Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31194
Hints and tips by Smylers
Hello. I’d claim it’s always a good time to visit Ilkley, but now’s a particularly good time, with it looking like this:
(Click to enlarge.)
Actually, there is a bad time to visit Ilkley, and that is Saturday July 25th, because that day we’re all invited to Birmingham for a Mid-Year Blog Bash. If you’re reading this, you’re welcome to join us — whether you’re a regular commenter or a lurker, whether you’ve been an accomplished crossword solver for years or you’re a complete beginner, it’s open to all who visit Big Dave’s Crossword Blog. Mark the date on your calendars, and please leave a comment on that post if you’re planning on coming, so that Sloop John Bee, the blog’s de facto social secretary, has an idea of numbers. Hope to see you there.
Hints and explanations for today’s Telegraph cryptic crossword are below, with the answers hidden in the blobs labelled (but not this one). I suspect many will find it straightforward, but my grid was sparser than often on Mondays after a first pass, so I’ve gone with ★★ for difficulty. Comments are welcome below. See Big Dave’s etiquette guide for the house rules.
Across
1a Leave chaps beginning to teach division (10)
DEPARTMENT: Enter in order: a verb meaning ‘leave’; another word for ‘chaps’; and the beginning letter of ‘teach’.
The original’s a classic, but I also love this bonkers cover version:
6a Old South American‘s tiny scar discovered (4)
INCA: Dis-cover the preceding 2 words by removing their covers, as in their outside letters. Put what’s left in the grid.
9a Go around this person’s Italian city (5)
TURIN: A go, for instance in a board game, is placed around a pronoun indicating ‘this person’.
10a Bank securing personal credit for former news presenter? (4,5)
TOWN CRIER: The bank here is a raised area. It goes around both a synonym for ‘personal’ (in the sense of belonging to oneself) and the accounting notation for a credit. I object to ‘former’ in the definition: Ilkley’s is called Isabel and she’s still very much part of our community!
12a Intervene and think carefully, having no time (7)
MEDIATE: This intervening in the good way, sorting out a dispute. Form it by removing one of the instances of the physics symbol for time from a verb meaning to think deeply about something.
13a Cognisant of fighting in A&E (5)
AWARE: Put some fighting, the really bad kind between countries, between the letters A and E.
15a To an extent, part is terrifying for performer (7)
ARTISTE: The answer is an extent of consecutive letters, found lurking among some words in the middle of the clue.
16a Need AGM to change final section (7)
ENDGAME: Change the order of the letters in ‘Need AGM’ to spell out the answer.
18a Royal Navy notice breaking also in storm (7)
TORNADO: Make the abbreviation for ‘Royal Navy’ and the usual ‘notice’ break into the middle of a synonym for ‘also’.
20a Understanding current things badly (7)
INSIGHT: After the physics symbol for electrical current, arrange the letters of ‘things’ badly.
21a Hint about maintaining the French braid (5)
PLAIT: Another word for a hint is turned about, so it reads right-to-left, and then maintains inside it one of the words for ‘the’ in French.
23a Rebellion without singular issue (7)
EDITION: A word for political rebellion loses the single-letter abbreviation for ‘singular’. The issue is an instance of a publication.
25a Unorthodox pianist entertaining a king from Asian country (9)
PAKISTANI: Note the ‘from’ is part of the definition, so we want a nationality rather than the name of a country. Put the letters of ‘pianist’ in an unorthodox order, and make them entertain the A from the clue and the letter sometimes used in chess notation instead of ♔.
I think this pianist counts as unorthodox — the first instruction is “Place metal ruler over treble range strings”:
26a Former priest from the east cast out (5)
EXILE: Start with a prefix meaning ‘former’. Follow that with the usual Old Testament priest, entered from east to west.
27a Naked women getting married travel by horse (4)
RIDE: Here we need the word for a woman on her wedding day, to pluralise it so there’s more than one of them (hopefully at different weddings!), then to remove both outer letters.
28a Everyone follows strangely lovely British sport (10)
VOLLEYBALL: A word meaning ‘everyone’ follows both a strange arrangement of the letters of ‘lovely’ and the single-letter abbreviation for ‘British’. At university I joined our hall’s team for this sport on the basis that all the properly sporty people were off playing something else. I have a badge for being the intramural champions, something we mainly achieved by being good at fielding a valid team. My main contribution in the final was some mildly biassed refereeing. (Both teams were supposed to provide someone to referee jointly, but the other side hadn’t bothered to do so, so I thought it fair enough!)
Down
1d See fruit (4)
DATE: This took me longer than I feel it should, only working it out once I had the crossing letters. ‘See’ is used in the romantic sense of seeing somebody.
2d Edge of boggy area to the north circumvented by saint (9)
PERIMETER: A boggy area goes north up the grid; the name of one of Jesus’s apostles circumvents it by surrounding it in the usually southerly direction.
3d Philosopher‘s rent decreases, oddly (4,9)
RENÉ DESCARTES: Put the letters of ‘rent decreases’ in an odd order.
4d Encountered that guy purchasing an essential element of natural gas (7)
METHANE: Usually ‘essential element of’ in cryptic crosswords indicates to take the central letter of the following word, but doing that here doesn’t help. Start with a synonym for ‘encountered’. After that we need the pronoun indicating ‘that guy’ when it’s the subject of a sentence, and to make it purchase the ‘an’ from the clue.
5d Currently, that woman’s on ecstasy in remote place (7)
NOWHERE: A synonym for ‘currently’ and the pronoun indicating ‘that woman’ when used as the object of a sentence both get placed on a slang term for the drug ecstasy.
7d New operatic song raised money in Nigeria (5)
NAIRA: Do you know the name of the currency used in Nigeria? I didn’t, but it’s easy to form it: start with the single-letter indicating ‘new’, then follow it with the term for an operatic solo, raised so it’s entered up the grid.
8d Deals with representatives detaining mere criminal (10)
AGREEMENTS: The deals here are nouns; don’t be led astray by ‘Deals with’ suggesting a verb. Some representatives of another party detain inside them a criminal spelling of ‘mere’.
11d Family established in Cambridgeshire city nursing daughter in secret (13)
CLANDESTINELY: Concatenate: a word for an extended family, particularly in Scotland; the abbreviation for ‘established’; the ‘in’ from the clue; and a city in Cambridgeshire — then make the combination nurse the abbreviation for ‘daughter’.
14d Recyclable material was flipping dear? A salesman’s upset (5,5)
WASTE PAPER: There’s a lot going on here. In order we need: ‘was’, simply copied from the clue; another term of endearment which can be used like ‘dear’, flipped to read up the grid; the A from the clue; and a usual salesman, who has been upset so also reads upwards.
17d Some fear gent in African country (9)
ARGENTINA: Take some consecutive letters from the following words in the clue. Note ‘African’ is part of the wordplay, not the definition, so the country could be anywhere in the world.
19d Plant king’s daughter is captivated by over and over again (7)
OREGANO: There are a lot of plants. This one is formed by placing the name of a king’s daughter between two instances of the letter that indicate an over in cricket. The king is a fictional one, famous for having three daughters. As it happens, the 13-year-old was playing the servant to one of the other daughters at Leeds Playhouse last week.
20d First one egg, one with endless salt (7)
INITIAL: Enter in order: the Roman numeral for one; an egg of a particular creature, sometimes found in hair; another Roman one; and the word ‘salt’ missing both of its ends.
22d Questioned male leaving with face covered (5)
ASKED: Think of a face covering, then expand that into an adjective which means ‘with face covered’. Hopefully that has the letter which indicates ‘male’ in it, in which case remove it to get the answer.
24d Duck has drink by lake (4)
TEAL: A drink is followed by the abbreviation of ‘Lake’. As with R for ‘River’, I can only think of the single-letter form being used in names of lakes, where it stands for ‘Lake’ with a capital L. If you can think of a situation where it’s used for lower-case ‘lake’, please do leave a comment below.
Pic credit: © Blondinrikard Fröberg, CC BY 2.0
Quickie Pun
In today’s Quick Crossword the first 3 clues are italicized, indicating we can say their answers out loud to make another word, name, or phrase. Reveal the blobs below to check, or to get a bonus song featuring the answer:
GLASS + TONNE + BERRY = GLASTONBURY
Recent Reading
The 4th book in the Marlow Murder Club series ended on a cliffhanger: a stranger turned up at the home of crossword setter Judith Potts. This 5th one continues immediately on, with an event from Judith’s past and a new murder case both running throughout.
I really liked the ending to this, more so than some others in the series. But if you haven’t read any of the others, I recommend The Marlow Murder Club first, to get to know the characters. Cryptic crosswords feature in the plot, which is always both nice to see and worrying, because clues in fiction often turn out to be substandard or implausible. That’s avoided here, largely by only referring to clues rather than quoting them. Though, as with so much cosy crime fiction, plenty of other aspects are implausible if you stop to think about them too much — including the whole premise of Judith and her friends Becks and Suzie solving murders as amateurs. But for me, the plot and the relationship between the characters is enough to just accept the set-up and go along with it.
Robert Thorogood is the creator of TV show Death in Paradise. This book’s cover proclaims these books are also “Now a major TV series”, but I reckon it’s a medium-sized TV series at most (and I prefer the books).
“Cogito, ergo sum”.
With 3d reminding us that we are, this was a terrific start to the puzzling week. 14d threw me for a while. I had the second word but, even with the two checkers, the first eluded me. I didn’t know the Nigerian money but the clue gave clear instructions. My COTD is the old newscaster at 10a. The one in Shrewsbury is a veritable giant.
Thank you, setter for a satisfying solve. Thank you, Smylers for the hints.
3d went into McDonalds and asked for a Big Mac, the server asked would you like fries with that?
he replied ‘I think not’ and promptly disappeared.
Brilliant! 🤣
Like it, TC. Like it.
This was a fun and easy way to start the week. Plenty to like but too many to mention. COTD is 12 across. Many thanks to the setter and hinter.
Slightly chewier than a regular Monday puzzle, but once into it it flowed nicely.
It took a while to get the parsing of 10a even with Smylers hint.
Otherwise my thanks to the setter and Smylers
1.5*/3*
A lovely start to the week with lots to like.
My money is that no one has ever said 11d but who cares? It’s a great Lego clue.
Not only is there ‘A KI’ in 25a (*AKI****) there is also ‘A K2’, the world’s second highest mountain. The reason for its name is it was the second peak surveyed in The Karakoram Range. Hence K2. But, unlike K1, K3 etc, it wasn’t renamed because, as it was so remote, no one gave two hoots about it. I’m very happy with that story.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…the word ‘ruin’ is conveniently lurking in ‘Peru 6a’.
Re 27a, I initially wandered if ‘omme’ meant ‘travel by horse’ but quickly saw the error of my ways.
My podium is 10a (love ‘news presenter’), 25a and 14d.
MTT The SAS.
2*/4*
1. How would you carry out ‘the adjectival companion of 11d’ operations without using 11d?
2. I have seen the very impressive K2 from a 25a Air Force training aircraft!
That must have been superb.
My money is that people say ‘in a *********** manner’.
A typically approachable and fun puzzle to kick off the week. As is often the case with a rapid solve, it is always worth going back through the grid to appreciate fully the quality of the setter’s art. I particularly enjoyed 28a and 3d.
Thanks to our Monday setter and Smylers.
I agree with you on that YS. In fact that is why the blog is so useful – sometimes the nuance of specific parsings or the sheer ‘cleverness’ of a clue is missed when the solution is fairly obvious because of helpful checkers etc.
1*/3*. Light and fun with nothing here to disturb the equine beasts.
Thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
Not quite Rufus like but still a fine example of a Monday ‘challenge’ – 1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 20a, 23a, 4d, 11d, and 24d – and the winner is the excellent adverb in 11d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Smylers.
P.S. I am first in the ‘electronic’ line at Winnipeg Library for the latest Marlow Murder Club escapade but the expected 8 copies are still showing as ‘on order.’ I have enjoyed all the books so far but, as Smylers writes above, it is important to not think too much about the plausibility of the basis of the stories. The same for Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series.
P.P.S. Speaking of Richard Osman, Amazon is suggesting that the second of his We Solve books We Chase Shadows will be published in September.
What would we do without books! I am reading David Nicholls “We are Here” and looking forward to the new Marlow M C book.
I’m being rather boring and rereading the James Herriot books. 😳
That’s not boring. I’ve probably read all the Herriot books three times. I’ve got all my favourite books on my Kindle and am at present working my way through the wonderful Cadfael series by Ellis Peters yet again.
I knew her and spent some time with her. She asked me if I would like a book and, of course, I said yes. She pointed to a door and told me to go in and pick what I wanted. It was lined floor to ceiling on all walls with Cadfael books. I chose about half a dozen and she signed them all. I rang the bells of Shrewsbury Abbey at her Memorial Service and Derek Jacobi gave the address. She was a lovely lady.
Wow, that’s lovely, Steve.
What a great memory Steve.
I thought myself to be familiar with the layout of Shrewsbury from reading those books but I can remember being gutted when I first worked in Shrewsbury to discover that Telford’s A5 had caused the demolition of parts of the abbey.
I have them all on sitting on one of our bookcases. Read them many years ago, and watched all episodes of the TV series. Also visited their home/surgery in Thirsk on a visit home. Sadly, the print is too small for these old eyes, but I could probably download, or get them in Large Print from our excellent local library.
I’m going up to Yorkshire for a few days at the end of April. I’ll be quite close the Herriot museum so hope to visit it.
Relaxing way to start the week.Loved 10a , last one in the philosopher .Agree with others unlikely to use 11d . Thanks to all .
A lovely puzzle to start the week.
Top picks for me were all in a cluster: 19d, 20d, 14d and 11d.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
I also enjoy the Marlow Murder mysteries and try not to think about how implausible they are. Just a bit of escapism.
Enjoyed this puzzle – required a bit more time than the usual Monday – can you explain the meaning of the Big Mac joke re Rene Descartes, please! COTD 10 across
Welcome to the blog
Think about 3d’s most famous quote.
Welcome, EW. The 3d philosopher stated “I think therefore I am” If he “Thinks not” he doesn’t exist.
Please do comment again. 😊👍
I prefer Monty Python’s version: “I drink therefore I am”. Personally I drink until I am ……
I rather like “I’m pink therefore I’m Spam” – sorry 🥴
A very enjoyable crossword today. Thank you to all involved.
Don’t apologise, FD. I love it!
Hello, Elderly Widow — welcome, and nice to have you commenting!
Hello EW. Welcome to the blog and hope to see you again. Thanks for asking about the Macdonalds joke as I had no idea either !
Great to see a new person on here ☺️.
I found that marginally trickier than many a Monday puzzle but that’s no bad thing and it was very entertaining. My favourite, as for many others, was the news presenter at 10a. Thanks very much to the setter and to Smylers for the hints and clips.
The first pass led me to think this was going to be trickier than it actually was. Beautifully constructed clues made it a very enjoyable start to the week. Particular favourites were 10a and 11d. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Very enjoyable and a tad chewier than Mondays past. 10a gets my vote for cotd. Thanks to compiler and Smylers.
I would argue that Death in Paradise could be considered a major TV series, at it’s peak it attracted over 10 million weekly viewers, it still averages over 8 million and is licensed to over 230 territories and has spawned 2 spin off shows and, more importantly, I quite enjoy it! 😅
Great puzzle today, tricky in parts but fairly clued.
Thanks to setter and Smylers
As the quote is mentioned on the cover of a Marlow Mystery Club book I think it’s that series which Smylers is referring to rather than Death in Paradise.
I can only see the Marlow series on the U+Drama channel rather than on a mainstream one.
Yes: Death in Paradise is unquestionably a major TV series and has been for over a decade. It is indeed whether The Marlow Murder Club really is that I’m disputing.
Loved today’s puzzle, with 10a my favourite clue, but where is the Quickie Pun solution?
Bah, so sorry, Redstarter (and everybody). I solved the top line of the quick crossword first this morning (as I always do on blogging days, in case the pun isn’t immediately obvious, then I’ve got the time spent on the cryptic to ponder it), blogged it, found a relevant piece of music, previewed the blog to check that the music video had indeed worked inside the ‘click here’ blob … and then somehow deleted the whole thing while pasting in the clues for the cryptic crossword. Ooops!
Now restored. Thank you for pointing it out.
Another pleasant puzzle to bring us into the new week. I found this quite straightforward along with a couple of head scratchers as well.
1.5*/4*
Favourite candidates 1a, 18a, 28a, 3d, 4d & 11d — with winner 11d
Smiles from 9a, 27a, 3d & 5d
Thanks to setter & Smylers
* / ****
Great start to the week. It flew by but the quality was unmistakeable. Didn’t know the king’s daughter but the answer had to be, thanks to Smylers for the hint to explain the parsing of that one. Liked the 20d egg and salt combo and my COTD was the 5d woman on ecstasy!!
Many thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Hello from Valletta, did the half marathon yesterday, and back to a comfortable solve today that fits in well with a busy little holiday.
Pody picks go to 7A for a currency new to me, 13A’s A&E scene which I have witnessed (!), and 27A’s evocative surface of ladies on horseback.
Thanks to setter and to Smylers ⭐️
Looks fabulous, Wriggles.
Did you do it in your expected time?
Wow — what a stunning picture! Hope the running went well and you’re having a good time.
Thank you both. I ran with a friend in 2:28, I can do a good bit faster but it was lovely running together, this is part of my 5️⃣0️⃣ year celebrations, we took a lot of photos while we went round, awesome scenery.
Great stuff. It’s a beautiful island.
Well done again.
I put a ‘y’ in the old news reader which put a Spencer in the works in that corner for a while, but otherwise it was a well crafted guzzle with much to admire. I think if I were to meet with my lover I would want to do it 11d. It is a rather nice word. I could say that when I smuggle in a new item of clothing I did it 11 dly but my most common ploy is to ask G “do you think I can get away with wearing this again”. He is such an innocent. I liked dear old Rene and the unorthodox pianist. Many thanks to the Setter and to Smylers
Love it Daisygirl. I hope you remember to remove the labels first!
A super puzzle with only the 19d/ 23a combo pushing it over 1 star difficulty. As YS said earlier its well worth going back through on completion. Thanks to the setter and to smilers for the blog – I will pass with regards to the book recomendation as I gave up on those with the totaly implausable Marlow Belle instalment. Utterly ludicrous.
This one is much better than that one — the setting is still implausible, but the crime(s) and the solving of them are much more satisfying! If you’ve read the series up to that one anyway, I’d give this one a go.
Thanks for the added info – I will give it a go once I have finished my current Janice Hallett!
I’m working my way through all the Janice Hallett books too. She has such an unusual writing style.
I find them excellent and a refreshingly different style.
Like others I found this excellent puzzle a bit trickier than usual for a Monday, but thanks to helpful checkers it came together without too much delay eg 19d would have been tricky as said daughter of king was unfamiliar to me, but 18a and 28a pointed me in the right direction.
Many thanks to Smylers for the musical entertainment and the setter for the crossy.
A slightly trickier puzzle than some but still very accessible and enjoyable. I had 10a as my favourite.
I find the Marlow Murder books rather fun as I volunteer in a cafe in Marlow and there is always a lot of chatter about the books, especially when filming is going on. it is always entertaining seeing familiar places on the TV adaptation.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Phew what a relief ! Having been ill last week, missed a few puzzles then resumed Saturday , I seriously was thinking that I couldn’t do them very well anymore, so this was a joy to finish in 1* time. There were a couple of parsings I needed to check , including the naked women on horse – what a great clue ! Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
I got stuck for a while as for 28a I had got basket(case) for strangely lovely 🤣 but eventually saw the error of having a ‘k’ as the last letter of 20d. I agree it was slightly tougher than mist Mondays but very enjoyable. Thanks to the setter and Smylers. Lovely pic of Ilkley by the way. Hopefully the rain forecast for tomorrow won’t destroy it all. I am trying to make the most of the daffodils along the roadsides at the moment. My favourite time of the year.
Nothing that required any strenuous thought today.
Not keen on 12a (“no time” is not strictly correct, although we all knew what was meant).
Thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
Good point, Jezza. I’ve tweaked the hint, but it is unfortunate that there is still a time left in the word.
The last part of the clue could have read, having missed out first time.
That bugged me too
I enjoyed today’s puzzle which wasn’t too taxing but threw up the odd curveball. COTD was 11d closely followed by 10a. I was slow to get the first part of 14d yet it was so obvious! Many thanks to the setter and Smylers. Tried to make the most of tidying the garden this afternoon before the weather changes. Just have to remind ourselves that it is still March!
I could have written this myself.
Slow to work out first half of 14d and my COTD was 11d !
But late to check in as was donating blood today so everything a bit slower than normal.
Phew that has enjoyably restored faith in my cruciverbal solving ability with just 3d letting me down as I missed the Ai so needed MrG’s help there. For a while I tried to use rim for edge in 2d. I found 20d cringeworthy. At least this was devoid of the usual anagram overkill. TVM setter and Smylers for being on hand in case of need.
Perfect timing, Smylers. I can now enjoy the cherry blossom despite being in Portugal and not in Betty’s queue experiencing its short-lived flowering. Thank you, and also for another most enjoyable review which must take a significant amount of your time, not to mention effort. Much appreciated. Thank you too Mr Setter for today’s most satisfying guzzle.
Enjoyed today, but did find it a bit chewy for a Monday, which does not portend well for the rest of the week. Have to say I loved Smylers’ picture of Ilkley, featuring Betty’s Tearooms, and the beautiful cherry trees. Have dined at their Cafes in York, Harrogate and Harlow Carr so will put this on the list should we ever make it across the pond again.
I’ve just watched Canon in D, Smylers. What a fantastic piece!
9a was my LOI, well something had to be, I had the answer on first pass couldn’t immediately parse and moved on and then forgot about it. Thoroughly entertaining proving yet again that they don’t need to be mind numbingly difficult to be enjoyable. On a personal level I’m pleased this was at the more straightforward end of the difficulty range as, yet again, I’ve fallen over and, yet again, split my head open. I think I’m going to stop doing it from now on, it’s getting a little tiresome. Favourite was 3d as I actually knew of him and had the answer before I realised it was an anagram. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
What a tale of woe, TG! I hope you’ll feel better soon.
Oh no, hope your head recovers soon. Yes, it might be time to find a different hobby instead of falling over.
Me too with 3d: I saw we needed a philosopher with a 4-letter first name starting with R and he immediately sprang to mind. Everybody who’s been solving for a while ought to have heard of him: the quickie pun was ‘wren headache heart’ sometime last year!
1.5* / 4* Slightly trickier than a normal Monday but thought it was a tremendous puzzle.
Loads of top clues to choose from from including the news presenters at 10a, the philosopher at 3d and 11d in secret
Many thanks to the compiler and Smylers
I’m with the trickier than normal for a Monday camp!
2*/4*
The old news presenter was favourite today.
Thanks to Smylers and setter.
I listened to the bonkers cover Smylers and I must disagree – each to his own etc but that’s not a patch on the original.
Typically gentle puzzle to kick the new week off with & very enjoyable too. 10a edged 11d as my pick of the clues.
Thanks to the setter & to Smylers – great lesser known REM tune. There’s a rogue D lurking in your answer at 18a.
Sorry forgot to say & if you’re visiting Ilkley & play golf their golf club & course is a delight.
In the early 70s I lived in Keighley and could just about make out Ilkley Golf Club across the Aire Valley from the top of my road. I had just been introduced to golf by a colleague in Cornwall, where I was working at the time, and naively turned up at their proshop seeking a cheap set of clubs. They sold me a very serviceable set + bag for the princely sum of £10 which I used on and off for about 15 years. That friend is now my wife. Regrettably I never got to play the course but can vouch for it’s delightful location.
Forget this, it wasn’t Ilkley GC., unless my eyesight was better than it should be. The ravages of time on the memory. It was another smaller GC on the other side of the Aire valley.
It was Riddlesden GC which I had in mind. Mr G tells me that it closed in 2016.
Ah. yes — that makes more sense geographically!
Thanks. D now removed.
Weatherman had a couple of REM references in consecutive crosswords last month, so after including videos for both of those I’m wondering whether I can keep it going for, finding a clue each time I can link to one of their songs.
A great start to the week, I did like the herb infused with King Lear’s daughter. I think Colin Dexter got a whole Morse book and episode with characters from Lear.
Thanks to Setter and Smylers, especially for the 🎶 and plugging the Mid year blog bash – all are welcome
Good evening. I’ve been a lurking beginner for about 9 months and, as I managed to complete the puzzle today (probably for only the 4th or 5th time), I thought it was about time I posted to this lovely group.
I’m really a numbers girl and thought it time to try cryptic crosswords as my husband has been enjoying them for many decades. Rather than getting him to explain the intricacies of every clue, I’ve found this site to be very helpful. Plus I enjoy reading the blog comments.
Yay, great to have you with us, HellyWelly, and thank you for delurking. Glad you’ve been finding the site helpful — it’s how many of us turned up here.
Thank you very much!
Welcome from me, as well, HW. As Smylers says, we all started on here making our first comment. Despite what might seem to be ‘in jokes’ with some of the comments, we welcome everyone because Big Dave exists to encourage as you have discovered.
Please keep commenting and let us know how you’re getting on. 😊
Sorry, this was meant as a reply to #36!
And thanks to you too Steve
Just finished and like others thought it a tad more challenging than the usual Monday fare. Got a bit stuck in the NW quadrant so had to resort to the external reference. COTD the old news presenter at 10a.
Thank you to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Pleasantly gentle today with almost a PB. In fact though 17a got me as I fell for the misdirection of thinking that ‘small oars’ was the definition. A clever clue which was my favourite. Also enjoyed 1a along with others mentioned above. I couldn’t parse 2d so thank you Huntsman and setter.
Hi, Slowcoach. I think your comment is for Tuesday’s crossword; you’ve posted it on Monday’s. Despite your name, you aren’t actually a day behind!
Fabulous puzzle! Couldn’t parse 26a but got there in the end.
Changing your alias again sent you into moderation
1*/4* …
liked 10A “Bank securing personal credit for former news presenter? (4,5)”