Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31309
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ****
Mercifully cooler today so it promises to be a lot more comfortable on the golf course this afternoon.
I found today’s Anthony Plumb offering a good bit easier than last week & about on a par with Heron’s puzzle yesterday in terms of difficulty. As ever nicely clued throughout with some excellent surfaces. Any corrections to the hints (if current form is anything to go by there’s bound to be at least one) will have to wait until later.
There’s a quick reappearance from Ray T over in t’other place with a very enjoyable & fairly gentle(ish) Beamer that’s begging to be walloped to the boundary ropes. I’m sure both he & Whybird would welcome your thoughts on it.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
Across
1a Kindly dropping papa’s rent (5)
LEASE: remove P[apa] (NATO alphabet) from the front of a synonymous adverb for kindly.
4a Ointment’s concealing half of Carl’s spots (9)
LOCATIONS: insert (concealing) 50% (half) of CA[rl] into a plural synonym for ointments.
9a Fluke ref chewed over following commotion (9)
KERFUFFLE: an anagram (chewed) of FLUKE REF goes round (over) the single letter for F[ollowing].
10a Search everywhere around lake (5)
RIFLE: an adjective meaning everywhere or widespread goes round the geographical single letter for L[ake].
11a Mean Roman’s greeting pet (7)
AVERAGE: the Latin for “hail” used by Romans as a friendly greeting + a synonym for pet or tantrum. Nowt to do with Caesar saying hello to Fido.
12a Note found in flat daughter organised (7)
PLANNED: insert (found in) the single letter for N[ote] into an adjective meaning flat/level then append the genealogical single letter for D[aughter].
13a Result from adult very softly cutting chicken? (6)
HAPPEN: insert (cutting) the single letter for A[dult] + the musical letter for softly twice (very) into a layer.
15a Writhing in agony, admitting pain ultimately is exasperating (8)
ANNOYING: an anagram (writhing) of IN AGONY goes round (admitting) the last letter (ultimately) of [pai]N.
18a Cherish short walk? Certainly (8)
TREASURE: a truncated (short) verb for walk + informal adverb for certainly/yes, of course.
20a Cheat’s run away from church (6)
FLEECE: a verb for run away from/skedaddle + the usual two letter abbreviation for our Protestant church.
23a Drivers may slow down for this Greek character with walking stick (7)
CHICANE: the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet + a term for a walking stick derived from the materials it was originally made from.
24a Nice axe left for agricultural worker (7)
PEASANT: remove (axe) the single letter for L[eft] from an adjective synonym for nice.
26a Perfect fish supper, say, with no starter (5)
IDEAL: our setter’s favourite ray-finned freshwater fish, also called an orfe, but this time with its less usual two letter spelling which is derived from the original Swedish word. Append a synonym for repast less its 1st letter (no starter) of which supper is an example.
27a So partly just here for experience? (9)
THEREFORE: hidden (partly) in the words following the indicator.
28a Work suited Pat’s inherent abilities (9)
APTITUDES: an anagram (work) of SUITED PAT.
29a Very unhappy about drinks (5)
SODAS: very/extremely + a reversed (about) adjective for unhappy.
Down
1d Instantly enjoy a small drink of alcohol (4,1,4)
LIKE A SHOT: I’ll plump for a double definition.
2d A politician almost gives consent (5)
AGREE: A from the clue + a shortened term (almost) for a member of a political party now adopting an increasingly left wing stance.
3d Imitate large bird and teal, swimming (7)
EMULATE: a flightless bird + an anagram (swimming) of TEAL
4d Raised fourth of children with current newspaper editor (6)
LIFTED: [cli]L[dren] (fourth/letter) + the letter for electric current in physics + the pink paper + the usual abbreviation for editor.
5d Prince, e.g., awkwardly grovelling (8)
CREEPING: an anagram (awkwardly) of PRINCE EG. There nowt awkward about his terrific playing at the end of this wonderful tribute to George.
6d Fierce wind ripped plug out, at first (7)
TORNADO: an adjective for ripped + an abbreviated term for a plug/endorsement followed by O[ut] (at first).
7d Insulting Sally (9)
OFFENSIVE: a double definition – the latter a sudden attack/sortie usually from a defensive position.
8d Golfer isn’t removing coat each day (5)
SNEAD: delete the outer letters (removing coat) from the 2nd word in the clue then link with the abbreviations for the final two words. Anthony Plumb has clued this fella before – known as Slammin’ Sam he is a 7 time Major winner with 82 wins on the PGA tour.
14d Trump perhaps put guest under pressure (9)
PRESIDENT: not perhaps the first synonym that springs to mind for guest but ok in the context of an inhabitant of a hotel. It is preceded by (under/down clue) the single letter for P[ressure]. Perhaps indicates definition by example.
16d Sergeant’s awful reputation (9)
GREATNESS: an anagram (awful) of SERGEANTS.
17d Held up a wine containing residue (8)
ARRESTED: A from the clue + a type/colour of wine goes round (containing) a synonym for residue/remainder.
19d Red mark on skin Albert regularly scratched (7)
SCARLET: fibrous tissue replacing normal skin followed by the alternate letters (regularly scratched) of Albert.
21d People doing nothing? They might be worn out (7)
LOAFERS: a double definition. Rather a neat surface – it can be quite tiring I often think doing s*d all.
22d Buckets had a leak in ship (6)
SPEEDS: an informal term for had a leak/micturated goes inside of the usual ship prefix. Can’t say I was familiar with this particular context of buckets.
23d Mate’s feature article (5)
CHINA: a facial feature + the single letter for A[rticle].
25d Cop out of action, initially useless (5)
AVOID: A[ction] (initially) + a synonym for useless/no longer valid.
4,9,26&27a along with 21d were the ones I liked best here. Please let us know which ones ticked your boxes.
Today’s Quick crossword pun: WRIT + SEW + TELL = RITZ HOTEL
I concur with Huntsman on the rating. Excellent Tuesday fare with6 anagrams oiling the wheels. Lots of good ones but 23a was the best for me. I assume an ID is a fish but will check the hints to see. 22d was amusing. Thanks our hinter and setter.
A typical Tuesdayish offering from the Professor and I agree with Hintsman that it is a tad easier than his guzzles of late. A case of not reading the clue resulted in my ending the word at 7d in “ing”. This, of course upset Tyne and Wear. The lurker at 27a was very well hidden and it took a while to see it. I don’t know anything about motor racing but I did know the word at 23a because my Scalextric had one when I was a kid. I vaguely recall the golfer at 8d and 9a is another great word. My COTD is the cheat at 20a.
Thank you, Professor for a fun puzzle. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.
Didn’t notice the lurker at 27a!!
Quite a lot going on here for this early in the week, I’d rate this higher than the 1* our blogger has given for difficulty.
A very entertaining puzzle with some excellent surfaces and lots of humour to be found.
The simple construction of the drinks in 29a stood out, as did the interpretation of both buckets and leak in 22d.
Following on from yesterday’s rigmarole, my WOTD is the wonderful 9a. Another one where I can’t help but smile every time I hear.
An unexpected pleasure for a Tuesday, my thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
The quickie pun was good, too.
I found today a tad trickier than yesterday but perhaps I’m distracted by the thought that we might have a shower before the day is out.
Nothing too difficult in finding solutions for the northern hemisphere but I had to check the synonyms before parsing 7d and 11a.
Down south I can see a couple of exclamation marks – the leak in 22d appears, albeit in a slightly different form, for a second time in a week and whilst rain “buckets” down I can’t see it in the context of the solution. I don’t believe that the definition used in 24a is any longer true.
The fish in 26a caused some head scratching, which half of the solution was the homophone?. I think I got there in the end.
Many clues to like but my COTD is 9a, a wonderful word to describe a usually gentle affair often seen in a pub when people went in for a pint and a chat.
Many thanks to Mr P our excellent setter and Huntsman for the hints
Hi Doc
24a isn’t seen in The UK but exists around the world.
You are right of course Tom, I was forgetting that global is today’s key word.
Good fun, pausing only required to give consideration to the shortened fish and the buckets. Thanks to todays setter amd Huntsman.
Straightforward enough, although I was held up for a few minutes in the SE, not least by the new word (or at least definition) at 22d. The clothing items at 21d were my favourite. Thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints, an excellent Stamp/Christie scene and a rare highlight from later 70s Elton.
I found the west far easier than the east but continued to make progress (albeit slower) on that side.
Like others I don’t see buckets as a meaning for speed (does a speeding car ‘bucket’ down the road?) not in my book chum!
Straightforward for the most part, with a couple of sticky ones in the SE. I got the bucket in 22d by the wordplay, but couldn’t understand the definition. After some thought, I *might* have a vague sense of the phrase “to bucket along”. Possibly.
I found this to be a significantly tougher challenge than most Tuesday’s but very enjoyable. I thought some of the language verged on the colloquial but I’m sure the words all appear in the Crimson Tome. I needed the hints for some of the parsing as I couldn’t justify the A in 18A or fully understand the second half of 11A and the synonym at the end of 25D is not a usage I have encountered. COTD without a doubt has to be 22D. Many thanks to Huntsman for the hints and to the setter.
Thai corner.
In previous contributions I have described how age and status dictate how Thais refer to each other so pee means elder and nong means younger. This causes a problem when you want to refer to your brothers or sisters as a whole as there is no generic word for them. The answer is as always in Thai it’s context. So the generic Thai word for older and younger siblings is the equivalent of everybody. The Thai word for everybody is pee nong literally elders and youngsters. If a Thai asks you if you have brothers or sisters they will ask you if you have everybody. The logic being that if they ask you if you have elders and youngers it can only mean siblings.
Gosh! What a mess that is. But, if it works for them, it works.
Keep ’em coming!
The A in 18a is fine, ATinB. The first four letters of the answer form a word for a walk or step minus its last letter – short. 😊
In 11a, a “pet” can mean a rage.
SC thanks for that I was going with the trek and therefore was confused.
A couple of well-clued bung-ins apart, this was a fairly gentle and typically enjoyable puzzle for a Tuesday morning. 9a is a wonderful word, but my favourite was 21d.
My thanks to both AP and The Hintsman.
I found this harder than usual for a Tuesday which might be due to the mugginess here. We are promised rain later so hopefully that will clear the air and give the garden a much needed drink.
I had to check the golfer and I’m another who is unsure of buckets in the sense used.
9a is another lovely word.
Top picks for me were 9a, 29a, 23a and 21d.
Thanks to Huntsman and Mr Plumb.
Is it possible to give a 1.5 *for difficulty but more for enjoyment. Had trouble spelling 3 across. The down answers gave the checkers thank goodness. Last in was 22 down and recognition of a clever clue. Top spot went to 29 across. That bottom right hand corner was a bit tricky apart from the old agricultural worker who is forever making an appearance. Time for retirement?
Great puzzle, great fun and many thanks to our setter and Huntsman
I agree with you that the ag. lab. in 24 across would benefit from receiving his/her pension.
Perhaps cockney rhyming slang should also be laid to rest. Does anyone still use it apart from crossworders? I don’t Adam it.
I think it would be a terrible shame if Cockney slang disappeared from the world. I often go for a ruby after the rub and usually end up without any bees.
Steve, you are probably the only person who knows what you’re talking about without taking a butcher’s at their book of The Hundred Best Rhyming Slang Terms. Perhaps cockneys have disappeared from the world. Keep up the good work.
Rhyming slang not used anymore? Yer avvin’ a giraffe, vicar.
First rate production and one of my swifter completions, LOI being the well hidden 27A.
Many thanks to our setter and Huntsman for the hints.
Superb. The prof is in fine form with a tick by almost every clue. He is the master of the succinct surface.
I, too, haven’t heard of the expression to bucket along. Having done a quick search, it’s 19th century British slang for riding a horse quickly but there’s no explanation of its root.
I keep forgetting the shortened version of the fish in 26a and 9a stands toe to toe with rigmarole for being a top word to say.
My picks are 4a, 23a and the superb lurker 27a.
MTTTA and Hoots!
2*/5*
I’m in the camp that found this trickier than the usual Tuesday crossword. I liked thhe 9a anagram, the 17a lurker, the golfer at8d, whom I’ ve seen before and the 23a lego clue with a Greek twist. Thanks to Mr Pkumb and to Huntsman for the hints
I spent more time on the intersecting 25D and 29A than I did on the rest of the puzzle. I knew as soon as I got one, the other would soon fall into place – and so it proved to be.
I knew ide was a fish, but I hadn’t heard of the tailless version.
9A was my favourite as it’s such a great word. I need to shoehorn it into more conversations.
Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
Bucketing down ? Is that related to speed. ? Having put blazers for 21d and not knowing 22 I was stuck in this segment for far too long .A touch harder than many a Tuesday but more enjoyable .23 takes first prize . Thanks to all .
Hi FW
Bucket down is referring to the amount as opposed to the pace, i.e coming down in the bucketload.
My interpretation exactly!
Here, bucket means to travel,drive or move quickly. As in: We were bucketing along the M1 at 100 mph.
Please submit your driving licence for 3 points and a fine😉
1*/4* for Mr. Consistent – consistently excellent!
9a is a wonderful word, which makes it onto my podium alongside 27a & 1d,
Many thanks to AP and to Hintsman.
8d – come on! Please come back Ernie Els, all is forgiven!
Typically Tuesdayish – **/****
After his comment yesterday, Gazza should like 27a as it is ‘across’ four words.
Candidates for favourite – 9a, 13a, 23a, 1d, and 7d – and the winner is 7d.
Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.
Hi S
I think it’s okay for an answer to be an all-time great of a sport as long as solvers can work it our from the parsing.
He was so big at the time that he appeared on Bilko (what a programme!)
A top-notch Tuesday puzzle – thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
For my podium I’ve selected 11a, 27a and 21d.
I’m clearly having an off day as I found this a bit of a trial. I occasionally have trouble getting on AP’s wavelength and today seems to be one where he was broadcasting on DAB and I was trying to tune in on LW. Hey ho. I thought that 21d was very clever. Thanks to AP and Huntsman.