DT 30435 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30435

by Shabbo  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30,435
Hints and tips by Shabbo

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

Back from my trip to Marseille for the rugby with my faculties still fully intact, although you can be the judge of that once you have read the hints!

A lovely puzzle with some very elegant clues – I will not play “Guess the Setter”, as I have some inside information. I got off to a fast start and then slowed to a steady solve with many smiles along the way. The elegance of the clues became even more apparent as I wrote the hints. Really good stuff. Some knowledge of popular music and sitcoms is required, but the answers in both instances are accessible via the wordplay. My last two in were the pair in the SW corner.

In my blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined and anagrams are CAPITALISED. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.

Across Clues

1a Strike engulfing university provided opportunity finally for Grace (8)
BEAUTIFY: a word for strike outside (engulfing) an abbreviation for university + the usual synonym for provided + the last letter (finally) of opportunity. Add that lot together and you get a perhaps lesser known definition of grace. Note that the setter is entitled to add a false capital letter (as in Grace), but he can’t remove one that should be there.

5a Friends role some egomaniac in Omaha rejected? (6)
MONICA: a little knowledge of an American sitcom is required here. I am not familiar with the programme, but the cluing is very fair. We are looking for a hidden word (some) backwards (rejected) within words 4, 5 & 6.


9a Hat turned round actor Timothy wore ultimately (9)
SOUWESTER: a synonym for turned (think food) outside (round) the surname of an actor called Timothy + the last letter (ultimately) of wore.

11a German product son pawns (5)
HOCKS: a German wine + abbreviation for son.

12a Bookie’s client now recovered from illness (6)
BETTER: double definition.

13d Loaded waste differently at first (8)
AFFLUENT: take a synonym for waste and change the initial letter (differently at first).

15a Bird eagle can rob so cunningly (8-5)
BARNACLE GOOSE: anagram (cunningly) of EAGLE CAN ROB SO. I have been in Islay when 35,000 of these birds arrive to graze on what’s left of the farmer’s crop. You may have recently seen the brilliant footage on BBC’s Wild Isles of white-tailed eagles actually hunting these birds!


18a Agitated dreading test, I went to pieces (13)
DISINTEGRATED: anagram (agitated) of DREADING TEST I.

22a Excited in anticipation of something 12 will have? (8)
AFLUTTER: solve 12a and you will find something that he or she is likely to have.

23a Left many heading west over river for walk (6)
STROLL: an abbreviation for left + a synonym for many, turn them both around (heading west) and put them outside (over) the abbreviation for river.

26a Variety of peeled fruits … (5)
RANGE: take some items of fruit and remove the first and last letters (peeled)

27a … fruit that’s brown and green cultivated across Italy (9)
TANGERINE: we are, of course, supposed to think of olives here, but we are looking for another fruit altogether. A synonym for brown + an anagram (cultivated) of GREEN outside (across) the abbreviation for Italy. Brilliant!

28a Swimmer needs time during dependency treatment to reflect (6)
BATHER: take the abbreviation for time and put it inside (during) a synonym for “dependency treatment”, then turn the whole lot round (to reflect).

29a Telegraph piece unread by its subject? (8)
OBITUARY: a clever cryptic definition. Flick or scroll through today’s DT until you reach this section.


Down Clues

1d Animal hubby’s trained to eat bran regularly … (8)
BUSHBABY: an anagram of HUBBYS outside (to eat) every other letter (regularly) of bran.

2d … notice last month becoming fully grown (5)
ADULT: an abbreviation for notice or advertisement + an abbreviation meaning “last month”, a rare bird seen only in old business letters and crossword puzzles!

3d A little concert here, Saturday in May perhaps (7)
THERESA: hidden word inside (a little) words 3, 4 & 5.

4d Chance of charity event being broadcast (4)
FATE: homophone (being broadcast) of a charity event. Note that our clever setter was careful where he or she (sorry, I still can’t use “they”) put the homophone indicator so that there was no doubt which part is the definition. Putting it in the middle of the clue could make both options valid answers.

6d Play the cello, leaving church after orchestra’s leader (7)
OTHELLO: remove a two-letter abbreviation for church from “the cello” and put what’s left after the first letter (leader) of orchestra. Neat.

7d Current Pope, harsh? (9)
INCLEMENT: a synonym for current (think fashion) + a papal name, of which there have been 14, according to Mr Google.

8d Agrees to dispose of new property (6)
ASSETS: take a synonym for agrees and delete (dispose of) the usual abbreviation for new.

10d Endlessly deny describing good Europeans as asylum seekers (8)
REFUGEES: a synonym for deny without the final letter (endlessly) outside (describing) the abbreviations for good (once) and European (twice).

14d Singer James is in France, getting most outspoken (8)
BLUNTEST: some knowledge of popular music is required here and, despite being labelled as a dinosaur by my kids, I actually knew this! Take a singer called James and add the word for “is” in French.

16d Mars employee’s start in factory, succeeding Ruby, say (3,6)
RED PLANET: take the first letter (start) of employee and stick it inside a synonym for factory. The result then needs to follow (succeeding) a synonym for ruby. Again, the capitalisation of ruby can be ignored.

17d Lady true about reason for divorce (8)
ADULTERY: an anagram of LADY TRUE.

19d Expression of defiance from drunk present (2,5)
SO THERE: a synonym for drunk (a noun) + a synonym for present.

20d Give ground shelter (7)
RETREAT: a double definition.

21d Unknown flier briefly seen crossing area in capital (6)
ZAGREB: my last one in. Take one of the three regular crossword abbreviations for unknown + a bird without the final letter (briefly) outside (crossing) an abbreviation for area to reveal a European capital city.

24d Board requiring agreement from both Paris and Munich (5)
OUIJA: a bit of a chestnut (I confess to having used it myself) but well worthy of repetition. Take the French and German words meaning yes and join them together.


25d Upside-down cakes and squash (4)
SNUB: we are supposed to read the first three words together, but here “upside-down” is indicating a reversal (note it is a down clue). Take a word meaning cakes and turn it around.


Quickie Pun: LACK + SETTEE = LAXITY

73 comments on “DT 30435”

  1. Very enjoyable! Good mixture of clues and difficulty with some contemporary references, what’s not to like.
    I particularly enjoyed 10a (turned round, very smart) 26&29a plus 19d but my favourite was the excellent 22a.
    Many thanks to the setter and Shabbo.

    Ps Beam Toughie is great fun and not much more difficult than the average Ray T, his alter ego.

    1. I’d like to echo Stephen’s recommendation of the Beam Toughie – it’s an excellent, amusing, and accessible puzzle.

  2. Worked my way through this excellent puzzle until I ground to a halt in the SW with 21d and 28a. Finally got there without having to wait for the hints. Some other tricky ones but we are nearing the end of the week.

    29a might not be applicable to Samuel Clemens who was in London at the time.

    Favourites 29a, 6d and 16d.

    Weather absolutely foul here but I think it is worse further south in Orameringue’s area.

    Thanks to the setter for the challenge and Shabbo.

    1. It’s pretty bad here…..at present I would still go out if I had to, but it is definitely getting worse all the time.

  3. Thoroughly enjoyed this from beginning to end although I had quite a few bung ins which I managed to parse after I had finished. LOI was 3d. I could hear MP in my ear saying look for a lurker when all else fails! 28a my COTD, really clever and getting the first letter helped to see 21d. I took a cracking photo of a tiny goldcrest that just sat on our patio for over an hour yesterday. I WhatsApped the village group to ask what I should do as the wind kept making it topple over. I was told to leave it alone as it had probably migrated across the North Sea and was exhausted – such a wee thing for so long a flight. It finally managed to fly to a branch 4ft off the ground where it remained for a couple of hours before flying off. Result. Anyway, thanks to the setter for this fab puzzle and to Shabbo. Have only watched ten minutes of Friends which I thought was perfectly dreadful but I’m obviously in the minority.

  4. Very enjoyable, if a little heavy on the GK, but all very fairly clued. Only hold up, and that not for long, was in the SW corner. Favourite today was 1a, with 7d, 19d and 24d close contenders. Thanks to the setter for the enjoyment and Shabbo for the comprehensive and informative blog.
    ( Shabbo, you need to amend the second word of the quickie pun.)

    2. Much the same as Mhids here, I was a little bemused by having to know characters, actors, and singers in the top half, and the SW had the two trickiest IMO but on the whole a relatively easy Thursday
      I did like 29a as it brought to mind the late great Dave Swarbrick who actually got to read his in the Telegraph when his death was announced prematurely He said at the time
      “It’s not the first time I’ve died in Coventry”

      1. I was once at a school OGA reunion. The chair was giving her annual report when an old lady at the back had her hand up, then started waving furiously. The speaker was clearly annoyed by the interruption as she was announcing sad deaths and saying how much Miss Ethel Richards, a former pupil and teacher would be missed. “But I am Ethel Richards!” came the cry from the back

  5. A ‘guess the setter on not a Ray T Thursday’ but not too difficult to make that guess, two half-crowns on his most frequent substitute – **/****

    It would have been ***** for enjoyment but a * was lost as I am beginning to think that ‘actor Timothy’ and ‘singer James’ clues are almost as bad as, perhaps worse than, ‘guess a girl’ and we have two in one puzzle! I also thought that 26a was a little weak relying on a plural for ‘the peeling.’

    The non-fish, for a change, 28a ‘swimmer’ got a big smile.

    Candidates for favourite – 23a, 28a, 29a, and 16d – and the winner is 29a.

    Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if my five bob goes down the drain, and thanks to Shabbo.

    1. Hi Senf,

      Regarding your deduction of one star for enjoyment, I have to say that I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that “actor Timothy” might be as bad, if not worse than “name a boy” etc (RD’s bete noire, well one of them anyway!). .

      When composing the clue, I struggled to think of more than four actors in total with that first name, apart from Prunella Scales’s husband there are Messrs Dalton, Spall and Hutton, but no others came to mind. So I can’t really see how picking one from a selection of four could be more challenging than finding any boy’s (or girl’s) name. Perhaps it’s just the case that, if you know the GK involved it’s fair, but if you don’t know the GK, then it’s unfair?

          1. West was the first one to spring to my mind. Perhaps not so for our friends from other countries but then the DT is as British as they come

      2. Six if you include Tim Bentinck aka David Archer. To be fair I couldn’t fit his name into the grid.

    2. Thanks for responding Silvanus. Yes, it’s all down to the GK. I did manage to drag the ‘real life’ husband of Sybil Fawlty from memory. But, I had never heard of or heard ‘Singer James’, and, based on Huntsman’s comment, I haven’t missed much, so I needed some e-help for him.

  6. Tougher than a piece of Aldi topside. Took me ages to get the final two, (21d and 28a) and I only got these by handing the sheet to Mrs TC and hearing her read them aloud, then I twigged immediately. Strange how that sometimes works. Don’t really get the working of 5a so will see the hints. Wonder if the betting reference in 22a is used in other countries, can’t see it somehow. Favourite today was 9a, many thanks to our compiler, good mind twisting stuff.

    1. I find that the answers for ones that I have been stuck on for ages very often come as soon as Mr Meringue sits down beside me to ‘help’. I put in the inverted commas because he is not much good at crosswords and never does them himself. He is always happy to help out, though and of course takes the credit when the answers come to me.
      Strange, though.

  7. Elega t was the right word to descriibe thw clues ib this challenging but fair guzzle. It also exhibited a great breadth of clue types andincorporated General Knowledge, which I really enjoyed. The SW was tricky but in the end 21d was my COTD, a great lego clue, as was 1a as well . There were two cryptic definitions, which also appealed to me, 29a and 22d. Thanks to Shabbo for the hints and to the compiler (Silvanus maybe?) for areally well balanced back paage guzzle.

  8. Like Senf I suspect this is a Silvanus guzzle & a cracker it was too even if it did reference the ex British Army officer singer whose music & risible lyrics I simply cannot abide – there’s a good You Tube of Rob Brydon as Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey singing along to him in the car & driving Gwen potty. At least if it is Mr Smooth we can be sure he’ll pop in & acknowledge. I think it’s a shame that we don’t know for certain who set the excellent back-pagers of the last 2 days & reckon it’d be great if CL spilt the beans at the last knockings when the setter doesn’t drop in. 22a my runaway fav from a host of ticks.
    Thanks to the setter & to Shabbo whose review I’ll now read.
    Ps I thought the Beam Toughie considerably easier than this & more straightforward than the bulk of his Ray T back-pagers but as Stephen says great fun & worth a look.

  9. I found this quite tough, but got there in the end without benefit of hints. Needed Shabbo for the parsing of 9a, though.

    Thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.

    Definitely indoor games today.

  10. Great fun, but tough in places. I was aided by hubby on a couple, amazing how just reading the clue to someone often helps. So many clever clues I think 27a was my favourite but there were many possibilities.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo for explaining a couple of my answers!

  11. Great puzzle. Might argue that you are not 12a if you have 22a and perhaps should see a cardiologist.

    26a and 24d my cotds.

  12. Very enjoyable – thanks to Silvanus (I assume) and Shabbo.
    I’m another ‘no Friends’ person but the 5a wordplay was clear.
    Top clues for me were 13a, 22a and 19d.

  13. Enjoyable puzzle, all rather Monday/Tuesday-ish and completed steadily from N to S until arriving in the SW, where I see I was not alone in coming to a halt with the very clever 21d & 28a – two clues which justified the Thursday appearance and where I spent far too long trying to make ‘detox’ work. Plenty of good clues but will limit HMs to 5a, 3d, 6d & 19d.

    2 / 3

    Many thanks to the setter and to Shabbo.

  14. Looks as though I’ve been treated to another Dream Team day – just what I needed to cheer me up after the sad news about Robert C.
    Rosettes handed out to 9,13&22a plus 3d- which was a novel way to clue the lady who often appears in crosswords. I can picture Timothy wearing a 9a although I think Pru was more often ensuring that he was wearing a sunhat to protect his head on their canal journeys!

    Many thanks to Silvanus and also to Shabbo for the review – pleased to hear that you returned home with your faculties intact!

  15. For me today, this was almost as tough as a RayT puzzle often is, but of course it is his off week today. Got a good start off with the two long across clues. That helped me to get some of the centre of grid going. Last in, as was yesterdays puzzle, the NE.
    Must admit I have seven bung-ins with no idea of the parsing and can’t reverse engineer them. Clues and hints will await me in the morning

    2.5*/3*

    Favourites include 15a, 18a, 27a, 29a, 3d & 24D — with winner 24d

    Thanks to Silvanus(?) & Shabbo for hints/blog

  16. Struggled a bit with a few but got there until 21d stumped me completely. I could see how it was being parsed but couldn’t get the rights words (the bird in particular but the “unknown” too)

  17. Many thanks to Shabbo for his excellent Hints and Tips and to all those commenting.

    I was extremely sad to read the news about Robert C yesterday, thank you to Jane and Merusa for bringing this to our attention. Robert was not only very kind about my puzzles and generous with his praise but it was the erudition, humour and love of language that always shone through with every contribution he made. I never failed to look forward to reading what he had to say about anyone’s puzzle, because I knew it would be balanced, well-phrased and always interesting. I was delighted to discover that Robert’s beloved alma mater, Clemson University, has an Annual Scholarship in English named in his honour, and I hope that current and future students of this institution will be imbued with a love of language and literature in the same way that Robert’s life was enriched by them. I shall never forget this good friend of the Blog, and I am desperately sorry that he has left us. RIP Robert.

  18. I did not log on yesterday so had not heard about Robert. I have been worrying about him and agree with everything Silvanus has said above. I admired his erudition and felt a connection due to the fact that he wrote fondly of my home city Nottingham, where he had been at the University many years ago. He had happy memories of his time here. RIP Robert.

  19. Very enjoyable. Like others got stuck in SW. there are several unknowns and many capitals. When the penny dropped I got the non fishy swimmer but needed the hint to parse. I thought up all sorts of therapeutic interventions. Favourites 13 and 29a and 6 and 24d. Thanks Silvanus and Shabbo.

  20. I’m still reeling rather after the news about Robert so I would like to echo Silvanus’ wonderful tribute above. Such a wonderful description, beautifully written, and very worthy as a summary of lovely Robert, and how important his presence was to so many of us.

    A big shout out to all Telegraph crossword solvers in Greenland who would have been one step ahead in identifying 15a. Teasing aside this was a superb guzzle, with some terrific glues that led one up the garden path but eventually revealed themselves. Like some others above, my last two in were in the extremities of Devon and Cornwall. I was saying “no… no… no” but I realised that I was looking for a swimmer and not reflecting. 21d achieved by guessing and then checking out Shabbo’s parsing afterwards.

    Thanks to Silvanus and Shabba-dabba-doo.

  21. Unfortunately, I needed the hints for 21d and 28a to finish but I found this particularly enjoyable. I particularly liked 22a wash. Favourite was 15a….any clue with ‘goose’ in it is a good one for me (hint) translate my ‘name’ from Spanish.
    Thanks for the puzzle and the hints.

  22. Today is crossword heaven for me, with two contrasting but brilliant 5* puzzles to enjoy.

    I may detest Friends and James Blunt but am only too aware of both, so had no problems at all with either of those two clues.

    I’d like to pick 30 favourites from this fabulous selection but will resist doing so for the sake of Kath’s sanity.

    Many thanks to Silvanus for a masterpiece of a puzzle, and to Shabbo for his review.

  23. I find Silvanus tricky but did quite well today. His clues are always fair; even though I know nothing about Friends, 5a could only be a lurker, then a quick google to confirm. I shamelessly used a crossword solver for 15a, I knew I would never get that on my own, but it helped a lot. I’m not sure 1a is Grace, isn’t that beatify? I suppose it is at a stretch. I DNF with 28a and 21d, but it’s Thursday, you expect to have things a little harder. My tops are 22a and 29a, both giggle worthy.
    Thank you Silvanus for the fun, maybe I’m getting on wavelength? Also appreciate your help Shabbo.

    1. I was also not convinced so I looked it up in my online Chambers.
      Definition 2 for beautify is “grace”.

  24. What a super puzzle. I loved so many of the clues and answers. I had friends coming for lunch so what with tidying and cooking, time was at a premium. Got everything in apart from 22a where I bunged in Allotted. Blame the time constraint. The real answer was a delight. Thank you Silvanus and Shabbo. In most groups I attend both John and I make a contribution in time and effort. I am very aware that lots of work goes on this site and I am a totally passive beneficiary. Am not clever enough to give hints and tips but boy am I grateful for the daily joy of the tussle.

  25. I was on a different planet from everyone else. Would never use 1a to describe Grace, and I would not describe 7d as harsh. Agree with others who disliked use of “actor Timothy” and “singer James”. Bird at 15a was unknown to me, and despite living in the US, I have never seen an episode of Friends. For me the clues were not helpful. So unlike most above, not my cup of tea. Tougher than a Ray T, but it’s Thursday.

  26. Phew! Tricky!
    When I first had a quick read through I had one answer – pretty pathetic and decided this wasn’t going to be my day – ended up with four answers which I couldn’t do and the rest ones were done. Smug!!
    I really enjoyed the whole thing.
    I let myself off when I couldn’t do anything to do with James Blunt or Friends!!
    I particularly liked 9 and 27a and 8 and 19d (I thought that was brilliant!) Can’t quite make up my mind about a favourite – maybe I don’t have to have one!!
    Thanks to Silvanus for the crossword and to Shabbo for the hints.
    I think I’m going to hold on to today’s Beam’s toughie to do when I can’t do tomorrow’s back page crossword . . . .

  27. I completed this top-rated puzzle early this morning and can only agree with those that found it great fun, entertaining and witty. I couldn’t name a James Blunt song thankfully but have heard of him; we did used to watch Friends many years ago so knew the character in the clue. Great fun.

    Thanks to Silvanus and Shabbo.

  28. After two cushy days suppose it was inevitable today would call for more effort and that was indeed the case however there was much enjoyment to be had along the way. 9a only partially parsed, 15a required Mr. Google assistance, drew blank on 28a and 19d which became Fav, could only think of unparsed Madrid for 21d and finally d’oh to 3d (apologies for a plethora of comments!). Thank you Silvanus and Shabbo.

  29. Many thanks to Silvanus for the enjoyable puzzle and Shabbo for the hints. I had never come across the abbreviation for last month in 2D before so that’s one I will have to commit to memory.

    As a relative newcomer to this blog I didn’t know Robert as well as most of you, but he was one contributor I always looked out for in the comments as he displayed such a wealth of knowledge and kindness so I too was very sad to read the news yesterday.

    1. Ult meaning last month and inst meaning this month, were pompous “civil-service-ese” terms used when I was young. Thank goodness they are no longer used and I hope they never come back.

          1. It was used in business letters/faxes, for example: “… scheduled for the 15th prox”. I remember having to use ult, inst and prox when working on a 3 month contract for a (very) old-fashioned family firm in Chapel en le Frith as recently as 2000.

  30. Some lovely clues but the general knowledge of very second rung famous people – Theresa, James, Timothy – was unsatisfying for me.

    1. You’ve used a different alias to your previous one so this required moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

  31. I agree with Silvanus. The correct answers to Timothy and James were the first and only to pop into my head. I appear to be in the minority as I rather like James the singer and both of them are very nice men. I thought this was absolutely an absolutely splendid crossword, best of the week so far. COTD was LOI 22a. Thanks to the aforementioned setter and Shabbo.

  32. I enjoyed this immensely. I’ve not seen Friends at all, and I’ve only vaguely heard of the James. Thanks to setter and Shabbo.

  33. Quite a struggle
    But got there
    Unaided, apart from spelling
    Checks.
    SW delayed completion.
    Every clue deserves a
    Rosette, fab puzzle.
    Thanks, indeed, to the setter and
    Shabbo.

  34. Very late to this today. A dnf for several clues.

    Never heard of the Timothy in 9a. The shows he is known for I actively despise and do not watch. Nothing wrong with the clue, just my ignorance. I had thought of the answer, but didn’t write it in as I couldn’t parse etc.

    28a and 21d defeated me too. Way to late after a long day for my feeble brain.

    Thanks to all.

  35. Excellent crossword in which every clue could be favourite, although I was trying to fit the singer Etta James in 14d until it wouldn’t work.

    Like Jon above, I always looked out for contributions by Robert C and marvelled at the amount of books that he read in such a short period of time. RIP Robert.

    Thanks to Silvanus for the puzzle and Shabbo for the hints.

  36. Sylvanus never ceases to provide us with an excellent puzzle. I found this quite tricky in places but very absorbing: once started impossible to put down!
    I can’t choose a fave from so many fine clues, but I do love 1d and Shabbo’s delightful illustration of it. (As a child, my aunt next door had one as a pet. It was quite tame and would sit with us. Amazing ability to cling to things.)
    Many appreciative thanks to Sylvanus for a most entertaining solve and the same to Shabbo for the excellent review.

  37. Well as usual I’m late to the table – away gigging this weekend in a very sodden land of the castles … however what a puzzle this was! Few went in fast then really struggled then last two in were 21d which is my “never would have got it” forehead slapper was 26a fave was 22a
    An absolutely class set of hints from Shabbo thank you I love the way you write them and couldn’t have survived this otherwise!!!

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