ST 3298 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3298 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3298 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where after warmer temperatures (relatively speaking and by Winnipeg standards) over Christmas and New Year it has gone back to being taters with minus 20s until Thursday at least.

Some good news from the Egham branch of my family – after four and a half months spread across four hospitals and two surgeries, Big Sister is now at home but she still has a third surgery to come.  We don’t yet know when that will be; in the meantime she has weekly outpatient appointments at the third hospital she was in, St George’s Tooting.  At home or back in hospital I will get to see her several times either side of the BB.

For me, and I stress for me, well it has worked twice, so some more brain food using Arthur Guinness’s finest, Dada was about as friendly as last week.  Four almost long ‘uns, a few guesses, seven anagrams (one partial), one lurker, and one homophone all in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 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!

I have slightly vague recollections that it has happened before; today we have the alignment of the ‘cruciverbal planets’ and we have Dada on Back Pager and Toughie duty!

Candidates for favourite – 9a, 12a, 15a, 7d, 8d, and 23d.

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 Colourful flier Real Madrid distributed (3,7)
An anagram (distributed) of REAL MADRID.

9a Start enjoying assignment in lecture (4,2,4)
A (4, 2) phrase equivalent to start enjoying and a synonym of assignment.

12a Ranking – of chicken farms? (7,5)
A term for the ranking in terms of power and authority in chicken farms (or other types of organisation)?

18a Scribbled note on grammatical term not allowed (8)
An anagram (scribbled – oh dear, move one letter) of NOTE placed after (on) a grammatical term that indicates ‘doing’ – and, yes the answer has been ‘borrowed’ from another language/

21a One side of Germany run by machine, possibly (6,6)
An anagram (possibly) of RUN BY MACHINE.

25a Sickening destruction of a planet and sun (10)
An anagram (destruction of) of A PLANET and SUN.

27a Bullet after bullet for poisoner (4,6)
A type of bullet placed after another type of bullet – I understand that the poisoner is now illegal.

Down

1d Greatly admire speed (4)
A double definition – the first could relate to creating an order of merit.

3d Serve cheat with top cards (2,3,7)
A two letter verbal synonym of cheat and (with) a term for the top cards in a pack.

7d Number divided by five hundred, average score for intermediary (5,5)
Guess a number (it’s a multiple of ten) containing (divided by) all of the Roman numeral for five hundred and a term for average score (in golf?).

8d Chemist’s workplace, political choice? (10)
A (3,2,1,4) phrase suggesting a choice between the largest UK political parties (at the present time?).

11d Crawl – as might a fiddler? (3,3,6)
Two verbs – one suggests a fiddler playing well and the other playing badly.

14d Order smartest say, though not a brilliant arrangement? (4,6)
An anagram (order) of SMARTEST SaY with one of the As deleted (though not).

23d A bird on the go (2,2)
A from the clue and a member of the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds.

Quick Crossword Pun:

COUNSEL + TACKS = COUNCIL TAX

Could new readers please read the Welcome post and the FAQ before posting comments or asking questions about the site.

As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES OR HINTS in your comment.

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If you don’t understand, or don’t wish to comply with, the conventions for commenting on weekend prize puzzles then save yourself a lot of trouble and don’t leave a comment.

As I am sure some of you know, the second encore at the famous New Year’s Day Concert in Vienna is always the Radetsky March by Johann Strauss Snr with ‘audience participation’ under the direction of the conductor. The following is a ‘mash up’ from 2009 to 2024, with the conductors named in the top RH corner. It appears to be a genuine and very well edited video:

67 comments on “ST 3298 (Hints)”

  1. I look forward to compare and contrast this and the toughie, I am still preparing the blog for mine but I notice we both have butterflies and picture cards!. Beware the naughty step though, the red pencil of doom was very active yesterday!

    1. Similar level of difficulty as the Toughie for me. Just on Dada’s wavelength I suppose. I’ll be interested to see what you think SJB!

        1. To, hopefully, avoid the naughty step, re 7d in the toughie, and as I’ve mentioned in the past, my mother was a nurse at the old Radcliffe hospital in Oxford just after the war. When we were small, she used to joke to us the that a surgeon once told her to use her toe to clean up a wound while operating, which amused her until he pointed out he meant tow. This is in brb as fibres of flax hemp or jute. This type type would be more unpleasant than the toe version methinks

          1. Every day is a school day, That makes sense of the fact that a fair flaxen haired schoolfriend was referred to as being to tow-haired

  2. A really satisfying puzzle with some terrific clues. My favourites were similar to CS’s. Having solved at a steady pace I was totally defeated by 10 across though. A total blind spot for me and I’d never thought of the answer as meeting the definition…I even had to check to convince my self. Thanks to setter and CS.

  3. Dada being kind and gentle today as well as amusing. I have ticks all over the paper so difficult to choose a favourite. I liked the two bullets at 27a and the swimming sailors at 5d but my COTD is the political choice at 8d.

    Thank you, Dada for a fun challenge. Thank you, Senf for the hints.

    A light dusting of snow in The Marches but not the amount forecast.

  4. Usual high standard from Dada. He has a habit of reeling you in with some clearer clues then stranding you with the tricky beggars like 3d (never heard the cards called that name before). Last in was 15a which was so obvious once you had the answer!
    Very elegant and very enjoyable.
    Thx to all
    ***/****

    2. I’d have got the answer much more quickly if I hadn’t been mystified by the mention of top cards.

  5. A very benign Dada today, with a smattering of chestnuts to make it a tasty offering. I have many ticks on my page from which I have chosen 15a, 27a and 5d as my podium.
    Thanks to Dada and Senf

  6. 2*/4*
    Great fun with several clever clues.
    27a and 8d my favourites today.
    My only minor criticism would be that some clues seem rather familiar.
    Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  7. Very gentle stuff this morning IHMO. but I will look forward to attempting a Dada Toughie (or maybe not…)
    Some nice clues in the mix – I enjoyed 12a and 27a but my personal COTD is 7d.
    Thanks to Dada for the challenge and Senf for the blog

  8. One of the easiest cryptic crosswords for a while, but nevertheless very enjoyable to solve. I particularly liked the two anagrams at 1a and 21a. The clue to 8d also clever. Thank you to the setter, and to senf for hints.

  9. Like Brian, my final entry was 15a, and I was cross with myself for not seeing the answer earlier. Otherwise, this was a thoughtful and nicely testing puzzle that had a great clue mix. My particular favourite was 27a.

    My thanks to Dada and Senf. Good news about your sister.

  10. Many thanks to Dada for a most enjoyable, excellent puzzle.
    I had quite a few ticks on my sheet of paper, but to narrow the selection down to three, I’ll opt for 21a, 3d, and 8d.

  11. Very enjoyable, enough to think about to keep me entertained on a snowy, rainy day. 15a was last in and 8d was my favourite.

    Many thanks to Dada for the puzzle and to Senf for the hints, I am glad to hear your sister is making progress.

  12. A wee bit heavy on anagrams maybe but good fun nevertheless & lovely to able to solve it in bed with a morning cuppa instead of on the mobile on a freezing 1st tee. Can’t say I’d come across the top cards term so that required a bit of post solve research but otherwise straightforward. Podium pozzies for 7&8d &27a.
    Thanks to D&S

  13. This was spot on for a weekender: lots of multi-worders, some nice anagrams, plenty of excellent constructions finished off with a bit of lateral thinking.

    Plenty to choose from for the silverware but, even though I’ve seen all three before, I’ll go with 1a, 5d and 8d. These words are a setter’s dream.

    Many thanks to Radio and The Big S.

    2*/4*

  14. Good fun from Dada today (and he’s also taking a turn as the Prize Toughie setter, which is rather odd). Thanks to him and Senf.
    Top clues for me were 9a, 15a and 8d.

    2. Hi PS

      You have raised an interesting point: do foreign words and expressions that are in common parlance need an indicator like café, cul de sac, bungalow, smorgasbord, jodhpurs and 18a?

      Hopefully one of the solvers can help as I really don’t know.

      1. TDS65, I don’t believe that foreign expressions in common parlance need an indicator. However, it’s not black and white as defining common parlance is not always straightforward! For me, all your examples are fine apart perhaps from 18a, which I think is on the cusp of acceptability. How’s that for fence sitting?

        1. It’s a very fair reply.

          Thank you, especially this time of night.

          Sweet non-cruciverbal dreams.

  16. For me, and I stress for me (™ Senf) this was a grand guzzle with some glorious glues. 21a and 27a were very glever.

    Very pleased to learn the encouraging news from Senf’s Surrey branch. Egham is very well known to us. Indeed H has just returned from raiding Waitrose (despite us having a delivery yesterday. I shall never understand this) in Egham.

    Thanks to Da-Doo-Ron-Ron and The Man From Manitoba.

    1. I love going to Egham to stare at all the cars I’ll never be able to afford at Maranello’s.

  17. Our setter in really good humour today, giving us plenty to smile about and making it very difficult to narrow down a selection for the rosettes. At the risk of awarding far too many, my leader board features 9,12,21&27a plus 3,8&11d.

    Thanks to Dada for a very pleasurable solve and to Senf for bringing us the hints – loved the New Year ‘mash-up’ with its reminder of so many great conductors.

  18. Harder than one of my mum’s roast potatoes, yep, she used to bung ’em in raw with a big lump of lard between them on the tray, guaranteed to cut your mouth every Sunday!

    Thought I’d never finish this one, but the answers just kept coming (albeit slowly) got there in the end though with the four letter ones giving most jip, especially 6a.

    My two favourites today were 5d and the tricky 21a, I was too busy trying to bung rechts or links into it.

    Ta to Senf and our setter today, off to brave to rain to fill up the bird feeders now, hardly worth it though as the jackdaws and maggies will scoff the lot within ten minutes….

  19. Excellent puzzle, 12a my favorite but lots of contenders. It was solvable with just thought and no assistance.

  20. A pile of snow (melting fast) means this is a day for crosswords. I enjoyed this and found it about as easy as the Dada Toughie today. I would be interested in comments from those who have done both.
    Thanks to Senf and Dada

  21. Another excellent puzzle, only doubt was the cards in 3d, but it had to be. Lots of favourites 12a, 15a, 27a, 8d and 23d.
    Miserable slushy day brightened by a top xword

  22. 1.5*/4*. I started late on this today, and thankfully it turned out to be at the easier end of Dada’s spectrum. It was good fun though.

    27a was my favourite. (Senf, these haven’t been banned in the UK. There is one ingredient which has been banned, which inevitably was the most effective. Hence today’s 27as don’t work anything like as well as they used to.)

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.

    1. I have always found a buried jam jar full of beer a good way to eliminate the pests and at least they go inebriated

      2. I thought of you when I invested a small fortune for an even smaller bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee (£20 for 100g :O )
        Very nice it was but I will probably wait til next Christmas before treating myself again.

        1. OMG, that is probably more expensive than caviare. We were shocked to see it at almost $66 a pound this week in South Florida…

        2. When I was little, my mother bought the green beans, then cook would roast them in the morning, then make our coffee. The kitchens to those old houses were separate, I used to love getting up and going to watch cook. The aroma was divine!

  23. I found this Dada puzzle one of his most unusual as some clues were easy to parse and others real head scratchers. Half of this puzzle was at the easier end of his spectrum and the rest of it at the harder end. Definitely some quirkiness here and use of his personal thesaurus.

    2.5*/4*

    Favourites 6a, 12a, 21a, 26a,8d & 14d — with winner 12a

    Thanks to Dada & Senf

  24. I did this in Tenerife and tried the puzzle app for the first time.
    Lo and behold it worked and I enjoyed it.
    The puzzle was of a good level and my favourite was the German outfit. **/****
    Thanks to all
    Off to cool down now with a G and T 😁

  25. Great set of clues as always with this setter – last one in involved the set of cards … had forgotten that expression. Thank you Senf and hope big sister improves quickly with fewer hospital trips

  26. We made fairly light work of this with a number of really good and enjoyable clues, wasn’t keen on the unindicated foreign word though. Favourite was the two bullets at 27a. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  27. First time trying a crossword in ages … thank you Dada for making it accessible. Not saying it was easy for me, I needed all my big guns, google, word search, thesaurus, I needed them all, but I got there. I’d never heard of 21a but my word search had once I had the checkers. My fave was 12a, I just like it!
    Thank you Dada for the ego boost and the fun, of course, I must say my most heartfelt thanks to Senf for explaining so much.

  28. A very enjoyable puzzle from a favourite setter.

    I’ll be off to the Toughie next, but could be distracted by all the shotguns going off outside as the Italians shoot lovely little birds for reasons that they can only know! It’s a busy Sunday … probably something to do with Epithany tomorrow.

    Thanks to Senf (especially for the music) and to Dada

  29. Unlike everyone else, I found yesterday very difficult, so was immensely pleased to find this treat from Dada today. Not saying it was easy, and needed some concerted thinking and effort in places, but all very fair and no strange GK needed (apart from the cards that is). Three contenders for COTD, but 12a is definitely the winner, beating out 11d and 7d for pole position. Thought 25a a bit strong for 25a. Thanks to Dada and Senf. My goodness, your sister has certainly been through the mill, and best wishes to her for her upcoming surgery and a speedy recovery.

  30. Made a laboured start and then suddenly it all started to fall into place and hey presto I had made it. Overall it was an engaging challenge. I had a couple of Favs,12a and 11d, with a couple of runners-up, 8d and 14d. Thanks as always to Dada and Senf.

  31. A late start for me today as I’ve been wrestling the Christmas decorations off the tree and then trying to find the correct boxes for them. All down now and up in the loft.

    I enjoyed this puzzle a lot.
    Top picks for me were 14d, 21a, 7d and 27a.

    Thanks to Senf and Dada.
    Glad to hear the encouraging news about big sister.

    1. I just stick the ornaments in a big black bag and stuff them in a chest! The worst part is hoovering the pine needles up after taking the tree out. We will still be finding them at Easter!

  32. Another fine Dada puzzle. I thought his Toughie was on a par with this one. I liked 2d as I play the instrument!
    Thanks to Dada and Senf

  33. Another thoroughly enjoyable Dada offering! To echo Brian’s description…quite elegant!
    Favourites include12A, 15A and 8D. Last one in was 7D and needed Senf’s explanation to fully parse.
    Thanks to Dada for the enjoyable workout and, as ever, to Senf for another excellent blog ‘n hints and superb video.👍
    Cheers!

  34. Perfect for a wet non golfing day. A good steady solve perhaps slowed by the rush for the NFL playoffs in the background.
    If you get the answer to a non indicated foreign word does it really matter if it us not indicated 🤷🏻‍♂️

  35. I really enjoyed this puzzle, so many good clues that it was a real pleasure. So many good clues that many of them should be on the podium, but I suggest that 12a is COTD, with 15a coming a close second. Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  36. Enjoyable puzzle. More anagrams than usual (Val’s) favourites. Agree foreign language words should be “[redacted –it’s a prize puzzle]”. Our favourites 12a, 7d and 27a.
    Have a brilliant 2025 everyone! Gary and Val.

  38. 3*/4* …
    liked 16A “Game bird lowly farmland has caught ending in broth (8)”
    amongst others.

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