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DT 30670

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30670

Hints and tips by Mr K

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. It was a very long day in the lab today, so I’m afraid that once again I had no time to search for quality cat pics. However, since the commentariat did so well at providing pics last week, I’m hoping that readers will step up once again with suitable illustrations. 

In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

 

Across

8a    First person in France receiving fine for hoax (4)
JOKE:  A French first person pronoun containing (receiving) fine or acceptable 

9a    Very slow speed, alas, since travelling around Portugal (6,4)
SNAILS PACE:  An anagram (traveling) of ALAS SINCE containing (around) the IVR code for Portugal 

10a   Fashionable remedy houseman essentially blocks as unsafe (8)
INSECURE:  The central letters (essentially) of HOUSEMAN are sandwiched by (block(s)) fashionable or trendy and a synonym of remedy 

11a   Brothers of artisan risk being regularly overlooked (6)
FRIARS:  Alternate letters of (… being regularly overlooked) OF ARTISAN RISK 

12a   Large dog, mean on reflection, discovered biting husband (9)
WOLFHOUND:  The reversal (on reflection) of a synonym of mean is followed by another word for discovered containing (biting) the genealogical abbreviation for husband 

13a   Dance to a high level? Quite the opposite! (5)
LIMBO:  The quite the opposite is telling us to look for a dance in which attaining a low level is key

15a   Fights to use an expression in speech (7)
AFFRAYS:  A homophone (in speech) of a (1,6) letter combination meaning “an expression” 

17a   House of little value, facing south (7)
COMMONS:  Nor rare or of little value with the single letter for south 

20a   Put on suit (5)
APPLY:  A double definition. Suit as in “fit”

22a   Note intransitive verb I'm especially about to employ (9)
SEMIBREVE:  The answer is hidden in the reversal of (… about to employ) the remainder of the clue 

25a   Assign no ordinary drug (6)
STATIN:  Assign or post minus the single letter for ordinary (no ordinary) 

26a   Generous amount, it's said, worker is given (8)
HANDSOME:  A homophone (it’s said) of amount or total comes after a synonym of worker 

27a   Make drunk order taxi to Nice (10)
INTOXICATE:  An anagram (order) of TAXI TO NICE 

28a   Particular  romantic couple (4)
ITEM:  A straightforward double definition 

 

Down

1d    Channel no longer available? Express opinion forcefully (5,3)
SOUND OFF:  The answer might also describe a radio where the channel is no longer available 

2d    That girl's upset opponent concerning this (6)
HEREOF:  A pronoun for “that girl” with the reversal (upset) of an opponent 

3d    Alias oddball used in returning this writer's new work (9)
PSEUDONYM:  An anagram (oddball) of USED inserted in the reversal of the fusion of a pronoun for “this writer’s”, the single letter for new, and the usual abbreviated musical work 

4d    Old man, one European replaces during huge procession (7)
PAGEANT:  After an informal word for old man or father comes a synonym of huge in which the Roman one is replaced by the single letter for European 

5d    Craggy face of Richard, for instance (5)
CLIFF:  A double definition. Richard for instance directs us to XXXXX Richard who entertained the crowd at Wimbledon during rain breaks 

6d    Archbishop Tim is meeting inspires confidence (8)
OPTIMISM:  The first four words of the clue are hiding (inspires) the answer 

7d    Beetle son caught, native to the Middle East (6)
SCARAB:  Link together the single letters for son and caught and a word describing a native to the Middle East 

14d   Herb's swimming record Scotsman breaks (9)
CORIANDER:  An anagram (swimming) of RECORD in which a stereotypically Scottish first name is inserted (breaks) 

16d   Family member of oriental criminal (8)
RELATION:  An anagram (criminal) of ORIENTAL 

18d   Attraction's closing this time of year? (8)
NOVEMBER:  The final letter (… ‘s closing) of ATTRACTION is also the single letter abbreviation for a month of the year 

19d   Prince Harry, perhaps he is cutting about King Charles? (7)
REDHEAD:  HE from the clue inserted in the fusion of about or concerning and what King Charles is to Prince Harry. The definition is by example (perhaps) 

21d   Doctor's client is losing heart, it's obvious (6)
PATENT:  A doctor’s client minus their central letter (losing heart) 

23d   Briefly tolerate following sport of country people (6)
RUSTIC:  The abbreviation for an oval ball sport is followed by all but the last letter of tolerate or endure 

24d   Incompetent individual keeps heading for failure (5)
UNFIT:  A synonym of individual contains (keeps) the initial letter of (heading for) FAILURE 

 

Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?

The Quick Crossword pun:  FOE + TOW + GRAF = PHOTOGRAPH

90 comments on “DT 30670”

  1. I needed Mr. G. for 22a but the rest was very enjoyable with just the right amount of head scratching and PDMs. Solving 8a and 9a straight away gave hope for a reasonable solving time but the next one in was 27a. Still, my first pass gave enough checkers to allow entry into the rest of the guzzle. All in all, a very enjoyable solve making it difficult to pick a favourite. However, if pushed, I would go for the large dog biting the husband in 12a.

    Thank you, setter for the fun challenge. Thank you, Mr. K. for the hints.

    Hot in The Marches today so I need to water the shrubs I planted yesterday. A brief look this morning before taking Hudson out showed them all looking good – so far.

  2. A little bit tender this morning after having my gall bladder whipped out yesterday. While he was in there the cutter found I also had an umbilical hernia, so he fixed that as well, two for the price of one, god bless the NHS!

    Keyhole surgery, what a wonder, awoke from the general at 1.30, in the supermarket shopping with the wife at 4.30, unbelievable.

    Anyway enough about my internals, to the puzzle, I (and I realise I am in a very small minority here) don’t like the crosswords with very little ink, I always think the compiler must get taxed on every word he uses, with an especially stiff levy on multi-word answers.

    Nonetheless it entertained well with very fair clueing, the only one I didn’t like was 5d, but that said, my two of the day were 4d my last one in, and 19d, couldn’t for the life of me see where the d, a and d came in to it.

        1. Excellent. I had a hernia op some years ago and felt similarly comfortable the day after so went for a walk in the woods for a couple of hours. I hadn’t realised I had been given a local as well as a general anaesthetic. Then it wore off.😳😳😳
          The doc said I was an idiot and it would hurt like hell for 48 hours but I would then heal super quick. It did and I did thank heavens

    2. Good to hear all went well, TC, and best wishes for a speedy and uncomplicated recovery from your travails. You are spot-on re keyhole surgery: following an appalling car accident last year a close relation spent many hours over three days “under the knife” and, despite all the internal organ surgery, remarkably there were just a few very short incisions on her torso, so now there is minimal evidence of what she underwent. Quite remarkable technology.

    3. I hope you get better soon, TC. Not a pleasant experience.

      Shopping after surgery? Give yourself a break and take it easy with few drinks. You’re a man! You are entitled! 🤣

    4. I had the two same operations last year also by keyhole. Quite amazing what surgeons can do. I’m still doing well so I’m sure you will too.
      Only started the guzzle after a supermarket visit this morning, I was concerned the outage would make shopping difficult but there were no problems So far I’m not finding this easiest to solve. I’ll need assistance from MrK I’m sure.

    5. A husband who attends in the supermarket? What a gem. Glad the NHS is preserving you.

      1. Thanks Daisy, we’ve got private as well, but I thought why drive the premiums up when I’ve paid my Nat Ins for 40 plus years.

        Re the supermarket, I do all shopping and cooking as I’m early retired, and Mrs TC still works full time.

        1. Aha. That sounds like a good deal all round. I was not complaining exactly about George, more applauding you. G does visit the supermarket for gin and tonics to keep me in the manner to which I am accustomed so I shouldn’t complain. Glad your surgery went well, certainly an impressive recovery period !

  3. All in all a good puzzle with some clever surface reading. My favs were 5d and 12a. I did need the hints to fully unpick 10a, 14d, 18d and 19d in what was a tricky SE corner. Must admit I had to Google what constitutes an intransitive verb!
    ***/****
    Thx to all

  4. Quite tough but it is a Friday. I agree with Mr K’s assessment. I thought the cleverly concealed anagram in 14d good and the lurkers got me going. I needed Mr K to fully understand the answers to 20a and 19d the trickiest clue. My favourite was 3d. Thanks to our hinter and the setter.

  5. A fair Friday challenge, made that little bit tougher with a tricky grid (we hate checkers that are the second letter)

    My podium is 7d, 14d and the outstanding 19d which was my LOI.

    Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.

    3*/3*

  6. Enjoyable and nicely challenging accompaniment for the end-of-week morning coffee. Not the most friendly grid in the DT stable but initself that did not cause a problem. Good surfaces, clever clueing, some nice lurkers. Honours Board: 12a, 22a & 14d, with runner-up 21d.

    2 / 3

    Many thanks to the setter and MrK

  8. A most enjoyable Friday challenge with the SE being the most challenging quadrant. It must be time to polish up a Toonie and put it on the smooth member of the Friday triumvirate as the setter. 3*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 13a, 22a, 1d and 23d – and the winner is 22a.

    Thanks to the Silvanus, or whomsoever if my Toonie goes down the drain, and thanks to Mr K.

    Always happy to help out on an illustration:

  10. An excellent puzzle. This all went in very nicely, although the last couple (4d and19d) took a little longer to unravel. 19d was my favourite.
    Many thanks to the setter for the enjoyment. 2*/4.5*.

  11. Only managed about half early on and thought I would be beaten. Off to do some shopping and read the 3 or 4 comments in the car on our way home – no-one seemed to have found it tricky so back for round 2. The scales fell from my eyes and just filled it in nicely. Lovely pusscat pics so thanks everyone and thanks too to Mr K and our setter for today. Just hitting 28C having been 14C two days ago. Off to try out a pub in the village that recently changed hands which hosted MP for a meal when he was here recently and he’s still alive

    1. Was that The Three Swallows? We went there on both evenings we were staying in the area earlier this year and thought the meals were very good.

  12. Ticks all over my paper so this has to be the work of Mr Smooth. As always, nigh impossible to isolate a favourite but I did eventually manage to arrive at a top four comprising 12&22a(excellent reverse lurker) plus 1&19d. The surface read of 19d was splendid!

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to the ever-busy Mr K for the review.

    1. No wonder I needed Mr. G. for 22a, I didn’t even notice it was a reverse lurker! 😳

  13. Struggled with 25a and 18d. Evidently my wave length is out of kilter.*
    Apart from that confusion all went well, with occasional hesitation, which is only to be expected on a Friday.

    *Kilter – a Scot?

  14. 4*/4*. I found this tougher than most other commenters so far have done, particularly in the NW and SE corners.

    Initially I thought that 13a wasn’t very cryptic by providing a definition which is an antonym and then simply saying the answer is the opposite. Only later did I spot the possible alternative interpretation of “high level”, which makes it a good CD.

    With lots of ticks to choose from, my top two were 12a & 19d.

    Many thanks to the setter (Silvanus?) and to Mr K.

  15. An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
    I took the 1d channel to be a narrow inlet (as in ‘Plymouth *****’) but I can see that Mr K’s explanation also works.
    My ticks went to 12a, 17a and 19d.

    2. Re 1d – I parsed it the same as you. I did not read the review, but as you say the alternative explanation is viable too.

  16. Plain sailing until, like rp1428, I came to a complete standstill in the SE. MrK to the rescue and 23d was LOI. I thought 16d was a neat anagram, found the rekrul and think I shall go for 9a as my favourite. Thanks to the kitty pic providers, I shall have to look out pictures of my gorgeous cats. It is so hot and airless and I am going to be stuck on the computer bashing out copy for our village magazine. Has to be done. And cinema night this evening, it is all go. Many thanks to Messrs Setter and Kay for the respite
    over lunch. Salad leaves and tomatoes from the garden😊 Have a good weekend one and all.

    1. Daisy, can you remind me again about how I reduce the size of a photo so that I can post it here? Thank you.

      1. When you go to photos caption come up bottom left hand on my apple iPhone saying ‘options’ click on that and you have a choice starting large etc. select small. It works now for me but it has to be done right at the start. (No doubt proper IT men can explain it better)

        1. Thanks, I’ve made a note of that now. For some reason the site let me post the photo anyway (below).

  17. I found myself on wavelength again today only this time it didn’t desert me so a straightforward solve for me. A top notch and enjoyable puzzle and really hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with 3d, my LOI. Thanks to the setter and Mr. K.

  18. Many thanks to Mr K and to all those taking the trouble to comment.

    The interpretation of Gazza and others regarding 1d matches mine :-)

    To Huntsman and many others keeping a close eye on a certain Ayrshire golf course at the moment, my themed Cross Atlantic puzzle of yesterday might be of interest.

    May I wish everyone a good weekend.

    1. Thank you, silvanus for the guzzle and for popping in. Have a good weekend yourself.

    3. I thought it was you!
      Lovely puzzle, as ever.
      Many thanks to you and the hard working Mr K.
      Difficult decisions to make today. Watch the golf, watch the cricket or sit in the garden? Retirement is much better at this time of year!

    4. After my abject performance on the course today I’m off golf – well until Monday.
      Loved the puzzle – comment to follow when home

    1. N, the letter at the end of attraction, is represented by November in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

    2. In the Nato Phonetic Alphabetic ‘November’ is the code word used to represent the letter N.

  20. I found this the hardest of the week – especially the SE. 5D my fav. Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K.

  21. It’s Friday, it’s tricky! I’m guessing Silvanus, I always find his difficult but mostly workable if you’re smart enough. I needed to use Mr. K’s hints for a couple to get me going again, all in the SE, and I was DNF with 17a. Surely, after all these years I should be able to remember the House? I liked the lurker at 22a, those piano lessons have paid off at long last, but fave was 13a; true, it’s Tobagan but very popular in Jamaica.
    Thank you Silvanus, I’m sure you’ll pop in to take ownership, and Mr. K for your hints, I would not have finished the SE.

  22. This was a great puzzle , challenging in parts and some clever parsings. I bunged in a few and had to think about them at the end to work them out. Favourite was 19d. Spent a while trying to work out the anagram for 21d – nice bit of misdirection there. Thanks to setter and Mr K.

  23. This was, for me, the toughest test of the week and I had to resort to some e-help (no hints at 7am) to get over the line. FWIW, I agree with Gazza’s take on 1D.

    ****/*** for me and my favourite was 12A. Thanks to the setter and Mr K.

    Mrs Eeyore loves drawing animals in pastels and here is her rendition of a Puma with cub.

  24. It’s Friday and a Silvanus, so I did struggle but seem to have done better than my average so that is good. Needed hint for some, including 2d which I was slow to recognize, and also 12a. Not sure I understand 20a. COTD to 5a, very clever. Thanks to Silvanus and Mr K. Will try to post a picture of our Rupert, but fear it will reject on size, and I’ve forgotten how to reduce on my iPad.

      1. Yes, he was. Very much the boss of our house. If we were not sitting down by 4pm for a cup of tea, he would complain very loudly.

  25. An enjoyable puzzle to mark the end of the week. I had no problems with the top half but failed to spot the reverse lurker at 22a and had to read the hints for 18d and 19d. Many thanks to Silvanus and Mr K and to those who kindly submitted the ‘kitty pics’. Have a good weekend everyone.

  26. Good evening

    I’ve only just laid down my Lucky Green Pen; by crikey, I needed it today! Especially as I now know, today’s crozzie was a Brain Of Silvanus production…

    I started off this morning really well; I filled in bits here and there, but I knew, eventually, I’d have to face the challenge of the SE quadrant.

    I have to confess that today’s finish was not unaided: 18d stayed written only in the margin until I could parse it (I couldn’t!); 17a was blindingly obvious once I’d read Mr K’s hint; and as for my last to fall, 19d, I had to kick myself once I’d FINALLY twigged it!

    COTD is the superb 22a. My thanks to Silvanus and to Mr K.

    May I introduce to you my first grandbairn, the utterly gorgeous Emelia, born yesterday ♥️

  27. You guys are too clever for me…Pseudonym stuffed me…
    Dont you helpers ever get stuck and ask for help…?

  28. Finally completed with a bit of a nudge in the SE, at this time of day I usually end up needing help to finish as my brain seems to give up the ghost. On a different day with more time I think I could have finished unaided as it all made perfect sense. The lurkers and anagrams were very well disguised.

    Many thanks to Silvanus and to MrK for the hints and to all for the cat pics.
    I wish Tipcat a continued successful recovery.

  29. The usual excellence. Only a failure to parse last in Prince Harry (twas the dad wot foxed me) took a wee bit of the shine off the solve. ✅s in abundance – 12,13,17&22a + 1,3,18&19d among many likes with not a dud in there.
    Thanks to Silvanus & to Mr K & congrats to ShangaJi

  31. 4*/3* …
    liked 21D “Doctor’s client is losing heart, it’s obvious (6)”

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