DT 30563 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30563

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 16^th Mar 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Kolkata. A fine Saturday puzzle from NY Doorknob that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback.

I was aware of a few synonyms of ladies’ man, the answer to the clue of 5d and also known as lady’s man, but to enrich my vocabulary, I turned to the net this time to know more about the man who enjoys spending time socially with women, who strives to please them and whom women find attractive. Until now, known or unknown, heard or unheard, I am adding here some of the synonyms which I liked such as Casanova, Prince Charming, Don Juan, seducer, lady-killer, playboy etc. I found that Ladies’ Man is the third novel by Richard Price, the American writer, that was published in 1978 and adapted into a 1989 film Sea of Love. I also found that films based on this name were also made from time to time in the United States. Ladies’ Man is a 1931 pre-Code drama film directed by Lothar Mendes and starring William Powell, Kay Francis and Carole Lombard. Ladies’ Man is a 1947 comedy film directed by William D. Russell and starring Eddie Bracken, Cass Daley, Virginia Welles and Virginia Field. The Ladies Man is a 1961 comedy film directed by Jerry Lewis and starring Jerry Lewis, Helen Traubel and Lynn Ross. Ladies’ Man is a 1980 television sitcom starring Lawrence Pressman. Ladies Man is a 1999 television sitcom starring Alfred Molina. The Ladies Man is a 2000 sex comedy film directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Tim Meadows, Karyn Parsons, Billy Dee Williams and Tiffani Thiessen. Ladies’ Man: A MADE Movie is a 2013 MTV movie starring Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a          So pale, I’m wasted outside hotel in city (11)
MINNEAPOLIS: An anagram (wasted) of SO PALE, I’M placed around (outside) INN (hotel) as a pub or small hotel providing food and accommodation takes to the definition of a city in the state of Minnesota of the United States

7a          Club magazine (7)
ARSENAL: Double nounal definition; the first referring to the commonly known name of an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London; its full name being Arsenal Football Club and the second denoting a place where weapons and military equipment are stored or made

8a          Spooner’s escaped torment? That signals danger! (3,4)
RED FLAG: FLED (escaped) as a verb in the past tense denoting ran away or escaped and RAG (torment) as another verb meaning to torment, provoke or tease as a combination subject to an utterance of spoonerism (Spooner’s) as to utter a verbal error in which a speaker transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect leads to the definition of a flag that serves as a warning signal or a signal of danger

10a        Linger, rather like a sailor? (5)
TARRY: Double definition; the second being an adjective meaning like a tar that is a colloquial term for a sailor that takes to the first a verb meaning to linger in expectation or to wait

11a         Confined prior to Green Street Festival (9)
PENTECOST: PENT (confined) as an adjective meaning shut in or confined placed before (prior to) ECO (Green) as an abbreviation for ‘environmentally conscious practices’ that is a part of the broader term ‘green’ related to ecology and ST (street) as the abbreviation for street leads to the definition of a Christian festival celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter, commemorating the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles

12a         Bore on the Tube? (7)
CALIBRE: A cryptic definition of the internal diameter or bore of or concerning (on) the gun barrel, that is the metal tube of a gun, through which the shot is discharged

14a        That which makes current measures possible? (7)
AMMETER: The definition of an instrument used for measuring electric current in amperes is cryptically made possible from AMPERE-METER or AMP-METER to AM-METER

15a        Song about rogue in rural idyll (7)
ARCADIA: ARIA (song) as a song that is sung by only one person in an opera or oratorio placed around (about) CAD (rogue) as a scoundrel or someone who is morally reprehensible leads to the definition of an image or idea of life in the countryside that is believed to be perfect

18a        Funny at first, prank involves a zealot (7)
FANATIC: The first or leading letter (at first) of F[UNNY] followed by ANTIC (prank) as a playful trick or prank having inside (involves) A from the clue guides to the definition of a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause

20a        With Indian dish, case for ordering cold water? (6,3)
BALTIC SEA: With BALTI (Indian dish) as a type of curry served in a thin pressed-steel wok called a ‘balti bowl’ followed by an anagram (for ordering) of CASE takes to the definition of a body of water in the cold region of northern Europe, bounded by Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany

21a        Dramatisation about a violin-maker (5)
AMATI: Part of or hidden inside (about) [DR]AMATI[SATION] guides to the definition of a member of the Amati family of Cremona who made a violin or cello

22a        Martini at last included in list for revel (7)
ROISTER: The last or terminal letter (at last) of [MARTIN]I placed inside (included in) ROSTER (list) as a list giving the order in which a duty is to be performed takes to the definition of a verb meaning to engage in boisterous merrymaking or to revel noisily

23a        Merseyside port good for pirate (7)
BOOTLEG: A charade of BOOTLE (Merseyside port) as part of the Mersey Docks and now promoted as Port of Liverpool and G (good) as the abbreviation for good leads to the definition of a verb meaning to make, distribute or sell a recording illegally

24a        Riverside communities want deanery demolished (4,3,4)
TYNE AND WEAR: The definition of a ceremonial county in North East England named after its most notable geographical features of River Tyne and River Wear is arrived at from an anagram (demolished) of WANT DEANERY

Down

1d          Fog with beginnings of rain and light wind (7)
MISTRAL: MIST (fog) as a thin fog resulting from condensation in the air near the earth’s surface followed by (with) the starting or first letters (beginnings) of R[AIN] A[ND] L[IGHT] takes to the definition of a strong, cold north-westerly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter

2d          Governess using three names to describe a year (5)
NANNY: The definition of a person, in particular a woman, employed to look after a child in its own home is arrived at from NNN (three names) as representing three names, where each N serves as the abbreviation for name to move inside (describe) A from the clue and followed by Y (year) as the abbreviation for year

3d          Cuts in central Greece producing blackout (7)
ECLIPSE: CLIPS (cuts) as the plural of a short sequence taken from a film or broadcast placed inside (in) the innermost or middle letters (central) of [GR]EE[CE] yields the definition of a temporary or permanent dimming or cutting off of light, for example, a blackout that is a cut-off of electric power, especially as a result of shortage

4d          Country under Portugal has endless fish! (7)
PIRANHA: IRAN (country) as a mountainous, arid and ethnically diverse country located at the crossroads of West, Central and South Asia placed below (under) P (Portugal) as the IVR Code for Portugal in the down clue followed by HA[S] that is devoid of its end or terminal letter (endless) leads to the definition of a deep-bodied South American freshwater fish that typically lives in shoals and has very sharp teeth that are used to tear flesh from prey

5d          Distress in a damsel? Here’s seducer! (6,3)
LADIES’ MAN: An anagram (distress) of IN A DAMSEL takes to the definition of a seducer, a lady-killer or a man who strives especially to please women and to attract their attention and admiration

6d          Shop to have nothing left on shelves? (4,3)
SELL OUT: Double definition; the second meaning to dispose entirely of something so as to have no more of that thing left on shelves that takes to the first meaning to shop or to give information that compromises others

7d          Echo stops lively chat with barmen in small room (11)
ANTECHAMBER: E (Echo) as the letter represented by Echo in the NATO phonetic alphabet interrupts or gets inside (stops) an anagram (lively) of CHAT and (with) BARMEN, taking to the definition of a small room leading to a main one

9d          Start making jokes — or omelettes? (3,8)
GET CRACKING: Double idiomatic definition; the first denoting to start making jokes and the second referring to start breaking egg shells so as to make omelettes, for example; the clue being expanded to denote separately ‘Start making jokes – or start making omelettes?’

13d        Bishop surprisingly dominant in game (9)
BADMINTON: B (bishop) as the abbreviation for bishop in chess notation followed by an anagram (surprisingly) of DOMINANT takes to the definition of a game with rackets in which a shuttlecock is hit back and forth across a net

16d        Ancient Briton embracing student is in bower? (7)
CELLIST: CELT (ancient Briton) as a person of Irish, Highland Scottish, Manx, Welsh or Cornish who lived in ancient Britain enveloping or taking in (embracing) a combo of L (student) as appearing in an L-plate denoting a learner driver and IS from the clue guides to the definition of a person who plays a cello that is a bowed string instrument of the violin family.

17d        Ace trip ending prematurely in America’s nation (7)
AUSTRIA: A (ace) as the abbreviation for ace followed by most of the letters or without the ending letter (ending prematurely) of TRI[P] placed inside (in) USA (America) as the abbreviation for United States (of America) produces the definition of a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps

18d        Lorry with platform where one might live and sleep? (7)
FLATBED: The definition of a truck or trailer that has a body which is shaped like a platform or shallow box is arrived at from a charade of FLAT (where one might live) as a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor of a building and BED (where one might sleep) as a piece of furniture for sleep or rest, typically a framework with a mattress; where one might live and sleep being taken separately as where one might live and where one might sleep

19d        Two-wheeled cart seen behind tower? (7)
TRAILER: A cryptic definition of a road vehicle, usually two-wheeled, towed or dragged by a motor vehicle and especially used for transporting boats etc

21d        Make good your sins an hour after midday? (5)
ATONE: AT ONE (an hour after midday) as representing one o’clock in the afternoon or 1.00 P.M. takes to the definition of a verb meaning to make amends or reparation or to make good one’s sins

Some of the clues that I liked in this puzzle were 1a, 11a, 20a, 23a, 24a, 3d, 4d, 9d, 16d and 21d; 9d being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NY Doorknob for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.