Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31010
Hints and Tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***
An enjoyable puzzle which should find favour with most solvers. There is an error (now corrected online) in the original clue for 4d. There are paired answers in all four corners of the grid – can you spot any more?
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and indicator words (e.g. anagram indicators) are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons.
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Across
1a Perhaps Crufts dog commercial cut (4)
SHOW: a verb to dog or trail with the usual abbreviation for a commercial cut out.
3a Type of lamp that guaranteed a broad smile? (6-4)
SEALED-BEAM: cryptic definition.
9a Compassion – mine and yours primarily (4)
PITY: a mine and the principal letter of yours.
10a Sugary confection – clean teeth after Charlie (with his brother?) (10)
CANDYFLOSS: a verb to clean one’s teeth as the hygienist recommends follows the letter that Charlie represents in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet and his disreputable brother (where Charlie is our current monarch).
12a A big beast, Brazilian legend knocked back Hampshire ale freely (8,4)
ELEPHANT SEAL: reverse the name of a Brazilian football legend and add a short name for Hampshire and an anagram (freely) of ALE.
15a Rows involving 50 roofers (6)
TILERS: a synonym of rows or ranks containing the Roman numeral for 50.
16a Pud from America – I spoil it on the way back (8)
TIRAMISU: assemble an abbreviation for America, I (from the clue), a verb to spoil and IT (from the clue) then reverse (back) it all.
18a According to Spooner, rabbit takes the mickey out of rhino kept here (5,3)
MONEY BOX: rhino is a dated slang term for cash. If you apply Spooner’s method to the answer you get a child’s word for a rabbit and a verb meaning ‘takes the mickey out of’.
19a Manager ran department charged with a commission (6)
ERRAND: our first hidden answer (charged with).
21a Rock famously carved Sister Tharpe’s sound (7,5)
ROSETTA STONE: I’d never heard of Sister Tharpe who was a gospel singer of the 1930s and 1940s. We want her forename with its ‘S and a type of sound or pitch.
24a Generous hands holding uniform large releases of eggs (10)
OVULATIONS: a word for generous hands (of the type routinely given to party leaders at their annual conferences) contains abbreviations for uniform and large.
25a Fire old Russian cavalryman after leaving function (4)
SACK: an old Russian cavalryman without his first three letters which are an abbreviated mathematical function.
26a A ghetto pod cast that describes Terry-Thomas? (3-7)
GAP-TOOTHED: an anagram (cast) of A GHETTO POD.
27a Grand prix perhaps featuring electronic vehicle reversing (4)
RACE: the abbreviation for electronic and a motor vehicle all reversed.
Down
1d Maybe 10 o’clock breaking news up (per Tim Ewart) (10)
SUPPERTIME: our second hidden answer (breaking). Tim Ewart if you don’t know (I didn’t) is a former royal correspondent for ITN News.
2d Ninth bloke out not running properly (2,3,5)
ON THE BLINK: an anagram (out) of NINTH BLOKE.
4d (Original clue online and presumably in the paper) Date – finally! – pin up English woman (6)
There is an error in this clue and it has been replaced online by:
4d Date finally settled with English woman (6)
ELAINE: the final letter of date, a past participle meaning settled or rested and an abbreviation for English.
5d DPhil, say … fancy title (8)
LADYSHIP: an anagram (fancy) of DPHIL SAY.
6d One bristled at being described as very silly? (4,2,1,5)
DAFT AS A BRUSH: cryptic definition. Bristled here means ‘having bristles’.
7d An elite college, West Point has regular expulsions (4)
ETON: drop regular letters from West Point.
8d The compiler sets vacuous shambles (4)
MESS: how the compiler refers to himself and the outer letters of ‘sets’ (vacuous meaning empty).
11d Carrot and thyme mixed with first drop of oil – it’s delicious in a salad (6,6)
CHERRY TOMATO: an anagram (mixed) of CARROT THYME followed by the first letter of oil.
13d Some ketchup in a cola, dad? That’s a rum drink! (4,6)
PINA COLADA: our third hidden answer (some).
14d Fresh UK leader? That is capital north of the border (4,6)
AULD REEKIE: an anagram (fresh) of UK LEADER followed by the abbreviation meaning ‘that is’ gives us the nickname of Scotland’s capital dating back to the time of coal fires.
17d Writer half the month sat on table (8)
NOVELIST: the first half of the name of a month and (sat on, in a down clue) a synonym of table or register.
20d Not about to punch card immediately (2,4)
AT ONCE: a reversal (about) of NOT is inserted (to punch) a playing card.
22d Pine tree trunk felled around noon (4)
LONG: what you might call a tree trunk after it’s been felled containing the abbreviation for noon.
23d Ambush magistrate without hesitation (4)
JUMP: the 2-letter abbreviation for an unpaid magistrate goes around (without, in the sense of outside) one of our usual expressions of hesitation.
For my podium I’ve selected 10a, 18a and 24a. Which one(s) reached out to you?
The Quick Crossword pun: MUSH + RHEUM + BARGEES = MUSHROOM BHAJIS
Am I missing the obvious here, or is something wrong with 4d?
Surely I can’t be alone in reckoning two letters are in the wrong order, I’ll have to see the hint to see if I’m being a bigger fool than usual…….
Nope, I’ve read the hint and still reckon ‘pin’ was meant to be ‘nail’ written backwards (up), can’t see how ‘pin up’ can be construed as lain, maybe someone can put a better case for it?
Are you sure you’ve read the hint?
Yep I read the hint at just after 11.00 when the clue was still ‘ Date – finally! – pin up English woman’, I see your hint has now changed to explain the new version of the clue.
I’m not sure what you’ve been reading but my blog hasn’t changed since I published it at 11:00. Chris Lancaster informed me of the change to the clue at 08:52.
Sorry Gazza, my mistake, its the clue that has changed, hint remains the same and explains the amended clue, but didn’t fit the (pin up) part of the
original clue.
Yep, thought it was an error, I see the clue has now been changed, glad I’m not going loopy…….
The clue was indeed wrong, I parsed it the same way as you and decided my brain was addled.
Gazza has put a corrected clue in the hints.
Pin up – anagram of nail inside e (date finally) and e for English
Welcome to the blog, Janet B.
If it were an anagram that would be an indirect anagram which is a no-no. The Telegraph has admitted that the clue was in error and supplied an alternative clue – see the blog.
A good challenge with a number of posers thrown in. I wonder how many of our overseas friends will know the nickname of Edinburgh at 14d. The pud from America at 16a was especially tasty and the lurker at 13d was very well hidden. The good Reverend was not too difficult this time and the ambushed magistrate at 23d raised a smile. My COTD is Charlie and his brother at 10a.
Thank you, setter for a most enjoyable puzzle. Thank you, Gazza for the hints.
Quite chilly in The Marches today. So much so I’m contemplating putting the heating on.
Tricky but clever so therefore good. Took a while to get into the setter’s thinking but eventually clicked. Thanks Gazza for the hints which helped explain some educated guesses. My favourite was one of the several anagrams being 26a which amused. Thanks to the setter.
Gazza, there are five letters in the second word of the pun.
Thanks Steve – now fixed.
Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me. The comedian in 26A was not a major player in the scene and anyone under the age of 60 would need to resort to e-help to understand the clue. Equally 21A cannot be solved cryptically but requires some fairly esoteric general knowledge. 3A was also beyond my knowledge of technical terms.
Not for me either for exactly the same reasons ….even though I am over 60 (and some)
I agree wholeheartedly with your post. Not for me at all today.
Agree with 21a – esoteric indeed. However I’ve quite a way to go yet to hit 60 and remember TT from Saturday TV. Matinee showings of the St Trinians films showing Terry at his spivviest.
Really enjoyed this, slightly testing but with the exception of 4d (presumed setter & ed had erred and so put in the correct answer anyway) an otherwise straightforward puzzle with the necessary modest step-up in difficulty.
Many thanks to Setter & Gazza
An enjoyable puzzle but didn’t know about Sister Tharpe so had to resort to Google.
Top picks for me were 16a, 1d, 25a and 10a.
Thanks to Gazza for the hints and superb cartoon choices and to the setter.
This was a fair midweek tester from Hudson with some nice techniques on display.
1d was a splendid lurker as was 13d.
I’ve got no problem with 21a as the only other option was Blarney. So, it didn’t matter if you hadn’t heard of her which I now have. And, having Googled her, I see she is the first star of Gospel music. This is why I’m more than happy with specialist knowledge in a crossy.
The same goes for 14d and 26a: a huge majority of solvers are over 50 from The UK whom the setters are targeting. This means that youngsters and non-Brits are the casualties, neither group of which have complained as they understand the situation.
Talking of Terry-Thomas….the group of three words for features on our face that are extremely close to each other are:
1. septum (the thing that divides the nostrils)
2. philtrum (the groove between the base of the nose and the lip)
3. diastema (26a).
What a shower!
My podium is 2d, 5d and 13d.
MT to The Rock and the Big G.
3*/4*
I forgot to say well spotted to Gazza for the brilliant four letter paired answers in each quadrant.
I wouldn’t have seen those in a million years.
And in TT’s case all those features are perfectly aligned in a vertical plane, giving a pleasing facial uniformity.
I agree. Very satisfying.
I just love that, when I was a nipper, I had no idea what these three things were called.
Philtrum is from the Greek for love potion or charm as they’re above the lips.
Septum is the Latin for fence or partition.
Diastema is the Greek for space and is, interestingly, associated with lustful characteristics. In France, they’re called dents du bonheur (lucky/happiness teeth). In some African countries they’re regarded as being attractive and a sign of fertility. Some people have them created through cosmetic dentistry!
There endeth today’s lesson from Father Tom.
A super, cleverly constructed puzzle with 18a, 21a and 6d on my podium. Thanks very much to the setter and to Gazza for the cartoons etc.
I completed yesterday’s offering on a series of rush hour tube trains as I traversed London to take on a section of the loop walk on the Essex borders. I was reminded how much more difficult it is to focus in such circumstances and how far I still have to go to match the efforts of those who used to write in answers on a folded broadsheet in a crammed compartment of a carriage, possibly while smoking a pipe.
Hi everybody,
Mortified by the error in 4D…so sorry
Rob/Hudson
It makes you human.
I always call you Rock because of your surname and I now see that you’re called Rob (not Robert) meaning people must hear Rob Hudson as Rock Hudson.
Thank you for the crossword. Another goodie hits the back of the net.
I’ve just realized…Hudson is probably not your surname.
Onwards!
Don’t worry Hudson, it gave me something to occupy my morning, I can’t do much else as I’m just getting over a cataract op, so not allowed to do anything in the garden, do much exercise, ride the motorbike etc, so it brightened me up a bit!
Not to worry, Rob. Even Homer nods.
Thanks for a fine puzzle.
Wasn’t a problem for me
What I would call a typo more than a lack of ingenuity
Great guzzle
Wonderful crossword. Hugely enjoyable.
Shame about the now amended error at 4d but an otherwise excellent puzzle – best of the week thus far in my view. I had ticks all over the shop & our reviewer’s selected 3 were definitely among them. I get ATB’s comment about 21a but thankfully knew a fair bit about her huge contribution to modern music.
Thanks to the setter & to Gazza – splendid cartoons & particularly for 1&24a
Ps there’s an excellent Silvanus puzzle too in t’other place that’s not overly difficult.
Forgot to say the paired answers, which completely passed me by, only increased my appreciation of the puzzle – which I see Hudson has now claimed.
I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms. I had never heard of 3a, and as if this was not enough, I always become confused trying to spell 16a.
As a result of this, I intend to cancel my subscription to everything, including the parish magazine. I shall never purchase the Telegraph again as long as I live. In addition I am demanding the compiler is sacked without notice. (Aha! It seems to be this fellow ‘Hudson’. I suspect he is working under an assumed name. Nevertheless, turn him out on to the streets!)
This is the only sort of outcome these people understand.
Copied to David and Frederick Barclay, Mr Lancaster, Sir Keir Starmer, His Holiness The Pope, and Taylor Swift.
Thanks to Hudson, and the former midfielder for Gansu Tianma.
As David Barclay is now dead you clearly have access to channels of communication not available to us mere mortals…..????
Oh, I guess there is always the ouija board….
I also forgot to say I didn’t notice the paired answers but thought them very clever. Thank you Hudson (and Gazza for pointing them out).
Thanks Hudson and Gazza. An enjoyable solve almost spoilt by the ‘Bung-In’ and research later 21a. 2*/3.5*
I got 4d to ‘work’ with the initial clue and the reversal (up) of the synonym for pin so I was surprised to see that the clue has been changed. Not impressed by the three letter anagram at the end of 12a.
The 7d/8d delightful dessert the best of the ‘paired’ answers (illustrated below).
Candidates for favourite – 16a, 25a, 6d, and the aforementioned 7d/8d – and the winner is 6d.
What’s wrong with the three-letter anagram? It makes with surface work beautifully and is only a minor part of the whole clue! Were it to be the last three letters of a four-letter clue, I concede that would be a tad dodgy (though I’d have to see the clue). In this case? Nah.
While I (reluctantly) accept that anagrams of three and four letters are anagrams, they are an anathema to me as they usually involve moving only one letter which is the case with 12a. The worst I have ever seen was a clue where the answer was ‘SANGRIA’ and the ‘RIA’ part was clued as an anagram of ‘AIR’ which, in my opinion, would have been much better clued as a reversal.
As I am sure you have seen, when I am the blogger, I usually make an ‘oh dear’ comment in the hint when there is a three or four letter anagram.
Gosh, I had no ideas that you loathed short anagrams so much. I love them, regardless of length.
They are very handy for a setter when they need to anagram a tiny part of the clue as they only need to use two words, in this case, ‘ale freely’. This means the number count is reasonably low. Using another technique will probably lengthen the clue, making it less attractive.
I think setters use them sparingly, especially for a four letter answer, as it’s considered too easy an option. Like us, I’m sure they love a challenge of making it more cryptic.
How did you get 4d to work with the reversal of ‘pin’ (assuming your pin is a nail) being lian, surely it doesn’t then fit into Elaine?
Indeed!
Oh dear – eyes and brain completely disconnected!
No worries Snef
I’m always surprised when people complain about not having heard of an answer or a reference in part of a clue.
We all have gaps in our knowledge and learning something new, especially if it relates to a person or event before we were born is perfectly fair enough. The logical extension to this thought is that we discount history!
Anyway, I thought this was a very decent midweeker.
Can’t argue with anyone who picked Chuck and his bro in 10a as COTD, I’ll also throw in the spoiled dessert in 16a and the singing nun, (who I certainly have heard of) in 21a.
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza, the Farmer Giles joke was my cartoon of the day.
I couldn’t agree more. The only person from whom we accept a rant is Sir Terence. He has a permit due to being Curator of the List.
As you’ll see in my post, I completely agree, Mr Lion.
A fine Wednesday puzzle which I haven’t received yet (and probably won’t, now) but because of Gazza’s 3* rating for difficulty I decided to tackle it using the clues above and building up a freehand sketch of the grid. And I’m glad I did! Great clues, a decent challenge and much enjoyment. Plenty of ticks and my favourite: 10a. 3*/4*.
Learnt something new today – hadn’t realised there was such a food item as that described in the Quickie pun, think I’ll stick with the onion ones!
Top marks in the main puzzle going to 6d with a nod to the cleverly paired corner clues.
Thanks to Hudson and to Gazza for the review and fun cartoons.
The food in the pun is not like the onion variety. The main ingredient is sautéed in spices and served as a side dish. Making me hungry!
Sailed smoothly around the North however found the South a bit choppy but doable nevertheless apart from 21a which brought up the rear and ultimately needed a prompt from MrG. Not phased by 4d as it had to be. Thank you Hudson and Gazza.
Fazed?
Yes indeed. A silly phonetic error on my part but good there are people like you to police comments for spelling/grammar!
Surely, you mean fonetic?
Oh, I can’t stop myself!
Isn’t it funny/interesting the way we all react to the Daily Guzzle. I lived this. I thought it positively sparkled. So many ticks and anyone who has not heard of Terry Thomas should be banished (I am in Terence mode here). I loved the lurkers, had one or two inspired guesses and 14d is surely as well known as the Big Apple? I would do a mocking emoji there but they don’t work now do they.? Many thanks indeed to Hudson and Gazza for their sterling work
A blockbuster of a puzzle, even though I had to have help with the 21a anagram , largely because I hadn’t solved 22 and 23 . For some reason these 3 were my last ones in.I’m still wondering why I found these so difficult to parse .No problem with 21a or 14d , my favourite . Thanks to Hudson and gazza .
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza. This grid and the paired fours appealed to my sense of order. A great puzzle and fun to solve though I found it a bit chewy in places. Favourites 18a, 6d and 14d.
Top entertainment today, from the puzzle itself, from the 4d typo (which was in my version printed online before the correction) and from my own errors! I wrote 4d straight in with the erroneous clue because in my head, I didn’t check that it was actually “NIAL” rather than “NAIL”!
Somehow, but I’ve no idea how, I have heard of the capital.
The biggest laugh out loud moment was when as part of thinking through the 10a sugary confection (I’d already got the teeth cleaning), I was saying to myself “C – AND – Y”, how does ‘Y’ parse to Charlie’s brother ☺. Imagine saying “C-AND-Y-teeth_cleaning” over and over before spotting “C-ANDY”!!!!!
Other big ticks went to the Reverend at 18a, the eggs at 24a, Terry Thomas at 26a and superb lurker at 1d.
Many thanks to Hudson and Gazza
I normally finish back-pagers, yet I failed to solve any clues on first pass with this one and didn’t understand many of the cartoons. Perhaps I’m having a bad day, but this was so not up my street. I look forward to normal service resuming tomorrow.
This Wednesday puzzle was definitely harder than the Monday & Tuesday puzzles this week. Some tricky clueing in some and that caused some head scratching for me.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites 12a, 15a, 26a, 2d, 6d & 11d — with winner 6d
Smiles for 15a, 26a & 7d
Thanks to Hudson & Gazza
Only just finished it. Today has been a day of distractions that has not helped my solve as I never really got to grips with it. I do like to have an uninterrupted run at puzzles. 14d went in straight away as it should as my son has lived there for nigh on twenty years, but cotd must go to 12a. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
This was a very entertaining solve which took a while to break into. There were several answers I had not heard of eg 3a and the singer in 21a. I enjoyed the mix of clues, and the clever lurkers. I did not spot the linked corner clues, how clever they are and what a good spot Gazza.i do not spot the error at 4d, just show you see what you want to see.
Many thanks to Hudson and to Gazza for the hints.
A perfect midweek solve that was just on the right side of tricky to keep me interested throughout. I have to pick 4d as my favourite for the namecheck for Mrs YS.
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
A nice puzzle with enough chew to make it challenging. Thanks for confirming the error in 4d , although the downloaded app still shows it wrong even having logged out. I also hadn’t heard of Sister Tharpe so resorted to google . I managed to parse the clue relating to Terry Thomas , despite not knowing about his teeth. The comments about GK are thought provoking , as I find myself often having to google – mainly terms relating to cricket – the latest one that springs to mind was the word SEAMER, that I had never heard of (definition was steamer) . We all have our GK limitations , but usually the parsings yield the answer or the definitions. Good to learn new stuff. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
Wasn’t feeling it today, as they say. 3a, 21a, and 14d the main troublemakers for me.
Nice to see TT make a cameo at 26a, though.
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
I can’t really rate this puzzle. I thought it was excellent but with three exceptions. Apart from the problem with the original version of 4d, the two cryptic definitions didn’t work for me.
It was good to be reminded of the wonderful Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who is not as well-known as she ought to be.
10a was my favourite of many ticked clues.
Many thanks to Hudson and to Gazza.
I am too young to know about Sister Tharpe, lived too far south to have ever heard of the 14d nickname, but old enough to remember Terry Thomas, so a mixed bag for me. And 16a is my favourite dessert. Even with the corrected clue, 4d was my last in. Perhaps they took some brain cells with when I went for bloodwork this morning? The place where they instruct no food or liquids after midnight, and then berate me for not drinking a lot of water before hand and blood taking too long to draw…. Happy to get home and tackle this challenging puzzle. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
Thanks to Hudson and Gazza. Got off to a flying start then ground to a near halt. Had to work harder to finish! Think we deserve some of 16a! Gary and Val
I found that too difficult and not very enjoyable either! A woman isn’t a name, I have never heard of a 3a or of 14d. I got 13d immediately! Thank you Gazza for much needed explanations. Thank you setter, I’m sure more knowledgeable and able people enjoyed it.
4d still not amended on the website when I complete the puzzle at 18:35.
I’ve just checked the DT Puzzles site and the clue has certainly been updated there.
What did you think of the puzzle?
I’ve just checked back and it’s still not changed for me, though I’ve been having some problems with the site of late.
I enjoyed the puzzle. I play against the clock and solved it in **********, the last three in were 21a, 3a and 4d in that order. From completing the rest of the puzzle, they took about ********** and a bit of head scratching, Elaine being a bit of a guess once 3a was filled in.
Please don’t put solving times in your comments – see Comment Etiquette #6.
My apologies, it has been several years since I read the FAQ and Comment Etiquette, I shall refamiliarise myself with them before making another comment.
ILBP
Revealing solving times tends to be frowned upon on this site, it can be off putting for new starters (and not so new). I think it’s in the frequently asked questions
Duly noted.
Don’t worry, ILBP quite a few of us have trespassed unwittingly – especially when it comes to The Naughty Step on prize puzzle days.
I found this decidedly tricky although I sort of got there without the hints. It too me a while to twig the four corner paired answers, quite clever but would never have noticed by myself. Sorry you have never heard of 3a Terence, I have but it is a somewhat obscure type of lamp which most of us would have never guessed, maybe more common in the USA. Having taken longer than normal on the cryptic now to see what the quickie and vintage have to offer today.
Lovely puzzle from Hudson. 12A and 21A are beauties, and 13D hilarious, but 14A wins COTD for me today … and I loved finding the other paired answers after 7 & 8 jumped out. VMT to Gazza too.
The clue for 11d appeared almost verbatim in the Graun cryptic (Brummie) on Monday…
Not really convinced by 3a, it might have been more appropriate about 50 years ago.
1a was and remains a bung in, needed the hint to parse 10a and never heard of Sister Tharpe. Apart from those I enjoyed this. Didn’t have a problem with 3a, 26a or 14d. Favourite was the Spoonerism, well it made me laugh. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
1a to dog or follow someone is to shadow them. Cut out the ‘ad’ to leave the answer.
Just been looking at the hints as I struggled with one or two clues today. I thought angled lamp fitted the clue at 4a but sadly did not help with 4 d. I loved 26a and remember when I was young I used to walk to work across Hyde Park and I would see Terry Thomas riding on Rotten Row and he would take his cigarette holder out from the gap and smile and wish me a Good Morning. And as for the other Terence I just love his list and amusing comments, which I always read out to my husband for him to enjoy too. Many thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
I’ve just got back from seeing Sir Tom Jones performing at Cardiff Castle.
The last song he did he introduced as being by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and it was called Stranger Things.
As I’d never heard of her before today I found that quite spooky especially given the song title.
A most enjoyable puzzle to solve with lots of smiles along the way. Got all of it – eventually – apart from 3A. Thanks to Hudson and Gazza.
I found this puzzle rather tricky. I just don’t seem to be conversant with Hudson’s style… I also feel my GK is sadly lacking!
That said, I did find much to enjoy, like 12a, 18a, 21a and 26a; 6d, 14d, 17d and 22d.
I wasn’t familiar with Sister Tharpe so found her on YouTube and listened to ‘Down by the Riverside’. That certainly jogged my memory as it was very familiar. I heard it often during my younger years. What an amazing person she was!
26a made me laugh!
Very many thanks to Hudson for a tricky but very entertaining puzzle.
My appreciative thanks to Gazza for the review. It was satisfying to discover that my parsing was correct. There were, however, two clues that stymied me. I’ve never heard of 3a. I had the second word but couldn’t even guess the first. 4d was the other, which I should have got… So thank you very much Gazza for the elucidation.
4*/3* …
liked 13D “Some ketchup in a cola, dad ? That’s a rum drink ! (4,6)”