Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31270
Hints and tips by Mr K
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.
In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a Maybe what Drake chose to follow principal part of meal (4,6)
MAIN COURSE: What Sir Francis Drake might have chosen when deciding how to get from A to B is to follow a synonym of principal
6a Following operation, this could set mine off (4)
FUSE: The single letter for following with another word for operation
9a Backed plan limiting newspaperman's channels of communication (5)
MEDIA: The reversal (backed) of a plan or goal containing (limiting) a usual newsperson or journalist
10a Small lass with pert bust lacking obvious support (9)
STRAPLESS: The single letter for small with an anagram (bust) of LASS PERT
12a They can rectify eye deficiencies? Nelson ecstatic, sadly having lost one (7,6)
CONTACT LENSES: An anagram (sadly) of NELSON ECSTATIC minus (having lost) the Roman one
14a Bond producer comparatively quickly bringing in vacuous nymphette (8)
FASTENER: “comparatively quickly” containing (bringing in) the outer letters (vacuous) of NYMPHETTE
15a Defending poorly, Gunners ending in heap around post (6)
PILLAR: The fusion of some usual abbreviated military gunners and the final letter (ending in) of HEAP is reversed (around) and containing (defending) a synonym of poorly
17a Imagine former partner favoured cuddling Charlie (6)
EXPECT: A former partner and another word for favoured containing (cuddling) the single letter for Charlie
19a Plump young attendant taking half of spread? (4-4)
FULL-PAGE: Other words for plump and young attendant
22a Spooner's secretly approaching DIY store for old-fashioned mobility aids (7,6)
WALKING STICKS: Spoonerise a phrase combining “secretly approaching” and a chain of UK DIY stores
24a Obscure Colin Dexter novel - 50 put out, then 10 (9)
RECONDITE: An anagram (novel) of COLIN DEXTER minus (putting out) the Roman 50 and the Roman 10
25a Not once advancing rook is daring (5)
NERVE: In a word meaning “not once” the chess abbreviation for rook is advanced a couple of places towards the front of the word
26a Decline contract, ignoring HR (4)
SINK: A synonym of contract minus (ignoring) HR from the clue
27a She brings us the latest mobile - we are nerds! (10)
NEWSREADER: An anagram (mobile) of WE ARE NERDS
Down
1d Bond's boss initially ignores Moneypenny's exasperated gesture (4)
MIME: The single letter for James Bond’s boss is followed by the initial letters of the next three words in the clue
2d Gets pub fruit drinks, reportedly (7)
INDUCES: Homophones (reportedly) of other words for pub and for fruit drinks
3d Seat incorporating new electronic mechanism - it moves forward all by itself (5,8)
CHAIN REACTION: Another word for seat containing (incorporating) the single letter for new is followed by the single letter for electronic and another word for mechanism
4d Nun has pink champagne, finally stirred - not like Bond's martini (8)
UNSHAKEN: An anagram (stirred) of NUN HAS and the final letters of both PINK and CHAMPAGNE
5d Vindictiveness, eating last of partner's brownie (6)
SPRITE: Another word for vindictiveness containing (eating) the last letter of PARTNER
7d Every so often Auntie Ann's girls help in the kitchen, perhaps (7)
UTENSIL: Alternate letters (every so often) of the next three words in the clue
8d State of cosy affluence? Yes, a setter's loaded (4,6)
EASY STREET: An anagram (…’s loaded, as in drunk) of YES A SETTER
11d Freedom for art ... as Browning got, when he and Lizzie tied the knot? (6,7)
POETIC LICENCE: The answer could whimsically describe the paperwork that Robert Browning would have required to marry Elizabeth Browning
13d Subsequently presents enthralling paper on English king (10)
AFTERWARDS: Presents or bestows containing (enthralling) the fusion of the abbreviation for a daily newspaper printed on pink paper, the single letter for English, and the Latin abbreviation for king
16d Prop in bar with lock (8)
BUTTRESS: Bar or except with a lock of hair
18d When liquid, place in large beaker? (7)
PELICAN: An anagram (when liquid) of PLACE IN
20d Certain wider US sanctions partially lifted (7)
ASSURED: The answer is hidden in (partially) the reversal (lifted, in a down clue) of WIDER US SANCTIONS
21d Base metal American soldier used up making torch (6)
IGNITE: The fusion of the single letter for the base of the natural logarithms, a common metal, and the abbreviation for a type of American soldier is reversed (used up, in a down clue)
23d Pick up present for a listener (4)
HEAR: A homophone (for a listener) of another word for present
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: INCH + PEC + TERM + HOARSE = INSPECTOR MORSE
Top end *** pour moi. Thanks for the hints which aided my understanding of several. The west was more troublesome than the east. 1a quite topical for me as a Tavistock man and 10a made me chuckle. An ingenious puzzle and thanks to our setter.
That was tough! I dragged myself across the line but I cannot claim an unaided finish because I needed Mr. K’s hints for a couple. Unusually for me, the first one to fall was the good reverend. My COTD is the support at 10a.
Thank you, setter for a good old brain mangle. Thank you, Mr. K. for making sense of some of it for me.
The Quickie pun was good but only if you are Sean Connery 😊
Gentle for a Friday, but what it lacked in difficulty was more than compensated for in the fun factor.
Wonderfully flowing surfaces, an excellent Spoonerism at 22a and plenty of amusing definitions.
The kitchen help in 7d was smart, as was freedom for art in 11d, though my top two were the lack of obvious support in 10a and the large beaker in18d.
A pleasure to solve, befitting a bright and sunny morning here in Kent, my thanks to our setter and Mr K.
Gentle? I for one thought it was rather tough!
Me too.
I did say gentle for a Friday.
Wouldn’t have used that description had it been published earlier in the week, but we’ve definitely had tougher end-of-week backpagers
Suitably chewy for a Friday. 10a gets my vote as well. Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.
I expect the end of the week to bring something special, and today’s crossword exceeded all expectations. The wordplay was magnificent and made everything possible, even if it did take a read or three!
24a is a word that is so appropriate to crosswords. 10a made me pause and wonder quite what the DT was coming to. 22a I cracked Dr S’s challenge once I stopped trying to fir in a B and a Q.
With the clue and the solution in front of me I find some of the parsing quite a challenge – I have total admiration for the setters who create these masterpieces for us to enjoy.
COTD – a close runner up is 13a which took a moment to construct but the winner is 11a which I thought was exceptional.
Many thanks to the setter and Mr K for the hints
On more serious matter – The Sky Blues have an opener away at Arsenal and their third game is away at Manchester City. I thought Frank L has friends in high places!!
I’m already depressed at the thought of it – & we still haven’t persuaded Brighton to part with guy who I hope will have to stop the barrage of shots on goal 🙁
An excellent way to finish the week with Mr Smooth in fine form.
My LOI was the beautifully-constructed 15a. The spoonerism was nicely done and 11d was cleverly thought out.
There’s something very satisfying about the word 24a. I’ve no ideas why as I never use it and its meaning isn’t that special.
It’s very hard to decide which ones get the silverware but I’ll go with10a (oh, stop it), 14a (Bond producer is brilliant, especially as Broccoli has the same number of letters) and 16d.
MTTTA and Special K.
3*/5*
I tried all wsys to fit beoccoli in too!
We love Bond, sorry, used to love Bond.
The first was Doctor No in ’62 and here’s a way to remember that fact: 6 letters in Doctor and 2 in No.
Simples, dimples, pimples.
On the subject of Bond, my Dad operatated the volcano lid on You Only Live Twice, he was late for work one day and whilst running up the gantry he knocked Sean Connery arse over head.
As Sean got up Dad asked him for an autograph, and Sean said ‘what name?’ (thinking it would be for a wife or girlfriend) so now we still have a signed photo saying ‘From Sean with love to Bob’
Great story! 😊
Brilliant!
Quite a few of the scenes were shot on location in Japan. But, I’m guessing your pop’s was at the Pinewood studios. Still, it’s a great story.
We loved Little Nellie.
Yep Pinewood, Dad was panicking when Ken Wallis flew Little Nellie through the crater, as the blades were really near his legs, Wallis shouted to him ‘sit still you bloody fool, I could fly this through the eye of a needle’
This is great. I love the ‘behind the scenes’ stories.
It reminds me of an excellent book by Simon Rose that has all you want to know about 1500 classic films, each on a quarter of a page including the above plus bloopers, lack of continuity, gossip etc. For example, I’m sure Hoots will know that Bogie stood on a box when embracing Ingrid in Casablanca as she was taller.
A must read.
Here it is on Amazon:
I have managed to finish this unaided to my surprise as it was very tough (a 5* for difficulty for me)with a lot of convoluted clues. My COTD was 11d, featuring one ofmy favourite poets. I also like the Drake double entendre at 1a and the3d self perpetuating reaction. Thanks to the compiler and to Mr K for the hints which I’ll mow read in order to make sense of some of the clues.
An excellent crossword for me today.
Favourite has to be the beaker at 18d….just for beaker!
Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.
Still recovering from the excitement of our by-election yesterday…..same party re-elected ….but the excitement was waiting to see how the TV folks got on with pronouncing Broughty Ferry and Arbroath….strangely they all managed to pronounce Broughty Ferry but there were some stumbles on Arbroath….Arbroth seemed to be a favourite. I’d have thought they would have known it from the Smokies. I see the hand (tongue?) of Laura Kuenssberg keeping them right……
Was Bob Servant ever shown down south of the border ? Probably a bit niche.
I know Arbroath very well. My wife, Lesley came from there. Guess what my nickname for her was? 😊
As Frankie said, gentle for a Friday, but what a superb puzzle. Only real delay was pondering which of two options for my LOI, the anagram at 24a, and justifying 2d where the homophone doesn’t work for me other than with very lazy pronunciation of the answer.
Great surfaces, plenty of humour (including the RayT-esque 10a!) and honours went to the excellent anagram at 12a, the Spoonerism at 22a, and the large beaker (guffaw when that penny dropped) at 18d.
Many thanks to the setter and to MrK
A very worthy Friday teaser taking a bit longer than usual, but deliciously satisfying for an unaided completion. The anagrams at 10a and 12a were first in and it flowed fairly steadily thereafter . The Browning’s freedom is my COTD, although there were many other contenders including the Spoonerism, loved it.
Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.
2.5*/4.5*
Excellent Friday fun, not too tough, except for 19a – this clue just grates with me for some reason.
22a, 18d and 3d favourites today.
Thanks to Mr K and ?Silvanus
A top-notch and witty Friday puzzle – many thanks to our setter and Mr K.
I ticked the clever 1a, 3d and 11d but joint favourites for me are the lass with the pert bust (10a) and the large beaker (18d).
A Friday corker of a puzzle where the SE corner took as long as the rest combined. I blame it on the heat but more like being a bit dense. I liked the vindictive brownie and the small lass. Honorable mentions also to 24a and 18d, but cotd goes to the excellent spoonerism. Thanks to Silvanus (?) and Mr K.
Once again, I conclusively proved that multi-tasking does not work. Puzzle slowly completed while watching Canada winning for the first time in the World Cup.
???/*****
I am in full agreement with Steve C on the Pun!
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 10a, 2d, 11d, and 18d – and the winner is 18d.
Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.
A superb puzzle with all the elements of challenge, humour and quirkiness in the right balance for me, although like Steve, I have to report a DNF. I had all the elements for15A but for some reason couldn’t put them in the right order. 6A held out until the hints appeared which then gave me 8D under my own steam as the last one in. There are numerous candidates for COTD but my vote goes to 22A in part because of its connection to my Thai corner below. Thanks to Mr K for the hints, which were needed and to the setter.
Thai corner.
Quick trip to MAKRO today, same guy on the exit door pretending to check your shopping and stamp your receipt as in the Sheffield Parkway branch. The difference was the, ‘pretty’, which is the English word the Thais use for the promotional models who was offering an incentive to buy the energy drink I was buying anyway. Unfortunately my Thai and her English weren’t up to understanding the mechanics of the deal but I think I left the store without a branded cool bag I should have been entitled to.
Great end to the week – and similar to yesterday included a word I didn’t know. That was the last to go in at 24a and despite the checkers took me two attempts to get the remaining letters in the correct order!!
Lots of great clues the spoonerism was excellent – and 18d when I stopped thinking about chemistry labs!
My COTD is 11d
Thanks all
I struggled with this but appreciated it once I’d parsed the answers. LOI was 6a. 24a was a new word for me.
I got the Quickie pun but it felt like too much of a stretch. Do like Inspector Morse itself though.
Top picks for me were 18d, 13d, 22a and 5d.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
Great puzzle to end the non-working week, pitched just right at ***.
New word for me at 24a, but EDASD, and easy enough from the clue and letters already in it.
My two of the day were 3d, and what has to be a contender for clue of the month, 18d, great misdirection there.
Just been to visit the aged parent in Frimley Park Hospital, the queue to get into the carpark was about half a mile long, but if you go on a motorbike you can sail past it and then park for free, bargain!
For me this was a typically Tough Friday puzzle. Lots I can’t parse and figure out. That’s Friday for you.
3.5*/3* for me
Favourites 1a, 10a, 12a, 22a, 27a & 4d — with winner 1a
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
I was pleased to complete this in half the time of yesterday’s (to my mind trickier) puzzle. Horses for courses and all that.
Some brilliant ‘cryptic-cryptic ’ clues, favs were my last two in 11d and 15a.
Thanks to the setter and Mr K.
Very enjoyable end to week. **/*** for me. COTDs: 11d, 18d,
Rated this a 3 * for difficulty. Had been doing it whilst waiting for my eye test and it certainly felt odd switching to the screen to read the letters.
Entertainment was 4 * and am amazed that I found this puzzle so accessible. Have to give 2 winners for top spots . Robert and Elizabeth for romance come first and for amusement the large beaker comes first.
Thankyou Silvanus and Mr. K
Add me to the list of 24a being a new word. Mainly straightforward with head scratchers. Favourite was 10a (yes i know it was an anagram but the surface read was brilliant). Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.