Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31178
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
Good morning from a sunny and springlike South Hampshire. Once again we have an excellent midweek puzzle, with some cracking clues. This was the hardest of the week for me so far, mainly because it took me a while to identify the Russian spymaster in 3d. The clues that made it to my (somewhat overcrowded) podium today were 4a, 9a, 2d, 14d and 19d, with 9a the winner by a whisker. Many thanks to today’s setter.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and indicator words (e.g. anagram indicators) are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons.
Across Clues
1a Ignore first of letters penned by lender (5)
BLANK: The first character of ‘letters’ is placed inside (penned by) an institution that might lend you money.
4a Full of energy – vroom! – led Wacky Races here (9)
VELODROME: An anagram (wacky) of VROOM LED containing (full of) the abbreviation for Energy.
9a Beery yobbo Elgar sozzled, left unconscious (5,4)
LAGER LOUT: An anagram (sozzled) of ELGAR is followed by the abbreviation for Left and a synonym of ‘unconscious’.
10a Circuit breaker initially installed in atomic science college (5)
AMBIT: The first letter (initially) of ‘breaker’ is inserted between (installed in) the abbreviation for ‘atomic’ and the acronym for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
11a Press yellow base metal made from this? (4,3)
IRON ORE: A synonym of ‘press’ is followed by the term in heraldry that means yellow or gold, and the symbol for the natural logarithm base in mathematics.
12a Cheaper looking Scottish spud set before king (7)
TATTIER: A traditional accompaniment to haggis is placed before the abbreviation for Rex (king).
13a Opening discount store (6)
OUTLET: A double definition.
15a As he left the Sorbonne, le duc ate dainty sandwiches (8)
EDUCATED: This lurker, that ‘le duc ate dainty’ hides or ‘sandwiches’, is how a Frenchman would hope to be described upon leaving University.
18a Character in shocking film dealing with erotic s*x (8)
EXORCIST: An anagram (dealing with) of EROTIC SX.
20a Clergyman put back in prison in the US – a deep, dark hole (6)
CAVERN: A three-letter abbreviation for a clergyman is reversed (put back) and inserted into an American slang word for a prison.
23a Huge US subject visited by male doctor (7)
MAMMOTH: The US abbreviation for mathematics is placed around (visited by) the abbreviation for ‘male’ and the abbreviation for a doctor or Medical Officer.
24a Former partner, full-figured specimen (7)
EXAMPLE: The usual term for a former partner is followed by a synonym of ‘full-figured’.
26a Joint continued to irritate when uncovered (5)
ANKLE: A synonym of ‘continued to irritate’ has its outer letters removed (uncovered).
27a Adores Depp, mostly playing an outlaw (9)
DESPERADO: An anagram (playing) of ADORES DEP[p] without the last letter (mostly).
28a Seaman quietly ‘eavin’ heavy-duty cover (9)
TARPAULIN: An informal word for a sailor is followed by the musical symbol for ‘quietly’ and a synonym of ‘heaving’ that has been given the same treatment as its clue, i.e. dropping the initial ‘h’ and the final ‘g’.
29a Legendary Roman figure displayed in Louvre museum (5)
REMUS: One of the two legendary founders of Rome is contained within (displayed in) the last two words of the clue.
Down Clues
1d US city extra supportive of a spin-off of Indian cuisine (9)
BALTIMORE: A synonym of ‘extra’ is placed after (supportive of, in a down clue) a curry dish that originated in Birmingham in the 1970s.
2d Deleted content of appalling Grok – endless trouble (5)
AGGRO: Delete the internal letters (content) of ‘appalling’, and append all the letters of ‘Grok’ except the last (endless).
3d Russian spymaster forgets line, fine start to evening singsong! (7)
KARAOKE: Take a fictional character from the novels of John le Carré, remove the letter L (forgets line) and add an informal word meaning ‘fine’ or satisfactory, and the first letter of (start to) ‘evening’. The spymaster in question is a shadowy Soviet intelligence officer who is the nemesis of George Smiley.
4d Taking name of aggressive woman (6)
VIOLET: Remove the abbreviation for ‘name’ from a synonym of ‘aggressive’, leaving a female forename.
5d Room height, length raised (8)
LATITUDE: A synonym of ‘height’ has the letter representing ‘length’ brought forward (raised, in a down clue), giving a word that can mean ‘room’ in the sense of ‘scope’ or ‘lack of restraint’.
6d Detectives arresting emperor? Flipping severe! (7)
DRASTIC: The acronym for the plainclothes branch of a police force is placed round (arresting) a word for a Russian ruler, then the whole thing is reversed (flipping).
7d Dungeon in Paris where Ms Davis necks large one (9)
OUBLIETTE: The word for ‘where’ in French (in Paris) is followed by the first name of a famous American actress that has been placed around (necks) the abbreviation for ‘large’ and the letter that looks like the number 1.
8d Go into two hospital departments (5)
ENTER: The abbreviation for the Ear, Nose and Throat department is followed by the abbreviation for the department known as Emergency Room in North America (and Accident and Emergency in the UK).
14d Extremely liberal mother, one rejected by Starmer and Starmer’s father? (9)
TOOLMAKER: A synonym for ‘extremely’ is followed by the abbreviation for ‘liberal’, an informal word for a mother, and the first name of the current UK prime minister without the letter ‘I’ (one rejected).
16d Unsafe, rickety garden house with peeling walls (9)
DANGEROUS: An anagram (rickety) of GARDEN is followed by the word ‘house’ after removing or ‘peeling’ its outer letters or ‘walls’.
17d Lops head off flowering plant (8)
ASPHODEL: An anagram (off) of LOPS HEAD.
19d Truncated holiday time? On top of this, caught ailment (7)
CHOLERA: Take a shortened form of the word ‘holiday’, add a three-letter word for a period of time, and place the cricketing abbreviation for ‘caught’ at the beginning (on top, in a down clue).
21d “America, China United” – Russia’s premier layman (7)
AMATEUR: Take the single-letter abbreviation for America and follow this with the synonym of ‘friend’ for which ‘China [plate]’ is Cockney rhyming slang, then add the abbreviation for ‘united’ and the first letter (premier) of ‘Russia’.
22d Period at school not as busy? (6)
LESSON: The last three words of the clue would describe the solution, if it were written ****/**.
23d Signified average temperature (5)
MEANT: A synonym of ‘average’ is followed by the abbreviation for ‘temperature’.
25d Pascal Lamy regularly censored sacred hymn (5)
PSALM: The alternate letters (regularly censored) of the first two words in the clue.
Which clues did you like best? Please let us know in the comments section below.
The Quick Crossword pun: NOH + BEL + PIECE + PRIES = NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
It took a while to get into today’s offering with only eight falling on the first pass. However, round metal objects began to fall sporadically and the grid filled in gradually. Trying to put the wrong French prison in at 7d held me up for a while. It didn’t fit so I knew it was wrong but I simply could not get it out of my head. All became clear when I solved the Wacky Races at 4a. The one that had me laughing out loud and is my COTD is Starmer’s father at 14d.
Thank you, setter for an enjoyable puzzle. Thank you, Deansleigh for the hints.
Good to have you back in your usual ‘1st cab of the rank’ spot
I auapect your first stab at the French prison was rje same as mine Steve, but it’s never that straightforward with Wednesday’s compiler. Then I realised wh Ms Davis was … 🙂
Yes, I was in there with Marie Antoinette as well!
off the rank obviously
A steady solve with nothing too left field, although the dungeon in Paris was a new word to me. Whilst the answer to 11a is obvious I could not see where the ‘yellow’ fits in, so thanks DL for the armorial link.. Starmer’s father is my COTD.
Everything fairly clued so my thanks to the setter and Deansleigh.
The Quickie pun is also very good.
2*/4*
Hi, Dave. Note the answer to 7d is a general word used for that type of medieval dungeon, and while its etymology is French, it doesn’t have to be in Paris nor indeed anywhere in France. “Paris” is part of the wordplay — see Deansleigh’s explanation above.
There are claims of a 7d at Warwick Castle, though in searching for it I’ve just found an article disputing that, and I’m way too ignorant on the matter to take sides.
I saw the 7d at Warwick Castle some years ago, and I doubt that it has been removed or repurposed since then!
I meant they were disputing that being a 7d was its purpose, not that it physically didn’t exist any more!
I thought I saw one in Edinburgh Castle, but as I’ve been to Warwick as well, it could easily be a case of memory fog!
What a great puzzle but by no means a walk in the park. I found it a tussle in places but so enjoyable once I’d worked out the parsing. I had to check the spymaster as I wasn’t aware of him.
Top picks for me were 17d (I’m a sucker for a flower!), 21d, 9a, 23a and 28a.
Thanks to Deansleigh and the setter.
Really enjoyed today’s puzzle-finished independently and much easier to me than Monday’s or Tuesday’s. Lots of great wordplay, especially enjoyed 4a, 24a, 6d, 19d, 22d, with COTD the gettable but hilariously parsed 14d.
Thanks for the blog, and to the setter for a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle
The first pass gave a less than generous three for the across clues and a slightly better 8 for the downs. With most of the perimeter solved, the rest went in without a fuss. So many to like 1, 13, 18, 20 and 28 across, 1, 4, 9, 16 and 22 down. 17d is a new word for me but not difficult to guess. LOI was 14d. Many thanks to the setter and hinter
Thank you to Hudson for a most enjoyable puzzle: lots of fun, with a steady solve and some clues which took a little unravelling. I particularly liked 2d for the Grok surface†; 8d, 22d, and 23d for the elegance; 21d for being one of those where I sceptically follow what appear to be the instructions and am surprised when a word pops out at the end; 15a for another fantastic lurker that kept lurking for far longer than I’m happy about; the seaman ‘eavin’ in 28a; and Ms Davies in the 7d dungeon.
I hadn’t heard of the 17d flower (but guessed it from the fodder and crossing letters), nor of Pascal Lamy in 25d for that matter, but I’m pleased to find he exists.
Thanks, Deansleigh, for being a safety net. At several points I thought I was going to need you, then inspiration struck just in time.
† Grok, for those blissfully unaware, is Elon Musk’s AI robot which was in the news for editing photos people had posted online and removing their clothing.
Fortunately the word Grok still reminds me almost entirely of Heinlein’s “Stranger In A Strange Land”, despite Musk’s subsequent (ab)use of it. Can hardly believe that book is now some 65 years old!
I am with you there MG, A mention of Asimov’s I Robot in the Sunday Toughie reminded me of a misspent youth in the Sci Fi section of many bookshops. I don’t think Mr Musk can have read Stranger in a Strange Land as he doesn’t really “Grok” what Grok means
ooooh…. i hadn’t spotted that. clever.
thanks smylers
I didn’t think this was very easy. got there in the end
thanks all
3*/4*. Challenging and good fun, although I am not keen on the constructions used in 18a & 28a, and, as pointed out by our reviewer, one of the hospital departments in 8d is American.
14d was my favourite of several ticked clues.
Many thanks to the setter. I wonder if 3d might give us a clue to their identity? Thanks too to Deansleigh.
I too was surprised at 18 & 28a.
Well, I suppose it keeps us on our toes.
Witty, highly entertaining and a real treat for a gloomy Wednesday. I have so many ticks on my page it’s an embarrassment of riches for podium places, so the random pin has been forced into service and the result is 1d, 7d and 3d in top spot. I did wonder whether 14d was more than a bit tongue in cheek and was a lol moment, for me anyway. Thanks to Hudson and Deansleigh.
I hadn’t got far in this perfect Wednesday backpager before I decided this must be the work of Hudson, my favourite clue 14d only adding to my conviction. A very crowded podium of great clues today
Thanks very much to Hudson and Deansleigh
Oh come on! The committee were gathered at the door within the hour of this guzzle being published. The quickest vote in history led to both 7d and 17d being welcomed on to The List. For those visiting after the winter break (much restoration work has taken place at a minimal £50 billion to the taxpayer) these two may be found in the refurbished East Wing between ‘archimandrites’ and ‘ikebana’.
A new visitor guide is available at only £60 per copy. Audio descriptive visit conducted by Colonel Bagshot.
Thanks to the setter and Single Head
Great fun – many thanks to our setter and Deansleigh.
I particularly liked 29a, 3d, 7d, 19d and 22d with my favourite being the very amusing 14d.
Got to the tape unaided but I rated it as 3 star for difficulty.. We visited Corfe castle last year so that gave me 7 down and I rate it as favourite on the grid. Lots of misdirection that is why I raised the bar for difficulty. Most enjoyable challenge.Many thanks to Deansleighand Hudson. Will check out all the parsing after Tai Chi.
A couple in the north east and south west held me at bay and pushed this into 3* category .New flower , new circuit . New weather phenomenon here in Bolton , it’s called the sun !! . Thanks to all . Just starting the toughie before visiting my cardiologist .
Is that wise?
good point well made DG
Fran we have enjoyed two lovely days at Egerton. The washing machine has barely stopped and we can actually see signs of spring in the garden!
An absolute cracker of a puzzle despite it putting up minimal resistance, a straightforward N-S solve. Laughs throughout, witty clueing. With two setters very clearly referenced (9a and 3d) and a possible third (29a, albeit the Listener), I did wonder whether that was it or if there were any others.
Honours to the wonderful 18a, 28a and 14d but many could have joined those three on the podium.
Huge thanks to Hudson, surely, or whomever else the setter is if not he, and of course to Deansleigh
Complicated to judge this offering from, presumably, Hudson. Once again, the puzzle was not available on the web site at the appointed hour but it was on my ‘on its last legs’ tablet. Then I had an ‘enforced’ break to participate in a two hour Zoom meeting. When this was complete, the web site version was available which enabled a relatively speedy conclusion. So difficulty – je ne sais pas, enjoyment – ****.
Candidates for favourite – 13a, 4d, 5d, and 7d – and the winner is 4d.
Thanks to Hudson and Deansleigh.
I have found that if the puzzle is available on one device, but not there on another if I open it on the first device and bung some random letters in a few lights then close the puzzle it should be available in the continue playing page on the other device.
Like others, I made a slow start but made more priogress when the checkers went i n. Much lucky guessing and reverse engineering of the parsing ensued before I completed the puzzle. I had never heaard of the spymasrer, veing rather averse to John Le Carre’s offerings byt I liked 7d, 14d, the geographical clue at 1d and the botanical clue at 17d .Thanks to Deansleigh and the compiler.
Well this was much more difficult than the last two days and I needed a few hints. Two new words – the circuit and the dungeon and I didn’t even know the flower. I liked 28a. It definitely has to be verging on a **** because of the new words, but thanks to the setter and Deansleigh for the hints. I am off into the garden again!
Not sure whether Smylers knows for definite that this one is penned by Hudson but it had the feel of one of his. A tad trickier than Mon & Tues but still a brisk completion with no crumpet scratching & very enjoyable it was too. Pleased to remember 7d from previous puzzles &17d has cropped up recently too – that said no objection to them being re-housed in the East Wing & pleased to hear the £50 billion refurb came in under budget.
Keir’s old man was the pick of a great bunch of clues with podium spots for 3&5d.
Thanks to the setter/Hudson & to Deansleigh
As I usually seem to find, this Wednesday puzzle ups the difficulty from the start of the week. Some tricky clues in here as well as some parsing issues too. However there were some smiles along the way too.
2.5*/3.5* today
Favourites include 12a, 18a, 20a, 4d, 6d & 16d — with winner 12a
Smiles for 20a, 4d & 8d
Thanks to Hudson(?) & Deansleigh
You had me at ‘Wacky Races’.
Then you’ve got a sauced-up yob, the truly superbly structured anagrams in 18a and the ‘eavin’ in 28a. Throw in some specialist knowledge and a ton of humour and you’ve got yourself a marvellous midweeker, my friend.
18a and 28a smack of Mr T as he pushes the envelope more than anyone though The Hud occasionally goes off-the-wall. I too, thought of Karla with 3d but I’ll go with ‘The Tumble’.
The solver has given us an American indicator in 20a and, to a degree (!), 23a but not with 8d which is interesting.
I love it when setters use a real person for the fodder, in this case, Pascal Lamy, as opposed to made-up ones like the palaver of concocting the name of a play which they are, of course, entitled to do. What a great choice of words 7d is as it means ‘forget’ in French. Brutal but fair.
Right, you setters. No more using 27a for the rest of the year. Have you got that? Good.
My pody picks are 4a (obvs), 9a (ditto) and 14d which was excellent.
MMTTTA and Single Head.
2*/5*
Bad luck, Tom: Hudson claimed this one on BlueSky this morning.
Akin to the government briefing the media before the 🏠
Fairy nuff.
It’s great to see The Hud go down Random Road.
I’m impressed by your conviction that it was Hudson, S.
Was there anything in the crossword that convinced you to go all in?
No, not from the crossword, just the social media post claiming it.
Clearly there are in-crossword tells, though, because CrypticSue can spot them!
I’d love to know what they are as it’s not easy.
I’m definitely getting used to his style but he often goes off piste like Mr T.
I did think when you said ‘Thank you Hudson’, with no question mark or ‘maybe’, that you had found out.
Back in the saddle after a couple of days in Brighton helping a friend clear his father’s house, which was a strangely enjoyable although sobering experience. Having missed the start of the week, much of the puzzle felt like a jump into the deep end, although I got there in the end (only through a process of attrition in the case of the flower at 17d). Good fun nevertheless, with 18a my favourite. Thanks very much to Hudson and to Deansleigh.
I hope that your friend’s father hadn’t passed away but reading your comment prompted me to seek out a Louden Wainwright song that I saw him perform on a great edition of The Songwriter’s Circle
Thanks, highly apposite and rather wonderful in any case. I’ve spent much of the day upgrading my hifi with a dead man’s speakers and listening to a dead man’s records. Good to see Richard T there with LWIII. I’ve only seen Loudon at Thompson’s 70th bash at the Albert Hall but should make the effort to explore his work in more depth.
You should watch the whole show if it’s available anywhere. It was a terrific format – get 3 artists up & get ‘em to play 3 songs each in rotation.
What a great challenge! Huge solving satisfaction and quite a few laughs, we all know about Starmer’s father and I thought 5 and 6 down were excellent. Many thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh for the hint about 3d.
Until this puzzle, not all of us on Starmer senior!
It’s a standing joke that he can barely complete a speech without claiming he’s working class because of his old man’s job
Late in the day for me but never too late to thank our compiler and Deansleigh for their combined efforts. From many great clues I went for 14d as my particular favourite this sunny afternoon. Really good fun.
Thought this was tough but I learned new words! But still don’t understand the use of the asterisk in the 18a anagram … indeed at first thought it was a speck of dust on my iPad!! Thank you compiler and Deansleigh
I assumed it was to bleep out the word as if it was a naughty word to make the anagram work , but the word sex isn’t that naughty? So I also did sort of wonder.
Quite tricky in places but very enjoyable 😃 ***/**** Favourites 11a & 25a and 1d 👍 Thanks to Hudson and to Deansleigh for cheering up a dull day
Threw in the towel and leant heavily on Deansleigh in order to complete. Perhaps I am being stuffy but I am beginning to jib at the increasingly colloquial tone of DT crosswords these days – a sign of anno domini no doubt! Thanks Hudson and Deansleigh.
A wonderful puzzle from a gloriously sunny Hope Cove. Nice to have time to relax and do the puzzle in between dog walks on the beach. I’d not heard of the word for dungeon and I could only think one ‘Ms Davis’ – Sharon until I used electronic help 🙄! Thanks to Hudson and to Deansleigh.
Your mention of Hope Cove brought back memories of so many childhood holidays in Thurlestone and enjoying visits/hikes to Hope Cove, etc. Thanks JennyM.
My favourite of the week so far, and surprisingly the quickest solve. Loads to like here, thanks to Setter and Deansleigh. If pushed I’d say 28a my favourite
A slower solve for me today and not helped by being out all afternoon. Started at the bottom of the grid and worked my way up. I needed some hints to help me over the line. Many thanks to the Setter and Deansleigh.
** / ****
Very late to the party due to being away with work this week. Needed the hints to confirm 3 parsings including the ‘delightful Starmer’ (wanted the only human outside his family to say that) and it’s not political as there are many Starmers in the world 😀. The tickets went to the delightfully disguised lurker in the Sorbonne and the flowering plant. I have to say I think I only know that flower at 17d and the 7d dungeon from crosswords. If I know them from elsewhere then I’ve forgotten.
Many thanks to Hudson and single head (easier to spell correctly)
3d was a bit of a bung in as I came up with a name that sounded Russian but didn’t know it. Last two in were 10a and 7d which were both words of never heard of but I have now. The rest of the puzzle was fairly straightforward albeit with a couple of head scratchers. 17d has cropped up a few times recently. Favourite was 14d as it made me laugh. The irony of it seems to be lost on Starmer as he’s the tool. Thanks to Hudson and DL.
I handily had 10a in my mind because I’d looked it up shortly before starting this crossword, owing to its also appearing in today’s Cross Atlantic! There it’s in the plural and has the definition ‘Compasses’ , which I would never have solved. (Fortunately in that type of crossword all the letters cross, so the answer appeared anyway.)
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle which was completed before we went out, it was full of excellent and fun clues with 4a my favourite.
Many thanks to Hudson and to Deansleigh for the hints.
Took nearly the entire Paddington to Cardiff train journey this evening to finish this tricky little number
A fifth change of name sent you into moderation
I have a soft spot for cycling so the wacky racing appealed to me 28a and 1d can join it on the podium.
Thanks to Deansliegh and setter.
3*/4* …
liked 9A “Beery yobbo, Elgar sozzled, left unconscious (5,4) “