Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31203
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Thanks to today’s setter (I’ll leave you to guess his or her identity) for an entertaining puzzle.
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.
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Across
1a New line backward poet pens for explorer (7)
STANLEY: the reversal (backward) of an Irish poet includes (pens) abbreviations for new and line to make the name of a Victorian explorer who managed to find a doctor in Africa.
5a Follow clubs playing well (7)
CONFORM: the cards abbreviation for clubs and a phrase (2,4) meaning ‘playing well’.
9a American cartel ultimately behind recording (5)
ALBUM: string together an abbreviation for American, the ultimate letter of cartel and a synonym for behind (in the bodily sense).
10a Awkward amateur is retained by FT news boss (3-6)
HAM-FISTED: start with an informal word for an amateur (radio operator) then insert (retained) IS (from the clue) inside FT. Finish with our usual abbreviated news boss (who makes a more substantial appearance later on in the puzzle).
11a Leader once from Eire – he’s now abroad (10)
EISENHOWER: an anagram (abroad) of EIRE HE’S NOW gives us the name of an old military leader and president.
12a This is to be loaded, having boundless wealth (4)
AMMO: start with a word for wealth (used in the New Testament to describe riches gained by greed) and delete the outer letters (boundless).
14a Agitator departs escaping volatile Belarus border (6-6)
RABBLE-ROUSER: an anagram (volatile) of BELARUS BOR[d]ER after the abbreviation for departs has escaped.
18a What draws vampire close to victim? (4,8)
ECHO LOCATION: cryptic definition of the method used by vampire bats to detect their victims.
21a Hair colouring can end in disappointment (4)
TINT: another word for a can and the end letter of disappointment.
22a Gallup employee’s camera accessory? (10)
VIEWFINDER: split the answer 4,6 and it’s a cryptic way of describing an employee of Gallup (or any other polling organisation).
25a Went through red here as tipsy (9)
REHEARSED: an anagram (tipsy) of RED HERE AS.
26a Attractive person caught you texting link (5)
CUTIE: assemble the cricket abbreviation for caught, how ‘you’ may be represented in texting and a verb to link.
27a See 1d
28a Profligate succeeded in temple on lake (7)
WASTREL: insert the genealogical abbreviation for succeeded into a Buddhist temple (new to me) and add a preposition meaning on or concerning and the abbreviation for lake.
Down
1d/27a Comedic instrument absurd: what else is new? (6,7)
SWANEE WHISTLE: an anagram (absurd) of WHAT ELSE IS NEW.
2d Attack in rising British submarine (6)
AMBUSH: hidden in reverse (rising, in a down clue).
3d Sad US city people submit (10)
LAMENTABLE: bring together the abbreviation for a West Coast US city, a word for people generally and a verb to submit or propose.
4d Swiftian lout‘s web portal (5)
YAHOO: double definition, the Swiftian reference being not to Taylor but to Jonathan the author of Gulliver’s Travels.
5d Able to take part in sport, preserving body (9)
COMPETENT: a verb to take part in sport or be a contestant and the abbreviation for a heritage and conservation charity.
6d Genre of number one by Queen (4)
NOIR: charade of the abbreviation for number, the Roman one and the Latin abbreviation for queen.
7d Choose current film for positive thinker (8)
OPTIMIST: glue together a verb to choose, the symbol for electric current and a synonym of film or haze.
8d Poor Red Army contingent capturing one (8)
MEDIOCRE: weld together the name of a red wine from SW France and the abbreviation for the engineering contingent of the British army then insert (capturing) the Roman numeral for one.
13d Understood old men on board lose control (2,2,6)
GO TO PIECES: a verb meaning understood or twigged, the abbreviation for old and another word for the men on a chess board.
15d Second question in old magazine (4,5)
BACK ISSUE: a verb to second or support and a synonym of question or topic of concern.
16d What about a fling where travellers go? (8)
HEATHROW: reverse (about) a terse expression asking for repetition (what?) and add A (from the clue) and a verb to fling.
17d Force to serve port in China (8)
SHANGHAI: double definition, the first a verb to force someone into military service against their will.
19d Water level rising over king in cutter? (6)
EDITOR: reverse (rising, in a down clue for the second time) the water level in the sea and append the cricket abbreviation for over and the Latin abbreviation for king.
20d Severe test of French in viva voce (6)
ORDEAL: the French word for ‘of’ goes inside another word for a viva voce examination.
23d Opportunity to forget name woman left (5)
WIDOW: a time-limited opportunity loses (to forget) the abbreviation for name.
24d Carbon works in Barrow (4)
CART: the chemical symbol for carbon and a word for creative works.
I liked 10a, 22a, 5d, 8d and 13d. Which one(s) caught your imagination?
The Quick Crossword pun: SUFFOLK + EIGHT = SUFFOCATE
I struggled with today’s offering and didn’t understand a couple of clues. For example, I couldn’t quite work out the temple, lake and “succeeded” in 28a. No doubt the hints will put me out of my misery. I did like the current film at 7d and the old men losing control at 13d. My COTD is one that took some working out with the answer coming from checkers rather than parsing the answer. Once I had it and saw how it worked, I thought the vampire at 18a was quite brilliant.
Thank you, setter for what was, for me, a bit of a brain mangler but enjoyable, nevertheless. Thank you, Gazza for the hints.
To be honest I don’t understand the point of posting a comment saying you don’t understand a couple of clues immediately after the blog is published but without reading the hints first.
The point, I would hazard, is the sweet dopamine rush of being No.1 each day.
Ok, I’ll forget it.
Nob don’t forget it … above comment out of order. You’re comment on your own findings.
To be fair / I think the comment is around being a bit stumped *before* reading the hints showing that even when some clues are solved us mere mortals still may not understand them / that engagement should be encouraged
Oh Gazzo! That seems a bit rude. Steve is a smashing fellow, and enjoys being the first to post. This harms nobody. It isn’t mandatory to read the hints.
Please forgive me, but I do feel this is a case if you don’t have something nice to say then it’s better to say nothing at all.
I apologise to Steve, who is indeed a smashing fellow, if my comment was a bit rude. I just find it odd to comment that a clue can’t be understood within 60 seconds of the blog being published which attempts to explain that clue.
If having read the hint someone is none the wiser by all means castigate me for providing an inadequate hint.
I agree. On days when I’ve solved the crossword before 11:00, I sometimes draft my comment in advance, too, ready to paste in. But if there are any clues I didn’t understand, I read the hints for those before posting, and update my comment’s contents accordingly.
Sometimes I even draft my comment with something along the lines of: “Thank you to Gazza for explaining 28a.” — in the expectation that by the time the hints are live and I’m in a position to post my comment, that statement will have become true. (Though if you try that sort of thing, do remember before posting to confirm who’s blogging that day as well as the hint, or you can end up thanking the wrong person!)
It can be frustrating as a blogger to get a comment saying somebody didn’t understand a clue before they’ve checked its hint, because it means we don’t know whether the hint was sufficient to explain things, or whether a little tweaking would help make things clearer.
I agree. And there are some of us who, even after reading the hints, still don’t understand the clues. 😂😂
If you can’t understand a hint do please let me know and I’ll try to explain further.
To be honest, i don’t understand the point of your point. I htought that the point of these articles was, above all, to express an opinion about the Crossword. it seems I was wrong. Those who say ‘it was a read and write’ haven’t read (or needed to read) the hips and tints.
Because without the hints the clues are the only way to solve. If you need the hints then the clues are not well written or too obscure. The author of this puzzle liked to show how clever their convolutions were but if solving gives no pleasure then the setter has failed.
Sorry, Lakesaver, but I cannot agree. This was a fine and very satisfying puzzle, well-crafted, and being no walk-over was suitable for its Friday spot.
Just because some solvers required some help does not mean that the clues were not well written, or were (too) obscure, or that the setter had failed. All it means that not all of this puzzle was entirely within those solvers’ capabilities.
I’m with you Steve, I quite often admit that I don’t understand a clue and state ‘I will have to read the hints’
This shows that I’m just human. If I read the hint first, I probable wouldn’t comment at all.
I have to do the crossword by 10.00am, which is when I start work. This allows me to post first. However, as my posting first appears to upset a number of folk (for the life of me I cannot see why), I will cease to do so.
I am not on here to upset people even if I don’t know why I do.
I agree with El Tel.
I think we should let it slide as you’re such a ledge, SC.
I suppose a compromise would be to say….”I struggled with today’s offering with a couple of parsings getting the better of me, i.e the temple, lake and “succeeded” in 28a.”
And leave out ”No doubt the hints will put me out of my misery”.
I always look forward to seeing if you managed to post it at 11:01.
Crack on, that’s what I say.
Well that was an unexpected opening back and forth and no-one picked Bigeck up on calling Steve a nob !!😱🤣
Ha — well spotted!
Some of this was a little unnecessary i feel. I’m with Steve.
RogB was just pointing out a typo — nobody was really calling Steve that!
I have two types of crossword-the ones I solve by 8am and don’t need hints for, and those I struggle through until this time of night.
Honestly, it’s really gratifying to read that a regular like Steve struggled, because I found today’s a really intransigent solve; even in areas with lots of letters I relied very heavily on the hints here, and several I filled correctly without being able to parse.
So please do continue to post, otherwise it’s a succession of people saying they solved it with various degrees of ease, which isn’t that interesting if you have struggled…
Loved this crossword but could see that it was full of cunning. It’s those first few answers that set the mood and help with seeing how to get into the setter’s mind. It just worked for me and got there unaided. Loved 1 across so that was a good start.Favourite had to be 22 across.
Am at my Knitter Natter group at the moment and have a choice of hot cross buns or carrot cake. You understand why I must sign off . Thanks all round
Have both !!
3*/4* Agree with Gazza’s rating, some tremendous clues by no means straightforward and needed Gazza to explain a few ( 8d 28a)
Favourites include 18a vampire locator, 22a camera accessory and the cutter in 19a
Thanks to Gazza for the enlightenment and to compiler for an excellent challenge
I found this a game of two halfs – rushed through many clues feeling very smug then came to a crawl. Missed 1d/27a completely and needed hints for why I had the answers to 28a and 5d. Like Steve I really liked 18a, which I will put in first place with 22a and 15d following closely behind.
The temple eluding me as well, despite the answer becoming obvious. Then I remembered this place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat and it all made sense!
As is often the case, with Thursday’s compiler, I found the wordplay difficult to unravel and ended up solving the clues using a combination of rhe checkers, the definition and guesswork. Even then, there were a few clues that I couldn’t parse using rreverse engineering. However, I did enjoy some of the clues. The Lego explorer at 1a and the awkeard Lego clue at 10a were rather good. There were some good anagrams, noably the leader at 11a and the stirrer at 14a. I hadn’t heard of a 1a/17a , my last in, but it could be worked out. Thanks to the compiler for his efforts and to Gazza for the hints
I found today’s puzzle difficult, and I did wonder whether that was because I spent far too long last night watching a rocket being launched. I would gently disagree with Mr. C over 18a, I pondered for ages trying to be clever before I realised it was a general knowledge question (or did I miss something?). I had the correct person in 4d, the correct book and the answer but I did have to check a precis of the book to parse. I referred to Gazza to parse 28a, the checkers only seemed to leave one solution but the why? eluded me.
My favourites were 3d, 5d, 7d and 10a because they got me started on a long and occasionally tortuous journey.
Thank you to the setter for allowing me to exercise my grey cells for twice as long as usual and Gazza for making sense where I failed to.
A definite step up in difficulty this morning with a couple of parsings pushing out my solving time. Everything was fairly clued, I thought, so even the slightly more obscure offerings were readily gettable. From a great selection I chose 28a and 13d as my co-favourites this morning.
My thanks to whomsoever and Gazza.
Tricky, definitely tricky. Needed a couple of hints to get to completion as I ground to a halt. Thought that the vampire was excellent but took an age before I could get Christopher Lee and/or bodice ripping out of my mind and also liked 10a. Cotd however goes to 16d. Thanks to compiler and Gazza for the much needed hints.
Oh my goodness. That was tough. After 2 returns to it I needed quite a few of the hints so thank you Gazza for those, especially as I didn’t have to resort to any ‘click here’. I’ll take that as a success!
My favourites were 7D and the awkward amateur in 10A.
I hope Friday isn’t too much more tricky than today!
I completed this, but have to say I really didn’t derive any satisfaction.
As always, many thanks to the setter for the hard work, and to Gazza for the review.
An enjoyable solve, which at first glance appeared to be a more challenging proposal than turned out to be the case – as so often happens, starting somewhere in the S proved the key and from there opened it all relatively swiftly. Was pleased to remember the temple as I read the clue – a frequent flier in The Times, less so here, likewise offensive for the ‘TET’ combination of letters.
Nice range of clue types and some good red herrings. Honours to 1a, 22a & 8d.
Many thanks to the setter (hesitantly putting my fiver on Silvanus because the surfaces are so good) and to Gazza
With Beam on Toughie duty and, even with some brain mangling, I am inclined to consider that this is the ‘other half’ of a Dream Team Thursday. So two shiny King Charles Loonies on this being a Silvanus production. 3.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 12a, 18a, 6d, and 19d – and the winner is 6d.
Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if my Loonies go down the drain, and to Gazza.
You may well be right about the setter being Silvanus but I didn’t think that he’d repeat the use of ‘rising’ as a reversal indicator (2d and 19d).
Perhaps Silvanus proving that he is as mortal as the rest of us?
Sorry, two Loonies lost, I’m afraid. It isn’t me today.
Oh well – at least my two Loonies are £3.91 less than Mustafa G’s fiver!
Ha! I’m very liberal with my betting on Big Dave… easy come, easy go!
Great fun, the wealth in 12a was new to me despite many years of Sunday School.
Thanks to today’s setter and Gazza.
Cor! This was brutal and therefore very satisfying to solve with my LOI being the comedic instrument which I haven’t heard of. Silvy Wilvy did say last week that his next one was going to be a brain-mangler. So, this must be it.
Having not read much over the years, I haven’t heard of the literary louts. How did Swifty arrive at that word?
The word for wealth is nuts. So, I had to biff that bad boy and 28a put me through the wringer….and then some!
My pody picks are 5a, 18a and 16d.
MTTTA and Gazza.
5*/4*
Yahoos are legendary human beings in the 1726 satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels written by Jonathan Swift. Yahoo is also a web portal
Thank you, doc.
I’ve just looked up its origin and it says it was a common slang term for a raw, unrefined person.
In the same search, I discovered the term backronym which I’m very happy with. The founders of Yahoo coined the backronym “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle” to fit the name to their database. So, an acronym in reverse.
Going with the palindrome/emordnilap theory, maybe they should call it a mynorca which is a lot more fun….and very Spanish!
Did you know that Mrs Malaprop reckoned she once encountered the Abdominal Snowman?
*Malapropisms are also known as dogberryisms!
Ah, I didn’t know that. So, Billy Waggledagger got there first……again.
He must be turning in his grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrave that Sheridan is getting the credit for that one.
Love abdominal snowman.
I remember Dogberry, he was the only setter for the FT I struggled with (I only did the F T as it was the only paper in the reception at HP, and I could nick it)
That reminds me of a joke to do with the FT crossword being hard and the colour of the paper. But, that one’s for the back row of the school bus.
Moving on….
Gullivers Travels was a scathing political satire on Irish politics.
I don’t think I quite said that! What I did say was “I might not let you off so easily next time” (with the emphasis on “might”). But it is not me today in any case as mentioned in my reply to Senf above.
‘My next one may or may not be tougher.’
You tease.
Almost gave up but stuck with it and got there in the end. Found it more of a chore than fun with some clues being a bit convoluted for my taste. But I do appreciate the setters (all of them) for their craft even if they are (very rarely) not my cup of char. Thanks to them and to Gazza for the words of wisdom.
**** / ***
Wow, that was a workout! Needed the hint for the wealth to parse 12a and couldn’t form the anagram fodder for 14a. Then needed the blog for confirmation of parsing for 4 others. Certainly didn’t know the temple in 28a! 20d was simple enough to get the solution but had to use Mr. G to translate viva voce – as I’ve never studied latin. For Mr. Swift’s lout in 4d, I had a vague recollection having at some point wanted to know if the search engine’s name was derived from anything. A few clues got ticked but I’m going to make an imaginary clue of the day. For 22a, I read “Gallup” as “Gallop” and came up with ‘stablehand’, far be it for me and all that but having that as a camera accessory with a question mark would be my imaginary clue of the year! Having written in ‘stablehand’ that slowed the SE massively!
I think this may well be Silvanus as he nearly always troubles me. Thanks to him or whomsoever and Gazza.
Not a stroll in the park like yesterday but a trudge through treacle🤦♂️
Not even the first ever album by Journey 🎸 (tip: the band went downhill after their first 3 albums) could help me!
A cracking Thursday puzzle, a good challenge and therefore just up my street. Great clues provided a very enjoyable solve with a real sense of achievement at the finish. Plenty of ticks and I’ll go for 28a as my favourite – a Toughie-grade clue which took me a fair while and some research to fathom out. 4*/5*
*I have been busy today doing some DIY jobs in the kitchen with periodic spells of solving and have been listening to an old favourite song, from Ol’ Blue Eyes, via Alexa on a loop – which evokes some rather pleasing nostagia:
Thank you for that, J. Nostaligic, indeed.
In the hint for 5a, should the phrase bit be (2,4) ?
It should and now it is. Thanks.
I struggled with this one. I couldn’t work out if it was my brain being addled today or just a tricky puzzle so a relief to find others also finding it awkward.
You’ve changed your alias from ‘Jenny W’ so this required moderation. Both will work from now on.
Just as SC is always first we are always last! Retired couple that do the crossword together later in the day. Probably our comments are not read!
Today we found the puzzle typically harder as the week progresses. Needed a few hints to get over the line.
Thanks to the Setter and Gazza.
Nonsense, Gary! I enjoy reading your posts.
As you tackle it later in the day, here’s a rhyme for you…
Retired G & V
Sipping a G & T
Whilst solving the crossy.
I’ve lost it…..nurse!
Found it difficult yoday, first time this week.
Never heard of 1d and 27 a
You’ve changed your alias from ‘Beeny’ so this required moderation. Both will work from now on.
Struggled with today’s offering but my routine was upset due to domestic duties 😤.
I couldn’t parse 8d although I do enjoy a French red.
Also …
The answer to 18a was disappointing .. where was the blood! 22a I don’t consider this an accessory more an intregal part. 6d which I’d parsed doesn’t exist on its own in the BRB .. is that allowed?
Apart from that .. thanks to setter and Gazza .. and leave off Steve!
Can anyone help me understand 2d? Even with the hint, I see the sub (rising) but have no clue where the amh or hma letters come from. Thank you.
Welcome to the blog, DRF
As the hint says the answer is a hidden word reversed (rising) in BritisH SUBMArine.
Gah ofcourse. Sorry didn’t realize the meaning of hidden in this case. I haven’t been doing too many cryptics lately. Thank you very much for explanation.
I’m not surprised many thought this to be difficult: it took me longer to knock out than today’s toughie did.
That’s not a complaint, I’ve ticks all over the place. My page is also full of scribblings which helped me to break down answers. I definitely needed a pen and couldn’t have solved this solely online. Respect to anyone who did.
10a is a favourite expression of mine and 3d is a very pleasing word to use. Where travellers go in 16d raised a smile too.
My thanks to our setter and Gazza.
Thank you Gazza for the enormous amount of time and trouble to provide your tremendous reviews. I most certainly could not have got through this one without you. I really enjoy your cartoons too, which must take some sourcing. And a huge thank you for your patience! Thank you too today’s setter.
Thanks, Jan.
5*/4*. This was certainly very challenging but I did enjoy the battle.
17d doesn’t quite cut the mustard for me as I always thought that the meaning of press-ganging men into crewing ships was derived from the Chinese port making the clue “same-sidey”.
13d was my favourite.
Thanks to the setter and to Gazza.
Loved this. A challenging solve and the bathwater certainly on the cold side as the last one went in, but v satisfying.
Thanks to the setter and Gazza for the hints (that I read before posting)
An excellent puzzle that took some serious work. How did the setter ever came up with a clue like 14A? That has to be my COTD,
VMT to Mystery Setter and to Gazza.
Relieved to see that I was not alone in finding this one difficult. Needed Gazza’s excellent hints for my last 4 entries.
Lots of good clues that I could figure out, though.
Thanks to the setter and to Gazza.
Struggled for a while and finally gave up with only two answers inked in. Not a problem, as I hadn’t solved yesterday’s enjoyable puzzle yet, just because I was having a very stressful day yesterday and couldn’t put my mind to solving anything. So today, with stress level slightly abated, I returned to yesterday’s and had a great time. Thanks to today’s setter but above my pay grade, and relieved to see Gazza’s *** rating, so I don’t feel too stupid.
Solved at silly o’clock this morning but first opportunity to post as out golfing all day. Add me to those who had it pegged as a Smooth Production (NTS didn’t notice the repeat use of rising as an indicator) having recalled the ‘I might not let you off so easily next time’ caution. A Timeform analysis of the solve would read – slow out of the stalls, modest early pace, some brief mid-race headway & a sluggish finish. The instrument at 1a/27d, the batty 18a & the Buddhist temple were unfamiliar & required post solve confirmation & elsewhere it was really just a case of slow to twig some excellent clues. ✅s aplenty – 1,10,11&22a + 3,8,13&16d particular likes.
Thanks to the setter (who I hope pops in to claim ownership) & to Gazza, whose review I will now read – I’ve read the cartoons & thoroughly approve of the Double Indemnity still for an example of classic 6d.
Love the horse racing analysis.
Wow that was tough going , but managed to get it done in stints. I ve been painting today – decorating not artistic so been busy and now feeling quite tired. I thought there were some fantastic clues. Was it a Zandio ? I laughed out loud when I finally twigged the Gallup answer. I did question whether the definition is actually an accessory , but ChatGPT tells me that ‘yes it can be’ so that’s ok then ! I need to check several parsings now. Thanks to whoever it was and to Gazza.
This was definitely driving into Toughie territory for me. I hadn’t heard of the instrument, but narrowed it down from the anagram once I realised the second part. Many had to be reverse parsed having got the answer from the checkers first. Spent too long in the SE having pencilled in lightmeter as the camera accessory, before I realised it wasn’t going to work. Resorted to Gazza for the 13d hint after which the rest fell into place.
The vampire bat 18a gets my COTD award.
Many thanks to Gazza and whoever the setter is.
4*/4*
Sat down to do this in the evening as no chance earlier in the day.
Almost there in the towel but persevered and crawled over the line.
Needed a little electronic assistance to check 1d and 28a caused a few problems as i failed to spot the on in the clue and had never heard of a watre temple.
Thanks to Gazza for explaining 28a and Setter for the challenge, which in all honesty was not my cup of Tea.
3*/2*
Well beyond me today. Admitted defeat after solving six clues.
Thanks to all.
PS. Steve, I for one am always impressed and pleased when you post first. Please don’t delay posting for some grouchy pants detractors. 🙂
Went through the hints/answers and for me this was one of the most difficult solves in some time. Managed to get 12 clues in the end.
However, the amount of very specific knowledge was incredible. I have not heard of the common name for the whistle, let alone the rare one, for example.
Back pagers this difficult make me want to find another hobby.
Demoralizing is the word I would used to describe this offering.
Sorry to learn you’ve been demoralized, Bananawarp. Hopefully a crossword that suits will be along soon.
What do you mean by the common and rare names for the swanee whistle? I didn’t know it had any other name (and can’t see a reference to one in the crossword).
Smylers,
Firstly, I want to make sure the setter does not think I was criticising them. They are obviously a genius. My gripe was at the editor who selects such a hard crossword for a backpager.
As for being demoralised, I am still attempting the Friday solve, which appears to be even harder than Thursday. Friday solves are a different beast, so par for the course.
No doubt my temporary wibble will be forgotten by Monday. 🙂
To answer your question, the whistle is also know as a slide whistle.
Very tough for me and I needed the excellent hints to help me finish as I was too tired to complete unaided. I had 12a as my favourite, I did not know the temple.
Many thanks to the setter for the challenge and to Gazza for the hints
Grim – I threw in the towel early on. Sort of thanks to the setter but definite thanks to hinting Gazza.
I don’t think I was ever on the same wavelength as this setter, I solved it by just getting more checkers without actually being ‘there’. Needed the hints to parse 12a, 14a, 5d, 8d and 20d, hadn’t heard of 1d/27a in my entire life and thought 6d and bit of a stretch. Quite a list for a Thursday. I spent far too long trying to justify melancholy for 3d. Favourite was, by a distance, 22a. Thanks to the setter and Gazza.
We had a 1a/27a in the instrument trolley in primary school. It was one that many people dashed to get at the start of music lessons — much more fun than being left with a couple of pieces of wood to hit against each other!
It has also featured regularly in I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue on Radio 4: there’s a round called Swanee Kazoo in which the players have to reproduce a song using just those instruments. Here’s an article with a photo of Graeme Garden on the 1a/27a and Barry Cryer on the kazoo.
This was tough but worth it. I went to bed with several gaps still in the grid, but my brain managed this morning to come up with the answers it couldn’t find yesterday. Thank you to the setter, with highlights including 5d preserving body, the 19d cutter, and 20d test of French.
Like Big Eck, I don’t see how 22a is an accessory which can be added to a camera afterwards. I was surprised by 18a’s enumeration of (4,8) — it’s a single word in all the dictionaries I’ve checked.
Thank you to Gazza, especially for explaining 8d with the wine.
Smylers – while my Collins (14th Ed, 2023) gives 18a as one word, both my 1983 and 2016 BRBs give it as 4,8 – so I think the setter can be forgiven!
Nothing to forgive — I said I was surprised, not that the setter had done anything wrong! Chambers 21st Century Dictionary has it as a single word.
Finished this on a relaxing Good Friday morning after getting only a 1/3 done yesterday – found this very challenging!
Definitely needed the Chambers to complete this – including 1A explorer to resolve LOI 1D instrument. Also needed Gazza’s fine hints to parse a few – inc 8D, 22A, 28A, 17D.
Pody picks – now I understand it, 22A is my COTD (was thinking only of pop charts for Gallup), 16D’s travelling hub clue construction, and 18D’s new word (also saw this listed as one word?), tied with pesky 1D’s new comedic instrument – wasn’t even finding it via anagram helper sites.
Many thanks to setter (any idea who?) for a tough but enjoyable and interesting grid indeed, and to Gazza ⭐️
A very challenging puzzle. About 70% completed before I had to resort to the hints, with the SE corner looking particularly barren. Never heard of the comedic instrument at 1d, although I had the second part the first part was a bit of a punt. Favourites today were 1a, 22a and 16d. Each brought a smile.
Thank you to the setter and to Gazza for the hints.
3*/4* …
liked 16D “What about a fling where travellers go ? (8)”
This was my worst day ever since I started! I was just not on the same wavelength of the setter. I am finishing this on Sunday with help from Big Dave but I still can’t get some of them
We all get days like that from time to time, Suz. If you identify which clues you still have problems with I’ll try to provide more help.