DT 31338

Hello. It’s Monday, and the start of a new crosswording week. Our children still aren’t back at school yet (one starts on Wednesday and t’other on Thursday). Maybe I should suggest they have a go at this crossword?

On Saturday we visited RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate, where we saw this impressive Kingfisher:

(Click to enlarge.)

I finished today’s Telegraph Crossword quickly, and it doesn’t require any obscure words, so I’ve rated it ★ for difficulty. But the wordplay is a little intricate in places, so to anybody who thinks it’s harder than that, don’t be dismayed — a single rating can’t apply to everybody, and you won’t be the only one to find the rating misleading. Clues are explained below, with definitions underlined. Answers are hidden behind Insert witticism here. blobs. Comments are very welcome from all who follow the guidance Big Dave’s etiquette guide, and especially from those new to the site and long-term lurkers who haven’t commented before.

(And for anybody wondering why you’ve got me on consecutive Mondays: Falcon kindly blogged two weeks in a row a month ago when I was on holiday and then returning the hire car, so this is me belatedly repaying the debt.)

Across

1a Rush nurse injecting drug (6)
CAREER: To start we need another verb meaning ‘nurse’ (in the nice sense of looking after somebody, not nursing a grudge) and then to inject into it the single-letter slang name for an illegal drug often favoured by crossword setters.

4a Pressure hotel workers to drink some unrestricted spirits (8)
PHANTOMS: Begin with the letter used in physics to represent pressure and what ‘hotel’ indicates in the Nato phonetic alphabet. Then we need some worker insects, as mentioned in Chris Lancaster’s T-Z crosswordese guide in yesterday’s Telegraph Puzzles newsletter; those drink inside them the word ‘some’ after it has been made unrestricted by removing its outer letters. The answer is nothing to do with drinks.

9a Animal ignored, somewhat evil (6)
MALIGN: The answer can be found lurking somewhat inside the first couple of words in the clue.

10a Add-ons I’m getting tailored for suit (8)
DIAMONDS: The first few words get tailored, which involves moving their letters around.

12a English sailors avoiding adult sin (4)
ENVY: Start with the single-letter abbreviation for ‘English’ that’s commonly found in crosswords but I’m yet to encounter elsewhere. Then we need a word for some sailors, which pleasingly isn’t any of the usual suspects, but instead a collective term for a nation’s sailors. From that avoid the single-letter which used to indicate an adult film.

13a Sit back, following ace fabulist (5)
AESOP: A word meaning ‘sit’, as a model may do for an artist, goes backwards in the grid; it follows the letter found on an ace playing card. The answer is the name of a particular fabulist.

14a Present in that place wants opening (4)
HERE: This is a word meaning ‘in that place’ in want of (that is, missing) its opening letter. The definition doesn’t refer to a gift.

17a Reasons not to time noisy argument in building (12)
CONSTRUCTION: Enter in order: some reasons not to do something (perhaps as a column heading, next to one for reasons in favour); the letter that indicates time in physics; and a noisy argument.

20a Speeding up triage, cancel shifts (12)
ACCELERATING: The words ‘triage cancel’ shift about, leaving their letters in a different order.

23a Youngster holding large bat (4)
CLUB: The term for a youngster of some species of animals holds inside it the clothing abbreviation for ‘large’

24a Expressions of thanks and contempt forbidden (5)
TABOO: Something somebody may say to express thanks is followed by something somebody may say to express contempt or disapproval.

25a Periodically dreams of protest (4)
DEMO: Select letters at regular periods from ‘dreams of’. There are 8 letters in the fodder and we need 4 in the answer, so there’s only 2 options for which to use.

28a Drawing in publication with new quote going round (8)
MAGNETIC: Enter in turn: an informal abbreviation for a type of publication; the abbreviation for ‘new’; and a word that means ‘quote’, going round so it reads right to left.

29a I disapprove of leaders of trade unions talking repeatedly (3-3)
TUT-TUT: Use the leading letters of the next three words in the clue, then repeat them.

30a Rigorous control of press pass (4,4)
IRON HAND: Nothing to do with a journalist’s ID. Instead we need to treat the words ‘press’ and ‘pass’ separately, finding synonyms for each. For the first, think of it as a verb, meaning to flatten. And the second is also a verb, physically passing something to somebody else.

31a Material from brilliant Republican in charge (6)
FABRIC: Enter in order: a word somebody might say to indicate something is brilliant (especially if they’re from the 60s); a short way of denoting the Republican party; and an abbreviation meaning ‘in charge’, usually with a slash, though don’t try to squeeze the slash in the grid — there isn’t room, and it would mess up the answer. Being picky, the abbreviation actually stands for ‘in charge of’, not just ‘in charge’, according to both Chambers and Oxford Dictionaries.

Down

1d Start brief remark on church (8)
COMMENCE: A word for a remark is made brief by omitting its last letter. That’s placed on top of one of the usual church abbreviations.

2d Extremely rare permit covering vehicle is pertinent (8)
RELEVANT: Start with the extreme letters of ‘rare’. The rest is a verb meaning ‘permit’ covering the outside of a type of vehicle.

3d Thus monster heads north (4)
ERGO: Before entering this answer be sure to orientate your newspaper or electronic device so that the top of the grid is facing north. Then enter the name of a type of monster starting in the southernmost cell for this answer, heading north up the grid.

5d I forgot he had developed hangover cure (4,2,3,3)
HAIR OF THE DOG: The first few words in the clue when developed, so that their letters are in a different order, will give the answer. Which arguably could do with a question mark, because I’m not sure it actually cures hangovers. Feel free to comment below with anecdotes of occasions you’ve tried this and let us know whether it worked.

6d North American setter’s handle (4)
NAME: The abbreviation for ‘North American’ is followed by a pronoun which could refer to the setter (remembering that it’s the setter who wrote the words in the clue).

7d One kid unexpectedly made a sound like a pig (6)
OINKED: The first couple of words in the clue when arranged unexpectedly give the answer.

8d Discontented spy sat exam for organisation (6)
SYSTEM: This is ‘discontented’ in the sense of having had their contents removed — which for words means getting rid of all their inner letters, leaving just their first and last. Do that with the subsequent words in the clue, keeping going until you have enough letters for this answer.

11d Pay airmen our ten bucks (12)
REMUNERATION: ‘Bucks’ is a verb here. When the preceding words buck, their letters get mixed up and they spell out the answer.

Pic credit: © Kerry J, CC BY-NC 2.0

15d Tolerate criticism (5)
STICK: The answer can be a verb meaning to tolerate something, or a noun for criticism (“Give them some …”).

16d Complete baby awful on vacation (5)
TOTAL: A word for a baby is followed by what remains of ‘awful’ from the clue once it has been vacated of all its inner letters. The answer is an adjective.

18d Clergyman providing support for policeman and film-maker (8)
DIRECTOR: A type of Anglican clergyman supports (that is, since this is a down clue, goes under) the abbreviation for a particular rank of police officer.

19d One might not believe part of explicit song appropriate, on reflection (8)
AGNOSTIC: Reflect ‘explicit song appropriate’ so it reads backwards, then take a consecutive part of it.

At this point, feel free to listen to an explicit song of your choice; I thought it safest not to embed one here.

21d Seafood side in southern India (6)
SCAMPI: A side, perhaps in a controversial matter, is inserted between the letter that indicates ‘southern’ and what ‘India’ represents in the Nato alphabet.

22d Overly enthusiastic with weapon, initially getting hauled outside (4-2)
GUNG-HO: Here we start with a weapon. Though actually it’s easier to fill the weapon later, after we know how long it is. That’s because the final part of the answer is the initial letters of ‘getting hauled outside’.

26d First couples from Mexico should work well together (4)
MESH: Use the first couple of letters from both ‘Mexico’ and ‘should’.

27d Article on upper-class artist’s distinctive quality (4)
AURA: Place a grammatical on top of both Nancy Mitford’s letter used to denote being of upper class and the usual artist.

Quickie Pun

In today’s quick crossword the first three answers are italicized, indicating that when spoken together they sound like another word, a phrase, or a name. Check them here:

HIGH + DANCE + SIKH = HIDE AND SEEK

Recent Reading

The Fethering mysteries should appeal to fans of Richard Osman’s novels: Carole, who’s taken early retirement to a small town near the South Downs, doesn’t really approve of her new-age neighbour Jude, but slowly grows fond of her anyway, and they end up solving murders together. The books are light in tone, well-written, and the puzzles are generally decent — far above many of the books now flooding the ‘cosy crime’ market (especially those written by those more famous for something else, Richard Osman notwithstanding). Simon Brett is also the author of the Charles Paris books, featuring a bumbling alcoholic barely-in-work theatre actor, which has had several series adapted for Radio 4.

Death Under the Dryer is the 8th in the Fethering series, where a body has been found in the back room of a hairdresser’s. If it sounds like your kind of king, you’re probably better off starting with the first book, The Body on the Beach: the mysteries are self-contained and independent, but the ongoing relationship between Carole and Jude develops across the books. Though having said that, the first one I read was The Killing in the Cafe when I first picked it up in Boscombe library on a holiday a few years ago, unaware it was the 17th in the series. The older books in the series have often fallen out of library circulation, though I’ve found them cheaply second-hand. Carole is a cryptic-crossword solver, and crossword clues do feature briefly in Death Under the Dryer.