Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31226
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be about the same level of difficulty as yesterday’s, with some general knowledge required, but everything fairly clued throughout. As usual there were many excellent clues today. Amongst my favourites were 1a, 10a, 3d and 5d, but I especially liked the hapless president in 15d and the brilliant 9d. Many thanks to our setter.
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.
Across Clues
1a Disaffected Tory 10 getting stuck into the whisky (10)
MALCONTENT: The three-letter abbreviation for a Conservative is followed by the number 10 in letters, and all this is placed inside (stuck into) a kind of whisky.
6a Starts to sell warrants at Paris exchange (4)
SWAP: The initial letters (starts to) of ‘sell warrants at Paris’.
10a Rascal, libertine having good heart (5)
ROGUE: A word for a rake or debauched man, from the French for ‘broken on a wheel’, has at its centre or ‘heart’ the abbreviation for ‘good’.
11a Pathetic state every now and again opposing Ms Pelosi (9)
POIGNANCY: The alternate letters (every now and then) of ‘opposing’ precede the first name of a US Democratic politician who was the first woman to be elected speaker of the House of Representatives.
12a Arsenal warm our yogurt pots (7)
ARMOURY: A lurker, hidden in the middle three words of the clue.
13a Routine tool for raking dry grass, it’s said (5-2)
HEIGH-HO: Put together homophones (it’s said) of a three-letter word for dry grass and an implement for raking or loosening soil, giving an expression of weariness that according to Chambers can also mean a humdrum routine.
14a Quarrel – senior detective sergeant angrily arrests me (12)
DISAGREEMENT: The abbreviation for ‘Detective Inspector’ precedes an anagram (angrily) of SERGEANT that contains (arrests) ‘me’ from the clue.
18a Top jurists: Diana Ross reportedly apprehended? (7,5)
SUPREME COURT: The first word could describe the Queen of Motown herself, or any of the other members of the group of which she was the lead singer. The second word is a homophone (reportedly) of a synonym of ‘apprehended’ or ‘arrested’.
21a Recruits nurses to maintain register (7)
ENLISTS: The abbreviation of ‘Enrolled Nurse’ and the plural ‘s’ from the clue surround (maintain) a synonym of ‘register’.
23a Core of German city Cologne evacuated (7)
ESSENCE: The outer letters (evacuated) of ‘Cologne’ follow the name of another Rhineland city.
24a Table leg knocked over a trifle (9)
BAGATELLE: An anagram (knocked) of TABLE LEG is covering (over) ‘a’ from the clue.
25a Carrying a gun, husband left injured (5)
ARMED: The abbreviation for ‘husband’ has been removed from (left) a synonym of ‘injured’.
26a Still time to break off affair (4)
EVEN: Take away (break off) the abbreviation for time from a word for affair or occasion.
27a Running tenth lap, Olympian exhausted in the event (10)
PENTATHLON: An anagram (running) of TENTH LAP precedes the outer letters (exhausted) of ‘Olympian’.
Down Clues
1d Human bomb finally changing sides (6)
MORTAL: Take a word that can mean to bomb, or launch projectiles from a weapon, and can also refer to the weapon itself, and switch its final letter from R to L (changing sides).
2d What Macron chews? European veg (6)
LEGUME: The first five letters, split (2,3) are how Emmanuel Macron, or any of his compatriots, might say the definite article and a word for a rubbery chewable substance. Follow this with the abbreviation for ‘European’ to give the name of a vegetable of the pea family. Like ‘weekend’ or ‘camping’, the French and English words for the chewable substance are the same.
3d It challenges its students; previous ninety failed (4,10)
OPEN UNIVERSITY: This academic institution is an anagram (failed) of PREVIOUS NINETY.
4d This PM says cracknel, cut regularly, is a teatime treat (5,4)
TIPSY CAKE: The alternate letters (cut regularly) of the first four words of the clue.
5d Noise coming from The Nag’s Head? (5)
NEIGH: A cryptic definition that has nothing to do with rowdy drinkers.
7d African capital with independent hospital fine for nursing English (8)
WINDHOEK: The abbreviation for ‘with’, a three-letter abbreviation for ‘independent’, and the letter representing ‘hospital’ precede an informal synonym for ‘fine’ which is surrounding (nursing) the abbreviation for English.
8d Quiet student Mike punches lad in Devon port (8)
PLYMOUTH: Start with the musical symbol for ‘quiet(ly)’ and the usual abbreviation for student. Then append a synonym for a young person into which the letter represented by Mike in the NATO phonetic alphabet has been inserted.
9d Patented SSRI – an amazing drug (14)
ANTIDEPRESSANT: This prescription drug is an anagram (amazing) of PATENTED SSRI AN. I thought this was a very clever clue.
15d President who could become vote loser (9)
ROOSEVELT: An anagram (who could become) of VOTE LOSER.
16d Collect some brass emblems (8)
ASSEMBLE: A lurker (some) hidden in the last two words of the clue.
17d Record one record on the radio, broadcast late at night (8)
EPILOGUE: The abbreviation for an Extended Play record is followed by the Roman numeral for ‘one’ and a homophone (on the radio) of a word for a written record of events. The answer is the name of a BBC radio (and, later, television) programme with a religious theme that was the last programme transmitted on a Sunday evening.
19d Gloss over title defended by the Spanish (6)
ENAMEL: A synonym of ‘title’ is surrounded (defended by) the Spanish masculine singular definite article.
20d Heavy, loaded, filled with energy (6)
LEADEN: A synonym of ‘loaded’ contains (filled with) the abbreviation for ‘Energy’.
22d Challenge for you: very large, very easy at first (5)
SOLVE: A synonym of ‘very’ is followed by the abbreviation for ‘large’ and the initial letters (at first) of ‘very easy’.
Which clues did you like best? Let us know in the comments below.
The Quick Crossword pun: FOUR + LOCKE = FORELOCK
Just right for a Wednesday with a number of teasers thrown in for good measure. I must admit I have not heard of the teatime treat at 4d but it sounds interesting. I liked the disaffected Tory at 1a but it took me a while to sort out and opposing Ms Pelosi at 11a raised a smile. My COTD is the apprehension of Dianna Ross at 18a.
Thank you, setter for the mid-week challenge. Thank you, Gilda Sheen for the hints.
I’m going up to Yorkshire tomorrow until next Tuesday so may or may not be around.
Fun whilst it lasted. I liked 5d.
Thanks to today’s setter and Deansleigh.
Another relatively straightforward solve befitting of a Wednesday. The routine tool 13a and Macron’s vegetable brought smiles, but my favourites was Ms Ross’s jury @18a.
My thanks to the setter and Shane Glide.
1.5*/3.5*
Nothing untoward here, just a very nicely clued midweek puzzle with plenty to enjoy along the way. 18a, 8d and 15d were my highlights this morning.
Many thanks to our setter and Deansleigh.
Very enjoyable crossword with some excellent clues, first and foremost 2d, that took me a while to get, as I was looking for more specific vegetable names. Absolute genius. Many thanks to the setter and for hints.
Some clhumsy surface reads, as often occurs on Wednesdays but some good geographical lego clues at 7d and 8d and some fine Nagrams (15d and 9d). Thanks to the compiler and to Deansleigh for the hints.
A fair challenge for a Wednesday and I particularly enjoyed Macron’s chewie and the apprehended Ross. Thanks very much to the setter and to Deansleigh.
An enjoyable puzzle all fairly clued.
Top picks for me were 1a, 13a, 18a and 2d.
Thanks to Deansleigh and the setter.
Thoroughly enjoyable with so many examples of the perfect cryptic clue.
Two long anagrams that needed checkers in place before I attempted a solve and It took a moment or two to get to grips with the excellent 1a and 27a.
Not familiar with the cake, perfectly delivered by the clue, while the synonym at 10a was a new word for me.
I smiled at 24a, part of a phrase I’ve not heard for a long time, and 17d which took me back to the days of the national anthem and the disappearing white dot (if you know you know).
COTD was the excellent 18a.
Many thanks to the setter, it was just up my street, and Deansleigh for the hints.
My grandfather had us standing up for the national anthem for the King’s Christmas speech, at the cinema/ theatre and at the end of the wireless broadcast (if I was still up!).
A great puzzle with, for me, more humour and penny drops than the last two days. I’ve never heard of the tea time treat but I solved it with the cryptic element and then confirmed it with Mr G. Lots of grins but I vote for 8D as COTD. Thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh for the hints.
Thai corner.
The most common word you will hear if you visit here is, ”khrup”, spoken by males or, ”kha”, by females. They are the same word although like a lot of Thai words the gender of the speaker defines the correct word. You will hear this word at the end of nearly every sentence but it has no meaning. It is what my Thai tutorials refer to as a polite particle and serves to soften a statement , question or request to make it appear less harsh. The only equivalent in English that comes close is the use of sir or madam by people giving a service but it is also used amongst friends where I can only suggest it is more like, pal or mate, love or pet, if you’re geordie. Khrup or Kha are said at the end of sentences but their frequency depends upon the social status distance between the speakers. Get it wrong and you will sound overly formal or blatantly rude. It can also be used as a stand alone word to express your confirmation of something the person speaking to you has said. Currently 35 degrees here a nice cool evening.
That’s a goodie, Thaike.
Who doesn’t love using a word with no real meaning.
I found this much trickier than Deansleigh et al, always slightly crushing when upon wrestling for ages and limping over the line only to then come on Big Daves and find out everyone else thought it a breeze!
Have to say tho 9d is a work of genius – my clue of 2026.
Thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh for the review.
Like you, I am sometimes surprised by how different bloggers rate crosswords and often find myself at odds with the difficulty rating and the comments posted. It works in both directions, not just when struggling with an apparently ‘easy’ grid. There are the rare occasions when I’ve almost done a read and write, then found many comments about how tricky the clues were. Isn’t the brain marvellous?
Loved 18a too – very clever. Also 2d and 17d.
Cracking puzzle that I found much harder than the previous two days & particularly so in the NW. Last in was 7d where I was slow to twig the wordplay & only knew of places so called in South Africa. Lots to like – the din coming from Del &Rodney’s boozer, the disaffected Tory & I rather liked the vote loser fodder for the US President but Diana was the standout favourite.
Thanks to the setter & to Deansleigh.
The odd chewy morsel made for a very enjoyable Wednesday solve. I liked the disaffected tory and the top jurists and I have to give a shout out to 3d having spent a number of enjoyable years post retirement doing a humanities and classics BA at said institution. Cotd though goes to the teatime treat at 4d. Thanks to compiler and Deansleigh.
An enjoyable mid-week challenge but difficult to estimate the difficulty as my Tuesday evening solve was interrupted by a 2 hour Zoom meeting.
Candidates for favourite – 13a, 5d, 20d, and 22d – and the winner is 5d.
Thanks to whomsoever and Deansleigh.
An enjoyable puzzle perfectly pitched for our midweek delectation – thanks to the setter and Deansleigh.
My rosettes were pinned on 13a, 2d, 5d and 8d.
Lovely light Wednesday puzzle, very enjoyable. Honours to 13a, 4d (great surface for the long acrostic) and 7d, with runner-up 5d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh
Wow! What a puzzle. One for the ages with ‘The Hud’ in fine form (it could be Tumbles but I’m going with Haitch)
I too haven’t heard of the teatime delight. I’ve just looked up its origin and it is so called as the amount of alcohol would make you feel this way. It’s also known as a ‘***** parson’ because it was intoxicating enough to make a visiting preacher fall off the wagon which I’m very happy with.
Angrily is yet another synonym of an anagram indicator. But, I’ll let him off as it’s a stonking crossword.
So many to pick for the pody but I’ll go with 2d (hilaire) 9d (brilliant) and 15d.
MTTTA and Nigel Hades.
3*/5*
Perfect midweek puzzle – thanks to the setter and Deansleigh.
The first pass allowed for a swift fill of the Southern Half. The North had to be teased out with the NW sector going in last. Lots of great clues but 1a, 18a, and 2,5,17 and 19 down are my podium picks; hope 6 on the podium is not a problem. Many thanks to the setter and hinter
My recollection of tipsy cake from the 70s ,is a Swiis Roll sliced ,with pineapple rings placed between the slices, soaked in sherry and smothered with cream. However, there are many varieties of the said cake/dessert.
Interestingly, bagatelle is a favourite term used in Swedish and has the same trifle meaning.
** / *****
After several days of too much work and too much crown green bowling (not sure I mean that), today I came back to this superb crossword with many a smile plus some outright laughs.
The cake was new to me too but what a fantastic name – I want some. Dare I venture to suggest an even better wording for 9a could have been: ‘Sir’s Patented an amazing drug’ to thus avoid the acronym, albeit a very apt and on-topic acronym.
Irregardless (© TDS65), I’ve made a note to exhibit ‘irregardlessness’ less!!! (© SJB). I think I’ve nicked the ‘lessness less’ construct from Rowan Atkinson.
Loved the 1a Disaffected Tory, the 23a Core of German city and the 3d long anagram. COTD has to go to the laugh out loud 2d What Macron chews – fantastic stuff.
Many thanks to the setter and She Aligned.
Spot on for a midweek backpager, my top two are what Macron chewed at 2d and the president at 15d.
My thanks to our setter and Deansleigh.
Linda is right, the sherry soaked Swiss roll was an easy dinner party dessert, but my mother would make it from scratch. Great guzzle, loved Macron’s vegetables, as soon as I put 9d into my anagram circle format it jumped out at me so that was a help. I liked Diana Ross and I used to love playing 24a on my grandfather’s board – we also had shove ha’penny and the coins were worn smooth, bright copper with use. Happy days despite Hitler. Many thanks to The Setter and Deansleigh.