Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31257
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where thunderstorms are becoming more frequent!
For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), Dream Team Thursday seems to be becoming a distant memory but there is no doubt that this is the work of a very benevolent Master of Brevity with some lateral thinking required. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and an appearance from the Queen, Ray T’s swEetheart, and the plain sweetheart in the back pager with an average of 4.9 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 4a, 28a, 29a, 19d, and 21d.
In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the Click here! buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a This compiler’s nonsense, being naughty! (6)
IMPISH: A contraction of a first person pronoun and verb equivalent to this compiler’s and a synonym of nonsense as an interjection.
4a Home provided in retirement lodge (8)
FIRESIDE: The reversal (in retirement) of our favourite two letter synonym of provided followed by a verbal synonym of lodge.
9a Open container discharged (6)
CANDID: A metal container and a synonym of discharged (as in completed a task).
10a Willing to take motorway home (8)
DOMICILE: A synonym of willing containing the identifying letter and number of not the first motorway in England.
11a Choke or accelerator? (8)
THROTTLE: A double definition – the first is a somewhat gruesome verb.
13a Cold church houses habit support (6)
CRUTCH: The single letter for Cold and the two letter abbreviation for church (as a building) contains (houses) a synonym of habit (when considered to be a tedious routine?).
15a Entered marina churning sea (13)
MEDITERRANEAN : An anagram (churning) of ENTERED MARINA.
18a Awkward, formal once, but relaxed (13)
UNCOMFORTABLE: An anagram, but which end of the clue is the indicator and which is the definition? An anagram (relaxed) of FORMAL ONCE, BUT.
22a Speed and power giving winning serve (6)
PACING : The single letter for Power and a single word equivalent to giving winning serve.
24a Distracted, called during act (8)
DERANGED: A synonym of called (by phone) inserted into (during) a synonym of act.
26a Plot in coarse ground (8)
SCENARIO: An anagram (ground) of IN COARSE.
27a Bust, perhaps, is acceptable in shape (6)
STATUE: The single letter that can indicate that something is acceptable inserted into (in) a synonym of shape.
28a Sweetheart’s cross going over threshold (8)
DOORSTEP: Not Ray T’s swEetheart, that’s in 14d – the reversal (going over) of all of a synonym of sweetheart (as a term of endearment), the ‘S from the clue, and a synonym of cross.
29a Polishes accepting captain’s initial orders (6)
EDICTS: A synonym of polishes (a document?) containing (accepting) the first letter (initial) of Captain.
Down
1d Encourage awareness for the audience (6)
INCITE: A homophone (for the audience) of a synonym of awareness.
2d Widespread fear taking over crowd (9)
PANORAMIC: A synonym of fear containing (taking) all of the single letter for a crickety Over and a synonym of crowd.
Have you missed this view appearing in crosswords?
3d Wooden shoes lastly heeled (7)
STILTED: The final letter (lastly)of shoeS and a (nautical?) synonym of heeled.
5d Star is jobless, reportedly (4)
IDOL: A homophone (reportedly) of a synonym of jobless.
6d Seen in water, it reaches land (7)
ERITREA: A lurker (seen in) found in three words in the clue.
7d Inane dimwit is obviously thick, initially (5)
IDIOT: One of Ray T’s favourites – the first letters (initially) of five words in the clue.
8d The plane could be a jumbo (8)
ELEPHANT: An anagram (could be) of THE PLANE.
12d Sex raised in eccentric application (6)
LOTION: The two letter word associated with sex (appeal?) reversed (raised) and inserted into (in) a nounal synonym of eccentric.
14d Squirm beside sweetheart embracing Romeo (6)
WRITHE: A synonym of beside and Ray T’s swEetheart containing the letter represented by Romeo in the phonetic alphabet.
16d Greet with nice fizzy bubbly (9)
ENERGETIC: An anagram (fizzy) of GREET and (with) NICE.
17d Alleged drunk punched by seaman (8)
SUPPOSED: A past participle synonym of drunk containing (punched by) a two letter abbreviation for seaman (not the one that uses two consecutive letters).
19d Skivvies this person dispatched northwards (7)
MENIALS: the objective first person pronoun equivalent to this person and a the reversal (northwards – it’s a Down clue) of a synonym of dispatched (as in killed violently).
20d Shot, finishing in sack (7)
BLASTED: A synonym of finishing inserted into (in) what sack is a slang synonym of.
21d Totters maybe, seeing snakes (6)
ADDERS: A nounal synonym of totters when considering those who ‘tot up.’
23d Company welcomes revolutionary ideology (5)
CREDO: The two letter abbreviation for company contains (welcomes) a three letter descriptive synonym of revolutionary.
25d Forebear of Queen one’s elevated (4)
SIRE: The reversal (elevated) of all of the regnal letters of our dear late queen and the Roman numeral for one with the ‘S from the clue.
Quick Crossword Pun:
HELL + SIN + KEY = HELSINKI
I found this to be the hardest of the week so far. Slow to start but stalled in the W until I teased out the excellently misdirected long anagram at 18a, which resulted in a spurt of answers. Ray T’s hallmarks in profusion. 9a,10a and 19d are my picks.
Many thanks to Ray T and Senf
2*/3*
As ever a superb challenge from this setter and very enjoyable as well. I thought 4A was stretching the synonym to it’s limit but I guess that’s just me. I also was unaware of the abbreviation for seaman in 17D but it had to be what it was. Last one in was 22A as although I knew what was required of me I wanted to combine the elements in the wrong order. 3D also a bung in but I thought I had parsed it sufficiently to justify my answer but the hints have proved me to be misguided. My vote for COTD goes to 19D.
Thai corner. Why have six words when one is sufficient.
It wasn’t until we returned from a day out and I was asked in Thai to open the. ‘door’, so we could park on the drive, that I came to understand a fundamental difference between Thai nouns and western nouns. The Thai word for gate and door is the same. With this revelation I came to realise that the word for mug, cup, glass and beaker in everyday speech is the same as is the word for shoe, sandal, trainer and boot. The Thai nouns are generally based upon function so gates and doors are entrances. Anything designed to contain a liquid is a container. Something that goes on your foot is a foot covering. If you need to specify more precisely the nature of the object you can but in every day speech it’s not necessary. So pass me the cup, mug, glass, beaker becomes pass me the container. Simple.
This abbreviation in 17d does appear here every so often, so next time you see seaman mentioned you’ll have three options to choose from – as if life wasn’t complicated enough! 😅
Don’t forget “salt” (assuming I have correctly identified your other three) 😉
And Tar and Jack and RM!
Yet again my apologies for failing to thank Senf for the hints, which I thought I didn’t need but proved to be wrong when I checked my parsing and to the ever superb setter. My excuse is that as I finished my comments a thunderstorm began which required a dash onto the patio to raise any vulnerable objects above the normal flood high water mark.
This was a slow start for me but then it came together. I wasn’t too sure that I had 4a correct but it couldn’t be much else and Senf has confirmed both it and my parsing.
Top picks for me were 28a, 29a, 19d and 3d.
Thanks to Senf and Ray T.
Like CD I too found this the trickiest of the back-page week thus far. Most of it went in without a crumpet scratch then complete brain fog with last in 25d which extended the solve into **time. As ever elegantly & concisely clued with lots to admire – 4,10&28a plus 2,12&17d the ones that stood out for me.
I’m making hard work of Karla over in t’other place so maybe the decent uninterrupted night’s kip that I finally managed last night has dulled the brain cells.
Thanks to Ray & to Senf.
Nice to welcome RayT back for his fortnightly visit to the back pager puzzle for this Thursday. As always, brevity and succinctness in his clueing is welcome. I agree that he also seems to be borrowing Dada’s thesaurus now and then.
Nice to see the Queen appear as well as only one sweetheart that counts.
2*/4.5* for me
Favourite include 1a, 10a, 11a, 5d & 20d — with winner 1a
Smiles for 1a, 7d, 8d & 21d
Thanks to RayT & Senf
I do not find this straightforward but had a lot of enjoyment cracking it. I needed to check 4 a was right with Senf. As ever it was full of skilful misdirection and I can’t really choose one favourite.
Many thanks to Mr T and to Senf for the hints.
I’m glad others found this the toughest of the week so far. I normally struggle with Ray T and today conformed to the, sadly established, pattern. Can’t claim an unaided finish as I needed Senf to confirm/ set me right, especially on 4a. My cotd is the snakes in 21d. Thanks to Ray T and Senf.
2*/4.5*. Very enjoyable for a typical RayT puzzle. The one synonym that seems over-stretched to me is speed/pacing in 22a.
My podium selection is 1a, 9a & 2d.
Many thanks to Ray T and to Senf.
I’m starting to appreciate Ray T’s work more as I slowly become more competent at solving crosswords but, while I admired the concise clues, I’m pleased that others also had problems solving some of them today. The south proved particularly challenging, with 22a my last in. Perhaps I should have gone to bed earlier last night rather than spinning records until who knows when. 28a was my favourite with its atypical sweetheart. Thanks very much to Ray T and to Senf.
I enjoyed this knotty Ray T puzzle. As usual there was a queen and a sweetheart and lots of slightly oblique synonyms. I didn’t find it easy but that’s probably the after effects of concussion. I liked the two long anagrams at 15a and 18s but the former was my COTD. Ialso liked the double definition at 11a. Thanks toMr T and 4o Senf for the hints
I hope you’re feeling better, CC.
A late start after lengthy discussions with Openreach engineers who came along to connect us to fibre – progress shuddered to a halt when they lifted the duct cover and found no trace of the fibre.
Will they ever return I ask myself.
As a relative newbie to this blog I am becoming more familiar with the traits of the individual setters and today’s is becoming a favourite. The brevity of the clue means that each word plays a part in the solution and has to be carefully considered. I find this adds greatly to the thought process and the satisfaction when the solution reveals itself.
The answer at 4a became clear but in parsing I had to check both elements and the final word in the BRB. Not too sure that the synonym for jobless in 5d applies in all cases.
MY COTD is 28a
Many thanks to the setter (Ray T) and Senf for the hints.
Hi Graham
Google “delayed provisioning” if you have been given an activation date of today. Openreach did that with me, discovering a tree in the way. It took them 6-months to erect a new pole and wire to it and on to our house. Delayed provisioning provides for compensation from your service provider – Sky in my case – of £6.27 per day. This is from Ofcom, not negotiable and they have to do it. I made just over £1,100 on the deal – telling engineer after engineer, “don’t rush, take your time”!!!
😂😂 Thanks for the advice…that’s cheered me up!!
I’m not doing very well with the crosswords at the moment and I put that down to brain fatigue. I’m currently wading trough fifty research proposals and I come across the Quickie pun daily during the sections on ethics.
I usually love RayT’s offerings but, like others, I found him a bit on the tough side today. I had to use the excellent hints for a couple so it’s a DNF for me. My COTD, once I got Ray’s sweetheart out of the way, is 28a.
Thank you, RayT but I could not do your excellent puzzle justice today. Thank you, Colonel for the hints and explaining a couple for me.
Any news about Jane?
*** / ***
Found this very tough, almost back to my early days of trying to tease out meanings from such brief clues. Finished unaided, but needed Senf’s help to confirm many parsings, 8 I think!
COTD was the 28a threshold for the innovative use of ‘sweetheart’.
Many thanks to Ray T and Senf
2.5* / 4* An excellent and enjoyable challenge, started quickly then slowed dramatically.
Plenty of witty and clever clues, favourites being the alleged 17d, totters in 21d and last one in the wooden 3d
Thanks to Ray T and Senf
As usual for a RayT number I found it a bit of a slog. Its hard to put my finger on why exactly – I guess I could use 20d as an example of what I’m not fond of.
Happy to admit I am in a minority of one and it does in no way lessen my admiration for all the setters.
Thanks also to Senf for makinking senf of it all
It may be the arthritis in my neck and shoulders or the pain in my knee but I struggled a bit here.maybe the rain is getting into me poor old bones. It did not help that I got the correct sounding person , Eric Idle, as my star. I really liked the two big anagrams which were my first in, I worried over 19d as I was convinced it was menials but did not pick up the reversed despatch. Thanks to the Wily Setter and the Man in the red scarf. Off to pick up new reading and driving spectacles this afternoon, honestly, mine is a life of pure debauchery.
DG,
re your trip this afternoon and if it’s not too late , please don’t drive there
Thought this was pretty tough! The whole week has been hard for me. Could someone please explain 19D? I thought “skiivies” meant underwear? Thanks!
A skivvy is a worker doing menial tasks. Could be a cleaner, or a dishwasher etc. (It’s also slang for undies, I agree)
Thanks! Another Britishism I hadn’t heard…
Found this tricky, indeed. Surprised by the number of 2* ratings in the comments; you are clearly all much better solvers than I am!! And for 27a, why does ‘U’ mean ‘acceptable’? I can’t see anything here: https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=u
Still, good fun and some very clever clue construction. I particularly liked 4a which I found to be very elegant. 3.5*/3*
Nancy Mitford divided people into U (upper class) who she deemed acceptable and Non U (which she didn’t). U often turns up in cryptic crosswords so is one to remember
U for upper class I’d heard of, but ‘acceptable’ seems one step removed. Thank you for the explanation, nonetheless.
Hear, hear Anorak
Alternatively, U = acceptable may be a reference to British film classifications. U = Universal ie acceptable to all? Just a theory!
That’s how I saw it, DB.
Hardest of the week so far .. as others have said. I completed with a couple of “bung ins”.
28a being one, and my last in, which I couldn’t parse.
3d I had “stilt” as the shoe! Was lastly as in cobbler’s last and shoe appearing together coincidental?
1a I’m thinking the parsing here is a bit “risqué” for the Telegraph.
Cotd the anagram at 8d … I find that quite incredible … maybe jumbo came from the anagram .. I’d just assumed it was the fact that the 747 was large?😊 It may even have been mentioned in a room!
Thanks to setter and Senf for the hints.
Evening all. Many thanks to Senf for the review and to everybody else for your observations.
RayT
Thanks, as always, for a puzzle both enjoyable to solve and blog.
Wizzed through and was left with 3 in the top right hand corner that would not yield. Life took over and came back this evening and very pleased to finish unaided. Definitely at least a 3 * for me for difficulty. Top of my pops was 19 d. closely followed by 28 across. Just seeing how few words were on used for the clues meant it was a Ray T. He did slot in a few obvious clues it seemed just to help us on our way. 15 across really could only be one answer and it certainly helped the grid.
Many thanks to Ray T and Senf
I got off to a fairly good start with this one , and was left with a handful that took as long as all the rest. 4a had me stumped for ages , and also 14d which I think is a word I have never spelled which in the end I needed e help for and then it was as always soooo obvious. Some really nice lateral clues have to say so I did enjoy the solve. Thanks to Ray T and Senf.
Quite a number of synonyms that weren’t the first to spring to mind. I agree this was the hardest puzzle this week which only added to the enjoyment of finishing it. Favourite was 28a. Thanks to Rayt and Senf.
Ray T on top form. Characteristically non-obvious synonyms (I was going to say “strained” but I can’t say any were unreasonable, just a little off the beaten track, and that’s part of the challenge). 16d and 28a’s surfaces get honourable mentions, but 27a gets my top prize.
Thanks to Ray T for the puzzle and Senf for the blog, especially the 12d illustration
Have been dipping in and out of this all day but did softly, softly catchee monkey. OTT on anagrams again and more obtuse synonyms. Fings ain’t wot they used to be in DT cruciverbal land. Enjoyed 11a. TVM RayT and Senf.
In The Puzzles Newsletter dated 26th May, the editor wrote that anagrams “are a mainstay of the Cryptic; most of these puzzles will feature five or six clues” – by my reckoning there are five anagrams in this puzzle so spot on.
Very late to the party but I’ve just returned from a truly bonkers day at Lord’s where I witnessed truly dreadful batting from both sides.
This was a solid crossword from Raymundo that didn’t cause too much trouble.
It’s a horrible grid as you get stranded. Fortunately, I was on fire and nailed it until I got to Tyne & Wear that slowed me down a tad.
I was surprised to see two synonyms of ‘home’, especially so close together.
His brevity has gone to another level with a 4.77 average which may well be a record. This isn’t necessarily a good thing as fewer words equals fewer pitfalls and dark alleys which, to me, makes it less enjoyable or should that be ‘fewer enjoyable’. Oh, that’ll do.
Don’t get me wrong. His constructions are sublime and he is a master of his craft. The challenge with his crosswords are finding the right synonym which often limits my enjoyment.
My podium is 2d, 8d and 12d.
MTTTA and S.
2*/4*
Hello from Bournemouth.
I found this on a par with the whole week in terms of difficulty. My solving times have been pretty even all week, not that I’m checking, just feels like it.
LOI was 4A – I was so focused on the ‘home’ synonym that I overlooked the simple wordplay. On a straight crossword I’d never have got that answer for ‘home’.
Pody picks go to 18A’s awkwardness, 14D’s different awkwardness, and 20D – bluntly hitting home in just four words 👏
Thanks to Ray T and Senf ⭐️
2*/5* …
liked 8D “The plane could be a jumbo (8)”