ST 3329 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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ST 3329 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3329 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where the ‘back to school ads’ are starting to appear.  Time for those who need to to start thinking about getting their offspring of all ages organised for September.

For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quirkily friendly with 2 long ‘uns, 8 anagrams (4 partials), 2 lurkers, and 1 homophone all in an asymmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints plus a bonus hint ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.  And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!

Candidates for favourite – 17a, 25a, 7d, and 9d.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be 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 Quick – as a crab? (5)
A double definition – the second might refer to how a crab might be with its front claws?

10a Dregs of society embodied by wrong’un, was he delinquent? (8)
A lurker (embodied by) found in the four words at the end of the clue.

12a As some teams due to play, idiot brought in (6)
A three letter synonym of idiot inserted into (brought in) an anagram (to play, move one letter, oh dear) of DUE.

14a Far-out mountains beyond street (7)
A term for (a chain of) mountains placed after (beyond) the abbreviated form of street.

21a American camouflaged behind the scenes (2,6)
An anagram (camouflaged) of AMERICAN – camouflage(d) is shown in the comprehensive list of anagram indicators in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary.

23a Gate opening and closing, behind which little sign (6)
The first and last letters (opening and closing) of GatE followed by (behind which) a synonym of little.

24a Place where old feline sheltered by its relative? (8)
The single letter for Old and a synonym of feline all contained (sheltered) by a (larger) relative.

26a Bed found in bedchamber, thankfully (5)
A lurker (found in) in two words of the clue.

Down

2d Prize money skimmed for whole life (7)
A single word for prize money with the first letter removed (skimmed) – a term for a long (whole) life.

3d Performing star applies for strong material for cast (7,2,5)
An anagram (performing) of STAR APPLIES FOR.

5d Regulations reportedly interpreted on record (3,4)
The bonus clue, because I am not sure that I have parsed it correctly – a homophone (reportedly) of a synonym of interpreted placed before (on) a synonym of record.

8d Drink provides colour in Welsh stew I prepared (3,4,7)
A (generic?) synonym of colour inserted into (in) and anagram (prepared) of WELSH STEW I.

9d Pacific wave seen around QE2, say? (6)
Nothing to do with an ocean liner – an anagram (wave, move one letter) of SEEN containing (around) the regnal cypher of QE2.

19d First of worms fed to yellow bird (7)
The first letter of Worms inserted into (fed to) a synonym of yellow.

22d Mug, one under bottom of shelf (4)
A synonym of one (in a pack of cards?) placed after (under) the last letter (bottom) of shelF.

Quick Crossword Pun:

MUNCHIES + TESS + SETTEE = with a big groan when the penny dropped MANCHESTER CITY

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First number one, of two, for pop and jazz singer Helen Shapiro.  It started 3 weeks at number one on this day in 1961.  Something I don’t recall seeing before – a mixture of still photos and video, although the syncing of the audio to the colour video is a little off:

54 comments on “ST 3329 (Hints)”

  1. A benign Dada today with plenty of smiles. The crab at 1a went straight in but then I hit a bald patch. As ever, the downs came to the rescue and it became a steady finish with heavy reliance on checkers. I liked the old feline at 24a and that is my COTD.

    Many thanks, Dada for a fun Sunday challenge. At this moment it is winging its way across the ether in search of The Mythical. Thank you, Colonel Mustard for the hints.

    I’m afraid the pun didn’t work for me even with I saw the answer. Once again, a case of pronunciation.

    1. I tried to edit may post but it didn’t work. Just wanted to add that the pun didn’t work for me even when I saw the answer. A case of pronunciation, I suppose.

      Oh, the edit did work!

    2. After the PDM on the Pun, I considered that a state of inebriation, causing a slurring of words, would have helped – :-)

      1. Well, that was a surprise – I typed in the ‘old school’ smiley face and it was ‘converted’ into an emoticon!

  2. 2*/3* from me for a fairly light and mostly enjoyable puzzle.

    Initially I picked another seemingly equally valid fruit for 4a which gave me a bit of a headache with 5d & 6d until I realised the error of my ways.

    “Offered” in 6d seems to be a dubious way to link two pieces of anagram fodder.

    I have come across 2-letter, 4-letter and 5-letter abbreviations for the day in 7d but never 3-letter!

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf.

    1. Surprised by your “day” comment. I’d have thought the three-letter abbreviations of the days were the most common “set”, often seen on calendars, etc.

      Google “day of week calendar” and hit “images”, and there you are.

  3. Gentle and enjoyable despite the excessive anagram count, though that will of course please others. Honours to 24a and 3d.

    Many thanks to Dada and Senf

  4. A puzzle of 2 halves for me today with the RHS holding out the longest. Plenty of smiles with top picks for me being 24a, 23a, 8d, 9d and 19d.
    I also liked the Quickie pun.
    I parsed 5d the same way as you Senf.

    Thanks to Senf and Dada.

  5. An approachable enjoyable SPP wuth lots of lovely anagrams, right up my street. I particulerly likedd the two long clues at 3d and 8d and the lurrker at 10a and the Lego clue at 11a were good fun too. Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints .

  7. At the less challenging end of SPP but really enjoyable and one of my favourite recent puzzles. Lots of great clues. 11a bloke, 19a and 6d (which i took i while to parse) were my favourites. Needed help for my LOI 4a as both definitions eluded me. Thank you Dada and Senf

      1. Cancel that – just read RD’s & Gazza’s comments.
        Not sure about ‘offered’ either

  9. Struggled is my word for this Dada. Struggled to get a start, Struggled with motivation and to a conclusion. Not sure why looking at the completed grid, but there you go. All in all I must be a 4a. No great favourite today, so thanks to Dada and Senf

  10. About as gentle as dada gets I thought. As ever I found I only fully appreciated the skill of the surfaces once completed and taking the time to enjoy them without the pressure of unpicking it!

    Lovely stuff for a lovely day – thank you Dada and to Senf for the hints which I didn’t need but enjoyed nonetheless.

  11. An anagramfest from Dada today (including 6d with its very odd ‘offered’) – thanks to him and Senf.
    The clues I liked best were 10a, 2d and 18d.

  12. Yesterday, knowing I was due at my grandsons’ Christening at noon, where I was to do a reading, I was rather worried that I’d somehow missed the whole of Saturday, when I opened the email that arrived 24 hrs too early for today’s hints! All soon became clear though, and we had a wonderful day!
    A very enjoyable puzzle I thought, but over far too soon.
    Thanks to Dada and to Senf of course

    1. I enjoyed listening to Helen Shapiro, I do remember my parents listening to it, probably via the Light Programme on the wireless

  13. Good afternoon

    First attempt at a Sunday crozzie for a while; I’ve been up to my neck in tetty peelings etc for the last two weeks, having had company for Sunday dinner. This afty, though, my children are treating their owld Dad to a meal out, as a late birthday treat.

    All done, but definitely needed plenty of tea and my Lucky Green Pen to get over the finishing line.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.

  14. A really mixed bag containing everything from the vernacular to the highbrow – typical quirky Dada!
    Tops for me were 24a plus 5&9d.

    Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints and music – I certainly remember Miss Shapiro but not that particular song.

  15. Thank you Dada and Senf. Much easier than usual for a Sunday. Enjoyable challenge nevertheless. Val enjoyed the anagrams as usual. Gary and Val

  16. For me this week, I thought this was Dada in Toughie territory. Plenty of personal thesaurus use as well as quirkiness all over the grid.

    3*/3.5* for me

    Favourites 1a, 11a, 19a, 23a, 24a & 3d — with winner 1a as it made laugh as well as be the first in.

    Thanks to Dada for the brain mangling this week & Senf for his blog/comments

  17. For me, and I stress for me (© Senf), Helen Shapiro’s ‘Walking Back To Happiness’ was the first single I ever bought, when I was the tiniest, teeny boy.
    I almost wish I had stopped there, but after a lifetime of vinyl, cassettes, and CDs, I’m very grateful for the age of streaming as I don’t think the loft has any more room for the storage of recorded music.

    Great guzzle – enjoyed cracking it.

    Thanks to Da-doo-ron-ron and The Man From Manitoba (I’ve flown over his house twice, recently)

  18. Smiles a plenty but not a lot of head scratching. Apart from unpicking my pyjamas, a rum parse imho. Many thanks to Dada and Senf.

  19. Struggled a bit on 8d and 1a as I haven’t heard the usage as a non-native speaker, very enjoyable puzzle today

  20. 8d. xxx?

    You are asked not to include parts of solutions in comments on a Prize Puzzle.

    What did you think of the puzzle?

  21. Managed yesterday’s eventually but didn’t leave time to comment so pleased to have a more straightforward run today, though not without a few head scratchers. We enjoyed this with favourite being 8d. Thanks to Dada and Senf.

  22. A very enjoyable puzzle which went fairly smoothly.

    Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.

  23. A lovely puzzle, which went fairly smoothly apart from a couple of stubborn answers that didn’t want me to find them for a while. My favourites were 10a and 24a. Many thanks to setter and hinter.

  25. Solid fare from Radio with the 1a/2d comby being the last to drop (both are Graeme, Tim and Bill).

    I love the expression in 8d and 11a is a top word I use at every given opportunity. And I’m pleased to see its root is East London.

    My podium is 19a, 8d and 15d.

    MT to Dada and Senf.

    2*/4*

  26. Ticks against 10,11&25a plus 2&18d. Not my favourite Dada puzzle but still an enjoyable solve.
    Thanks to D&S

  27. 2.5*/3.5* A nice weekend tester, I found it similar level to yesterday’s. Not 100% sure I’ve got the fruit fool correct, but can’t think of anything thing better. Top clues include 11a bloke, 25a white and drink at 8d
    Thanks to Senf and Dada
    Ps a good tenuous quickie pun

  28. I am struggling with 4a of all things. The only foolish thing I can find for the fruit that fits is some rather weak RAF slang; maybe that is why Senf hasn’t hinted it. If not it must be one from Dada’s personal thesaurus.
    Has Dada been watching Peppa pig?

    1. Some lateral thinking probably required but if you look up what you appear to have for 4a in the BRB you should find ‘something’ that fits (more or less).

  30. Infrequent commenter here, I thought this was heading for a real struggle as it took me a long time before I had a firm foothold but after that answers flowed quite readily. I will now read the comments, thanks to presumably Dada and Senf

    1. Please stop being an infrequent commentator, AB. We would love to hear more from you. :-)

  31. Enjoyed that once I eventually got to it after a morning victory at bowls followed by grandson shenanigans and a trip to A&E with my father in law which got done end to end in less than 4hrs so grateful for that!! Thanks to dada and Senf

  32. This was a very enjoyable Sunday Prize Cryptic from Dada.
    I liked the anagrams as they made me smile.
    Suffice to say the clues I liked most were 1a, 4a, 11a, 23a, 25a, 5d, 18d, and 20d. My fave was 8d which really made me laugh.
    Very many thanks to Dada for the entertainment and to Senf for the hints and tip which I didn’t need but do appreciate having them.

  33. My sincere apologies for needing modification.
    My vision is being interrupted by a fortifiction spectrum as I fear a migraine is coming on.

    1. Welcome to the blog. You should not be surprised to find out that you do not have the correct answer to 20d and, if you have answers for 22a and 24a they are also incorrect. 20d is a double definition where the answer can mean the same as both words in the clue.

      1. To reinforce what crypticsue wrote, the essence of a double definition is that the answer, however many words it is, in this case a two word phrase, has to separately match both definitions.

      1. Sorry , I meant xxxx xxx [redacted – the closing date for this Prize Puzzle isn’t until Wednesday] – is that better?

        1. Still partly incorrect

          A fellow competitor at the Times Crossword Championship always says that if you can’t parse your solution, it is probably wrong. As Senf says, your solution to 20d needs to match the definition of both words in the clue

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