Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3377 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, like most of the UK (or is it only England?), we are extremely hot and humid but only for three days with the ‘feels like’ somewhere in the high-40s/low 50s. Then, on Tuesday, we are forecast to return to pleasantly warm and humid with the ‘feels like’ in the low 30s.
Then yesterday, there was the ‘oddity’ of watching the England oval ballers playing an ‘away’ game (yes, I do know why) in Everton FC’s magnificent new stadium. But, I suppose ‘going North’ to play in Liverpool counts as an away game for the 15-a-side national team!
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quirkily friendly with perhaps some lateral thinking required with one long ‘un, six anagrams (one partial), one lurker, and no homophones, all in a very asymmetric 31 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
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Candidates for favourite – 16a, 20a, 21a, 23a, 1d, 4d, 20d, and 21d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Some hints follow:
Across
7a My time has gone – end of the road, is it? (7)
The concatenation of a (1’1,5) phrase indicates the end of the road perhaps?
12a Horrifying wizard, twisted expression (7)
Synonyms of horrifying and wizard.
16a Sudden workplace exit where bolt has come down? (9,6)
A double definition the first is an instantaneous withdrawal of labour.
21a Jerk banking on note (5)
An involuntary twitching of facial(?) muscles containing (banking) ON from the clue.
25a Unknown contraption, reason to close bonnets (7)
A three letter synonym of reason contains (to close) a synonym of bonnets.
28a Balearic island‘s whirlwind romance (7)
An anagram (whirlwind) of ROMANCE.
Down
1d One loves staying up close to wolf, periodically (5,3)
A poetic synonym of close (careful on the pronunciation), TO from the clue, and alternate letters (periodically) of wolf – I’ll let you decide if it is odds or evens!
4d Possibly canvas cover arriving, no roof (6)
A synonym of arriving (as in new beginning?) with the first letter deleted (no roof).
5d Pasta: knock up a huge serving, spaghetti ultimately (8)
Lego® at the ready – A three letter synonym of knock up, A from the clue, a three letter term equivalent to huge serving, and the last letter (ultimately) of spaghetti.
9d Smart new panties (7)
An anagram (new) of PANTIES.
17d Criminal merged with an officer of the law (8)
An anagram (criminal) of MERGED and (with) AN.
19d Screw up the thing, though not hard to get wrong (7)
An anagram (to get wrong) of THE ThING with a single letter for Hard removed (though not).
21d Cold capital in Kathmandu, over which what winds blow! (6)
The single letter for Cold and the first letter of (capital in) Kathmandu placed after an anagram (winds) of WHAT.
23d Spread is complete after start of banquet (6)
A synonym of complete placed after the first letter (start) of Banquet.
26d Performance of music is merry enough, first of all (4)
The initial letters (first of all) of four words in the clue.
Quick Crossword Pun:
CURRY + OAK + KEY = KARAOKE
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In 1980, Olivia Newton-John was one of the stars in a fantasy film musical Xanadu which was a critical and box-office disappointment, and along with Can’t Stop the Music, inspired the creation of The Golden Raspberry Awards to recognize the worst films of the year. Nevertheless, with the ELO, O N-J had a number one, for two weeks, starting on this day in 1980 for the titular song from the film:
2*/4*. I’m glad this was not too challenging after spending 30 minutes more than planned watching football and biting my nails on into the early hours.
My podium picks are 12a, 16a & 20d.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
A puzzle of two halves for me where the east was relatively straightforward but the west caused me quite a bit of trouble. A dnf unaided as I needed a couple of hints to get me finished. Overall not high on the enjoyment factor for me today. Cotd though goes to 17d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
I’m not always on the same wavelength as Dada and it took a while to figure out parts of today’s offering.
I don’t want to be on a step but I saw 7a as a truncated 1’1 6 2, but perhaps that’s because of too many late nights! 21d held me up with, for me, an obscure indicator, which it turn meant that 25a was the LOI.
Prize Puzzles are meant to be tricky and this fitted the bill, very enjoyable once I got into the swing of it.
I liked 1d and 4d, where I was totally misdirected.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf for the hints
Fairly gentle and enjoyable – thanks to Dada and Senf.
I liked 23a, 26a and 6d with my favourite being 7a.
This took a fair bit of teasing out, especially Devon and Cornwall: parsing 21a, 25a and 21d took forever. Not easy.
I can see where 7a is coming from but, having read S’s tip, I still can’t quite parse it. Maybe it’s me.
Doesn’t 17d need a reference to where this officer can be found as they’re aren’t from these shores or is that not how it works?
My picks are 23a, 28a and the clever 19d.
Many thanks to Radio and Senf.
4*/4*
In a perfect cruciverbal world the 5 letter word in my (1’1,5) 7a phrase would end in ‘é’.
On 17d, do you really expect Dada to follow conventions on indicating ‘foreign’ terms?
Thanks S.
I now get 7a.
Re 17d, I didn’t realize that, as whacky as he is, Dada was like that. What’s stopping him having officers from far-flung countries as an answer with no indicator?
This is a black mark against him as, for me, it’s just wrong.
Perhaps distance from the UK is a factor. Cap Gris-Nez can be seen from the White Cliffs of Dover whereas Cape Cà Mau in Vietnam cannot be seen.
Not too tough today which is just as well as the old brainbox has been frying for the last few days. This was our Sunday setter on top form, with the clever 7a my favourite.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
Another vote for 7a as pick of the clues. Can’t say it was my favourite Sunday puzzle but enjoyable enough,
Thanks to D&S – explanation needed for the why at 25a’s bung in & move on.
I agree with Tom that the SW corner was pretty tough going and I had to resort to Senf’s helpful hints to get me over the finish line….
Thanks to Senf and Dada
What a strange grid but a fun, if quirky in places, puzzle with a few curveballs thrown in. Unlike Tom. I didn’t think 17d needed a a reference to where the said officer can be found. The answer was gettable without it. The sudden workplace exit at 16a raised a smile as did the plea to stay at 23a.Difficult to pick a favourite but I’m going for the end of the road at 7a.
Thank you, Dada for a fun workout. Thank you, Colonel for the hints.
The guy who helps me in the garden was trimming a shrub and came across this. They all swarmed out and I’ve never seen him run so fast.