GB09Crossword

Don’t forget:

Crossword Ends in Violence (5) is a novel about crosswords, D-Day and codebreaking. Lots of fun, and a good summer read. Have a look here.

A river that is a retailer? Amazon.

Crossword Ends in Violence (5) – comedy thriller about codewords, crosswords and D-Day, is now available via Amazon.com – here.

A king is a K. And a Queen is Elizabeth Rex – ER.

So we have spe-a-k-ER – an orator.

Remember you can read the code-breaking comedy thriller Crossword Ends in Violence (5) in its entirety here.

From the writer of BBC Radio 4′s comedy Hut 33.

Reword ‘one hip’ and you get iPhone. I’m excited because I got one yesterday…

Don’t forget to read Crossword Ends in Violence (5) – links all over this site!

BUT we need a name. Fast. Nothing jumps off the page, but here are the runners and riders. You are invited to express your preference. By 9am Thurday 7th May.

Thank you.

Stressed out indicates and anagram – of ‘mark relax’. But take out a pill (e) – so you’re left with ‘mark rlax’. And the answer is Karl Marx, the revolutionary, historian, and economist born in Prussia this day in 1818.

Don’t forget, read comedy thriller Crossword Ends in Violence (5) for free by going here.

But no. Ha.

Not = no. Right = ok. This is between points of the compass – S and E. Right is R. So, we have S-No-OK-E-R.

By the way, you can now read the entirety of Crossword Ends in Violence (5) totally free of charge by going here.

Former (Ex) writer (pen)  initials (initial letters of:) some extra sheets put together for receipts (ex-pen-s.e.s.)

Become a fan of John Fellowes on Facebook here!

I came up with that one whilst swimming this morning. (In a pool – I don’t swim the Thames. Well, not in the mornings)

Don’t forget, Crossword Ends in Violence (5) is a pleasingly comic thriller about D-day, codes, chess and is generally good fun. Read more on this site by clicking the links on the right of this page.

Tell a friend about John Fellowes on Twitter.

There’s a whole host of clues here for Easter Day – the letters anagram very nicely!  There’s a clue about ‘Yeast’ somewhere, which would be fitting given that Easter day is just after Passover. Leave a comment if you can think of a better clue!

Happy Easter.

^“6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

‘Catching a crab’ is a rowing expression. A bad place to catch a crab would be the Boat Race. Which is an anagram (broken) of ‘a crab toe’.

Rather pleased with that one.

You may or may not know that I have written a comedy thriller called Crossword Ends in Violence (5). It’s the story of a professional crossword setter who discovers his grandfather was accused of being a spy during D-Day. Spies, codes, a few guns and plenty of cryptic crossword clues. All good fun. Read the opening chapters here.

Follow these cryptic clues on Twitter here.

Rookie is L. It’s ‘in’ ‘moneymen put’ = unemployment.

Give up? Death-bed confession.

You can enter that answer in here to read hidden chapters of Crossword Ends in Violence (5).

Let wastrel ruin financial centre (4,6)

I have to confess to being rather pleased with this clue:

Ruin often indicates anagram – and does here. It’s an anagram of ‘Let wastrel’. Wall Street. Nice.

Read the comedy thriller, Crossword Ends in Violence (5) here.

The girl is a girl’s name. In cryptic crosswords, it’s often ‘di’, but in this case, you can work it out knowing that the first half of the word is ‘umbr’. It’s ella.

So Umbr-ella – something you take cover with.

And I chose it because of this:

Stephanie Imbeau's Channel 4 work

So, rearrange the letters of ‘be gentler’ to bring about a word meaning protected land – Greenbelt.

Do click around the site to find about more about the novel ‘Crossword Ends in Violence (5)’. Maybe even think about buying it…

This ‘protects’ or goes around a small (s) trademark – TM. So, we have te-s-TM-a.

Pity is tch.

And the sporting contest, therefore, is Test Match.

To find about more about the adventures of John Fellowes, have a look here.

This is a building clue. In this sort of clue, one needs to look to the beginning or end for the clue word – ie. the part of the clue that means the whole thing. So the answer will either be ‘They kick’ or ‘gone’.

Here’s how it works:

About is ‘Re’.

Donations are ‘Alms’. But they are endless. ‘Alm’.

This year? Anno Domini. AD.

Gone? What could that be? Well, we have most of the clue. Re-al m-AD-??? – Gone is ‘rid’. The answer is Real Madrid. They kick because they’re footballers.

Who is John Fellowes?

John Fellowes is the hero of the comedy crossword-based thriller, Crossword Ends in Violence (5). Here he is in Chapter One:

As he wandered across the concourse towards the turnstile, he immediately began mulling over the possibilities of the wordsmachine-gun. At once, he spotted the presence of an ‘-ing’, which promised a pleasing anagram. The word menacingwould leaving uh behind. Or inhumane with cg left over. Alternatively, machine-gun spells I can hug men. How about: I can hug men armed with this (7-3)’ Fellowes knew he could do better.

Read more here.

Whenever you stumble over a word like ‘confuse’, assume an anagram.

So the anagram is ‘Amid solace I’ – which, rearranged, makes Social Media – which are web networks.

John Fellowes is the hero of a novel called Crossword Ends in Violence (5). Here’s how it starts:

1 Across

On seeing the machine-gun, John Fellowes did not flinch. Armed policemen were an increasingly common sight across the capital, although loaded automatic weapons make most normal people a little nervous. John Fellowes, however, was not a normal person. His lack of concern was not because he was a grizzled soldier, nor an assassin, nor even a terrorist, who might regard bullet wounds as a mere occupational hazard. Far from it. He was a professional cryptic crossword setter. At the sight of the firearm, his instinct was to compose a clue.

To read on, click here.

Bletchley Park is falling down. The place where extraordinary men did amazing things with numbers and, arguably, shortened the war by up to six months, saving hundreds of thousands of lives, is falling down. It’s a wreck. I went there a couple of years ago and had an enjoyable day out, but the place has an air of melancholy, even though it should be a national monument on a par with Stonehenge, the Tower of London and the Cabinet War Rooms.

But it’s a run on goodwill, volunteers and next-to-no money. Now, I believe in goodwill, volunteers and doing things for no money – that’s the way most things should be done. But while the government continues to take 550 billion pounds in taxation our of the economy and spend it in bizarre and extraordinary ways, we must petition the government to spend that money (our money) on things that are worth spending it on. We don’t need a Museum of Rock Music or Hip Hop. Or another opera house. But we do need to preserve Bletchley Park – and show the world and future generations what some careful logical thinking, some hard work and some perseverance can do. So have a look here and get involved.

No longer. Because one greater than I has come.

He must increase.

And I must decrease.

Think of me as voice in the wilderness, calling for paths to be straightened for Big Dave, who cheerfully finishes the crossword day after day and puts up lots of helpful hints on my blog. Well, he’s got his own blog now so I pass the baton to him.

So for hints on today’s Prize Crossword – and all future Daily Telegraph Cryptic offerings, go to Big Dave’s Blog here.

You can still read Crossword Ends in Violence (5) here. And buy it here.

Across

1 Retrograde action you find pets making (8,4)

This clue doesn’t quite stack up for me. It’s not got quite enough words/indicators. Pets going back is Step. And the answer is ‘Backward Step’, but it doesn’t really gel.

9 Old university needs to adapt, graduate repeatedly admitted (4,5)

Adapt is Alter. Graduate is MA. And it’s twice in Alter…

12 Like stage performance of pirate and co. cavorting (8 )

Anagram of ‘pirate’ and ‘co’.

Buy the thrillingly comic novel, Crossword Ends in Violence (5). And you can only do that here.

Down

2 Firm satisfied with traveller covering huge mileage (5)

Firm is Co. Satisfied is Met.

3 What is this about? ‘Blow men!’ is! (6,3)

Another anagram. This time, ‘Blow men is’. And it means an anti-men movement.

4 Rotter with Ecstasy and speed (4)

Rotter is Rat. Ecstasy is E.

5 Holy person rebuked and beaten (8 )

Holy person is a Saint, or St. Rebuked is rapped.

6 Chemical takes surface off tie (5)

Not quite sure why the answer is ‘Ether’

7 Abuse is matter to be regarded as wrong (8 )

Anagram of ‘is matter’.

That’s all for now. Please chip in with other clues and hints. Let’s not leave it all to Big Dave!

As a member of the Party, Inmate 27142629 had been well-informed about ‘Comrade’ Stalin’s views on forced labour. Stalin believed that millions of slaves could form the backbone of the Soviet Union’s progress. About twenty years earlier, a canal from St Petersburg to the northern coast of Russia had been forged by gulag workers. So keen and frightened were the authorities to see this plan through, the inmates had had to stop pretending to work and expend precious calories on actual work. Exhausted, emaciated and ill-equipped, they were often forced to dig with their bare hands. Thousands died building a canal that was poorly designed, hastily constructed and so shallow that it was utterly useless for the purposes of serious shipping. Fortunately, there was no actual demand for this canal in the first place, so it was barely used, its embarrassingly large flaws remaining hidden. But the Party’s great leader had mistaken this catastrophic disaster for success. This often happens when cold-blooded, mass-murdering dictators completely lose touch with reality. You can’t blame them.

To read more, solve the clue: Recommend a violent hijack (10) and enter it here.

Hint: Violent indicates anagram…