Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31217 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club
(hosted by crypticsue)
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I found this at the difficult end of the Saturday Prize Puzzle spectrum but I enjoyed solving this television-music-show themed crossword, apart from 12a as the image it conjured up wasn’t a particularly nice accompaniment to my breakfast porridge
Please ask for help if you are stuck on clues I haven’t hinted, but before doing so, please read the comments that appear before yours, so that you are not duplicating questions, and make sure you obey both THE INSTRUCTIONS IN RED at the end of the Hints and the blog’s Comment Etiquette – Big Dave’s Crossword Blog)
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Across
1a Platitudes suit Mrs Batty (7)
An anagram (batty) of SUIT MRS
10a Queen Mother departing African country for imaginary one (9)
The Latin abbreviation for queen and an African country without an informal name for a mother
14a Old man leading show? (3,2,3,4)
Could this show be an informal way of saying that a father (old man) headed the list?
18a French and German articles present latent suspicion (12)
A French indefinite article and a German definite article followed by present in the sense of up to date
22a Drinking tea, future bride at home in floral arrangement (5,5)
Ear worm of the day! The name of a bride whose singing intended offered a tandem rather than a carriage, followed by (drinking) another name for tea and the usual ‘at home’
27a Speed ahead to keep old cyclists in group (7)
A verb meaning to speed and an adverb meaning ahead into which is inserted (to keep) the abbreviation for Old
28a Dramatist runs into youngster by church (7)
A Roman writer of comedic drama – the cricket abbreviation for Runs inserted into a young person, the result followed by the abbreviation for the Church of England
Down
1d Cosily warm where pig may go? (6)
Merge the words in a three-word phrase describing where a pig may go
3d Lush struggling with morals? One or two! (5,5)
The time immediately after midnight. An anagram (struggling) of LUSH with MORALS
5d Killer in cowboy film avoiding northern city (9)
A killer what inserted into a cowboy film without (avoiding) the abbreviation for Northern
8d Freedom from pain having absorbed ultimate enzyme (8)
Freedom from pain or disturbance having ‘absorbed’ ultimate or final
13d Local artist, notorious lord and clergyman, retired (10)
A reversal (retired) of an abbreviated artist, a lord who became notorious in the 1970s and an abbreviated clergyman
17d Perhaps saw advantage raising money (4,4)
An informal advantage and reversed (raising) some informal money
23d Barely enough time to finish examination (5)
The abbreviation for Time finishes or goes after a close examination
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The Quick Crossword pun: TACKY + CARD + EAR = TACHYCARDIA
That was tough! Well, it was for me anyway. Quite a number of words and phrases I had not heard of before that could be solved only by checkers. I have to hope they are correct. Anyway, despite my struggles, there were some great clues such as 3d and the game at 7d. My COTD is where a pig may go at 1d.
Thank you, NYDK or whomsoever if it not be thee. Thank you, CeeSoo for the hints.
Lovely sunny day in The Marches so a little pottering in the garden beckons. It will be light as well because, after being laid low for two weeks, I feel as weak as a kitten. 🐈⬛
Took rather longer than normal with some obscure clues. I needed Sue’s help to explain 22a. No particular favourite.
I have said before that clues that refer to social events and shows from 30 or more years ago do nothing to make crosswords accessible to younger readers. I can’t say more for fear of finding there’s still no cake on the naughty step.
Thanks setter , thanks Sue.
Hi S
This is always a tricky one as us oldies (90% of the audience) love a trip down Memory Lane with many of the references often putting a smile on our faces. It sometimes starts a conversation which can be fun. It’s a case of knowing the audience. In all my years on this blog, I’ve yet to see a youngster saying it’s a problem.
So, I think we’re good.
It was tough for me too and it was difficult to leave the multi-word clues alone and start elsewhere becauserhe multi-word clues seeme to everywhere. Their common theme eluded me for a long time and it was a case of guessing what was in the compiler’s mind andvusing the checkers. I liked the homophone at7d and the craftily concealed anagram at 3d. The geographical lost letter clue at 10 was rather good but my clue ofthe day was the floral arrangement for the bride at 22a. Thanks to the compileer and to CS for the hints.
Tricky I thought with a few I can’t parse…..so they may well be wrong. A huge sense of satisfaction on completion as I initially struggled to get going particularly with the long ones.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints.
This brought me back to Earth after finishing the week’s offerings in fairly good order. I needed help here for 22a and, although I got 26a from the word play, I still have no idea what the answer means.
26a is the name of a television show
Thanks. That isn’t a bad thing of which to be ignorant.
A puzzle of two halves where the N was far friendlier than the S. Overall a tough workout. Needed CS’ hint to parse 22a. The linked clues brought back memories of watching the show in question and being rollocked by my mother who was trying to sleep. However good that clue, cotd is a toss up between 1d and 13d. And the cleverly constructed 13d wins by a nose. Thanks to NYDK (?) and CS.
I found that very tricky and I’m still unsure if a couple are correct as I can’t parse them.
Of those I believe I’ve got correct, my top picks are 22a, 13d, 7d, 3d and 4d.
Thanks to CrypticSue and the setter.
Hope this does not break the rules. Did anyone else notice that 2 of the clues tie in with one of today’s obituaries?
Welcome to the blog
One of our former bloggers has indeed mentioned the same thing
What did you think of the crossword?
More DYBK than NYDK with extended pauses for thought, especially in the South, resulting in a number of ‘has to be’ answers most of which became clear after even more thought.
Candidates for favourite 1a, 11a etc, 21a, 7d, and 13d – and the winner is 13d.
Thanks to Mr Bringloe and CS.
Found that a much harder SPP than the usual offerings and took me twice as long in consequence. I also had to leave the main multi word clues alone as could not get into them at first. The SW was the hardest to crack but very satisfying when I did.
COTD was 13d after trying many variations the lord finally clicked – what a brilliant clue!
So far above my head I wouldn’t even get it with stilts, gave up with only half done, roll on tommora……….
I’m with you. I found it impossible and resorted to Google because I don’t like not finishing.
I can only agree with those that found this pretty brutal for a SPP. It took me way beyond my usual time even for a difficult Toughie, and I struggled with my final half a dozen clues, mainly in the SE. 13d was one of my last entries and I will nominate that as my favourite.
Thanks to Donny or whomsoever compiled this, and to Sue.
I really had to knuckle down to complete this more difficult than usual SPP. Only half filled before I teased out the anagram at 11a, which op ended a few more doors, but got there in the end. LOI was the course at 20d seemingly taking an age to find a synonym for unqualified in order to parse it
Ia had me going down the wrong path before I realised it had very little to do with the lady herself. My COTD is the aforementioned 11a just for the time it took to disentangle.
Thanks to NYDK (?) and CS
3*/4*
A later than usual start to what for me was a proper struggle. The first seven down clues got me off to a good start with the checkers enabling me to complete most of the north. 8d required a look up.
The south was a different kettle of fish. I enjoyed 13d, 15d, 18a and 22a which at least got me going but there were a number of other clues from which I eventually formed an answer but whether they are right or wrong I know not. Time will tell.
Thanks to the setter for putting my brain through the mangle and crypticsue for making sense of things.
I thought this was a superb challenge which I managed to finish without the hints but at a very slow pace. The 38 degree heat may have something to do with that. I would love to award 11A COTD, due to the affection I hold for the object being referred to but having spent far too much time trying to work out how I could use, ”xxxxxxx”, in the solution to 1D the award has to go there. One of the loudest penny drops for a long time. Thanks to the setter and for the CS for the hints.
I wondered if the crossword was in momory of Andy Kershaw who died recently.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/apr/17/andy-kershaw-obituary
It’s great to hear from you again, Libellule.
I still do the DT cryptic every day (among others), and drop in to have a look at the comments or get an explanation of the workings of clues I fail to understand. Its good to see that the blog is doing well.
I didn’t think DT cruciverbalists read the Guardian! Actually the DT obituary today was excellent, and a very fine and clever homage by the setter. I will follow the above link to compare.
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/2406/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/2406/pub/2406/page/74/article/NaN
I’m still unhappy about the parsing of 20d, in particular the definition, although there can only be one solution.
Hi Ross O’Fial.
The parsing of 20d took me a while as the really difficult six letter synonym for ‘unqualified’ without the i (one must abandon) was beyond me. I only got it when I biffed the answer.
Cor! The Home Counties was worthy of Elgar. Brutal from Rood Bonk.
I flew around the other quadrants, looking good for a 2* time, but crawled across the finish line, pushing me comfortably into 5* territory.
I can only assume that 26a is a shortened version of the one I’ve heard of. If so, that is impossible. Future bride was waaaaaaay beyond me as was the synonym for ‘unqualified’. I’ve never heard of the dramatist and arriving at the actress and singer, as there are so many, was tough. Really tough.
My LOI was 13d which was nicely done and 8d was obviously a bung-in.
My pody picks are 10a as the surface was random, 4d and 17d.
MTTTA and she of the crypt.#
5*/4*
**** / ***
Agree with all those saying this was tough. Extremely so in my opinion. I was going to list the shows/words etc. that I’ve never heard of but TDS65 above already has so I’ll echo his comments. To make matters worse, how can I get an imaginary country when I’ve accidentally done an Eric Morecambe on 6d and written all the correct letters but not in the correct order!
Ticks went to 1d, love compounds like that, the 13d super reversal and the 5d killer city.
To add to the woe, I studied chemistry and biology but have no recollection of the 8d enzyme. Thanks to Cee Soo for the hint as I couldn’t believe an enzyme would be the definition so was stuck looking for freedom.
I’m certainly not going to try to guess the setter but thanks anyway and thanks again to CS.
I agree this was a brain teaser especially in the South . I loved the floral arrangement but top of the pops was the brilliant 13d. Very smart. The couple doing. Offer Stop this morning spoilt us all by providing home made cakes and shortbread. Yummy, I broke my rule and had a small cake and that made me think of the Naughty Step. I feel sure that CeeSue’s cake would be home- made. Many thanks to her and to the wily Setter. 20d my LOI. UK
It would seem to be a NYDK puzzle this Saturday given the multi-word clue in the grid. It took me a long time to crack it as I was not familiar with the show. I also thought this NYDK puzzle was a little trickier than normal, with quite a few head scratchers, but overall a lot of fun.
3*/4* overall for me
Favourites include 1a, 14a, 1d, 3d, 7d & 15d — with co-winners 1d & 7d as both made me smile
Thanks to NYDK & CS
Bah! I can’t comment due to Prize Crossword rulings, but I am delighted to be close to the woman I secretly love.
Bless my soul, it was tricky though wasn’t it? However, I am confident that the biro is mine.
Orf, shortly, to Stamford Bridge to watch The Mighty Chelsea take on another team from Manchester. Nothing can possibly go wrong. Nothing.
Thanks to the setter – one assumes Big Apple Entryway Furniture – and of course to PC Security (anag)
4*/4*. Crikey, this was tough for a SPP especially in the SE corner but good. I enjoyed the nostalgic element and 10a was my favourite.
One question, is there any evidence that the “future bride” in 22a ever actually tied the knot?
Many thanks presumably to NYDK and to CS.
P.S. Mrs RD is feeling much better but is still in hospital in what has become a catch-22 situation. They want her to stay in until they can carry out a gastroscopy, but they have no idea when that can be done because they have such a backlog. Hence, she is now taking up a hospital bed that she doesn’t actually need. Crazy.