DT 100005

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 100005

Hints and tips by scchua

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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

Season’s Greetings and A Happy New Year to all.  A typical Rufus with his trademark cryptic and double defns. anagrams and the odd nautical reference.  An easy one, even for him, which should leave plenty of time for your Christmas lunch.  A 1* or less for difficulty, and just about 3* for enjoyment.  Thanks to Rufus.

The puzzle can be printed from here.

P.S. If you still find the mechanics of the hints a mystery, you should read the following, which should help in understanding.

Definitions are underlined in the clues (in blue).

Words in blue are lifted from the clues.

Italicised words are instructions for constructing the answer. Parentheses following these enclose the indicators from the clues. Eg. Reversal of(up, in a down clue).

[xxx;yyy] denotes that a synonym for xxx or yyy is required.

{} are used to give the order of construction. Eg. Reversal of(up, in a down clue) AB + C is different from Reversal of(up, in a down clue) {AB + C}.

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Across

1a    Tin with mushy peas which are provided for the party buffet (7)

{CANAPES} : [a tin;a container] plus(with) anagram of(mushy) PEAS.

Answer: A cracker or piece of bread topped with savoury food. And a homophone for the equivalent to a “tin o’ peas”.

No mushy peas on these:

5a    Fruitful theatrical conversation in pantomime? Nonsense! (7)

{RHUBARB} : Cryptic defn: Reference to a plant whose name is repeatedly chanted during a play (or pantomime) to simulate conversation.

9a    Immediately available for panto production (2,3)

{ON TAP} : Anagram of(production) PANTO.

10a    Cigars, ale possibly, and port (9)

{ALGECIRAS} : Anagram of(possibly) CIGARS, ALE.

Defn: …. in southern Spain.

11a    With all respect, ten go crazy in wild revelry (10)

{REVERENTLY} : Anagram of(go crazy) TEN contained in(in) anagram of(wild) REVELRY.

12a    Miss a festive occasion (4)

{GALA} : [slang for a miss;a girl] + A.

And that means dressing-up too.

14a    Stocking up time (9,3)

{CHRISTMAS EVE} : Cryptic defn: That time of the year by which to put up stockings before a certain mythical creature supposedly stocks them up with presents.

If only….he could fit into her stocking, and she into his:

 

18a    Jolly directors may provide Christmas fare (7,5)

{FESTIVE BOARD} : [jolly, as with, say, a gala] + [collectively, the directors of an organisation].

21a    Reindeer tail trimmed to a point (4)

{SCUT} : [trimmed, say, with scissors] placed after(to, in an across clue) [abbrev. for a compass point].

22a    Pirate hides out with Scrooge-like people (10)

{SKINFLINTS} : [fictional pirate created by Robert Louis Stevenson] contained in(… out) [hides;the largest organs of mammals].

25a    An old man with the twitch refusing to join in the fun (9)

{APATHETIC} : [“an” for nouns starting with consonants] [a short nickname for one’s old man] plus(with) THE + [an involuntary twitch of a muscle].

26a    American soldier joins half of guests in dance (5)

{GIGUE} : [nickname for an American soldier] plus(joins) half of the letters(half of) “guests”.

27a    Parties appeal to him (7)

{ELECTOR} : Cryptic defn: Reference to political parties and their campaigns.

28a    Feel ill after parties and leave the port (3,4)

{SET SAIL} : [to feel ill] placed after(after, in an across clue) [parties;groups of people with the same interests]. A typical nautical reference by Rufus.

Down

1d    So rich a blend of voices – singing carols? (6)

{CHOIRS} : Anagram of(a blend) SO RICH.

2d    Local inhabitant puts it up in part of the church (6)

{NATIVE} : Reversal of(puts … up, in a down clue) IT contained in(in) [the central part inside a church building].

3d    Party decoration coveted by would-be Press baron (5,5)

{PAPER CHAIN} : Cryptic defn: Reference to what someone like a Murdoch would like to, and did and does own.

4d    Mark is new saint (5)

{STAIN} : Anagram of(new) SAINT.

5d    Let trio go crazy on stage – panto? No, opera (9)

{RIGOLETTO} : Anagram of(crazy) LET TRIO GO.

6d    Some fun cocktails, strange for the Scots (4)

{UNCO} : Hidden in(Some) “fun cocktails”.

Answer: “strange” in Scottish.

7d    Measures of port in the Holy Land taking a long time (8)

{ACREAGES} : [port in Israel, much fought over historically] plus(taking) [a long time consisting of many years].

Defn:  … of ground area.

8d    How slowly one travelled according to many Christmas cards (2,6)

{BY STAGES} : Cryptic defn: Reference to an old-fashioned mode of transport depicted on many Christmas cards.

13d    Two things one may see on the Christmas tree decoration (5,5)

{FAIRY LIGHT} : [a thing to be seen placed on a Christmas tree] + [another thing likewise].

Answer: An electrified decoration, especially during Christmas, which makes for an electrifying image:

15d    Winter sportsman presenting complicated trick with ease (3-6)

{ICE-SKATER} : Anagram of(complicated) { TRICK plus(with) EASE }.

And presenting the complicated trick with ease – a wardrobe malfunction:

16d    Where Cinderella finally goes in panto, away on a coach (3-5)

{OFF-STAGE} : [away;out of here] placed above(on, in a down clue) [a coach, as shown on Christmas cards].

Defn: That part of the theatre where Cinderella’s character goes to at the end of the panto.

17d    Big copper’s ex gets to kiss under the mistletoe? (8)

{OSCULATE} : [abbrev. for a size that is big, or even bigger] + [chemical symbol for the element copper] + [ex-;former; and, in some cases, passed away].

Answer: From the Latin for “to kiss”.

19d    Game in crackers is a puzzle (6)

{ENIGMA} : Anagram of(crackers) GAME IN.

20d    After last part of Christmas, you and I will shortly get together, too (2,4)

{AS WELL} : The last 2 letters of(last part of Christmas) “Christmas” placed over(After …, in a down clue) [pronoun for you and I collectively] plus(get together) [a contraction;shortly for “will”, the auxiliary verb].

23d    Drinks, and kisses under the mistletoe? (5)

{NECKS} : Double defn: 1st: In the UK, swallows a drink.

24d    Thaw breaking out, don’t you think? (4)

{WHAT} : Anagram of(breaking out) THAW.

Answer: Said at the end of a statement to ask for agreement, equivalent to eg. “easy puzzle, no?” or “easy puzzle, don’t you think?”