Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30807
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Happy Boxing Day to you all. I trust you all had a pleasant day yesterday and are all in tip top condition to take on this tricky puzzle – maybe you are solving it en famille – that should be fun? This is definitely not the work of either of our regular Thursday setters, so everyone can have a go at Guess the Setter. My money is on Twmbarlwm, but I am rubbish at identifying setters, so please feel free to ignore me.
1a and 1d eluded me for far too long, which slowed me down considerably in the NW corner. Much to like and plenty of penny drop moments elsewhere. My last one in was 18d – the checking letters made the answer obvious, but it took me forever to parse it. Very clever. Plenty of ticks on my paper with the slightly odd surface read at 1a being my only gripe, although the definition was cleverly concealed. A nod to the five-word groanworthy and clunky Quickie Pun, which I couldn’t see at all – thanks to the current Mrs Shabbo for unravelling it, assuming she has got it right, of course!
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle. Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.
Thank you, Setter.