Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31212
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where it is finally beginning to feel like spring with day time temperatures reaching the mid to high teens and overnight lows, for the most part, staying above the freezing point.
Perhaps I’m having an off day but I found this puzzle considerably more difficult than I am accustomed to on Monday. The east went in fairly smoothly though not quickly but I struggled in the west.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Across
4a Deceive criminal hiding new proof (8)
EVIDENCE — an anagram (criminal) of DECEIVE containing (hiding) the abbreviation for new
8a Utter a right tirade (6)
ARRANT — string together the A from the clue, the abbreviation for right, and a tirade or verbal outburst
9a Store up memoir misguidedly (8)
EMPORIUM — an anagram (misguidedly) of UP MEMOIR
10a Corkscrew motion ends parking at home (8)
TAILSPIN — line up ends or rears, the street sign symbol for parking, and the usual short word for at home
11a Writer of copy in Kent perhaps (6)
SCRIBE — insert a synonym of copy dishonestly into the abbreviated geographical location of Kent and several other English counties (perhaps)
12a Vet grabbing head of tropical fish (8)
STURGEON — an animal medicine specialist containing (grabbing) the initial letter (head) of TROPICAL
13a Vegetarians sticking their necks out? (8)
GIRAFFES — a cryptic definition of some long-necked herbivores stretching to reach the highest branches
16a Worker in musical production rejected rubbish (8)
OPERATOR — a type of musical production and a reversal (rejected) of rubbish or nonsense
19a Put money in distribution of event IDs (8)
INVESTED — an anagram (distribution) of the final two words of the clue
21a Flight of geese regularly seen by headland (6)
ESCAPE — a regular sequence of letters drawn from GEESE and a geographical headland
23a Organise a contest for small car (8)
RUNABOUT — concatenate organise or manage, the A from the clue, and a pugilistic contest
24a Pro on ice stumbling? Hard cheese! (8)
PECORINO — an anagram (stumbling) of the first three words of the clue
25a Maybe sculptor from Stuttgart is talented (6)
ARTIST — a lurker hiding in (from) the final three words of the clue
26a Preface for diary read out (8)
PROLOGUE — a synonym of for and what sounds like (read out) another word for diary
Down
1d Size of loaf initially too huge (7)
BREADTH — a foodstuff in the form of a loaf followed by the initial letters of the final two words in the clue
2d Judgemental lord erupts, receiving excessively large task (4,5)
TALL ORDER — a lurker concealed in (receiving) the first three words of the clue
3d Basic foodstuff is no longer fresh, soft inside (6)
STAPLE — place the abbreviated musical direction to play in a soft manner inside an adjective denoting no longer fresh
4d Somehow I’m preserving one source of oil (7,8)
EVENING PRIMROSE — an anagram (somehow) of the middle three words of the clue
5d Burdensome types break promises (8)
IMPOSERS — an anagram (break) of PROMISES
6d Lose head in fright? That’s a mistake (5)
ERROR — remove the initial letter (lose head) of a synonym of fright
7d Break down constant low-frequency noise (7)
CRUMBLE — the mathematical symbol representing a constant and a low-frequency noise
14d Bit of rest fantastic for inflammation caused by cold (9)
FROSTBITE — an anagram (fantastic) of the first three words of the clue
15d Driving young cattle into grassland at first (8)
STEERING — join together a young bovine animal missing some of his parts, a shorter way of saying into, and the initial letter (at first) of GRASSLAND; I think the animal is only young because he will be eaten before he can grow old (I also have an issue here with equating a collective noun with a member of the collective)
17d Old European scientist (7)
PASTEUR — old or prior and a three-letter abbreviaton for European
18d Ask about search (7)
REQUEST — about or concerning and another term for search
20d Ransacker of design museum left (6)
VANDAL — a variant of the abbreviated name of a British museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design followed by the single letter for left
22d A tax for coral island (5)
ATOLL — the A from the clue and a tax paid for the use of a transportation route
Let us know which clues had special appeal for you.
Quickie pun:: TRAY + SURE + RILE + ELAND = TREASURE ISLAND
On This Day …
… in 1967, Frank and Nancy Sinatra became the first father-daughter duo to score a No.1 single on the UK charts with their duet, “Somethin’ Stupid.” The record also reached number 1 in the US but surprisingly only climbed as high as number 25 in Canada. The single spent four weeks at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and nine weeks atop the easy listening (now adult contemporary) chart, becoming Frank’s second gold single as certified by the RIAA and Nancy’s third. It was the first and only instance of a father-daughter number-one song in America (it was the first of two such occurrences in the UK – Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne repeated the feat in 2003 with a rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes”). The single was also nominated for the Record Of The Year at the 10th Grammy Awards, losing to the 5th Dimension’s upbeat hit song “Up, Up And Away”. By the way, it is interesting to note that Nancy receives top billing on the single.
I found this to be slightly tougher than Mondays are supposed to be but enjoyable, nevertheless. Getting the long one at 4d allowed entry into the rest of the puzzle and it was a steady finish from then on. Plenty to like but my COTD goes to the ransacker at 20d.
Great Quickie pun.
Thank you, setter for the puzzle and thank you, Falcon for the hints.
I also found this harder than a normal Monday and it took me a while to get into it.
Top picks for me were 20d, 17d and 4d.
Thanks to Falcon and the setter.
I had this one at ***/*** with Falcon’s hints needed to help me fathom why 20d was what it was. The 4 anagrams helped. Wasn’t sure about the vet/ surgeon link in 12a. My favourite was 17d and runner up 2d. Thanks to Falcon and our setter.
I wondered about the vet, as well. I could be wrong but maybe the clue needed a question mark?
I took vet to mean veterinary surgeon.
Falcon, this wasn’t just you! I found this the hardest Monday crossword in years. I haven’t struggled like this since Campbell left us. Thank you for blogging today, because I don’t know whether I would have finished it before I needed to start work!
Lots of fun though, with a large number of highlights, including the 11a writer, 23a car, 1d loaf, 3d soft food, 7d break down, and 20d museum — thank you to the setter for those and the unexpected work-out.
Smylers, nothing to do with the crossword….there is a recent YouTube from Time Team about ancient rock art on Ilkley Moor. We thought it was quite interesting, if you haven’t seen it. I’ve walked and climbed on Ilkley Moor a few times and knew nothing about the rock carvings.
Thanks, Moonraker. I hadn’t heard Time Team had been here looking at our carvings. Sounds interesting.
I started off with 5 R&Ws and thought that it was going to be really easy, but then slowed to a crawl, before picking up speed tackling the downs from the bottom up. With checkers in place everything then fell nicely into place. I thought the store at 9a was a delightful anagram.
My thanks to the setter and Falcon
1*/3*
Took two bites of the banana to finish this. Much chewier than Mondays past. I, too, struggled with parsing 12a and thought 13a a bit of a stretch (sorry). Very much liked the old scientist and the contest for the small car. Cotd though goes to 24a. Thanks to compiler and Falcon.
I found this heavy going compared with most Monday guzzles. As for 12a, i suppose the full title is veterinary surgeon, for me it was the only way the clue would work. I liked the geographical lego clue at 2a and the double definition at 23a but the lurker at 2d was my COTD. Thanks to thecompiler and to Falcon for the hints
3*/3*. I enjoyed this but I’m with those who found this relatively tough for a Monday. I haven’t counted them, but it felt as if this puzzle was slightly over-egged with anagrams.
My podium selection was 24a, 17d & 20d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon.
Cheese 24a and Cycling 26a ticked my boxes today. 8a slowed me down, I don’t think I have ever heard it in conversation
Thanks to Falcon and setter
I looked 8a up in The Oxford Dictionary of English and the definition is just “Complete, utter” … but in every single one of its 20 examples 8a is followed by “nonsense”, so I think its meaning is actually narrower than that.
We could say “complete silence” or “utter brilliance”, but I don’t think 8a could be swapped in to any of those.
Has anybody got a non-archaic example of 8a being used with something that doesn’t mean ‘nonsense’ or similar?
Delight; thrill …
Thanks, Jane. I don’t think I’ve heard either of those, but I’ll try to work them into a conversation some time and see how they sound.
I found this online:
From Here Be Dragons by Sharon Penman: That chastity oath of hers was an act of arrant lunacy, Joanna.
Yeah, lunacy isn’t quite the same as nonsense … but it isn’t far away in meaning either.
Just prior to starting today’s puzzle I went along to the 2 day walk in centre for what I now know was my 13th dose of Covid vaccine. The place was deserted and I gather from the nurse that fewer people are attending as time passes. I wonder whether people have become complacent.
I thought this was straightforward until I arrived at the SW corner where, for some reason, I began to stutter. Confused myself over 15d and agree with Falcon’s comment re the use of ‘young’. I needed the checkers in place before resolving 24a as it’s not a product I am familiar with.
Overall I enjoyed the challenge with 21a and 26a being my top picks.
Many thanks to the setter and Falcon
Like our blogger, I found the W trickier than the E although the vegetarians at 13a were my last in. Very enjoyable overall and despite not being a huge fan of anagrams, I’m going to demonstrate open-mindedness my nominating the cheese at 24a as my COTD. Thanks very much to the setter and to Falcon.
I thought this was a 1 star and rather too heavy on anagrams. However I do have several ticks where the clues left the straight and narrow. Favourite was 20 d followed by 17 d. Both of them a nice tease. 13 across was the best laugh . Glad to get a dictionary definition for 8 across. It was a vague sort of word previous to today. With the crossword we certainly live and learn.
Ever grateful for all the behind the scenes work from our setter and Falcon
Another failed attempt at multi-tasking. So, I stopped solving to concentrate on Rory McIlroy winning his second Green Jacket. Then I resumed solving on what seemed to be somewhat more challenging for a Monday back pager – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 23a, 26a, 1d, and 22d – and the winner is 26a.
Thanks to whomsoever and Falcon.
At first glance I thought this was going to be a very sticky Monday challenge, so went to the S to work upwards, which approach made it a much simpler task, as is often the case. A few where an eyebrow went up a bit and, like Falcon, I felt uneasy about the use of singular steer for plural cattle.
No problem with 12a in my book, vet being short for veterinary surgeon, and given the number of ops my various spaniels have had over the years I have utmost respect for the surgical skills of most vets I’ve encountered.
7 anagrams (even quite creative ones) in only 27 clues felt like a few too many, but 24a’s hard cheese goes on to my podium, with 17d’s scientist and our old friend the ransacker at 20d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon
A bit trickier than is usual for Monday but enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Falcon.
I agree with our blogger that there is a mismatch between cattle (plural) and steer (singular) in 15d.
Top clues for me were 23a, 2d and 17d.
Back into the routine of solving the crossword earlier in the day, instead of completing recent offerings in the late evening. Well, this one was on the easier side for me so I’ll give it */***. Agree there were quite a few anagrams, which then threw me when 2d proved to be a lurker! Solved 8a but did not know the word and had to resort to Mr Google to find out it’s old English for utter. COTD was 20d.
Many thanks to Falcon and the setter.
Heron has now claimed authorship of this crossword.
I found this slightly trickier than normal for a Monday, but that might have been me staying up late to ( no regrets) with wine (some regrets!) to watch Rory claim a second successive green jacket (just!). Too illustrate my sluggishness I didn’t spot the lurker in 2d despite getting the answer and needed Falcon to point it out!
Anyway, recovery nearly complete and thanks to Heron and Falcon.
** / ***
Just but only just, strayed into 2* difficulty/time, so I agree with most that this was a little more difficult than the usual Monday fare. . I too have only heard of 8a when followed by ‘nonsense’. I’m afraid I’ve never heard of the cheese in 24a so my random selection of consonants in the none-checked lights wasn’t right! Technically, that means it was a DNF but I can’t rate it 5* difficulty just for that!
Ticks went to the 23a small car, the 20d ransacker and the very well hidden lurker at 2d.
Thanks to Heron and Falcon
Hmmm, now that I think more, how about “with 8a disregard”; yes, I think I’ve heard of that.
How about “with 8a irregardlessness”?
Ooh, the poor boy’s travelling, don’t wind TDS65 up even more and with an extra ‘ness’ to boot!!!! 🤣
Oooh, yes, that’s a good one.
So is the convention that we can only have 8a with negative things?
For me, 8a always carries the connotation of knowingly reckless, ill-advised, or poorly thought out. A statement can be utter nonsense even though the speaker believes it to be true. A statement that is 8a nonsense is something the speaker says even though they know (or should reasonably be expected to know) is untrue.
I’m with others here … tougher than usual for a Monday.
6d Bunged in “clutter” on first pass .. which didn’t help!
13a .. giraffes stick their necks out, don’t they just have long necks? This was crying out to be a tortoise!
24a Can’t recall coming across this cheese before … I’ll be looking out for it now.
Cotd 2d … last in .. thought it a very well concealed lurker.
Thanks to setter (good mind gym today) and Falcon for hints.
The cheese is very similar to Parmesan
But so much tastier…
.. I just mentioned to Mrs Big Eck. She replied there’s a packet in the fridge. Who knew eh!🤣
I attempted to address the “sticking their necks out” aspect of the clue in both the hint and the illustration.
I’m in agreement that this was trickier than the usual Monday fare but enjoyable all the same. Because for some reason the crossword does not download with the rest of the paper I have to go in through the http://www.telegraph/puzzles which is very inconvenient as it doesn’t save my progress if I leave the site. On talking to Telegraph Towers they insisted I have never been able to download the puzzle with the paper – so how come it worked for 26 years until 2 weeks ago? Brrrr. Thanks to setter and hinter.
Enjoyable but tougher than average for a Monday. Some very straightforward and others needed a lot more thought. 2d was my favourite and was an excellent example of a lurker.
Many thanks to Heron and to Falcon for the hints……it’s a the avian team team today!
Left hand half was a struggle that not even the strains of Pink Floyd 🎸 could assist me.
A pleasant puzzle to start off the non-work week. Nice to have a break after some of the weekend puzzles that can be a little arduous at times.
1.5*/4* for me
Favourites include 4a, 10a, 12a, 13a & 17d — with winner 13a because it made me laugh
Smiles too for 12a, 3d & 6d
Thanks to setter & Falcon
A Monday off work after completing my first trail marathon yesterday, the Maverick Brighton run. I imagined the brain was also tired as I made a slow start to today’s offering – now I see I’m not alone in this 🙂
LOI by a couple of mins was 2D – foiled by a lurker! Like Rabbit Dave says, there did seem plenty of anagrams, though they helped to gather momentum.
Pody picks – 14D’s restful remedy surface, 20D’s museum (I imagine that wordplay’s been seen before?) and 24A’s cheese – it’s making me hungry …
Thanks to setter and to Falcon ⭐️- we hear Somethin’ Stupid often, but it’s the Bryn & Nessa version in Gavin & Stacey. 📺
I’m in the trickier than usual camp though even allowing for that & a couple of puzzle free days the solve took longer than it ought to have done. The giraffes & the frostbite my top two.
Trusting tomorrow will be the usual stroll in the park 🤞
Thanks to Heron (new setter?) & to Falcon.
Ps huge congrats to Rory – watched every minute of his 72 holes which proved quite a challenge given 6am starts Fri, Sat & Sun
I join you in the aclaim of Rory. Despite terrible traffic, we returned home from Stamford Bridge just in time for his final round. He had us on the edge of our seats at times. Scottie Scheffler got a little too close!
Heron started in January and I think she has provided one Monday puzzle a month since then.
Weatherman said at the Birthday Bash that he’s generally doing alternate Mondays; those happen to be the ones I blog (until one of us has a week off). So Heron is doing about half the Mondays that Falcon blogs, leaving one or more other setters doing the rest.
A rather nice Monday challenge. I did like 17d Old European scientist- neat.
*/****
Well I found today’s puzzle quite frustrating. I completed the East from top to bottom not a problem. However, I failed to get a foothold up in the North. Left it several times hoping for inspiration but nothing penetrated! COTD the giraffes at 13a. Many thanks to the setter and Falcon.
Definitely a notch up on the difficulty from what I would prefer on a Monday, but not impossible. Several clues had me smiling, with favorite being 24a. Such a delicious cheese, at least the Pecorino Romano type which I use a lot in cooking. Nothing else has quite the flavour. It disappeared from our grocery stores recently due to a listeria scare, but happily now back in the shelves. LI was 12a as I couldn’t stop my head associating vet with veteran, sigh. Thanks to setter and Falcon.
Heron’s given us a lovely puzzle, with 17D my favourite from a strong field. 8A should be in more common parlance, not just as an adjective for nonsense. And 9A is a beautiful word – oozes class. VMT also to Falcon
A bit tougher than normal but good fodder . This leads me into Steer, a castrated male bull/bullock .Worked with some steers at the Grasslands Research Institute near Reading in the late sixties , the work involved testosterone implants to an experimental group to see at what level/dosage they began gain more weight than a control group.? Higher dosages led to an increase weight but also frolicsome and aggressive behaviour.Had to run to the electric fence on many an occasion . Not sure this kind of experiment would happen these days . This clue was my first in . Thanks to all .
I’m with the majority on the difficulty, the East/West split and young cattle although I did enjoy it. I had to check the cheese but at least it was an anagram. Solving the long anagram with very few checkers helped enormously. Favourite was 18d. Thanks to the two birds.
I found this one fairly gentle as befits a Monday so guess I am on Heron’s wavelength. 8a was a new word , parsed the clue and delighted to find it was a real word. My last one in was 2d totally missing it was a lurker – I did wonder for a moment why it made no sense at all until I twigged. Thanks to Heron for a delightful puzzle and to Falcon.
Yes, unusually tough for a Monday with further anagram overload. A few quibbles viz 11a just “Kent”, 12a “vet”, 13a “sticking their necks out” and 15d “driving”. Not familar with 8a. Altogether not a barrowload of fun but thanks anyway Heron and Falcon.
Found that a challenge, somewhat tougher than the usual Monday fare. Had to resort to the external assistance with only about 50% completed. Completed clues all over the place. I suppose it kept us on our toes.
COTD, the vegetarians at 13a.
Thank you to the setter and to Falcon for the hints.
2*/4* ….
liked 3D “Basic foodstuff is no longer fresh, soft inside (6)”