Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3275 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg – the Prairie Summer weather ‘mix’ continues although I think I heard mention of below seasonal temperatures in the weather forecast.
For me, and I stress for me, Dada reasonably friendly although his personal thesaurus may have been his preferred choice for some clues – two long ‘uns, eight anagrams (three partials), one lurker, and one homophone all in a slightly asymmetric 30 clues; with 15 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 – 1a, 11a, 29a, 4d, 6d, 7d, and 22d.
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
1a Wet stain shrinking (6)
A three letter synonym of stain and a synonym of shrinking (when describing a person).
4a Cuttlefish emptied into rather speedy ship (8)
The outer letters (emptied) of CuttlefisH inserted into a synonym of rather.
11a Home cut method of payment for old people (5)
The two letter synonym for (at) home and a (non-plastic?) method of payment with the last letter removed (cut).
12a Jug painting under discussion? (7)
The homophone (under discussion?) of a synonym of painting.
15a Swimmer in shade in Florida, extremely sunburnt earlier (8)
IN from the clue and a shade (in terms of colour) spelt in American (in Florida) all preceded (earlier) by the outer letters (extremely) of SunburnT – however, from painful personal experience I can verify that the swimmer can be found in Florida!
23a Ultimately, abandonment justification for crime (7)
The last letter (ultimately) of abandonmenT and a synonym of justification.
27a I survive in awfully nice firm (9)
I from the clue followed by a synonym of survive inserted into (in) an anagram of NICE.
29a Weapon hidden in river well! (4,2)
A three letter generic synonym of weapon contained by (hidden in) one of our favourite rivers of which I believe there are four so named in the UK.
Down
1d Simplest forms requiring an editor? (8)
An anagram (forms) of SIMPLEST.
3d Sit on reverse in car (9)
A term equivalent to sit on (as applied to procreation by feathered creatures?) and a synonym of reverse.
5d Firework each winter turned on end (9-5)
An anagram (turned) of EACH WINTER placed before (on) a synonym of end (when applied to a loaf?).
7d Island capital, one island I found in North America (7)
Four pieces of Lego required – the Roman numeral for one, one of our favourite (Greek) islands, and I from the clue all inserted into (in) the two letter abbreviation for North America.
17d Pressure on item, something very small (8)
The single letter for Pressure placed before (on) a synonym of item.
22d Arenas, first of those in blue and lilac, nothing odd there! (6)
How are your Latin plurals? – The first letter of Those inserted into (in) a synonym of blue (as a mood indicator) followed by the even letters (nothing odd there) of lIlAc.
24d Southern term for weapon (5)
The single letter for Southern and a synonym of term.
Quick Crossword Pun:
CHEERS + SAND + WITCH = CHEESE SANDWICH
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No significant birthdays and I am not particularly keen on the choice of number ones for today’s date so a ‘random choice’ going back to the partnership of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant from their 2021 Raise the Roof CD:
A really enjoyable challenge, at about the level I expect for a Sunday. I thought there were some clever clues such as 6d and 7d. 3d inches out 6d as my clue of the day simply by being my last one in. Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
As someone who worked for a US bought out company, and therefore spent a lot of time trying to get Americans to spell properly(!) I was not a fan of 15a, but otherwise Dada very friendly today, I thought. My personal COTD is 22d since it did take a while to parse. Thanks to Dada for the challenge and Senf for the blog (BTW no 4d in this grid!)
I must have been well and truly under the influence of the vino collapso and I must have meant 4a!
The east went in relatively smoothly but by contrast the west was more of an arm wrestle. Can’t claim an unaided finish as I needed some electronic help on a couple. I looked at 3d for an age and still didn’t see it. Some of the parsing still eludes me, but I’ll look at the hints and review later in the week. 12a is my cotd.Thanks to Dada and Senf.
A bit of a tussle but it is Sunday, it is Dada and it is a prize cryptic. As ever, I had two only after the first pass but it gradually came together as checkers appeared. I thought the dance venue at 26a was clever and it gave a great PDM. Two countries agreeing at 6d took some thought as did the unfortunate dancer at 21d. My COTD is 19d with its lines into Odense.
Thank you for a good challenge, Dada. Thank you, Senf for the hints and Plant and Krauss – I love the way their voices go so well together.
Despite the vague girl and an abysmal homophone, I enjoyed this with 15a my favourite.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
I thought the homophone was tongue in cheek and it really amused me. The question mark was presumably there to indicate some leeway needed. I am no expert on pronunciation but the homophone seems to work in an Oliver Twist / My Fair Lady slightly exaggerated London accent. Very enjoyable puzzle generally.
Given the superb quality of the rest of the clues, the 12a homophone stood out as being just about acceptable. Shame really, as the answer looks to have other clueing possibilities, though I haven’t the audacity to suggest any. Other than that, this puzzle hit the spot for me.
I think the homophone is limited to nippers learning to speak, maybe it should have been indicated as such!
Yes, would not expect to hear that from anyone above the age of 4.
Works in Scotland for everyone……
It worked for me. Anyway, are not puns supposed to just that? A play on words? So long as it is worked out eventually, no matter the pronunciation, it is a good pun. 😊
Like Prawn, I found that the East went in much more easily than the West today. Iliked tge long anagram at 5d and the wily and well-misdirected 5a. The homophone at 12a was amusing too. Thanks to Dada for an entertaining SPP and to Senf for the hints. Having a lazy day today, having overdone it in the garden yesterday afternoon, culminatibg in me tripping over the hose and grazing my knee. Must try to act my age instead of my shoe size, or perhaps not.
You seem to have my problem (see Comment 2) – no 5a!
You’re right Senf. 4a it was and i didnt have a smidgen of vino, collapso or somnifero.
I found this stretching but really enjoyable with many lovely clues and PDMs. Thanks to setter and blogger (for parsing 1a which I couldn’t do). A great Sunday offering.
Found this very difficult but also very fair. Needed the hints for a couple. Best clue for me was 6d followed by 20a. Took far longer than normal but probably right for a Sunday prize puzzle.
Thx to all
*****/***
Took me a little while to find a way into this one and I was grateful for every checker that fell into place. 1a held out for the longest time and takes the gold today for that reason.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints – any appearance by Ms Krauss is fine by me so thank you for that.
I found this both hard-going and enjoyable.
The homophone works for me if I revert to my native SE London accent which I thankfully managed to ditch years ago.
Top picks for me were 29a, 15a, 11a and 7d.
LOI was 9d.
Thanks to Senf and Dada.
Despite finishing with a little help I didn’t enjoy today’s offering. I thought some of the synonyms were stretched to breaking point and even when I had the checkers, which allowed me to produce an answer I could parse, I don’t think there’s any way I could have produced the answer from the clue alone. 27a for me is an awfully contrived clue. Thanks however to the setter and Senf.
I found this a bit trickier than usual but entertaining – thanks to Dada and Senf.
My ticks went to 4a, 11a, 15a, 26a and 3d.
Robyn has given us a superb Prize Toughie today – thoroughly recommended.
I rattled through it quicker than this for sure and picked out some 15ding tunes to go with it
Yes, I am in agreeance as an old Parish Council Chairman of ours used to say. Some delicious clues – I have to vote for 6d as favourite as my mother and her sisters used to use one. Two long anagrams were a great help. Daisies also alongside 26a and 7,19 and 22d. George said let’s go out somewhere today but quite honestly I don’t want to be anywhere other than in my beautiful overgrown garden doing nothing but the guzzle. Tomorrow we are out to lunch meeting Annie ‘Arris of The Laughter Specialists (look her up) the charity which George helped her to start and of which he was chairman until last year. We are going to hand over a nice big cheque which came to me in lieu of presents for my recent Big Birthday. 😊. Many thanks to Dada and Senf and, Steve, I have put the Nimbus 2000 away and it is all yours!
Hedwig didn’t return yesterday so I had to use email today, which I think is easier to lose than an owl. 😁
Not the fastest solve – the heat on the first tee not conducive to mental sharpness. All parsed eventually though & an enjoyable solve. Wouldn’t argue with any of Gazza’s selections.
Thanks to D&G
Hmm, who will I thank on Tuesday?
Sorry S
whom 🤣🤣🤣🤣
A pleasant Sunday puzzle from Dada this week at the mid-range of his spectrum.
Nothing quirky or unusual, some use of his personal thesaurus was evident, but lots of great clues with some penny drop moments.
Favourites 1a, 27a, 29a, 3d & 6d — with winner 1a … but could have any of them, quite frankly.
Smiles from 14a, 15a, 18a & 2d
Thanks to Dada & Senf for his usual fine comments and hints
Challenging but fun. 7d had me confused for a while. My initial answer was xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx A close look and it fell into place
An ok puzzle for us with a few hmm’s but not one to rave about. A few candidates for favourite and we’ll go with 21d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
I must admit that I was in a bit of a rush to get this done this morning and needed a couple of electronic assists to get over the line.
As an aside, I loath constructed words like 27A. Rant over.
***/*** and thanks to Dada and Senf for the hints.
I found this to be enjoyable. I got everything but 7d and 11a (which I was parsing incorrectly) so took the hints for them. I was looking for some sort of out of date payment method (like a cheque, apologies to anyone who still uses them!). I think I’d have got there eventually but didn’t want to spend all afternoon on it
Just right for a Sunday guzzle! I needed ehelp in the SW to get me going again. One problem I had, if you believe it, was having to look up “arenas”, brain totally out to lunch thinking it was pronounced the Spanish way. I knew that living in this “foreign” Spanish-speaking land would undo me one day. I liked so much, hard to choose a fave, maybe 6d, I liked 5d as well.
Thank you Dada for such a fun solve, and Senf for explaining a few!
Just reading thro’ yesterday’s comments & saw your thoughts on Lady Gaga. Her stuff isn’t really my cup of tea either but she’s an incredibly talented artist. If you’ve not seen it I’d recommend Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star Is Born where she’s much better than either Judy Garland or Barbra Streisand
Yup, that’s good, I bow to your better judgement … she’s still nuts!
Very nice puzzle – many thanks Dada and Senf. Choosing 15D as my fave for family reasons, but I liked 11A, and had a laugh from 12A.
Didn’t feel like a Dada to me, and I didn’t truly find it rather friendly, but I’m sure that is just me. Perhaps gardening under the midday sun yesterday is the reason. Needed more help than preferred, so clearly I am not as au fait with Dada as I had hoped. At least the firework jumped off the page at me. Been here for 42 years and thankfully never run into a 15a. Thanks to Dada and Senf and hoping for a benevolent Monday tomorrow.
As I sit here and watch Peter work his way through post knee replacement surgery, I realise what hard work it is, really a full time occupation for him right now, between the exercises and the icing.
I enjoyed this one and didn’t find it too tricky – easier than quite a few recently, well, I thought so anyway.
I thought 12a was a very dodgy homophone but I liked it – maybe it was meant to be!!
I’m not sure about clues/answers which they’re at the wrong kind of year – I’m not explaining what I mean very well! For example I mean we’re in the middle summer and 5d should be in Autumn. Never mind!!
I liked 14 and 15a and 3 and 7d. My favourite was 6d. At school we were banned doing anything with them because we were scaring ourselves to bits!
With thanks to Dada for the crossword and to Senf for the hints .
Not as easy as some but I got there in the end. I found the LHS more challenging but overall a lot of fun for a Sunday and definitely one that needed a return visit so my brain had sorted a few out.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.
A tricky crossword for me today but satisfying when I got it finished.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf.
Glorious day up here….summer at last!
Hope Hedwig gets back soon with the pen.
I think he’s trying to wrest it from Mr. Lancaster who is screaming “Cowling will not have it!”
Please, pretty please, Mr. Lancaster, can you spare a pen for Mr. Cowling? You will be doing a huge favour for the Big Dave family who all want him to receive a mythical. Can you not spare one, just ONE without breaking the bank? With many grateful thanks (slither, slither) to your worshipful majesty.
Hear that from Merusa, Hedwig? Give Mr. Lancaster a nip in the ear so he drops The Mythical then grab it and bring it back to me!
I’m hoping someone can help. What does ‘ with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid’ mean?
Welcome to the blog, Jac.
Welcome to the blog.
Quite simple really. For the weekend prize puzzles hints are provided for around half of the clues – blog ‘policy’ from Day 1. In today’s puzzle there were 30 clues so there are 15 hints. What I mean by sprinkled is that the hints are just that, or scattered, they are not, for example, only for clues in the top half or the bottom half of the grid. And, there are, as far as possible, equal numbers of hints for Across clues and Down clues – not always possible as today’s puzzle shows with its 15 hints.
Welcome, Jac. Hope to hear from you again. 👍
Good evening
With company for late lunch and one or two vinos doon the neck, I genuinely didn’t think I’d get anywhere near today’s crozzie; and once I did pick it up, I spent forever looking for a way in. There were several times when I felt I would have to hoy the sponge in. Time, persistence, and my lucky green pen paid off! Eventually.
COTD is the excellent 9d.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
Good puzzle. Favorite 6d.
After quite a few years as an avid user of Dave’s crossword blog, this is my first comment. I’m almost too scared to because of The naughty step threats every week! I’ve had a look at all the comments and I can’t find anyone who had the same problem that I had in my copy of the Sunday Telegraph. It printed 11 across as “method of payment cut for old people”. When I couldn’t work the answer out I checked with the blog and found that the correct clue was “Home cut method of payment for old people” which then gave the answer quite simply.
My question is why am I the only one who raised this. I am really puzzled. 😂
Welcome to the blog, Richard. Now that you’ve de-lurked I hope that you’ll become a regular commenter.
I’m very surprised that the “paper” solvers managed to solve it without the correct clue!
Why there are different clues in the same crossword is a different matter?