DT 30716 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30716

by 2Kiwis  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30716

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

Kia ora from Aotearoa.
For the last three Springs a pair of Welcome Swallows have built a nest in the same place above the door to the old holiday cottage on our property. During the last week we have been watching them flitting around gathering mud and bits and pieces to do a complete make-over restoration ready for this season. It looks to our eyes like it is fit for purpose now so expect a clutch of eggs to be laid soon and we can the expect to be dive-bombed if we dare venture too close.
A few tricky bits to deal with this week in what we found was an enjoyable solve.

Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.

Across

1a    Massively significant audio books? (8,7)
SPEAKING VOLUMES : Audio or voiced and then large books.

9a    Examiner‘s car, rubbish in reverse (7)
AUDITOR : A German car brand and the reversal of a word for rubbish.

10a    Rank marrow picked up (7)
COLONEL : A homophone (picked up) of a synonym for marrow or central essence.

11a    Funds get tighter (5)
PURSE : A double definition. The second is often used in relation to lips.

12a    Workmate‘s Hobnob (9)
ASSOCIATE : A double definition. The first a noun the second a verb.

14a    One benefiting from hothouse, or young person left ignored? (6)
ORCHID : OR from the clue and a young person of either sex with the L(eft) removed.

16a    Records sample album by Carole King (8)
TAPESTRY : A now outdated form of records and sample or taste.

18a    Moving around island, rare and shy farm animal (8)
AYRSHIRE : An anagram (moving) of RARE and SHY contains I(sland).

19a    What could be broad and very large for social gatherings (6)
BEANOS : A vegetable that could be ‘broad’ and clothing size very large.

21a    Perfume of drink that follows wine (9)
ROSEWATER : Pink wine and Adam’s ale.

25a    Son visiting gallery for experience (5)
TASTE : Crossword’s favourite gallery contains S(on).

27a    Stop short in front of garden rope (7)
HALYARD : Stop or cease without its last letter, and garden or enclosed space.

28a    Falls once more, looking back by regatta on vacation (7)
NIAGARA : The reversal of a word meaning once more plus the first and last letters of regatta.

29a    Unrealistic expectations around Wells? (7,8)
WISHFUL THINKING : The wordplay alludes to wells that might grant expectations.

Down

1d    Artificial pond mostly clean (7)
SHAMPOO : Artificial or ersatz and a synonym for pond without its last letter.

2d    Looking up, some admired leafy tree (5)
ELDER : A reverse lurker, hiding in the clue.

3d    Think I set cryptic to be playful? (9)
KITTENISH : An anagram (cryptic) of THINK I SET.

4d    Tebbit maybe missing final note in Bellini opera (5)
NORMA : The first name of politician Tebbit without its final N(ote).

5d    Grips five sorbets? (5)
VICES : Roman numeral five, then what sorbets are an example of.

6d    Going north, chaplain occasionally picked lake flower (5)
LILAC : Working in reverse order we have L(ake) and alternate letters from chaplain.

7d    Drink with servant Brown when touring Balmoral? (9)
MANHATTAN : A male servant and a light brown colour surround what a Balmoral can be an example of.

8d    Shilling verily forged to appear thus! (7)
SILVERY : An all-in-one clue. The wordplay is an anagram (forged) of VERILY after S(hilling).

13d    Defiant expression of heavy drinker at home? (2,5)
SO THERE : A heavy drinker or toper and at home or in this place.

15d    Has lyrics rewritten for monarch-to-be, maybe (9)
CHRYSALIS : An anagram (rewritten) of HAS LYRICS.

17d    The Observer covering Labour leads to complaint (9)
EYESTRAIN : The organ of sight and labour or very hard work.

18d    Tornadoes here, or atmosphere fair? (7)
AIRSHOW : Another word for atmosphere and fair or demonstration.

20d    Southern gentleman on crack, creating a situation (7)
SHEBANG : The abbreviation for Southern, the male personal pronoun and then a crack like a gunshot.

22d    Almost difficult at first fishing under wide pier (5)
WHARF : The cricket abbreviation for wide, a synonym for difficult without its last letter and the first letter of fishing.

23d    Upset boy, computers affected by current (5)
TIDAL : Working in reverse order we have a young male and computer stuff generally.

24d    Supervised church farm (5)
RANCH : Supervised or was in charge, and then Ch(urch).

26d    Did butterfly possibly start to interest Hindu teacher? (5)
SWAMI : Butterfly here is a way of progressing through water, plus the first letter of interest.

Quickie pun    role    +   Usk    +    gate    =    roller skate

85 comments on “DT 30716”

  1. Somewhat of a curate’s egg for me with half being straightforward and the rest being rather obscure. I found some of the parsing difficult. For example, I don’t see how picking up a marrow gives the answer to 10a. No doubt I am missing something significant and will give a huge groan when I see the hint. Neither did I understand 20d.
    I did like 1a and that is my COTD.

    Thank you, setter for the quirky challenge. Thank you, 2Ks for the hints.

    Just seen the hint for 10a. Ok, I get it now.

  2. On the whole very enjoyable. Not familiar with the Bellini opera but that’s no surprise as I detest it as a music form. Best summed up by Drop the Dead Donkey “Fat lady appears, fat lady sings, fat lady dies”.
    Best clue for me was 18a, a clever clue for an anagram.
    Having just received notice from the DT that the crosswords will no longer appear in the electronic version, it looks like the end of the road for me for puzzling as I refuse to pay an additional charge just for a single puzzle having no interest in the rest of them. It’s been great fun being part of the blog and although I’m sure that some members will be glad to see the back of me, I shall miss you all.
    To quote the late great Douglas Adams “So long and thanks for all the fish”.
    Brian

    2. That’s shocking, Brian, quite appalling that as a full subscriber you should be denied access to the puzzles. It would be worth you emailing the puzzles team and the Editor, as well as his Deputy & Assistant Editors. Surely this is not what the DT intend?

      product_puzzles@telegraph.co.uk
      chris.lancaster@telegraph.co.uk (Puzzles Editor)
      michael.baker@telegraph.co.uk (Deputy Puzzles Ed)
      daniella.gomes@telegraph.co.uk (Assistant Puzzles Ed)

      Good luck!

    4. Sorry to see you leave, Brian. I went the other way, cancelling my main digital subscription and just getting the (cheaper) puzzles subscription. (It turns out there’s a surprising number of articles that you can still read on the website without a subscription anyway.)

      I love Drop the Dead Donkey. Spouse hadn’t seen it, so we watched it on the Channel website (it’s still there, and free) before going to see the play earlier this year. It’s the best TV-to-stage adaption I’ve ever seen, helped massively by all the characters being played by the original cast.

    7. Whilst I totally agree with you that it’s a disgrace that they are apparently ( I haven’t heard from them yet) removing the crossword from the electronic version, they are offering a years free membership of the puzzle site so you could hang around for a year and then stick two fingers up at them! 😁

    8. I print out the crossword(s) every day, using Pressreader with my local library ticket access. All FOC, bar the cost of paper and ink. I agree that the cost of the actual physical paper is prohibitive, so Pressreader is the way to go. Thousands of world media publications available.

    9. Brian,
      Digital subscribers can get a Telegraph Puzzles subscription for 50p per year through Telegraph Extra.
      Here’s how:
      – on The Telegraph home page, click on the “hamburger” icon (three stacked horizontal lines) on the right end of the menu bar
      – on the next page, scroll down to “More from The Telegraph” at the bottom of the page and click on “Offers”
      – on The Telegraph Extra page, scroll down to “Exclusive offers” and click on “See all offers”
      – on the next page, scroll down to and select “Enjoy a year of Telegraph Puzzles for just 50p”
      Hope you decide to stick around.

    10. A Fleetwood Max song for Brian:

      You can go your own way
      Go your own way
      You can call it
      Another lonely day
      You can go your own way
      Go your own way……

      Oh, you always did.

      Wishing you well, Brian.

    11. I have emailed Brian and pointed him in the direction of all these helpful replies Fingers crossed it doesn’t go into his Spam folder

    12. Oh no, Brian! Don’t do that to us, you’re part of the family! Let us know you’ve changed your mind.

    13. Brian, I dropped my full subscription as it was a ridiculous price (and a lot of the articles of what’s happening over there did nothing for my BP), and now just pay the puzzles subscription. I am better off and much calmer 😊. Yes, I’m paying that for mostly just the Cryptic and Quickie, plus the once in a blue moon doable Toughie but it’s worth it. Sorry to see you go and hope you change your mind. You sometimes say what others are thinking.

      1. Absolutely.

        Without overstepping the mark, Brian’s comments have always been an amusing riposte to everyone else’s politeness.

        And I fully agree with, and resent, the curent plague of insiduous moves to make us pay, (or pay more), for absolutely everything.

        I hope you don’t leave us Brian.

        p.s. I am a million miles from finishing today’s puzzle, and I started 22 hours ago…..

    14. My daily routine, after completeing the crossword, is to run a search for “Brian”. I bet that I am not the only one. Just love your sometimes acid comments !

      1. Someone who describes crosswords as nasty, dreadful and ghastly, consistently awards 1 and 0 stars for enjoyment, and often insults the editor and individual compilers is now complaining about not being able to do the puzzles anymore. It’s like the two women in the restaurant: “The food here is absolutely awful” – “I know… and such small portions”. 🤣

        1. :)

          Absolutely Michael, but that doesn’t make what the Telegraph are doing to subscribers any more acceptable!

  3. Lovely puzzle, small step-up in challenge from the last couple of days. Enjoyable variety of clue types, much wit from the setter. Broad smiles at 12a & 13d, plenty of ticks so shall narrow down the Hon. Mentions to 1a, 1d and 15d.

    Many thanks to the setter and 2Ks – wonderful to read of your Swallows, Welcome indeed!

  4. A solid midweeker that was enjoyable to solve. It took some work, mind you.

    I put myself right up there with Day Zee Gee when it comes to solving anagrams, well, almost but 15d took forever as I fell for the obvious meaning of monarch. Flower, fauna and flighty things is most definitely my Achilles’ heel.

    The two biggies bookended things nicely and are on my podium along with 9a.

    Many thanks to the setter and Le Touquet.

    3*/4*

    Oh, Carole King’s album is comfortably in my top 10. What a talent!

      1. That was very cool, H. Thank you.

        I forgot to dock half a point for the unindicated Americanism in 27a.

  5. What a belter for a Wednesday,
    Lovely clear, chilly Autumnal morning for the dog walk at Cowdray Park, it luckily prepared my few grey cells for the battle to come.
    Too many good clues to nominate a winner!
    Thanks to all involved.

  6. Bang on the money, with immaculate surfaces and whip-smart word choice. 3d’s witty and 29a’s clever. 7d tickled me. A lovely Wednesday puzzle, this. Many thanks to our setter and the 2Ks. PS … if Brian does look back at the blog, and he generally doesn’t, many of us will miss you, though I’m pretty sure Silvanus won’t! Have you considered the puzzles app? Just £1 for a year (at least, it was).

  7. For me initially seemed I would never get started but once I did I made steady progress. Some lovely clues and less known synonyms and the anagrams were a delight. My favourite was 15d.

    Many thanks to the setter and the 2 kiwis for the hints.

  8. Another fantastic puzzle, just right for midweek. Top half went in fairly readily as 1d was my first in which led to the long double definition at 1a. The lower half was more of a challenge and it took me longer than it should have to get the first word of 29a. Favourite today was – wait for it – yes, the anagram at 15d with its wonderful misdirection. Podium places for 1a and 19a, though many others merited a place. Thanks to our setter and the 2 Kiwis. Awaiting the next instalment of your Welcome Swallows tale.

  9. The Telegraph seems to have mastered the art of steadily increasing the difficulty level through the week. This was tricky in places but very enjoyable – thanks to the setter and 2Ks.
    I liked 1a, 7d and 13d with my favourite being the very clever 29a.

  10. Disgraceful – the most entertaining and colourful contributor to this site being lost to the corporate pursuit of a few pennies more. Cannot someone at the Telegraph see sense and sort out this problem?

      1. I do love the way you do that, Gazza. You’re razor sharp on it.

        Most of them don’t reply but some do which, I’m sure, will include ‘Lamb’

  11. What a fantastic guzzle. I’m suffering with a heavy cold so thought I was going to make hard work of it but started from the bottom up, mainly to get past the clue I had to hand write on the sheet as the print didn’t fit on one page. Lots of smiles followed.

    Difficult to single out any particular clues but I did like 29a, 1a, 14a, 13d, 18d and 15d.

    Thanks to the setter and the 2Kiwis.

    1. Same here: 26d first one in a) because it was on the second page, and b) having been born and partially raised in India it was easy peasy!
      ( But then started from the top…)

      1. Still here for another couple of days. Just revisited the Red House for a guided tour and off to the Lighthouse tonite. Now have orders for 35 Noon Tarts to take home! In fact just shared one for lunch. The motorbike traffic cop only just missed me, my fault, everyone going much faster than I thought!

        2. Hi Manders,
          Funnily enough I don’t think I ever visited Red House, though I seem to remember passing it. Was a frequent visitor to the Aldeburgh Golf Club, where my father was captain for a while, and they lived in Aldringham, so took the Leiston road, which went past Benjamin’s lane. Mark you haven’t been back since the mid-90s clearing up after father died, so have forgotten lots! Though often visited Snape and its Maltings, the other BB hotspot. Don’t remember the Lighthouse, but of course mostly ate at home. Bon appetit! Never heard of a Noon tart. Just seen the recipe, smoked haddock! My fave fish! Will make! ( I do an ace kedgeree!)

  13. A bit of a game of two halves – the top half flew in but there was a head scratch or two down south. Very enjoyable indeed & especially so because it prompted me to play the 16a album, which I’ve not listened to in full for some time. Ticks for the long ‘uns top & bottom & a number elsewhere but pick of the puzzle for me was 15d – not sure but reckon the first vinyl album I ever bought on that label with my Sat job money was Calling Card by Rory Gallagher.
    Thanks to the setter & to the 2Ks

  15. Great puzzle, challenging but fair clueing throughout….very sorry about Brian’s decision and hope some way can be found to keep him with us….

  16. The ‘hmms’ massively outweigh the ticks for me, from which I assume that this was penned by Twmbarlwm. I did enjoy 13&15d and smiled at the significant audio books but that was the height of it.

    Thanks to our setter for his efforts and to our 2Ks for the review – what a wonderful name for those delightful little swallows!

  17. Only half way through but want to bring a smile to you faces before I have to dash out. I said yesterday I was clearingr out – I found DD1’s aide memoire for the first steps in ballet. Excuse her French, she was only five!
    A translation of the second photo’s Franglais – it is Fifth en bas, Fifth en avant, Fifth en haut. These are arm positions.
    Hilarious, yes? A real heirloom.

  18. 3*/2.5*. I too thought this was a curate’s egg (new meaning!) and I found the bottom half much more of a challenge than the top half.
    There were some good surfaces and some distinctly dodgy.

    I am not entirely convinced that “at home” in 13d is synonymous with “here”.

    My top picks were 1a, 12a, 29a & 7d.

    Thanks to the setter and to the 2Ks.

    2. Wonderful, DG – I was catching up on the comments by reading from the newest upwards, so saw this before scrolling up to your explanation. In the interim my mind was vraiment boggled!

  20. This took some teasing out, but got there in the end and very enjoyable the solve was too. I’m certainly missing something with 10a, as even with the hint I’m non the wiser. I’m plumping for 14a as my cotd. Thanks to compiler and 2K’s.

  21. I completed this in an average time for me. Tricky in places. I have never heard of Carole King, and so would have had no idea what any of her albums are called. Had to Google her to get some sort of step up on this one. A rather obscure clue. However, if the clue was “…album by Ozric Tentacles” I would have got it right away, so what’s obscure for some is obvious to others.

    In the end I had to come here 5 times for help, and managed to answer 5 (without aids) on my first lap around the grid.

    Enjoyable.

  22. I thought this was a brilliant guzzle, so much to like. We got the two long ones fairly quickly which was very helpful but there was so much obfuscation it must have given Mr Setter a headache. Workmates biscuit! Monarch to be indeed. That has to be my favourite. Well, it made us laugh and as I have just had to tear out into the garden to strip the go- roundy of a load of washing due to the onset of the Second Flood, we must take our pleasure where we can. We are off to redeem another of my (June) birthday presents, a smart afternoon tea so that is something else to smile about. Many thanks to the man with the sideways mind and to Les Tookays, whom I didn’t have to consult but who are always worth reading anyway.

  23. I found this Wednesday puzzle to be about the norm this week. One answer I can’t parse but will check hints to clear it up.

    2*/3.5*

    Favourites include 9a, 16a, 18a, 18d & 26d — with winners being the two 18’s
    Got a chuckle from 29a & 13d

    Thanks to setter & 2K’s

  24. A little late on parade today but still found time to complete this slightly quickly but largely enjoyable romp through crosswordland, with 29a coming out on top.

    As my ageing iPad cannot accomodate the puzzles section of the app I will have to use my laptop or phone to do the crossword, as I do for the Toughie. Not ideal, but still better than nothing.

    Many thanks to our setter for today’s puzzle, and to the 2Ks.

  26. At first I thought this was going to be a resounding failure, but I picked up enough in the downs to get some checkers. Then my trusty ehelp got me going. The two long ‘uns, top and bottom were so helpful, I loved them. I need the hint to know “why” for 10a, pretty stretched if it’s what I think! I s’pose that 19a is a proper word? Some good stuff here, I think fave is 4d, but I had to look up Tebbit.
    Thank you setter for the workout, and 2Kiwis for unravelling so much!

  28. 1a ecouragingly went straight in to get this exercise off the ground. Not sure about 10a homophone being marrow. 7d Balmoral new to me. Surely the male component of 20d is not necessarily gentle! 22d took some parsing. Thank you Mysteryone and 2Kiwis.

  29. As Thursdays go it wasn’t too bad, but quite hard work to get to the end. Thought 1a quite brilliant. Wish I had got 29a but needed the hint for that one. Thanks to setter and 2Kiwis.

      1. Ha ha, just realised. It is so much fun being retired, you lose track of what day it is. Not to mention that I just mislaid my pruners just now while busy in the garden. I’ll just use one of my back up pairs as they’ll turn up in the end, they always do. It’s too darn hot to fuss over AWOL pruners.

  30. Tasks for the day are done, so I can sit down with a cup of tea (why do we say ‘nice’ cup of tea?) and add my thoughts.
    This was one of those puzzles which needed a scattergun approach. After the first few efforts there were empty space in all quarters, which took time to fill. But they fell into place after a contemplative while.
    27a took me back to the days of reading Swallows and Amazons – happy boyhood days.
    I have just seen that autothingy has ‘corrected’ my earlier mention of Fleetwood Mac. Grrr.

    1. I did wonder what you meant by Fleetwood Max.

      Love the ‘nice cup of tea’ comment.

      It reminds me of Ted Lasso who can’t stand the stuff. My wife and I are very late to the party with this one, having only started watching it last month. Highly entertaining, as is Slow Horses which we are currently bingeing. How grim but hugely enjoyable is Gary Oldman’s character?

      Great stuff.

      1. Best thing on the box & by a distance. The plot is almost irrelevant – Gary O & Kristin ST both superb. Books are great too – as recommended by Robert Clarke, our dearly missed commenter from Charleston.

          1. In my televisual ignorance I know nothing about Slow Horses or Ted Lasso. However, I see that Mick Herron is the author recommended by Robert Clarke, and by a friend, so he is on my list to read.

          2. Robert and I also read the books and were huge fans. We were also able to compare thoughts when the first tv show came on air. We both thought Gary Oldman was terrific. Happy memories.
            Been out all day so have yet to get started on the crossword. The comments sound interesting! Thankyou all in advance!

  31. What a wonderful crossword – I loved every bit of it!
    I could go on for much longer, but I won’t . . .
    15d was obviously an anagram but I came to grief with it – complete messed it up – convinced myself that it was going to be along the lines of something to do with royalty – rats!! oh dear!
    I loved 14 and 16a and 3 and 13d. My favourite by a long way was 1a – the first word was clear but the second bit took ages .
    Thanks to today’s setter and to the 2K’s for the hints.

  32. Very tricky today in the south.
    4*/4*
    1 ac favourite
    Hints needed for the rope
    With thanks to setter and bloggers

  33. A great crossword. A couple of notches up from yesterday’s and Mondays so a nice level challenge. The rope of 27a was a new one for me. Thanks to the setter and the 2 ks.

  34. I really enjoyed this one finishing it while painting my nails, so had plenty of time to contemplate whilst waiting for nails to dry before I could write in some answers.! Worked a treat.
    My fave was the silly one of 19a which made me laugh

  35. Morning all.
    Great to see that most appreciated this one as much as we did. Sure the setter will be pleased too.
    Cheers.

  36. Twmbarlwm* would miss Brian, although return likely we muse …

    * he has claimed it on X

    Loved the guzzle – favourite 15d

  37. Thank you for the comments, and special thanks to 2Kiwis for the blog.

    Tom @4, no need to dock half a point for 27a – Chambers has yard: ‘a garden’ and no 🇺🇸!

    1. Good to know.

      I’ve never heard it mentioned in Blighty but I stand corrected.

      An excellent crossy.

      Keep ‘em coming!

      Love the quickie pun, btw. 👏👏

      1. For me, this is one that Chambers has got wrong. I have never heard anyone over this side of the Atlantic use that meaning and Collins says:
        “A yard is a piece of land next to someone’s house, with grass and plants growing in it. [US]”
        “REGIONAL NOTE: In BRIT, use garden”.

        1. I am hugely surprised with Chambers. I just can’t see it.

          I’ve always hated the term nimby but I suppose nimbg or nimg doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

  38. Unlike some others I had almost none in the north and a full grid in the south, just how you see it I suppose. For a Twmbarlwm puzzle I felt this was fairly straightforward, keep ’em there. Favourite was 20d. Thanks to the aforementioned and 2 K’s.

  39. I saved this to do while babysitting for friends last night, but a combination of the puzzle foxing me more than Twmbarlwm’s often do and my friends returning sooner than they might’ve done meant I didn’t finish it till this morning.

    My favourite was 28a, “Falls once more”, for cleverness — mainly because I never would’ve thought that the word that’s reversed could actually be a useful set of letters backwards. Thank you to Twm for the fun.

    I didn’t know the opera or the Hindu teacher, nor what a Balmoral is, but the wordplay was clear in all cases, meaning the general knowledge was educational rather than frustrating. Hopefully I’ll remember at least one of those. Thank you to the Kiwis for explaining “marrow” in 10a and “get tighter” in 11a.

  40. I think the ‘definition’ part of 29a is “unrealistic” and the wordplay is “expectations around wells.”

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