Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31396
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.
In the hints below most indicators are italicized, and underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions. Clicking on the answer buttons will reveal the answers. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on.
Across
1a Labour goes after X, backing ITV? (7)
NETWORK: A synonym of labour comes after the reversal (backing) of what X represents as a Roman numeral. The ? indicates that the definition is by example
5a Well-armed marine being equipped for deep navigation (7)
OCTOPUS: A cryptic definition of a marine being whose appendages equip it for navigating in the deep
9a Spring that's located under a bank? (5)
VAULT: A verb synonym of spring is also something that might be found under (or inside) a bank
10a Some grammar school's head's protected by slick contract (4,5)
PAST TENSE: The first letter (…’s head) of SCHOOL contained by (protected by) an adjective meaning slick or glib is followed by another word for contract (a muscle, perhaps)
11a Gush: 'Compilers, they're always on another plane' (3-7)
JET-SETTERS: A synonym of gush with another word for our compilers
12a Motorists must admit Spain's certainly a huge place (4)
ASIA: A usual abbreviated organisation of motorists contains (must admit) the Spanish for certainly or yes
14a Apparently gee-gee lounged about with a pair of glasses? (6-6)
DOUBLE-GLAZED: Another way of saying what gee-gee sounds like is followed by a word meaning “lounged about”
18a Stocking up night? ... (9,3)
CHRISTMAS EVE: A cryptic definition of the night when stockings are hung up
21a ... party time of revolutionary Trotsky perhaps? (4)
NOEL: The reversal (revolutionary) of the first name that Trotsky defines by example (perhaps)
22a Criminal regroups, taking a second to show malice (4,6)
SOUR GRAPES: An anagram (criminal) of REGROUPS containing (taking) A from the clue is followed by the single letter for second
25a Hazel found cooks discarding uniform pack of eggs? (4-5)
HALF-DOZEN: An anagram (… cooks) of HAZEL FOUND minus (discarding) the letter represented in the NATO phonetic alphabet by uniform
26a More frozen, could be more dangerous but not at first (5)
ICIER: A word meaning “more dangerous” minus its first letter (… but not at first)
27a Dad's nominal bequest? (7)
SURNAME: A cryptic definition of something nominal that comes from your father
28a Alert with evidence of ship's passage not quite complete (7)
WAKEFUL: What a ship leaves behind on the water with all but the last letter (not quite) of a synonym of complete
Down
1d Old American vehicle picked up a little woman (6)
NAVAJO: The reversal (picked up, in a down clue) of a type of vehicle is followed by A from the clue and one of the sisters in Little Women
2d Hopes deteriorate in Scotsman's heart (6)
TRUSTS: Deteriorate like iron in the weather is inserted in the central letter pair (… ‘s heart) of SCOTSMAN
3d Complimentary about article put up (2,3,5)
ON THE HOUSE: The fusion of about or concerning, a grammatical article, and put up or provide accommodation
4d Stout planks regularly twisted and broken (5)
KAPUT: Alternate letters (regularly) of STOUT PLANKS are reversed (twisted)
5d Waiting staff tipped by old boy they're watching (9)
OBSERVERS: Some waiting staff in a restaurant are preceded by (tipped by) the abbreviation for old boy
6d Special outfit for a dance in Paris you entered twice (4)
TUTU: A French (in Paris) word for you is entered in the grid twice
7d Small zip set in buckles (4-4)
PINT-SIZE: An anagram (buckles) of ZIP SET IN
8d More than one official dinner maybe with king shown in adverts (8)
STEWARDS: A dish that could be dinner is followed by the Latin abbreviation for king inserted in (shown in) an informal word for adverts
13d Make sense describing Democrat led by perpetually wise guy (6,4)
CLEVER DICK: An informal word for “make sense” is containing (describing) a synonym of perpetually written before (… led by …) the single letter for Democrat
15d Fool stick-in-the-mud with puzzle? Not half (9)
BAMBOOZLE: A semitropical grass yielding sticks that could serve as stakes in muddy ground is followed by one half (not half) of PUZZLE
16d It's nice growing ganja - can't hustle consuming it (8)
ACANTHUS: GANGA CAN’T HUSTLE is hiding (consuming) the answer
17d Plastic curler's absorbed gel with head wanting more cutting (8)
CRUELLER: An anagram (plastic) of CURLER that’s containing (…’s absorbed) GEL minus its first letter (with head wanting)
19d Joint is very loud after crack being used endlessly (6)
SPLIFF: The musical abbreviation for very loud comes after a synonym of crack minus its last letter (being used endlessly)
20d What fills annual arts almanac up? It's in the stars (6)
ASTRAL: The answer is hidden in the reversal (what fills … up, in a down clue) of ANNUAL ARTS ALMANAC
23d Noticed broadcast about first update (5)
RENEW: A homophone (broadcast) of a word meaning noticed is preceded by (… first) a short word meaning about or concerning
24d Thought assistant cycled (4)
IDEA: Cycle the letters in another word for assistant
Thanks to today’s setter. Which clues did you like best?
The Quick Crossword pun: CHAI + COUGHS + SKI = TCHAIKOVSKY
Here we are on Friday with a puzzle that is for me a difficult solve, at least IMHO.
Some clues I can’t figure out the parsing nor make sense of the answer when it fits the grid with the surrounding letters.
3.5*/2.5* for me
Favourites 5a, 18a, 27a, 7d, 13d & 15d — with winner 18a
All these clues gave me a smile, but not so much the rest of the puzzle.
Thanks to setter & Mr K.
What a beautifully compiled puzzle, with lots of humour and some great misdirection. I was surprised to hear Christmas carols playing in my local supermarket yesterday, so I was already in the right frame of mind for two of today’s clues. Initially, I didn’t see how the second half of 5A was required, though I can now appreciate the misdirection it provides—very clever. There were plenty of challengers for the podium, among them 11A, 12A, 14A, and 18A, with 3D taking the crown.
Thai Corner
This country is well known for having a seedy side, though until yesterday I wasn’t aware of the game of golf being implicated! An expat friend who is a keen golfer was describing his experience of booking a caddie at a very respectable course where most of the staff are female. It turns out the fee is higher if your caddie belongs to a tier referred to as “pretties”—where social skills and appearance are considered just as important as golfing knowledge.
A curate’s egg for me with some I found quite straightforward and some which needed a lot of thought. Very enjoyable though with ticks all over the place.
Top picks for me were 14a, 15d, 8d, 17d and the lovely 5a.
Thanks to Mr K and the setter.
I took some time to get a foothold, but once gained, this was an enjoyable and steady solve. I have to admit to a little e-help where I had an answer, but could not readily parse it. I ended up with a fair few ticks on my print out from which I’ve chosen a podium of 5a, 14a and 15d. Honorable mentions go to 7d and 16d. I thought we might have been on for a pangram, but no. Thanks to compiler and Mr K.
Fairly tricky as befits a Friday with the NE corner the last to offer up its secrets. I thought a couple of the surfaces were a little strange, but that didn’t detract too much from the overall solve. No particular favourite but I did enjoy 2d.
Many thanks to both our setter and Mr K.
I am around but don’t have a paper so I won’t be commenting on the guzzle today.
Thank you, everyone for your good wishes yesterday. Today, they have decided the antibiotics that were prescribed are not working. As the rash is climbing my leg, they are going to put me on a different one. It’s a race against sepsis developing.
Oh, the joy of life!
My prayers are for Daisy Girl and George. I hope we have good news soon.
Oh Steve, I do hope they sort it out. We are thinking of you.
Yes we are all thinking of you Steve
Fingers crossed for you, Steve. Hope it gets sorted quickly.
The very same thing happened with John. We could see the infection climbing up his leg and he had to be admitted. Intravenous medication soon pulled things round but very frightening at the time. Wishing you all the very best .
Very sorry to hear this, Steve, as it was so good to see you back here. I do hope the new antibiotics work – and quickly. This is the last thing you need when recovering from a major operation. Good luck.
I do hope things improve soon for you, take care and summon help if you think things are worsening.
.. I wish I hadn’t got a paper today too … what a workout! I nearly gave up but got there … but needing Mr K to explain a couple of “bung ins”.
Wishing you all the best in your recovery.
All the best, Steve, hope you’re mended soon!
Have just caught up on the blog and so sorry to read this Steve. And the news regarding Daisygirl in yesterday’s posts.
Wishing the best for all of you
Sorry to hear the latest news Steve. I do hope the medics get you sorted asap. Cellulitis is bad enough without the thought of Sepsis creeping in🤞 Thinking of you and sending lots of positive vibes.
Oh gosh. Best wishes SC
Really hope the new antibiotics work, and you won’t develop sepsis. Here’s wishing you better days ahead.
4*/3*. This was quite tough as befits a Friday back-pager but a mixed bag for me in terms of enjoyment. There were some dodgy surfaces and the ? in 14a is doing very heavy lifting for the definition.
Thanks to the setter and to Mr K.
P.S. For the second day running, I was very irritated by Wordle, and took very lucky guesses on both days to preserve my winning streak.
I, too, was irritated by Wordle, RD both today and yesterday. Two very obscure words that make it feel like the NYT are deliberately trying to wreck winning streaks. 😡
I agree that Wordle was a bit of a bu**er, but managed to get a ‘phew’ and preserve my streak.
Also agree that 14a could have been improved with a reference to maybe windows in place of the glasses, but hey ho just one minor observation out of many clever clues isn’t bad.
I got lucky with wordle getting correct letters at 1,2,4 & 5 at my 3rd guess. With those letters there were only 2 or 3 other letters that would appear to make any sense for letter 3. Fortunately the first one I bunged in was right. I suppose we need to expect some Americanisms in a New York Times puzzle – but 2 days in a row 🤔
I too got a phew for apparently an obscure american slang word, but remember it is the NYT
I managed it in 4 but your comments helped so I was looking for something obscure!
Definitely Toughie Wordle again today, and I was sweating about losing my winning streak, but squeaked by at my 6th “phew” attempt.
16d and 17d held up the finish for twice the time of the whole of the rest of the puzzle! Then I heard the magic words ‘look for the Lu….r’ !🤡
It’s truly amazing that no many how many times I remind myself of this, I forget to do it within 24 hours.
Certainly taxing, but a very enjoyable solve nonetheless, just right for a Friday. Well constructed throughout with a good mixture of difficulty levels. My picks are dad’s bequest 27a, the fool at 15d and my COTD is the horse wearing glasses at 11a.
Many thanks to the setter and Mr K.
3*/4*
A great way to end the week, the entertainment department must have been working double shifts.
15d’s fool is a interesting word. On investigation into its etymology, I discovered it derives from slang used by contemporary criminals in the early 18th century. Well I never…
My other picks are the well-armed marine at 5a and the wacky baccy roll up in 19d from which The Doobie Brothers took their name.
My thanks to our setter and Mr K.
An excellent Friday puzzle (no X – is that significant?) – thanks to our setter and Mr K.
Among my ticked clues were 5a, 14a, 27a and 3d.
Isn’t that ProXimal’s calling card?
Anorak, proXimal either creates a pangram missing only an X, or has one X in each of the four quadrants.
Today there is no Q, and I haven’t checked any further.
An enjoyable workout – this puzzle took an hour longer than usual; many thanks to the setter as the clues got my head working. Many of them really enjoyable clues.
Thank you
Bozo
An excellent and quirkily humorous puzzle that took me much longer than usual to complete, as is only right on a Friday. I liked the marine at 5a, the bequest at 27a and the officials at 8d. Thanks very much to the setter and to Mr K.
A rare DNF for me, I just could not get onto the setter’s wavelength. Thanks to the setter and Mr K.
Just the ticket for a beautiful Friday morning in sunny Brighton. It took a while to parse some of these, but it all looks in good working order at the end.
Thanks to the setter and to Mr. K.
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, analyse and discuss. Always appreciated.
Greetings from Fukuoka, Japan, where I came to see this lovely rock band, Polkadot Stingray, playing in their home town:
(There is such a thing as a polkadot stingray, by the way.)
Many thanks again for taking the trouble to comment.
Sorry to hear of your troubles, Steve. I hopwe and oray for you and for Daisy and George.
Does the blue ringed 5a count as polka dots
This was very difficult to get inro but had just enough fimme clues to give the solver a chance I cthought it was one of yours Zandio. I lijed the well armed marune beubg at 9a, the well- disguised anagram at 22a and the Lwgo clue at 15d (such a lovely word). Thanks Zandio and thabks to Mr K for the hints.
Great crossword cannot say the same about the solver. Didn’t get 1 down or the splendid 9 across.
Tomorrow is another day.
Well done Zandio and Thankyou Mr. K
An amusingly imaginative puzzle with lots to like and lots to hmmm haaa about.
Thanks Mr K for explaining “stick-in-the-mud”. I would never have guessed in a thousand years.
I liked the old American in 1d, but 13d never clicked with me.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
And best wishes to our three who are laid up.
I16d I have a specimen of the answer in my garden. I wouldn’t care to smoke it.
14a rather nebulous I thought
I found this a challenge but very enjoyable with several taking a while to drop. I had 8d as my favourite but liked the variety of clues.
Many thanks to Zandio and to Mr K for the hints.
A suitable level of difficulty for a Friday. Needed the hints to parse 15d. Can someone explain how ‘Plastic’ (in 17d) is an anagram indicator? I don’t mean the usual AI discussion about synonyms of AI’s etc – I just feel I am completely missing something here!
Many thanks to the setter and to Mr K
Just looked up plastic in my thesaurus – I had no idea that was what it really meant! I thought it was the exact opposite. Every day is…. and all that!!
Good afternoon
Missed doing the crozzie yesterday, so I was particularly keen to get stuck into today’s, and armed myself with a cup of tea and my Lucky Green Pen. I needed both – crikey, my poor old brain cell has been stretched this afty!
It comes as no surprise to find out that today’s crozzie is a Mind of Zandio production. Misdirection and witticisms all over the shop! Several contenders for COTD; I have to hand out joint honours to 5a and the gee-gee at 14a.
I had to look at the Hintingtons to twig my last to fall, 17d. I hadn’t figured “plastic” to be an anagram indicator. As we say up yem: ee, wey ye live an’ larn, mar!
Many thanks to the MoZ and to Mr K.
Good afternoon (again)
I’ve had a read through the comments above, and also yesterday’s blog. I’d just like to add best wishes to Steve, Daisy, and George 🙏
*** / ****
A great Friday workout, quite a step up from earlier in the week and hugely enjoyable for that! Went onto pangram alert but ended up with Q, X and Y all missing. Interestingly, those letters are all included in the clues themselves. I’m guessing that’s far less rare of course.
Particularly liked Dad’s nominal bequest at 27a, the 5a well armed marine being and ITV at 1a.
Many thanks to Zandio and Mr K.
I found this daunting at first but then got going until the cutting clue in SW corner – thank you Mr K for explaining it. My CotD has to be Dad’s bequest, very neat!
The main difficulty with this puzzle was taking off the golf mittens & keying in the answers on the mobile phone while parked at a bitterly cold first tee. On pangram alert from the off but no X,Q or Y appeared so had an inkling (not strong enough to back with hard cash though) it may have been a Zandio production.
Super puzzle with 5* enjoyment for me. Ticks aplenty but if limited to a top 3 my podium would be my favourite 14a (despite the nonsensical surface),5a & 3d.
Had 16&19d appeared in yesterday’s Toughie, which was ALP’s final blog I feel sure a clip of Withnail & I would have appeared….
Thanks to Zandio & to Mr K
This was an enjoyable finish to the week from Zands that all went in fairly smoothly.
I liked ‘Spain’s certainly’ and thought ‘stick-in-the-mud’ was superb. Funny to see two more festive clues after yesterday’s, both being goodies.
My picks are 5a, 11a and the brilliant 14a.
MTTTA and Mr K.
2*/4*
I am sure the answer to 9a should not appear in the hint!
I suspect it should read “A verb synonym of spring…”
I did have it correct, but it gave me a shock when I read the clue post-solve and spent a couple of minute trying to figure out what else it could be!
Anyway, great puzzle, so thanks to Zandio and Mr. K.
9a hint now fixed. Sorry about that.
I very much enjoyed this after a mental beating on today’s toughie.
Mr SC who has been taking ownership of the daily cryptic decided that as it was marked as a 3* for difficulty he wasn’t going to attempt it.
Most of the puzzle went in quickly until there were four stubborn clues left in the end that I needed help with, the officials in 8d, the plastic curlers in 17d (became fixated on rollers), the old American in 1d and I am ashamed to say the spring in 9a which was a real doh moment.
I am sure we have seen the clue set out in 5d recently it seemed very familiar.
Favourite today was 25a
Thanks to the setter and to Mr K for the hints
I’m sorry but it was above my capabilities today!🤔. Admittedly, I have been out for most of the day and a quick return home at lunchtime before dashing to the hairdresser’s became more than a pit-stop when I discovered a flat car battery ☹️. Many thanks to Zandio and Mr K.
A quick message to Daisygirl to say thinking of you both and wishing George a fully-diagnosed recovery. Enjoy a nice weekend everyone.
Fantastic entertainment from Zandio. I particularly loved the old American, the well-armed marine, and apparently gee-gee.
VMT also to Mr K.
2.5* / 4* An excellent end to the week with plenty of misdirection and quirkiness.
Favourite today the 15d fool and my “joint” second place goes to 26d plant and 19d joint
Thanks to Zandio and Mr K
Great but very challenging solve. On a par with yesterday for difficulty.
Embarrassed to admit needing the hint for 5a. Couldn’t get a bootneck type of marine out of my head. Very clever misdirection.
Thanks to all.
I wasn’t feeling very lateral today , and my ‘big brain pants’ were in the wash , but I persisted, with a few breaks in between and managed to get it over the line without looking at the hints. Not surprised that it was a Zandio as there were some really excellent word plays , and great clues. I really don’t know why 14a took me so long, and I was determined not to look at the hint and when the penny dropped it is always so blooming obvious 🙄 but definitely my favourite clue . 1d was a new one for me (or have I seen it in a crossie before – maybe). Anyway glad for the workout and enjoyed it. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K.
My big brain pants were in the wash….what a great way to finish the day.
Thank you, JM.
I’ll be going to the ‘Land of Nod’ with a smile on my face.
That is a great phrase indeed. Based on my struggles with this puzzle, mine were either in the wash or packed up for the weekend!
I was actually pleased and rather relieved to be able to finish a Friday puzzle, albeit with a handful of hints. Then seeing it was a Zandio, who is invariably above my pay grade, my feeling of satisfaction soared. Kick myself for not taking into account the word “being” in 5a which made solving difficult. Thanks to Zandio and Mr K.
I think the setters are getting their christmas puzzles in early, Twm gave us Chrimbo yesterday and Zandio has 18
and 21a. Coupled with the first radio play of Fairytale of New York I am in danger of becoming a grumpus.
Thanks to MrK and Z, lights down time for Bellowhead
I rather raced through this, using the lazy solver’s method of bunging the answers in first, then checking that I understood how they were parsed afterwards. And no recourse to the hints above. Pencils and rubbers are wonderful inventions, you know. Mind you, I only had to use the latter twice. 3*/4* would seem about right. I enjoyed 19d (not literally) and 28a (but only because my wife’s grandfather served on a destroyer of that name). I was assisted in 15d by a mental picture of Dick Van Dyke singing about his walking cane in “Mary Poppins”.
I really struggled with this one – I had to spend quite a time working back through the clues. Many thanks for the hints (and answers).
Blimey this will make the podium of the year’s hardest back-pagers for me. About a dozen clues were a steady grind into the morrow (today). LOI was the 27A/17D pair. 17D’s a good example of several clues – was satisfying to crack, needed some work to get there.
Some highly enjoyable clues too – 13D’s wise guy was a parsing light bulb moment and breakthrough today, 1A’s neat ITV went in straight away (I thought it might be a cruisey Friday!) and 14A gives us a window into the fine mind of the setter.
Thanks to Zandio and Mr K ⭐️