Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2860
A full review by crypticsue
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This puzzle was published on Sunday 7th August
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Another superb crossword – this one had everything – lurkers, a typical Virgilius clue which I marked as my favourite (15d), some splendid d’oh moments (including my runner up, 23d) and even a “I bet Brian won’t like this” – what more could a solver and blogger ask for on a Sunday morning?
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 Political agreement oddly pains a British leader in particular (14)
BIPARTISANSHIP – Agreement between two political parties. An anagram (oddly) of PAINS A BRITISH plus the ‘leader’ of Particular.
9a Piece of music left on boat in landing-place (7)
AIRPORT – AIR (piece of music) PORT (the left hand side of a boat)
10a Quickly reply in letter I post early (7)
RIPOSTE – Lurking in letteR I POST Early
11a Platform for speeches as delegation arrives in station, initially (4)
DAIS – Delegation Arrives In Station initially
12a Star actor I replaced as leading man, perhaps (10)
ARISTOCRAT – An anagram (replaced) of STAR ACTOR I
14a Spiritual instruction with part of Bible, say (6)
REMARK – RE (Religious Education, spiritual instruction) and MARK (one of the books of the New Testament.
15a Give new order to test nine or ten in set, being aware (8)
SENTIENT – You can either choose an anagram (give new order) to TEST NINE or TEN IN SET
17a Duke, awfully nasty, in charge of powerful family (8)
DYNASTIC – D (duke) plus an anagram (awfully) of NASTY followed by IC (in charge)
18a Establish ruthless dictator, moving in first (6)
INSTAL – Move the IN at the end of STALIN (ruthless dictator) to the front of the word.
21a What writer may be said to need still (10)
STATIONARY – Because as we all know the way to remember how to spell what the writer may need is to think ‘E for Envelopes’ but here we need a homophone (may be said) of STATIONERY to get an adjective meaning still.
22a Tie up jealous husband dramatically (4)
MOOR – Double definition time – a verb meaning to tie up or Othello, the full title of the Shakespeare play being The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice.
24a Cheese in list held by boy (7)
STILTON – TILT (list, lean over) held by SON (boy)
25a Dog protecting its head in clash (7)
COLLIDE – COLLIE (Kath’s favourite dog) protecting D (the head of Dog)
26a With urgency, holding prisoner — not without contradiction (14)
INCONSISTENTLY – INSISTENTLY (with urgency) holding CON (prisoner)
Down
1d Area inside perimeter for pupil staying in school (7)
BOARDER – A (area) goes inside BORDER (perimeter)
2d Person at home in house, having taken a seat (15)
PARLIAMENTARIAN – cryptic definition
3d What enraged person’s gone through that may be raised in party (4)
ROOF – double definition – to become very angry or to make a great noise or commotion
4d Put inside in winter, normally (6)
INTERN – Another lurker – this time in wINTER Normally
5d Apprehended a leftist, seizing others (8)
ARRESTED – A RED (a leftist) seizing REST (others)
6d Fair as player, holding up pro (10)
SUPPORTING – SPORTING (fair as player) ‘holding’ UP (from the clue)
7d Rebel creating revolutionary stir in countries (15)
INSURRECTIONIST – An anagram (revolutionary) of STIR IN COUNTRIES
8d Go to that thing and get out now! (4,2)
BEAT IT – BE AT IT (go to it, that thing)
13d Sliced meat — expert cut it so specially (10)
PROSCIUTTO – One of those meats that’s nice to eat but hard to spell correctly. PRO (expert) followed by an anagram (specially) of CUT IT SO.
16d Success for better local in theatrical parts (8)
WINNINGS – INN (local) in WINGS (parts of a theatre)
17d Stop one kind of believer embracing second (6)
DESIST – DEIST (one kind of believer) embracing S (second)
19d Right limb raised is in position, to a great extent (7)
LARGELY – R (right) LEG (limb) reversed (raised) and inserted into LAY (position)
20d Change occurs in plant (6)
CROCUS – An anagram (change) of OCCURS
23d This is the last such signal to player crossing line (4)
CLUE – CUE (signal to player) crossing L (line)
S1
Our regular Sunday treat from Virgilius has become an unmissable event – thanks to him for this excellent example and to CS for the review.
Just to prove that I do read the reviews that CS and Gnomey provide every week could I point out that the definition of 6d is just ‘pro’ with the rest of the clue being wordplay, i.e. SPORTING (fair as player) containing UP.
Thank you for reading, commenting and pointing out the “Mr Mainwaring [I wondered when someone would notice that!]”.
Thank you for the review.
Now, what I want to know is, which one will Brian not like?
Having written that intro 11 days ago, I can’t remember exactly which clue I thought might induce grumpiness
Maybe the religous reference in 14 Across?
I expect there was quite a wide choice….
Really enjoyed this Sunday morning workout, thanks to CS and Mr G. Loved the cold meat just because I like the sound of the work but Othello got the big tick in my book.