Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31301 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club
(hosted by crypticsue)
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A lovely bright and early start to Saturday morning with the feel of being on holiday abroad where it is just the right temperature first thing but you know that it will be very hot later. My dad used to say ‘sun before seven, rain before eleven’ but as we haven’t seen any of the latter at all this month, I am not holding out any hope
An enjoyable SPP with a nice mix of clues including enough to keep fans of anagrams and lurkers happy. I am not sure whether two references to money counts as a theme and I also think we may have to play Guess the Setter
Please ask for help if you are stuck on clues I haven’t hinted, but before doing so, please read the comments that appear before yours, so that you are not duplicating questions, and make sure you obey both THE INSTRUCTIONS IN RED at the end of the Hints and the blog’s Comment Etiquette – Big Dave’s Crossword Blog)
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.
Across
1a Accompaniment to biscuits too bad for you (4,6)
Something to eat with biscuits or an informal expression meaning hard luck for you
9a Bother with core ingredient of hot sauce? (5)
A bother or nuisance and the core ingredient of hOt
10a Spooner’s timid sort loathing fellow resident (9)
How the dreaded Reverend would refer to a timid creature and some loathing
17a Yobs in part of golf course legless at the end (6)
Part of a golf course and the end of leglesS
22a Attack head for insolence (13)
An attack and a headland
27a Going on working as a publicist with formidable woman (2,8)
A phrase meaning working in public relations and a formidable woman
Down
1d Sleepy Hollow’s revolutionary advertising (4)
Hidden in reverse (revolutionary) in the first two words of the clue
3d Be inconsistent about dance with coppers, perhaps (4,3,6)
The Latin abbreviation for about, an informal name for a dance and what coppers can be an example of
11d MOR? Playing Genesis faintly, not loud (4,9)
If you can remember what type of music MOR is abbreviated to, then the anagram (playing) of GENESIS fAINTLY without the musical abbreviation meaning loud, shouldn’t take you long to sort out
16d Extremely desirable car part is back (8)
You always hope you’ll get through a crossword without thinking of Rabbit Dave won’t like that, but sadly today is not that day. The extreme letters of DesirablE and the unindicated American name for a car part
18d At university, competitors closer to the further away goal (7)
At university (2) and those taking part in something (competitors)
23d Drags parts of the feet, it’s said (4)
A homophone (it’s said) of parts of the feet
As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment. If in doubt, leave it out
Please read these instructions carefully – they are not subject to debate or discussion. Offending comments may be redacted or, in extreme cases, deleted. In all cases the administrator’s decision is final.
If you don’t understand, or don’t wish to comply with, the conventions for commenting on weekend prize puzzles then please don’t leave a comment.
The Quick Crossword pun: JACKAL + INTO + PREY = JACQUELINE DU PRE
I sent an email to the competitions editor of the DT yesterday and received a lovely response this morning thanking me for letting her know that a consortium would be attempting to influence the outcome of today’s Prize Puzzle Crossword. Para 73 Clause iv of the DT PP Crossword regulations specifically prohibit collusion amongst entrants and when I pointed out that there was a mass gathering planned for today the said editor confirmed that facial recognition software will be used to identify and eliminate entries from anyone seen entering The Old Joint Stock boozer today.
I thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very witty Wilde, my entry was submitted before I arrived.
BTW we (well just me so far) are upstairs in The Chatwin Room
On my way!
Not looked at the crossword yet. On my way back from a very convivial get together in Birmingham where old and new friends had a great and joyful time. It was good to meet a former blogger who helped me greatly when I joined the blog. Good to meet you, Mark.
But who are they?
From left to right
Sloops, Young Salopian, Deansliegh, Mark, Alfiepops and Smylers.
Sorry – Weekend Wanda at head of table.
Nanabot arrived a little bit later too, I hope Smylers got a pic or two
Yes, Smylers took several photos so, hopefully, he will let us see them soon
Any chance of putting names (or pseudonyms) to faces?
An excellent post from ‘The Doc’!
2*/2*. We appear to have an American setter today. An American spelling is needed for 22a and an American meaning is used for the wordplay for 16d. (And that is even without mentioning two vague men in one clue.) Hmm…
The rest of the puzzle was enjoyable but I don’t understand how these Americanisms get through the editing team.
Thanks to the setter and to CS.
There is another Americanism in Wordle today which took me 5 goes!
Yes and it broke my streak. Bah humbug!!!
Wordle has had some very odd words recently, apart from today’s what about shill, butte and pshaw over the last couple of weeks, surely they havent exhausted all the common ones?
Hi S
They started repeating a few months ago.
So, they’ve got no excuse.
To me, Tracy Bennett needs to be on her final warning.
I managed in 4 before setting off to catch the train.
I thought this was enjoyable, gentle fun for a Saturday morning.
My only mistake was with 15a; I had all the correct letters, but in the wrong order, and produced a different word that I thought fitted the definition. Fortunately 11d pointed out my mistake.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS
I did the same thing but realised when 11 down went in. Both led up the same garden path.
Phew! At least not just me…
Yes. Me too. And I had very high confidence in my brilliant, but incorrect answer
A gentle trip through Crosswordland that didn’t cause any issues.
22a isn’t far off two synonyms. So, there wasn’t much to work out.
Being a huge Genesis fan, I loved 11d which is a brilliant clue.
That goes on my podium along with 27a and 8d.
Many thanks to the setter and she of the crypt.
1*/3*
An enjoyable puzzle and, for me, it didn’t seem as tricky as recent Saturday ones.
Loved the Quickie pun.
Top picks for me were 27a, 16d, 1a and 3d.
Thanks to CrypticSue and the setter.
I hope all attending today’s bash have a lovely time and heed the warning in the first post.
Please take photos and upload them so we can put faces to names.
Hi, I’m back from a midweek trip to the Thai seaside which restricted my ability to comment. I found today’s challenge relatively straightforward but the clues were well constructed and I enjoyed the process of completion. As a prog rock fan I wonder if there is a subtlr dig in 11D which suggests our setter is a YES or ELP aficionado, if so he/she has impeccable taste. I managed the solving and parsing solo which is rewarding. My candidates for COTD are 5D and 16D as I thought the definitions were not obvious. COTD goes to 16D for the Baht drop moment. Thanks as always to the setter and CS.
Thai corner.
I feel I have to share this story from my 3 day trip to the seaside as I believe it is comedy gold, my apologies to anyone who thinks the forum or content is inappropriate.
My wife and I went on a snorkeling expedition on a speedboat to a local island. Before we embarked we were given life jackets which included straps to fasten across the body as well as between the legs from the front to the back. My wife decided the latter were superfluous and only fastened the clips that connected the left and right of the jacket. When we arrived at the beach to start snorkeling and jumped off the boat into the shallows it became obvious that the straps served an important service of stopping the vest rising over the head of the wearer and so my wife asked me to assist in fastening the two straps whilst still in waist deep water. The numerous other tourists present were then subject to the performance of me fiddling under water around my wife’s nether region accompanied by a commentary from her of, ”it doesn’t go there”, ”you need to put them both in”, ”it’s got twisted”, ”it’s too long now”,”that hurt”, ”now it’s too short”, ”have you finished yet?”.
Brilliant!
You’ve painted a great picture.
Before the fiddling began. Hence the height of the lifejacket.
Hilarious!
😂
Gentle workout indeed, which left the equines peacefully at graze, if that is a term at all.
A very cultured Quickie pun, and some musical references in the puzzle proper, but I can’t say anything stood out for me today, really. So I’m awarding the laurels to all the clues, apart from anything American! These, for me, if constitutive of a nod to our friends across the pond, constitute a nod too far. While I can’t see myself voting Reform, there are some Englishnesses which are surely sacrosanct, with crosswords being among them. And we do already have the Cross Atlantic, do we not?
I will now cease ranting. I suspect having had little sleep over recent nights has something to do with this, and the heat here is catastrophic.
Lastly, my best wishes to all those attending the meet. I hope you have an enjoyable day. Wish I were there.
I started at a canter then slowed to a crawl. 4d took as long as the rest of it put together. Very clever. My only gripe is 21d. There are lots of young solvers who wouldn’t have a clue who he was.
Hi SR
As 90% to 95% of the solvers are of a certain age, the setters tend to have references for that audience. which often put a smile on people’s faces or trigger a memory. It’s a case of knowing the audience.
This means that the tiny percentage suffer. But, more often than not, they can solve it from the clue.
So, all is well with the cruciverbal world.
I joyfully remembered the answer to 21d. Karleen’s old enough, but arrived in UK in 2005 from Jamaica, where this actor’s fame hadn’t reached. Our beloved Cryptic must be an education for immigrants from English-speaking countries—and expats too.
Hi V
I see people and events from days gone by as specialist knowledge very much like flora, fauna and feathers that I don’t have the first clue about.
I reckon that, this week alone, I’ve learnt half a dozen new words and terms which works for me as they are solvable from the clues.
20th century people and events from these shores are seen as answers a lot less frequently than the aforementioned things beginning with f.
We can’t know everything which is no bad thing. We are all students of this rich tapestry of life.
Some setters use very up-to-date references that many solvers have no knowledge of which I applaud.
One thing’s for sure, specialist knowledge is here to stay. Some setters use it with gay abandon others sparingly.
A lovely prize puzzles with a few in the south needing more thought. I rather liked the spooner today…..very unusual for me.
Many thanks to the setter and CS for the hints.
I hope all those meeting up have a very enjoyable time.
A more relaxing solve than yesterday, and certainly Thursday. The indicator for 1d is one of the most subtle I’ve seen for a long time. An apostrophe, a single letter and – to the keen-eyed – a change to plain font for both from italic is all we get. (I had to zoom in on my iPad to appreciate it so I would have little chance with the paper version). Definitely my COTD for that reason.
I’m not a big fan of Spoonerism clues but I didn’t mind 10a because of the visual image it invokes.
Nice and gentle this morning, only 18d held out and its a new word to me.
A lot of great clues today, 11d being my COTD followed by 24a what a nice old fashioned phrase I think I will use today if I can. Wasn’t keen on today’s spoonerism I am afraid.
thanks all and have an NGOW for me
I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms. I have written (special green ink) to Mathias Döpfner, Mr Lancaster, Mr Burnham, Prince William, and Harry Kane.
After another error last weekend, I had been assured that I would win the crayons this weekend. Now I understand a ‘consortium’ has shoved their way to the front of the queue. It is preposterous, and I can only hope that heads will roll as a result of this grievous turn of events.
Groovy guzzle. Last one in was 27a which was both devious and clever.
Thanks to the setter, and pleased to see PC Security has a day off from her Secret Service duties.
Love to Daisy and George. I hope all is well today
Thank you Terence, he is doing well under my tender nursing. He doesn’t deserve me, when I think of what I am missing in Birmingham today because of him. I am wearing a rather martyred look and feeling very sorry for myself. He doesn’t seem to notice !
A great Saturday PP which I thought gentler than some of the recent offerings. I spent too long trying to convert 3d into an anagram and I wasn’t familiar with the 18a style but generally nothing too much to worry about.
COTD is the excellent 11d
Many thanks to the setter and CS for the hints
What a relief this was after the last two days of head scratching – a really delightful puzzle. I have no idea what MOR stands for but the anagram was fairly straightforward. I hope all you chaps attending the bash behave yourselves and as Madflower above said, lots of photos please to be able to put faces to names. I hope DG and George are somewhat better after a good nights kip. Thanks to the setter and CS.
Middle of the Road
Doing well, thank you Manders.
For me, etc©, just about right for a SPP although I was defeated by the Pun.
Favourite a toss-up between 22a and 23d – and the winner is 22a.
Thanks to the setter and CS.
Grand straightforward puzzle with much to like. So many ticks on my page, so at random I’ve chosen 7d for cotd. Thanks to compiler and CS.
For me this was a gentle solve given it was a Saturday, but nicely chewy and enjoyable. 18d was a new term for me , and my last one in was 16d , which once I got it deemed to be a brilliant clue. Thanks to the setter and CS. I hope the gathering goes well. I’ll attend one day !
Gentle enjoyable puzzle . Thanks to all . Last in the incomparable Donald . Favourites 10 and 23 .
Now back home having aborted my trip to The Bash because of my connecting train being cancelled and its delayed replacement packed like sardines. Didn’t fancy standing for 2 hours.
However, I did manage to complete the SPP and the Quickie on the first leg of the journey which was on time.
Like others this was fairly benign for a Saturday, although everything was nicely clued and made for some enjoyable wordplay. My COTD is 3d.
I actually shook 21d’s hand when he presented the prize for the most beautiful baby contest at our local fete in 1970. It was won by my 6 month old daughter.
Many thanks to the setter and CS
Another tougher than normal Saturday puzzle, yet again this week, I thought. Took a while to get through it with one word I had never heard of … not really a cryptic clue nor the answer IMHO, more a GK clue/answer.
3*/3*
Favourites 1a, 12a, 24a, 3d & 13d — with winners 1a & 3d
Smiles for 10a, 25a & 13d
Thanks to setter & CS
1* / 3.5* A nice gentle Saturday puzzle with lots to like.
Favourites today include the inconsistent 3d(last in), MOR at 11d and the Scottish citizen at 13d
Thanks to compiler and Sue
That was relatively gentle and left me plenty of time to pray to the rain gods. For once my podium place goes to the Spoonerism.
ATykeinBangkok made me smile and think of Carry on Films.
Looking forward to seeing pictures from today’s reunion and like others sending best wishes to Daisygirl.
Many thanks all round
Earlier this week I was fully expecting to be doing this guzzle in Birmingham. How quickly things can change. I did try to find out is any other ladies were attending but nobody commented. So perhaps, if I would have been the only female present it is just as well I am not there, as they won’t be constrained by the presence of one old lady. Still, I am pig sick about it and am wearing a slightly martyred air as I tend the invalid, who actually looks perfectly healthy to me now apart from the catheter which is a bit of a turnoff. What a fine guzzle! I reckon I coped quite well with the sporty ones and I really like the 1a expression as it was a very popular ‘expletive’ when I was a gal. My father had a 15a so I knew that and I think I shall choose 12a as my favourite as I also remember that being used frequently. Many thanks to our Setter and to CeeSue and greetings to the Birmingham Gang.
DG – I missed yesterday’s post and have only just caught up with your misfortunes…I wish George a swift return to good health, which I am sure will give you peace of mind. You are both in my thoughts, Graham
Very gentle for a prize puzzle and most enjoyable while it lasted. Rather an odd and distant Donald to dredge up – however after a quick check on wiki he was appearing on our screens much later than I initially thought.
Much prefer the [other] type of 1a with my biscuits! Never heard of MOR before – so thats a nice mew bit of knowledge stored away!
Thanks to the setter and to CS for blogging duties. Hope all at the bash in brum have a blast – will be with you in spirit!
I found this to be a very enjoyable puzzle today, with a few head scratchers for me for a while. I got most of the top left corner first, but I wasn’t confident, so I didn’t fill them in until I had a few checkers. I solved a clue from the top right corner early on and when I saw one of the high scoring letters in Scrabble, I thought this crossword might be a pangram. I’m not into any sport, and so any clues with that as a theme always stumps me (pun intended; sorry, I couldn’t resist that). I like the misdirection in a number of clues (I won’t list them, in case I give too much away and end up on the naughty step on only my 3rd posting here). 7 & 18d are new to me, so I’ve learned something today, which is always an enjoyable bonus. I particularly liked 4 & 5d and 14a. My COTD is 14a because I thought it is clever and funny. My thanks to CS for the hints and to the setter for giving me a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday
Just left the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham having met some delightful people including he who must not be named. Lovely to meet you all and have a safe journey home.
A bit of a mixed bag for me today. I started reasonably well but slowed to a crawl. Despite being at sea for best part of 40 years and studying meterology 7d was a revelation and I’d never heard of 21d … but what’s new there!
13d I liked .. too easy… although not keen on the place tbh.
Thanks to setter and CS
Enjoy the bash in Brum … I thought about making the effort it would have been good putting faces to “names” … but as a tight Jock the train fare was too expensive!
T
A nice SPP with a mixture of easy and challenging clues,
7d LOI – I had to drag this from the memory banks.
27a favourite today. I would humbly suggest that 1 too many words is underlined in the definition CS.
Thanks to all
Not overly difficult but with enough head scratchers to keep us honest and mercifully so after the last two days. Favourite was 27a. Thanks to the setter and CS.
🇺🇸 Howdy y’all, setter here.
US indications aren’t necessarily enforced in accordance with dictionaries and I thought the car part was generally well known enough in the UK not to cause problems. However, I would on balance give a US indication for trunk as a car boot, so it’s a fine line.
I don’t understand RD’s American spelling objection to 22a in comment #2, and suspect he may have misread the clue.
Thank you all for your comments, and thanks to Sue for the hints and write-up.
Apologies re 22a. I did indeed! I will eat humble pie.
I don’t got a problem with it dude.
Very gentle but extremely enjoyable – no bad thing to get a bit of respite after the demands of Donny then Karla over the last couple of days. I only twigged what MOR was once the answer was filled in (why not MOTR I wonder) & thankfully a great tune by The Pretenders rather than that awful song by the band, Middle of the Road, was the earworm that followed. Can’t say the Americanisms even registered & unlike RD I rather liked the Scotsman in company who forgot his caber. 17a made me wince somewhat recalling a number of golf society days where a portion of the participants are clearly not regular golfers, get well oiled & treat the course with little respect.
Thanks to the setter & to Sue. Hoping all who attended the mid-year bash in Brum enjoyed themselves.
Best wishes to Daisy & George too.
Solved on the train back from today’s gathering. Thank you to everybody who came (and commiserations to those who tried to come but couldn’t make it) — you’re all lovely, and it was really nice chatting to you all.
Thank you to Twmbarlwm for the entertainment, which made the journey much more pleasant. Highlights included the 10a Spoonerism, the 14a Rolls, the 25a modest house, and Cram on top in 5d. The 15a overcoat was new to me. I’ll try to envisage Kenneth Branagh wearing one in an attempt to remember it. And thank you to CrypticSue for hosting.
I found this character lazing around New Street station:
Can anyone help with parsing 8d please?
If I say that the solution lies in most of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th words does that help? I hope I’ve not said too much.
Hi AC
I think it’s okay to say that it’s an anagram (composed ) of the words The Doc mentioned with the first of them losing the last letter (short) with the answer meaning ‘clumsily’.
Just finished after an eventful journey home. The train was full of screaming hen parties and groups of youths drinking beer and also yelling at each other. Then ‘Ten Green Bottles” started and they started to throw a teddy bear around the carriage and this got young children squealing.
Anyway, it was good to meet everyone today and both the conversation and beer flowed.
Ah, yes – the puzzle. It was most enjoyable and I have ticks all over the paper. However, 4d caused me to pause a while but I did know the overcoat at 15a. My COTD is the Rolls at 14a.
Thank you, Tumbledown Mountain for a great workout and giving me another chance at The Mythical. I’ll see if I can get the incantations right this week. Thank you, CeeSoo for the hints.
Just finished with a mug of tea in bed. Had about 75% completed last night but a night’s sleep and suddenly all the remaining clues fell into place. Very pleased to have finished without the need for any hints although I did have to check the meaning of one or two clues after insertion. IMHO, about a 2 1/2* rating.
Favourites were 1a, 12a, 27a and 7d.
Thank you to the setter and to CS for the hints, which I will now peruse.