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
Is it effect or affect
Hi BH
It’s the latter.
I remember the difference by using the word raven (the initials of the following words):
Remember
Affect
Verb
Effect
Noun
You’ll be right 9 out of 10 times as affect can occasionally be a noun and effect can sometimes be a verb.
It has to be affect as it is F for female, FE for iron, inside Act for performance.
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’ve seen others say the it’s acceptable for anagram fodder to contain abbreviations only when they are single letters that are the start of the word in the clue (though I’ve no idea if that’s actual Telegraph Puzzles policy). On that basis all of the Nato alphabet would be fine, as would carbon = C — but not potassium = K, nor aluminium = Al.
Thanks for replying.
Still not convinced though. There are countless abbreviations used in crosswords, C(old) M(ale) L(iberal), W(ith), F(emale) etc etc to name just a few. Are they fair game too?
Just wonderin’…
Hi J
This is an interesting one.
My thinking is, if the word can represent only one thing, in this case Oscar meaning O, then I reckon it’s okay.
The examples you have used could have other meanings.
Saying that, it depends on the context as Oscar may be in a clue to do with films where it won’t signify an O.
I’m guessing common sense comes into play in that situation.
Yes, I believe so.
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.
The compiler certainly set a challenge by throwing the 17d down. Contrary to other comments I found this tough with only a handful from the first few reads through. Gradually it all came together aided by the two long down clues, albeit 5d was late to fall. The OGC’s have certainly had a work out today. No bad thing at all. 10a is my cotd. Thanks to compiler and ALP.
I`m glad somebody else found this puzzle testing. Given that the Friday puzzles of late have been relatively easy, this was for me, a challenge. Perfectly doable but certainly not benign, light etc etc!
This might be my fastest Friday finish — and all parsed without needing assistance from our cataphobic stand-in hinter (but thank you for being there).
Plaudits to the setter for such an enjoyable puzzle. Top clues included the extravagant lady in 25a, the 8d noises, and the 17d digital protection. Plus 10a, because it’s the title of one of my favourite songs, from Keston Cobblers Club:
A first for me this week in finishing all the weekday crosswords without the hints. Today’s was even completed without understanding about half the clues but having an idea from the checkers of a word that would fit to one of the words in the clue. I then still had no idea of the parsing with at least half of these guessed words so will need to read the hints so kindly prepared for us.
Question; can this method be counted as a proper solve of crosswords? Am I a cruciverbalist?
My thanks to ALP and the setter.
Somebody (can’t remember who it was) posed the question of is a puzzle solved if all the wordplay isn’t fully understood. Having only recently discovered the site & having never previously been unduly bothered if the why wasn’t apparent I answered of course it is – a correct full grid is the requirement & you don’t have to show the workings out. Needless to say I got shot down in flames & reading the reviews has taught me that a fully parsed puzzle is the much more satisfying solve. I still have a tendency to bung in (5d today) & move on but now I try to go back through the puzzle to satisfy myself I could hint the clues if required to do so.
That said you can still win The Mythical with a grid full of bung ins. 😀
Well said Huntsman. It is so much more satisfying when fully parsed, and really quite irritating when unable to – fortunately this excellent site means if I finally give up I can look at the hints rather than let it haunt me at about 3am!
Having bunged in 28a, I still can’t parse it despite the hint!! I think the mythical is just that, mythical.
Mace is the “club” you need. And “on” = concerning/with reference to. Does that help?
Thanks, got it now!
Stick K into the pictured club + RE + L
I’ve always been of the view that the target is a completed grid, and that the clues to the definitions are just that, clues. To be used if needed, which 95+% of the time they most certainly are, but if the definition is obvious and the answer clear, either from the checkers or enumeration, then job done, biff away. For me it’s a case of parse later by all means, but then come here (or to TFTT) and understand why the answer is what is, improve my crossword-solving technique, and know better next time.
Equally I have no issue with checking a dictionary (paper, preferably, but online is fine too) to look up or confirm an unfamiliar word; or going online to find out what something unfamiliar in a clue or answer actually is or means; or using a thesaurus to look up synonyms. After all, the setters certainly do when compiling a grid! I consider that the aim is not to dwell forever in ignorant darkness, abandoning a puzzle “because I didn’t know X or hadn’t heard of Y”, but to strive for the light, to improve both vocabulary and general knowledge.
Today’s excellent Sparks Toughie is a case in point: some unfamilar words, very fairly clued, and both my vocab & GK have been extended. It’s not as tough as Sparks sometimes makes them, and it’s not so impenetrable as an Osmosis or Elgar grid, so I would urge anyone who would otherwise be put off by “Friday Toughie” to give it a go.
Thank you your comment Mustafa G. It is most encouraging as when I have a success like today I always read the hints to understand the clue and its solution which is a learning opportunity,
I’m with prawn on this,a tough workout and spent a lot of time on it , although patches of the east fell very quickly But the south west corner very dick dastardly for me , and last to fall . Thanks to all .9d and 17d , appropriately, favourites .
For a Friday, I would call this a pretty gentle puzzle this week. Wonder if that means the weekend is going to be a little trickier?
Anyway, Nothing out in left field really.
2.5*/3.5* for me
Favourite candidates 14a, 23a, 6d, 7d, 9d & 22d — with winners 6d & 22d
Thanks to setter & ALP
Wow, that was a tussle and MrG’s help, patticularly in SE, was much appreciated. 2d and 5d seem to be confusing adjectives and nouns once more. TVM setter and ALP.
Relatively benign for a Friday offering.
10a, 13a and 11a favourites today.
Thanks to setter and ALP
2*/4*
A super puzzle with just enough pause for thought (or should that be pause to parse?) for a Friday. Thanks to the setter and to ALP for a brilliant introduction!
Solved at silly o’clock during a sleep interrupted night & seemed to tune in from the off for a brisk completion. Somewhat surprised therefore to see our reviewer’s difficulty rating as I’m in the very gentle for a Friday camp. I read yesterday that I’m going to have to go elsewhere to get my peppered 28a as Waitrose are to stop stocking the fish & rather wished ‘id’ was an acceptable 2 letter abbreviation for idiot at 13a. An enjoyable solve – particularly liked the two long ‘uns + 16&17d.
Thanks to the setter (Zandio I reckon) & ALP – cracking lyric spot for 11a.
“Somewhat surprised … to see our reviewer’s difficulty rating”. Ha, I just can’t win with you, can I? I literally asked myself “what would Huntsman do?” and tacked another point on, so I clearly underestimated you. Apologies!
The rating’s ok for me – I just figured you’d give it a 1* 😄
Listened to a fair bit of The Record Company btw after your clip yesterday – don’t know how they passed me by
I’m glad – I did think they’d be right up your street.
A splendid puzzle that occupied me for longer than usual when I tackled it this morning. Whether that was because it was tricky or because my eldest and I hit Watford hard last night, with concomitant fogging of the brain, I couldn’t say. I do know that I thought 17d was a fantastic clue and that it took me a while to work out what was digital about the solution. Thanks very much to the setter and to ALP for a great selection of clips.
No real problems for me today apart from failing to correctly parse 1d. The SW was my list in and took a bit of thinking about. Favourite was 17d. Thanks to the setter and ALP.
Easier than usual for the end of the week ( apparently the modern acronym for a Friday is now WFHD) with the large brain as my favourite clue. Thank you compiler and ALP
Dear me, contrary to everyone else I only got less than half before consulting bigdave this afternoon. I was totally not on the same wavelength as the setter. Rather depressed as I had been having a good week thus far – par for the course I suppose
As I’m giving this 3 stars for difficulty, this has to be, for me, the easiest week of crossies ever: 1, 2, 1, 2 & 3
It was a small tussle, a tissle, if you will, with my LOI being, like others, 5d. A fine clue.
It’s obviously an accepted technique but I don’t like the idea of a setter making up a piece of work to help a clue’s surface, in this case, Palaver. I think Zandio does this occasionally. So, my money is on him.
I biffed the second word of 3d as it’s one of these beastie ‘playing around with a non-obvious synonym’ clues which I’m not a fan of. It’s one too far for a backpager, in my eyes, anyway.
Saying all that, I thoroughly enjoyed this with my podium being 5d, 21d (a great image) and 22d.
MTTTA and Alpingtons.
3*/4*
Clearly somebody needs to write a farce called Palaver, then! The closest I could find is the splendidly titled The Cadaver Palaver — which sounds fun from this review. Anybody seen it?
Tom. I did tell you some weeks ago that setters are prone to making up people’s names, books, plays, places, etc to suit some aspect of a clue. It’s a fairly common device.
Hi J
I did mention that it’s an accepted technique. I’m just not a fan of it.
I will mention it again, from time to time.
Thanks ALP (I think that was The Talons of Weng-Chiang, scared me witless too) and to everyone who has commented today.
Smylers has it correct re. SLAs in anagram fodder. Setters (and editors I think) would probably prefer not to go down that path, but it can help dig one out of a hole if the fodder is not yielding usable words to make an acceptable surface. And it must be a ‘direct’ SLA, as Smyler outlines. Some setters would perhaps not resort to such trickery, but clearly I ain’t one of them 😊
Toughie duty in a fortnight, when I will be ironing my party outfit ready for the annual Listener Dinner that weekend. See you all next time.
Huge thanks for popping in, and for another cracker.
I found this challenging, but did finish and needed help with parsing 3. I thought 18a brilliantly disguised and 3d made me smile.
Many thanks to Karla and to ALP for the hints.
This was probably relatively easy for a Friday, but I got totally stuck with 5d and 9d, which really put the mockers on me solving it without a number of hints. I was also in totally the wrong wavelength with 1a and the grass. RE the comments about understanding the parsing v just getting the grid correct, I always want to understand the answer before completing the clue. It seems kind of cheating to me. You should know how you have got to the answer. The main thing though surely, is that by understanding it, you are learning and improving on your crossword -solving ability. Many thanks to the setter and ALP. ****/**** for me. But I am improving.
I agree 100% with you; I really dislike phrases like ‘bung in’ and ‘biff in’ which basically mean ‘guess the answer’. I can’t see what pleasure anyone gets from filling the grid with guesses.
2.5* / 4* I found this just right for a Friday with plenty of terrific clues.
My favourites today include the 7d fabric, big glove at 16d and the 1a grass
Thanks to Karla and ALP
The thin client and digital protection at 17D was my standout in a great puzzle. VMT to Karla and ALP.
Great solve today. Quite a challenge though.
Needing the hint to parse 5d.
Thanks to all.
Two in a day for me as at the 100 Club last night for an excellent gig from Evan Peters as the Alarm, keeping his old mans fire burning. Superb night.
Ydays offering left me dry and remains unsolved. Today’s however took some dismantling but an excellent solve.
Thanks to all.
A mixed bag – mostly steady sailing, then a prolonged battle with a few in NE and the troublesome singleton 17D. The breakthrough was 6D’s deer and LOI was 11A’s king, my Mum then told me about 11A’s Dyke.
Pody picks are 10A’s great word, 29A for the use of iron-clad and 5D’s noises.
Thanks to setter and to ALP, it’s nice being able to picture you following the recent Birthday Bash 🙂
I thought this was an enjoyable and well balanced puzzle that was full of good clues. Thank you.
Favourites included 22d and 5d, and I thought the answer in 18a was particularly well hidden.
COTD for me was 11a: succinct and clever.
2*/4* …
liked 11A ” Old king with large brain? (5)”