Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31231
Hints and tips by Huntsman
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment **/***
It’s starting to brighten up a wee bit here in Harpenden but there’s pockets of still much needed wet stuff on the way.
Having overslept this morning (as well as struggling of late with completing puzzles in what I would consider a reasonable time) I was happy that today’s Plumbing assignment was extremely gentle even by Tuesday standards. As ever concisely clued & perfectly pleasant for the short time it lasted though I wouldn’t regard it as one from his top drawer so it’ll be interesting to see what others make of it.
Chalicea is similarly benevolent over in t’other place with a perfect puzzle for anyone wishing to dip their toes in Toughie waters for the first time – you’ll find the water warm & Whybird on hand if it gets choppy.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
Across
1a Constable was known for this heavy breathing around criminals, essentially (8)
PAINTING: insert (around) the middle letter (essentially) in crim[I]nals into heavy breathing.
5a Seem happy, regularly, with fruit (6)
APPEAR: h[A]p[P]y (regularly) then pick a fruit.
9a Gets rid of England cricketer’s old hat (5,3)
ROOTS OUT: an England cricketer (ex-captain & leading run scorer in Tests) with the possessive S + old hat/unfashionable.
10a Hammers slabs on roof? (6)
SLATES: a double definition – the former in the sense of criticises heavily.
12a Mostly handle certain small, precious things (9)
TREASURES: remove the last letter (mostly) from a synonym for handle/manage then add one for certain/guaranteed & append the single letter for S[mall].
13a What’s carried primarily by ship? (5)
CARGO: C[arried] (primarily) + the name of Jason’s ship in Greek mythology.
14a Drive not very well after whiskey (4)
WILL: not very well/poorly preceded by (after) W[hiskey] (NATO alphabet).
16a Requests from French maids after change of heart (7)
DEMANDS: the French for ‘from’ then you need to add MA[i]DS having replaced the middle letter (change of heart) with a suitable alternative.
19a Endorsed American Democrat chose (7)
ADOPTED: the single letter for A[merican] & for D[emocrat] + chose/picked.
21a High position in society (4)
RANK: a double definition – the former in the sense of having an offensive smell.
24a Five hundred and six deliveries, perhaps, for town in Kent (5)
DOVER: the Roman numeral for 500 + 6 deliveries in cricket.
25a Cook cuts beans, making stuff (9)
SUBSTANCE: an anagram (cook) of CUT BEANS.
27a Truthful with one’s testimony, to an extent (6)
HONEST: hidden (to some extent).
28a Most blue tits tried nuts, with temperature dropping (8)
DIRTIEST: an anagram (nuts) of TITS [t]RIED (Temperature dropping).
29a Puppy’s first let out, kindly (6)
PLEASE: P[uppy’s] (first) + let out/rent.
30a Individual ate solid bananas (8)
ISOLATED: an anagram (bananas) of ATE SOLID.
Down
1d Talk foolishly gripping bishop’s second crook, in the main (6)
PIRATE: talk foolishly/yatter goes around (gripping) the b[I]shop’s (2nd letter).
2d Anger about working day decreased? (6)
IRONED: anger/wrath goes around (about) working/operating then append D[ay].
3d Hardy character welcomes start of tough investigations (5)
TESTS: insert (welcomes) T[ough] (start of) into the name of a Hardy tragic heroine.
4d Want rule changed? Wife’s withdrawn, having no preference (7)
NEUTRAL: an anagram (changed) of [w]ANT RULE (W[ife] withdrawn).
6d I clean with mop, surprisingly busy (9)
POLICEMAN: another anagram (surprisingly) of I CLEAN MOP.
7d Going inside tent topless, with ecstasy – sign of marriage? (8)
ENTERING: [t]ENT (topless) + the single letter for the class A drug & a digital indication of marriage.
8d Awfully sore, pens reply (8)
RESPONSE: an anagram (awfully) of SORE PENS.
11d Took advantage of American editor (4)
USED: link the usual two letters for American & for the abbreviation for editor.
15d Concerns during exams involving religious education (9)
INTERESTS: a 2,5 way of saying during exams with the abbreviation for R[eligious] E[ducation] inserted (involving).
17d Needs stiff spades now (8)
HARDSHIP: stiff/rigid + S[pades] (card suit) + now/in fashion.
18d Persuade prisoner with verse in church (8)
CONVINCE: link 4 bits of lego – an informal term for a prisoner + the single letter for V[erse] + IN from the clue + the abbreviation for the Protestant church.
20d Hare finally approached wood (4)
DASH: approache[D] (finally) + a species of tree in the olive & lilac family.
21d Spiritual leaders holding tense talks (7)
RABBITS: insert (holding) T[ense] into Jewish religious leaders & scholars.
22d Popular series including introduction to county cricket? (6)
INSECT: place the opening letter of C[ounty] (introduction to) between an informal term for popular/ fashionable & a series/complete collection.
23d Fiery boss constraining team? Not half! (6)
HEATED: boss/leader goes around (constraining) 50% (not half) of TE[am].
26d Young child stuck on a large sum (5)
TOTAL: young child/nipper + A from the clue + L[arge].
No real favourite for me today but podium places for 9&28a along with 6d. Please let us know which clues you liked best.
Today’s Quick Crossword pun: DOG + BAR + SKIT = DOG BASKET
This morning’s listening while preparing the review has been Marcus King’s latest album. Here’s a track off it with Billy Strings.
Not sure what to make of today’s crossword. It was a read and write for the most part, with the exception of the NW quadrant. I didn’t get the cricketing reference in 9a.
13, 19 and 24 across are my top picks and 1d was my LOI. Many thanks to the setter and hinter.
I found this to be a very gentle Tuesday offering with little to trouble the remaining grey cells.
I’m awarding first place to 28a for making me smile.
Thanks to the setter and Huntsman for the hints
This was on the money with nearly every clue being a winner.
My podium picks are 16a, 28a and 15d.
MTT the prof and Falcs.
1*/5*
Not me today. The thanks should be directed to Huntsman.
Oops! Apologies.
Thank you, Hoots….if you’re still with us.
An enjoyable puzzle for me. 6d meaning busy was new to me and I had to do some digging on that one.
Top picks for me were 22d, 2d, 21a and 17d.
I liked the Quickie pun too.
Thanks to Huntsman and Mr Plumb.
Lovely puzzle, spot-on for the Tuesday slot to accompany the first Toughie of the week, a nice bit of balance – although I rather suspect that since today’s “other half” is from Chalicea it may not be an archetypal tough Toughie.
This puzzle could be used as a lesson for aspiring setters in how to compile a concise and tightly-written set of clues with coherent and often amusing surfaces, each one perfectly fair and with the instructions in plain sight, even if on one or three occasions some care was needed not to pursue a red herring.
Honours to 1a for the broad smile induced by the surface reading, 13a & 6d
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman (thank you for the Dire Straits clip)
What a treat. 1 across came straight in and one knew it was going to be fun. 1 down reinforced that notion. Great misdirection with 22 down.Final clue was 6 down because I have never used it in that way but the checkers left no other choice. I would have given it a 2 * for difficulty and many more stars for enjoyment.pat on the back for our setter and thanks to Huntsman
A perfect Tuesday puzzle – thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
The pick of the clues for me were 1a, 13a, 21a and 1d (‘crook in the main’ – brilliant!).
Our regular Tuesday setter at his most benign this morning, but, as ever, he doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Plenty to admire on the short trip through crosswordland, with the excellent 1d my clear favourite.
Many thanks to AP and The Hintsman.
I agree! Thanks very much YS for saying what I wanted to say!
As others have said a very straight forward affair, nearly a read and write but 2D held me up for a minute and raised a smile when it clicked so for that reason is my COTD although I have a vague recollection of seeing a similar clue fairly recently. I also thought 9A was a bit weak. For me there was none of the humour or the clever clueing of yesterdays puzzle.
Thai corner today is all about how the Thais use English loan words.
Any English speaker watching Thai television will be amazed by the amount of English words they recognise.
The Thai’s seem to have taken a very pragmatic approach to the naming of new concepts and objects and instead of inventing a new Thai word they’ve let the English do the heavy lifting then borrowed the word for their own use. Virtually all technological objects invented from the 20th century onwards are commonly referred to by an English loan word e.g. computer, keyboard, notebook, microphone etc.
A problem arises with the rules of the formation of Thai words in that no Thai words end with the, ”L”, sound, even in Thai words, if the Thai letter that sounds most like our, ‘L”, sound ends a word the pronounciation is changed to a sound most like our, ”N”. Thus when the Thais borrow our word for footballl they pronounce it futbon, when they decided to name the largest chain of shopping malls in the country, ”Central”, it is pronounced, ”Sentrun”, and when they started importing apples, both the technological and fruit variety the loan word is pronounced, ”appurn”. So now when a Thai tells you they are going to, ”Sentrun to buy an appurn Tee Wee (no V in Thai) to watch the futbon”, you will know exactly what they mean. Surprisingly, Liverpool,is probably the most popular team for Thai futbon followers and they decided to ignore the L ending completely and opted for Liver Poo, which to supporters of opposing teams may seem appropriate.
Oops, thanks to Huntsman and the setter. How rude of me.
Love Liverpoo!
1* / 4* Loved the quickie pun and the crossword which was had plenty of smiles along the way.
Favourites today include 1a Constable’s skill, 9a gets rid of and the most blue 28a
Many thanks to compiler and Huntsman
Pretty straightforward although with some excellent clues along the way, with 1, 2 and 6d amongst them. Thanks very much to the setter and to Huntsman. I’d managed to inadvertently avoid the Ash all my life until a few months ago and now they seem to be popping up all over the place. Off to the Wirral in the van tomorrow, having finally ended my game of chicken with Ticketmaster and plumped for a Paul Simon ticket at a more reasonable price than was available a few weeks ago.
Loved this – a perfect way to start the day. For me it’s */***. Everything fell into place easily, helped by the anagrams. On a couple of occasions a misdirection sent me off on the wrong track, starting with 1a (tried fitting a police ranking into it, which definitely wasn’t going to work!). Regarding policemen, got 6d easily because of the anagram, but can’t see why how it relates to ‘busy’, I know being in the police can bring long hours dealing with very difficult situations but so can many other professions. Am I overthinking the clue or have I missed something? Can anyone help me please? (Kind comments only🤣🤣!). Anyway, a most enjoyable puzzle so thanks to the setter, and Huntsman for the hints.
“The busies” is slang for the police (like “the cops” or “the rozzers”). I hear it, for some reason, in a scouse accent – but I’ve no idea if that’s where it is from.
[Ah – I think I’ve the wrong end of the stick when answering that. I’d assumed they’re called the busies because they’re always sticking their nose in other people’s business i.e. they’re busy-bodies.]
Hi Jane, I had the same problem with 6d. What I found out was that busies is slang for the police, probably based on them being “busybodies”.
I’m sure someone will shout if there’s a better reason.
Thank you for explaining re policeman =busybodies!
…or busy bobbies.
Busy is a predominantly Liverpudlian (Scouse) expression. Most TV programmes set in Liverpool that involve crime will feature it and if you’re old enough to remember Channel 4’s Brookside, it was a staple of the dialogue! To whit; “Leggit, it’s der bizzies!” Jury’s out on the provenance, some say busybodies, some say it’s because they were too busy to handle petty crime – nothing changes…
Welcome to the blog, Ifihadahifi.
What did you think of the puzzle?
Never heard busy as slang for policeman, and won’t be including that in my vocabulary going forward either. Enjoyed most of this puzzle, but some clues were a stretch so setting aside as the day is getting away from us (doctor and dentist today ☹️). Thanks to setter and Huntsman.
I completely agree with you re policeman = busy! Makes no sense to me at all! 🤣
Thanks everyone for explaining the connection between ‘busy’ and ‘police’.I can honestly say I have never heard that expression, but at least I will now know it if it crops up in a future clue1
For me, etc©, what a strange Tuesday, Anthony Plumb not Typically Tuesdayish – **/****
Favourite – a toss up between 1d and 22d – and the winner is 1d.
Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.
P.S. For me, Chalicea’s Toughie was also a bit of a head scratcher.
As friendly a puzzle as we’re ever likely to get, though several misleading definitions did raise a smile.
My top three therefore is made up of the busy in 6d, (which may be an unfamiliar slang term for anyone outside of Merseyside), 21d’s talks and county cricket in 22d.
My thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
* / ****
Felt this was very much at the benign end of the Plumb spectrum. Wondered about the answer to 29a being synonymous with “kindly” but now as I write this, I get it! Also felt “now” being synonymous with “hip” was a bit of a push. On the subject of “busy” in 6d, I’ve only ever heard scousers use it and isn’t it more normally spelt “bizzies”. I’d agree with the derivation being “into everyone business”. The clue certainly works but it did give me pause for thought.
Liked the 1d foolish talk and the wording of the definition. Also 22d’s misdirection around county cricket but my COTD went to 2d for the amount ‘going on’ in such a short and elegant clue and short answer.
Many thanks to the Professor and Huntsman.
As ever a master class in puzzle setting. Such smooth suraces are a hallmark of this setter and 6d made me laugh. Loved it while it lasted.
Thank you setter and Huntsman for the music
Gentle overall, but just enough tricks and traps laid out to need attention, and very enjoyable to boot. 1d, 6d (and I’m with Ifihadahifi at #12, even to the extent of agreeing the spelling of the definite article) and 15d get my prizes.
Thanks to our setter and to Huntsman (with whom I agree on the subject of today’s accessible Chalicea Toughie).
Late on parade after a busy (no police involved) morning and chauffeuring duties. Enjoyable puzzle and I concur with what’s been said in comments before. Podium places go to 1a, 21d and 28a. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.
Pretty much a Typically Tuesdayish puzzle for me this week with a few tricky clues, with the NW the last to complete
2*/3.5*
Favourites 1a, 14a, 24a, 3d, 21d & 26d — with winners 24a & 3d
Thanks to AP & Huntsman
Hi all – first time here! Can someone please explain 6D? How does the answer fit the clue?
Hi Brad & welcome.
If you scroll up in the comments JaneG asked the same question at 12 & you’ll find your answer there. Apologies I should have explained it in the hint really. Please comment again & what did you make of the puzzle?
I enjoyed the puzzle! I think 6D is one of the occasional Britishisms that we poor American solvers struggle with…I enjoy reading comments every day and commenters’ mentions of their hometowns and events!
Welcome and keep contributing
An enjoyable solve, mostly straight forward enough.
I did get caught out with Captain Pugwash at 1d though and spent ages trying to prattle/patter work (doh!)
29a I’m not overly convinced please fits exactly as a synonym for kindly … pleasing is better but hey ho!
My cotd and last in were the inhabitants of Watership Down. I also liked the misdirection of the busies (or should that be the busys?)
Thanks to setter and Huntsman.
Btw where’s Steve these days … I hope he is ok?
He’s up in Yorkshire I think
Anyone having trouble logging in to online puzzles?
It was fine earlier but now when I go to the site on a desktop computer I just get a blank page.
I’ve had this a couple of times recently – cured by logging out, clearing browser history (today) and logging back in. Good luck.
Enjoyable half an hour doing this today.
Wishbone Ash takes me back 🎸
Rattled through this benign AP offering before I went to play golf this morning, but can’t recollect any issues arising. My favourites were the aforementioned busy mop and any of the others , all carefully crafted but straightforward.
Thanks to AP and Falcon.
1*/3*
More undeserved praise
Just an fyi for Mac users out there if you use Safari as your browser.
I just had to update my credit card for subscribing to the puzzles. I have one credit card that I use for all online purchases as a safety feature for me should the card ever get compromised. I use Safari as the browser and for whatever reason it would not accept the new updated card. It said there was an error and to try again. Still no luck. All I did was change the expiry date and security code on the back of the card. Nothing else had changed, including name on card, address etc etc Reluctantly, I entered a different card and it was accepted, but I was not happy that I now had two cards online.
So I contacted the Help desk and finally a week later I got a response … with some ideas as to what to does well as suggesting I try a different browser.
So I used Firefox, (that I really hate), to access the site, logged in, entered the card that I use online with all same details the card had before other than the expiry date and security code and it worked.
I can only assume that whatever software The Telegraph uses is not compatible with Safari as far as updating an existing card, yet would accept a completely different brand of card. Very frustrating few days dealing with what should not have been an issue. hope this maybe is useful of some of you out on the blog when it comes time to update your card.
A gentle solve for a Tuesday which I thoroughly enjoyed. 6d is topical as I have been watching the BBC show The Cage which is set in Liverpool , and they mention ‘the busies’ a lot – as someone else said I last heard it on Brookside many moons ago. The NW held me up a bit at the end as I didn’t know the cricketer (groan) so had to use AI help for that. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
I never had elocution lessons and lived up north so it was impossible to work out the quick crossword pun.
😢
I enjoyed this first thing this morning and felt it was on a par with many Tuesdays. I liked 1a and 1d which made a good start.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints
The Prof proving his mastery of the art again – every clue a winner. I’ll opt for 22D and the introduction to county cricket – superb!
VMT also to Huntsman
Good fun and not too taxing as per for Tuesdays. Needed help with 9a as penny didn’t drop. 13a was a bung-in which later became Fav. Spelling of 6d clue hampered me. Anagrams galore again but perhaps bloggers like that form of cruciverbalism? Many thanks AP and Hintsman.
A tender Tuesday solve, Pody placements go to 1A as I like the artist very much, the pressing 2D and 22D’s crawly cricket.
Thanks to AP and Huntsman ⭐️, I was playing Richard Hawley yesterday after he featured in a Crucible snooker clip.
Still haven’t got to see Richard Hawley – Live at the Halifax Piece Hall would be right up there with any gig I’d love to have been at
6d was a complete bung in. An obscure scouse term which if you’re not from there and don’t watch soaps, I’m not and I don’t, you’ve no chance of parsing. The worst clue I’ve seen in ages, it’s only saving grace was it couldn’t actually be anything else. It rather spoiled what was until then a decent crossword. I think I’ll leave there before I turn into Brian. Thanks to the setter anyway and Huntsman.
Started briskly this morning. Had to take a break for old guys football, only managed to rattle the woodwork with a shot that had the keeper beaten today.
Filled in everything apart from Id and 9a in the NW corner. Like others, couldn’t get passed ‘prattle’ or ‘prate’ for 1d but couldn’t see where the ‘b’ was going, so had to resort to the hints, which explained my total misreading of the clue. As soon as that went in, 9 a followed.
Favourites today were 1a and 2d. As ever, thank you to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.