Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31284
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where we seem to have followed in the footsteps of those of you on the other side of the pond and have recently been enduring temperatures above 30 degrees C. On Canada Day, July 1, a storm dumped nearly 5 inches of rain on Ottawa in a couple of hours resulting in widespread flooding and the cancellation of all afternoon and evening festivities on our national holiday. Among the casualties was my basement which experienced a sewer backup. I now have a mountain of sewage contaminated material sitting on my front lawn awaiting pickup.
I won’t even attempt to guess the identity of today’s setter but, whoever it may be. has given us a gentle and fun introduction to the crossword solving week.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Across
1a Accepting defeat, rabble returned flowers (7)
BLOSSOM — reverse (returned) another word for rabble or unruly crowd and insert (accepting) a synonym for defeat
5a Irreverent troublemaker promises to pay (7)
IMPIOUS — a typically young mischievous troublemaker and the usual brief promissory notes
9a Revealed codes and slid off (9)
DISCLOSED — an anagram (off) of CODES and SLID
10a Tear cover off paper magazine (5)
ISSUE — remove the initial letter (tear cover off) a thin piece of paper
11a Attack in a TV studio? (5)
ONSET — split (2,3), the answer could denote in a TV studio
12a Giver of dubious corner – ref? (9)
CONFERRER — an anagam (dubious) of CORNER REF
13a Slow movers jog back alongside French river, starting to sweat (9)
TORTOISES — string together a reversal (back) of another term for jog or run at a slow pace, a river in northern France, and the initial letter of (starting to) SWEAT
16a Current elected house rejected epic poem (5)
ILIAD — the physics symbol for electric current and a reversal (rejected) of an Irish elected house
17a Journeys using free diesel essentially (5)
RIDES — free or disencumber and the two middle letters (essentially) of DIESEL
18a Fake glass delivered for celebratory drink (9)
CHAMPAGNE — a homophone that sounds like (delivered or spoken) another word for fake and a section of window glass
20a Criminal continued under the radar (9)
UNNOTICED — an anagram (criminal) of CONTINUED
23a Section of proof Fermat’s put forward (5)
OFFER — a lurker hiding in (section of) PROOF FERMAT
25a Some plagiarisers stand up (5)
ARISE — another lurker, this one concealed in (some) PLAGIARISERS
26a Children not working well (9)
OFFSPRING — link together synonyms for not working and well or source of water
27a Lower down Scottish mountain dine on starter of haggis (7)
BENEATH — concatenate the Scottish word for mountain, another word for dine, and the initial letter (starter) of HAGGIS
28a Unfashionable people‘s particular powers (7)
SQUARES — double definition; for the second, think maths
Down
1d Teaching graduate with job gets support for retirement (7)
BEDPOST — the post-nominal academic honorific for a teaching graduate and another term for job
2d Expels from old university thoroughfares (5)
OUSTS — link the abbreviations for old, university and particular types of thoroughfares
3d Explanations lost on us unfortunately, first person overwhelmed (9)
SOLUTIONS — form an anagram (unfortunately) of LOST ON US and insert (overwhelmed) a first person pronoun
4d Leaders of most unions stand in corridors singing, perhaps (5)
MUSIC — the initial letters (leaders) of the five words preceding the definition
5d Subcontinent surrounding one’s country (9)
INDONESIA — an Asian subcontinent wrapped around (surrounding) ONES
6d Get ready for 11 or 13, say (5)
PRIME — double definition; again the second is a maths concept
7d Watching former pupil starting a tennis match (9)
OBSERVING — the usual abbreviated former pupil and the action involved in starting a tennis match
8d Cut some corn in outbuilding (7)
SHEARED — a measure of corn or maize contained in an outbuilding
14d Flag needs ring put around (3,6)
RED ENSIGN — an anagram (put around) of NEEDS RING
15d Dismiss fool over hot itchy fabric (9)
SACKCLOTH — cement together dismiss from employment, a colloquial term for a fool, and the water tap symbol for hot
16d Without preparation, I’m on time, you heard (9)
IMPROMPTU — join together IM from the clue, on time or punctual, and the letter that sounds like (heard) YOU
17d Regret insult on the radio? Nonsense (7)
RHUBARB — a homophone that sounds like (on the radio) another word for regret and a humorous but hurtful remark
19d A genre novel with lead character in Sussex infuriates (7)
ENRAGES —an anagram (novel) of A GENRE followed by (with) the initial letter (lead character) in SUSSEX
21d Time husband at last wrote thank you letter (5)
THETA — line up the physics symbol for time, the genealogical abbreviation for husband, the final letter (at last) of WROTE, and an informal expression of thanks
22d Removes police officer restraining a third of offenders (5)
DOFFS — an abbreviated police office containing (restraining) a third of the word OFFENDERS (I’ll leave it to you to figure out which third)
24d Martin‘s leaflet? (5)
FLIER — double definition; the first being ornithological
Thank you to today’s setter for providing this enjoyable diversion. Let us know in the comments below which clues especially appealed to you.
Quickie pun:: CENT + SANDS + SENZA + ABILITY = SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
On This Day …
… in 1971, American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis Armstrong died. He had many hits including the 1964 US No.1 ‘Hello Dolly!’, 1968 UK No.1 ‘What A Wonderful World’ plus ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’, ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, and ‘We Have All the Time in the World.’
He made frequent use of laxatives as a means of controlling his weight, resulting in Armstrong appearing in humorous advertisements for laxative product Swiss Kriss; the ads bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet, as viewed through a keyhole, with the slogan “Satch says, ‘Leave it all behind ya!”
A great puzzle to start the week but there were a couple of posers to set the grey cells alight. I had completely forgotten the “powers” at 28a what 11 and 13 are at 6d. I spent too long looking for bovines at 27a until I saw the light. My COTD is the attack in a TV studio at 11a.
Thank you, setter for getting the week off to a good start. Thank you, Falcon for the hints.
Just enough chewiness to awaken the brain cells after last night’s thriller. Everything accessible without any real standout clues, but if pushed I’d go for either the itchy fabric at 15d or the fake glass at 18a.
My thanks to the setter and Falcon.
1*/3*
A really enjoyable Monday puzzle. I am left with only 22d and 28a unsolved. Favourite was the fake glass at 18a. Thank you setter and Falcon
Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening in HK today, so was rather hoping for a challenge that would keep me from the rain for a while. Alas not; I zipped through it over my afternoon cuppa, with the exception of 6d and 10a, which eluded me. So, it was back out into the wilds to ponder the remainder of the NE quadrant. Mamma mia! Faves were 1d and 18a.
Figured that was the answer to 6d, but kept referring to 11a and 13a. And 10a, of course! Thank you, Falcon.
1*/4*. Great start to the week with 18a my favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon.
A nice mix with a few chewy clues for a Monday. Honorable mentions go to 11a, 18a, and 15d, but cotd goes to 13a. Thanks to compiler and Falcon.
A solid start to the week with my LOI being 28a.
I didn’t know the river or the giver. The anagram of ‘continued’ was neat and 24d was fun.
17d is rapidly becoming the most popular answer of the year.
How satisfying it must have been for Sir Andrew Wiles to have proved Fermat’s Last Theorem, locking himself away from the world for seven years. His proof had a flaw. So, he teamed up with another mathematician to fix it. It only took someone 358 years to prove!
My picks are 1a, 26a and 27a.
Many thanks to the setter (no ideas) and Falcs.
2*/4*
What an enjoyable puzzle, I’ve ticks all over my sheet.
I also liked the Quickie pun.
Top picks for me were 28a, 26a, 24d, 15d and 6d.
Thanks to Falcon, sorry to hear about your flooding issues, and the setter.
A very enjoyable puzzle for me today.
No particular favourite as all excellent clues .
Thanks to the setter and to Falcon
So sorry to hear of your sewage issues , Falcon. I really feel for you having had similar problems in the past. I hope the affected stuff gets picked up very soon and your drains are functional again. Ghastly time for you.
A very enjoyable and fairly gentle start to the week. I took a moment or three before I parsed 16a but otherwise there was nothing too problematic.
My COTD is 22d..it’s such a lovely word and reminds me of gentler times.
Many thanks to the setter and Falcon for the hints
Another fine example of The Spirit of Rufus is still with us – */*****
Candidates for favourite – 5a, 16a, 28a, 6d, 24d, and an HM for the Pun – and the winner is 6d.
Thanks to whomsoever (Heron?) and Falcon.
An excellent start to the week – thanks to our setter and Falcon.
Ticks from me for 13a, 18a, 28a and 6d.
Already feeling very hot. John took his daily walk very early this morning whilst I got on with today’s offering.Am in agreement with the comments so far, it was most enjoyable and had enough false leads to satisfy. No question marks which is unusual for me. This is why the site is such a boon. Last in was 28 across . Top clue was 16 down .
Commiserations Falcon . These extreme weather patterns are dreadful. Thank you for doing duty despite the difficulties and thanks to today’s setter for the enjoyable tease.
* / ****
The gentlest start the week for a while, for me © etc.
Didn’t know the French river and biffed in 6d without being able to parse as I was looking for connections to 11a and 13a!! COTD went to the 26a children.
Many thanks to Falcon and the setter.
This was a light and enjoyable introduction to the week’s puzzling, with a few trickier clues to keep us on our toes. My particular favourite was 18a closely followed by 6d.
Thanks to our Monday setter and Falcon.