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DT 30648

by Falcon  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30648

Hints and tips by Falcon

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Ottawa, where we have been experiencing a spell of very wet weather which I am hopeful will have come to an end by the end of the day.

This is a puzzle where it pays to start with the down clues. I read through the entire set of across clues and solved only the last one on first pass. However, the down clues filled in rapidly and I completed the puzzle in a fairly quick time overall.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

Across

1a   The exterior part of Brazil, say? (8)
NUTSHELL — cryptic definition of the outer covering of a Brazil or other similar edibles

5a   French writer in drunken stupor (6)
PROUST — an anagram (drunken) of the final word of the clue

9a   Reveal everything, in the main? (6-3)
SKINNY-DIP — cryptic definition of a revealing dip in the sea

11a   Troublesome sports broadcaster (5)
PESKY — the usual abbreviated school sports class and a British broadcaster (that does air sports among other things)

12a   Dorothy, Charlie, Oscar and Mike’s business (6)
DOTCOM — a diminutive for Dorothy followed by three characters from the NATO radio alphabet

13a   E.g. Mo Salah on the ball, warning of an attack (3,5)
RED ALERT — the nickname of the team for which Mo Salah plays and a word meaning ‘on the ball’ or vigilantly attentive

15a   Sin here blocked by one Democrat – Ms Harris? (4-9)
VICE-PRESIDENT — synonyms of sin and here containing a Roman one and the single letter for Democrat

18a   Doctor Watson needs it, having no idea what to do (2,4,4,3)
AT ONE’S WITS END — an anagram (doctor) of the three words following the indicator

22a   Showing imagination etc, I rave frenziedly (8)
CREATIVE — an anagram (frenziedly) of the three words preceding the indicator

23a   Banish Charles’s bride with a lot of charm (6)
DISPEL — King Charles’s first bride and most of a charm cast by a witch

26a   Kiwi eaten by grandma or in-laws (5)
MAORI — a lurker concealed the final three words of the clue

27a   What wine sellers may do somewhere near Manchester (9)
STOCKPORT — split (5,4) the answer describes what wine sellers do to maintain an inventory of one of their products

28a   Look at article and become furious (6)
SEETHE — another word for look at and a grammatical article

29a   We hear Irish playwright tolerated a swine (4,4)
WILD BOAR — sounds like the surname of an Irish playwright and a term meaning tolerated or endured

Down

1d   Devise no reforms for drastic decline (8)
NOSEDIVE — an anagram (reforms) of the first two words of the clue

2d   Colloquially speaking, it isn’t corruption (5)
TAINT — a colloquial way of saying “it isn’t”

3d   What about new supermarket where chicken’s kept? (3-4)
HEN-COOP — link together a reversal of an interjection expressing questioning surprise, the single letter for new, and the brand name of a UK supermarket group

4d   Leader of Labour Party catching United game (4)
LUDO — the initial letter of Labour and the usual two-letter party envelope the single letter for United; methinks this game has been getting much play lately

6d   Stand in for salesman with frilly material (7)
REPLACE — an abbreviated salesman and a delicate decorative fabric

7d   Draw out sun’s heat, heating houses (9)
UNSHEATHE — the group of three words preceding the indicator hides (houses) the answer

8d   Barbie, say, books a car (6)
TOYOTA — concatenate a plaything of which Barbie is an example, an abbreviated set of Biblical books, and the A from the clue

10d   I swerve off after parking trailers (8)
PREVIEWS — an anagram (off) of the first two words of the clue following the street sign symbol for parking

14d   What player does after a let in tennis books (8)
RESERVES — double definition, both verbs

16d   Minder, guy accompanying Queen Elizabeth I (9)
CHAPERONE — string together a guy or fellow, the regnal cipher of either Queen Elizabeth, and the spelled-out version of the Roman numeral I

17d   Great admirer of irate old rogue (8)
IDOLATER — an anagram (rogue) of the two words preceding the indicator

19d   One can’t fly east from Germany with lots of cash (7)
OSTRICH — the German word for east and a word meaning wealthy or ‘with lots of cash’

20d   Conned Edward, nursing neck pain (7)
TRICKED — a three-letter diminutive for Edward containing a wrench or sprain of the neck or other body part

21d   Rascals, oddly, such as those in the House of Commons (6)
SCAMPS — the odd letters of SUCH AS followed by the abbreviated title of elected representatives in the UK and most other Commonweath realms

24d   Still baking inside Post Office (5)
PHOTO — baking or sweltering inside the abbreviation for Post Office

25d   Asian desert, one with marsh to the north (4)
GOBI — a reversal (to the north in a down clue) of a Roman one and a marsh or swamp

I am very partial to cryptic definitions and there are a couple of good ones to choose from in today’s puzzle with 9a edging out 1a as my favourite.

Quickie Pun (Top Row): OWE + VERSE + EAR = OVERSEER

92 comments on “DT 30648”

  1. My rating is 1.5*/4* for a puzzle which was light and I thought was a lot of fun. My podium comprises 9a, 13a & 19d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon.

  2. A light very enjoyable start to the (non-)work week – 1.5*/3.5*

    I wanted to write LINEKER into 11a but, alas, too many letters.

    Candidates for favourite – 13a, 27a, 29a, and 19d – and the winner is 19d.

    Thanks to whomsoever, I have lost track of who the Monday setter might or might not be, and thanks to Falcon.

    2. I had the right answer to 11a but couldn’t see why, so I googled and there’s an American baseball player by that name, he might be a sports broadcaster now.

      1. Surely Merusa, it’s PE (Sport) + Sky (well known TV broadcaster) giving you troublesome i.e. pesky 🤔

  3. The 11a broadcaster was my last one I but otherwise a light start to the week, I concur about 9a as favourite but not in Canada’s weather!
    Thanks to Subbuteo Subbuteo and setter

    1. SJB, you underestimate our weather. Tomorrow it will be 26° C (and feel like 30°). It will be ideal weather for a 9a.

      1. Weather reports from Canada are usually full of snow I wouldn’t want to take my hat off in that never mind everything else! I guess I have been fooled by reports from Winterpeg

  4. I found this a strange mixture of read and write, plus some head-scratching Lego clues.
    It’s a good job that this wasn’t a prize puzzle as I had used the alternative spelling for 17D so the young girl didn’t wave at me until I changed it.

    I’d give it 2*/4*. My favourites were 1A and 9A. Thanks to the setter and Falcon for the hints.

  5. After last night’s drubbing at the hands of Dada this was a nice gentle guzzle to restore some confidence. As the bonce was still sore from a deal of head scratching with that one I was grateful none needed today. 9a my favourite.
    Thanks to the setter & to Falcon.

  6. Stupidly took me far too long to register that 18a was an anagram, otherwise no problems to report. My top two were 23&29a.

    Thanks to our setter and to Falcon for the review.

      2. I was so determined that “clue” was in there somewhere, it took ages to tumble.

  7. Enjoyed this guzzle – no help needed – hooray! 8d last one in despite H and I each owning one. Duh!

    Thanks to the setter and The Bird Of Prey.

  8. A pleasant and gentle way to kick off the cruciverbal week. NW corner slowest to come aboard not helped by my silly failure to simply read the 2d clue which now has to be Fav and 12d was thus a latecomer. 18a took a while too until I realised it had little to do with Dr. Watson! Thank you Dada and Falcon.

  9. Nicely Mondayish. Off to a good start with 1a and 5a, then, like Falcon, on to the down clues. One or two anagrams too many for me, but otherwise a really enjoyable solve with lots of cleverly misleading cryptic clues. Difficult to choose a favourite but I’ll go for 9a with podium places for 8d and 16d. I also liked the anagram at 18a!!! Thanks to our setter and Falcon.

  10. Pleasant and elegant start to the week. Cotd must be the sports presenter. Thanks to compiler and Falcon.

  11. A light and brisk puzzle with pretty much everything one wants to see in an early-week crossword, apart from so many anagrams. Agree entirely with Falcon: by starting with the Downs the whole thing fell into place at a canter. Lots of ticks everywhere, so shall limit to 21d, 9a and 11a.

    1.5 / 4

    Many thanks to the setter and to Falcon

    1. I appreciate that anagrams are something of a pet hate for you Mustafa, but there are six anagrams, which is what Prolixic says he aims for and Chris Lancaster says “most compilers aim for around six per puzzle, although the actual number may be slightly lower or slightly higher than this.” He adds that “Anagrams can also be fun and there are many websites dedicated to listing the best.” Anagrams are normally a good way into a puzzle, so I would imagine that most Monday puzzles would include six. Contrast Friday’s Toughie, which had none and people thought it very difficult. Having checked this month there have been six anagrams every Monday apart from last Monday which had seven if you include partial anagrams as full anagrams. So, I don’t think this is going to change.

      1. Thanks for that info, Mark.

        What are your thoughts on Robyn’s puzzle?

        As you can see below, I loved it.

  12. Perfect Monday puzzle with so many clever clues that it was impossible to pick any favourites.

    Thanks to Falcon and the setter who I hope will reveal themself.

  13. A lovely start to the week.
    Top picks for me were 9a, 29a and 8d.
    Thanks to Falcon and the setter.

  14. A very enjoyable puzzle – thanks to our setter and Falcon.
    The first half of 13a held me up as I got confused between Mo Salah and Mo Farah and couldn’t think what was colourful about the latter.
    Ticks from me for 11a, 28a and 19d with my favourite being 9a.

    1. I had the same confusion with 13a but decided life’s too short to worry about it, wrote in the answer, and moved on to the next!

    2. I also confused the two Mos – I have no idea why. I loved Dr Watson in 18a – a beautiful clue.
      Very straightforward but great fun. Sterner challenges await this week, I suspect.
      Thanks to setter and Falcon.

  15. Brilliant!

    An absolutely perfect crossy to kick off the week’s proceedings. I rarely give full marks on Monday because I get more satisfaction when the grey cells are stretched a tad but I can’t think how it can be improved.

    The fact that solvers have chosen many different clues as their top picks is a sign of an excellent puzzle.

    Let’s go with the outstanding 18a (Nigel Bruce – a legend), 11a and 19d as my podium.

    Many, many thanks to the super setter and Falks.

    1*/5*

  16. I always start with the down glues so I had a really good start to the guzzle today. Thankfully I knew who Mo was, my grandson is a big fan of that team! 11a made me laugh, it describes many of the so called experts. 15a also made me smile. My overall favourite was 27a as I live near there! Thanks to both setter and Falcon.

  17. Monday, Monday, so good to me
    Monday morning was all I hoped it would be.
    Oh Monday morning, Monday morning I can guarantee
    That Monday lunchtime I could well be free.

    Every other day, every other day
    Of the week is fine
    But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
    You can find me smiling all of the time.

      1. The lark is ascending here in Blighty,
        Merusa, but storms are promised in a couple of days and the lark will return to its nest, much as Joe Gargery did.
        Still, our storms don’t compare with yours’ in USA.
        I guess that your pseudonym may be based on your move to that part of the world. I will now set about decoding the rest of your name.

          1. Yup, fave labs – Megan, Rufus, and now the resident Sadie. The first two letters!

  18. A terrific Monday puzzle again this week. Lots of laughs and almost R&W start to finish

    1*/4.5*

    Favourites include 1a, 27a, 2d, 16d & 19d — winner I can’t pick.
    Smiles from lots including 18a, 3d, 14d, 20d & 24d

    Thanks to setter & Falcon for hints/blog

  20. I agree with all of you, good fun and some delicious clues. It’s a big day for me although it seems to have been running for three days. Too much excitement. How nice to sit in the garden catching my breath with a doable guzzle. I like the thought of a 9a at the moment. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Falcon. And here, with todays copy of the DT to show it is not AI, is the birthday splits – still in my yoga gear.

        1. Happy Birthday Daisy, still limber as wver I see ☺️🏃‍♂️ The next Olympics maybe?

    4. Daisy, Daisy can leap like a kangaroo
      She’s half crazy when aha splits herself in two
      She still has a stylish carriage
      Her skills you can’t disparage
      And she looks neat upon her seat
      The pigeons they all go “Coo!”

    6. Happy Birthday, DG! 🎂🌹
      I hope you have a great day and terrific that are still very agile. Puts the rest of us to shame.

      (Er, you did get up, I take it? 😁)

    7. Happiest of happy birthdays with love, Daisy. Well done you, not many of us could do that even 50 years ago!

      1. I don’t normally acknowledge birthdays but my goodness you put us all to shame. Happy birthday DG.

    13. Sorry I’m so late to this: I just looked to see why this puzzle has gathered so many comments, and was delighted to discover why. Happy birthday from me as well, DaisyGirl — hope you had a good day.

  21. A very comfortable
    Solve.
    Many a smile eg
    27a and 3 and 19d.
    All in all, excellent
    Practice.
    Thanks the setter
    And Falcon.

    1. Welcome to the blog, FurFluff.
      As Falcon writes in his hint the answer is contained (housed) in words 3,4 and 5 of the clue. The answer means to draw out or pull out a weapon such as a sword from its cover.

      1. Hi Gazza,
        Thanks for the response. I only started doing cryptics in March, so this blog has been tremendously helpful! I’m still not seeing how ‘sun, heat and heating’ get to ‘unsheathe’. Why is the ‘s’ in ‘sun’ at the end, and why is ‘heat’ cut down to ‘he’? Am I just being really dim, haha? 🤪

        1. Hi FF – forgive me for replying rather than Gazza, but I happened to be here!

          The clue: “Draw out sun’s heat, heating houses (9)”

          The definition element is “Draw Out”, and of the wordplay, “houses” in this clue tells you that you are looking for a lurker (an answer hiding in plain view) within the rest of the text.

          So you are looking for 9 consecutive letters in “sun’s heat, heating” to give you a word meaning “draw out”, and thus you find lurking s[UN’S HEAT, HE]ating

          Lurkers can be great fun to spot, and often elicit a groan when finally found. Indeed very often when you have ruled out all sorts of other clue types, “if in doubt, look for a lurker”. They are usually 4-9 letters or so, but rarely, and with some considerable genius, a setter will clue one with 10-15 letters.

          1. Ohhhh!! Gosh, I feel a bit silly now, as the answer is really obvious. Yes, big groan here! Thanks so much for your help, and have a great day!

  23. What a joy to be able to sit in the garden at long last and complete the DT puzzle. 1a and 5a were straight in, but I really came unstuck with 7d. It was my last in. The penny finally dropped that it was a lurker. Thank you setter and Falcon.

  24. Many thanks to everyone for solving and commenting, and especially to Falcon for the tip-top blog. Many happy returns to Daisygirl – and a great week to one and all!

  25. Wow, that was a load of fun, we’re well due for a little levity! I have so many ticks all over the place, I’m going to have to edit out a few. I loved 25d for memories of a book called “Finding Gobi” (about a dog, natch) which I loved. There were smiles for 1a, 19d and 16d, but fave has to be 9a.
    Thank you setter for lightening up the guzzles for us, and Falcon for his hints and tips, and explanations for some.

  26. What a nice Monday crossword 😃 **/***** so many clever and humorous clues 🤗 Too many to list but amongst them: 9a, 11a, 16d and 19d 👍 Many thanks to the Compiler and to the Falcon

  27. Started with across clues, and then like Falcon I switched to downs. Before that I was having evil thoughts. Then it all began to make sense. Did find it more chewy than yesterday’s Dada, which was right up my street. Horses for courses. I was fixated on the country in 1a. Had 3d right away but forgot about the hyphen when using the second part as a shop, so took a while to make sense. 18a jumped out at me without having to tangle with the anagram. Scraped in at 6 on Wordle. Guess that’s what you get with only 5.5 hours of sleep 😴. Brain still wired from us having to jump through all the hoops to meet deadlines for Peter’s upcoming knee replacement. I regress. Thanks to setter and to Falcon for leading the way.

  28. I came unstuck with this one because of not knowing names – not a clue about first names of politicians and sports people and when it comes to cars I might as well give up . . .
    Apart from that I didn’t find it too difficult.
    I liked 9 and 26a and 1 and 19d. My favourite was 3d – reminded me of the two Ronnies! If anyone hasn’t seen the Two Ronnies crossword skit they should watch it – it makes me laugh every time!
    Thanks to Robyn for the crossword and to Falcon for the hints.

    1. Something , something, something … always worth another view no matter how many times I have seen it!

  29. A great start to the week, lots of fun clues although like others I did better on the downs having no real success on the acrosses initially.
    Too many clever clues to have a favourite.

    Many thanks to Robyn and to Falcon for the hints.

  30. Agree with many that this was a great start to the week. Light but with the right amount of challenge. I was away at the weekend so shorter on time than usual and still 2 clues short of finishing Saturday’s so needed a boost ! Thanks to Robyn and Falcon.

  31. Top marks to the setter. So many great clues, but I’d go with 19D for providing sound advice as well.

  32. This turned out to be a DNF for me because, for some obscure reason, I put “Pushy” in 11a. Other than that, it was a delightful guzzle and just right for the start of the cruciverbal week. I have no interest in football whatsoever so I had no idea who Mo Salah was nor the team he plays for. Even if I did know the team, I would not know the nickname. Therefore, 13a was a total bung in – thank goodness for checkers. My COTD was Barbie booking a car at 8d.

    Thank you, Robyn for a fun challenge. Thank you, Falcon for the hints.

  33. I didn’t get on with the NE corner of this dnf.

    11a was annoying because in the Chambers thesaurus, the answer isn’t under troublesome but then troublesome is listed under the answer.

    7d I missed was a lurker and 8d was not one I would ever have solved without the checker for 11a

    13a took me ages as I was thinking of the wrong Mo. The correct Mo is one of the few footballists I have heard of.

    Thanks to all.

    PS. Anyone else still having to manually type in their name and email every time?

    1. We are all having to type our names in manually at present, Bananawarp. If I understand it correctly, if the remember name feature is turned on the site crashes.

  34. Strangely Monday is the end of my work week. So I always look forward to the crossword when I get home after 12 hours at a supermarket distribution centre. Living the dream. I really enjoyed today’s puzzle, finished almost unaided. Like others I start with the down clues. I read somewhere that the final down clue is usually the easiest as by then the setter has run out of steam. Thanks to everyone, must go ,so thirsty it’s like the 25d here !

  35. Good evening

    A nicely pitched crozzie for a Monday; not too many headaches today, and just the one “?” written in the margin alongside 13a, because I didn’t have a Scooby who Mo Salah is/was!

    Many thanks to Robyn and Falcon.

  36. Easy, quick and enjoyable. the broadcaster clue had us stumped for a bit. Finished early, might now have to talk to one another! Ot find an old toughie to do.

  37. (redacted – if you read the comments you will see that today’s setter has already commented. You should also remember that Alan Scott – Campbell – died and his last puzzle appeared back in early April)
    ****/*
    Thx for the hints

    1. I did think Brian’s comment in bad taste but maybe he did not know Alan had died?

      1. Maybe not, but why are people still making excuses for him and his ill-mannered comments? How many times now have his posts had to have parts redacted? He obviously doesn’t care and his claque of schadenfreude-loving followers will still cheer him on.

  38. Absolutely splendid and spot on crossword for a Monday, great fun. My only, very slightly, raised eyebrow was with 23a and 26a, move on Gibson they were only slightly iffy and you’re being over sensitive. Favourite was 29a. Thanks to Robyn and Falcon.

  39. Settled into this nicely with 1A then had a good canter through many enjoyable clues! Loved the trickery of 27A, 29A thanks to Falcon. 25D was my bete noir. Thanks to the setter and this lovely community!

  40. 2*/4* ….
    liked 19D “One can’t fly east from Germany with lots of cash (7)”

  41. This one is more my level. Some enjoyable ones in there too.

    This site is so usfeul for learning and checking answers. Thank you to all involved.

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