Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3254 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winterpeg. Well, the meteorologists may think that Spring started on Friday but it seems that Mother Nature is going to keep reminding us that it is still Winter until the Vernal Equinox occurs overnight on March 19th/20th. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had an Alberta Clipper with around 10 cms of snow and temperatures of minus 20, felt like minus 32. And, starting yesterday evening, courtesy of a Montana Low, we are forecast to receive a minimum of 10 cms of snow by tomorrow morning.
For me, and I stress for me, Dada not quite so friendly but only five anagrams (one partial), two lurkers, one homophone , and four long ‘uns all in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Candidates for favourite – 13a, 15a, 25a, 4d, 5d, and 24d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
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
8a Stop question and answer (4)
A three letter interrogative pronoun (question – to establish what person) and the single letter for Answer.
11a Bird hurting where wings clipped (6)
A synonym of hurting (from a sting?) with the outer letters removed (where wings clipped).
13a Rule the roost — taking strides to do it? (4,3,8)
A double definition(?) – the second requires the translation of the slang term (esp Aust) strides into the King’s English.
17a Space to get angry after ending of negotiations (7)
TO from the clue and a synonym of get angry all placed after the last letter (ending) of negotiationS.
20a Be with ministers, pray desperately for Church governance (15)
An anagram (desperately) of BE and (with) MINISTERS, PRAY.
23a Minimum on head, still bald! (8)
The first letter (minimum on) of Head and a synonym of still (in relation to the atmosphere?)
28a Stuck in mail, a telegram yet to arrive (4)
A lurker (stuck in) found in three words in the clue.
Down
1d Expression unravels when spoken? (6)
A homophone of a synonym of unravels (in reference to fabric?).
2d Clerical history exam (8)
A synonym of history and our favourite four letter exam.
3d Francophiles’ yen to develop their own territory? (6,9)
An anagram (to develop) of FRANCOPHILES’ YEN.
5d Things are more complicated as spadework gets tougher? (3,4,8)
How one might describe an area where a spade can be used when it gets harder (tougher) to work?
14d Newspaper in stew when not published! (3)
A type of stew (originally from across the Channel) with a three letter synonym of published deleted (when not) – somewhat clumsy.
18d Bell’s taken on cricket shot, opener (4,4)
A synonym of bell placed before (taken on) a cricket shot (when the ball is hit with a horizontal bat from waist height round onto the leg side) – I am not a cricket expert, but I am good at copying from the BRB.
24d … get rid of last of all — and jump! (4)
A three letter term for get rid of and the last letter of alL.
Quick Crossword Pun:
ELECT + RICK + CATARRH = ELECTRIC GUITAR
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In 1984, I apparently missed the fact that German singer Nena (a.k.a. Gabriele Susanne Kerner) and her eponymous group had a number one hit in the UK, for three weeks starting on March 3rd, with 99 Red Balloons an English version of the Neue Deutsche Welle song 99 Luftballons. To be quite honest, I don’t think I missed much:
For the curious, Neue Deutsche Welle is a genre of (West) German rock music originally derived from post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences.
Late starting today, 20 minutes of ‘Gateway timeout error 504’ before the website started to play nicely, anyone else get this?
Anyway, back to the puzzle, I got just one on the first readthrough, and after that it flowed like treacle from a tin that had been left outside on a frosty night.
Got there in the end though through sheer bloody-mindedness with the spelling of the churchy clue giving a bit of gyp.
I’ll put it down to a wavelength thing with me and the setter today, not his fault or mine, just chalk a cheese I suppose.
Had the same problem with the timeout and resorted to printing out from the new site. I blame that horrible layout for throwing me off kilter and making this more of a struggle than it should have been.
All but 4 for me (8a 17a 18d and 24d) and Senf has very kindly hinted all of them! Cannot make Edna Tale of 16d though. Thanks to Messrs Dada and Senf.
Think of not quite hot with the end off.
🤦🏻♀️ thanks T
No worries, invoice in the post!
Oh, I like Edna Tale!
How did I get to be so old and not come across her?
Me too! Gotta remember ‘er.
Welcome back Dada. After a number of weeks where the Sunday prize would have been a strong candidate for the easiest puzzle of that week we’re back with something that required a head scratch or two & about time too in my view – either that or I was a bit slow on the uptake this morning. Somewhat surprised that our reviewer elected not to provide a hint for 4d as you don’t often see that wordplay device used in the back-pager. 5d&13a were my pick of 4 good long ‘uns & 22d was a super surface however unusually for me it’s a podium, in no particular order, of pesky wee ‘uns with 7,14&24d.
Thanks to D & as ever to S.
Ps The Sunday Toughie is worth a visit for, if nothing else, 8d – COTW for me.
Disagree about Nena, best song of the year in 1984, and she danced like an oiled snake!
Not sure about best, TC, but in my top 10 for 1984, maybe top 5. I had liked the original in German, but when it came out the English-language version went down a storm. She was wonderful, it was a brilliant track (still is) and very much of its time: the cold war was not yet over, the Greenham Common peace camp was still there, I think, and there were plenty of worries – certainly among teens and twenty-somethings – about possible armageddon. 1984 was also the year of “Two Tribes” and I recall a CCF camp up-country somewhere when sirens started going off. For a few moments we thought “Two Tribes” was being played over the army base PA, until they went on rather too long and we realised it was a drill!
Who’s the other nine then?
hmmm, DNF thus far, trouble in the NE cover.
This won’t do, more thinking required…
Oh for heavens sake…..!
I came back to this after a few hours away and could at last make sense of the NE corner.
More importantly I now see why everyone has loved 5D. At long last you can add me to the list of fans.
As Huntsman says this is much more like a prize puzzle after the recent Sunday anagramfests – thanks to Dada and Senf.
Ticks for 8a, 10a, 13a and 14d from me.
First run through was not promising but careful study and starting at the bottom gradually unlocked what proved to be a brilliant puzzle. My favs were definitely 5d and 19d for sheer cleverness. Dadas puzzles are usually well thought through even if sometimes too difficult for me.
Thx to all
***/*****
2.5*/4*. Three quarters of this went in relatively smoothly but the NW corner needed quite a bit of teasing out. It was all good fun with 8a my favourite short answer and 13a my favourite long one.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
My last one in was 19d – despite checking carefully my spelling of 20a, I still managed to put the wrong letter into the space that crossed with 19d!
Thanks to Dada and to Senf – 2*/4* for me.
Dada on top form this morning with a couple of long and well-constructed anagrams to get me started. This was nicely awkward in places, and a good solid test for a SPP. I particularly enjoyed 20a and 24d.
Thanks to the aforementioned and Senf.
Couple of the long anagrams took me a while – not the easy way in those often provide! Two of them made my leader board – 13a & 5d – where they are joined by 8&15a plus 24d.
Thanks to Dada and also to Senf for the hints – particularly the clear parsing of 23a. Rather enjoyed Nena’s red balloons back in the day.
Me too with 23a, I was totally at sea. Now I know, isn’t that clever?
More of a head scratcher for me today but I have finished and feel pleased with myself. The north east was most troublesome for me today and as usual some of the shorter clues took time to work out. The long clues really helped once I worked them out as they were not as obvious as sometimes.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the clear explanations.
That took some teasing out, especially in the NE with 8a my loi. Four clues were key to unlocking the puzzle for me, 11, 12, 23 and 25a. But my cotd was 2d being so clever for its simplicity once the penny dropped. A real Dada workout. Thanks to him and Senf.
I found this quite a challenge that needed perseverance, so a rewarding solve in the end.
I needed the hints to understand the parsing of 23a (not seen that wordplay device before) and to confirm my thinking on 14d, which I too thought was clumsy.
My favourite was 4d was the great surface, novel wordplay and golf reference.
Thanks to Dada and Senf
It was difficult to find a way into this guzzle, one of Dada’s wilier creations things improved once some of the shorter checkers went in. I liked rhe two cryptic definitions at 3a and 29a, thw cryptic definition at5d and the geographical anagram at3d. Thanks to Senf for the hints and to Dada, right on form today.
I really enjoyed this with ticks all over the place. Top picks were 8a, 11a and 5d.
Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Lovely surface in 15a, 19d’s fun and 3d reads briliantly. But 23a’s a belter. Cracking to see Dada on fire again. Many thanks to him and Senf.
I also thoroughly enjoyed this, the sneaky little 24d being last in. I even got the crickety one though I needed Senf to explain why. So much to like, 20 a was a stonker but I don’t think I can chose a favourite- sheer pleasure. I glanced at the toughie over breakfast and it looked a bit daunting. Many thanks to Messrs Dada & Senf.
PS Brian did not complain about the churchy ones!
I enjoyed the three animal clues, especially the fish in the Land of Nod
Nice one, DADA a worthy challenge
It must be difficult to come up with good puns but when they fail they do so in shovels. I cannot think of an accent that would do it justice but someone with a very heavy cold would appreciate it though. Good puzzle with plenty of fine clues.
Thanks to Senf and Dada.
Well this Sunday puzzle from Dada is definitely at the harder end of his spectrum, quirkier, and his thesaurus out and in use!
This is the closest to a toughie as you can get methinks.
3*/3.5* for me today
Favourites include 10a, 13a, 1d, 4d, 19d & 22d — with winner 19d
Smiles from 8a, 13a, 25a & 5d to name just four.
Thanks to Dada & Senf for hints/blog
Cracking puzzle, a proper Sunday back-pager: welcome back, Dada! Very clever anagrams and cryptics for the four long clues, lots of smiles throughout and a good few laugh out loud moments. Littered with ticks afterwards, spoiled for choice to nominate the podium places, so will go for 22d (my penultimate answer appropriately enough, with 24d my LOI), 25a and COTD 5d.
2.5* / 4.5*
Many thanks indeed to Dada, and also to Senf (but you’re quite wrong about the wonderful Nena!)
A very pleasant mental workout. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
As mentioned by Senf in his review and by others in a couple of comments, I initially thought 14d was a bit clumsy. However after giving it some thought, I realized if one replaces both “stew” and “published” in the wordplay with their synonyms, one is left with “XXXYYY when not YYY” and the answer is blindingly obvious.
Difficult in places but enjoyable is our assessment. There were enough straightforward clues to get a foothold. Favourite was 24d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Dada provides some fine Sunday Fare today, I will plump for the crickety 18d too
Thanks to Senf and Dada
If you like a cricket them a sometime visitor (TheVoid TLMB)here has a rather nice one here
Wow that was quite a poser but softly, softly catchee monkey and I made it but with longest delay in SW. Failed to parse still in 23a and though in 10a. Fav 5d with 19d running up. 8a question is a bit broad. Thank you Dada and Senf.
Unlike many above, I would much prefer one of Dada’s more benevolent creations. Getting slapped on the head every Friday is enough for me, and I have been enjoying being able to finish Dada puzzles recently. I am not au fait with Australian slang so needed the hint for 13a, and unusual use of minimum in 23a. COTD to 5d, delightfully cryptic. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Brilliant 13a and more
So, 5d
Found the long
Anagrams hard work.
Certainly a considerable
Challenge
Thanks Dada and Senf.
Well, that was a workout. I’m solo today (no aide) so I’ve got the time to gnaw on this. I was able to get a smattering solved, those gave me checkers which helped with word search and other ehelp. Fortunately, by getting the suffix at 20a and the first word at 3d, the rest of the letters sorted themselves out. I do like anagrams that work out like that. I still don’t get “taking strides” at 13a, if it’s Oz slang, no wonder. I had to visit BD’s “Mine” to find the crickety term at 18d. I can’t choose a fave, so many to like, but I did appreciate the long ‘uns, they opened it up for me.
Thank you Dada, good stuff with some real smilers, and to Senf for unravelling so much! As a dedicated hothouse flower, I don’t understand how you can live with all that cold. Oh dear, I’ve gone on a bit! Sorry!
Best puzzle of the week for me. Or is it the first of a new week? Never mind. I thought there were more clues raising a smile and a nod of appreciation than we’ve seen for a while in one puzzle. Need a big podium with places for the long ones 5d and 13a plus 13,15,23 and 11a (LOI) and 7,18 and 19d.
Thanks Dada – more like this please and of course to Senf
I believe the image of the bird accompanying the hint to 11a is actually the answer to 15a.
This was tough for me and I only got about half of them without the hints from Senf. Even then I needed some electronic help to finish. Perhaps it’s jet lag kicking in as I’m back in the UK for a few weeks. ****/** thanks Dada and especially Senf for explaining several tough ones for me. Like other, I found 5 down my favorite.
I found this too chewy to enjoy. Perhaps I’m not really in the mood today and foreign slang and some iffy synonyms tainted my view of this puzzle. Shame it’s a prize puzzle day as I would have liked to explore 23a. I searched the blog for similar use of the word ‘minimum’, but no-one has discussed it in respect of the examples I found. Then again the other examples of the same use that I came across were all on a Sunday. So they were all prize puzzle days (and as all were post 18 November 2018, I take it all Dada puzzles).
26a. Happy memories of MV Minerva
One of the most enjoyable crosswords I have attempted in ages. Many clues read like a mini-story. Very cleverly written, in my view.
Good puzzle – favorite 5d.