Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31280
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s crossword to be about the same level of difficulty as the previous two days’ puzzles, with plenty to admire and appreciate. I particularly liked 11a, 2d and 12d, but my clue of the day is 4d, as it mentions the lead singer in one of my favourite bands. I also enjoyed the Quickie pun, once the penny dropped. Many thanks to our setter.
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.
Across Clues
1a Hull theatre troupe’s online show? (7)
PODCAST: A word that can mean to hull or shell (peas for example), and a synonym of a group of actors. I’d not seen the first part of this answer used as a verb before, but it’s in Chambers.
5a Hops and jumps from punts reported (7)
GAMBOLS: A homophone (reported) of a synonym of ‘punts’ or ‘places bets’.
9a Kindly, as “terms of trade” could be described? (4-7)
SOFT-HEARTED: The answer could be a way of describing what the phrase “terms of trade” contains in its middle.
10a Anxiety now and then about money (3)
TIN: This informal word for money can be formed by taking the alternate letters (now and then) of ‘anxiety’ and reversing them (about).
11a Audible signal starts to bug local engineer examining printer (5)
BLEEP: The initial letters (starts to) of the last five words of the clue.
13a Politician with clout protected area outside town (5,4)
GREEN BELT: A member of an environmentalist political party and a verb meaning to clout or wallop.
14a Chatter by old bar, getting juice for American (8)
GASOLINE: A synonym of chatter, the abbreviation for ‘old’, and a word that can mean a vertical mark that separates bars on a musical stave give us the American word for petrol.
16a Sheen‘s light touch during first part of Amadeus (6)
PATINA: A word for a light touch or gentle stroke, a two-letter word that can mean ‘during’, and the initial letter (first part) of ‘Amadeus’.
18a Showing disapproval when ring interrupts sound of spring (6)
BOOING: The ring-shaped letter is inserted into (interrupts) the sound made by a bouncing spring.
19a Some reappraisal in Germany for novelist (8)
SALINGER: The surname of this reclusive American novelist can be found hidden in ‘reappraisal in Germany’.
22a Raving Conservative going away from crude oil is wrong (9)
DELIRIOUS: An anagram (wrong) of [c]RUDE OIL IS after removing the C (Conservative going away).
23a Heard why ex-president’s producing cry of shock (5)
YIKES: The letter that is a homophone (heard) of ‘why’, and the nickname of President Dwight D Eisenhower, plus the possessive ‘s’ from the clue.
25a Female ultimately aloof, love turning bad (3)
OFF: Take the abbreviation for ‘female’, the last letter (ultimately) of ‘aloof’, and the letter that looks like a zero (love) and reverse them all (turning).
26a Legendary flyer, US soldier wearing coat gets rebuke (5,6)
MAGIC CARPET: The informal term for an American soldier goes inside the abbreviation for ‘macintosh’ (wearing coat) and is followed by a synonym of to rebuke or give a rollicking to.
28a Zorba, for example – Greek character so extremely artful (7)
MUSICAL: Start with the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet. Then take a Latin adverb meaning ‘so’ or ‘in this manner’, often used in print to indicate that text has been quoted correctly. Finally add the outer letters (extremely) of ‘artful’.
29a Endearing person succeeded with Eastern European couple (7)
SWEETIE: The abbreviations for ‘succeeded’, ‘with’, ‘Eastern’ and ‘European’, and a word that can mean to couple, join or connect.
Down clues
1d Job secure, collected letters received (7)
POSTBAG: A synonym of job or position and an informal term meaning to secure or obtain something.
2d Writer Oscar leaving poem with rival (5)
DEFOE: Nothing to do with Wilde! Take a short word for a lyric poem, remove the letter represented by Oscar in the NATO alphabet, and add a synonym for rival or opponent.
3d Wood‘s oaks occasionally hot (3)
ASH: The alternate letters (occasionally) of ‘oaks’ and the abbreviation for ‘hot’ (on a tap, for example).
4d Badly want gig to include Hynde in the middle, playing guitar? (8)
TWANGING: An anagram (badly) of WANT GIG, into which the middle letter of ‘Hynde’ has been inserted.
5d Understand dad abandoning France for good (6)
GATHER: Take another word for ‘dad’, remove the International Vehicle Registration letter for ‘France’, and replace this with the abbreviation for ‘good’.
6d Bloomer from pop diva Allen, perhaps (7-4)
MADONNA LILY: The influential musician known as the “Queen of Pop“, and the first name of an English singer, songwriter and actress. I’m not sure why the clue indicates that this should be hyphenated.
Credit: Zachi Evenor
7d Where Jonah Lomu was often seen in flight (2,3,4)
ON THE WING: A double definition. The great New Zealand rugby union player Jonah Lomu used to play in this position.
8d Piece from cousin, a trained vocalist (7)
SINATRA: A lurker, forming part of (piece from) the third, fourth and fifth words of the clue.
12d As a Toyota is parking, old Mini car hit (11)
PALINDROMIC: The abbreviation for ‘Parking’ and an anagram (hit) of OLD MINI CAR give us a word that could describe the words ‘a Toyota’, i.e. reading the same backwards and forwards.
15d Quiet work cheers up thieves (9)
SHOPLIFTS: An expression meaning “Be quiet!”, the usual abbreviation for ‘opus’ (work), and a word that can mean ‘cheers up’, ‘encourages’ or ‘elates’.
17d Cushions from shack so terribly small (8)
HASSOCKS: An anagram (terribly) of SHACK SO and the abbreviation for small give us a word for the cushions that worshippers kneel on in church.
18d Sweeper defends backs for Dundee United caught napping here? (7)
BEDROOM: An implement used for sweeping is placed round (defends) the final letters of (backs for) ‘Dundee United’.
20d Award from King? Ordinary crossword compiler’s snubbed! (7)
ROSETTE: The abbreviations for ‘Rex’ (King) and ‘ordinary’, and a synonym for a crossword compiler without its final letter (snubbed).
21d Huge amount of sticky muck on upturned log (6)
GOOGOL: A word for sticky stuff and LOG reversed (upturned, in a down clue) give us a term for the number 1 followed by a hundred zeros.
24d Not working, briefly take up brewing … (5)
KAPUT: An anagram (brewing) of TAK[e] without its last letter (briefly) and UP.
27d … beer, morale half gone (3)
ALE: The second word of the clue, with half of it missing.
Which clues did you like best? Let us know in the comments below.
The Quick Crossword pun: SYNOD + DEAN + SEDAN = ZINEDINE ZIDANE
An excellent pun in my opinion, although it helps to know that this Frenchman is a former footballer, widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest-ever players.
A typical Wednesday offering with the difficulty ranked up slightly but enjoyable, nevertheless. I don’t know who Jonah Lumo is or was so that one held me up for a while. He sounded like a boxer to me so I entered “In the ring” until 5a showed me the error of my ways. It’s been a while since we welcomed 16a and 8d. I’m afraid I don’t like the singer at 6d – all those guttural stops! My COTD is the parked Toyota at 12d.
Thank you, setter for a fun challenge. Thank you, Nil Hagseed for the hints.
The Quickie pun eluded me and I see from the hints that he was a footballer so I had no chance.
Steve – To misquote Harold Wilson ‘almost a week is a long time in cruciverbalism’ – 16a appeared as 23d in last Thursday’s back pager (DT 31275)
Most challenging backpager this week so far, bringing great clueing and plenty of PDMs. Ticks aplenty with 1a, 9a, 18a (lovely sound), 6d and 18d at the forefront. The SE was last to fall and 29a last in, which coincidentally is my pet name for my wife!
Many thanks to the setter and Gena Shield
2*/4*
Fairly gentle with a couple of more involved clues to think about post grid filling.
The writer in 2d was a great misdirection, so tempting to assume the answer is an Irishman, 12d’s smart and I liked the Greek and Latin combo in 28a.
My thanks to our setter and Deansleigh.
I agree, the quickie pun’s a good ‘un.
I got off to a terrible start – the wrong ending to 1d was quickly followed by the wrong option in 5a. Note to self…read the clue for a second time and understand the question before assuming.
Having seen the errors of my ways I soldiered on at a slower pace and discovered a puzzle of pure joy.
I watched and met the subject of 7d on a trip to NZ in the mid 90’s, a great loss he was a wonderful player who came across as a gentle giant. 21d allegedly (not sure it’s true) this was to have been the name for what we now call Mr. G because it represented an alternative to infinity.
And then…purely personal but 9a and 12d are two of the finest clues I have come across. Hats off to today’s setter for the brilliant disguises, outstanding wordplay.
Many thanks to today’s setter and Deansleigh for the hints.
A question for Deansleigh if I may re 1a….I took hull to mean a watertight compartment on a ship and pod to be the same in a garden? Is that an option?
I hadn’t thought of that, Graham. Both ‘pod’ and ‘hull’ are words for something that can enclose something else. Initially I parsed ‘pod’ as a noun but when I checked Chambers I saw that it can also be a verb.
To pod a pea means to hull it or shuck it
Took a while to get started, but having done so, the solve progressed nicely as the checkers came to the party. Honorable mentions to 5a, 4d, 6d and 19a, but cotd goes to 1a. 7d reminded me of Jonah Lomu barelling down the Twickenham pitch and swatting aside the tackle of one of the Underwood brothers. Jonah died far too young sadly. Thanks to compiler and Deansleigh.
Jonah Lomu ,a sight to behold when in his pomp.A very entertaining crossword today with some degree of difficulty. Didn’t know that the film Zorba , was also a musical but the clue was true . Last one in 17d . Favourites 4,12 and 24 . Thanks to all
I thought this was excellent.
My only minor error was to scribble in yen at 10a, as I didn’t count the alternate letter of anxiety correctly!
Many thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh.
Just returned from a rabbit hole – watching Jonah Lomu clips, reminding myself how awesome he was on the field. Needless to say 7d was top clue for me.
Thanks to all for a very enjoyable workout
A perfect Wednesday backpager with lots to enjoy throughout. My favourite clue was 18a as the ‘sound of spring’ made me smile. I agree with Lynne’s thought on pea podding
Many thanks to the setter and Deansleigh
A lovely puzzle which fell into place quickly enough for me to be reassured that I’m not perhaps in the throes of mental decline after all – at least until I remember after completing it that it’s Wednesday and not Thursday. 5, 9 and 23a were my favourites, with a special mention for the reference to the magnificent Chrissie at 4d. Thanks very much to the setter and to Deansleigh.
This was a challenge and a step up from the last 2 days. Personally a 3 * for difficulty but a lot of pleasure to be had. Last in was 14 across which was splendid.
Do I detect more American friendly references in the last few months ? Is it my imagination.? Things that might be related to a Toyota had me stumped but another clever bit of clueing.
With a break in the middle I was able to get back to the puzzle and crawl to the finish line unaided. Great workout and now off to Thai Chi.
3*/5*. I really enjoyed this apart from the reminder that some politicians seem to think that 13a should no longer be protected. There is a swathe of it adjacent to our house which is now under threat. I’ll get off my soapbox now.
I’ve far too many ticks to select a podium choice.
Many thanks to the setter. Please reveal yourself and take a bow. Thanks too to Deansleigh.
An excellent midweek puzzle producing smiles galore – thanks to our setter and Deansleigh.
My list of ticked clues included 1a, 9a, 26a and (my favourite) 12d.
Super puzzle, a little more testing than expected largely because I’d never heard of the flower, and before 5a fell was going through a very long mental list of pop divas, or right madams as they could also be termed! Honours to 23a, 28a & 12d with mentions in dispatches to 5d & 21d.
Many thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh.
I had never heard of the answer to 21D and thought it was worthy of consideration by The Committee. However since no one else has mentioned it yet I wondered if it is perhaps more widely known in the computer /mathematical worlds which are a mystery to me. Thanks to the setter and the hinter for an enjoyable puzzle.
I don’t think many people would have heard of it until it became the answer to the infamous cheating episode of “Who wants to be a millionaire” The million pound question asked “A number one followed by one hundred zeros is known by what name?” After much coughing Charles Ingram came up with the “right” answer
What a great puzzle and a joy to solve.
Top picks for me were 26a, 6d, 12d, 18a, 9a and 23a.
I couldn’t work out the Quickie Pun and now I see that it was a footballer I know why!
Thanks to Deansleigh and the setter.
* / ****
Found this immeasurably simpler than yesterday, hence looking at myself rather than the actual difficulty of the puzzles!
Thanks to She Aligned for the parsing of 9a. I might have parsed it if the words “could be” were not in the clue. On my podium were the 26a legendary flyer, the 21d huge amount and the superb 12d Toyota!
Many thanks to She Aligned and the setter.
After the usual frustrations of a delay in publishing of today’s puzzle because the DT computer does not seem to be able to cope with the calendar flipping over to a new month, this was an enjoyable solve – **/****
7d was somewhat of a bung in as I did not know whether Jonah Lomu was a round or oval baller but I knew Deansleigh would enlighten me.
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 26a, and 5d – and the winner is 1a.
Now, I have to start getting ready to go to a garden party to celebrate the 159th anniversary of the first British North America Act a.k.a. Canada Day (since 1982).
Thanks to whomsoever and Deansleigh.
A very entertaining puzzle with lots to like and only a couple of hold ups. 12 d was my favourite but there were many excellent clues to choose from.
Many thanks to the setter and to Deansleigh for the hints