Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31357
Hints and tips by Huntsman
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
It is just starting to brighten up here in Harpenden after a dull & slightly drizzly start to the day. Hopefully it will stay dry this afternoon for what will be one of my last rounds at South Herts as a member having made the decision to join my local course at Harpenden Common.
For me today’s puzzle was certainly not Typically Tuesdayish & I found it a good deal trickier than yesterday. I usually tune straight into Anthony Plumb’s wavelength but not so today & as I laboured through a bottom ⬆️ grid fill I began to doubt it was one of his productions. Reading back through it post completion I’m still not sure so it will be interesting to see what others think. Either way I thought that there were some great clues & thoroughly enjoyed the solve despite the crumpet requiring a fair bit of early morning scratching.
I had ticks against 20,23,27&28a plus 4,8,14,16&17d. 20a gets my vote as pick of ‘em.
Chalicea is over in t’other place with one of her delightful trademark ‘floughie’ Toughies
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
Across
1a Lake circled by hungry tailless bird (5)
EAGLE: insert (circled by) the single letter for L[ake] (cartography) into a synonym for for hungry or keen less its final letter (tailless).
4a Feeling wicked, cutting nearly everyone off (9)
SENSATION: wicked here is used in the context of British slang meaning awesome or cool. Think of an adjectival synonym & you then need to remove (off) the final two letters from it which are a truncated (nearly) determiner for everyone. The surface made me think of the Telegraph’s lead story over the weekend.
9a Leading dance in hospital department (9)
PROMINENT: link the term for a high school dance with IN from the clue & our usual hospital department.
10a Perfect golf club softly scratched (5)
UTTER: remove (scratched) the musical letter for softly from the golf club used for most number of strokes in a typical round.
11a English seat is possibly most comfortable (7)
EASIEST: E[nglish] followed by an anagram (possibly) of SEAT IS.
12a Well-behaved soldier (7)
ORDERLY: a double definition – the latter an assigned duty performed by a low-ranked soldier rather than a specific military rank (I think).
13a In report, mentions tourist attractions (6)
SIGHTS: a homophone (in report) of a synonym for mentions/quotes.
15a Gathers information from Edward about underwear (8)
DEBRIEFS: reverse (about) a diminutive for Edward then append a type of underwear.
18a Class conflict (8)
DIVISION: a straightforward double definition.
20a Snaps out of it? (6)
CAMERA: a cryptic definition clue – nowt to do with turning that frown upside down but rather the context of snaps.
23a Best cur one trained? Without question (7)
CONQUER: the definition here is a verb masquerading as an adjective. Place an anagram (trained) of CUR ONE around (without in the sense of the opposite of within) the single letter for Q[uestion].
24a Watch old boy in the military (7)
OBSERVE: the usual two letter abbreviation for old boy + what one is said to do if in the military.
26a Picture this writer’s anger after finally getting dismissed (5)
IMAGE: a contraction (of pronoun & verb) that may be used by ‘this writer’ followed by a synonym for anger less (getting dismissed) the last letter (finally) of [afte]R.
27a Stroke goat, perhaps, then step on it (9)
BUTTERFLY: cryptic puzzles oft used synonym for a goat + a verb meaning to step on it/move quickly.
28a Harry near guests lacking upper-class grandeur (9)
GREATNESS: an anagram (harry) of NEAR G[u]ESTS (lacking the single letter for Upper-class).
29a Vegetable marrows we’d eaten, though not all (5)
SWEDE: hidden (not all).
Down
1d Cross with journalists after European editor spoke (9)
EXPRESSED: four elements to this charade. The letter that represents a cross or a vote is preceded by the single letter for E[uropean] & followed by the term for journalists + the usual abbreviation for editor.
2d Good arguments for sprouts (5)
GROWS: G[ood] + arguments/tiffs. Nowt to do with a Christmas dinner essential.
3d Plain I’ve got over depression (7)
EVIDENT: reverse (got over/down clue) I’VE from the clue + a synonym for depression/indentation.
4d Dirk could be inside this studio initially with Ted? (6)
SHEATH: S[tudio] (initially) + the surname of a well-known Ted – band leader or politician. Knowing what a dirk is helps here – nowt to do with Mr Bogarde on set.
5d Supply iron and get new gas (8)
NITROGEN: an anagram (supply) of IRON GET + N[ew].
6d Apart from oars, ignore the odd parts below (7)
ASUNDER: [o]A[r]S (alternate letters/ignore the odd parts + below/beneath.
7d Negotiate most of recent diet changes (9)
INTERCEDE: an anagram (changes) RECENT DIE[t] (most of).
8d Like an anorak on Debra – dry on a regular basis (5)
NERDY: contained within the alternate letters (on a regular basis) of the 4th, 5th & 6th words of the clue. Nowt to do with rainwear.
14d Christian maybe willing to receive the setter’s news (5,4)
GIVEN NAME: insert (to receive) a contraction (pronoun + auxiliary verb) for the setter’s + the single letter for N[ew] twice into a synonym for willing/amenable.
16d It’s of benefit if you have a flat belly (5,4)
SPARE TYRE: a clever double definition.
17d Dreadful leaders in House of Representatives make fun of the French (8)
HORRIBLE: the abbreviation for the lower chamber of the US Congress + a verb meaning to make fun of + the French definite article used before masculine singular nouns.
19d Boss went missing with trainee (7)
STUDENT: a synonym for boss in the context of a protuberance on a surface rather than a gaffer + [w]ENT (W[ith] missing).
21d Article promises no advanced solutions (7)
ANSWERS: article + a verb synonym for promises/vows without the single letter for A[dvanced].
22d Ways England cricketer’s caught (6)
ROUTES: a homophone (caught) of England’s leading run scorer in Test cricket + the possessive. Good choice of indicator for the surface.
23d Hold cold fish (5)
CLING: C[old] + an elongated marine fish.
25d Some stuck up colonel fires gun (5)
RIFLE: hidden in reverse (some/up in a down clue).
Today’s Quick crossword pun: CAW + DON + BLUR = CORDON BLEU
Well I did not find that ‘Tuesdayish’ in the slightest, more like a Thursday puzzle with a couple of Toughie-level clues thrown in (14d, 20a). Nothing wrong with the clues, mind, I was just blindsided by the difficulty. I though 16d was absolutely brilliant, and a shoe-in (shoo-in?) for CotD. Silver medal to 20a for foxing me for an age. 3.5*/4*
Hi Karona
Shoo-in was originally a horse racing term.
Corrupt jockeys held back their horses and deliberately guided or “shooed” a preselected one across the finish line to guarantee a win for gambling purposes.
Cheers, Tom!
I had mixed feelings about this and can’t parse 14d apart from the definition. It looks like Huntsman has the same problem!
Top picks for me were 27a, 20a, 16d, 4d and 15a.
Thanks to Huntsman and the setter.
If one is willing, one may be said to be game. And after the setter’s possessive reference, “news” is a means of introducing two Ns to the answer – one new, two news
Thank you for putting me out of my misery. I got the news but not the rest of it.
I read it as willing (GAME) to receive (go outside of), the setter’s (I’VE) and news ( two letter Ns)
its the only way I can make it work, hope it helps.
Thank you, Mustafa G just pipped you at the post there.
Yep, probably whilst I was typing, getting slow in my old age……
No I didn’t have the same problem (though did confirm my thoughts with Shabbo) but did leave it until last & for some reason the hint vanished – just spotted on a read through but see that I was beaten to it by the early comments.
Slightly chewier to get into than usual, and no complaints from me for having something slightly more testing than usual given yesterday’s very gentle introduction to the week. Some of the definitions were a little more obscured than is often the case for a Tuesday, but a good variety of clue types & many excellent surface reads.
Honours to COTD 20a, 16d & 17d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman – Joy Division was an unexpected departure even if ideal for the clue!
A number of amusing clues to be found, I did enjoy this one.
Edward telling us about his undercrackers in 15a, the animal cruelty suggested in 27a, flat belly in 16d, and the boss copping off with the trainee in 19d all made me smile. The use of news as a plural in 14d was smart too.
My thanks to our setter and Huntsman.
What a great term undercrackers is, you filthy lion, you.
My day is full. Thank you.
You crack me up, Tom!
I’ll have a pint of what you’re on…
It’s a very fair comment.
Kluck from Stop the Pigeon ain’t a patch on me.
Once I got going I thoroughly enjoyed this crossword and am like-minded about the same clues as Frankie etc.
Not so keen on the answer to 8d – we are all different.
22d – how am I supposed to know the names of modern cricketers.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
A very good puzzle and got there eventually but much tougher than usual for a Tuesday. I was beginning to wonder if my brain was only firing on half the cylinders so relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one who had more head scratching than usual.
A cracking puzzle a bit trickier than we’re used to on Tuesdays – thanks to our setter (I did wonder whether it was the work of our esteemed crossword editor who told us on Saturday that we would be seeing him again) and Huntsman.
I have a plethora of ticks on my printout of which I’ll mention 20a, 14d and 16d.
Ooh reckon that’s a good call.
I agree that this was a little trickier than we have come to expect on a Tuesday, but not by much. Whether by AP or The Ed it was still highly enjoyable and a real joy to solve. I had enormous difficulty selecting a favourite, but in the end I went for 20a, my LOI.
Thanks to whomsoever compiled this little gem, and to The Hintsman.
First time I have been able to think of the crossword for a week or more. I must be getting better because finished unaided although still abed. Favourite but slow to discover was 16 down and last in was 14 down. I will not say the crossword is a cure but it is a fine distraction and comfort.
Thanks to our setter and Huntsman
Sounds grim. I hope your recovery continues swiftly.
Thank you Terence. This seems such a friendly and supportive site and I am definitely on the mend.
Gosh, Dyslex you told of your travails weeks ago. I do hope things are now turning out well for you.
How dare John Bigham capture my soul, it’s Scandalous (no 9). I demand the film is erased😉
T-R-I-C-K-Y
I became so deeply invested in this guzzle that I forgot all about my gruel going cold by my side, and didn’t even take a sip of my orange juice with no bits. How anyone can drink orange juice with bits in is beyond my earthly understanding. It’s akin to drinking tea with the leaves swirling menacingly about the cup. It’s like eating a banana through the skin. It’s like (OK… OK… we geddit)…
Challenging guzzle. Enjoyed it.
Thanks to Mr Perpendicular, if it is he; and Andy On The First Tee (top music choices as always).
I was quite pleased with my original music choice for the tricky 14d (Van’s cover of the Tommy Edwards tune It’s All In The Game) but both song & hint vanished so Steely Dan went in instead on reading Madflower’s comment.
Oh Terence. We are never going to be soulmates! Although I WOULD be willing to forgo my bits if I thought there was a future for us.
As has been said, this was quite a notch up in difficulty for a Tuesday and it does not feel like the professor to me but what do I know? For the first time in as far back as I can recall, I had to resort to some of the hints, a thing usually unheard of on a Tuesday. MY COTD is 20a.
Thank you, whomsoever for the puzzle. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.
An excellent puzzle. My last couple were 23a and 14d.
Top clue for me was 20a, followed by 19d [went missing with].
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman
Quite a challenge for a Tuesday back pager and on a par with Chalicea’s Toughie – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 15a, 27a, 14d, and an HM for the pun – and the winner is 27a.
Thanks to ????? and Huntsman. I am now going to ‘unwrap’ my daily orange and eat it segment by segment!
Very tricky. I needed the hints to confirm a few guesses that I struggled to parse. Once I did struggle to the end, I could appreciate the skill in it’s construction. So thanks to compiler and Huntsman. My cotd is 9a.
Well, this one surprised me. I reckon Gazzeroony is correct as 14d is way too tough for a Tuesday though I managed to work it out.
My LOI was 4d which was also brutal.
It was a hugely enjoyable solve with many podium contenders. But, I’ll go with 14d, 19d and the superb 16d.
MTTTA and Hoots!
3*/5*
PS
I forgot to say to JaneG that your timing on solving yesterday’s sucks as this is nowhere near a typical Tuesday.
So, your consecutive solve is quite a big ask.
I hope you nailed it.
Yay, a Tuesday backpager I could finish unaided for once! (Or indeed at all: there’s still one from last year haunting me with a missing answer, even with the hint.) Thank you to Huntsman and early commenters for flagging up this not feeling like a normal Tuesday, inspiring me to give it a go. Steady progress throughout: a decent number of answer on the first pass, then the rest picked off one at a time, finishing in a middling sort of time.
Mid-solve (and before reading Gazza above) I also thought this felt a bit like a Chris Lancaster puzzle, so thank you to either Chris or whoever is doing a worthy impersonation of him. Either way, this was a fantastic crossword, with highlights including the tourist attractions mentioned at 13a, stepping on it in 27a, Dirk and Ted in 4d, Christian in 14d, the 16d flat owner, and thr 25u colonel with the guns.
The quickie pun reminds me of the first time I encountered that phrase. Beebug magazine carried listings of programmes for typing into BBC computers, and one issue had a game called Burger Time by Jonathan Temple, set in the kitchen of “famous chef Mr Gordon Blue”. I was 8 and couldn’t understand why my parents found the chef’s name amusing! The game is now playable online … but I’ve discovered I’m even worse at it than I was as a child …
Well, Smylers I went online to play this and hadn’t a clue what I was doing. I couldn’t even make anything move and the red ones killed me in short order. 😳
On my laptop Z and X move the chef left and right, and ‘ and / go up and down. (The instructions mention different keys because computers’ keyboard layouts have changed since the 80s.)
Not that I’m suggesting playing Burger Time is a good use of anybody’s time!
For me, like others, I thought this was a little tougher than a normal Tuesday.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites include 20a, 28a, 29a, 2d, 26d & 23d — with winners 20a & 16d
Thanks to setter & Huntsman
I’ve just managed to finish today’s toughie including the difficult NW corner. If I can do it, so can you.
We had to consult the Hintsman for 21d but apart from that we just cheeed at it and covered our scribble pad with anagram circles etc. I really liked 15a and 5d but 16d was absolute favourite. Many thanks to our setter and to the Hintsman. Lynn the Foot came this morning so we are £80 lighter and dancing on air for a few weeks. I don’t know what we would do without these wonderful people.
1*/5*. What an absolute cracker of a puzzle. Light, fun, accurate clueing, and smooth surfaces. The only clue which took a bit of teasing out was 14d, my last one in and favourite.
Many thanks to AP and Hintsman.
A couple if notches up from normal Tuesday difficulty, and an excellent puzzle throughout. 20a takes my top spot, but there are many podium-worthy clues. Too many to mention…
Thanks to our Setter and to Huntsman for the Blog and Tunes. I got a couple of the artists, just not necessarily in the correct locations!
Not an AP production and very tough. Kept checking had not printed the toughie by mistake.
Thanks to huntsman for explaining 4a and 14d.
20a favourite today.
Thanks to our mystery setter.
Hard puzzle for me. Interested to find that “wicked” is British slang – it’s very commonly used here in Boston, Mass and I always assumed it was coined here. I learn a lot from this forum!
Don’t take my say so as gospel – I’m probably wrong
What? Did I miss a few days? This was way harder than I was expecting for a Tuesday and went well into extra extra time! But I have to say there were some beautifully constructed clues 23a, 21d but my favourite has to be the fabulous 20a.
Thanks to the setter for the challenge and Huntsman for blogging duties
* / ****
Absolutely loved this but had to solve across multiple sessions due to interruptions today! Unlike most, this did feel very Tuesday-ish to me and was certainly so speed-wise. Cracking humour throughout brought several laughs. Gave up ticking clues so, entirely unfairly, the first three that got ticked go onto the podium: 27a stroking the goat, 16d flat belly and 17d making fun of the French!
Many thanks to the setter (on balance still the Prof, I think) and Huntsman
What a delightful puzzle which did have a different feel to it, I had 16 d as my favourite and 14d was my last in.
Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints
I’m pleased that I was not the only one to find this more difficult than a typical Tuesday AP product. Most of the top was completed on the 2nd pass and then slowly picked off the remainder, but I had to go out this morning and annoyingly had to leave 3 unsolved, 7d, 15a and 20a. On my return I cracked the 7d anagram and the other 2 flew in. Many ticks with 14d, 17d and 15a being the pick of the bunch. Certainly a different feel to this one so thank you setter for upping the ante and Huntsman for the hints.
2.5*/3.5*
Smooth clueing as always with class conflict my favourite thank you Prof and Huntsman
Definitely a few chewy and clever clues, so agree it was more tricky than a usual Tuesday, especially with a tired brain after a weekend away and too many wines. I had to work hard at the parsing of 14d as others did. 16d is a great clue. I managed to parse 4d straight away , but had to check the meaning of dirk , so learnt something new. Thanks to Anthony Plumb and Huntsman.
Have just completed this after an afternoon nap. Too much fresh air yesterday.
Anyway I found this at the harder end, and was left with three that I needed the hints for. Usually find Tuesday a breeze!
15a, very annoying as actually a standard cryptic clue that I didn’t see, briefs wasn’t in my mental list of underwear. Then 20a the snaps, and 22d where Mr SC did not come up with Root when I asked him to name English batsmen and he calls himself a cricket fan!
Anyway this was overall a fun solve and my top tick is 16d
Thanks all
I really enjoyed this one, although I could not do it all while drinking my afternoon cup of tea, and as always when I get a little stuck, it took the first fews sips of whisky and water this evening to free up my little grey cells and then it fell into place. Does anyone else find that?
A funky Tuesday offering indeed! Is this AP? Some of the usual contributors didn’t seem to be calling him out.
A handful held me up way beyond typically Tuesday time. LOI was Dirk at 4D, but very much needed the hint for parsing my SLOI, 4A, for which I didn’t think of the ‘cool’ wicked at all, and I’m ok with that 🙂
Pody picks – 5A’s knowledgeable Ed, 27A’s absurd goat scenario (I’m pleased that Billy didn’t get the better of me this time), and the splendid 16D that took a few reads to parse in the right place.
Thsnks to ? AP ? and Huntsman ⭐️
Took a while and with a bit of help at the end got there. Expected a Tuesday gentle one and getting stiffer as the week goes on but enjoyable nonetheless. Certainly a*** for me.
Tom Petty 🎸
I’ve been enjoying David Axelrod, new to me, very enjoyable and a great selection for software testing background music 💻🎵
Having only managed 4 answers on the first pass, I found myself wondering if I was having a senile moment, and today was in fact Thursday or even Friday… Not the usual Tuesday fun, perhaps from a different setter today. Struggled for a while longer but quickly realised from the hints that this was going to be all work and no glory. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
Considerably more difficult than the usual Tuesday offering. Needed the hint to parse 14d. Managed to stumble over the line but got there. Favourite was 16d. Whether of not this was a CL compilation I hope he’s on the mend. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
Seemed impossible when I started this morning (and had to check the day) but kept at it, on and off, with the result that to my astonishment I completed without assistance this evening. Had to check the hints afterwards however, to fully understand the parsing of 14d, 15d and 22d (didn’t know caught indicated a homophone although thankfully I knew it was him). LOI 4d. COTD 19d for the construction, brevity and surface. Many thanks to setter and Huntsman ***/****
16d not 15d in previous post.
I found this rather hard for a Tuesday.
A dnf because I needed the hint for 15a.
14d was a bung in. Still not convinced it works for my brain.
Thanks to all.
If this is an AP I will eat my hat or perhaps he just made a positive decision not to hold back. In fact I managed most of the North but t’other half needed a great deal of assistance particularky the SW. 23a, 26a and 28a all baffled me. Thanks setter and Hintsman who it is a relief to see agrees with several of us over the unusual difficulty of this for a Tuesday.
1*/4* I must have been on form today as this seemed like a standard Tuesday with loads of excellent clues
Favourites include the 8d anorak, Christian at 14d and 16d belly
Thanks to compiler and the Huntsman
Went to bed last night with one clue outstanding, 15a. Slept on it, looked again just now and finished. I cannot say it was an easy challenge and struggled at various points. COTD for me was necessary piece of equipment at 16d, brought a smile.
Thank you to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.
2*/5* ….
liked 27A “Stroke goat, perhaps, then step on it (9)”