Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31287
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Thanks to today’s setter for a very enjoyable puzzle though I’m not sure that we needed to be reminded of the former political leaders from opposing parties.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagram fodder is 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 Worries about tail of boisterous pet (6)
CARESS: a word meaning worries or concerns contains the last letter (tail) of boisterous. Pet is a noun in the surface reading but a verb as the definition.
4a Not cricket bat chum and I played with? (1,3,4)
A BIT MUCH: an anagram (played with) of BAT CHUM I.
9a Drain not good, son says (6)
UTTERS: drop the abbreviation for good from a drain or sewer then append the genealogical abbreviation for son.
10a Recalled cobblers perhaps being overworked (8)
STRESSED: reverse (recalled) what cobblers (fruit pies with crunchy toppings) are examples of (perhaps).
11a Drier spells, essentially, following City draw (4,5)
BATH TOWEL: the central (essentially) letters of spELls follow a city in Somerset and a verb to draw or pull.
13a Praise former partner confronting trolls regularly (5)
EXTOL: our usual short word for a former partner precedes regular letters from ‘trolls’.
14a Entrepreneur‘s car horn is brand new (7,7)
RICHARD BRANSON: an anagram (new) of CAR HORN IS BRAND.
17a Foolish hopes and errors admitted by man on board, suffering (7,2,5)
CASTLES IN SPAIN: this expression for unrealistic dreams comes from a word for moral errors which goes between (admitted) an old name for a chess piece (man on board) and a synonym of suffering or agony. Stand by for complaints about the chess piece from the rabbit hutch!
21a Press from India held back the French prime minister (5)
IMPEL: start with the letter that India represents in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet then reverse (held back) a French definite article and the abbreviation for prime minister.
23a For Spooner, show off relative’s metal face protection (9)
NOSEPIECE: Spooner might have turned this into a verb to show off or behave affectedly and a female relative.
24a Effortlessly fancy headgear captivating Ascot at the finish (4,4)
LIKE THAT: a verb to fancy or be fond of and some usual headgear contain (captivating) the finishing letter of Ascot. The answer, preceded by ‘Just’, was a catchphrase of Tommy Cooper but I’m not totally convinced that it means ‘effortlessly’ – can anyone give an example?
25a Might Shearer get the sack for this? (6)
FLEECE: cryptic definition. Shearer is falsely capitalised to try to make us think of the football pundit whereas what we want is someone who works with livestock.
26a Boxes placed next to cathedral in a scattered manner (8)
SPARSELY: a verb meaning boxes and a Cambridgeshire cathedral.
27a Famous crooner briefly angry with Times (6)
CROSBY: a synonym of angry without its last letter (briefly) and a word used to mean times in mathematics.
Down
1d Plump first of cushions held up by spouse (6)
CHUBBY: the first letter of cushions precedes (held up by, in a down clue) an affectionate term for a male spouse.
2d A-list star’s horrible hair strands hanging down (4-5)
RATS’-TAILS: an anagram (horrible) of A-LIST STAR.
3d Quickly write score (7)
SCRATCH: double definition, the score being a scrape or graze.
5d Best to blank out sound of breaking glass here (6,5)
BOTTLE BANKS: an anagram (out) of BEST TO BLANK.
6d Article on latest in politics, first of April or May? (7)
THERESA: assemble our definite article, a preposition meaning on or about, the last letter in politics and the first letter of April.
7d Shock result somewhat late, Spurs climbing (5)
UPSET: hidden (somewhat) and reversed (climbing, in a down clue).
8d Gathering hid gun in panic, bagging large diamonds up (8)
HUDDLING: an anagram (in panic) of HID GUN contains (bagging) the reversal (up, in a down clue) of the clothing abbreviation for large and the abbreviation for the card suit diamonds.
12d Fighting over last of discount footwear line, bad as well as good (5,3,3)
WARTS AND ALL: string together a word for armed fighting, the last letter of discount, a type of footwear and the abbreviation for line.
15d Weak, what Mandelson should do to conserve energy? (9)
SPINELESS: advice given to Mandelson (or any other PR expert) to reduce their efforts (4,4) contains (to conserve) the physics abbreviation for energy.
16d Greek hero cold in rising water (8)
ACHILLES: a synonym of cold goes inside a reversal (rising, in a down clue) of (salty) water.
18d Let pals supply car stickers (1-6)
L-PLATES: an anagram (supply, i.e. in a supple way) of LET PALS.
19d Dad with surly air only occasionally liked (7)
POPULAR: an informal (mainly US) word for dad followed by occasional letters from ‘surly air’.
20d A little silly, me rejoicing over Corbyn? (6)
JEREMY: hidden (a little) and reversed (over) in the clue.
22d Declared contract genuine (5)
PUKKA: homophone (declared) of a verb to contract (one’s lips, perhaps). The ‘homophone’ doesn’t work at all for me because I haven’t forgotten how to pronounce the letter R.
I particularly liked 25a, 6d and 15d. Which one(s) hit the spot for you?
The Quick Crossword pun: HAKE + HORN + ANNE + TICKS = ACORN ANTIQUES
I felt that this was pitched at about the right level for a Thursday. First 6 went in quite easily but then a big gap until the crooner. However with the checkers it came together quite nicely. Last in was Mandleson’s energy use having dithered with the excellent anagram at 14a and the hopes at17a. Plenty of ticks with my 3 if the day being 11a,25a and 15d.
Many thanks to the setter and Gazza
2.5*/4*.
The Quickie pun is very amusing
I don’t think there will be a lot of outdoor activity today, it was too warm for me in the garden by 9.30am.
I’m not sure how I feel about today’s puzzle, was it 4a or did I enjoy it 12d? That is the question.
I found one or two of the clues took me a while to parse…22d being one such example…got there in the end but it didn’t really work for me. When I was a child I’m pretty sure the local chip shop sold a product with this name. My mother never called in ‘genuine’.
The anagrams sorted themselves out once a few of the checkers were in place and the rekrul at 20d was well concealed.
Then we come to my 16d heel….a foolish hope that I could parse 17a. Within the solution I found captain; salt; let in; sins; in pain…but I could not find a combination that worked until I got myself onto the correct board!! Not the first time that’s happened.
COTD – a tie between 17a and 12d
Many thanks to today’s setter and Gazza for the hints.
Happy to complete this while in the North Sea somewhere between Iceland and the Faroes. Without the benefit of my usual reference sources, my cotd has to be the entrepreneur.
I’m off to Hemingfird Grey for a Rotary Ladies boat trip 🤔 shortly and will not look at the guzzle until later. But Ive just been out to water the greenhouse and wanted to show you the far end of our garden with the beautiful orange trumpet thing and the old 16th century thatch beyond. Isn’t it lovely? A pain in the neck really because the climber comes up all over the lawn!
Thank you for sharing, impressive and beautifully natural. Enjoy your boat trip, I trust that the Rotary Ladies will be well hydrated?
I love pictures of your garden, DG. You and George must work very hard because it always looks lovely. I that a Trumpet Vine?
Gorgeous garden – very jealous
No doubts that it’s Thursday! The right level for a Thursday challenge but the enjoyment spoiled by the 17a man on board, RD might be more vociferous, but I do have a shiny King Charles Toonie that is saying this is a Silvanus production – ***/****
Candidates for favourite – 9a, 11a, 27a, 12d, 16d, and an HM for the Pun – and the winner is 12d.
Thanks to Silvanus, or whomsoever if my Toonie goes down the drain, and Gazza.
Thanks, but you’ve lost yet another Toonie! It’s not one of mine.
Easy come, easy go
Following the trend set by the World Cup, although much less abominably, today’s offering was a game of four quarters, with the NE and SW going in fairly quickly then the remaining two occupying more of my (not very valuable today) time. All very enjoyable, with Mandelson at 15d my favourite, followed by the Spoonerism at 23a. Thanks very much to the setter and to Gazza.
For me a game of two halves with the north going very smoothly and the south causing more bother. 17a was not a phrase I had met so I tried to invent all sorts of other final words. 15d was my favourite. Overall it was very entertaining on a day when there is little else one can do……that’s my excuse anyway.
Many thanks to the setter and to Gazza for the hints
I found today’s offering a bit of s struggle but that could well be because I had a number of errands to run so could not give it my undivided attention. I’ve never heard of 2d but I was able to work it out once a few checkers arrived and I could arrange the remaining letters. Having looked it up online I wonder why anyone would bother with it. It’s just a thin ponytail. No real favourites today but I did like the reference to Mandelson at 15d.
The quickie pun was another cracker.
Thank you, setter (silvanus?) for a bit of a brain mangle but enjoyable, nevertheless. Thank you, Gazza for the hints and cartoons, especially the cheeky one or 5d.
A very enjoyable cerebral workout, penned by Mr Smooth himself, with my LOI being 17a.
I keep forgetting this wonderfully bonkers expression that has a great origin: landless knights fantasised about conquering distant territories ruled by Moors. However, it wasn’t cheap. So, it was seen as a pipe dream.
I liked the nods to the politicians and always enjoy seeing an emordnilap (10a).
My picks are the most excellent anagrams in 14a and 5d plus 15d.
MTTTA and The Big G.
2*/4*
Love the cartoons, G, especially the bottle bank and grim reaper.
I see that it wasn’t the work of Silvanus.
I’m not having a good run.
For 24a to be acceptable it should be a three word answer, as you said sir, “Just like that”.Like that on its own is tenuous to say the least.
This was a very comfortable midweek stroll through an increasingly boiling hot crosswordland. Plenty to enjoy, especially my favourite, 15d.
My thanks tp our setter and Gazza.
I dragged the 17a phrase from the depths of my memory, but why it was there, who knows. The sw took me longer than the remainder and I struggle with the parsing for 22d notwithstanding Gazza’s explanation. All I can remember is it being used regularly by Jamie Oliver. Honorable mentions go to 11a, 12d and 16d with cotd going to 15d. Thanks to Silvanus (?)and Gazza.
The answer to 22d is a homophone (?) of pucker (as in “pucker one’s lips”).
Thanks, Gazza. My problem was taking pucker to mean crease or wrinkle and then failing to go on to link that to contract which, in retrospect, should have been obvious. Doh.
This one came easily which is not always the case. Have done Knitter Natter and a Paracise class but have not had breakfast yet. Loved so many of the clues it really was a joy.
Thank you to our setter and the work put in by Gazza.
Was not aware of the ‘in Spain’ version but a brief diversion down a rabbit hole that is Wikipedia later I now have increased my knowledge in the castle building area!
Totally missed the homophone at 22d – got the answer but needed the hints to see why.
As for the castles upsetting the chess fans, how must they be with ‘horsey’ and ‘prawn’?
Thanks to the setter and Gazza
Apoplectic!
Why is it called castling and not rooking? Just asking.
It’s called castling because in most openings the move secures the KIng away from the dangerous centre into the corner behind a wall of pawns and other pieces. Effectively buiding a “castle” to protect the monarch from attack. It also brings the Rook into the centre of the board where it has more freedom to support advances.
Lots of names today although as Gazza says I don’t welcome the political reminders! Thank you compiler for an enjoyable challenge
Responding to the request in the introduction I am one of those who always reads the blog but seldom comments but am happy to say how much appreciated it is. Today’s puzzle was fairly straight forward but for some reason despite having all the letters I came to a halt on 14a – shame on me.
Regarding pukka I always thought it was a military use of Indian origin signifying something was proper, right or real. I’d be happy to be corrected
Definitely Indian.
This was a great puzzle a notch up from the last few. I too dragged 17a from the crevasses of my brain. I can remember our French teacher saying ‘chateaux en espagne’ meant ‘castles in the air’ but I ve never heard anyone actually say in English ‘castles in Spain’ before, so interested to see that it is a real expression. I did not get the homophone at 22d . I wondered if it was something to do with poker – So I asked ChatGPT if contracts were declared in poker by saying the word ‘poker’, and it put me in my place – yeah a bit lame I agree, I know nothing about poker you see ! Been thinking about 24a, using ‘like that’ , and I agree it feels like it needs the word just. Chambers online dictionary does however have the phrase ‘like that’ , it shows the word ‘just’ in brackets . So our setter as always is right. Thanks to the setter and Gazza.
Thanks for the info that ‘like that’ is in Chambers Online. It’s not in the full printed Chambers (or Collins) which is why I was dubious about it.
Like Ceoye Dave, arter an i itial purple patch, I i waited a long time before a few solutions came to mind, nost of the. Based on the definition and thecheckers as it often does for me withthis compiler.the parsing came later.i liked the 19d lego xlue hero. My COTD, 12d, was Oliver Cromwell’ s recipe for a good portrait. I’ll skip lightly over the political clues clever as they are as i’d rather forget about them at present.we seem to be going etheough a dry spell as a world in terms of politicians one could respect. Thanksto the compiler and to Gazza for the hints.
Super puzzle. Like others 15d was my fav & given other political references I did wonder if this maybe one of Dharma’s occasional back-page puzzles. 11,23,24&25a + 5,6&12d other particular likes.
Thanks to the setter & to Gazza – great cartoons as per.
I really enjoyed this got me thinking all over the place
Hello – setter here. Thank you all, and especially Gazza for the review and write-up.
24a is indeed in the Chambers 13th edition, p.1616. Imagine someone saying And she managed to do it [mimes finger-click] ‘____ ____’!
Thanks, Twmbarlwm, for the very enjoyable puzzle.
Apologies for doubting you on 24a. It wasn’t listed under ‘like’ and it never occurred to me to check under ‘that’.
It’s often a paper chase to track down a phrase in Chambers. I don’t use the app, but I guess it would be quicker.
Great puzzle T. Thanks for popping & claiming ownership.
This was an enjoyable puzzle which took me far too long. That was because I spent absolutely ages looking at 24a without noticing the ennumeration. Once I spotted that it went in 24a!
The 17a phrase was new to me only knowing the air version.
Top picks for me were 10a, 12d, 15d and 18d.
Thanks to Gazza and Twmbarlwm.
A great puzzle completed at 2 bites.
Thanks to Gazza and Twmbarlwm.
12d and 15d favourites. 24a, from SATC – works for me!
5*
Hadn’t heard of that version of 17a but the cluing was clear so I put it in and moved on. Favourite was 15d on a number of levels. Thanks to Twm and Gazza.
One of the rare occasions when I am up to date. Thursdays can be quite challenging, and this was no exception. Some interesting anagrams, but an anagram is an anagram, isn’t it? I liked 11, 12 and 26 but my favourite was the overworked shoemaker, probably because it wasn’t😀.
4* / 4* Took a long time to sort this one out, but every clue was fair and solvable.
Top three today are the overworked 10a, the weak 15d and the reverse lurking Corbyn at 30d
Thanks to Gazza and Twmbarlwm