Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3388
A full review by Rahmat Ali
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
This puzzle was published on 27th September 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. Dada has given us an enjoyable solve this Sunday and now I present to you a full review of his puzzle. Hope to have your valuable feedback and comments.
Adieu, the answer to the clue at 13 Across is a French word, meaning ‘goodbye’ or ‘farewell’ that entered the English language in the fourteenth century as a loanword. It derives from the Old French phrase ‘à Dieu’, literally meaning ‘to God’, and reflects the fuller sense ‘I commend you to God’. Interestingly, the same religious idea of entrusting someone to divine care has produced farewell expressions in several other languages. English ‘goodbye’ developed in the late sixteenth century as a contraction of the phrase ‘God be with ye’, while Spanish ‘adiós’ and Portuguese ‘adeus’ derive respectively from ‘a Dios’ and ‘a Deus’, both meaning ‘to God’. In Arabic, ‘fi amanillah’, meaning ‘in the safety or protection of Allah’, is used as a parting expression. ‘Khuda hafiz’ in Persian and Urdu literally conveys the sense ‘May God be your protector’, while ‘Allah hafiz’ similarly invokes Allah’s protection. German ‘auf Wiedersehen’, literally ‘until seeing (you) again’, and Italian ‘arrivederci’, ‘until we see each other again’, express farewell without a religious reference. French itself also has ‘au revoir’, meaning ‘until seeing (you) again’. Thus, although farewell words differ considerably in form, many preserve the same underlying sentiment of parting from someone while expressing hope for their safety, divine protection or a future reunion.
The word ‘trice’, part of the answer to the clue at 17 Across, means ‘a very short period of time’ or ‘an instant’. But what I learnt from the internet is quite interesting. The word originally had nothing to do with time! Rather, it features a fascinating linguistic journey from its interesting nautical origin. It began as a mechanical action rather than a measure of time. During the Middle Ages, the word was borrowed into Middle English from the Middle Dutch verb trīsen, which meant ‘to hoist’, ‘to haul up quickly’ or ‘to pull sharply’, a term itself derived from trīse, meaning a pulley or windlass. Thus, it was heavily associated with maritime work, where sailors would ‘trice up’ ropes, sails or other equipment swiftly. In the late fourteenth century, Geoffrey Chaucer famously used the verb form in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ to describe the physical act of snatching someone out of a seat. By the early fifteenth century, the word transitioned into a noun used in the phrase ‘at a trice’ which literally meant doing something with a single, quick tug of a rope. Because a single pull takes almost no time at all, the phrase underwent a figurative shift to symbolise a flash or a split second, thus denoting the brief interval required to perform the action rather than the physical pull itself. By the late seventeenth century, the original preposition dropped away, giving rise to the modern idiom ‘in a trice’. While ‘trice’ does not literally mean the ‘blink of an eye’, the idioms ‘in a trice’ and ‘in the blink of an eye’ have become perfect modern equivalents, both conveying the same idea of something happening almost instantaneously, in next to no time.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Boy, patient should the need arise (4,2,4)
JUST IN CASE: A charade of JUSTIN (boy) as a masculine given name of Latin origin and CASE (patient) as referring to a person receiving medical treatment takes to the definition of an adverbial phrase meaning should the need arise describing a possible future problem and a precaution that should be taken against it
6a Walk with companions in reverse (4)
STEP: The definition of a verb meaning to walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified manner is fetched from PETS (companions) as the plural term for any domesticated animal kept as companion coming from the other end (in reverse) as a reversal in the across clue
9a Italian island where top Brit stripped off (5)
CAPRI: The definition of an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy is arrived at from CAP (top) as a top, summit or acme, as of a mountain followed by the inner letters after having removed the outer letters (stripped off) of [B]RI[T]
10a Burn: react differently in nature (9)
CHARACTER: CHAR (burn) as to scorch or burn or be burned partially, especially so as to blacken the surface followed by an anagram (differently) of REACT leads to the definition of a noun denoting the distinguishing nature of a person or thing
12a Asian country in Iran almost rebuilt European country (7)
ROMANIA: OMAN (Asian country) as a country in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula in West Asia placed inside (in) an anagram (rebuilt) of most of the letters (almost) of IRA[N] takes to the definition of a country in central and southeastern Europe
13a I’m leaving gold-plated cube in a casino? (5)
ADIEU: The definition of an exclamation meaning “I’m leaving” or used to express farewell or to signify that one is departing or leaving is arrived at from DIE (cube in a casino) as a small, six-sided object, usually seen in a casino and used to generate random outcomes in gambling games, that is gold-plated i.e. covered (plated) with AU (gold) as the chemical symbol for gold
15a Offering here (7)
PRESENT: Double definition; the second denoting here or the present moment, as in being in a particular place or existing in the current time that guides to the first meaning an offering, gift, presentation or something that is bestowed freely or made to a deity as an act of religious service
17a Muscle I nearly forgot seen after blink of an eye (7)
TRICEPS: The definition of a muscle with three separately arising heads, especially the muscle at the back of the upper arm that straightens the elbow is arrived at from PS (I nearly forgot) as the abbreviation ‘post scriptum’, the Latin phrase meaning postscript, used by a writer of a text or email to introduce an additional message, as if to mean ‘Oh! I almost forgot!’ coming after or preceded by (seen after) TRICE (blink of an eye) as a very short time or a split second i.e. the time it takes the eye to blink as in the idiom ‘in a trice’ denoting ‘in the blink of an eye’
19a Journey of self-publicist took in new pier (3-4)
EGO-TRIP: The definition of a noun denoting the journey of a self-publicist or an activity or period of time a person spends acting in a way that boosts their own self-image and showcases to others how important, powerful or talented they think they are is obtained from GOT (took) as a verb in the past tense denoting took or received e.g. ‘He took the first prize’ i.e. ‘He got the first prize’ placed inside (in) an anagram (new) of PIER
21a Fantasy fruit satisfied, guzzling unspecified number (7)
FIGMENT: The definition of a noun denoting a fantasy, fiction or illusion is obtained from FIG (fruit) as the sweet, hollow, pear-shaped fruit of various trees and shrubs of the genus Ficus, especially Ficus carica followed by MET (satisfied) as a verb in the past tense meaning satisfied, fulfilled or filled a want or need taking inside (guzzling) N (unspecified number) as a variable, unknown or yet to be ascertained quantity or factor as used in mathematics, especially in algebra
22a Trap feline, cheetah gutted (5)
CATCH: The definition of a verb meaning to trap, ensnare or trammel is reached from CAT (feline) as a domesticated feline mammal that typically has soft fur and lacks the ability to roar followed by the outermost letters of C[HEETA]H after its inner letters are emptied out (gutted)
24a Curious piece, cheesy fare (7)
RAREBIT: A charade of RARE (curious) as an adjective meaning curious, unusual or strange and BIT (piece) as a noun denoting a small piece or fragment guides to the definition of a dish consisting of a savory sauce made from melted cheese, usually mixed with ale and beer and poured over toasted bread that is obviously a cheesy fare
27a Finished work of crossword writer, painful (9)
UPSETTING: A charade of UP (finished) as an adverb meaning finished or over and SETTING (work of crossword writer) as a noun denoting the act or work of a crossword composer who sets puzzles guides to the definition of an adjective meaning painful, distressing or disturbing
28a Racket, one breaking schnozzle! (5)
NOISE: The definition of a sound that is loud, unpleasant, unexpected or undesired, an example of which is a racket i.e. a loud and disturbing noise is got from I (one) as the Roman numeral for one getting inside or splitting (breaking) NOSE (schnozzle) as the part of the face that contains the nostrils and organs of smell and that functions as a passageway for air in respiration, an example of which is a schnozzle i.e. a slang US word for the nose
29a Youth coming through gate enters (4)
TEEN: The definition of a youth or a young person, usually between the ages of 13 and 19 is part of or hidden inside (coming through) [GA]TE EN[TERS]
30a Great job, beneficial (4,3,3)
GOOD FOR YOU: Double definition; the second denoting beneficial, salubrious or promoting health e.g. ‘Eating vegetables is good for you’ that directs to the first denoting an encouraging exclamation or phrase of praise directed at someone who has accomplished something e.g. ‘Good for you! You did it!’
Down
1d Lift sailor (4)
JACK: Double definition; the second being a noun referring a nautical term for a sailor, tar or mariner that guides to the first a verb denoting to lift with a usually portable device meant for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw or hydraulic press
2d Powerful fighter in Peru stumbling into wild horse (9)
SUPERHERO: The definition of any of various comic-book heroes with supernormal or superhuman powers is reached from an anagram (stumbling) of PERU placed inside (into) an anagram (wild) of HORSE
3d Expression I had attributed to Douglas’s isle (5)
IDIOM: The definition of a distinctive expression whose meaning is not determinable from the meanings of the individual words is got from I’D (I had) as as a contraction for ‘I had’ or ‘I would’ having alongside (attributed to) IOM (Douglas’s isle) as the abbreviation for Isle of Man that is having Douglas as the capital city
4d Heavy fruit clown dropped on head (7)
COCONUT: The definition of a large hard-shelled oval fruit or nut with a fibrous husk containing thick white meat surrounding a central cavity filled with fluid or milk when fresh is reached from a charade involving COCO (clown) as referring to the famous, iconic circus performer, Coco the Clown, whose real name was Nicolai Poliakoff, placed above in the down clue (dropped on) NUT (head) as a slang term for the human head
5d Ales drunk by worker showing what stops a leak (7)
SEALANT: An anagram (drunk) of ALES having alongside (by) ANT (worker) as a social insect working together in groups directs to the definition of any of a number of substances used for stopping leaks, waterproofing wood etc
7d All together, they use the thumb index first of all (5)
TUTTI: The definition of an Italian word meaning everyone or all together is arrived at from the first or initial letters (first of all) of T[HEY] U[SE] T[HE] T[HUMB] I[NDEX]
8d Bonus for each is brought in fairly (10)
PERQUISITE: The definition of a noun denoting a bonus or a payment, profit or benefit in addition to a regular wage or salary, especially when due or expected is arrived at from PER (each) as an informal term for an adverb meaning each or for each one followed by IS from the clue seen inside (in) QUITE (fairly) as an adverb meaning fairly, rather or reasonably
11d Sensational, a parent with pizzazz (7)
AMAZING: The definition of an adjective meaning sensational, overwhelming or impressive is obtained from A from the clue, MA (parent) as a childish contraction for mamma or mother who is the female parent of a child and (with) ZING (pizzazz) as denoting pizzazz or the activeness of an energetic personality
14d Nobility high-bred, by the sound of it? (5,5)
UPPER CRUST: The definition of the highest social class or aristocracy (nobility) is reached from UPPER (high) as an adjective denoting high or being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension e.g. upper floor or high floor followed by a near homophone or sound-alike (by the sound of it) of CROSSED (bred) as bred by crossing, intermixing or mating different varieties or strains
16d Hates leading pair in romantic novel in Audible range (7)
EARSHOT: An anagram (novel) of a combination of HATES and the first two letters (leading pair) in RO[MANTIC] guides to the definition of the range of audibility or that within which sound can be heard by the unaided ear
18d Thrill, one having departed city, relief surprisingly (9)
ELECTRIFY: The definition of a verb meaning to thrill, startle greatly or incite intensely is arrived at from I (one) as the Roman numeral for one having left (departed) an anagram (surprisingly) of C[I]TY, RELIEF
20d Building’s entrance left with image that’s slightly lacking (7)
PORTICO: The definition of a noun denoting a porch or covered entrance to a building is reached from PORT (left) as the larboard or left side of a ship or as an adjective meaning left and (with) ICO[N] (image) as an image or representation that’s lacking or devoid of only its last letter (slightly lacking)
21d Got angry after 50 per cent reduction in food, and sought edibles (7)
FORAGED: RAGED (got angry) as a verb meaning got very angry or felt intense anger preceded by or coming after (after) half the number of letters (50 per cent) that is subject to removal (reduction) in FO[OD] that takes to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning searched for a particular food or foods, often in the wild i.e. sought edibles
23d Discernment in head of state visiting gallery (5)
TASTE: The definition of a noun denoting discernment or the act or process of exhibiting keen insight and good judgment is reached from the head or the topmost letter in the down clue (head) of S[TATE] going inside (visiting) TATE (gallery) as an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries in the United Kingdom’s national collection of British art and international modern and contemporary art
25d Working on big house (5)
BINGO: An anagram (working) of ON BIG guides to the definition of a gambling game in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller and the first person to successfully cover all numbers shouts ‘Bingo!’ or ‘House!’ and the caller verifies their card
26d List of options from e.g. Queens University (4)
MENU: The definition of a list of options available to a user, as displayed on a computer or a television screen or a printed, digital or written list showing the dishes and beverages a customer can order at a café, bar or restaurant is reached from a charade MEN (e.g. Queens) as the plural of a piece used in playing chess, draughts etc and ‘queens’ as the most powerful major pieces on the board is an example of such pieces or chessmen and U (University) as the abbreviation for university
There were many clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 1a, 9a, 13a, 15a, 17a, 27a, 3d, 8d, 14d, 20d and 25d; 13a being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to Dada for the entertainment. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.