Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30590
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Carol and Colin are on a jaunt today so I have the pleasure of blogging this enjoyable puzzle.
When I printed off the puzzle from the old puzzles site this morning the first two words of 11a were missing so that the clue lacked a definition. That has now been corrected online but I don’t know what appeared in the newspaper.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Fold paper and cut (7)
PADDOCK: this fold or animal enclosure comes from joining a block of writing paper and a verb to cut or chop off.
9a Decline course, including car (8)
DIMINISH: a synonym for course or part of a meal contains a make of car which was once an icon of British style but is now made by a German company.
10a People needing answer for European ministers (7)
PARSONS: start with a word for people and change the single-letter abbreviation for European to that of answer.
11a Load of trendy males absorbed by street (8)
SHIPMENT: an informal word for trendy and another word for adult males go inside the map abbreviation for street.
12a Person who’ll give you a hand (6)
DEALER: cryptic definition of someone who distributes what you need to play a game.
13a Dodgy Tory — a cheap supplier of drugs (10)
APOTHECARY: an anagram (dodgy) of TORY A CHEAP.
15a Drink providing some relief in office (4)
FINO: a hidden word indicated by ‘some’.
16a Such contestants may be furious with what’s given by 12 Across? (4,5)
WILD CARDS: an adjective meaning furious and what 12a distributes. These contestants don’t qualify by right for a competition but are given a special invitation to enter.
21a A beer? It’s almost closed! (4)
AJAR: A from the clue and an informal word for a glass of beer.
22a Former power of industry, were wealth to be redistributed (5,5)
WATER WHEEL: an anagram (to be redistributed) of WERE WEALTH.
24a Reportedly visible urge (6)
INCITE: this sounds like a phrase (2,5) meaning visible.
25a Tiresome following son’s bad language (8)
SWEARING: a synonym of tiresome or exhausting follows the genealogical abbreviation for son.
27a Press note what referee does (7)
MEDIATE: charade of a generic term for the press and a note from tonic sol-fa.
28a Key article delayed increase (8)
ESCALATE: assemble the name of a key (it’s on the top-left corner of my keyboard as I type this), one of our indefinite articles and an adjective meaning delayed.
29a High roller chap returned in new suit (7)
TSUNAMI: reverse another word for a chap inside an anagram (new) of SUIT.
Down Clues
2d Scholarly environment could see a targeted uprising across the borders of China (8)
ACADEMIA: A (from the clue) and the reversal of a verb meaning targeted (a weapon, say) bracket the outer letters of China.
3d To veto old law is crazy (8)
DISALLOW: an anagram (crazy) of OLD LAW IS.
4d Moving clear of town lacking energy for traffic diversion (10)
CONTRAFLOW: an anagram (moving) of CL[e]AR OF TOWN after removing the abbreviation for energy.
5d Tackle husband’s old friends (4)
KITH: another word for tackle or equipment followed by the genealogical abbreviation for husband produce an obsolete word for friends usually only seen these days in the phrase ‘**** and kin’.
6d Spot big house occupied by politician (6)
PIMPLE: a word for a large house contains the usual abbreviation for an elected politician.
7d co*cktail compartment for passenger (7)
SIDECAR: double definition.
8d Rest still up in new house, lacking nothing (4-3)
SHUT-EYE: reverse an adverb meaning still or ‘up to now’ inside an anagram (new) of H[o]USE without the zero-resembling letter.
11d Food that’s good after whisky, say (6,3)
SCOTCH EGG: an item of food that sparked an intense debate during the pandemic as to whether or not it constituted a meal comes from the abbreviation for good following another word for whisky and the abbreviation meaning ‘say’.
14d Unlucky about the last of Labour extremists (10)
HARDLINERS: an exclamation of sympathy (4,5) meaning ‘unlucky!’ contains the final letter of Labour.
17d Endorse south with north in conflict (8)
SANCTION: start with abbreviation for south then insert the abbreviation for north into a word for armed conflict.
18d Truth and corporation split by love for versatile employee (8)
FACTOTUM: a synonym of truth or reality and the bodily part that corporation is used facetiously for with the zero-resembling letter splitting the two.
19d Wind up person on the fiddle (7)
TWISTER: double definition, the first an informal word for a destructive mobile wind.
20d Lag’s time to reach out (7)
STRETCH: another double definition, the first an informal word for time in prison.
23d Run on a bank — once in a blue moon (6)
RARELY: the cricket abbreviation for run followed by A and a verb to bank or depend.
26d Makes clear profit from curtains (4)
NETS: double definition, the second being types of curtains which allow light through.
My picks today were 1a, 6d and 19d. Which one(s) took your fancy?
Quick Crossword Pun: WELD + REST = Well dressed
