Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31322
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be the hardest of the week so far, but everything is fairly clued. I didn’t know the definition in 1a, or the little ‘un in 22a, which has put me off certain dairy products for life! My favourites were 13a, 28a and 11d. I also liked the Quickie pun. Many thanks to our setter.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and indicator words (e.g. anagram indicators) are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons.
Across Clues
1a Secretary left State conference (7)
PALAVER: The abbreviation for a secretary or personal assistant, the abbreviation for ‘left’, and a synonym of a verb meaning to state or affirm something. I didn’t know this definition, although in Chambers it’s given before the meaning that I was familiar with.
9a Med city canal I’ve restored (8)
VALENCIA: An anagram (restored) of CANAL IVE.
10a Counterfeit piece leaving in the direction of EU nation (7)
FORGERY: Take a word that can mean ‘in the direction of’, follow this with the name of a central European country, and remove (leaving) a synonym for a chess piece.
11a Todd lugs around a product of mine (4,4)
GOLD DUST: An anagram (around) of TODD LUGS.
12a Starve in the morning? Seafood sandwiches! (6)
FAMISH: A source of food from the sea surrounds or ‘sandwiches’ the abbreviation for ante meridiem (in the morning).
13a Hurry up mum, run both taps – that’s an order! (5,5)
QUICK MARCH: Another way of saying ‘hurry up’, a synonym of ‘mum’, the cricketing abbreviation for ‘run’, and the symbols on the cold and hot taps.
15a Additional matter to absorb student (4)
PLUS: A word for matter discharged during an infection is placed round (to absorb) the usual abbreviation for a student or learner.
16a Where to have a cuppa after exercising Great Dane (3,6)
TEA GARDEN: An anagram (after exercising) of GREAT DANE.
21a Lover boy‘s painful back (4)
EROS: A synonym of ‘painful’, reversed (back).
22a Little ‘un born and bred in Wensleydale? (10)
CHEESEMITE: A cryptic definition of an arachnid that breeds in foodstuffs of which Wensleydale is an example. Chambers specifically defines this as the species Tyroglyphus longior. Split (6,4) this term can also refer to other members of the genus Tyroglyphus that are deliberately added to some dairy products to improve their flavour and texture.
24a Annual back in library in good time (6)
YEARLY: The last letter (back in) of ‘library’, and a synonym for ‘in good time’.
25a Football: Ancelotti fields brave attacker (8)
LANCELOT: A lurker, hidden in the first two words in the clue.
27a Large former prisoner pinches international wordbook (7)
LEXICON: The abbreviation for ‘large’, and an informal term for a former prisoner into which the abbreviation for ‘international’ has been inserted (pinches international).
28a One collapsed beneath the stalls in Covent Garden? (5,3)
OPERA HAT: A cryptic definition that has nothing to do with market stalls. Instead, this refers to the collapsible headgear that might be seen in a theatre in Covent Garden.
29a Friendly agreement between ten teams holds (7)
ENTENTE: Hidden in ‘between ten teams’.
Down clues
2d Charming party bar served up beer bottles (8)
ADORABLE: The usual abbreviation for a party or social occasion is followed by ‘bar’ from the clue, backwards (served up, in a down clue), and the whole thing is then surrounded or ‘bottled’ by a word for a type of beer.
3d Most furious, Regina rudely discharged servant (8)
ANGRIEST: An anagram (rudely) of REGINA, and the first and last letters (discharged) of ‘servant’.
4d Shock from rubbing plates? (10)
EARTHQUAKE: A cryptic definition of a phenomenon that can be caused by the rubbing together of tectonic plates.
5d Turn up gas ring, that’ll help to set the pudding (4)
SAGO: Reverse ‘gas’ from the clue (turn up, in a down clue) and follow this with the ring-shaped letter.
6d Smile when receiving Liberal Democrat old woman (6)
BELDAM: A synonym of ‘smile’ around (when receiving) the abbreviation for Liberal Democrat.
7d Get ace group of singers on the radio (7)
ACQUIRE: The abbreviation for ‘ace’ in cards, and a homophone (on the radio) of a group of singers such as you might find in a church.
8d Madcap Tchaikovsky pens something that shows he’s human (7)
CAPTCHA: This infuriating way of proving to a computer that you’re not a robot is penned by, or hidden in, the first two words of the clue.
11d I start to get excited after report of you getting introduced to Joe Strummer (9)
GUITARIST: Begin with the usual nickname for an American soldier (a shortened form of ‘** Joe‘), and insert (introduce) the letter that is a homophone (report) of ‘you’. Follow this with an anagram (to get excited) of I START.
14d Organ stop fed by electronic pulse (6,4)
KIDNEY BEAN: A blood-filtering bodily organ, and a word meaning to stop or prevent into which the abbreviation for ‘electronic’ has been inserted (fed by).
17d Defeatist, for example, punching local person (8)
NEGATIVE: The abbreviation of the Latin ‘exempli gratia’ (for example), inside (punching) a word for someone who is an indigenous or long-time resident.
18d Upright piano in Laos got damaged (8)
GOALPOST: The musical abbreviation for ‘piano’ inside an anagram (damaged) of LAOS GOT.
19d Son knocked up tailless fish and shellfish (7)
SCALLOP: the abbreviation for ‘son’, and the fish also known as the coley or saithe without its last letter (tailless), and reversed (knocked up, in a down clue).
20d Starts to dredge English river south of tight bend (7)
MEANDER: The initial letters of (starts to) ‘dredge English river’ follow (south of, in a down clue) a synonym for tight or miserly.
23d Diocese observed a bit of back and forth (6)
SEESAW: Another word for a diocese, and a synonym of ‘observed’.
26d Test ground eggs first in laboratory (4)
OVAL: A word for eggs or egg cells, and the initial letter of (first in) ‘laboratory’.
Mike Hewitt / Getty images
Which clues did you like best? Let us know in the comments below.
The Quick Crossword pun: FAIR + TILL + AYES + ASIAN = FERTILISATION
I really appreciated this mid-weeker which was thought provoking and amusing in equal measures. By my count there were 6 anagrams and 3 lurkers which eased the solve somewhat. I needed e-assistance for the last 4 letters of 22a, but otherwise an unaided completion. Of the many ticks I’ve chosen 13a, (yes sarge), 22a, (the little beast) and 28a as my 3 of the day, the last evoking a picture of someone a little worse for wear.
My thanks to the setter for the enjoyment and DL for the hints.
2*/5*
A mixture of bung-ins and a couple of head-scratchers.
Good to see another favourite word of mine at 1a, while 9a annoyingly took a while to parse.
Standout COTD was Joe Strummer at 11d. Not often we have 14 word clues, that one made me smile.
My thanks to our setter and Deano.
My mistake, 10a was the headscratcher, not 9a.
Solid start for your boys on Sat. I’m dreading Friday – if they can do that to Man City heaven knows what they’ll do to us. I’ve a score bet with my Gooner mate who’s so confident he’s given me a 3 goal start though he has the draw.
This was hard, almost getting full marks on the difficulty scale.
I didn’t know that 1a meant conference, the little ‘un, the obsolete old woman *, the term in 8d and the alternative spelling of the fish in 19d.
‘Rudely’ for an anagram indicator doesn’t work for me (I think I’ve seen it before) and the parsing of 10a was way beyond me. I only worked it out when I biffed it.
My picks are 13a, 28a and 11d
Many thanks to, I reckon, Mr T and Nigel Hades.
4*/3*
* I’m all for learning not-oft used words as long as the clue is parsable but not an obsolete one. I’d’ve gone with seldom.
I went for “seldom” too, even though it made no sense.
Also, I had a hand held air displacer in 28a.
The only reason I know the 1a ‘conference’ was because I’d just finished reading The Dark Tower series of books (by Stephen King, though not a horror). One of the main characters uses it frequently to mean “have a discussion”. Every day is a school day!
It certainly is with today’s offering which very much works for me.
1a is such a good word that has to be preceded by ‘and all that’.
Excellent puzzle.
Too many ticks to select a favourite.
Many thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh
2*/5* for me.
Unless you like heat, you wouldn’t want to be in 9a today. In our town of l’eliana we’re forecast 43C this afternoon.
I certainly found this a step up from the past two days with tricky parses, a misspelling, a visit to the BRB and the dictionary all adding to the excitement.
I enjoyed the morning’s exercise but I found plenty that paused the flow…
I have been reading this blog for long enough to understand the 1a state and a 23d diocese, without which parsing either would have been beyond me. I had to check the spelling of 19d fish / shellfish because I certainly had one of them wrong. The BRB was required to confirm 6d, the wordplay delivered a solution that was new to me.
The first time I have seen 8d, universally considered to be a pesky nuisance, used in a crossword. A complete coincidence but the current Lady P was recently complaining about the length of time it took her to move past it.
My grandparents made butter and cheese and after they told me what 22a were I stopped eating the product for quite some time!
COTD – 10a
Many thanks to the setter and Deansleigh for the hints
I usedto really like cheese andwould have beenquitecontenti f I hadn’t heard of22a! I’d never heard of 8d either and couldn’t remember much about 11d as they weren’t a band I caredf for.so there a few clues that I had to work at . I did like the geographical clue at9a, the fish sandwich at 12a and my COTD 20d. Thanks to thecompiler and to Deansleigh for the hints.
For me, etc, this was a strange one, as Joe Strummer and I were lifelong friends. I have contributed to several documentaries and books about him. I wrote a little about him here:
https://terencedackombe.medium.com/its-twenty-three-years-now-since-mickey-foote-called-me-with-the-news-that-joe-strummer-had-died-3608e91def62
So that was something. Really terrific guzzle.
Thanks to the setter, and Singlehead
Terence, call me a philistine but I have to confess that I had never heard of Joe Strummer and solved this clue from the wordplay. To find that he actually existed brings context to the clue and elevates it’s humour.
Nice article T. About halfway down a box invited email address submission should you wish to receive articles from this writer direct to your inbox – which I did only to get a 8d identification failure message.
Just right for a Wednesday and very enjoyable too
Thanks to the setter and Deansleigh
3*/2.5*. Curate’s egg day for me today with some excellent clues and a few hmms.
I think 5d wins the prize for the most surface padding ever in one clue. The first four words of the clue are the wordplay and the last word is the definition; the rest seems to be padding.
How on earth is “rudely” an anagram indicator in 3d?
1a was a new meaning for me. I’ve only ever come across it as an unnecessary fuss. I didn’t know 22a, which seems barely cryptic, and 6d was a new word for me.
19d is a poor clue as it does not have a unique answer. The shellfish can be spelt with either an A or an O as the third letter, and likewise the fish can have an A or an O as its fifth letter.
Thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh.
I quite agree on 19d. Would have been fine had the A/O been a checker, but as it wasn’t the ‘correct’ answer couldn’t be reliably determined. D- must try harder.
that’s a bit harsh surely Dave – I can’t recall ever seeing the O variant used nowadays.
Given up ordering them as a starter – overpriced & invariably underwhelming.
Still. feeling a bit fuzzy headed after my fall. Not getting 1 across always bodes badly and I would not have reached the answer from the definition.Should have got 22 and 28 across but gave into Deansleigh’s help.Never heard of 8 down . Got the rest in and enjoyed the puzzle but have decided to cancel everything today and just take it easy.
Many thanks all round
A fabulous puzzle, although on the hard side for me having never heard of a 22a or a 28a, neither of which were really gettable from the clues alone. 8d possibly a new entry to the List? Lots to like but I’m going to pick 4d as my COTD. Thanks very much to the setter and to Deansleigh.
Why is 28a collapsed BENEATH the stalls etc ? I could understand IN. Am I missing something?
I was a little surprised to find that 8d was in the BRB, and even more when saw that it was an acronym
ORIGIN: From Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
I thought it was just a made up silly misspelling
Thanks to setter and Ghandi’s Eel
Like others 1a wouldn’t have occurred as a synonym for the definition in the absence of the wordplay but good old Mr G provided me with a couple of post completion examples of a sentence where they could be interchangeable. Wallace never warned me about 22a either – I’m quite partial to Mimolette but may have second thoughts now I know they’re used its production. Like Tom 6d was unfamiliar & I now appreciate the required spelling of the knocked up tailless fish isn’t just a variant of the one with an O or rather two of ‘em.
All in all a fair notch up in difficulty so chuffed enough to complete in a shade under **time & especially so as I messed about trying to find wordplay for my Covent Garden accessory before realising it was a cryptic def.
Ticks aplenty for me – Joe Strummer my standout fav with 10&13a on the podium. 11a prompted a listen to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours which I’d not played right through in a while.
Thanks to the setter & to Deansleigh
I found this pretty plain sailing with only a couple of small delays. Like SJB, I learned something today re 8d. Every day etc…. For a favourite I went for 20d, mainly for the surface read.
My thanks to our midweek setter and Deansleigh.
It took a while to ‘break into’ today’s puzzle but once I did I was off to the races with occasional use of the Big Red 27a! 2.5*/3.5*
Candidates for favourite – the aforementioned 27a, 28a, 7d, 23d, and 26d – and the winner is 28a.
Thanks to the setter and Deansleigh.
A top-notch midweek puzzle – many thanks to our setter and Deansleigh.
For my podium I opted for 28a, 14d and 20d.