Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31356
Hints and tips by Smylers
Good morning. Welcome to Monday’s Telegraph Crossword. Hints to, explanations of, and pedantry about the clues follow.
Do please leave a comment below, especially if you haven’t ever done so before. Say how you found the puzzle, highlight any favourite clues, or complain I’m being too picky about them below.
Life’s all good with us here in Ilkley, the children now back at school and all their usual activities with Scouts, dancing, and drama. Well not quite all of them: a staffing change at the 12-year-old’s school means that the Wednesday lunchtime dog-walking club isn’t currently running. The two teachers who used to run it are still available, as is the school dog, and indeed they have still been walking the dog together. But one of the teachers no longer works on Wednesday afternoons, meaning they are off the clock by lunchtime and walking the dog in their own time. That’s fine for the dog, but apparently a safety risk for accompanying pupils out of school grounds to the nearby park, since they wouldn’t qualify as a teacher at that point.
In happier news, Spouse and I recently enjoyed consecutive nights out, seeing The Manfreds — the current incarnation of Manfred Mann, still featuring Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness from the 1963 line-up, who were both on excellent form — and Noël Coward’s Private Lives. The gig was at a venue a 6-minute walk from our home, and the play a mere 4 minutes’ walk away. I do so appreciate acts coming to us and so our not needing transport home afterwards!
Across
1a Short, giant, bizarre funfair attraction (5,5)
GHOST TRAIN: An anagram to start with: put the letters of the first 2 words in a bizarre order.
6a Begin to wake in prison (4)
STIR: ‘Begin to wake’ here isn’t cluing the letter W, but instead a verb describing somebody beginning to wake up that is also a slang term for a prison.
Pic credit: © John V Willshire, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
10a Scoundrel with Irish accent losing face (5)
ROGUE: A word often used to describe an Irish accent loses the letter at its face.
11a Dramatic beginning to grip learner (9)
STARTLING: Don’t find the letter at the beginning of ‘grip’. Here we need a synonym of ‘beginning’ which grips inside it the letter that indicates a learner driver.
12a Union flyer too rambling? Never! (3,2,4,4)
NOT ON YOUR LIFE: The letters of the first 3 words go on a ramble and end up in a different order.
14a That man on vacation caught Oscar looking embarrassed and tormented (8)
HECTORED: Enter in order: a pronoun indicating ‘that man’; the word ‘caught’ after having been vacated (that is, all its inner letters removed); the letter indicated by ‘Oscar’ in the Nato phonetic alphabet; and a word meaning ‘embarrassed’, referring to how somebody may look.
16a On reflection, somewhat extol remarkable wine (6)
MERLOT: Reflect some words in the clue and find the wine lurking somewhat among them, in consecutive letters.
18a Insists upon laws following English vote (6)
EXACTS: Some laws, specifically those passed by parliament, follow the single-letter abbreviation for ‘English’ plus the letter that looks like the mark often made on a ballot paper to cast a vote.
20a Doctor points to somewhere you can expectorate (8)
SPITTOON: Doctor the next 2 words in the clue, moving their letters around.
22a Surprisingly win draught ale for relative (8-2-3)
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: Put the letters of the next 3 words in a surprising order to form the answer. The answer is a relative ending in ‘-2-3’, which should help fix some letters.
26a Notice vehicle regularly that goes for profit (9)
ADVANTAGE: Enter in order: the usual ‘notice’; a type of vehicle; and letters taken at regular intervals from ‘that goes’.
27a Country right next to Russian river (5)
RURAL: The letter indicating ‘right’ is entered next to the name of a river in Russia (and Kazakhstan, as it happens).
28a Nobleman contracted ahead of time (4)
EARL: Here we need to think of a word meaning ‘ahead of time’, then contract it by dropping its final letter.
29a Left Londoners worried for military hero (4,6)
LORD NELSON: Start with the letter that indicates ‘left’. Then worry ‘Londoners’, mixing up their letters.
Down
1d Chat about queen’s dress (4)
GARB: A slang term meaning to chat goes about the outside of the single-letter Latin abbreviation for ‘queen’ — or ‘king’, but I guess a king would be less likely to be wearing a dress? Talking of which the definition is just ‘dress’ in the general sense, not a word for ‘a dress’, the specific item of clothing.
2d Periodical in charge of Nature (7)
ORGANIC: Start with a word for a periodical — specifically one publishing the views of a particular organization. End with the abbreviation for ‘in charge of’ The ‘of’ appears to be doing double duty, because it’s also needed as part of the definition, which is an adjective.
3d Article on extremely flagrant crime (5)
THEFT: A gramatical article is placed on top of the extreme letters of ‘flagrant’.
4d Hired guards seen occasionally felt bitter (8)
RESENTED: A word meaning hired (in the sense of borrowed for money, rather than recruited) guards, by surrounding, some letters taken occasionally from ‘seen’.
5d State what to say at the altar about a husband (5)
IDAHO: A phrase popularly believed to be said at the alter when getting married goes about the outside of the A from the clue and the single letter that indicates ‘husband’. The phrase isn’t the one currently used in Church of England weddings; should this clue have an American indicator, or is there another denomination in the UK which does use it? If you know, please enlighten us in the comments. Also, if this were Rookie Corner (today’s features a debut by Ark), Prolixic would comment on the repetition of ‘about’ to mean ‘surrounding’, it also being used like that in 1d.
7d Unimportant court case imprisoning four (7)
TRIVIAL: A synonym of ‘court case’ imprisons inside it a way of writing the number four.
8d Feeling sorry about river bird with metal leg in the end (10)
REGRETTING: Enter in order: the abbreviation for ‘River’ sometimes seen in the names of rivers on maps or similar; the name of a bird (not necessarily a river bird, since those are different components of the wordplay); the name of a metal element; and the end of the word ‘leg’. The bird’s type is making me wonder if that’s a clue to today’s setter — or is it a red Heron?
Pic credit: Jo Stolp
9d Most severe back issue resists treatment ultimately (8)
STERNEST: I often confuse the words for the back and front of a boat. Maybe this clue will help me remember? After the nautical ‘back’ we need the ultimate letters of the preceding few words in the clue.
13d Hackneyed letters from Elizabeth read, bar endings (10)
THREADBARE: ‘Bar endings’ sounds like an instruction to remove the last letter from some words, but that’s the setter cleverly choosing fodder to mislead us. The answer comes from the final 4 words in the clue, spelt out in consecutive letters, to metaphorically match the definition.
15d Renovated house not surpassed (8)
OUTSHONE: Renovate ‘house not’, re-arranging the letters.
17d Nurse with cracked lips, at first, damaged bit of hair (5,3)
SPLIT END: We need a synonym for ‘nurse’ as a verb, but first there’s ‘lips’ which have been cracked, their letters in a different order.
The obvious band to include at this point would give the answer away in the YouTube title, so here’s Crowded House instead (featuring some of the same members):
19d Trembling, answer first couple of questions – this person’s right (7)
AQUIVER: Enter in order: the letter indicating ‘answer’; the first couple of letters from ‘questions’; a contracted phrase meaing ‘this person has’ (where ‘this person’ is the writer); and the letter that indicates ‘right’.
21d Where hospital patients might be found at a point ahead (7)
ONWARDS: The answer when split into 2 words describes where hospital patients often are. Note the preposition used for this specific hospital-based location isn’t the one for people being almost anywhere else.
23d Drug cheat with love for inspirational woman (5)
ERATO: Enter in order: a usual single-letter drug; an informal term for somebody who has cheated on another; and the letter that looks like a tennis score of love. The answer was literally inspirational, being one of the Muses.
24d Big canal boat having left for capital of Bahrain (5)
LARGE: Think of a word for a canal boat. If you don’t know the capital of Bahrain, feel free to look it up — it won’t help with solving the clue, but now it’s been mentioned, it might be worth knowing. What we need is not the capital of Bahrain the country but of ‘Bahrain’ the word — that is the capital letter at the start of it. And ‘left’ indicates the same letter as it did in 29a. The answer is the canal boat but with the left letter substituted for the ‘Bahrain’ capital found in it.
25d Most of aircraft blueprint (4)
PLAN: The answer is also most of another word for ‘aircraft’ — all but its final letter.
Quickie Pun
In today’s quick crossword the first three answers are italicized, indicating that when spoken together they sound like another word, a phrase, or a name. Check them here:
PIT + HERB + BRED = PITTA BREAD
Recent Reading
Allie Morgan’s memoir of a public librarian was another I picked up at Whitby library on holiday last month. I didn’t finish it on holiday, but handily Spouse gets their hair cut in Skipton, part of the same library service, so could return it there for me. Allie Morgan worked at a couple of libraries in Scotland and tells us about it in an engaging style.
The main themes are the people in need, those who are in the library because they’ve been let down by The System and aren’t getting the help they deserve anywhere else. That leads to the author and other allies in the library deviating from their job descriptions, and sometimes bending the rules, in order to assist. That also brings them up against the book’s other main theme: bureaucracy and jobsworth management, who are actively against improving anything for the library or any of their users.
At one point, Allie’s manager is so incensed at discovering her marking a baking competition that the library is running that they immediately retreat to their office, only emerging hours later once they’re brandishing a new edict from a higher manager banning all printed notices designed by staff in branches; the only printed material that may be displayed are centrally issued official posters and notices typed in black Arial, with no colour or formatting. Allie and friends are dismayed until spotting the edict only applies to printed material — so immediately grab the wax crayons from the children’s section and start using those to make their signs! The Librarian will make you despair, but you’ll feel better for having read it, and enjoy doing so.
A friendly start to the week with a straightforward and clearly defined set of clues. Difficult to pick a winner, but I’ll go with the military hero at 29a.
Many thanks to the setter and Smylers.
1*/3*
A nice gentle start to the week.
I liked 20a but not the image it conjured up.
Top picks for me were 8d, 13d, 14a and 29a.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
Same here with 20a particularly as I was eating breakfast while solving
I can clearly remember from before the war (WW2 that is) commenting to my mother about all the old men spitting into tins. She explained that they had bad lungs due to breathing in gas.
Spitting was also seen as a potential cause of TB so the answer to 20 across had a public health role.
A gentle and entertaining start to the week. I liked the 13d lurker and our naval hero at 29a. There are so many ticks on my page from which to choose a cotd, so with the random pin clue picker to hand the honours go to 14a. Thanks to compiler and Smylers.
Never noticed that 13d was a lurker! Thanks for pointing it out.
Nice crossie to start the week and finished in bed with my cuppa. A friend has gifted me a free digital subscription to The Times for a year which is very kind but I have yet to be on the same wavelength as any of the Times setters although I’ve only tried a couple of times. We shall see. Anyway thanks to the setter and to Smilers. Personally I would not have thought the answer to 13d meant hackneyed but what do I know.
Some of Times crosswords are by setters who also work for The Telegraph — though each paper has its own style and restrictions, so they may not feel the same.
Today’s Times cryptic crossword has been claimed by Coot, whom you may remember from their Rookie Corner appearances on this site, and then their NTSPP crosswords.
Thanks Smylers, sorry to mis-spell your name earlier!
Smylers
Shouldn’t 18a be exacts.
Ooops. Well spotted, Clicker. I had the correct answer in my grid, so I’m unsure how I managed to put a different one in the hints immediately afterwards. Now fixed. Apologies to all, and thank you to Cllicker.
Hi, an enforced absence due to the flooding in Bangkok, (all 50 districts declared disaster zones). I completed today’s challenge on the 10th floor of a local hotel due to our home being 2ft underwater and having to evacuate, ( for the last 3 days), with my 90 year old mother in law. A very enjoyable Monday puzzle which took my mind off our cat living on our spare bed with a litter tray and food bowls on chairs set next to it being cared for by my wife’s mums’ carer who didn’t abandon ship. Lots of great clues I guess COTD has to go to 24D due to the canal being the source of our downfall. Thanks to Smylers for the hints and the setter for a welcome distraction from my current situatio. A couple of pics follow to illustrate what we faced.
Oh no, Tyke. That must be awful. Glad you’re safe. Best wishes for getting everything sorted out.
Thank you Smylers. Luckily we have the resources to be able to relocate, whereas most of our neighbours don’t so they have had to sit it out on their beds like our cat.
I have to share this story though. Due to panic buying all the local stores have no fresh food and the hotel offering is very basic so I had to wade for over 1/2 an hour to the nearest decent store to buy the basics. As I was wading a taxi pulled up alongside me and the driver said I’m going to the Mall will that help you go to where you are going. I said it was directly on my route and it would help enormously. When I opened the door I was surprised to find his wife and two young kids already in the car. As he didn’t start his meter when we set off, which is a standard scam of taxi drivers here, I asked him how much he was going to charge me but he didn’t reply. When we got to my destination he refused to take any money from me and I had to force a 100 Bht note on his kids as a thank you. Sorry for monopolising the blog but I think the tale is worth sharing.
The worst things sometimes brings out the best in people.
How awful, so sorry to read this. I have often thought a flood must be one of the most awful things to experience. I hope you can get home soon and repair the damage.
Makes me feel guilty for some of the things that I worry about.
Very sorry to hear ATB – I do hope you’re back to normal before long 🤞
A short follow up video of the main road, (yes ROAD), in our village to highlight the issues faced over the last 3 days.
Oh dear, how awful for you all. I do hope the water subsides soon but then the horrendous clear-up follows. Thank goodness you are safe.
Madflower, thanks for the message. One more night in the hotel with a 4 pack of Singha Thai beer before the horrors of the clear up begins.
Certainly a tale worth sharing, people do tend to pull together in dreadful circumstances. I do hope the clear up is not too daunting, your puzzle family will be looking out for updates.
Keep safe and good luck with the clean up
I read about the floods in Bangkok and immediately thought of you, ATIB. What a terrible thing to happen. I’m pleased you are okay and the story about the taxi driver was certainly not monopolising the blog. It is a story that needed to be told.
A relaxing crossword for me with only two answers that had to be confirmed, viz. 16a – I don’t know wines, and 23d – she is an inspirational mythological woman, not an actual person, as I was trying to think of.
24d – most canal boats are now leisure cruisers not b*****.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
Haven’t looked at the crossword yet – that is normally our post-prandial activity.
I see there is a letter in today’s Telegraph from one Dr Steve Cowling. Is that THE Steve Cowling?
If so, it shows he has come to the attention of the Powers That Be at Telegraph Towers and so it could augur well for The Mythical
Yes it is. As it is about OS benchmarks, at least the OS know where to find him. Though I am not sure that The Mythical will.
I would say that it is he!
Enter the interlocutor represented by the perpendicular pronoun. 😊
& that was a particularly good episode – YM, IIRC, rather than YPM. Jim getting the upper hand against Humphrey was too rare an occurrence!
Better Yes Minister than allo’ allo’…
It is I Leclerc
Season 3, Episode 3.
Just right for a Monday
Thanks to the setter and Smylers
Typical Monday fun but not quite the Spirit of Rufus – 1.5*/3.5*
Candidates for favourite – 18a, 2d, and 7d – and the winner is 2d.
Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Very enjoyable and perfectly pitched for a busy Monday morning. To be different I liked 7d as favourite.
Thanks to both our setter and Smylers.
Even as Quicktics go that was a speedy solve. A bit heavy on anagrams for me but an ideal puzzle for those new to the cruciverbalist’s world – everything clearly signposted, good smooth surfaces, no herrings be they red or any other similar colour.
Honours to 29a & 23d
Thank you to the setter and to Smylers
On way to a funeral (wife’s cousin), this was a welcome distraction on the train and it was very suitable for showing two of my fellow attendees how the world of cryptics works.
Pody picks – 1A’s attraction and attractive surface, 6D as the learners got it before I did, and 14A which tormented me a little in remembering this word, and it was interesting explaining all the Lego.
Thanks to setter and to Smylers – thanks for posting the REM song too 🎵⭐️
A splendid start to the week with ticks for plenty of smooth surfaces that makes me think it’s X-Type.
I like the one letter vote and the capital of Bahrain threw me off the ‘city and currency’ scent nicely.
I’ve never heard of ‘expectorate’ though it makes sense as it means ‘out of the chest’ (‘ex’ and ‘pecs’)
I need to add ‘worried’ to the ”What the??? AI List” to go along with rudely, abroad and overseas. Why not use ‘upset’ which is clearly an AI? A synonym of an AI is not automatically an AI itself. Does that mean that ‘concerned’ and ‘cared’ are also AIs?
My picks are the aforementioned 18a and 20a along with 14a.
MTTTA and Smylers.
1*/5* (I’ll let ‘worried’ slide as I really enjoyed it)
A dog worries at a bone ?
Hi DG
I had to look up this definition which says bite or chew.
I could be wrong but I reckon the setter has gone down the ‘synonym of upset’ route which I can’t agree with for the reason I gave. ‘Worried’ is a lot closer to ‘concerned’ than ‘upset’. For example, we are worried/concerned for our children but we’re not upset.
If they had meant your definition then imagine explaining that to a rookie solver who probably didn’t know this lesser-known meaning. They’d give up.
There is no need for it when there are hundreds of AIs to choose from.
“Worried” is a very long-standing and perfectly acceptable anagram indicator, Tom, as in to agitate, to trouble, to upset.
If you’ve ever seen a dog worry a flock of sheep you would have discerned the difference between “concerned” and “upset” pretty swiftly!
Hi MG
I appreciate that it’s an accepted AI, as is rudely, abroad and overseas. I’m just saying that they don’t work for me. Setters, over the decades, have got carried away with AIs. Hence the list of 1,000+ which is a nonsense. There are some brilliant new ones out there which I love, due to their creativity.
In today’s clue, why not use ‘upset’ that is a straightforward AI, especially at the less challenging part of the week where rookies tend to begin their journey through Crosswordland? It will just deflate them.
Maybe use ‘worried’ at the other end of the week though it really is a weak one. In my opinion, of course.
Tom, 20a.
From my MRB (sometime in the 70s):
Cuspidor: spittoon.
What a great word!
I’ve looked up its etymology and see that it’s portuguese. Its root (spid) has the same Latin root as spew and spume.
Marvy parvy.
An enjoyable and straightforward guzzle, typical of Mondays. I liked the dropped letter clue at 10a, the reverse lurker at 16a and the military hero at 29a, the best of many lovely anagrams . Thanks to the compiler and to Smylers for the hints
1*/3.5* A straightforward but nonetheless very enjoyable puzzle, over too soon.
Favourites 29a hero (worried seems fine as an anagram indicator), 18d trembling and 24d canal boat, good misdirection
Thanks to Smylers and compiler
* / ****
Brief but enjoyable start to the week with many a pleasing clue. For 2d, glad Smylers mentioned “of” doing double duty as that clean didn’t work for me otherwise. COTD went to 8d for the shear number of pieces of log in that particular box!
Many thanks to the setter and Smylers.
An enjoyable crossword which was solved in the proper way and though only a one star convinced me that the journey to the care home is not too near. A good Quickie joke today which does not happen so often these days.
As gentle as they come and very enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Smylers
I don’t think that ‘of’ in 2d is doing double duty because ‘ic’ can stand for ‘in charge’.
My favourite clue is 9d.
Chambers 21st has ‘i/c’ as “in charge of” or “in command of”, and Oxford Dictionary of English as “in charge of” or “in command”.
Weirdly The OED spells it as ‘I.C.’ and does define it as just “in charge” or “in command” … but then spoils it by citing examples like “If you were i/c security”, which obviously does require the “of” in the expanded form in order to work.
So even though it feels like ‘i/c’ could mean ‘in charge’, I’m not persuaded it can be justified by dictionaries. We’ve seen it before though, so it can probably be justified as “setters do this all the time and solvers are used to it”, the same as using “river” (rather than “River”) to indicate R.
Hi S
On a teamsheet, i/c is often next to the team captain’s name.
Fair enough. I’ve only seen ‘*’ or ‘(capt)’. Does the ‘c’ in that case definitely stand for ‘charge’, not ‘command’?
Odd that the dictionaries haven’t captured that use. There are plenty of other abbreviations which aren’t allowed because they aren’t in dictionaries (even if they appear frequently in the news, opinion, or sport pages of the newspaper the crossword appears in), and obscure terms and meanings that are justified by dictionaries. That isn’t necessarily where I would draw the line for what’s permitted in crosswords, but if that is the line then I reckon it should be consistent.The BRB has: i/c abbrev: in charge; in command.
Collins has: i/c abbreviation for in charge (of).
OK, then. Objection withdrawn!
Apologies to the setter. This is one of those situations where the official The BRB and the same publisher’s smaller dictionary disagree, but The BRB is canonical.
1*/4*. Light and tun. Typically Mondayish as Mondays have now become.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
As always, nice to have a relatively trouble free Monday solve after a busy weekend and a couple of prize puzzles to work through.
1.5*/4* for me
Favourites today include 1a, 22a, 29a, 1d, 7d & 21d — with winners 29a & 21d
Smiles for 6a, 20a, 1d & 3d
Thanks to setter & Smylers
1a went straight in which was good but the rest was by no means a read and write as some say, enough hard work for a Monday. I did like the misdirection of the hired guards. The man on vacation and the military hero. 23d seemed to be very obscure until I thought of the old adage – when in doubt look for …….. Very smart. Many thanks to Setter and Smiler. I have just finished reading for my Book Group The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which I thoroughly enjoyed, although I suspect it is more a woman’s book. It’s a bit different.
This took me way longer than it should have (into 3* time zone) and I have no idea why as it was as simple as they come. Obviously my brain (for what it is) has gone and strike and is refusing to do anything slightly challenging.
Hope that is not the case all week.
Thanks setter and to Smylers for the blog
I like anagrams but 1 across took me ages
At last – a crossword I could solve without using any electronic aids or the BRB! Bit of a slow start but soon gathered pace to finish in 1.5* time. Favourite was 1a (which scared me as a child) also 10a and 19d. Agree with Madflower et al about 20a – put me off the biscuit I was eating! Thanks to both Smylers and the compiler for a great start to the week.
Congratulations, JG. Finishing one unaided is such a thrill.
Tomorrow’s by Anthony Plumb tends to be the least challenging of the week. So, you have a chance of a back-to-back solve.
Good luck!
Thanks Tom, I agree with you. It doesn’t happen too often though! Last week’s puzzles were really tough, including the Saturday prize cryptic.
You can do it, JG. I and many others are rooting for you. Have an early night as you want to be firing on all cylinders.
Come on, Professor Plumb! Let’s see what you’ve got…
Not got round to today’s puzzles yet, being busy yesterday I have only just completed yesterday’s. I just realised that I had not received a Crossword newsletter yesterday and went to investigate. It seems there is a new ‘Puzzlebox’ newsletter, which I have just signed up to, and there is no sign of the Puzzles newsletter either in the listings or ‘my newsletters’. Is this a change and is Chris Lancaster taking a back seat?
(sorry, should have posted that as Puzzler Dave….
Yes, the Puzzles Newsletter’s name changed to Puzzlebox a fortnight ago. However, it is a continuation of the same newsletter, so if you were subscribed to it then you should still be getting it under the new name.
Daniel Peake introduced the first as Puzzlebox with:
Chris Lancaster explained the change in yesterday’s Puzzlebox with:
For anybody wanting to subscribe, here’s the sign-up form.
Thanks. It seems that the last newsletter I received was the September 6th one. I had had an email earlier asking if I still wanted to receive it with a link to click which I did. Looks like they ignored that and unsubscribed me….. Hopefully will see Puzzle Box next Sunday.
Just how a Monday puzzle should be 🤗 **/*** Favourites 11,18,27 & 28 across. Thanks to Smylers and to the compiler whoever he or she may be 👍
Liked the I/C comments. Reminded me of my National Service days when at tea time the mess had a rather thick corporal looking after the tray of sliced cake to ensure each airman only had one piece. All of us in the queue waiting to be served would sing “I see the cake………” followed by rather insulting words to the tue of “I see the moon”, popular the time. The infuriated corporal would leave his post to remonstrate and the entire cake was nicked by the nearest servicemen. Happy days.
Great story, Bill!
Harsh scoring smylers. Yes simpler than others but I quite enjoyed it for a busy Monday.
Not had the chance to comment over the weekend – thought CL’s Sat PP quite tricky & Dada pretty gentle yesterday – both very enjoyable too. No crumpet scratching required today with what was a pleasant starter to the new week. As I like to do my bit to help keep my osteopath’s wallet well stocked 9d chimed with me & I also rather liked the 13d lurker & 14a so they’ll do for podium picks.
Thanks to the setter & to Smylers for his usual entertaining review.
Oooh, thank you for mentioning Saturday’s prize puzzle was by Chris Lancaster: I was busy over the weekend, so hadn’t seen that. I’ve enjoyed his puzzles on Tuesdays and Mondays in the past, so I shall go back and give Saturday’s a go.
Very enjoyable start to the week, some lovely anagrams and a well disguised lurker helped it all along. No single favourite.
Many thanks setter and to Smylers for the hints.
Just finished, unaided and in a pretty quick time for me. Don’t know why, but the NW corner caused me the most trouble, with 1d stumping me, I couldn’t get away from Gas but that didn’t work, then the necessary word just came.
Favourite clue today, I am going for the greatest Englishman ever, imho, at 29a.
Thank you to the setter and to Smylers for the hints
PS Perhaps 1a should have had a musical accompaniment, the legendaryMark Knopfler and Tunne of Love as in ‘I’ve been riding on the…’
I’d go for the greatest ever Englishman as Fred Dibnah. A particular hero of mine.
Hi FB
He made the top 10 of the 100 greatest Britons of the last millennium:
1. Churchill
2. Brunel
3. Princess Di
4. Darwin
5. Shakespeare
6. Newton
7. Elizabeth I
8. Lennon
9. Nelson
10. Cromwell
Something tells me that number 3 maybe drift out of the top 10 if they were to have another vote in 2050.
Maybe we’ll see Mr Dibnah make an appearance…
Given my moniker it may not surprise you to learn that I would have liked to have seen Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding in the list.
I’ve just read his profile.
What a guy!
Set off like a house on fire but slowed down in the SW. LOI and favourite was 13d, a brilliantly disguised lurker. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
** for me. Not as plain sailing as past Monday’s puzzles. Thanks anyway for the challenge.
REM 🎸
Another great start to the week with 20a bringing back some interesting memories. The lurker at 13d was very well hidden and it took a while to suss out. I’m going to agree with Alfiepops at #18 and nominate 8d as my COTD.
Thank you, setter for the fun. Thank you, Smylers for the hints.
I can’t see the connection between the words threadbare and hackneyed. Help please.
Hi PL
A threadbare argument is weak or uninteresting, i.e hackneyed or trite.
But hackneyed means over-used. Still don’t understand.
A threadbare carpet has been overused?
Late lunch following a somewhat tedious HOA Board Meeting, so very happy to find this very friendly crossword waiting for me. I do appreciate a setter who does not set out to make me feel thick as two planks. Only struggled with 19d and 13d (LI). Thanks again to the setter and Smylers.
Great fun, solved over dinner today. So really not a fan of 20a but otherwise excellent.
Thanks to all
Good evening
Bit of a late finish – but I’m at work, and shouldn’t be doing the crozzie really….shhh! 😉
All done, and reasonably straightforward today. COTD is the war hero at 29a.
Many thanks to our setter and to Smylers.
Had a weird sense of déjà vu with 27a – nearly identical clue to one from last Thursday.
So it is, Pandora. Well spotted!
Technically Monday’s clue was the easier of the two, because it indicates the second component as “Russian river”, which really narrows things down, whereas on Thursday it was just indicated with “river” (because “Russian” was part of the first component) — which could be anywhere in the world, though crossword setters often favour Yorkshire and Italy.
And welcome to the blog. Lovely to have you here, and do comment again.
2*/3* …
liked 20A “Doctor points to somewhere you can expectorate (8)”