Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31197
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****/*****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where Winter is proving very reluctant to depart and we are getting some more snow although not significant amounts and probably not as bad as the hailstorm that my Big Sister experienced in Egham yesterday.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Silvanus was on Toughie duty yesterday, but no doubt that this is the work of the Master of Brevity once again. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart, don’t be confused by the ‘sweetheart’ in 9d (check the hint), appearing in the back pager with an average of 4.94 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Candidates for favourite – 17a, 27a, 29a, 8d, and 21d.
In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the Click here! buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a It smarted, I fancy, producing rash (10)
DERMATITIS: We start with a straightforward anagram (fancy) of IT SMARTED, I.
6a Saw discontented sailor use mop? (4)
SWAB: SaW with the interior letter removed (discontented) and a two letter abbreviation of a sailor.
10a Vault over line facing a draw (7)
TOMBOLA: A synonym of vault (for those who have passed), the single letters for a crickety Over and Line placed before (facing) A from the clue.
11a Tube for going under Channel? (7)
SNORKEL: A tube (to enable breathing) when going under a Channel, or any other body of water?
12a Detective’s men heard to provide cover (8)
DISGUISE: The abbreviation of our favourite senior detective with the possessive S and a homophone of a synonym of men.
13a Metal, for instance, turning colour (5)
TINGE: A three letter metal and the reversal (turning) of a Latin based abbreviation equivalent to for instance.
15a Woman eyeing the family jewels? (7)
HEIRESS: A woman expecting to inherit the family jewels?
17a Some credit to editor is echoed (7)
DITTOED: A lurker (some) found in three words in the clue.
19a Ignores dilapidated neighbourhoods (7)
REGIONS: An anagram (dilapidated) of IGNORES.
21a Vessel potter partially spins revealing bust (7)
TOPLESS: A reversed lurker (partially spins) found in two words in the clue.
22a Yield time embracing return of Queen (5)
AGREE: A term for a period of time containing (embracing) the reversal (return) of the regnal cypher of our late Queen.
24a Concrete enclosure housing chamberpot (8)
CORPORAL: An (animal) enclosure containing (housing) a two letter abbreviated form of chamberpot – the only reference I could find for this was ‘concrete’ listed in the entry for the answer in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary, I would suggest that it is usual for there to be another vowel between the second ‘R’ of the answer and the following ‘A’.
27a Work’s involved in current cut (7)
TOPSIDE: An abbreviated form a musical work with the contraction ‘S inserted into (involved in) a synonym of current (relating to the twice daily movement of the sea).
28a Proceeding one’s taking to court (7)
ISSUING: The Roman numeral for One and the contraction ‘S and a term for taking to court (in a civil action).
29a Travelled highway, we hear (4)
RODE: A homophone (we hear) of a synonym of highway.
30a Terrible sins create revulsion (10)
RESISTANCE: An anagram (terrible) of SINS CREATE.
Down
1d A little upset providing information (4)
DATA: The reversal (upset) of a (1,3) phrase equivalent to A little.
2d Left crew circling English Channel? (9)
REMAINING: A synonym of crew containing (circling) a generic term which can include the English Channel.
3d Nearly solo, grand getting together (5)
ALONG: A synonym of solo with the last letter deleted (nearly) and the single letter for Grand.
4d Characters inclining towards the right? (7)
ITALICS: The characters are found in the alphabet.
5d As an alternative, detains criminal (7)
INSTEAD: An anagram (criminal) of detains.
7d Stimulated with old knowledge (5)
WOKEN: The single letters for With and Old followed by a three letter synonym of knowledge.
8d Hint follows more outright gibberish (10)
BALDERDASH: A synonym of hint (as in a culinary small amount?) placed after (follows) a comparative (more) synonym of outright.
9d Sweetheart’s overly feminine upping pace (8)
FOOTSTEP: Not Ray T’s ‘personal’ sweetheart – the reversal (upping) of all of a three letter term of endearment synonym of sweetheart plus the ‘s, a three letter adverbial synonym of overly, and the single letter for feminine.
14d Subsequently farther with tee shot (10)
THEREAFTER: An anagram (shot) of FARTHER and (with) TEE.
16d Coteries mysteriously being mysterious (8)
ESOTERIC: An anagram (mysteriously) of COTERIES.
18d Use empty platitude in speech (9)
OPERATION: The outer letters (empty) of PlatitudeE inserted into a synonym of speech.
20d Leak inside story on sweetheart (7)
SECRETE: Now we have Ray T’s swEetheart – A term for an inside story (not being published?) placed before (on) the middle letter (heart) of swEet.
21d They’re oddly short skirt ends (7)
TERMINI: The odd letters of ThEy’Re and a term for a short skirt (which the DT is reporting is back in fashion).
23d Speedy attack capturing pawn (5)
RAPID: A type of attack containing (capturing) the chess notation for Pawn.
25d Start acting in film? (5)
ONSET: A (2,3) phrase equivalent to acting in film (during its production).
26d Openly gaze, leering eagerly, initially (4)
OGLE: The first letters (initially) of four words in the clue.
Quick Crossword Pun:
BREW + SWAIN = BRUCE WAYNE
Another great one from RayT with all the usual trademarks and his sweetheart appearing twice. I solved the amusing 21a without realising it was a reverse lurker until after I had entered it. 8d is such a lovely word and I must try and get it into conversation sometime soon. My COTD goes to the detective’s men at 12a.
Thank you, RayT for an enjoyable Thursday BP. Thank you, Colonel for the hints.
But, as I suggested in the preamble and wrote in the hint for 9d the ‘sweetheart’ in that clue is not ‘genuine’ Ray T usage of the word.
Yes, I know and meant to say so in my comment but forgot! 😊
1* / 3.5* Found today’s surprisingly straightforward apart from some doubt over 24a and trying to justify secretio for 16d.
Favourites today include last one in the 27a cut, the revealing 21a and the 12a tube (great word)
Thanks to setter and Senf
11a tube
I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed this crossword early this morning. It was reasonably straightforward and fairly clued but the first 2 across clues made me squirm! 21a is my COTD. Many thanks to Jay Tea and the hinter
A dnf for me as I couldn’t see 24a for toffee and resorted to the hints. This held up completion of the se corner, which was a shame as I was doing well up until that point and enjoyed it immensely. Podium places go to 11a, 10a (great fun) and 8d. Thanks to Ray T and Senf for the very necessary hint.
Found this one tricky – needed Mr SC help to solve 1a was going down a rabbit hole of the other meaning of rash.
Got there in the end and agree fairly clued however took me double time to complete.
COTD has to be 11a so clever
24a was my final entry in this trickyish Thursday puzzle. I spent too long on my final half a dozen answers, most of which were in the SE quadrant. Still, it was most entertaining and cleverly clued, with my favourite the reverse lurker at 21a.
My thanks to Ray T and Senf.
An excellent crossword with the ‘Master of Brevit’ in fine form. Dipping below a five average is a splendid effort.
With 17a, he had no choice but to go with a word which has never been uttered.
When I had the 3rd and 4th checkers of 28a, I thought I was being clever by thinking that ‘serving’ was the answer, i.e you serve notice in court and you serve on a tennis court. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
My podium is 6a, 21a (nicely done) and the neat 16d.
MTTTA and Senf.
3*/5*
Having put accents into 4d early in the piste I got into a right Horlicks in the top left corner, also couldn’t equate revulsion with resistance .As a result didn’t get my usual enjoyment out of today’s crossword . favourite 8d , in keeping with my approach . Thanks to all .
* / *****
An excellent serving (you put that word in my head TDS65), from Mr T. As much on wavelength as I think I’ve ever been with RayT so flew through it. Liked the ‘true’ sweetheart plus the visiting ‘alternative’ sweetheart and of course Her Late Majesty was here too. So much humour and so many ticks, so the double ticks were the 21a revealing bust for the humour and super wordplay, the 12a cover and the 21d short skirt ends! RayT’s clues are so well written they have to be re-read for one to be convinced there are so few words in them.
Many thanks to RayT and Senf
An early morning telephone call from Miss Abinger. She wanted to complain about 21a as it triggered memories of the time Colonel Bagshot was birdwatching with his binoculars, as she took a shower in her upstairs bathroom. Subsequently, the Colonel explained that a stepladder was a standard part of a committed twitchers equipment.
Grand guzzle. An enjoyable unravel.
Thanks to RayTee, and The Man From Manitoba. We shared that hailstorm yesterday. They were the size of footballs (well… almost…)
2*/4*. I really enjoyed this with 21a my favourite, although I did find the SE corner far harder than the other three quarters.
Many thanks to RayT and to Senf.
Slow to start and then clicked with RT’s line of inquiry, but 24a proved to be a sticking point as I parsed it but didn’t relate my answer to a synonym of concrete. Otherwise plenty of amusing clues for which I’ll go with the woman eyeing the family jewels as my COTD
Thanks to Ray T and Senf
2.5*/3.5*
Ray T at his masterful pinnacle of brevity. Personally I have wondered if he and Dada have collaborated on a personal thesaurus. It was a challenging solve but enjoyable. I liked the well-hidden anagram at 14d, the clever lego clue at 8d, the cryptic definitions at 4d 11a and 15a. Thanks to Mr T and to Senf for the hints
Another enjoyable solve although 24a led me to the Crossword Dictionary – the checkers gave me the enclosure and once 25d was in there was only one letter left. An answer was now obvious but how it relates to concrete was beyond me. I thought 9d was very clever.
Thanks to the setter and Senf.
I might be wrong, a very good chance of that, but after much research concrete in this sense is nothing to do with the construction product but is, for example, relating to the quality of information.
I think concrete is used in the sense of real or bodily as opposed to imaginary or mentally.
That was my take, too.
So the answer is corporal as in “corporal punishment”, I guess?
You’ve changed your alias from MrDon so this needed moderation. Both will work from now on.
Corporal in the sense of real, solid, having a body etc. and not ethereal for example. I’d be more used to seeing the word as ‘corporeal’ but my dictionary has the ‘having a body’ as a second definition for ‘corporal’.
I always enjoy RayT’s fortnightly visit to the backpager as I find his brevity and succinct clueing very refreshing from other setters and for me, I find it so totally logical.
It was nice to see the Queen showed up and his sweetheart twice, but only one really contributes as Senf mentions in his intro!
1.5*/4.5* for me
Favourites were 1a, 19a, 22a, 2d, 4d & 8d — with co-winners 2d & 4d
Smiles all over including 6a, 11a, 21a & 4d
Thanks to RayT & Senf
A bit trickier than the past few days but very enjoyable.
Top picks for me were 11a, 10a, 21d and 21a.
Thanks to Senf and Ray T.
Lovely guzzle with 10 and 21a and 4d vying for top spot. I needed the man in the red scarf for 34a as we call it a Gerzunder (because it does)
Many thanks to Senf and to the Setter with a Sense of Humour.
Like others I struggled with 24a – had every form of enclosure except that one!
Favourites were 11a, 15a and 7d. However, beating them all was the excellent cartoon supporting the solution to 30a. How I wish I’d had that to aid my teaching of the relationship between those three values! Worth a thousand words and formulae.
Not normally a fan of this setter (as I often moan on here!) But I’m delighted to report that I really enjoyed this puzzle. Have i seen the light as so many others have? Here’s hoping! Thank you to the setter and to senf.
Apart from 24a where I was not certain I had the right answer the rest went in fairly smoothly after a rather slow start. The anagrams and lurker helped me on my way. There were some excellent clues and it was enjoyable to do battle with it, my favourite was 10a.
Many thanks to RayT and to Senf for the hints.
Apart from a handful I printed off to take to the caravan I’m now up to date with my backlog of puzzles. Favourite today was 11a, I think it’s a great word, unlike 10a which brings to mind those annoying TV ads for some gambly bingo thing every time I come across it. Thanks as ever to Senf and RayT.
This was nicely chewy with a few clues that I got a bit held up on. I confess to getting some e help for the anagram at 1a as I could not for the life of me see it. As others 24a was last one in and a head scratch. In the end having got the ‘po’ inserted I bunged in the answer , then parsed it (a new word for me meaning enclosure) but as others am questioning the synonym. I’ll get my Chambers out. Thanks to Ray T for the enjoyment and Senf.
Finally did it unaided with a first thing in the morning stint and back home late afternoon stint. It did not come easily so despite the cleverness of the puzzle it was too much of a struggle to enjoy. A tick for 12 across but did not like the definition of 30 across despite the cartoon. Made me think of constipation. Needed some 70 % dark chocolate as a reward for the effort to complete.
Thanks to Senf and Ray T was always going to be a challenge.
Agree with difficulty rating for a great puzzle and thank you Senf for explaining the chamberpot
Evening all. Many thanks to Senf for the analysis and to all for your observations. Much appreciated.
RayT
An other enjoyable puzzle from you, RayT. Thank you for it.
Thanks for another very enjoyable solve and blog.
Excellent puzzle from Ray T, to whom many thanks. No problem with 24a for me – I had this down as the “bodily” or “material” sense. 21a and d make for an amusing couple. 15a’s jewel spotter completes my podium. Another cracking set of clues – the main problem is forcing myself to realise that on the back page, Ray T’s anagram indicators are probably actual anagrams, and to retune the solving radar.
Thanks to Senf for the blog. I’m going to try the Air Quote alternative at some point!
An enjoyable challenge from Ray T, he always makes you think. Half went in right away, starting with the friendly 1a and 6a, but 24a was LI as, like Senf, I have only ever seen it in that sense with an “e” between the second “r” and “l”. Found 29a a bit questionable also, as I can have the answer without having any feeling of revulsion. Thanks to Ray T and Senf.
Very enjoyable. My picks were all to be found in the across clues – 11,12,15,21&24 with the tube my fav.
Thanks to Ray T & to Senf
Found this a challenge and only had about 70% completed before I had to resort to some external reference.
Gaps all over the place, several due to failing to parse the clue correctly.
COTD was the tube at 12a.
Thank you to the setter and to Senf for the hints.
Phew. I have been battling with this on and off all day but only just now have eventially made the grade with the exception of 24a (reassuring to know I’m not alone in questioning the viability of that clue). Eying in 15a rather tenuous. I liked 4d. A fun workout. Thanks RayT and Senf.
A very comfortable Thursday, solving time similar to Wednesday. LOI was 24A’s chamberpot.
Pody picks are 1D, 30A and 8D (I like word and the board game).
Thanks to Ray T and to Senf ⭐️
I parsed 2d slightly differently but neither explanation was really satisfactory to my mind. At the tougher end of our setter’s spectrum I thought but, apart from 2d, no complaints. Favourite was 21a. Thanks to Rayt and Senf.
Only just completed as I printed out yesterday’s puzzle by mistake.
I found this tricky with 24a and 30a proving difficult – couldn’t accept the synonyms as correct.
3*/4*
Thanks to Ray and Senf
An excellent puzzle. Foxy in places but some vg clues. 6a made me think ‘Avast, ye ****’. 27a clever one; 24a interesting – corporal as in real, solid – the chamber pot took one back a bit. And 9d neat, clever. 8d – ‘dash’ for ‘hint’ and the word came to me. 21d, 4d, 12a, 21a all fun. I like the setter because everything is entirely logical.
3*/4* …
liked 26D “Openly gaze, leering eagerly, initially (4)”