Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31306
Hints and tips by Mr K
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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 Child caught with this, discovered boarding vessel (6)
URCHIN: The single letter for caught and THIS minus its outer letters (dis-covered) are inserted together in (boarding) a vessel that’s a bit like a vase
4a Pupil of expert, say, inspired by support (8)
PROTEGEE: An informal word for an expert who’s not an amateur is followed by a support for a golf ball with the abbreviation for “say” or “for example” inserted (… inspired by …)
9a Mind clean armchair's sides being wiped (6)
SANITY: Clean or hygienic minus the outer letters (…’s sides being wiped) of ARMCHAIR
10a Fly medics to the west of S American capital (8)
MOSQUITO: The plural of a usual abbreviated medic comes before (to the west of, in an across clue) the capital of a South American country
11a Going off shift (9)
DEPARTURE: A double definition. Shift as in deviation
13a Hebridean island's last to convert to mass religion (5)
ISLAM: The last letter of a Hebridean island is changed (converted) to the single letter for mass
14a Illegal gambling in America smart Ken Bruce condemned (7,6)
NUMBERS RACKET: An anagram (condemned) of SMART KEN BRUCE
17a Managed to visit your aunt's spoilt son, one appearing in Jurassic Park? (13)
TYRANNOSAURUS: Managed or operated inserted in (to visit) an anagram (spoilt) of YOUR AUNT’S, followed by the single letter for son
21a Car given MOT without second inspection (5)
AUDIT: A German car brand is followed by MOT minus (without) an informal word for a second or a short time
23a Make unfit claim after Test cricket team's leaving ace out (9)
INDISPOSE: Claim or suggest comes after a pretty good Test cricket nation with their ’S from the clue and minus the playing card abbreviation for ace (leaving ace out)
24a Slope in garden, it is staggering (8)
GRADIENT: An anagram (is staggering) of GARDEN IT
25a Work of King is supported mostly (6)
CARRIE: All but the last letter (mostly) of a synonym of supported. The King here is an author, not a monarch
26a Offer coat to lady in a loving manner (8)
TENDERLY: Another word for offer with the outer letters of (coat to) LADY
27a Pass instruction to salon how to style one's hair? (6)
PERMIT: The answer split (4,2) could be an instruction to deliver a particular hair treatment
Down
1d Positive aspect apparent in hiccups I'd experienced (6)
UPSIDE: The answer is hidden in (apparent in) HICCUPS I’D EXPERIENCED
2d Kitchen gadget, new, cuts pear once assembled (3-6)
CAN-OPENER: The single letter for new is inserted in (cuts) an anagram (assembled) of PEAR ONCE
3d Playwright not quiet over one male's acting (7)
INTERIM: Harold the playwright minus (not) the musical abbreviation for quiet is followed by the Roman one and the single letter for male
5d State in full focus of Cypriots? (5,6)
RHODE ISLAND: The answer is the full name of a US state whose abbreviation is the central letters of (focus of) CYPRIOTS
6d Engineer quit ale for another alcoholic drink (7)
TEQUILA: An anagram (engineer, as an imperative) of QUIT ALE
7d Interrogate female promoting Republican student (5)
GRILL: A young female after moving upwards (promoting) the single letter for Republican, all followed by the usual single letter for a student or learner driver
8d Ill-will describing soldiers causes outrage (8)
ENORMITY: Another word for ill-will containing (describing) some usual abbreviated soldiers
12d Reserved amount, one I wasted speculating essentially (11)
UNEMOTIONAL: An anagram (wasted) of AMOUNT ONE I is followed by the central letter (essentially) of SPECULATING
15d Service provided for a smacker? (9)
KISSOGRAM: A cryptic definition of a service that provides what a smack can describe informally
16d Respectable poker hand (8)
STRAIGHT: A not too difficult double definition
18d Salt man just delivered (7)
NITRITE: Homophones (delivered) of a particular man on a chess board and just or fair
19d Say again what others did while I fasted? (7)
RESTATE: The answer split (4,3) could be “what others did while I fasted”
20d Join broadcast, missing the first half (6)
CEMENT: The second half (missing the first half) of a noun synonym of broadcast
22d Pulled downwards, rising a little (5)
DRAWN: The answer is hidden (… a little) inside the reversal (rising) of DOWNWARDS
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: CHILLED + WREN + SPLAY + AIRIER = CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA
Just about right for a Friday backpager I’d say, a few bung-ins but several requiring careful dissection.
I liked the armchair’s sides being wiped in 9a, King’s work at 25a and the cleverly described act of gallantry in 26a.
My thanks to our setter and Mr K.
That was quite chewy after yesterday’s puzzle but very enjoyable. I needed Mr K’s help to parse 20d and 23a.
Top picks for me were 25a, 1a, 3d, 9a, 21a and 15d.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I got there in the end – some obvious clues and then some really obscure ones – like 18d I wasn’t keen on, 20d was also a bit odd and 25a – I mean, come on – “work of king”
I did actually find it marginally easier than yesterday.
Thanks to Mr K and setter
I thought 25a was rather good, thank the lord we don’t all think the same way, or this blog would be dull as ditchwater.
It was my pick ‘em once the penny dropped
I read the book before seeing the film, it was far more creepy!
It was a fine first novel and, I agree, very creepy. As is always the case, the film was not a patch on the book. It was the same with Stanley Kubrik’s interpretation of The Shining. In fact, King himself hated that film and had a TV version made.
I watched the film of The Shining first and it was so poorly written that I didn’t even pick up on the fact that there was telepathy involved!
Never read the book, but did see the film and visited the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, (the setting for the film) which does give off creepy vibes. Estes Park, and the drive there through the canyons is worth it if you are ever in that neck of the woods. Gorgeous scenery. We have been there twice in October, one year it was snowing and the second it was picnic weather!
Not too difficult to finish but several guessed answers as parsing was way beyond me so my thanks to Mr. K
Much enjoyed so my thanks too to the setter
I found this quite tricky but a very entertaining puzzle.
I was converted the “going off shift” was nightwear, before I had any checkers, so had to apply the tippex shortly after.
Favourite clue, 10a.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K.
4*/4.5*.
That’s an excellent answer to 11a (though the clue would probably need a QM).
Very good, J!
Yep, fits beautifully, until those pesky checkers creep in!
Just read my comment… converted=convinced (spell checker strikes again!).
Took ages to get into this and several were good guesstimates like 14a – great anagram though. No particular stand out favourites today but thanks to Mr K and the setter.
Whilst driving home earlier I caught the great man himself discussing said clue on his radio show.
Enjoyed the crossword – ticks all over, especially 1a, 10a and 27a. Small hold up caused by 15d as I’d decided the middle letter was ‘a’ 🙄.
Thanks to all
I thought this was a real Friday workout with a couple that needed Mr K’s assistance to parse.
Failed to see the abbreviation in 5d and spent too long fixated on a Greek Island. Had the abbreviation for the 18d man but failed to expand it into a homophone of the full title of the piece.
Reminded of two things today – puzzles with three star difficulty rating are about my limit, and secondly that Mr K and his fellow tipsters are saviours!
Two stand out clues today – 4a because it took an age before the coin dropped and 23a because I’m a cricket fan.
Many thanks to today’s setter and Mr K for his invaluable help.
Another Joe Bugner of a puzzle today, last one in was 11a, god knows why, it was simple enough.
Never thought 8d meant outrage, no doubt it’s in the Dick and Harry somewhere.
Very strange thing in Sandhurst yesterday, for about an hour some weird wet stuff fell out of the sky, no idea what it was….
A very enjoyable puzzle – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
I selected 25a, 26a and 5d for my podium.
Perfection from Sade with my LOI being 20d. ‘Speculating essentially’ is sooooooooooooo Silvanus. If it’s not him then, going forward, this or any other setter isn’t allowed to use it with long words as he owns it.
Having to play around with a synonym which is not necessarily the first one off the rank is possibly the hardest nut to crack, in this case 9a and the aforementioned 20d. I immediately knew where the clue was going but had to wait for the checkers. Even then, it was a struggle until I thought that many long words end ‘ment’ (I had the e and t). So, I had five sixths of the answer. Boom!
Having seen King in last week’s crossword (answer: horror), I went down that route but couldn’t get it. But, I knew it had to be a verb ending ed with the d dropped (supported mostly). So, I had _ a _ r _ ed for the verb. The chances are the letter between r an e would be i then it hit me. I love cryptic crosswords.
17a can be tricky to spell. Just remember that dinosaurs were in the years BC not AD (Anno Domini). ‘Anno’ is in the word (we’ll ignore BCE and CE). Many think that the M and T of MOT are either Motor or Test or both. But, it stands for Ministry of Transport. To quote Mr Caine…not a lot of people know that.
8d originally meant great wickedness, viciousness or, as Silvanus has said, outrage. Literally ‘out of the norm’.
As I type, Ken has just mentioned 14a on his Greatest Hits Radio show! I’ve never heard of the game.
I need to get out of the habit of thinking engineer is always RE.
8d is one of those long one-syllable words. Can anyone give me a 10 letter one? Not easy.
In 1d, is it okay to have just ‘child’ or does it need ‘Naughty’ before it? I guess not.
My picks are 14a (nice surface), 3d and 6d (another great surface).
MTTTA and Mr K.
3*/5*
Hi Tom, I’m missing where 8d is one syllable. How do you pronounce it?
4 syllables?
Oops!
16d.
Forgive me.
Is that deserving of a second “disappointing” being added to your appellation? It’s got to be up there with the first one. TDDS65?
Sorry, I couldn’t resist it.
I thought he was saying he pronounced enormity as oops 😬
Good shout, Crazy River.
A fair request, J.
But ‘RayT never fails to disappoint’ is on a different level when it comes to boo-boos.
Aye, happen you’re reet. As some of the farmers round here would put it.
I was the first to spot that phrase – or the first to be cheeky enough to comment on it at least. Felt a bit of a pedant at the time but if I’d known it would reach legendary status I’d have got some badges made.
I do need to have a T-shirt made with it on.
”Tom never fails to disappoint….”
It’s good to learn the origin story behind the name!
Self-named, btw.
I had to.
Reminds me a piece in the village newsletter recently.
“Mr. Jones has retired from cutting the churchyard grass for which we are very grateful”
Brilliant, SC!
Had 2 attempts ( before and after going to the shops ) and was left with 18 down and 27 across not yielding .Time to go to Mr. K and was then able to land this offering. Most humorous for me was 19 down and most cunning 23 across.
Certainly found this challenging and ran out of time allowance. I have a friend who would accuse me of giving in easy but I like to think that I know when I’m beaten.
Thanks for the fun
Scraunched?
Got to top of the class, J!
Well done.
I only knowm that because I’ve seen it in the commentary on here. I’m pretty sure it was you that mentioned it some time ago?
It was!
Not only are you an excellent solver, your memory is still razor.
Re dinosaurs, people always say they were around 65 million years ago. Always 65! But, of course, they existed from around 230 million years ago. 65 million years ago is when they suddenly became extinct. NALOPKT!
Thank you, J.
My name is Jose: crossword solver extraordinaire, memory king and fact fiend.
Is there no end to your talents?
Flattery will get you everywhere!
I’ve been in sales for years.
I just got the day wrong in comment 14 below, but got it right in comment 13! I’m confidently claiming “senior moment” for that one.
It’s yours!
Thanks for a good laugh!
I was stumped by 25 across and 18 and 20 down. The answer to 20 down is used regularly, but I was bemused by the clue. Unaware of the author and chemical.
Ah well, back to the March archive.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
I know we all have different knowledge and tastes and I don’t mean this in a bad way, but I’m amazed you’re unaware of Stephen King
What an example of not reading the answer properly. I mistook the author to be Carrie King. Who’s heard of her? Thanks for the wake up, Imp!
I’d better go back to sleep.
👍
I managed about 80% whilst in the hospital waiting room for the review of my recent cataract surgery.
The 4 long’uns fell fairly early and provided a solid foundation. I remembered the play on ‘King’ from a week or 2 ago, so that put me on the right track and dredge up his first novel. In the end I just needed the hint from MrK for the clean armchair at 9a for completion. All in all a challenging but enjoyable Friday frolic.
My picks are 14a, 23a and 15d.
Many thanks to the setter and MrK
3*/4*
A cracking Friday puzzle, from Silv? Great clues, a toughish challenge and a very enjoyable tussle with a real feeling of achievement as the last clue fell. Just what I like on this day of the week. Fav: 20d – the one that caused the most cogitation. 3.5*/4.5*.
What’s going on today? Only 14 numbered comments on a Thursday and it’s now 1.13pm. Where’s all the regulars?
Friday, not Thursday! That makes it worse.
Just when I was singing your praises you come out with that nonsense.
That’ll teach me.
I hate ”That’ll learn you”.
Found this pretty tough, but it is a Friday so what was I expecting? 😄
I finished it but then had to come and read the hints to get the parsing of quite a few, but it was still an enjoyable “solve”
Thanks to Mr K and setter
A very chewy puzzle and ,like Jimbob, I found one could use the definition, the checkers and guesswork to obtain the solution to a number of clues, despite not fully understanding the parsing . 14a was a good anagram but i had to ask the A1 to explain what it,was, probably because it’s can American scam. 26a was the swcond King related clue to baffle me recently, very wily . I also likedcthe double definition at 27a, which was well-concealed. Last but not least on the podium is the geographical clue at 5d. Thanks to the compiler for a convoluted challenge and to Mr K for unravelling the parsing.
Late on parade as I found this tough. Perhaps lulled into complacency by the week’s prior offerings. I couldn’t see 1a for toffee and consequently I feel a right alias. So a technical dnf from me as I needed the hints for the aforementioned and shame, oh shame, 25a. Cotd, though goes to 27a for the lol moment. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.
A bit on the tough side but, as others have said, a very enjoyable guzzle. I had 11a ending in “ing” until 5d showed me the error of my ways and, knowing nothing whatsoever about poker, I needed the hints for 16d. I have also learned that 16a has more than one “n” but not being a word I use in the daily round I will forget the fact. I have not heard of the illegal gambling at 14a and it took a while for the South American capital to arrive. My COTD is King’s work at 25a.
It seems the consensus is that this is a silvanus production so I will got along with that and give thanks to him for the puzzle. I suppose it’s not impossible that he would provide a Thursday Toughie then a Friday back pager. If it not be him then my thanks to whomsoever. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints which I had to dip into.
Late on parade today because I was called in for a CT scan this morning.
It’s Oswestry Show tomorrow and that is always worth a visit if only to view the wonderful vegetables.
I got 20D but I still don’t get it.
I took it as “announcement”. 😊
20d. It’s half of a synonym of “broadcast”: announCEMENT.
Thanks for that, Jose. I got the answer, but couldn’t parse it! You have explained it.
Well this regular has 10 mins before the next 4ball tees off so an opportunity to comment,
25a&20d were the final two to yield & delayed the completion of an already pedestrian grid fill. I wouldn’t have bet good money on correctly spelling Rexy so lazily looked it up (easier than remembering Tom’s tip) & wasn’t familiar with the def context of 8d either until Mr G enlightened me.
Anyway all parsed 🆗 eventually & thoroughly enjoyed the solve. 5* enjoyment here.
Ticks aplenty – 1,4,9,10 & fav 25a + 3,5,18,19&20d my top ten.
Thanks to the setter & to Mr K
Another tough Friday puzzle as one can expect for the end of the work week. Not a lot of fun for me, with only a few clues that made sense to me. Parsing was tough IMHO
3*/2.5* for me
Favourites 21a, 24a, 27a, 1d & 16d with no outstanding winner
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
3* / 4* A proper challenge for a Friday as it should be and needed Mr K for a few parsings.
Favourites the illegal gambling (often mentioned in US gangsters films) at 14a, the inspection at 21a and as I’m currently reading one of his books 25a
Thanks to compiler and Mr K
*** / ****
The enjoyment built as I moved down the grid, seemingly in proportion to the increasing difficulty. The SE corner being the holdout and cause of the third * for difficulty. 20d, 25a and 27a all took quite some time.
Liked the 5d State but took an age to spot the parsing. Got it originally by thinking of Rhodes but how on Earth could that be the focus of Cypriots – it’s too far across the Med – then the penny dropped very loudly!
The other ticks went to the smacker service in 15d and the 26a loving manner.
On an other matter, after a quick call to the Towers, my combined subscriptions are 73% less than the quoted amount!!!
Many thanks to the setter and Mr K
Good Morning Everyone
Whilst I was doing this puzzle on MSN,when my sceen suddenly went white but I managed to finished it on Google Chrome, I was wondeting has something like this happened to anyone else? I am sorry if this is not the right place to ask this and I do not wish to offend anyone. I did like crossword as it added my grey hair to the multitude on my head.
Stay safe and travel safely.
Worworcrossol
10A and 26A my faves in a proper Friday workout. VMT Setter & Mr K.
I found most of this entertaining and manageable considering it is Friday but had 2 that I needed help with to understand the parsing, 8d and 20d. I liked 25a once I twigged.
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints.
3*/5*. A beautiful Friday puzzle to finish the week – nicely challenging, smooth surfaces, clever clueing, I am as sure that this is the handiwork of Silvanus as I was that last Friday’s was not one of his.
5d was my favourite, joined on the podium by 25a & 27a.
Many thanks to Silvanus (?) and to Mr K.
Hi RD
As you were that certain, you should have stuck your neck out. You would have been the only solver to say that it categorically wasn’t him which would have given you some nice bragging rights.
I first commented early last Friday, by when no-one had suggested that it might have been a Silvanus puzzle.
You normally throw in a guess on a Friday, i.e ”I think this could be a Silvanus/Zandio/Mr T/Karla production” but didn’t which means, to me, you weren’t sure.
Having seen the subsequent posts, with lots of us saying it was (or could be), you could have spoken up then. It would have been kudos to ‘The Rabbit’.
I toiled with this today and had several “bung ins” needing the hints to decipher. Last in was 20d and even with the hint I had to resort to the big red book to find a suitable broadcast.
I used to read King, his first couple of novels were ok but he lost me as a reader with Cujo. I find that with many authors, their fame/success at the beginning of their career drives them on but the output becomes worse. John Le Carrie being an exception to that rule.
Musing over ….
Thanks to setter and Mr K … hints needed today.
Suitably fiendish for a Friday. 20D proved to be the toughest nut to crack for me and was my LOI. I needed the hint for 5D to work out the parsing.
Good to see Mr King appearing again in the puzzle. A fun fact about his debut novel Carrie – in his book On Writing (part memoir, part how-to book) he recounts how he was unhappy with how it was going so threw the manuscript away. His wife Tabitha spotted it in the waste paper basket, brushed off the cigarette ash, smoothed out the pages, read it and told him he had to continue because she wanted to know how it ended. The rest, as they say, is history.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
Great anecdote, Jon!
They say that also happened to Alf Wight (James Herriot) but it’s not strictly true. His wife encouraged him to write and he began writing in earnest when he was fifty at her suggestion.
Hard going but fair; thank you Mr K for explaining the Cypriot and King clues!
Although I rarely finish, I am only ever annoyed or frustrated if I think any clues are inaccurate, misleading or unfair. Happens quite a lot but even though I found this very challenging I thought it was all good. My compliments to the setter.
Yes, it is one of mine, guilty as charged!
Many thanks, as ever, to Mr K and to all solvers and commenters.
Ii hope Ken Bruce liked the clue mentioning him, I’d be interested to know from anyone who caught his programme today what he said.
See you all again in a few weeks, after three puzzles in six days you’ve probably had enough of me for a little while anyway!
Great puzzle again – thought it was one of yours but was far from certain
Great puzzle, silvanus and, no, we will never have enough of you. I’m a Boom Radio man myself so wouldn’t have heard Mr. Bruce.
Have a great weekend.
You and me both Steve re: Boom. Only thing on in our house unless Reading playing away then we switch to local radio for the duration.
Added a comment a few days ago ( I have been way behind with the puzzles) to wish you well with your treatment, but you may not have seen it as I erroneously didn’t “reply” to your post. Best wishes.
Thank you, HW. I’m surprise I missed your comment because I check the blog on a regular basis. Boom is on all the time in my house except on a Saturday evening when I turn to Boom Light. I’m not a great fan of Soul, which is on Boom at that time but I do like The Fifties because I recall them from childhood. Amazing how many memories arise.
We alternate between Boom and Boom Light depending on the show. though must admit with so much going on in the world that BL is on more and more as it’s a refuge from the news! I was born in the 60s but Mr HW is of 1955 vintage and I do like the 50s music as well.
PS Steve – my original comment was on the day or maybe the day after you mentioned your illness.
A wonderfully chewy puzzle for a Friday , that I almost finished without needing a hint. My last one in was 20d, and I just couldn’t figure it out, wondering if I had the parsing wrong. In the end I looked at the hint, and it finally came to me. I was also pleased to have got the context of ‘work of king’ , as it had cropped up recently , confess that I googled his works to get the answer as I’m not a fan . Great puzzle. Thanks to the Silvanus and to Mr K.
Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this Friday puzzle. Definitely chewy, but enough clues were with my capability, and coupled with the checkers, made this one worth the effort. Thanks to setter and Mr K.
Good evening
My tried and trusted tactics of using time, tea (and beer – ee, wey it is Friday, y’knar 😉) and my Lucky Green Pen failed to save me from a DNF.
First of all, 9a. I had 3 letters inked in, but I lacked the courage of my convictions and wrote the correct answer in the margin. Couldn’t parse it, and even after reading Mr K’s explanation, it took a while.
25a: a classic piece of misdirection which eluded me completely!
20d. Even if I’d twigged 25a, I’d still have struggled.
No surprise that this was the work of the Brain of Silvanus. Can’t complain – I fell to a worthy opponent!
Many thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.
I heard it and Ken Bruce did enjoy being mentioned! The listener who phoned in told him the answer, but he was forever diplomatic in not sharing that with his radio audience!
Thanks! Smart Ken Bruce, indeed 😉
It is a brilliant anagram in a brilliant crossword. Hugely enjoyable.
4*/4* ….
liked 26A “Offer coat to lady in a loving manner (8)”