DT 30983 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30983

A full review by crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 19^th July 2025

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

I found this Saturday Prize Puzzle to be on the difficult side despite the number of anagrams

Please let us know what you thought

Across

1a           Manage funds badly? Trouble! (3,3,5)
FUN AND GAMES – An anagram (badly) of MANAGE FUNDS

7a           Spooner’s embarrassed bellow in dropping-off place? (7)
BEDROOM – Spooner’s RED (embarrassed) BOOM (bellow)

8a           Family welcomed by chap with one item of clothing (7)
MANKINI – KIN ‘welcomed by’ or inserted between MAN (chap) and I (Roman numeral for one)

10a         Hard to get into bird book? (8)
THRILLER – H (hard) inserted into TRILLER (bird or another tremulous singer)

11a         Cavort in short dress around centre of Ealing (6)
FROLIC – FROCk (short or truncated dress) goes around the ‘centre’ of eaLIng

13a         Type of force mentioned in lecture (4)
TALK – A homophone (mentioned) of TORQUE (type of force)

14a         Save dollar touring country (2,8)
EL SALVADOR – An anagram (touring) of SAVE DOLLAR

16a         Cliff‘s bad temper can lead to squabbles (10)
ESCARPMENT  – An anagram (bad) of TEMPER CAN and the ‘lead’ to Squabbles

18a         Capital of Czechoslovakia? (4)
OSLO – A sneaky lurker – hidden in czechOSLOvakia

21a         Reportedly, you look for African nation (6)
UGANDA – A homophone (reportedly) of U (you) GANDER (look)

22a         Cultivate area on hill, producing food (8)
TORTILLA – TILL (cultivate land) and A (Area) go  on or after TOR (hill)

24a         Game that might be a bit of a blow? (7)
TWISTER – A game or a North American informal name for a tornado

25a         Agent with hat is cold-blooded type (7)
REPTILE – REP (agent) TILE (Cockney Rhyming Slang for hat)

26a         Beach terror unsettled prominent figure (11)
TORCHBEARER – An anagram (unsettled) of BEACH TERROR

Down

1d           Type of government journalist gets wild about (7)
FEDERAL – FERAL (wild) goes about ED (editor, journalist)

2d           Fool head (6)
NOODLE – Double definition, the first one more informal than the second

3d           Men up dancing with model and John le Carré? (3,2,5)
NOM DE PLUME – An anagram (dancing) of MEN UP and MODEL.  His real name is David Cornwell

4d           Racket sport (4)
GAME – Double definition

5d           King tucked into fruit, very last from apple tree (8)
MANGROVE – R (Rex, King) ‘tucked into’ MANGO (fruit) followed by V (very) and the last letter of applE

6d           Son put down as expert (7)
SKILLED – S (son) KILLED (put down)

7d           Suffer defeat – I’d bust teeth fighting (4,3,4)
BITE THE DUST – An anagram (fighting) of ID BUST TEETH

9d           Embody procreation, possibly (11)
INCORPORATE – An anagram (possibly) of PROCREATION

12d         Seafood platter? (4,6)
MAIN COURSE – A seafood platter could be described as a DISH of food from the MAIN

15d         Rubbish parroted in Arnie film (8)
PREDATOR – An anagram (rubbish) of PARROTED

17d         Gossip, drinking port in carriage (7)
CHARIOT – CHAT (gossip) ‘drinking’ RIO (port)

19d         Tommy maybe flogged fine art occasionally (7)
SOLDIER – SOLD (flogged) and the occasional (even) letters of fInE aRt

20d         Puts up with soldiers in a daze (6)
STUPOR – A reversal (up) of PUTS with OR (Other Ranks of Soldiers)d

23d         Leading walk, miles away (4)
ARCH – mARCH (talk) without the abbreviation for Miles