Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3365 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, on Friday, fortified coffee was required after going to the supermarket partly because of the weather, rain/freezing rain/ice pellets/snow, over the preceding 12 hours and partly because of the bill!
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada more brain mangling than NYDK was yesterday – two long ‘uns, six anagrams (four partials), one lurker, one homophone, some cross-referencing, and one palindrome all in a symmetric 28 clues with some interesting anagram indicators (just for TDS); with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
So Terence, what did go wrong at Stamford Bridge yesterday afternoon?
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Candidates for favourite – 1a, 14a, 16a, 27a, 7d, 15d, and 19d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
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.
Some hints follow:
Across
1a Tongue poke – pain is it? (6,5)
Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once! A (foreign) tongue (at the other end of the Chunnel) and a synonym of poke (and the first word of the definition is in the foreign tongue).
11a Big fish at sea in prison when virtually bankrupt (9)
An anagram (bankrupt) of PRISON and WHEn with the last letter deleted (virtually).
12a 8 Down that man, unclear if wobbly (9)
Have you solved 8 Down because I haven’t hinted it! That man as the nominative masculine form of the third person pronoun and an anagram (if wobbly) of UNCLEAR.
14a Book location in Greater Manchester (6)
A double definition – the first is an abbreviated form (in the Big Red Book) of the name of the twenty-first book in my other Big Red Book!
18a Delinquent? I have backed older miscreant (8)
The reversal (backed) of the contracted form of I have and an anagram (miscreant) of OLDER.
26a Keep going, by challenging (9)
A three letter synonym of by and a synonym of challenging.
28a Narrator, person banking on lie (5-6)
A term for someone working in a bank (person banking) placed after (on) a synonym of lie (as in a porky).
Down
2d Turner Prize work stolen to order, every second counting (5)
You don’t need to know that the Turner Prize is for art; just select the second letters (every second counting) of five words in the clue.
4d Race is one short of a football team? (6)
A (3,3) phrase that can indicate that a football team is short of one player.
7d Source of information US president once put on paper (4,9)
Select a former president from the illustration and put him before (on) the paper source of our enjoyment/torture.
9d Politician identified as criminal, effectively working on plot? (5-8)
Guess a term for a politician from a minor party (I understand that there are five in the UK Parliament at the present time) and a slang term equivalent to identified as criminal.
15d Arrangement of locks: in remedy one breaks out (8)
We have a Matryoshka – all of the Roman numeral for one inserted into (breaks) a synonym of out is inserted into (in) a synonym of remedy.
22d Frightful cast, not as honest (6)
A synonym of frightful and CasT with the interior letters deleted (not as).
25d Love a way in, did you say? (5)
A homophone (did you say) of A from the clue and a a term for way in.
Quick Crossword Pun:
MANGO + CHERRY = MUNGO JERRY
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Before beginning a solo career in 1987, one half of the duo Wham, George Michael, released a first solo single in 1984 and a second one, A Different Corner, in 1986. The latter was at number one for three weeks starting on this day in that year:
A dnf for me as I resorted to e-help to confirm a fair few. Also needed Senf’s hint to parse 1a. In retrospect, a clever puzzle but not much fun given the help required. 7d raised a smile so is my cotd. Thanks to Dada for the brain mangling and Senf for the help.
Sorry, not for me. I gave up after solving about half a dozen.
As for the Quickie pun, I wouldn’t have got it in a month of Sundays.
Thank you for the thrashing, Dada. Thank you, Colonel for the much needed hints.
Yes, I agree, this was a beast of a crossword, and I very nearly gave up on it about half way through. It took a longer time than a Sunday puzzle usually does but I finished it invthe end. It wasn’t one of Dada’s finest but I did enjoy the diabolically cunning 1a, my COTD, the cryptic definition at 7d and the geographical clue at 14a. Thanks to Dada for the brain burner and o Senf for the hints.
Totally agree about the crossword. I do remember Mungo Jerry though!
4*/2*. Disappointing – I found this very tough and not much fun with a couple of dodgy anagram indicators to boot.
Thanks anyway to Dada and also to Senf.
Dada set us a crossword that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Sunday Toughie slot and without his usual sprinkling of fun
Thanks to him and Senf
Maybe it got in the wrong envelope, although I haven’t started this yet the Beam in t’other place is not too tough.
I agree, SJB. I’m getting on quite well with the Beam Toughie.
WOW
Finished but needed the hints to verify matters .
Thanks and greetings.
For me, and I stress for me (© Senf), this was v-e-r-y H-A-R-D indeed. Lawks, my gruel and orange juice with no bits was long gorn when I shoved in the last one (18a). I would go for a little lie down if we weren’t going out for a lovely walk™ and Sunday luncheon (in the Chilterns).
Football? Yesterday? I can’t quite remember…
Oh it was painful! Tippy-tappy, sideways and backwards. Wayward crossing; abysmal decision making; flimsy shooting. Lack of commitment. No leadership. Cole Palmer a shadow of the player he was eighteen months ago.
A manager way out of his depth. Substitutions – like for like when a second striker was clearly needed. Centre forward who has made 24 Premier League appearances – one goal. Disgruntled supporters demonstrating outside the ground before kick-orf.
We could be next season’s Tottenham. What a thought!
Thanks to Da-doo-ron-ron and The Shivering Man From Manitoba
A DNF for me, although I got there with the hints, thanks to Senf. As others have commented I did not find this particularly enjoyable. Another DNF was my attempt to repair our concrete gatepost in the 40 degree midday heat. The gatepost awaits my attempts tomorrow and I am sure the cryptic offering will be more rewarding.
Thanks for the hints and to the setter.