Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31343 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club
(hosted by crypticsue)
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Quite an autumnal feel first thing when I had to wipe condensation off the car windows in order to drive to the local shop to get the paper. It may be because I was feeling particularly tired after we had a long day yesterday, driving to Banbury and back for a memorial service, but it took me a while before I wrote anything in the grid and it may well be one of those days when ‘starting with the Downs’ would have provided beneficial. I’ll be interested to see what other solvers think or whether it was ‘just me’
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 Worldly mother meeting one celebrity group (11)
A slang word for mother (especially public school), the Roman numeral for one and a group of celebrities
10a Well-spoken European monarch heartlessly crushed by fate (8)
The abbreviation for European and a female monarch without its middle letter (heartlessly) inserted into (crushed by) destiny or fate
11a Press piece oddly ignored – that’s rich (6)
Smooth or press and the even letters (oddly ignored) of pIeCe
14a Dance in France confused one such as this compiler? (10)
A lively dance inserted into an anagram (confused) of FRANCE
25a One with pride in her companions? (7)
A cryptic definition that made me smile. Whose companions would be in a pride?
26a Beer’s small, Tango’s possessing a mixed flavour (11)
A type of beer and the letter represented by Tango in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet into which is inserted (possessing) the abbreviation for Small
Down
1d Tiny thing Robert fed to rodents (7)
A diminutive form of Robert ‘fed’ to some rodents
5d Playing well, a student relaxed (8)
Playing well, A (from the clue) and the usual abbreviated student
6d Big bird? Freak out, losing head (7)
A small bird and a more formal way of saying freak out without its first letter (losing head)
12d E.g. bombs reported in group of islands (10)
A homophone (reported) of a word meaning for example and some explosive projectiles (bombs)
15d Abandoned tribe’s last remains found in outskirts of Detroit (8)
The last letter of tribE and that which is left after loss or decay (remains) inserted into the ‘outskirts’ of DetroiT
23d Heard child give up (4)
A homophone (heard) of offspring (child)
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
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The Quick Crossword pun: BOOKING + HUMP + ALICE = BUCKINGHAM PALACE
*** / ****
A return to form for me after yesterday’s struggles. I agree with CS this started out in quite a daunting fashion with little solving in the north. Then a run of 6 across clues in the south opened that up and it was a steady solve back up the grid from there with lots of ‘why didn’t I get that’ moments in the north. Favourites were the 26a mixed flavour, the superb 9d construction and the 17a saw. I love clues where like this one, a word sound has to change from the surface reading.
Many thanks to the setter and CrypticSue
After a slow start the caffeine fuelled grey cell sprang into life and a very enjoyable Saturday prize puzzle unveiled itself.
The first read through made this things seem more difficult than they turned out to be. The four long sides, an abundance of full or part anagrams and a great homophone provided enough checkers to complete today’s puzzle, with the inevitable, for me, exception of a four-letter tiddler that was my LOI.
Today’s favourites were 10a, 14a, 12d and 17d
Many thanks to today’s setter and CS for the blog
That was H-A-R-D. My gruel and orange juice with no bits were but a distant memory when I pressed ‘send’ to surely win the crayon set. If I don’t succeed this week, I intend to demand a public inquiry led by Lord Leveson.
My goodness we had two nights out in a row – unprecedented – Todd Rundgren at Cadogan Hall on Wednesday, and Jon Anderson in Oxford on Thursday.
I first saw Yes at Crystal Palace Bowl in 1972 (I was very young!) and Jon’s voice is still a piece of heaven. The band are also out of this universe.
Thanks to the setter and PC Security (anag) for taking time out from one of her clandestine missions.
My musical indoctrination by my sister, started here;
If you’re a Yes fan you might like to try and catch this immensely talented young lad from Liverpool who we’ve had at our festival for the last three years (gtsf.uk) playing a Steve Howe composition from The Yes Album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDYW2-AkJs8
Enjoy!
I’m with CS and co that the downs, which I started from the bottom, were much more revealing, resulting in having the S filled before anything in the N on my first pass. 1a and 26a were nicely constructed but my COTD is the homophonic island group at 12d.
Many thanks to the setter and crypticsue.
I’m glad it wasn’t only me that found this tricky. I eventually found an opening in the south and it was a slow but steady solve from there on. Cracking the four outer clues certainly helped. I particularly liked 1a, 11a and 17d, but cotd goes to 12d as once the penny dropped, it brought a wry smile. Thanks to compiler and CS.
I got an early start at this, courtesy of Mama Bee being up and active at 0200, if she does that again tonight the Sunday Toughie may be a bit late.
Like Sue, I too started slowly but picked up the pace with the downs. It took forever and a glance at the map for the islands to reveal themselves.
Thanks to setter and Sue
I have just pointed out the blog to another solver in the Caffe Nero, maybe they will comment
This was an enjoyable, steady solve that took a bit of teasing out.
I did wonder why the D of Doctor in 3d was capitalised then it hit me. A nice clue.
I liked the etymology of 14a
My picks are 8a (a good surface and construction), 14a and 7d.
Many thanks to the setter (no idea) and she of the crypt.
3*/4*
What a great week of crosswords.
Had a slow start to this (22a was my first one in), then a short gallop before I faded a bit. Breakfast out with husband at nearby pub helped to refresh the parts of my brain that had been relaxing earlier, and finished with a couple of ‘duh’ moments. Laughed out loud at 12d – favourite clue today, closely followed by 6d and 17d (agree with Alfiepops above about pronunciation).
Many thanks to setter and crypticsue
Slow and steady for me today; 17d took a while to parse so was the last clue ‘inked in’. Overall a very satisfying puzzle. Many thanks to CS and setter.
Tackled this at 3am having woken up and couldn’t sleep. I was grateful to find it pretty straightforward. Last two in were 1A – was fairly sure of parsing but didn’t know the definition meant ‘worldly’ 🤔- and finally 10A took a bit of unravelling.
Pody picks – 10A was satisfying to close things (and go back to bed), 14A’s dance in France – what a nice turn of phrase! – and the amusing aggro official of 8A.
25A raised a smile – I’ve recently watched (and re-watched) the 1961 David Attenborough episode of ‘Elsa’ on iPlayer – wonderful stuff.
Thanks to setter and to CS ⭐️
Like others, it took me a while to get going with this puzzle too.
LOI was 14a.
Top picks for me were 17d, 3d, 12d and 1d.
Thanks to CrypticSue and the setter.
2.5*/4*. It took me a little while to drop onto the right wavelength, but after that it all came together quite smoothly. It was very enjoyable with 10a my favourite.
I am not keen on “fighting” as an anagram indicator in 8a.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS.
For no reason other than for ‘a bit of a change’, I did begin with the down clues and proceeded to solve without any great hold-ups. For me it was the Quick Crossword pun that provided me with the biggest chuckle of the morning, but 17d in the Prize Crossword became my favourite clue, closely followed by 6d. Thank yous to both CS and setter alike. A most satisfying and enjoyable solve, whilst keeping tabs on England’s progress and eventual win against Pakistan.
I really enjoyed this one once I got started about half way down the grid. my favourite was 3d but there were many enjoyable clues.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS for the hints.
My only pause for thought was trying to equate (plural) remains in 15d with the synonym in the solution.
Thanks to the setter for the puzzle, and to CS for the hints.
What a wonderful guzzle! I have so many ticks and stars and daisies. The dog wearing a lead, the Potter, the garlic powder – all so clever. 10a was the standout. Thank you so much, Super Setter and Super Sue (I didn’t need any hints but still read them at the end). Big smiles here.
Solving not helped brain/eye/hand disconnection causing my pencil to insert an incorrect letter at the end of 17d with follow-on effect on 26a and a couple of others. Once the reconnections were made solving was completed comfortably. **/****
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 11a, 2d, 6d, and 17d – and the winner is 6d.
Thanks to the setter and CS.
I thought this was fairly gentle for a Saturday prize puzzle. Favourites 14a and 25a, but as I’m just about to leave there, my winner is 21a.
Thank you to setter and to Cryptic Sue.
I found this Saturday puzzle almost on par in difficulty as the Friday puzzle. Took me a long time to crack a lot of the grid, but as I got toward the end, the last handful of clues revealed themselves finally to me. I still have several where the parsing is not clear.
A tough slog, but it was OK in the end.
3*/3*
Favourites include 21a, 22a, 26a, 1d, 6d & 9d — with winner after the penny finally dropped was 6d. I went the wrong way with the bird that often ‘hides’ (loses) its head.
Thanks to setter & CS
Like others, I found it easier to start in the south and, after slow progress, everything fell into place quickly.:although some of the parsing eluded me until I had written the answers in. There was a great geographical anaggram at at 7d, a clever cryptic definition at 25a and a cunning Lego clue at 14a. My COTD, however, was the one about the Doctor at 3d. Many thanks to the compiler for an entertaining puzzle and to CS for the hhints.
Thanks to the Setter and CS. For a prize puzzle we found this easier than expected. More like a midweek one. Not complaining though. High score for enjoyment! COTD 17d. LOI 20d.
A really enjoyable solve which I was bang on wavelength with the setter and went in like an early week puzzle. Very unusual for me to find it simpler than others on here. That said it beautifully crafted with loads of smiles. Favs were 1d 6d & 17d but my top spot for accuracy was the fab 21a.
Thank you setter and CS
Well put together puzzle. My misspelling on a long down clue made my final across clue impossible until I found out🤦♂️
Still no W in the column after a cruel late and totally unmerited winner after chance and chance went begging. Being a football fan is so stressful😱
Need a 🍺 and some rock 🎸 to help me get over it.
Welcome to the blog
This morning’s early golfers had to do without my words of encouragement as they teed off – a problem (quickly sorted at no cost thankfully) with the 🚘 meant I had to wait for Kwik Fit to open at 8.30am. The upside was that I got to complete the puzzle over a cuppa with a nice round of toast & marmalade & very enjoyable it was too. I’m in the gentle camp (certainly compared to last Sat anyway) & the solve flowed nicely from top to bottom for a brisk completion. Elegantly clued throughout & with some smart wordplay.
Plenty to like – 1,8,10,14&26a + 3,6,12,15&17d would be my Top 10 with 12d in at No 1.
Thanks to the setter & to Sue
An enjoyable Prize puzzle which frustratingly I had to leave before finishing the NE. Had a group arrangement for Afternoon Tea and recently returned on a ‘sugar high’. Suddenly, I had a ‘Eureka’ moment which enabled me to finish off. Favourites include 1a and 1d,10a, 11a and 26a. 25a brought a smile. Thinking I might just post this one off for a chance of getting the ‘mythical pen’?! Many thanks to the Setter and Cryptic Sue.
Very enjoyable with 14a as a great clue thank you CS and compiler
2* / 4* A nice steady solve with no real hold ups, I enjoyed the variety and wit of many of the clues.
Favourites from many contenders are the saw at 17d, the 12d islands and the 2d powder.
Also a special mention for a cracking quickie pun
Many thanks to the compiler and Sue
Relieved that I got enough of this solved on my own to feel satisfied, unlike yesterday. A good handful of clues filled in enough boxes to make the checkers very helpful. But there were a few rather more daunting that needed some research. Thanks to setter and CS.
No sweat today but lots of enjoyment. 10a unparsed so bunged in. Favs 25a and 12d. Thank you setter and CS.
Just finished, 15d being my last in and for which I had to resort to some assistance. I personally thought the cluing was misleading, I had worked out its construction, in that the wordplay suggested a plural word needed to go into the answer. Rant over.
Other than that a steady solve and my favourites were 1a, 7a, 8a and 20d.
Thank you to the setter and to CS for the hints.
Didn’t start yesterday due to being in Leamington with the Trefoil Guild. Like other commenters I had a very slow start. Annoyingly spelt the second word of the city wrongly which held up finding the Island. I got the one with pride instantly and do find the cryptic ones the quickest to solve. Thanks Setter and Sue.
Wedding anniversary weekend with a trip to The Old Vic for a play about a forgotten anniversary present and how marriages function. First performed in1969 – the year of our wedding. So late off the blocks for what is a very engaging puzzle. Tricky but so rewarding. Top right hand corner caused a hold up but the champagne got me over the finishing line. 29 across was excellent. Finally got there unaided to can submit but Thankyou CS for being there and our setter