch (8)
MACKEREL: abbreviated “Kelvin” welcomed by/inside club/staff, plus two-letter “on” + abbreviated “loch”.
29a Influence iron-clad female in performance (6)
AFFECT: abbreviated “female” clad by/inside iron’s symbol, all in performance/deed.
Down
1d Shock when quiet retiring gentleman cracks safe (8)
SURPRISE: abbreviated “quiet”, and “gentleman” (title) retiring/reversed, both cracking/inside safe/certain.
2d Thankless wretch lost garnet south of Italy (7)
INGRATE: GARNET, lost, after (south of) abbreviated “Italy”.
3d Nipper spotted peeled fruit (4-5)
CRAB APPLE: nipper/summat that nips + spotted/speckled, minus its outer letters (peeled).
5d Make progress with these animals upset over noises (8,6)
STEPPING STONES: (domesticated) “animals” upset/reversed + two four-letter (mobile phone, say) “noises”
6d Untethered deer leaving motorway for lake (5)
LOOSE: (large) “deer” with its initial M[otorway] replaced by L[ake].
7d Rolled plump cheese in fabric (7)
TAFFETA: plump/overweight, rolled/reversed, plus (Greek/Middle Eastern) “cheese”.
8d Scrub edges of durable permit back in office (6)
DELETE: D[urabl]E + permit/allow + [offic]E.
9d Reach part of ship storing essentially cured game (8,6)
CONTRACT BRIDGE: contact/get hold of + (captain’s?) “part of ship”, storing/containing [cu]R[ed].
16d Dish from kiln Head of Banking brought into bank (5,4)
ROAST BEEF: “kiln” (for hops, etc) + B[anking], brought into/inside bank/shoal.
17d Thin client periodically cancelled digital protection (8)
GAUNTLET: thin/skinny + [c]L[i]E[n]T.
19d Roving investigators before noon running northwards (7)
NOMADIC: investigators/detectives + “before noon” + two-letter “running”, all northwards/reversed.
21d Politician stuffing bird with last of the stewed fruit (7)
COMPOTE: politician/representative, stuffing/inside (bald?) “bird” and [th]E.
22d A horny male maintains silence in retreat (6)
ASHRAM: ‘A’ from the clue + “horny male” (animal), maintaining/containing two-letter “silence”.
24d Short emperor starts to value exceptional courage (5)
NERVE: Setters’ favourite “emperor” minus his last letter + V[alue] E[xceptional].
We have four anagrams, one lurker and a riot of Lego. I especially enjoyed 11a, 26a, 5d and 9d. But I have to admit 22d’s surface tickled me the most. How did you get on?
Quickie pun: SEW + DAB + RED = SODA BREAD
This was hard work from the get go! The first pass gave a less than generous 8 and the remaining clues especially in the NW proved very challenging. This could have been a SPP. There are far too many clues to single out for praise but suffice to say that they wew fairly clued albeit not easy! 1a was my LOI. 10a is my COTD. Nevertheless I enjoyed it immensely. Many thanks to the setter and hinter
typo- they were fairly clued and not wew as shown
A great puzzle today. I remembered 22d from a puzzle a while back. 10a is a lovely word.
Top picks for me were 1a, 10a, 25a and 3d.
Thanks to ALP and the setter.
I needed the hints from ALP to understand the relevance of loch in 28a so thank you ALP. I enjoyed 10a and 25a both very well constructed. 22d was a new one for me but easily parsed. A solid **/****to end the week. I thought the Toughie by Silvanus yesterday done this morning rather good. Mind you I needed the hints for half the clues! Thank you setter.
On the easier side for a Friday, except for 5d, my last one in.
I just couldn’t get ‘sleeping” or ‘sweeping’ out of my mind, so had to take a rest for twenty minutes, and sure enough when I went back the answer just fell into place.
Great puzzle, great clues, my two of the day were 28a, and the dastardly 5d.
Your preamble made my lol so much. Priceless and I love cats! Anyway as to the puzzle, firm but fair I would say, with perfect surfaces and lots to ponder over. Took ages to parse 5d and I liked 1a for its brevity. Thankyou, ALP and creator ❤️
A pleasant and – for a Friday – quite gentle puzzle. It always helps when the first two across clues spring from the page, although I spent a little too long at 18a before recalling the sage advice “if all else fails, look for a lurker”, which unlocked LOI 5d. Some curious surface reads, a nice variety of clue types, and all done before the coffee had cooled too much. Honours to 3d, 5d & 22a.
Many thanks to the setter (my tuppence on Zandio) and ALP
Not too harsh a way to finish the week.
I agree that the first parse was not too fruitful, but after a bit of thought, most of the clues fell into place.
It was a good, old fashioned puzzle, with not too much slang or modern usage.
I still live in a world of ticket machines , not paystations and effect still sounds better than impact!
The NW corner was also where I finished and the clues I most enjoyed were 28a, 22d and 17d, but really there were so many to enjoy.
Thanks aground
Norrie
The W went in fairly easily and then I carefully caressed most the E, but came to a block on the 13a/5d combination. I reluctantly checked the hint for 13a and promptly kicked myself for not seeing it (I had ‘*******’ in mind)(self redacted), and 5d was then a simple write in once I had the extra checker.
My podium is 16d, 21d and 11a
Great cluing throughout and par for a Friday back pager.
Thank you ALP and the setter
2.5*/4*
My first pass yielded precisely one across clue, and I thought I was in trouble. A couple of deep breaths, a slurp of coffee, and I went through it in good time once I had cracked the setter’s processes. This was just about the right amount of difficulty for a Friday and very rewarding to solve. 5d was my clear favourite this morning.
Many thanks to whomsoever compiled this, and to ALP.
For me, etc©, not typically Fridayish, but benignly friendly – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 10a, and 16d – and the winner is the delightful 10a, I still think that it should have another vowel.
Thanks to whomsoever and ALP.
2*/4*. With the exception of a few strange surfaces, this provided an enjoyable end to the week of back-pagers.
My podium selection comprises 10a, 23a & 22d.
Thanks to the setter and to ALP.
Nice and friendly, more like a Wednesday than the normal dreaded Friday. Certainly my fastest Friday ever among the few times I’ve managed that day’s puzzle.
Last one in and favourite was 17d for the clever surface (a ‘thin client’ is an IT term). **/****
An approachable guzzle for a Friday, with a few brain-teasers to provide a cchallenge. I liked the lurker at 18a, the Lego seat at 25a and tthe missing letters Lego clue at 3d. Thanks to the compiler for an enjoyable crossword and to ALP for stepping in to do the hints
A very gentle puzzle and a quick solve that was helped by the very precise wordplay.
I wondered whether it is fair to have the letter (O)scar on its own sandwiched in the middle of the 3-word anagram fodder, but obviously it is.
Many thanks to the setter for the enjoyment, and to ALP for the write-up.
1.5*/4* for me today.
I found this so much more accessible than yesterday’s crossword. It must be that wavelength phenomenon. At least it restored a measure of reassurance because it felt as if I had lost the old marbles yesterday. Favourite was 25 across. Thanks to ALP for explanations and today’s setter.