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DT 31029

by Huntsman  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31029
Hints and tips by Huntsman

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

No doubting who set this one. Unlike your usual Thursday blogger I’m too lazy to do the maths but it’s the usual impressively low average word count & cleverly concise clueing. I found it pretty straightforward to complete but had some hesitation where underlining the definitions was concerned. Many thanks to Ray T for a very enjoyable puzzle.

Got to dash off for golf so I hope the hints are error free.

In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.

Across

1a Aid by encouraging transgression initially (4)

ABET: an acrostic (initially).

4a Anticipation of dodgy gift horse (9)

FORESIGHT: an anagram (dodgy) of GIFT HORSE.

10a Sense a point of conflict embracing sweetheart (9)

AWARENESS: insert (embracing) a synonym for conflict followed by Ray T’s usual swEetheart between A from the clue + a term for a geographic point/headland.

11a Take up song and dance exercise (5)

ADOPT: a synonym for song and dance/to-do + an abbreviation for exercise.

12a Reportedly moderate seminar (6)

LESSON: a homophone (reportedly) of a synonym for moderate/decrease.

13a Uncertain party’s leader facing resolution (7)

PENDING: the 1st letter (leader) of Party’s + a synonym for resolution/conclusion.

16a First character with mother? No! (4)

ADAM: I’m not 100% sure whether to underline just the first two words as the definition or the whole lot but I’ll plump for an all-in-one/&lit option & wait to be corrected. Anyway the wordplay is the alphabetical first character + a synonym for mother. He was created by God from the dust of the ground according to the Book of Genesis.

17a Inside cranium, as term indicates brains (10)

MASTERMIND: hidden (inside) in the 4 words between indicator & definition. Can’t resist inserting The Two Ronnies sketch again which is so clever (& far superior to Eric & Ernie’s one on the same subject) though I don’t know how to blur out the spoiler so I hope Mr Gibbins won’t get too upset if he looks in.

20a Criminal’s characteristic acquiring new force (10)

CONSTRAINT: an informal term for a criminal + the possessive (‘s) followed by a synonym for characteristic into which the single letter for New is inserted (acquiring).

21a Gemstone seen in old china (4)

OPAL: Old + a synonym for what china means in Cockney rhyming slang.

23a Believe wife with pale exterior (7)

SWALLOW: place the genealogical single letter for Wife into (with/exterior) a synonym for pale/pallid.

25a Sheltered spot housing mongrel (6)

SECURE: place a verb synonym for spot/observe around (housing) another term for a mongrel.

28a Match maybe tied before extra time (5)

EVENT: a synonym for tied/all square + the single letter for Time.

29a One runs down people in Capri? (9)

ISLANDERS: the Roman numeral letter for one + a word for runs down/making false statements causing reputational damage. The ? indicates definition by example.

30a Male cop in bust? (9)

POLICEMAN: an anagram (bust) of MALE COP IN. It’s the same choice as 16a in terms of what to underline. As Shabbo teased Jane with a message in a bottle pic for Mr Sumner on Tuesday here’s one of his from hugely successful Ten Summoner’s Tales album.

31a For the audience, horror scene (4)

SITE: a homophone (for the audience) of a synonym for horror as in shocking spectacle I assume.

2d Sailor saw a bit on travelling (9)

BOATSWAIN: an anagram (travelling) of SAW A BIT ON.

3d Shaking in perfect remorse (6)

TREMOR: hidden (in).

4d Liberal queen in charge (4)

FREE: insert the Latin regnal letter for queen into another word for charge/cost.

5d Considering stopping exercise gripping muscle (10)

RESPECTING: insert (gripping) an informal abbreviation for the muscle body builders try to pump up into a synonym for stopping/taking a breather.

6d Famous Democrat holding together with flag (8)

STANDARD: insert (holding) a conjunction for together with/plus within a synonym for famous/celebrity & the single letter for Democrat.

7d Swollen, it’s said, producing bellyache (5)

GROAN: our 3rd homophone (it’s said) of a synonym for swollen. Nowt to do with an upset tummy.

8d Keep up energy supporting child (4)

TOTE: the single letter for Energy goes beneath (supporting/down clue) a term for a child/infant.

9d Casual romance day before wedding (9)

DALLIANCE: a synonym for wedding/union preceded by the single letter for Day.

14d Trauma is no different for hospital (10)

SANATORIUM: an anagram (different) of TRAUMA IS NO. As long as it was overly painful or life threatening any illness was a price worth paying at boarding school if it got you a stay in there.

15d Plant seeds while ignoring hard ground (9)

EDELWEISS: an anagram (ground) of SEEDS W(h)ILE (ignoring Hard). Having appeared in yesterday’s Toughie at least I didn’t have to pause & think how to spell it. I’ll spare you Christopher, Julie & the kids.

18d Reckless forward tackles keeper, finally (9)

IMPRUDENT: place a synonym for forward/cheeky around (tackles) the last letter (finally) of keepeR.

19d Wild cat, lithe and powerful (8)

ATHLETIC: an anagram (wild) of CAT LITHE.

22d After fault, catch up for game (6)

TENNIS: reverse (up/down clue) synonyms for fault/transgression & for catch/ensnare.

24d Turn with back of foot (5)

WHEEL: the single letter for With + the back of the foot.

26d River Po’s opening leading to sea (4)

DEEP: Nowt to do with Italy – you’re looking for a river that flows through North Wales & Cheshire + the 1st letter (opening) of Po.

27d Detailed flat blueprint (4)

PLAN: remove the final letter (de-tailed) from an adjectival synonym of flat.

Please let us know which clues you liked best.

Today’s Quick Crossword pun: COURSE + TICKS + ODOUR = CAUSTIC SODA

62 comments on “DT 31029”

  1. A most enjoyable offering from Mr. Brevity, which was not straightforward in places but, as ever with Raytee, it was fair. I’m not sure how 26d works so will need to look at the hints for explanation. Too many good clues make it difficult to select one for the top spot but, if pushed, I would nominate the male cop at 30a as COTD.

    Thank you, Ray T for a great puzzle. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts and Nick Drake. Wonderful singer but, to me, his voice was often drowned out by over orchestration.

  2. This must be a very benign Ray T as I completed it without resort to the hints. Not a usual state of affairs, so benign or not, I’m chuffed. Lots of great clues but I’ll pick a podium of 16a, 9d and 29a in top spot. Thanks to Ray T and Huntsman.

  3. Very jolly, very Ray. 16a tickled me, as did 30a and 9d. Ta lots to him and Huntsman. Always grand to hear a bit of Nick.

  4. Good morning. This was nice and gentle and didnt cause any frustration. 5d is my COTD. Thank you for the review and and thanks to the setter.

  5. 2*/ 4* Excellent Thursday puzzle, no real hold ups by couldn’t parse 30a, unbelievable!
    Favourites the aforementioned 30a, 29a Capri locals and the casual romance at 9d

    Many thanks to Huntsman and setter

  6. As usual the clues were brief but,fair. I found some of the synonyms hard to fathom and had to make use of the thesaurus. The NE corner was quite tricky, as i dithered over a couple of alternative answers, but, after leVing the puzzle and coming back to it, everything fell into place. I liked the anagram with the missing h at 15d, the all in one clue at 30 aand the anagram at 4d, which was well camouflaged. However, the geographical Lego clue at 26d was my COTD. Thanks to Mr T for another glorious guzzle and to Huntsman for the hints.

  7. Great fun as ever from this setter despite a scattering of very stretched synonyms along the way.

    From the many ticks on my page, 29a emerges as my favourite.

    Many thanks to RayT and to Hintsman. Great to be reminded on Wishing Well!

  8. This is the third puzzle in a row that I have found relatively easy. Am I getting brighter or is it “Be kind to cryptic crossword solvers week”?!

  9. The Master of Brevity doesn’t disappoint – 2.5*/4.5*

    Candidates for favourite – 20a, 29a, 4d, 9d, and 26d – and the winner is 26d.

    Thanks to Mr T and Huntsman.

  10. RayT in relatively benign mood today, although I did slow down somewhat in the southern extremities of the puzzle.
    My favourites are the dodgy gift horse at 4a, the song and dance exercise at 11a, the tied match at 28a and the untimely casual romance at 9d.
    Thanks to Ray and to Huntsman for the blog and for standing in for me today.

  11. Solving two Ray T’s in a row unaided – unheard of for me. Although reading the other posts on here – any cockyness on my part should be tempered by the fact that today was a walk in the park.
    What was more shocking was that I actually enjoyed a Ray T puzzle. First time ever. Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship!!!

    Many thanks to him for the puzzle and to Huntsman for the excellent music pics which will be the soundtrack to my afternoon

  12. As others have said this was fairly benign but enjoyable – thanks to Ray T for the puzzle and to Huntsman for the hints (and for the classic Two Ronnies sketch).
    The clues gracing my podium are 16a, 23a and 29a.

  13. Turn-up for the books – a solvable RayT. SE held out longest. Took a while to parse
    6d bung-in. Enjoyed unravelling 20a. Not sure about 31a synonyms. 8d iffy. Thank you Mr. Brief and Hintsman for coming to the rescue in the closing stretch.

  14. I fairly powered through this enjoyable solve from Mr Thursday.

    As always with him, I have no complaints or clues to question. He is most certainly a master of his craft.

    15d is a slippery customer to spell. I remember it as DELboy, who WE all love, selling them ‘dan’ the market as DEL and WE are in the word.

    My podium is the neat 11a and 29a with top honours going to the splendid 30a.

    MT to the aforementioned and Hoots!

    2*/4*

  15. Great guzzle.
    I’m so pleased I shall never have to attend another seminar (12a) as long as I live. If there is a hell, it will be an endless stream of presentations with flip charts, and terrible powerpoint slides. Men and women droning on, using impenetrable jargon to impress themselves.
    There will be a half hour delay as the presenter brings the wrong cable for the projector.
    The slides will feature 1990s clip art and will be full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. The room will be stiflingly hot and the windows, caked with dust, will be impossible to open. The perspiring presenter will make weak jokes, and nobody will laugh.
    Just when you think you can escape for lunch, some fool will ask a question that requires a twenty minute answer.
    Hell is an eternal seminar.

    Thanks to RayTee and Andy On The First Tee, with a showerproof jacket.

      1. Or the eager presenter who wants total strangers to divide themselves into groups for role play.

  16. I am with Senf on this one in terms of difficulty but after a long session at the Club yesterday my thinking was rather woolly! The six anagrams fell easily but I still found it quite tricky for our great RayT. My favourite was 9d but 10&29a were also excellent. Thanks to himself and Huntsman.

  17. Ray T is one of my favourite setters and, as ever, I really enjoyed this (although I found it a tad harder than some previous RayT masterpieces). I struggled with the parsing of a couple – I wasn’t sure if 30a was ridiculously easy or truly genius – and in particular with 16a (although in that case it seems our esteemed blogger is equally as mystified).
    Can anyone explain what part “No!” plays in that particular clue?
    Many thanks to Ray T for another enjoyable puzzle (already looking forward to today fortnight) and to Huntsman for his excellent hints.

    1. AD, 16a. Difficult to explain, but I’ll have a go. The question with the ? works as cryptic word-play. The No is factually clarifying that he didn’t actually have a mother. Not sure if that is much use as it’s merely stating the obvious. It’s one of those clues you see quite often where the setter poses a question with a ? then refutes it using a ! And it all makes sense when you suss it out.

      I’l get me coat ……

    2. Hi Arty (to go with calling RayT ‘RT’).

      As he was created by God, he had no mother.

  18. A lovely puzzle for yet another rainy day.
    Top picks for me were 16a, 29a, 30a and 11a. I also liked the Quickie pun.
    Thanks to Huntsman and Ray T.

  19. A fine Thursday puzzle, quite mild for a Ray T. His usual succinct clues provided a very enjoyable solve. Plenty of ticks and 29a is my favourite today. 2.5*/4*.

    *Here’s the two Spanish guys again playing flamenco. This is different version with much better audio/recording and two pretty girls as well! I should have posted this one originally. Never mind …..

  20. I found this a chore and I gave up with a couple of answers still 13a. Didn’t help by spelling the plant at 15d incorrectly. If I had to pick a cotd it would be 23a. I didn’t like 16a and I still don’t understand the “No!”.
    26d .. a river running past Balmoral Castle and entering the North Sea at Aberdeen, not the ooze that pretends to be river in NW England!😊

  21. My favourite day of the fortnight as we have a RayT puzzle to enjoy today. As always, succinct, precise and well constructed clueing.
    No problems today at all, especially with the Queen dropping in as well as his sweetheart too.

    1*/5* for me

    Favourites 10a, 20a, 21a, 30a, 4d & 7d — with winner 10a
    Hard to pick favourites with RayT as nearly every one is a good clue to my way of thinking.

    Thanks to RayT & Huntsman

  22. All going smoothly until I got to the river Po … Ray T always throws in at least one little stubborn clue! Thank you anyway and hope Huntsman won the golf

  23. Another delightful offering from our concise setter with his trademarks and stretchy synonyms in attendance. After much deliberation, I handed out the prizes to 4a plus 5&18d.

    Devotions as always to Mr T and many thanks to Huntsman for the review, the music (esp. the number from the male cop) and the evergreen Two Ronnies sketch.

  24. In 16a I thought “first character” refers both to the alphabet and to the bible, and the “no!” applies to the latter.

  25. We had just sat down to lunch and the guzzle when the heavens opened and we had another cataclysmic downpour which at least has shown that the bay window repair was successful. Lovely workout, every clue concise and doable. 9a is favourite, 18d last one in as I had put impulsive ! That’ll learn me. Did anyone read the heresy in today’s features? It thinks that doing the same guzzle every day might stultify the brain! It suggests that ‘next time you reach for your morning crossword you should think about learning a new instrument or language’. Bah. And as for improving your grip to open jars etc, some plastic packaging is designed never to be opened. Am I sounding like Terence?
    Many thanks to RayTee and the Linksman Hintsman.

    2. I’m with you on the plastic packaging and other packaging also. I swear most is never tested before it goes into production, A couple of years my favorite yogurt had newly designed foil tops that proved impossible to remove without a knife. In frustration I wrote to the CEO and challenged him to present one to each member at their next Board Meeting and see if any could open them with just a finger and thumb. Never heard back, but I had fun picturing them struggling away 😊.

  26. A very enjoyable puzzle today.
    Did not know the synonym for mother in 16a. Do now. The ‘No!’ at the end was tempting me to plump for ‘Alas’. Kept my powder dry and waited for Huntsman’s hints.
    17a my COTD. Got 30a almost without thinking about it, but now that I do think about it, could it be described as an &lit? 1a too? In any case, very clever.
    Thanks to RayT and Huntsman

  27. That was the easiest Ray T for me in forever……I normally struggle with his but today it all flew in.
    1*/4*
    Will go with the 2 all in one clues as my favourites, particularly 16a.
    Thanks to Ray and Huntsman.

  28. A very amenable Ray T. Got it finished in time to get off to Knitter Natter and then on to Paracise. Since I had to clean the house and do the garden for yesterday’s garden / house party there is nothing more to do today. Such heaven.
    Must give 16 across the crown for sheer wit. Did not spell the plant in 15 down correctly but since I have had a life living with logic rather than the madness of spelling it doesn’t bother me too much.
    Thank you Ray T and Huntsman

    1. Hi D

      Does the spelling tip in my post (#14) help at all?

      No problem if not.

      If the ending is an issue then a Swiss Miss loves one of these (the iss of Miss is at the end)

      I can give you a tip if the e at the start is a stumbling block.

      It really is a brute to spell….for anyone!

      1. You are too kind. Would you believe I started the plant name with an I and not an E and it didn’t even look wrong but it sounded right ! That is how bad I am. Knew it was an anagram of course. Will remember the “ iss” in future and thank you, Rosie Dyslex.

        1. A pleasure.

          Just remember that e is a note in music and i isn’t.

          It’s a great moment in The Sound of Music when he hears his children singing it and his ears prick up.

          Blossoms of snow, may you bloom and grow….

          Oliver! gives it a good run as Lionel Bart is a genius. But, I have to give it the nod as the greatest musical of all time.

          Being born in the mid-60s, Grease finishes off the podium though Albert Finney was Oscar-worthy in Scrooge as was Ron Moody in Oliver!

            1. Tiz a fine film but I only saw it in my 30s which means it had far less impact that when I was a wee boy.

              Some great toons….Sit down, sit down.

              Nicely Nicely is on my all-time podium for character names along with Pussy Galore and Dickens’ Wackford Squeers.

              1. I had £40 on Benny The Dip to win The Derby in 97 not least because he was a character in the film.
                Have seen some great stage productions over the years

                1. I haven’t, annoyingly. I plan to watch loads in the next few years.

                  Benny the Dip is such a great name.

  29. I got to the last 6 clues then ground to a halt. I’m not in the best of moods after trying and failing to find what I wanted in Tesco. They started doing a major reorganisation of the store at least 2 months ago, and just stick up notices saying thank you for your patience. Anyway, nothing wrong with this excellent puzzle, so many thanks to Mr T for the workout and H for the hints.

  30. A Ray T puzzle that I managed unaided and thoroughly enjoyed. 30a was my favourite.

    Many thanks to RayT and to Huntsman for the hints.

  31. A very gentle RayT today for the most part. Even with interruptions, the North fell pretty quickly. It was helped for me © etc., by a simple first letter clue at 1a, an obvious anagram at 4a and all the intersecting downs bar 5d falling easily. In the south though, several posed much more of a challenge: 23a belief, 29a people, 18d recklessness giving me the most trouble. Stretched my time to 2/3*.

    Highly enjoyable though as ever.

    Thanks to RayT and Huntsman.

  33. Thanks to RayT and Huntsman. We were not on form today and made heavy weather of a puzzle that most found a breeze. COTD 29a.

  34. Evening all. Many thanks to Huntsman for the review and to all for your comments. Much appreciated, as always.

    RayT

    1. Good evening, Mr T. It has to be a very, very long arm of coincidence for both you and Silvanus to have selected that particular alpine bloom!

      1. Hi Jane,

        I just had a look and yes, it is a strange coincidence. I can’t find the reference now but somebody once said that it would be even stranger if coincidences never occurred!

        1. Hi Ray
          I’m not a gambling man, but I reckon your quote is from Carl Jung.
          It rings a bell and sounds like something he might have said.

          Thanks for the super puzzle.

  35. Excellent and enjoyable as usual. I made harder work of the south than the north for no other reason than I just did. Favourite was the brilliant 30a. Thanks to Rayt and Huntsman.

  36. Late on parade as I had an early morning visit so my dermatologist could slice another bit off my body – I am the gift that keeps on giving. Pleased to find this RayT waiting, mild in places but a few chewy ones also, causing me to bung in a couple of answers and then needing the hints to understand. COTD to 17a. Thanks for RayT and Shabbo.

  37. It has been an intermittent solve today with various family duties to undertake. That said, I found this a more tricky challenge than yesterday and having completed over 80% of the puzzle came to an abrupt halt in the SE corner, eventually having to have a look at the hints to check my understanding of the clues. Having said that, enjoyable with my favourites 11a, 5d and 6d.
    Thank you to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints, which were in demand today.

    1. PS An extra thank you to Huntsman for featuring Free and Wishing Well with the brilliant vocals of Paul Rodgers. This may sound like heresy to purists but I thought the version he sang with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen was better than the original.

    1. I guess that if the horror is a visual experience then it could be said to be a sight – somewhat tenuous but that was my thinking.

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