Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31341
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty 2* – Enjoyment 4.5*
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where Autumn is beginning to be in the air!
For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), not a Dream Team Thursday, Kcit is on Toughie duty. But, there is no doubt that this is the very entertaining work of the Master of Brevity. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and an appearance from the Queen, Ray T’s swEetheart, and the plain sweetheart in the back pager. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Candidates for favourite – 14a, 19a, 26a, 4d, 16d, and 17d.
In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the Click here! buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Lucky devil on a trip abroad (12)
PROVIDENTIAL: Let’s start with a friendly anagram (abroad) of DEVIL ON A TRIP.
9a Iberian tip as tomato covers appetiser (9)
ANTIPASTO: When all else fails . . . A lurker (covers) found in the first four words of the clue.
10a Grand platform for Labour maybe (5)
GRAFT: Ignoring the misleading upper case L of Labour, the first letter of Grand and a type of (floating) platform.
11a Head of state worried and anxious (6)
SCARED: The first letter (head) of State and a (frequent) synonym of worried.
12a Surface material of the stars (8)
SIDEREAL: A four letter term for a surface of a box(?) and a synonym of material.
13a Israeli capital? (6)
SHEKEL: Not the capital city, rather what can be used for making purchases.
14a Nitrogen and oxygen in cold drug (8)
NARCOTIC: The chemical symbol for Nitrogen followed by the chemical symbol for Oxygen inserted into a region of the Earth that can also be used as an adjectival synonym of cold.
17a Persistent criminal’s hit with time (8)
CONSTANT: One of our favourite abbreviated synonyms of criminal’s, so don’t forget the ‘S, a synonym of hit (a miscreant’s back side?), and (with) the single letter for Time.
19a Empty beer vessel? He’ll fill it! (6)
BREWER: BeeR with the interior letters removed (empty) and a type of vessel (more commonly used for water?).
22a Blabs in theatre consuming drink (8)
ABSINTHE: Just like 9a, a lurker (consuming) found in three words in the clue.
24a Respecting church vessel for apse (6)
RECESS: The two letter Latin based term that can be a synonym of respecting, the two letter abbreviation of the Anglican church, and one of the ‘designations’ of an ocean-going vessel.
26a Upstanding before court (5)
ERECT: A literary or poetic synonym of before and the two letter abbreviation of court.
27a Protects a shaky witness (9)
SPECTATOR: An anagram (shaky) of PROTECTS A.
28a Request a hard ground for base (12)
HEADQUARTERS: Another anagram (ground) of REQUEST A HARD.
Down
1d Party’s leader steps up producing cheers (7)
PRAISES: The first letter (leader) of Party and a synonym of steps up.
2d Crazy to argue for crime (7)
OUTRAGE: An anagram (crazy) of TO ARGUE.
3d Complete tool (9)
IMPLEMENT: A double definition – I’m not sure that I need to say any more.
4d Language is Queen’s English (4)
ERSE: The regnal letters of our dear late Queen, including the possessive S, and the single letter for English.
5d Current carrying resistance is hot (8)
TROPICAL: A synonym of current (as at this time) containing (carrying) the single letter for (electrical) Resistance.
6d Republican in fever creating squabble (5)
ARGUE: The single letter for Republican inserted into (in) a synonym of fever.
7d Perhaps mother or father split (6)
PARENT: The singular of a word that describes mother and father together.
8d Type placing emphasis on words? (6)
ITALIC: A (sloping) type that can be used for emphasis.
15d Fish list possibly seen in chippy (9)
CARPENTER: A freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae and a verbal synonym of list.
16d So sweetheart in climax gets excited (8)
ENTHUSED: All of a synonym of so and Ray T’s swEetheart inserted into (in) a synonym of climax.
17d Beginning to cook bird, say, chicken (6)
CRAVEN: The first letter (beginning) of Cook and guess a bird (but it’s not a chicken) – the illustration should help.
18d Scoffed, working around wooden building (6)
NOSHED: The reversal (around) of the usual two letter synonym of working followed by a wooden (storage?) building.
20d With others the French struggle (7)
WRESTLE: The single letter for With, a synonym of (the) others, and one of the translations of ‘the’ into French.
21d Relaxation’s about vacant outdoor spas (7)
RESORTS: A synonym of relaxation and the ‘S containing (about) OutdooR with the interior letters removed (vacant).
23d Gunpowder’s part in victories, occasionally (5)
NITRE: Note that part is an integral part of the definition; alternate letters (occasionally), I’ll let you decide if it is odds or evens, from in victories.
25d Reportedly ring sweetheart (4)
BEAU: A homophone (reportedly) of a synonym of ring – which can be found in The Big Red Thesaurus!
Quick Crossword Pun:
CORE + FIB + RAKE = COFFEE BREAK
As Senf says, RayT has his personal thesaurus by his side today but still very enjoyable. I solved 9a without realising it was a lurker using the checkers instead. I thought the surface of 27a was terrific and that is my COTD.
Thank you, RayT for a great puzzle. Thank you, Colonel for the hints and cartoons.
I didn’t get the Quickie pun because I had “Lie” for the second word.
You obviously don’t do the whole of the Quickie, that’s cheating!
We are approaching the business end of the week but with a ‘sweetheart’ and a ‘queen’ on show there’s no doubt that this is the work of Ray T.
I had to dip into a red book before 12a revealed itself, for some reason I bunged in the wrong vowel at the end of 23d and the 8d type kept me pondering until it became the LOI.
Apart from those pauses and an initial failure to recognise one of the long anagrams I found it a very enjoyable exercise.
COTD – 14a the cold drug.
My thanks to Ray T and Senf for the hints.
This puzzle yielded some familiar answers which, along with some clever clues, allowed me to fill in the grid until I ground to halt with 6 to go. I couldn’t figure them out, so I resorted to the tips and answers for which I’m grateful, and was put out of my misery.
As Senf hinted, 25d is unusual.
I was stressed into putting the wrong answer at 8d.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
A tricky little number where persistence paid off in the end. In truth, it was a dnf unaided as I needed the hints on a couple to nudge me in the correct direction. I have two lurker on my podium, 9a and 22a accompanied by 12a. Thanks to Ray T and Senf.