Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3393 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where we now have ‘vertical time zones.’ Our Southern neighbours ‘fell back’ at zero dark thirty but Manitoba Westwards to British Columbia, and NW Ontario did not (the rest of Ontario and Eastwards to Newfoundland did). So, as well as getting used to distances in kilometres, speeds in km/hr, and gasoline in litres, anyone coming North over the 49th parallel into Manitoba will have to adjust their time pieces by one hour (until they ‘spring forward’ next year). It will be interesting to see if laptops, mobile phones, etc are au fait with the changes and conformed to the new requirements.
For me, and I stress for me,© – Dada friendlier than he was last week with six anagrams (three partials), one lurker (not hinted, so don’t forget the ‘if all else fails look for . . .’), and two homophones, all in a slightly asymmetric 27 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, all BRB verified where necessary, you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand! You might even need your favourite e-search ‘assistant’!
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Candidates for favourite – 12a, 13a, 22a, 3d, 15d, and an HM for the Pun.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
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.
Some hints follow:
Across
1 Reportedly, American restaurant cut generator (6)
A two part homophone (reportedly) – the first part is of a type of American restaurant and the second is of a synonym of cut as shown below.
8 Haitian periodically ignored Nick, if pushed (2,1,5)
Alternate letters(periodically – I’ll let you decide if it’s odds or evens) and a verbal synonym of nick.
12 Fetter after strike, falling apart (10)
A synonym of fetter placed after a synonym of strike (with a vehicle?).
16 Transport peculiar pistol in jumper (12)
A type of transport (that is being re-introduced to many cities) and an anagram (peculiar) of PISTOL IN.
20 Old driver in comfort, stifling a laugh (10)
A synonym of comfort containing (stifling) all of A from the clue and nounal synonym of laugh.
22 Shocking word stops child as well (2,4)
A word that might shock (that you might have heard last night) inserted into (stops) a three letter synonym of child.
25 Single person on street, daughter out of it (6)
A three letter term for single person placed after (on) the abbreviated form of street and followed by the single letter for Daughter.
Down
1 Lad, teen and I edited text over article (8)
An anagram (edited) of LAD, TEEN and I.
3 Ruler, metre over vault (7)
The single letter for Metre, and synonyms of over and vault.
6 Approach family smuggling ecstasy – and confess (4,5)
A verbal synonym of approach and a synonym of family (from North of the border?) containing (smuggling) the single letter for Ecstasy (as a recreational pharmaceutical?).
9 Man with pie and mash soon stuffed! (4,7)
An anagram (stuffed – not in the list of 1400+) of PIE and MASH SOON.
15 Flower I had placed under old rock in space (8)
A flower (with its name derived from the Greek for star) followed by the contracted form of I had placed after (under) the single letter for Old.
17 A job north of Lancashire vacant for evangelist (7)
A from the clue, a synonym of job, placed before (north of – It’s a down clue!) LancashirE with the interior letters removed (vacant).
21 Tough back on ship (5)
A straightforward (well, I think so) double definition.
Quick Crossword Pun:
COOK + KOOK + LOCK = CUCKOO CLOCK
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I can’t find any memorable birthdays or number ones so it’s back to one of my favourites. The last track, written by Mark Knopfler, on his and Chet Atkins’s Neck and Neck album. I couldn’t find an ‘action’ video but that should not detract from enjoying the audio:
A fairly benign Dada today and very enjoyable for a grey Sunday morning. I enjoyed 5d but it misses out on a podium place to 12a, 23a and 19d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
2*/4*. Good fun with 19d my favourite and a special mention for 12a, which is a lovely word.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
A very gentle and enjoyable puzzle today.
Top choices for me were 10a, 13a, and 20a.
I also ticked 23a and 25a; only because I like it when setters follow the expected convention that ‘on’ in an across clue means A on B = BA.
Some setters have a different view….
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
Today’s offering deserves all of the plaudits awarded to yesterday’s challenge without the reservations expressed by those who weren’t fans of the linked clue.
I fought 19D and 22A valiantly until they finally surrendered, I was determined that I wasn’t going to record a DNF. I suspect my problem with 19D will be shared with others as there is a such an obvious synonym for the first definition it clouded my search for the second. For 22A, I had the correct word for child but the answer held out for an age. COTD award to 5D which for me seemed to have elements of double usage of elements of the clue. Thanks to XXX for the hints and to the compiler.
Thai corner.
My apologies to Frankiemillwall who I now recognise was the first Andy Capp fan on the blog to declare himself on a previous day’s blog on which I dedicated a scan of the Bangkok post cartoon to Alfiepops. To make amends here is a full colour scan of today’s clip from today’s Bangkok Post 8 page cartoon supplement.
My apologies to Senf for the XXXX
Mild and pleasing for a dull Sunday with my favourite being the stuffed pie at 9d. I think ‘stuffed’ is quite a good AI so should be included with the 1400+.
I’ll add 1a and 19d, which was LOI, to my podium.
Very many thanks to Dada and Senf.
2*/3*
A fair enough challenge from Dada that didn’t cause too many issues.
I’m actually okay with ‘stuffed’ as an AI because I took it to mean ‘in trouble’.
My picks are 16a and 17d along with the aforementioned 9d.
MTTTA and S.
2*/3*