Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27205
A full review by gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Morning All! I’m fairly certain this was a Cephas Saturday and found the puzzle very enjoyable with his usual amusing Cryptic definitions and some lovely surface readings.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
Across
1a Black stuff covering bishop’s pen (6)
CORRAL – COAL, the black stuff, around the outside of RR – the abbreviation for a Right Reverend – the formal address of a Bishop.
4a Breakfast food cooler? (8)
PORRIDGE – Two definitions, the second being the cryptic. You stir it as well!.
8a Scientist on holiday entering wine store (6)
BOFFIN – OFF work (on holiday) inside BIN for wine store.
9a Having recently become member of a union (5-3)
NEWLY-WED – A gentle cryptic definition – not a Trade Union.
10a Men of letters, burning with irate rambling (8)
LITERATI – LIT for burning then an anagram (rambling) of IRATE.
11a Could be worse, ringing about legal document (6)
ESCROW – An anagram (could be) of WORSE around the outside of C for about (one abbreviation of circa).
12a Hard-hearted, without Biblical character? (8)
RUTHLESS – Another definition plus cryptic. She had her own book in the Bible.
13a Sauce with food — it’s red and goes on chops (6)
LIPPIE – A nicely diverting surface reading – not ketchup!. A charade of LIP (sauce/impertinence) followed by PIE for food.
15a Reportedly uninterested, husband’s left her in bed! (6)
BORDER – Another nice surface!> A homophone (reportedly) of BORED – BORD then (h)ER with the H for Husband removed.
18a Muscles stretch — that’s in theory (8)
ABSTRACT – A charade of ABS (abbreviation for Abdominal muscles) then TRACT for a stretch of e.g. land.
20a Where young lady returning with nothing on may take a dip? (6)
LAGOON – Another fine clue. Reverse a GAL (young lady returning) then add O dor nothing and ON from the clue.
21a Put forward in support of sterling (8)
PROPOUND – A charade of PRO – in support of – and POUNDs sterling.
23a Virginia not involved in crooked villainous trick (8)
ILLUSION – Remove VA (the abbreviation for the state of Virginia) from VILLAINOUS and then make an anagram (crooked).
24a Spoke for a tedious group of characters inside (6)
ORATED – All the characters are hidden inside fOR A TEDious.
25a Storyteller’s stirring rant and roar (8)
NARRATOR – The apostrophe ‘s stands for IS which tells you that a word for storyteller IS an anagram (stirring) of RANT and ROAR combined.
26a Mischief-maker trapping insect, all round it’s pathetic (6)
FEEBLE – Start with an ELF (mischief-maker) then insert a BEE (insect) then reverse the lot (all round) EL (BEE) F ß.
Down
1d Accountant and graduate left small party (5)
CABAL – The abbreviation for Chartered Accountant followed by BA (Bachelor of Arts and L for Left.
2d Rush outside recently having restored energy (9)
REFRESHED – REED (rush/grass) outside of FRESH for recently.
3d Row over time needed for descent (7)
LINEAGE – A LINE or queue/row on top of (over in a down clue) AGE for time.
4d Remedy for a writer missing the point (6-9)
PENCIL-SHARPENER – A nice cryptic definition.
5d Harsh treatment of unseasoned wood (3,4)
RAW DEAL – RAW (unseasoned) followed by DEAL (a species of tree/wood)
6d In retrospect, we would decline a little liquid (7)
DEWDROP – Reverse (in retrospect) WE’D, we would, and then DROP for decline/decrease.
7d Won’t emend revised bequest (9)
ENDOWMENT – An anagram (revised) of WONT EMEND.
12d Fizzy beer left by beast — revolting (9)
REBELLION – An anagram (fizzy) of BEER followed by L for Left then the king of the beasts, the LION.
14d Celebrity being mature! (9)
PERSONAGE – Person for being then AGE for mature.
16d Soldier‘s uniform (7)
REGULAR – Two definitions. The apostrophe ‘s here tells you that one word means (is) the same as the next.
17d Act without restraint in high-scoring cricket match? (3,4)
RUN RIOT – A bit like a run-fest but possibly more violent!
19d Parade and exhibition substandard (4,3)
SHOW OFF – SHOW (exhibition) followed by OFF (substandard – that’s a bit off).
22d Miss a trick (5)
DODGE – A double definition, the first a verb the second a noun.
Thanks to the setter – pretty sure it is Cephas. I’ll see you all next Friday for another Saturday review.
Thanks to the setter and to Gnomey for the excellent dissection. Having had several days to think about it I still think 12d is very odd – you surely cannot use any old present participle as a gerund, regardless of whether or not it’s in general use. I can’t come up with a sentence where you can swap rebellion for revolting without it sounding very forced.
Thanks gazza. i would agree with you on 12d: In rebellion or rebelling. I was going to mention it but was pushed for time before spoiling a good walk.