Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30634
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Mr K is on a flight with poor wi-fi and also has a bad case of the lurgy so I’m providing the hints for today’s very enjoyable puzzle which I thought was relatively straightforward compared to our usual Friday fare. 12a and 1d might be a bit problematic for non-UK solvers.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Scottish football club captain, regularly affable at first (7)
FALKIRK: the name of a Sci-fi programme captain follows regular letters from ‘affable’.
5a Fashion Nick brought back produces apathy (7)
BOREDOM: a synonym for fashion or style and a verb to nick all reversed (brought back).
9a Enthral with content of debate, virtually over (5)
RIVET: hidden in reverse (over).
10a Head, quick to restrict Etonian’s initial jollification (9)
BEANFEAST: an informal word for someone’s head followed by an adjective meaning quick containing the initial letter of Etonian.
11a Army officer, top one knowledgeable in many areas (10)
GENERALIST: a senior army officer and a shorthand way of writing top or leading.
12a Rodney’s brother possibly wraps up ace business transaction (4)
DEAL: Rodney Trotter’s brother contains the abbreviation for ace.
14a Each maiden being overwhelmed by vagrant’s crushes (5-7)
STEAM-ROLLERS: abbreviations for each and maiden go inside a word describing a vagrant or itinerant plus the ‘S.
18a Clear vision of when lockdowns began? (6-6)
TWENTY-TWENTY: can you remember the year when lockdowns started?
21a Flipping lump in bed (4)
BUNK: reverse (flipping) a dialect word for a small lump.
22a Irrelevant competition European enters, trailing this writer’s mum (10)
IMMATERIAL: a competition to test someone’s sporting ability containing the one-letter abbreviation for European follows the contracted way the writer would say that he/she is and an affectionate word for mother.
25a Police officer priest once almost replaced (9)
INSPECTOR: an anagram (replaced) of PRIEST ONC[e].
26a Pseudonym of a storyteller’s not right (5)
ALIAS: assemble A, a teller of false stories and the ‘S then remove the abbreviation for right.
27a Hereditary name knight, say, rejected (7)
GENETIC: string together a verb to name or quote, the chess abbreviation for knight and the usual abbreviation for ‘say’ then reverse it all (rejected).
28a Twists legal document that man’s confronted with (7)
WRITHES: a legal document that compels the recipient to act and the shortened form of ‘that man is’.
Down Clues
1d Search Brexit campaigner hosting ball for leading American (6)
FORAGE: a Brexit campaigner whose campaign in the current election got off to a ‘shaky’ start with his first abbreviation for American replaced by the ball-shaped letter.
2d Existing property (6)
LIVING: double definition, the second a church property providing an income to a vicar or rector.
3d Lacking will to overtake Republican reaching US highway (10)
INTERSTATE: an adjective meaning ‘having not made a will’ contains the abbreviation for Republican.
4d Capital, Kuala Lumpur, possessing oddly deserted harbour (5)
KABUL: the abbreviation for Kuala Lumpur contains the even (oddly deserted) letters of harbour.
5d Restaurant that offers support after one is delayed (9)
BRASSERIE: this is a simple restaurant in the French style. If we delay the Roman numeral for one by a couple of places it becomes a supporting garment.
6d Crowd about to abandon ship (4)
RAFT: remove the first letter (an abbreviation meaning about or approximately) from a word for a ship (CRAFT) to leave a word for a large number or miscellaneous lot.
7d Muffled noises at No. 5 in cul-de-sac (8)
DEADENED: insert the fifth letter of ‘noises’ into another term for a cul-de-sac (4,3).
8d Lacking a partner, like a drawn game, apparently (8)
MATELESS: how, cryptically, a drawn game of chess could be described.
13d Top celebrities with young adult occupying VW Golf? (10)
GLITTERATI: insert a word for a group of new-born animals and the cinema abbreviation for adult into the badge attached to the VW Golf when it was originally introduced as a ‘hot hatch’.
15d Characters from East Ham at ice-skating becoming wheezy (9)
ASTHMATIC: I think this is meant to be a straightforward hidden word but it doesn’t quite work. STOP PRESS: a revised clue has now appeared on the puzzles site as below:
15d (Revised clue) American Tim chats strangely, becoming wheezy (9)
ASTHMATIC: The single-letter abbreviation for American followed by an anagram (strangely) of TIM CHATS.
16d Chuck accepts bill for Arab’s accommodation? (8)
STABLING: a verb to chuck contains a (chiefly North American) word for a restaurant bill. The Arab is not a human.
17d Poet composed sonnet about New York (8)
TENNYSON: an anagram (composed) of SONNET containing the abbreviation for New York.
19d Stop using heartless language (6)
FINISH: remove the letter at the heart of a northern European language.
20d Quietly student exploits advantages (6)
PLUSES: abbreviations for quietly and student precede a verb meaning exploits or takes advantage of.
23d Quarrel in school on EastEnders (5)
ARROW: a public school in northwest London as it might be pronounced by an Eastender.
24d Considered material (4)
FELT: double definition, the second a soft fabric.
The clues I liked included 1a, 14a and 13d. Which ones amused you?
Quickie Pun: MISSED + DEFIED = MYSTIFIED
