Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31050
Hints and tips by Smylers
Hello from Ilkley, where this year’s Ilkley Literature Festival has started. This weekend all four of us saw Gyles Brandreth on AA Milne; Spouse and I saw Stuart Maconie on The Beatles; and Spouse has also seen Rachel Joyce and Emma Freud, and a talk on the material world of Austen and the Brontës. The festival runs for another fortnight, during which time we’ll see Simon Armitage (Poet Laureate), Lady Hale (former Supreme Court Judge), and Jo Hamilton (wrongly convicted subpostmaster), among others less famous. Some events are streamed online, so you don’t even have to live nearby if you’d like to see them.
The festival was founded in 1973, with WH Auden appearing that year, making it the second-longest-running book festival in the UK. Quiz question for you: which is the longest-running?
Today’s Telegraph crossword has a helpful grid and contains no obscure vocabulary, but it took me a while to decode some of the wordplay and cryptic definitions. Hints, explanations, and hidden answers are below.
Please do leave a comment below saying how you found the crossword, the hints, the illustrations, or life in general. It’d be especially lovely to hear from you if you haven’t commented before. We are all guests here, so please consult Big Dave’s etiquette guide for the house rules.
Across
1a Take a small tot to welcome new arrival? (3,3,5,4)
WET THE BABY’S HEAD: The tot here is a drink. And the 5 here is 4’1 with an apostrophe in it.
9a Arrogantly claim bar must swap starters for meat dish (5,4)
ROAST BEEF: Here we need a verb meaning ‘arrogantly claim‘ and something that could be described as a bar; it’s a ridge or bank found under the sea. Swap round their starting letters to get the answer — like a Spoonerism except based purely on spelling rather than the sounds of the words.
10a Put down teen posing before run (5)
ENTER: The definition here is in the sense of record into a log. Pose the letters of ‘teen’ before the cricket abbreviation for ‘run’.
11a PC perhaps kept so busy at the end of day (7)
DESKTOP: The letters of ‘kept so’ busily rearrange themselves; these are put at the end of the abbreviation for ‘day’.
12a Pass pasty around, pursued by first pair of seagulls (6)
ELAPSE: This is my favourite clue today. The definite is a verb, perhaps applied to time. ‘Pasty’ is not the food but the adjective with the long ‘a’ sound; we need a synonym for that which is turned around to face the other way. Follow that with the first pair of letters of ‘seagulls’.
Pic credit: © Kewy1, CC BY 2.0
15a Beginners note metres regularly introduced by nonsense poet (8)
LEARNERS: Start with the surname of a famous nonsense poet; follow that with an abbreviation for ‘note’ and letters taken at regular intervals from ‘metres’.
Pic credit: © Lowry, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
16a Brazilian footballer‘s games with the French (4)
PELE: The name of this footballer is made up of another name for games lessons at school and one of the French words for ‘the’.
19a For example, Hearts match (4)
SUIT: What ‘hearts’ is an example of in a particular context can also mean ‘match’ as a verb.
20a Get more excited for puzzle (8)
BEWILDER: The answer is ‘puzzle’ as a verb. If split into two words (2,6), and pronounced slightly differently), it could be interpreted as an instruction to get more excited or behave more frantically.
23a Pinto toppling fences completely (2,4)
IN TOTO: The first two words of the clue fence the answer, which can be found lurking in consecutive letters.
Pic credit: © Jean Ogden, Just Chaos Photography, CC BY 2.0
24a Coach again on time ahead of wet weather (7)
RETRAIN: Enter in order: a term meaning ‘on’; the physics symbol for ‘time’; and some wet weather.
26a Backed by a bishop, that lady’s returned for recovery treatment (5)
REHAB: Return a word meaning ‘that lady’ so it’s pointing the other way. Follow it with the A from the clue and one of the abbreviations for ‘bishop’.
Pic credit: © © House of Lords, Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0
28a Very long time devouring American Dad, television show (4,5)
SOAP OPERA: Start with a word meaning ‘very’. End with a word for a long time. Those devour one of the abbreviations for ‘American’ and an informal alternative to ‘Dad’.
29a How train reached Barking for Queen once (9,6)
CATHERINE HOWARD: We need a barking arrangement of the letters of the first three words in the clue.
Pic credit: © Hugh Llewelyn, CC BY-SA 2.0
Down
1d With gold medal at last, daughter set to be among the best (5-5)
WORLD-CLASS: Enter in turn: the abbreviation for ‘with’; the heraldic term for gold; the last letter of ‘medal’; the abbreviation for ‘daughter’; and a set at school
If you haven’t encountered Golden before, it’s been the biggest song in the country for the past couple of months — 8 weeks at number 1 in the singles chart, equalling the record for a song by a cartoon act set by The Archies in 1969 with Sugar Sugar. It comes from the KPop Demon Hunters TV film; there are a few lines in Korean among the lyrics.
2d Doctor ran in last to change (11)
TRANSLATION: Doctor the order of the following 11 letters to spell out the answer.
3d I can have Top Gear suspended (8)
HATSTAND: This is a description of an object from which one can suspend gear worn on one’s top.
4d Celeb Lee personally carries electronic pagers (8)
BLEEPERS: The answer is found being carried by consecutive letters of the first few words in the clue.
Pic credit: © Soccer Aid for Unicef, CC BY
5d Batter in cold meal (6)
BUFFET: A verb meaning to batter, for instance by waves or the wind, is also a term for food laid out for people to help themselves. It’s often cold, though it doesn’t have to be.
6d Observes short piercing tool go up and down (6)
SEESAW: We need the obvious word for ‘observes’.
Thank you to Jezza in the comments below for pointing out that that can be followed by a tool used for piercing which has been made shorter by omitting its final letter.
I originally had the ‘observes’ word being pierced by a different tool (a cutting one), with the tool being made shorter by omitting its first letter. But shortening usually involves chopping a letter off the end, so Jezza’s parsing is better than my attempt. Though obviously if the setter had gone for ‘Observe tool go up and down’ that would have avoided having shorten anything!
7d Put away odd letters ignored by tenants (3)
EAT: Ignore the odd letters in ‘tenants’ and what’s left is our answer.
8d A great deal of traffic going over Devon river (4)
DART: This is the clue that took be longest to parse. We need another word for ‘traffic’ as a verb, in the sense of goods transferring between countries. A great deal of that is all but its final letter. Then make that go over so it’s heading up the grid. Alternatively, bung in the Devon river that fits the crossing letters, reverse it, and think what letter you could stick on the end to get the ‘traffic’.
13d Device that picks up plate after you’ve stepped on it? (5,6)
SPEED CAMERA: Here ‘it’ isn’t referring to the plate; we need the meaning ‘to step on it’. If somebody does that in a particular context to an extent which isn’t permitted, then this device may pick up, in the sense of notice, a type of plate relevant to what they’re doing.
Pic credit: Chuttersnap
14d Relief after trial that audiologist provides? (7,3)
HEARING AID: The answer is an example of something that an audiologist could provide. It’s made up of a word for a trial, for instance in court, and some relief, as in help given to those in need.
17d Drop red case off close to luggage (8)
DECREASE: The letters of ‘red case’ go off and end up in a different order. Follow them with the closing letter of ‘luggage’.
18d Dazzling volume, and riotous playing (8)
VIRTUOSO: Start with the maths symbol for volume; after that play with the letters of ‘riotous’ until they spell out the answer.
21d Repeat Spitting Image (6)
DOUBLE: Ignore the italics and capital letters: we want a term which can be used to describe a person who is the splitting image of another.
22d One elitist’s penned article about small tree cultivation (6)
BONSAI: Here we need the Roman numeral for ‘one’ and a word for an elitist regarding social standing. Make those pen a grammatical article between them, then turn the whole thing about to read up the grid.
RIP Patricia Routledge, who died last week age 96.
25d Snappy type beginning to clear crumbs up (4)
CROC: After the beginning letter of ‘clear’ we need another expression of surprise which can be used like ‘crumbs’, then to write the combination up the grid.
27d Having taken small spades out, shuts shed (3)
HUT: Take the abbreviations for ‘small’ and ‘spades’ out of ‘shuts’ and what’s left is our answer.
Pic credit: © Paul Downey, CC BY 2.0
Quickie Pun
In today’s Quick Crossword the clues for the first 2 answers are italicized, meaning their answers when spoken together sound like another word or phrase:
CHEW + PITTA = JUPITER
Do click on the pun ‘click here’ blob for a song (hidden so the title doesn’t give away its pun), a delighful track from Keston Cobblers Club, a group we encountered supporting Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott.
Recent Reading
This is the fourth whodunnit featuring Canon Daniel Clemment. I’d already decided to review it this week before I was aware the first in the series has been made into a TV series, which starts on Channel 5 tomorrow (and is on Acorn TV in North America).
I’m fond of the characters and like the plots, but have previously found reading these harder-going than many other books in the genre because of the language: author Richard Coles’s vocabulary is clearly far more extensive than mine, and he also makes copious mention of various church-related terms, which apparently several decades of attending Anglican churches is insufficient to pick up. This one didn’t seem so bad, though: possibly because it’s based round a film being shot in the village (rather than, say, the monastery of book 3), reducing the ecclesiastical language. And partially because solving crosswords is improving my language! X-Type, if you’re reading, I only knew what ‘deal’ was (describing the panelling in a character’s study) because you used it in a crossword earlier this year!
A Telegraph Crossword clue also features in the plot, though possibly not one that would be accepted in an actual crossword: ‘Return of the Ulster Unionist maiden (8)’ feels to me like it’s missing an indicator and the definition isn’t quite right either. At least, that’s my excuse for failing to solve it before the canon’s mother does! Well done to anybody who works it out before she does.
It was only some time after finishing it that I realized how similar the mystery part of the plot is to that of another famous crime novel. It’s a good plot, but I think it was better in the original. The ending here isn’t quite as satisfying as in, say, an Agatha Christie story; somebody is identified as the culprit, but it felt a little arbitrary rather than an inevitable combination of the clues.
I didn’t get on with today’s offering all that much. 9a was somewhat arbitrary in that, of all the possible “bars”, that particular one did not occur to me. I don’t understand “traffic” in 8d unless it’s a word meaning traffic without its last letter turned over. I suppose “a great deal” might mean most of the word is used. I did like the American Dad at 28a and that is my COTD.
Thank you, setter for the puzzle but my brain was simply not on wavelength today. Thank you, Smylers for the hints. My first thought was Hay but could it be Cheltenham?
A splendid start to the week with plenty of excellent surfaces that made me smile. This is one superb setter.
Re 1a, the jury is out with not including apostrophes in the words of a number count in brackets. I really can’t decide, even though I know it can be either.
V tough to pick a pody but I’ll go with 20a and the outstanding CDs, 3d and 13d.
MT to the super setter and Falcs.
2*/5*
The credit lies elsewhere today.
Apologies, S.
That’ll teach me to copy & paste my post, written earlier in the day, and uploading twixt meetings.
A very enjoyable puzzle.
Favourite was the anagrams at 29a.
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers.
The short piercing tool at 6d is aw(l).
Ah, thanks. That makes much more sense!
It’s 🙂🙂🙂🙂, TDS65.
Like it, SC.
I had the opposite reaction to Smylers with today’s backpager, the grid was not helpful and the clues took a long time to unravel. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable but I did persevere and finish it. I got 1a straight away, a nice straightforward cryptic definition, but it was all downhill after that. However, I did like the cryptic definitions at 3d and 13d, which raised a chuckle. Thanks to the compiler and to Smylers for the hints
By describing the grid as ‘helpful’, I mean that a high proportion of the clues have their first letters crossing — on the basis that it’s much more helpful to know that a word begins with, say, D, than that its second letter is E. There are also a lot of final crossing letters — words with odd numbers of letters where more than half the letters cross.
But on looking more closely, I see I was led slightly astray: there’s a diagonal divide splitting the grid into two triangles, with the top-left half having all its clues with crossing first letters and the bottom-right having only a few. So it’s still friendlier than many crossword grids, but note quite as friendly as some other grids we’ve seen recently on Mondays.
The friendlier a grid is for solvers, the more restrictive it is for setters, of course. That can sometimes lead to setters using more obscure words to fit in with others. A friendly grid with no obscure words is particularly to be applauded.
Traffic ,remove Tra ,turn it round and use first letter of Devon .I think this is a good clue, unless I’m really missing something? Thanks to all for a very straightforward puzzle .last one in 20a
Hi, Francis. Have you read the explanation of 8d above? It’s basically what Steve said with his “unless it’s …” in the first comment. I think ‘Devon’ is part of the definition, and I can’t see anything in the wordplay which justifies taking the first 3 letters of one word and the first of another.
Nice straightforward start to the week, much enjoyed.
25d and 29a my cotd.
I think Hay for the literary festival.
Thanks to Setter and Smylers
I do like The Hay Festival, and while it’s bigger and better-known than Ilkley Lit Fest, it was founded in 1988 so hasn’t been going as long.
The only one I couldn’t get, even with all the checkers in place, was 20a.
I was well and truly “20a”-ed by this one! Otherwise, another satisfying start to the week, being right in tune with the setter.
20a was my last one in. I’d given up on it but was struck with the answer half-way through my shower!
” I saw” the same as Jezza .Not an awful clue?
2*/4*. A slightly more challenging Monday puzzle than usual to start the week, but one which was very enjoyable.
1a was a great opener and my favourite.
Many thanks to the setter (X-Type?) and to Smylers.
Overall I’m not sure how to categorise today’s puzzle. It started off fizzing nicely, but then left me feeling somewhat flat. Maybe that’s just me. I’ll go with the cold meal in 5d for cotd, but 13d ran it a close thing. Thanks to compiler and Smylers.
Good morning. A very gentle X Word to start the week with the first pass almost filling the grid. 1a , 28a, 3d and 6d stand out for me. Many thanks for the review and to the setter.
Ilkley is a proper literary festival (that’s a great line-up this year), unlike many that have sprung up that are simply ‘talk for twenty minutes’ and then ‘buy my book… Buy MY Book!’
Today’s guzzle was right at my level and therefore is a work of genius.
Of course, my last one in related to a show that I worked on for about five years. Duh!
Yesterday we had a splendid luncheon in Holmbury St Mary followed by a lovely walk nearby, where we could hear nothing but birdsong. A rare treat in Surrey.
Thanks the setter and the excellent Archbishop Smylers of Ilkley.
Gor Blimey, Mate! Fancy a drink in the Queen Vic?
Duh! Duh! … ?
I’m feeling rather pathetically sorry for myself, having dropped my youngest off for his first term at university yesterday, but that was a helpful fillip with a good mix of clues. I particularly liked 12a, having twice been a victim of the avian crime alluded to in St Ives, possibly home to the UK’s most vicious herring gulls. 3d’s piece of furniture was clever too. Thanks very much to the setter and to Smylers. The festival sounds great although I blanche slightly at Lady Hale’s name, given that she once opined on a not very good affidavit I’d put my name to in justification of some iffy policy or other.
I imagine the gulls outside The Magpie in Whitby would give them a run for their money.
They would – most definitely!
I agree with RD. Somewhat more challenging than recent Monday back pagers and perhaps not quite as enjoyable – **/***
Favourite – 1d; it would have been 1a but the ‘incorrect’ enumeration let it down.
Thanks to X-Type(?) and Smylers.
Thanks for the tip on the Canon Daniel Clement TV series. I am already one episode behind as Acorn started showing it last Monday!
I had far more hmms than ticks on my paper this morning so obviously not in the same headspace as our setter. I did, however, rather like 3&22d so those can share the honours.
Thanks to our setter and apologies for not appreciating your hard work. Thanks also to Smylers for the review.
Pretty typically Mondayish apart from a couple of sticky parsings which soon sorted themselves out. 1a went in straight away which helped enormously in making speedy headway through the downs, and it ramained my favourite throughout the solve. Great fun.
Many thanks to our setter and Smylers.
Perhaps not a vintage Monday puzzle but enjoyable – thanks to our setter and Smylers.
My favourite clue was 13d.
I’m not sure what Smyler’s little square on his rating means but haven’t had time to read any comments today. Anyway for me this was an easy first half sporadically spread then quite a tricky second half so a **/*** overall. 29a my LOI was my COTD. Couldn’t fathom the setter. Unusual one this. Thanks two our hunter and setter. PS my first one for a week so may be rusty….
It’s supposed to be ½ stars: a full star (★) followed by a half star (⯨). If anybody else isn’t seeing that, please state what it does look like for you and which device you’re viewing it on. Thanks.
My ignorance Smylers: I just didn’t know the rectangular shape represented a half star. Cheers
What rectangular shape‽ It’s supposed to look like half a star — apologies if it doesn’t:
It looks like an upright rectangle with a cross in it. It is feint compared to the brackets around it.
This is on a Samsung mobile.
That’s unfortunate. Maybe I’ll just have to be more decisive about my ratings until Samsung upgrade their fonts?
The half-star character was added to Unicode in 2018, so I’m surprised to learn of smartphones that still don’t have it.
Well I’ve just looked at it on my desktop running chrome under Windows 10 and it shows as an empty rectangle!
Ditto
Well this is what you’re all missing out on. You should get yourselves new computers!
I mean, actually you possibly should … though not to view esoteric characters I include the blog. Microsoft’s support for Windows 10 ends a week tomorrow, after which security updates will no longer be applied, which makes it vulnerable to future security issues.
Short of buying new hardware (which is rather wasteful!), it’s worth doing one of: upgrading to Windows 11; switching to a different operating system; or buying Extended Security Updates for $30.
Thanks Smylers – I used your link and have managed to ‘enrol’ myself to be covered for another year – they didn’t ask me to pay anything, it was free so thanks again.
As Manders has discovered you can get free security updates for Windows 10 for another year. You must have a Microsoft account and have configured your computer to back up your device settings to your Microsoft account (which seems to be the default condition). You can also back up your personal files to your Microsoft account but this is not necessary to get the free security updates. To enroll in the free security updates program, open Settings / Windows Update and you should see it offered there near the top of the screen.
Thanks Manders and Falcon and also Smylers for reminding me my support was about to end. Have just enrolled in the security updates for free.
As my laptop will not support Windows 11, it’s a relief to know that Microsoft are offering a year’s free extended security updates, which I have now registered for. Many thanks to Falcon for the information about this.
Perfect on my laptop but this is what I see on my Samsung (Android) phone:
Just a small red box for me!!
And me on a MacBook Pro.
Looks fine on my Android phone (also a Samsung). It’s 3 years old so not new but not ancient either.
I quite like the half star. I guess the alternative is to move to a 10-star system
I’m seeing it as a red box – empty rectangle, using Safari on an iPhone
Sorry folks: hunter not hinter
I thought this was pretty tricky today. Could not parse 8d but the answer was fairly straightforward.
1a, 3d, 13d my favourites today.
2.5*/4*
Thanks to Smylers and Setter
I found this quite a struggle for a Monday – could just be me but didn’t really enjoy it much either, although it’s hard to put my finger on why exactly.
I swore off Richard Coles books as the first three just had way to much ‘church stuff’ and found the language unfathomable. No idea how why I read all three – but now due to Smylers review I may try this latest offering.
Very enjoyable while it lasted, a gentle intro to the week ahead. Honours to 20a, 3d and 21d.
Many thanks indeed to the setter and Smylers.
This one made me think which isn’t a bad thing. Took ages to get 3d and LOI 20a. Had reminder in my head and it refused to go away for ages. Lots to like though.
Top picks for me were 13d, 22d, 20a and 9a.
Thanks to Smylers and the setter.
I gave up on the Richard Coles books after the second one but might have a bash at this one.
It’s just a rectangle on my iPhone 12.
For a Monday puzzle this seemed a little tougher than normal. Quite a few head scratching clues today for me.
2*/3.5*
Favourites 1a, 20a, 24a, 3d, 13d & 14d — with winner 13d
Close followup with 14d
Smiles for 20a, 3d & 8d
Thanks to setter & Smylers
First day back after more than 2 weeks, and it shows! Struggled quite a lot with this, many thanks to Smylers for rescuing me.
Loved 13d!
Enjoyed this a lot with not too much head scratching so thanks to all. Got rather a shock at being told the price of the subscription was going up but did some ‘negotiating’ and now its less than before. OAPs should not have to pay over £1000 to read the paper. I bet the bookies made a thumping loss when the new Archbish was announced, it was bound to be a woman! Nuff said.
Bit of a Curates Egg for me, some lovely clues but interspersed with some real head-scratchers. Overall not a particularly enjoyable puzzle but it did get the gray matter stirring to start the week off so thanks to the setter.
9a completely derailed me, couldn’t think laterally enough once my head latched on to the notion of a Cornish Pasty!
Thanks to Smylers for explaining everything, I also found the reasoning behind a friendly grid causing problems for the setter quite illuminating.
I’m glad Smylers was blogging this week as this was not an easy solve for me. I’d never heard the expression at 1a but did eventually manage to assemble the letters into the correct order. I thought it might relate to baptism or christening but that didn’t appear to jive with the clue. A dictionary consultation was needed to clarify. In North America, the device at 4d has one less letter. The device with the extra letter might be used here to remove naughty words from radio or TV broadcasts. I also spent an inordinate amount of time trying (and failing) to justify a different answer at 1d. Not that I didn’t enjoy the puzzle, I’m just glad I wasn’t working to deadline. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Thanks to the Setter and Smylers. We found this a bit more tricky than a usual Monday. Nevertheless we solved without resorting to hints. LOI 3d. COTD between 20a and 13d.
Well if this is really Monday, then heaven help me for the rest of the week. Found this hard going, and convoluted in places. The lengthy hints are proof of obscure clues, at least for me. Perhaps because I have a busy, potentially trying, day ahead and just don’t have the time to try to unravel all of it. Thanks to the setter and Smylers.
Hi, Busybody. Thank you for commenting, and welcome to the blog. The hints are mainly lengthy because I’ve got a length writing style! They’d be shorter if most other bloggers were writing them — though Rahmat Ali could presumably add some interesting background information and make them even longer! Anyway, my verbosity isn’t the setters’ fault, so please don’t attribute it to anything they’ve done!
Actually my iPad was quicker than me, and I didn’t notice the wrong name was attached until afterwards. So not Busybody…
Missed tickets to listen to Ned Boulting in Ilkley, I hope to catch up in Waterstones York tonight.
If only Alexandra Palace was anywhere near Barking I wouldn’t feel so stupid now!
Thanks to Smylers and Setter.
Enjoy the talk.
Well done on Alexandra Palace — it has the right number of letters and features a Queenly name! I spent some time checking that none of ‘District line’, ‘Hammersmith & City line’, and ‘London Overground’ were any use for 29a.
1A was an instant solve but I slowed down a bit after that.
Lots to enjoy but the pick of the bunch for me was 13D a device that has cost me a fair amount of money and time in awareness courses over the years. Grrr!
Thanks to the setter and Smylers. I’m sure Cheltenham is the oldest literary festival. To my shame, despite having lived in or near Cheltenham all my life, I have never darkened their door.
Congratulations — yes, the Cheltenham Literature Festival started in 1949, so has quite a few year’s on Ilkley! It’s probably worth popping along to an event just to see what it’s like.
Well, done Eeyore! (I’m ignoring Steve Cowling in comment 1, because he had two guesses; I took inspiration from Ken Bruce on PopMaster and decided to only accept his first answer.)
Harrumph!!! 🤣
21D could be seen as a triple definition but, if you make it a triple definition, it goes back to being a double definition. Help!!!
Two convoluted for me, but you can’t win them all i’ll just have to get better won’t I?
I enjoyed this very much and completed it this morning before a lovely day out in the sunshine!
Many thanks to the setter and to Smylers for the hints
Don’t think anyone else has voted for 18D, so I’ll make that my favourite. VMT Setter and Smylers
I thought that was more difficult than the suggested 1* and definitely not on the compiler’s wavelength today.
Obviously needed the hints as provided by Smylers.
That said, favourite clues were 3d and 13d, each bringing a smile.
Thank you to the setter and to Smylers for the hints.
2.5* / 3* Definitely a tricky start to the week for me, got quite bogged down with a few ie 12a and 3d. Still some nice clues including 29a anagram, 20a puzzle and the 9a meat dish
Thanks to setter and Smylers for some explanations
It took us quite as long to complete as Saturday’s prize one, so I would say it was harder than usual for me and the missus. Some brilliant clues. Loved the wordplay in 20a and the spoonerism in 9a was brilliant.
Welcome to the blog, Nick and Pilar.
Welcome from me as well,Nick and Pilar. Please keep commenting. 👍😊
I don’t know what hawthorns to my post but I’ll try again. I got off to a flyer and it viburnum in that vein until my last two in 20a and 14d where I had to apply a bit of head scratching. Nothing obscure and nice cluing throughout, perfect for a Monday. Favourite was 13d. Thanks to the setter setter and Smylers.
Hooray!
Oh!I meant happened.
Thanks all, and thank you to Smylers for the review.
Thanks, Twm. I thought it ‘felt’ like you while hinting, but I couldn’t quite work out why so kept quiet.
After your excellent Toughie the previous day another highly enjoyable puzzle.
Many thanks & to Smylers for yet another tiptop review.
A most excellent crossy, my Cymru comrade.
I’m a huuuuuuuge fan of cryptic definitions and yours most certainly didn’t disappoint ‘Disappointing Tom’.
I look forward immensely to your next delight.
Good evening
Well, that was a lengthy struggle, and no mistake – never, ever take Monday’s crozzie for granted, and to prove what I’m saying, I have to declare a DNF. I had to look at the Hintingtons for 12a, and as for 3d, I just couldn’t get it! – so I looked at the answer, and promptly kicked myself.
COTD: 13d for sure. Excellent!
Many thanks to our setter and to Smylers
3*/4* …
liked 8D “A great deal of traffic going Devon river (4)”
Why is the rating for this crossword the only one in red with a little square?
Hello Brian. Some devices display a red square instead of the symbol for a half-star. See the discussion above and the screenshot I posted in reply showing what it’s supposed to look like. I don’t know why so many devices struggle with that character, but I won’t use it again.
(I’m leaving it on this review because so much of the discussion is about it that if I retrospectively changed it to something else, it would make a bunch of commenters look like they were hallucinating!)
Thanks for explaining the square. Why are the figures in red for this crossword’s rating?
It’s the blog’s house style to put difficulty ratings in red and enjoyment ratings in blue — so you should be seeing red ratings for all of them, not just this one! Here’s how the site’s homepage currently looks for me, with difficulties in red for today’s two crosswords — are they a different colour for you?
We have a commenter called Brian who has been here for almost all of the blog’s life, so please can you add something to your alias so that we can differentiate between the two of you