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DT 30968

by Senf  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30968

Hints and tips by Senf

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

A very good Wednesday morning from Winnipeg on this the 183rd day of the year.  So, ignoring government mandated seasonal one hour time adjustments, at noon, wherever you live, it becomes all ‘downhill’ to 2026 – the ultimate ‘Hump Day’!  ( HUMP DAY definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary )

For me, etc (I have to say that for Terence), a very enjoyable and not overly challenging Wednesday puzzle with no sign of the Reverend W A Spooner.  A pair of half crowns from the never-ending supply at the back of my sock drawer are telling me that this is probably a Hudson production.

Candidates for favourite – 12a, 13a, 21a, 27a, 5d, and 20d.

In the hints below, the definitions are underlined. The answers are hidden under the Click here! buttons, so don’t click if you don’t want to see them.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a Plunder or spoil gold and diamonds (6)
MARAUD: A three letter synonym of spoil, the chemical symbol for gold, and the single letter for Diamonds (in a pack of cards).

5a Plucky leaders of Premier League advanced new strategy (4,4)
GAME PLAN: A synonym of plucky (as in willing to have a go) and the first letters (leaders) of four words in the clue.

9a Caught Rachel on broadcast defending pound? It’s her job! (10)
CHANCELLOR: An anagram (broadcast) of the single letter for crickety Caught and RACHEL ON containing (defending) the Latin based single letter for pound (sterling).

10a Live heavy metal (4)
LEAD: A double definition – the second is not a musical reference.

11a City police nab Sir Bernard after going over cases (8)
BRISBANE: A reversed lurker (after going over cases) found in four words in the clue.

12a Sensitive spot at the rear that hurts Yankee (6)
TOUCHY: The last letter (at the rear) of spoT, an interjection for that hurts, and the letter represented by Yankee in the phonetic alphabet.

13a Stone wall stripped following work (4)
OPAL: wALl with the outer letters removed (stripped) placed after (following) the two letter abbreviation for a (musical) work.

15a Joey had dinner, hosting married male person he shares with (8)
ROOMMATE: The informal short form of an Australian marsupial for which Joey is the term for its young and a three letter term for had dinner containing (hosting the single letters for Married and Male.

18a Golly! Top performing linguist (8)
POLYGLOT: An anagram (performing) of GOLLY! TOP.

19a Thrill that comes after firing a gun? (4)
KICK: A term for the rearward reaction from the firing of a gun.

21a Where Yorkshire folk are racing Ferrari, iconically? (6)
REDCAR: The ‘jewel’ of the North Yorkshire coast written (3,3) can be an iconic description of a racing Ferrari (if you can see past/through all the sponsorship logos).

23a Secretly destabilising American (2,6)
IN CAMERA: An anagram (destabilising) of AMERICAN.

25a Stop baseball team making a comeback (4)
STEM: The reversal (making a comeback) of the name of the NY baseball team who used to play their home games in the same stadium that Sir Paul McCartney and Billy Joel are playing in (before it was dismantled rather than demolished), playing a song written by John Lennon and Sir Paul which was the opening track on the Beatles’ debut album, Please Please Me.

26a Husband finished carbon boat that skims the waves (10)
HOVERCRAFT: The single letter for Husband, a synonym of finished, the chemical symbol for Carbon, and a type of boat, usually unpowered and sometimes made of oil drums and planks of wood.

27a While rapping, Snoop cursed High Street competition (5,3)
PRICE WAR: A homophone (while rapping I presume) of the combination of synonyms of snoop and cursed.

28a Poet‘s humourless study (6)
DRYDEN: A term that indicates that someone is humourless and the usual three letter nounal synonym of study.

Down

2d Detest August Bank Holiday on roads, for starters (5)
ABHOR: The initial letters (for starters) of five words in the clue.

3d The dummy of the family who’s likely to get some stick? (4,5)
AUNT SALLY: A wooden figure found in a fairground that sticks (or balls) may be thrown at.

4d Radio station employee picked up formal attire (6)
DEEJAY: A homophone (picked up) of the two letter abbreviation of (male) formal attire.

5d Jason quite possibly man’s best friend? (6,9)
GOLDEN RETRIEVER: A descriptive term (quite possibly) for Jason, the Ancient Greek. who went on a quest to recover an expensive item.

6d Gruelling event mum organised involving hot pants (8)
MARATHON: A two letter synonym of mother, a synonym of organised containing (involving) an anagram (pants – move one letter) of HOT.

7d Rice dish feeds Dua Lipa when travelling north (5)
PILAU: Fortunately, you do not need to know who Dua Lipa is, but if you really want to know, she is an Albanian singer and songwriter – a reversed lurker (feeds . . . when travelling north).

8d Indifferent article sadly inadequate (9)
APATHETIC: One of the indefinite articles and an anagram (sadly) of INADEQUATE a synonym of sadly inadequate – thanks to Arthur Dent for noticing my error.

14d One demonstrating in favour of examiner (9)
PROTESTER: The Latin based three letter term equivalent to in favour of and a synonym of examiner.

16d Kerry and Emma going out to have a good time (4,5)
MAKE MERRY: An anagram (going out) of KERRY and EMMA.

17d Father nearly cut piece of 22 Down writing (8)
CLERIHEW: A generic term for a Father in the church with the last letter deleted (nearly) and a synonym of cut – I don’t think that we have seen this for a while but I might open a book on its chances of becoming a ‘Serengeti’.

20d 20d cut (6)
SCORED: A term for a quantity of 20 (items?) and D from the clue.

22d Universal sacking Head of Studio? That’s funny (5)
COMIC: A synonym of universal (as in relating to the Universe) with the first letter of Studio deleted (sacking head of).

24d Resistance provided the French weapon (5)
RIFLE: The single letter for electrical Resistance, the two letter synonym of provided, and the male form of the in French.

Quick Crossword Pun:

CHAI + KNEES + WAUL = CHINESE WALL – I did not know the third word, the clue was Cry like a baby (4), but I presume it is related to a 9 letter word with the same ending, and it is in The Crimson Tome so heigh ho.

70 comments on “DT 30968”

  1. Plenty to like in today’s offering but with a few quirky ones added to the mix. I can’t remember the last time I used the words at 18a and 17d but they were gettable. The Ferrari in Yorkshire was neat but my COTD goes to the delightful 20d. I pondered it for ages trying make some sense of it until the proverbial hit me. No doubt it’s an old chestnut but I loved it.

    Thank you, setter for a great guzzle. Thank you, Colonel Mustard in the dining room with the candlestick for the hints.

    Sunny and breezy in The Marches today with a freshness in the air. No doubt it will become humid later. There’s a shortage of Pedigree dog food here and poor Hudson is down to his last three tins. 😨

  2. Very friendly offering today, only slightly held up by the parsing of 27a, which when I realised it was a homophone, made it my COTD.
    Rachel from accounts at 9a and the Argonaut in 5d were my runners-up, also excellent clues.
    When Richard Osman was in the chair on Countdown, he used to make up 17ds, so I remembered the word.
    Thanks to Senf and the setter, another enjoyable backpager.

  3. A midweek masterpiece from The Rock.

    11a was an excellent rekrul that threw me off the scent for a while…’Now, what Sir Bernards do I know?’. I also hadn’t heard of the fairground game.

    This is the first time I’ve done this but I have four on my podium as I’m finding it impossible to bin one. They are 9a, 5d, 6d and, of course, 20d.

    MT to The Rock and the Mountie.

    2*/5*

  4. Nice Wednesday crossword. My favourite has to be the clever 20d

    Thanks to the setter and Senf

    1. Hi CS

      You don’t comment on a crossy as regularly as most of us but have been doing so when it’s Hudson’s. So, you’re clearly a fan. And quite right too as he’s excellent.

      Do you know if he is a new setter or can his masterpieces be found elsewhere?

      1. There are a couple of reasons why I may or may not comment on a crossword, but although I’m not sure who set today’s crossword, neither of them came into play so I thought I’d comment

        Hudson also sets as Knut in the Indy and Julius in the FT

        1. I guessed he was elsewhere.

          He is superb and gives my favourite compiler, Jay, a good run.

          1. He’s been compiling for over 10 years now, Tom. As well as the aforementioned Independent and FT, he’s anonymous for The Times back-page puzzles and Jumbos, and Bjorn for The Times Quick Cryptic – and does a regular cryptic for The Blizzard magazine. Just lazes around apart from that.

            1. A busy man!

              It looks like he’s only joined the DT’s ranks recently. A fine addition.

              Thanks for that, Mr MR.

              1. Nearly 7 years now, Tom, but you will have had to tackle his superb Toughies (often reasonably Floughie) to have encountered him for that long.

                1. Forgive me, MG. I meant to say ‘DT’s backpager ranks’.

  5. A truly delightful romp, from the first smile with 9a to the laugh-out-louds and PDMs in the final half dozen or so acrosses/downs. Proof that a brilliant crossword does not need to be terribly challenging.

    Great surface at 9a, and boy oh boy but she has some work to do now; thought 5d was going to be the out and out COTD, and then along came the great Lego clue of 26a, homophone at 27a, genius of 20d, and superb 19d. Can one have five CsOTD? Well I can’t put a cigarette paper between those last 5 clues, so gold medals all round.

    Chapeau to the setter, a wonderful puzzle. Thanks also to Senf for the review.

  6. 1.5*/4.5*. A light and extremely enjoyable mid-week puzzle which would have earned 5* status except for my loathing of 4d. This is a totally unnecessary manufactured word using six letters when two would be fine.

    Picking a short list from so many good clues is tough, but I’ll settle for a podium selection of 9a, 5d & 20d.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Senf.

        1. I agree with both of these! I would never ever write either of them in that way!

          1. Fair enough, gents. I’m with you but I couldn’t not give five stars as he had accumulated too many joyous beans in the jar.

            The former is very handy for a pangram though.

    2. Quite — what’s the point in abbreviating a word just to lengthen it again‽

      Though I’m OK (not “okay” which is similarly unnecessary!) with ‘Jeep’, which at least saves a syllable when compared with ‘GP’, and avoids the risk of confusing your small rugged vehicle with the family doctor.

  7. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Like others, it was tricky to pick favourites but I’ll plump for 5d, 17d, 21a, 20d and 26a.

    Thanks to Senf and the setter.

  8. Hi Senf,

    I’m not quite sure how you are making an anagram out of “INADEQUATE” and adding that to an article to get the nine letter answer to 8D. I read this as an article plus a synonym of “sadly inadequate”… But otherwise fantastic hints as always!

    A great puzzle which I enjoyed immensely and finished in quicker than my usual time.

    With many thanks to Senf and the setter…

    1. Thanks for finding my error on the hint for 8d. A total senior moment for which I will blame the atmospheric electrical activity from a thunderstorm that was in progress momentarily addling my brain.

      1. It’s OK Senf,
        I know you all get paid huge sums; but despite the enormous wealth, I wouldn’t want to do the blog – I think I’ve said this before, but your audience must be the most pedantic and eagle-eyed group of people anywhere on the planet. You (all) do a fantastic job, and I thank you for that…

  9. There are some cracking clues here – thanks to our setter and Senf.
    Top marks for 11a, 27a, 5d and 20d.

  10. A mild challenge until I met 27a. I am still struggling to find the homphone. Otherwise fun.

  11. Haven’t quite got my head round this setter’s style but certainly found some enjoyable clues in this one. Rosettes handed out to 5,12&26a plus 5d.

    Thanks to our setter (Hudson?) and to Senf for the review – nice clip of Sir Paul & Billy Joel.

  12. Very light today but great fun.
    1.5*/4*
    My podium comprises 27a, 20d and a well hidden anagram at 23a.
    5d doesn’t quite work for me – the en on the first word to be precise!

    1. I agree with you regarding 5d – it didn’t quite work for me either – however, I suppose one could say that it was a goldEN fleece that Jason was seeking to retrieve…

      1. Him retrieving something golden works for me.

        The question mark tidies up any issue.

        1. Gold retriever works but golden describes the retriever. So in my mind it doesn’t work for the clue!

          1. He retrieved the Golden Fleece not Gold Fleece. So, he retrieved something golden. That’s why the question mark is there.

            But, if it doesn’t work for you then fair enough.

            Onwards!

    2. In everything I have read and seen about Jason’s expedition the fleece has always been ‘golden’.

  13. A splendidly compiled and generally reasonably light challenge today. I enjoyed any number of the clues, but special mentions for 9a, 21a, 27a, 28a and 5d. Thanks very much to the setter and to Senf.

    1. Serengeti was, for a while, cropping up as a solution practically every day but clued differently of course. Orchestra is another setter’s favourite.

    2. ‘Serengeti” along with “orchestra” often appear in crosswords with different cluing.

      Sorry, Madflower – you beat me by 2 minutes! 😊

    3. .. Serengeti appears with some regularity (some would say monotonous) as an answer in cryptic crosswords and not a word that many of us would use frequently and/or be familiar with .. I for one had never heard of the answer to today’s 17d.
      Cotd 20d. Homophone at 27a .. whit! .. and my last in.
      .. in response to about .. try Butchers for a change … Hudson will love it!

  15. Was going to mention the hint atb8d but I can see ADent has already highlighted it. A fabulous puzzle – I did wonder how 27a would be received on these pages, personally I loved it and it was my clue of the day.

    Thanks to the setter and to Senf for the hints

      1. Have to be very careful – or face being lynched – but it did feel like that. More of those would be welcome (in my opinion)

  16. A very nice puzzle for a Wednesday with just the right combination of wit, charm and the odd head scratch such as 20d which is pure genius and in top podium position. Any number of clues could join it so, at random, the Yorkshire Ferrari of 21a and 5d.

  17. Mostly a straightforward guzzle , the right hand side of the grid filled up quickly but a few quirky clues on the left held me up. My COTD was the cryptic definition at 5d, followed closely by the geographical rektul at 11a and the Lego clue at 17d . I must confess, I didnt see rhe homophone at 27a until I had guessed the solution from the d2finition, when the penny dropped with a loud clang. Many thanks to Senf for the hints and to the compiler.

  18. Another tricky Wednesday puzzle for me this week. Lots of clues where parsing is not obvious even when the word is in.

    2.5*/3*

    Favourites 9a, 23a, 26a, 5d & 20d — with winner 20d

    Thanks to setter & Senf

  19. Fabulous. Ticks all over my e-paper including 21a, 2d, 5d and my COD 9a.
    Clever stuff!
    Thank you setter and Senf.

  20. Found this quite difficult but got there in the end. The hold up for me was Jason’s exploit but loved it when I got it. Needed the hint for 17d even though I have come across that word before in the dim and distant. Lots of delightful clues though.

    Thanks to Senf and the setter.

  21. Late on parade today but time enough to give my vote to 20d as a favourite and to thank our setter for a cracking challenge and Senf for the review.

  22. That’s what I call a great crossword. Really enjoyed from start to finish, with COTD shared by 5d and 20d, LOL. It’s been a while since I enjoyed a crossword this much. Thanks to setter and Senf.

  23. Fantastic crossword: so much fun, without being hard to get the answers; I reckon I finished this one as quickly as I ever do. I particularly liked high-street Snoop in 27a, the nice spot in Dua Lipa’s name in 7d, and Jason in 5d. The latter reminded me of the time at school we had to draw the story in comic form; mine featured a slight misunderstanding by Jason which resulted in him travelling on an Argos catalogue, which somehow flew like a magic carpet. I wish I still had it!

    The Ferrari in 21a is a nice tribute, presumably inadvertent, to the guest setter’s crossword in today’s Guardian, and I always enjoy seeing the 17d poem. Apparently it’s 5½ years since I reacted to solvers who hadn’t heard of the form by spending a couple of weeks writing a 17d a day for each of the Big Dave bloggers. There’s been enough new bloggers since then — and, apparently, more solvers who don’t know 17d — that maybe I should do it again? Fortunately Phisheep contributed one for Senf, after I was struggling for a rhyme.

    But my favourite is the very cute 20d at 20d. Massive thanks to the setter, and to Senf for explaining the fairground stall in 3d.

  24. Thank you for ‘digging out’ Phisheep’s 17d. Solving 17d did remind me of it but I had no memory of what Phisheep had written. I will now have to copy it and paste it into a document of odds and ends i have created.

    1. I could remember that he’d forced the rhyme by comically breaking a line in the middle of a word … but not which word!

      Also, hello to Phisheep if you’re still around. I don’t think I’ve seen you since January when the Puzzles site was giving you printing issues, and we discovered we’re both Firefox users on Linux. Hope all’s well (with both you and your printing), and do post again soon.

  25. Only just finished today’s crossword – started this morning then had to go out. Really didn’t want to leave it as I started at a gallop, but eventually slowed to a trot and met with a brick wall in the SW corner. This was a superb puzzle with so much happening and it included a word I have never heard before ‘clerihew’ – needed to consult the BRB for the definition after following Senf’s excellent hints for the answer. Also needed the hints for 27a, as although I worked out the answer from the word shape, I couldn’t fathom out the rapping connection. Both of these were amazing clues, along with 9a, 18a, 5d and 16d. It was ***/***** for me. Very many thanks to both Hudson and Senf.

  26. A nice crossword mostly straight forward but the last word in the Quicky phrase !!! and 17d has some how escaped me over the years 😳 ***/*** Favourites 4 & 5d and 25a 😃 Thanks to Senf and to the Compiler 👍 PS I do have O level English Language

  27. I have been in Cambridge all day so late entry. I know I did comment yesterday but must have forgotten to press ‘send’! Yesterday was good, today was even better. The only one I did not get was the baseball team snd I needed the hint – of course, I have heard of them but they do not loom large in my legend. Time for my six o’clock medicine. 🥂Many thanks to the clever setter and to my man in the Red Scarf.

  28. Lovely puzzle. Can’t decide between 20D and 21A for my COTD … and 9A absolutely hilarious.

    VMT Setter and Senf.

  29. A perfect puzzle completed this morning before a day out, it rained at the start of the trip then turned into the perfect summer day. The puzzle had so many excellent types of clues it’s hard to pick a favourite but I think it was 5d for me, I did rather like 18a as it’s a lovely word.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Senf for the hints.

  30. A laboured start developed into a fun run. Have to admit to seeking prompts with 11a and 20d (clever) and parsing 21a as I was unaware of the Ferrari property. Thanks to setter whomsoever he/she may be and to Senf.

  31. Even gentler than yesterday perhaps but agree with DG that this one had the edge for enjoyment. Poor Rachel from Accounts has clearly had better days (a ticking off from the Speaker, her fiscal headroom compromised & tears in the Chamber spooking the bond markets) so I hope 9a cheered her up a bit. ✅s also for 11,21&27a plus 6,17&22d.
    Thanks to the setter (Hudson presumably) & to Senf.

  32. 1.5* / 4.5* Excellent throughout and probably the same favourites as others 20d is also 20d, Rachel at 9a, I loved Jason at 5d and the Dua Lipa reference at 7d

    Many thanks to setter and Senf

  33. This was a great puzzle with enough chew to make it slightly challenging. I loved 9a – very clever. I spent ages on my last 2 , the Yorskhire Ferrari , that I did cheat to check it didn’t start with ‘t’, and 17d my last in which was a word I didn’t know , and struggled to parse . In the end I revealed the last letter ! Thanks to the setter and Senf.

      1. Hi Jenny – you entered your alias as ‘JennyM’ without a space before the ‘M’, as part of the ‘removal from moderation process’ I took the liberty of inserting it. I hope that was OK.

        1. Oh , yes thanks 🙄. I’ve clearly had a bit of a mental block for some reason.

  34. I am doubtless on my own in not particularly enjoying this today.

    17d is quite possibly the most weird and obscure word I have ever seen. Has anyone actually used this word outside of crossword land in the last 300 years?

    3d is a new term for me that is impossible to get if you have not heard of the answer.

    Nevertheless, thanks to all.

    1. Good evening

      I like 17d! I (in another guise) submit at least one 17d per day to Mike Read’s excellent Breakfast Show on Heritage Chart Radio

  35. Good evening

    I thought that the wit and humour (and a few dashes of trickery) that went into today’s clues were superb

    I normally put a “!” in the margin next to my contenders for COTD; today I have several; if I were to single one out, I’d have to say 9a.

    17d was my last to fall; it took me forever to tumble to that! I like 17ds – in another guise, I frequently submit them to Mike Read on his excellent breakfast show on Heritage Chart Radio, which I recommend to the house!

    Many thanks to Hudson and to Senf.

  36. Some terrific clues with Rachel as favourite, but 17d too obscure as was the last word of the quickie pun!

  37. 3*/3* …..
    liked 9A “Caught Rachel on broadcast defending pound ? It’s her job ! (10)”

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