Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31350
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where summer is fast coming to a close – not only according to the calendar but the thermometer as well. Overnight temperatures are well into single digits and flirting with the frost threshold.
I’m once again doing back to back reviews as Smylers has graciously agreed to swap assignments so I can attend an event next week.
The swap is also timely in that today’s review marks a milestone for me as I have now completed my sixteenth year of contributions to this blog, my first review having appeared on September 15, 2010.
As has been mentioned earlier this week, several Canadian provinces will not revert to Standard Time this fall but continue on Daylight Saving Time year round. Ontario will not be one of them, although I understand that Ontario has passed legislation to do away with changing the clocks but is waiting to implement the change until Quebec and New York state decide to do likewise. I suspect a major reason for the delay is to keep the Toronto, Montreal and New York stock exchanges in sync. I also understand that the U.S. Congress is currently considering the matter. Undoubtedly, the politicians in their infinite wisdom will choose Daylight Time despite all scientific and medical evidence showing that Standard Time would clearly be preferable for a host of reasons.
Although still a gentle start to the week, I found this puzzle to be a slight step up in difficulty from the last couple of puzzles I blogged. There appear to be three setters sharing the Monday slot. I’m going to hazard a guess that this one is from Weatherman. If I’m wrong, Heron will likely claim it on Bluesky if it’s one of hers and X-Type sometimes drops in here to take credit for his creations.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Across
1a A little helper for mum’s do (7)
PERFORM — we start with a lurker concealed (a little) in three words of the clue
5a Opposition to change in slum did badly (7)
LUDDISM — an anagram (badly) of SLUM DID
9a Upset, I panic shy doctor (9)
PHYSICIAN — another anagram (upset) of I PANIC SHY
10a Munch nuts, shelled and whole (5)
UNCUT — remove the outer letters (shelled) from the first two words of the clue
11a Scottish singer lout regularly put on repeat (4)
LULU — an alternating sequence of letters (regularly) from LOUT repeated (put on repeat)
12a Wild hen gets on English monument (10)
STONEHENGE — an anagram (wild) of HEN GETS ON trailed by the single letter for English
13a Amusing guards run, dribbling (9)
TRICKLING — another word for amusing surrounds (guards) the cricket scorecard symbol for runs
16a Independent politician’s a troublemaker (3)
IMP — the political abbreviation for Independent and the abbreviation for an elected politician in Britain and other Commonwealth realms
19a 1950s youth finally cut the mustard (3)
TED — the last letters (finally) of the three words at the end of the clue
20a Prepare to fight Conservative from France (6,3)
SQUARE OFF — string together conservative or old-fashioned (ignore the deceptive capitalization), a preposition equivalent to from, and the IVR code for France
22a Shun a bleak moving firm (10)
UNSHAKABLE — an anagram (moving) of the first three words of the clue
25a Protest comedy from the right lacks boundaries (4)
DEMO — reverse (from the right in an across clue) COMEDY and remove its outer letters (lacks boundaries)
27a Fleshy fruit picked, primarily (5)
PLUMP — a juicy fruit followed by the initial letter (primarily) of PICKED
28a Perhaps batsman caught, less stable after losing international (9)
CRICKETER — start by linking the cricket scorecard symbol for caught and a word meaning less stable; then remove (after losing) the single letter for international
29a Vacuous thinker finished and went viral on social media (7)
TRENDED — remove the inner letters (vacuous) of THINKER and append a another term for finished or over
30a Gosh, punched by South African capital’s big cheese (7)
GRANDEE — an alternative interjection to gosh containing (punched by) a South African unit of currency (capital in the financial sense)
Down
1d Live in ramshackle Aleppo hut, not hotel (8)
POPULATE — an anagram (ramshackle) of ALEPPO HUT having removed (not) the letter represented by hotel in the NATO phonetic alphabet
2d Organisation that exists to make money? (5,4)
ROYAL MINT — a cryptic definition of the organization that manufactures British currency
3d God‘s love leads to divine inspiration normally (4)
ODIN — the letter that looks like a score of love in tennis and the initial letters of (leads to) the final three words of the clue
4d Keeps Republican away from principal tutors (9)
MAINTAINS — discard (away) the single letter for Republican from a charade of synonyms of principal (as an adjective) and tutors (as a verb)
5d Russian leader left Benin, having ousted leader (5)
LENIN — the single letter for left and BENIN with its initial letter removed (having ousted leader)
6d More resolute bank propping up cash (9)
DOUGHTIER — a bank or row following (propping up in a down clue) an informal word for cash
7d Ancient civilisation‘s food container missing lid (5)
INCAN — remove the initial letter (missing lid) from a (3,3) term for a food container found on your pantry shelf
8d Mum‘s hesitant expression, holding up flying insect (6)
MOTHER — one of the usual hesitant expressions following (holding up in a down clue) an often nocturnal flying insect
14d Held to ransom, fool slept (9)
KIDNAPPED — fool or make fun of and slept for a short period of time
15d Demanding thin porridge and fish (9)
GRUELLING — some thin porridge and one of our usual fish
17d Defended professional court in tweed, having ditched wife (9)
PROTECTED — follow the instructions carefully; start with an informal short form for professional; then insert the street sign abbreviation for court into (in) TWEED and append it to the result from step 1; finally remove (having ditched) the genealogical abbreviation for wife from the result from step 2
18d Certainly astray, but with only one fine (2,6)
OF COURSE — remove one instance (but with only one) of the the pencil lead designations for fine from a (3,6) phrase meaning astray or not on the intended route
21d Model‘s young dog and cat? (6)
PUPPET — as it says on the tin, a young dog and what cat defines by example (indicated by the question mark)
23d Impudent behaviour is beginning, according to reports (5)
SAUCE — to some ears, the answer sounds like (according to reports) a noun meaning beginning
24d Bowed and served brilliantly, welcoming king (5)
ARCED — served brilliantly on the tennis court containing (welcoming) the abbreviation of the Latin word for king
26d Regularly cook great edible plant (4)
OKRA — an alternating sequence of letters (regularly) drawn from COOK GREAT
Why not let us know what you considered to be today’s stand out clue by leaving a comment below.
Quickie pun:: SHEIKHS + PIER = SHAKESPEARE
On This Day …
in 1934, Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, and novelist Leonard Cohen was born. Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s, and did not begin a music career until 1966. Despite his late start, he managed to release fifteen studio albums, the final one posthumously. Here is a track from his eighth studio album I’m Your Man released in February 1988. This performance was recorded live in London in 2008.
It felt as if there were a lot of anagrams in today’s puzzle but I haven’t counted. 1a foxed me straight away because I missed the indicator that said it was a lurker. This was followed by 5a, which is a word I’ve not come across having always thought only of the “.…ite” version. The guards at 13a also fooled me and sent me off down the road searching for sentries and nightwatchmen. I liked the preparation for a fight at 20a and the fleshy fruit at 27a along with the thin porridge at 15d, which made me think of Terence. My COTD is the cricketer at 28a.
Thank you, setter for getting the week off to an interesting start. Thank you, Falcon for the hints and Lulu – I love that song. Congratulations also an 16 years of blogging – what an achievement.
A word search of the hints shows that Falcon has identified 4 anagrams in the Acrosses and 1 in the Downs. Is that excessive? The only factor seems to be ‘uneven’ distribution between the directions.
No it’s not excessive – I think it felt that way to me because there were three in the first six across clues.
Like Steve C in 1 above, I missed the lurker indicator in 1a so it was my loi. This was a steady solve with the odd head scratch needed to jerk the grey cells into action. It’s probably just me, but I found it lacking in a bit of the usual Monday sparkle. I did like 29a and 15d but cotd goes to 12a. Thanks to compiler and Falcon with added congratulations on the blogging achievement.
A very enjoyable start to the working week with perhaps a couple more pauses for thought than a usual Monday but overall nothing too taxing.
The straightforward lurker and three anagrams in the NW corner quickly followed by the organisation that makes money got things off to a friendly start which is always helpful.
Despite it being an anagram like Steve C I stuttered over 5a but I liked 15d’s thin porridge and fish as a clue, perhaps not as a reality, and 17d’s professional court.
By COTD is 28a although ‘batsman’ is now taboo terminology, everyone is a batter.
My thanks to today’s setter and congratulations to Falcon on his long and illustrious innings.
2*/4*. Like Falcon, I found this slightly tougher than recent Mondays but I did enjoy it, and, like SC @1, I felt there were a lot of anagrams but I haven’t counted them.
I doubt that Gazza will like the homophone in 23d.
28a was my favourite.
Many thanks to the setter, and thanks and congratulations to Falcon on his longevity as a blogger.
You’re right about my reaction to the 23d horrorphone. I do try not to harp on about homophones that don’t work for me but this one really takes the biscuit.
Just out of curiosity, how else could one of the two words be pronounced?
For me, sauce/source are identical and ryhme with force, course, coarse, horse, hoarse etc…
Rhyme.. one of those words I often spell incorrectly!
I agree – I always think of “Why me” and change the first letter.
Thanks Steve. I’ll try and remember that tip.
Johnathon Woss would like to do that!
J. In parts of the SW, Scotland and other places it would be souRce, foRce, etc with a discernable/pronounced R.
Fair enough!
Having spent my UK life in either Wimbledon or Kingston Upon Thames, i must have heard differently.
Not too difficult, but some thought required. However it came together in good time once I had built enough checkers in order to see the solution and then reverse parse, such as 6d,
20a and 28a. I also thought of Terence on seeing 15d.
Many thanks to the setter and Falcon. Well done on your 16 year achievement.
1*/3*
Lulu’s best song by a mile, why it was never released in the UK is beyond me.
Apparently the B-side of ‘Let’s Pretend.’
They should have swapped the sides in my opinion as Lets Pretend only got to number 11.
I found today’s puzzle considerably more challenging than a normal Monday offering but also highly enjoyable. I needed help with the parsing of 20A. I would also be surprised if I was the only solver to place an E after the K in 22A. Lots of great clues with 18D getting my COTD award. Thanks to Falcon for the hints and to the setter for a great puzzle.
Thai corner.
The Thai language’s extensive use of compound words can often be amusing to a non Thai speaker. A case in point is the names for fingers and toes which don’t distinguish between the two items but just relies on their position on the body to differentiate them. So a finger is a hand finger and a toe is a foot finger. After learning this I realised that the English language has a word that describes the offending article and is location non-specific., ”digit”. I then came to the realisation of how useless the word digit is, as in normal English it cannot be combined with any descriptor. We do not have foot digits or hand digits or big digits or little digits. For once Thai logic seems to have the upper hand.
An enjoyable cruise to start the week. All the clues were accessible for me.
19a – I didn’t notice cut the mustard finally
28a – I would guess that if anyone does use the less stable word, it would be rather awkward to pronounce.
Perhaps that’s why nobody uses the word.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
This is a small step up in difficulty from our usual Monday offering but enjoyable. Thanks to our setter and Falcon (and congratulations on earning your ‘long service medal’).
For my podium I’ve selected 10a, 20a and 14d.
By recent Monday standards, definitely more of a challenge for the first day of the week – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 6d, 14d, and 21d – and the winner is 21d.
Thanks to the setter and our long serving blogger.
Tougher than I was expecting on a Monday but very enjoyable and a decent mental workout in a week or so of almost nightly gig-going. 2d and 23d (inexplicably my LOI) were my favourites. Thanks very much to the setter and to Falcon for the blog and Len clip.
Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon.
A very enjoyable puzzle.
10a my favourite.
Oh how I jumped this morning as I felt the setter had an insight into my life. I recognised myself at 27a and then a tribute to my thin porridge at 15d.
I was up early giving a final trim this year (I hope) to the hypericum that seems to grow at about a foot each day. Gardening here is a war between encouraging colourful plants and shrubs and endlessly using the hedge trimmers to guide (slash back) less welcome, impenetrable foliage and thickets.
However, what a delicious day to be alive. Not a cloud in the sky and luncheon on the horizon. Hooray for everything!
Thank you to the setter and The Bird Of Prey.
Not a cloud in the sky, lucky you….it’s grim up north in Lancashire and pouring with rain! And we had an earthquake in Carnforth this morning!
A fine Monday puzzle; a welcome (for me) step up in difficulty for this day. Good clues provided an enjoyable solve. A few ticks and my favourite clue today: 6d. 23d: Checking the online audible pronunciations of the homophones, they sound exactly the same with no discernable R involved. I suspect that will be the case for a sizeable majority of English speakers (including me) in the UK. But not everybody, of course. 2*/3.5*.
From my MRB:
In the 70s I used to write cryptic clues for fun/practise and if I thought they were any good they went in my personal book. I reckoned that the more cryptic clues you write yourself, the easier it gets to to parse/solve other people’s clues. Let me know if there’s any technical flaws (I was quite green back then).
Flower, scarlet, returned then left (7)
It works for me, Jose. Good clue.
One of mine:-
Number wanting water down south (6)
Excellent. Down meaning “lacking” as in a man down. Good misdirection.
I too missed that 1a was a lurker so although I got the answer it took me ages to parse it until noticed the clue wording. 15d made me think of Terence.
Top picks for me were 2d, 1a and 13a.
Thanks and congratulations to Falcon and thanks to the setter.
It’s a rest day after yesterday’s musically-themed ‘Something to Talk About’ 7-hour / 3.3 mile lap trail running event in New Forest. I managed 9 laps, 29.5 miles, an Ultra by definition, one of two people to do that; nobody had gone beyond the 8-lap marathon last year, so that’s a nice personal achievement 🙂
A nice Monday offering, I got a little foxed in northeast for a while, then sorted.
Pody picks – 18D’s astray surface, 8D’s insect construction and 15D’s enticing combo of porridge and fish … not!
Thanks to setter and Falcon ⭐️
Lovely morning on the golf course with warm sunshine. Was on course for a record time but the right hand corner held me up. Some clever clues, thanks to setter for a friendly start to the week.
I thought this Monday puzzle was a little more difficult than the norm. I got tripped up a couple of times during the solve and required some head scratching .
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites 11a, 2d, 5d, 8d & 21d — with winners 11a & 21d
Thanks to setter and Falcon
A beautifulday to be out in the garden trimming ashrubs with my new toy, a pair of lightweight extendable loppers it was a little more tricky than the usual Monday puzzle but I enjoyed it. I liked the lurker at 1a and the anagram of the philosophy rather than the philosopher at 5a and the homophone at 23d work3edxwellcfor me. Thanks to the compiler and to Falcon for the hints and long history of service to trhis site
Another who missed the lurker at 1a and it remained hidden for far too long! And therefore it is my COTD. Thanks to the setter and to Falcon
Blimey so did I … 1A shares the podium in that case 🏆 I’d decided that a little helper was reduced ‘perk’ minus last letter, and M came from mum – did seem tenuous 😸
Dear Terence – does he realise how often we think of him? When I’m in Waitrose reaching for my orange juice with bits I think how distressed he would be to breakfast with me. His liaison with Miss Abinger is worrying. However, I agree with him that the sky is a fabulous blue, the sun warm and the breeze fresh. I can almost forget that our outside drain is blocked. For some reason 23d was LOI, when I see Stonehenge all fenced off now I remember how my father would drive up to the the monument on our way to Cornwall’s and my brother and I would race round the stones whilst Mummy got the picnic basket out. Happy days!! I liked 6d a day 8d Mum’s hesitant expression although if I had called my mother ‘mum’ I’d have been in trouble. And my girls know better than to call me mum. We’re all different aren’t we? Nice start to the week, many thanks to the Setter and the fierce bird, enjoy the sunshine.
I was born and brought up just a couple of miles from Stonehenge and we used to run round the stones too, that was back in the 70s. We revisited last year and walked from Woodhenge to Stonehenge along the ancient routes, it’s not something I had done before and a very dramatic way to see the stones, they almost rise up out of the ground as you approach them! We didn’t go beyond the fence though, it’s nearly £30 per person entry these days!
Unusually testing for a Monday, yet still most enjoyable and perfectly doable. As we approach the end of the domestic season, my favourite was 28a.
My thanks to both setter and Falcon.
For some reason I thought “perm” mum’s hairdo ! Split that and put the for into it .? It seemed to work in a strange way and yes I didn’t even look for the lurker .Ah well ! I’ll carry on in my own sweet way .A bit trickier than most Monday’s .I didn’t get 23 d and I know it’s a reasonable call but ? Picks for me 18, 20 and 28 . Thanks to all
Mostly solved quickly … then with 2 to go I needed Falcon’s hints for the 20a Conservative and the 30a South African capital — thank you for those, and Happy Anniversary.
And thank you to the setter, especially for 3d with God’s love, the 6d resolute bank, and genflecting to the king in 24d.
A tad more difficult than the usual fare from, I reckon, Heron with my LOI being 1a. A nice lurker.
Wouldn’t 2d be better without ‘exists’, i.e ‘Organisation that makes money’, or is it better with it?
Re 28a, saying batsman, when it’s a man, isn’t frowned upon. It’s still perfectly okay to say it in an all-male match. Professional commenters and commentators are duty-bound to say ‘batter’ which I get.
My picks are 9a, 20a and 14d.
MTTTA and Falc (congrats)
2*/3*
Tom – re: 2d,
Perhaps “exists” makes the clue more cryptic. The only purpose of the organisation is to make money, therefore, that is the reason for it’s existence.
No problem, F.
Hi Clicksman
I think it makes the answer too obvious. It takes a little bit more thinking without it which I prefer.
‘Organisation that makes money’ could mean the answer or another organisation.
Saying all that, it’s a Monday. So, maybe that’s why they made it a bit easier.
Not likely to be Heron. She set last week’s puzzle and has not claimed credit for this one on Bluesky which she normally does when it is one of hers.
16 years is a fair stint, Falcon – thank you so much (and all the other reviewers on this wonderful site) for your commitment. Your help is immeasurable. Another enjoyable Monday guzzle. I was with Fran on 1A. Thank you to the setter.