Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31218
Hints and tips by Smylers
Good morning, and welcome to Monday’s crossword. I think most will find this easier than the past couple of Mondays’. I actually finished this quickly, and those who rate difficulty purely on time may categorize this as just ★. But after my first pass there were still left many gaps in the grid, and a few of the clues have quite involved wordplay, so I think this is less suitable for a complete beginner than the puzzles I rate as ★, and ★★ it is.
Spouse and I are just back from a long weekend away to celebrate my birthday, which was a square number this year. See these pictues to work out where we went:
Hints and explanations for the crossword are below, with the answers hidden in the blobs labelled Congratulations — you’ve managed to click on a blob!. Comments are most welcome at any time of day, and they especially welcome from those who have been reading for a while but not said ‘hello’ before. See Big Dave’s etiquette guide for the house rules.
Across
1a Regulator mishandled hot matters (10)
THERMOSTAT: Mishandle ‘hot matters’ so its letters spell the answer.
6a Parking, admitted to wrong turn (4)
SPIN: Admit the letter that indicates parking on a road sign into a word for a wrong.
10a Perhaps remove from line in a French page, say (5)
UNPEG: The definition here turned out to involve more words than I expected. Enter in order: one of the words for ‘a’ in French; the abbreviation for ‘page’; and the abbreviation of the Latin phrase that means ‘say’, in the sense of ‘for example’.
11a Addition of popular setter inspiring resistance (9)
INCREMENT: Start with the usual synonym of ‘popular’. Next we need a setter; this one’s nothing to do with crosswords, nor indeed dogs, but a physical substance which sets hard. That inspires, in the sense of inhales, the letter which indicates electrical resistance.
12a Concur concerning boring period (5)
AGREE: A Latin word meaning ‘concerning’, in the sense of a topic of a memo or similar, is bored into a period of time.
13a Will try a time to ring blokes (9)
TESTAMENT: Concatenate another verb meaning ‘try’, the A from the clue and the abbreviation for ‘time’. Make the combination ring, as in go round the outside of, a word meaning ‘blokes’.
14a City fashionable in the past (7)
CHICAGO: A word for ‘fashionable’ used in the past is ‘ton’. That isn’t relevant here, but it was needed in a crossword last week, and it’s bound to crop up again. However, for this clue we simply need synonyms for ‘fashionable’ and ‘in the past’.
16a Complete child extremely asocial (5)
TOTAL: A word for a small child is followed by the extreme letters of ‘asocial’.
19a Beat up around London School of Economics (5)
PULSE: Turn the ‘up’ from the clue around so it faces backwards and follow it with the abbrevation for the London School of Economics.
20a Horrible part of play following introduction of orthodox bishop (7)
OBSCENE: A subdivision of a play follows both of the introductory letter of ‘orthodox’ and the letter that indicates a bishop in chess notation.
22a One who helps when little sister cheers, not lacking heart (9)
ASSISTANT: Enter in order: A conjunction which can indicate ‘when’; a little form of the word ‘sister’; a short exclamation which an mean ‘cheers’, in the sense of ‘thank you’; and the word ‘not’ lacking the letter at its heart.
26a Liberal old English barrister, revolutionary philosopher (5)
LOCKE: Start with the shortest abbreviation used to indicate the Liberal party and the abbreviation for ‘old’. Then concatenate the abbreviation for ‘English’ and the letters that indicate a barrister (remembering that we don’t have a Queen any more) and revolve this component so it’s backwards in the grid.
Painting: Godfrey Kneller
27a Resolving disputes, Charlie quits drugs? (9)
MEDIATION: This method for resolving disputes is formed by starting with a general word for (prescription) drugs then removing from it the letter indicated by ‘Charlie’ in the Nato phonetic alphabet. A lovely clue.
28a Bottles six beers, not European (5)
VIALS: After six in Roman numerals, we need a word for ‘beers’ from which the abbreviation for ‘European’ has been removed.
29a Bolshevik leader heading west, ignoring large number (4)
NINE: We need a Bolshevik party leader, turn them around to head west, and then to ignore the letter that indicates large clothing.
30a Ignorant, you ultimately want to pinch old coin (10)
UNEDUCATED: Start with the ultimate letter of ‘you’; that’s the easy bit. The rest of it is formed from a synonym for ‘want’ (perhaps in the sense of ‘in want of’) which pinches — that is, goes around the outside of — the name of an old coin that I’d forgotten about until parsing this answer. Chambers says it was “a former European gold or silver coin of varying value”, which is so vague in all of location, composition, and value that it’s a surprise we know they even existed.
Pic credit: © Classical Numismatic Group, CC BY-SA 3.0
Down
1d Briefly stroke an exotic bird (6)
TOUCAN: Here we need another word for ‘stroke’, made brief by removing its final letter. End with the ‘an’ from the clue.
2d Replica I’m changing based on experience (9)
EMPIRICAL: Change the order of the preceding letters.
3d Make attractive image sent all over the place (9)
MAGNETISE: Put the letters of ‘image sent’ all over the place. Then pick them up and arrange them quite specifically to form the answer. The definition has a specific meaning which is nothing to do with physical appearance.
4d Somewhat prudish if they move (5)
SHIFT: The answer is lurking in somewhat of the following words.
5d No actress goes off those who came before (9)
ANCESTORS: The phrase ‘No actress’ goes off and its letters end up in a different order.
7d Hearing of quiet composition (5)
PIECE: ‘Quiet’ in cryptic clues often indicates P, and I spent some time trying to make P plus a 4-letter composition form a wording meaning ‘hearing’. However what we actually need to do is forget musical notation and instead imagine hearing somebody saying a word that can mean ‘quiet’; it sounds like the answer.
8d Answer stops short, possibly? Don’t mention it (3,2,3)
NOT AT ALL: The single letter that indicates ‘answer’ stops inside a two-word phrase that could mean ‘short’, by avoiding being its opposite. Thank you to TomDisappointingSturges65 for parsing this one, and apologies to today’s setter (Weatherman?) for failing to do so myself.
9d Fine Greek character’s cheese (4)
FETA: The letter used on pencils to indicate ‘fine’ is followed by a character from the Greek alphabet.
15d Love helping to support American party (9)
ADORATION: ‘Love’ in cryptic crossword clues often indicates a tennis score, but here it’s the definition. A word for a helping goes at the bottom of this down clue, supporting above it an abbreviation for ‘American’ and a party.
16d Distressed, ditch love in theatre (3,3,3)
THE OLD VIC: The answer is the name of a particular theatre, formed by distressing the words ‘ditch love’ till their letters spell out the answer.
Pic credit: © Phil Clark, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
17d Vigorous martial arts star Jackie in Midlands river (9)
TRENCHANT: Place the surname of the martial arts star with the first name Jackie inside the name of a river in the Midlands.
Pic credit: © Donnchadh H, CC BY 2.0
18d Soldier‘s small fruit from India eaten finally (8)
SPEARMAN: This word for a soldier (using a specific weapon) was new to me, but it’s a compound noun and both parts are well known, so it’s still gettable. However, we need not to be thinking of fruit from India, nor that India is in the Nato alphabet. Instead we need the letter that labels a small item of clothing and a fruit; after those put the final letters of ‘from India eaten’.
21d Rented meadows on outskirts of Enfield (6)
LEASED: Some meadows (a word I only know from solving crosswords) are followed by the letters at the outskirts of the word ‘Enfield’.
23d Country star probed by District Attorney (5)
SUDAN: The name of a particular star is probed by, in the sense of having inserted into it, the abbreviation that denotes a District Attorney.
This song by country star Ella Langley made an unusual chart record last month, managing to spend 5 consecutive weeks at number 35 in the UK top 40. It’s climbed since then, and is at number 13 this week. If you generally avoid modern music as not being for you, you may be surprised to find something like this making the charts in 2026.
24d Regularly, she falls for marine mammal (4)
SEAL: Take letters at regular intervals from the subsequent words in the clue.
25d Sorted out pitch with minor bit of damage holding United up (5)
TUNED: The pitch here is not a place where sport is played. We need a word for a minor bit of damage, to a car perhaps, then to insert the single-letter abbrevation for ‘United’ into it, and turn the whole thing so it goes up the grid.
Quickie Pun
In today’s Quick Crossword the first 3 clues are italicized, indicating we can say their answers out loud to make another word, name, or phrase. Reveal the blobs below to check or to see the video:
MUSHED + HANGS + ALLEY = MUSTANG SALLY
Recent Reading
by Kristen Perrin was my favourite detective fiction book of last year, and I recommend it to anybody who likes the genre. This follow-up is perfectly acceptable, but I didn’t find it as intriguing as the first one — and, perhaps understandably, nor is it as original.
Annie finds another historic case to solve, which still has echoes in the present day, with information found in her great aunt’s old diaries — the relevant volumes of which happened to be missing until now, in case the reader is wondering why this didn’t all get cleared up along with the first murder. Part of the plot takes place in the conservatory, a room which the author acknowledges wasn’t mentioned in the previous book in an in-joke: a house guest mentions being so busy when she visited then that she hadn’t even realized the house had a conservatory.
If you liked the first book for its writing style, or just want to know what happens to Annie and her new detective friend next, then you will enjoy How to Seal Your Own Fate. If you’re just looking for a decent murder mystery novel, then this is absolutely fine — but so are plenty of others in the genre.
Another great start to the week with a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. I thought it was going to be a bit of a slog after solving only two on the first pass but the down clues came to my aid. These gave the checkers needed to be able spread across the grid. Putting the wrong ending to 27a held things up but the sorted out pitch at 25d put that right. I liked the liberal barrister at 26a and the once fashionable city at 14a but my COTD is the ignorance at 30a.
Thank you, setter for a fun puzzle. Thank you, Smylers for the hints.
The Quickie pun is fine if pronounced the way Sean Connery would. 😀
Pleasant introduction to the crossword week with nothing too obscure to rattle the grey matter. All pretty straightforward and workmanlike so difficult to pick a favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and Smylers
1*/3*
Nice intro into the week. A couple of crumpet scratches made for an enjoyable solve. Like Steve C I liked the philosopher at 26a and it makes my podium along with 28a and 17d in top spot. Thanks to compiler and Smylers. No idea where you have been, but the duck looks a tad worrying. Happy birthday too.
A nice, gentle start to the week with only a minor hold up for 7d as I also fell into the P for quiet trap.
11a and 3d favourites today
Thanks to Smylers and Setter
A pleasant puzzle, and while easier than recent weeks, I still found it trickier than the Mondays of yore with some intricate clues. **/***
[As an aside, just how good was Yes, [Prime] Minister? I was a little young for it at the time, but it has stood the test of time remarkably well. Politics and human behaviour are – it seems – pretty invariant, and the observations are as acute as ever. It’s quite, quite brilliant!]
Couldnt agree more, Karona.
It’s on my all-time podium with Watery Fowls and Porridge.
I’m also a little young for watching Yes Minister broadcast on TV, but my parents had the book of Jim Hacker’s ‘diaries’ — each chapter matching an episode, with additions of memos from the civil servants, newspaper articles, etc — which I read as a teenager. And apparently it made enough of an impression on me, that decades later when a clue mentions the LSE, it’s Sir Humprey’s disparaging of it that immediately sprang to mind. I was fortunate to be able to locate the precise clip for inclusion here.
It’s a fantastic programme, one of my all-time favourites. You’ve reminded me: I must inflict it on the children.
Sooner or later I’m going to get it into my head that they’re no longer QCs. Other than that brief parsing head scratch reasonably plain sailing to a brisk finish & most welcome after the tussles with Donny’s & Dada’s weekend prize puzzles. No real favourite but a pleasant kick off to the new week.
Thanks to the setter & to Smylers
Enjoyed that, especially after the quite testing prize puzzles of the weekend. Honours to 30a, 1d & 8d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers – especially for the reminder of the Bonnie Tyler video satire, which still makes me chuckle!
You’re welcome, Mustafa. It’s amazing commitment to the concept to re-record the whole thing like that.
An excellent start to the week, An encouraging start with 1a and 1d going in immediately. I seemed to be completely in tune with the setter and worked through the rest with barely a stutter. Given the trials and tribulations of the past two days this was a well clued and very enjoyable puzzle.
Worthy of mention are 22a and 30a but my COTD is 18d because while not familiar with the answer working through the clue delivered it perfectly.
Thank you to the setter and Smylers for the hints
A very enjoyable start to the week and, I must say, a relief after the weekend’s pounding I took! The toughest ever weekend….by far.
I read 8d as ‘a’ (for ‘answer’) is inside (stops) a two word expression for ‘short’. A very neat clue.
I liked the relevance of ‘liberal’ being used as he was the ‘Father of Liberalism’ even though I’ve never heard of him. The image the setter conjured up in 24d amused me.
My pody picks are 14a, 27a and 25d.
MTT her, on a Monday, perhaps and Smylers.
2*/4*
Thanks, Tom. That makes sense for 8d; I’ll update the hint.
Thanks for your note late last night – the penny had dropped with a Huge Clang! I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid but it had been a long day and my brain was pretty mangled!
I was surprised as there are usually no flies on you.
A friendly and enjoyable Monday puzzle – thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Top clues for me were 10a, 26a and 8d.
1*/4*. Light and pleasant Monday fare with 8d my favourite.
I was concerned that we might be in for an anagram-fest when four of the first six clues I solved were anagrams, all in the NW corner. However, there was only one more in the rest of the grid.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
I think todaysgentle and enjoyable guzzle tookme one quarter of the time expended on Saturday and Sunday’s brain_burners It was a relief indeed, as others have said. There were some lovely anagrams, like 1a, a good lego clues such as tge soldier at 18d and the geographical clue at 14a. I also liked the theatrical clue at 16d. Thanks to the compiler and to Smylers for the hints.
Thanks to all for a benevolent introduction to the week. You were in Alnwick Northumberland!
Smylers, is that Barter Books in Alnwick?
Ah – I see Lymey pipped me there. 😊
Yes, the train and ‘Stay Calm and Carry On’ poster are in Barter Books — Lymey above is quite right. The pillar with the lion on top of it is opposite the bookshop. The giant inflatable duck was an unexpected addition to the Alnwick Garden, at the top of the Grand Cascade, and the toadstools are in the Forgotten Garden Adventure Golf.
I loved this well put together challenge but I have to report a DNF. It seems that I was the only solver so far ending 27A with an ,”ing”, which I would argue parses correctly but then makes 25D impossible to parse. The gate post also held out being solved due to the intense heat. Thanks for a great puzzle and to Smylers for helping me to understand the error of my ways on 27A.
Hi ATIB
Re 27a, ‘ing’ doesn’t quite parse as it doesn’t mean ‘drugs’. ‘Resolving’ in this case is a gerund.
I don’t think you were alone, Tyke: Steve C in the first comment mentions the ending of 27a as well.
I’m intrigued by your claim that the -ing form parses correctly: can you come up with a sentence in which ‘drugs’ can be replaced by ‘medicating’?
The use of arbitrary drugs is the solution to the pandemic.
The use of arbitrary medicating is the solution to the pandemic
Hmmm, well done. Though I can’t work out what “The use of” adds to the second sentence: with ‘medicating’ meaning ‘use of drugs’, the second sentence seems to translate to “The use of arbitrary use of drugs is …”.
Even if those effectively convey the same information, I don’t think those words are interchangeable because ‘drugs’ is a physical substance and ‘medicating’ is an action, which clearly makes them different things.
After this reply I will go back to lurking, as, is often commented on this blog, so many people do. However I would point out that herbal medicating is a thing and doesn’t involve the use of drugs.
Apologies if you were feeling attacked my by responses, Tyke. I was genuinely interested in your example sentences; so often when I can’t see a synonym, others can. While I don’t think those words are interchangeable, that is only my opinion and yours is just as valid — and just as welcome — on here!
Please stay with us, Tyke, these debates are super-interesting and I too felt the ‘-ing’ parsed fine and wrote it in initially!
You’re additionally worthy of jealousy for your occasional weather reports ☺!
I put “ing” at first, ATinB. My reasoning was a gerund in the clue so there must be one in the answer.
Smylers is a smashing fellow and would never knowingly upset anyone so please don’t leave us. 👍
What a relief after the brain mangling of the weekend. 18d was new but easily gettable from the cluing.
Top picks for me were 1d, 10a and 11a.
Thanks and a belated Happy Birthday to Smylers and thanks to the setters.
I often read the books which Smylers mentions and usually enjoy them. If you like the Janice Hallett books he introduced me to then you might like the following from Maz Evans who has a similar quirky style – That’ll teach her and Over my dead body.
Thanks. at least one of the children has read Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans, but I haven’t read any of her adult books; I shall take a look.
An enjoyable start to the week with 8d my favourite. As others have said, a welcome relief after yesterday’s challenge (my first DNF in a while). Thanks very much to the setter and to Smylers. That’s a wonderful REM song and their performance of it in Leicester back in the 80s still ranks amongst my all time favourite gig moments. I can thoroughly recommend the tribute band Stipe, whom I saw in St Albans a coupe of weeks ago and will be seeng again at the 100 Club in August.
I felt the ‘forcing an REM song into the hints somewhere’ was a bit tenuous today, so I’m glad you liked it. You got to see them a decade before I did. Thanks for the tip about Stipe — hopefully they’ll come near here sometime.
After the brain mangling of Saturday and Sunday, a very pleasant start to the new cruciverbaling week – 1.5*/4*
Candidates for favourite – 14a, 29a, 30a, 1d, and 25d – and the winner is 25d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Smylers.
P.S. The ‘pillar with the lion on top’ is the Tenantry Column.
Yes, but we don’t want setters noticing the word ‘tenantry’ and then being inspired to use it in a grid …
First attempt, as a Down clue (because of the use of under) – Occupation without ownership by soldier on lines under X (8)
A splendid effort, Senf!
Have you compiled one (or more) over the years?
I have one Rookie puzzle to my credit, https://bigdave44.com/2018/04/09/rookie-corner-209/ , appropriately titled Premier et Dernier, Peut-être as I quickly decided that I am much better at solving and blogging rather than setting.
You’re being harsh on yourself as it was a splendid effort. My pody picks are avocado, Santa and eraser, an excellent rekrul.
You could definitely be a setter as long as compiling this one wasn’t an ordeal for you.
Bravo again!
Nicely done!
The lion’s tail always amused me, it looks like a flagpole misplaced in the Lion’s fundament.
Interesting that the town at the end of the river Aln pronounces it’s all, but Alnwick doesn’t
* / ****
Very busy this weekend, got Saturday done but need to go back to yesterday’s Dada but after the comment above, maybe I shouldn’t ☺!
Fell into the 27a trap of ending in ‘ing’, which to fair and with all respect to those debating above is at least very close to parsing. “Gerund-ing or Gerund-tion” that is the question!! That held up 25d, which therefore ended up being last one in as it was unsolvable with a “g” in the middle. Nevertheless (resisted the temptation TDS65), a very enjoyable puzzle and I’ll stick with 1* difficulty. my COTD went to the 11a Popular setter for the clever use of ‘setter’ not referring to the puzzle setter.
Many thanks to the setter (not in a mixer) and to Smylers.
Be strong, A-Pop. Be strong.
I loved RD’s ‘irregardlessness’ comment.
Are you forty? No’but a babe! Happy Boobydoo.
Great balm for the overtaxed weekend brain especially when 1a goes in like flash. I liked 19a
20a and the Bolshevik leader and 16d. 2d my favourite because I like the sound of the word. I have to take George to Addenbrookes for his second cataract so not sure how I fit in the guzzle. I seem to be all out of kilter at the moment. Thanks for the book suggestions (I am having to miss our Book Group tomorrow discussing You Are Here by David Nicholls, enjoyable ) I will check on them and thanks for the guzzle and the hints.
DG – I took a ‘square number’ to be x2 where x is somewhere between 5 and 9.
I loved solving this today, thank you setter for a fun puzzle and to Mr Smylers. I really like Alnwick, we had a lovely stay there recently.
A nice gentle start to the work week after a bevy of tough puzzles over the weekend. I (we??) needed this.
1.5*/3.5*
Favourites 1a, 6a, 16a, 5d, 23d & 25d — with winner 1a as it made me smile.
Thanks to setter & Smylers
I loved solving this today, thank you setter for a fun puzzle and to Mr Smylers. I really like Alnwick, we had a lovely stay there last year.
Sorry, ! Impatient fingers on the iPad 😂
A lovely crossword after a brutal weekend of puzzles. Agree with smylers 2 stars as some clues needed a bit more teasing out. I have to say regarding the hint for 9d – I had never noticed the ‘F’ in the pencil range – I thought they wentbfrom H-B (with HB in the middle). Thank you Smylers for the ‘school day’! This gap in my knowledge is made even more embarassing by the fact I spent 4 years at Art College (foundation and then degree!!)
Thanks to the setter and another thanks to Smylers for the book suggestion – I enjoyed the first one.
Smylers, I am guessing that, as you mentioned a square number, you like your maths?
Do you know this pattern for squaring numbers ending in 5?
15 x 15 = 225
25 x 25 = 625
35 x 35 =1225
85 x 85 = 7225
115 x 115 = 13225
All the answers end in 25, i.e 5 x 5 (multiplying the last digit in each number)
However, when multiplying the first digits, e,g 2 x 2 (of 25 x 25), you need to add 1 to the second number before multiplying, i.e 2 x 3 = 6. Then you add 25 (5 x 5) = 625
So, with 85 x 85, it’s 8 x 9 (add 1 that equals 72) 5 x 5 (25) = 7225
It works for any number. So, for 145 x 145, it’s 14 x 15 (210) plus 5 x 5 (25) = 21025.
Simples!
It’s quiet a cool party trick but only if the guests are Maths spods like me and thee.
Who didn’t know that? 😳😳😳😳
My Pun of the day calendar came up with this today Tom, it made me think of you!
The difference between a numerator and a denominator is a short line…. only a fraction of people will understand this.
Very good, you bonkers bayou, you (see my reply to DayZee’s post last night – https://bigdave44.com/2026/04/19/st-3365-hints/#comments)
Oooh, that’s neat (and I didn’t know it).
I also liked this shortcut that means a Premier League footballer instantly finds cube roots of big numbers.
I saw that at the time. V impressive.
Love a Maths trick, me.
Remind me never to come to a party at yours 🤣. Actually it is interesting so thanks for that !
If numbers is your ‘thang’, Jens, then it’s a goodie.
Finished the crossword before conversation with Parisian gentleman on the phone. Just as well because he was a great distraction. Only thought about the puzzle several hours later and remembered that it had been most enjoyable. Favourite was 14 across because I wasn’t expecting it . Always like a philosopher and the bottles of 28 across . It is interesting to know who rules the 1 across in different households and how much sneaking alteration goes on. Many thanks to Smylers and our setter. Job well done !
I had to complete the NW section in another session, despite knowing about the anagrams. Pery I should have written them down. LOI was 10a which I’d been totally on the wrong track of but which was a good clue. */**** for me. For once I didn’t need any clues, so now I will look at them. Thanks to the setter and Smylers – should have got your birthday treat location but I didn’t spot the train in the photo – I love that bookshop.
Fitting this in between a run to the doctors for blood work, and attending our HOA board meeting after an early lunch, I was more than happy to find a friendly Monday puzzle. Especially after yesterday’s epic fail. Almost all my own work today, but 17d and 18d had me stumped, plus not sure I have heard of 26a. Thanks for setter and Smylers. Did go down the same path for 6a as Smylers initially.
Only just finished this crossword – not because it was difficult but because I was out for most of the day. Thought it was most enjoyable, with some excellently parsed clues. Favourites were 11a and 8d and LOI was 26a. This was a double whammy as I had completely forgotten that barristers are now KCs and not QCs! To compound it all I have never heard of the philosopher. Off now to look up (and learn) famous philosophers. Haha! Thanks to Smylers for the excellent blog and to today’s setter for the mental challenge.
A nice puzzle after the last two. Definitely wasn’t a ‘read and write’ as they say , but just right. I didn’t know the philosopher (apologies if that makes me bit of a dumbo , but there you are – I needed e help), and I couldn’t parse the clue either so thanks Smylers for the hints and explanation. Happy ‘square’ birthday – I do like that expression. I’ll be approaching a square one myself this time next year, so will bear it in mind to use then. Thanks also to the setter.
JM! Why should your not knowing a philosopher make you a dumbo? I bet you know lots of other things that others don’t. 😊😊
Good point, Steve! All of us from time to time encounter things in crosswords we didn’t know of, whether that’s philosophers, footballers, YouTubers, or types of wine, and there’s no need to apologise for not knowing any of them.
A relatively straightforward challenge and as Smylers has stated, easier than some recent Monday fare. So, a finish without the need for reference and in a respectable time, for me at any rate.
Last in was the NE quadrant but my COTD goes to 3d, thinking of all the various beauty and enhancing products and services before the penny dropped.
Thank you to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
I should have said thank you for the clip from Yes Minister. It never ceases to amaze me how a series from forty years ago was as much a documentary on political affairs as it was a comedy. Not to mention its prescience.
I think it’s all been said, this was a lovely start to the week after the weekends battering.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Great start to the week and such a relief after the weekend (still have seven to finish from yesterday’s!). My only error was the ending of 27a which was rectified when I correctly clued 25d LOI. Thank you to the setter and Smylers. Enjoyed the video clips from Allo Allo and Yes Minister. Also happy memories of visits to Barters Books at Alnwick.