ST 2782

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2782

A full review by gnomethang

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

This puzzle was published on Sunday, 8th February 2015

Morning All!. More than a little thanks to crypticsue for this one due to work commitments! From memory this was a pretty quick solve but there were some lovely clues including the simple yet devillish 11a.

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Across

1a           Gripping quality of story as unusual western is shown (14)
NEWSWORTHINESS    An anagram (unusual) of WESTERN IS SHOWN.

9a           Advice on clues taken amiss (7)
COUNSEL –   Another anagram (taken amiss) of  ON CLUES

10a         Radius sorted out — and altered circular construction (7)
ROTUNDA –   R (radius) followed by an anagram (sorted) of OUT and another (altered) of AND.

11a         For Chelsea or Villa, it’s a goal (3)
END –   A is found at the end of Chelsea and/or Villa.   Splendid d’oh moment.

12a         Badly handled account of salesman in minutes I classified (11)
MISREPORTED – M (minutes) I (from the clue) and SORTED (classified) with REP (salesman) inserted.

14a         Feel sorry for English writer falling in River Thames, initially (6)
REPENT –   E (English) and PEN (writer) inserted between R (river) and T (Thames ‘initially’).

15a         Part of capitalism anywhere that works like a charm? (8)
TALISMAN –   Hidden in part of capiTALISM ANywhere.

17a         Kind of blue    that goes with shocking    pink? (8)
ELECTRIC –   Electric blue and electric pink are both bright colours –  ELECTRIC also goes with ‘shocking’

19a         Scoundrel in no difficulty, shielded by fellow criminal, ultimately (6)
WEASEL –   EASE (no difficulty) put between (shielded by) the ‘ultimate’ letters of fellow and criminal.

22a         Provide food and support for future monarch, perhaps (11)
CATERPILLAR –   CATER (provide food) and PILLAR (support).

23a         Alien doctor in UN health agency (3)
WHO –   Dr Who or the World Health Organisation.

24a         Excel in speed, not in power? Excellent (7)
OUTPACE –   OUT (not in) P (power) ACE (excellent).

26a         Strain is back in part of joint (7)
TENSION –  IS reversed (back) in TENON (part of a joint).

27a         The hopeless MP I upset is diabolical character (14)
MEPHISTOPHELES –   An anagram (upset) of THE HOPELESS MP I.

 

Down
1d           New university explicit about player making a pile (7,7)
NUCLEAR REACTOR –  N (new) U (university) CLEAR  (explicit) RE (about) ACTOR (player).

2d           Out of bed after injury, highly irritated (5,2)
WOUND UP –   UP (out of bed) goes after WOUND (injury).

3d           Witness term going badly in public school (11)
WESTMINSTER –   An anagram (going badly) of WITNESS TERM.

4d           Piece of doggerel is hard to enjoy (6)
RELISH is hidden in doggeREL IS Hard.

5d           Equestrian male carried by roan he’s broken? (8)
HORSEMAN –   An anagram (broken) of ROAN HES with M (male) inserted.

6d           What separates court opponents is clear (3)
NET –   Separates opponents on a tennis court, perhaps;  clear of all deductions.

7d           Problem about absurd cant in sacred space (7)
SANCTUM –   An anagram (absurd) of CANT inserted into SUM (problem).

8d           VIP in Rome is rude, in a way, giving major directions (8,6)
CARDINAL POINTS –    CARDINAL (VIP in Rome)   POINTS (as our mum’s always used to tell us, it is rude to point).

13d         Old and active bishop organised church that stands for peace (5,6)
OLIVE BRANCH –   O (old) LIVE (active) B (bishop) RAN (organised) CH (church).

16d         Change in diet, adding second small order (8)
TIDINESS –   An anagram (change) of IN DIET with S (second) and S (small) added on the end.

18d         Name being incomplete on article from France (7)
ENTITLE –   ENTIT (an incomplete entity or being) and LE (French definite article).

20d         Understood poorly about male workplace that can produce deal (7)
SAWMILL –   Insert M (male) between SAW (understood) and ILL (poorly).

21d         Game with black on top? It’s very tight (6)
BLOTTO  – B (black) goes on top of LOTTO (game) to produce a word meaning quite inebriated (drunk) that I haven’t heard used for many a long year.

25d         It’s used for flooring, since hard (3)
ASH –   AS (since) and H (hard).