ST 2725

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2725

A full review by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****

To borrow from  Rabbit Dave’s comment on the day of publication:  “Another perfect Sunday crossword”.

 

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           Tory leader once including Labour leader in toast (6)
HEALTH –  The ‘leader’ of Labour inserted into the surname of a past leader of the Conservative Party, Edward HEATH.

4a           Lots of water surrounding European vessels (8)
GALLEONS –   Gallons (lots of water) surrounding an E (European).

10a         French artist who represented his subject thoughtfully (5)
RODIN –   A cryptic definition of the French sculptor who created The Thinker.

11a         Meeting Parisian in bar (9)
ENCOUNTER –   EN (the French [as used  in Paris] word for in) followed by a COUNTER (bar).

12a         Cold at clubs, perhaps? Woman can wear this (7)
CATSUIT –   C (cold) AT (from the clue) and SUIT (clubs being one of the suits of cards in a pack).

13a         People holding it so stupidly in water a bit (7)
MOISTEN –  Insert (holding) an anagram (stupidly) of IT SO into MEN (people).

14a         Endless attacks on board in no-win situation (9,5)
PERPETUAL CHECK –    a situation in chess in which one player’s king is continually attacked by the other player who may thereby claim a draw.

17a         Oddly, it’s a royal I want, such as Victoria (7,7)
RAILWAY STATION –   An anagram (oddly) of ITS A ROYAL I WANT –  Victoria Station being an example.

21a         Unable to relax in the lead, with little room for manoeuvre (7)
UPTIGHT –   UP (in the lead) and TIGHT (with little room for manoeuvre).

23a         Clergyman dropping second one in church (7)
MINSTER –   An ‘old favourite’   – Dropping  the second I from MINISTER  (clergyman) leaves us with an abbey church or priory.

24a         Difficulty for reader, indeed, in English school (3,6)
EYE STRAIN –  Insert YES (indeed) between E (English) and TRAIN (school).

25a         Citizen of kingdom among foreigners we deported (5)
SWEDE –   A citizen of the kingdom of Sweden is hidden in foreignerS WE DEported.

26a         Powerful female, nastiest when upset (8)
TITANESS –  An anagram (when upset) of NASTIEST.

27a         A Conservative getting together with left, it’s clear (6)
ACQUIT –   A (from the clue) C (Conservative) and QUIT (left).

Down

1d           Key work included by author that’s printed out (4,4)
HARD COPY –   Insert the musical key of C and OP (work) into HARDY (the author Thomas Hardy).

2d           Song about it duo ruined in concert halls (9)
AUDITORIA –   Insert an anagram (ruined) of IT DUO into ARIA (song).

3d           Uncovered area on top in fashionable style? Certainly (7)
TONSURE –   TON (fashionable style) plus SURE (certainly).

5d           A cold kind of praise about quiet exploit (14)
ACCOMPLISHMENT –  A (from the clue) C (cold) and COMPLIMENT (kind praise) into which is inserted SH ([be]quiet).

6d           In part of Ireland, is uncouth and aggressive (7)
LOUTISH –   Insert IS (from the clue) into LOUTH (an Irish county).

7d           Suitable music for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? (5)
OCTET –  Music written for a group of eight people.

8d           Sons run off, and do so quickly (6)
SPRINT –   S (the abbreviation for sons (this abbreviation can refer to son(s)  singular, or in this case, plural ) and PRINT (run off).

9d           They allow one to pay for fare on train (10,4)
RESTAURANT CARS –   Fare here, of course, referring to food consumed on trains, rather than the cost of the ticket.

15d         Liqueur that could make a neurotic drunk (9)
COINTREAU –   An anagram (drunk) of A NEUROTIC.

16d         Extremely mad king that is beset by dread (8)
ANGRIEST –  Insert R (Rex, King) and IE (that is) into ANGST (dread).

18d         Make less burdensome and so make fairer (7)
LIGHTEN –   Double definition.

19d         Cinemas, strangely, not showing Total Recall? (7)
AMNESIC –   An anagram (strangely) of CINEMAS.  Nice use of capitals in the definition!

20d         Prince as rugby forward (6)
RUPERT –  RU (rugby) and PERT (forward, cheeky).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Rupert_of_the_Rhine

22d         Communicate in a way that’s short, time after time (5)
TWEET –   Start with T (time) and follow with (after)  WEE (tiny, short) and another T (time).

Thanks to Virgilius for the usual fine start to Sunday morning.   The one that made me smile the most was 7d.

I’ll be back in the morning with a review of last Saturday’s Prize Puzzle.